Other Peavey SS Amps

[John Talbott]

Has anyone had any experience with a Peavey Special, no other designation follows, or the Special 150? Both are Solo Series amps. Any info is appreciated.

[Larry Dering]

John, I have a special 130 and it has the mid shift control. After changing speaker to a TC Furlong Eminence it is one loud and wicked pedal steel amp. They made a special 150 but I do believe the solo series is different. If it has the mid shift it would make a great steel amp. I have used the Bandit series with good results. An eq pedal in the effects loop will get the mid cut needed.

[Don Mogle]

I just picked up one cheap on Facebook Marketplace. It was pretty dirty. I brought it home, cleaned the chassis, cleaned and lubed the pots, put the chassis in Nashville 400 cabinet, and added a 1501-4 Spider Web Black Widdow. The input jacks were kind of gross, so I purchased some new washers/nuts off Ebay and replaced the old ones. I replaced two in front and four in the back. Looks much better! I also replaced a couple knobs.

Thus far, I have only used it in my practice room. However, I am very impressed with it. Yes, the mid/shift control sets it apart. Bulletproof construction. Mine has the old IC chips (4558) but still sounds good. I want to install the OPA2134PA Burr Brown chips sometime soon to make it even better. It should have plenty of headroom to cover any job.


This is what I started with:




Here it is now after a couple hours of work:

[Larry Dering]

Don, these are great amps. I put the Ken Fox chips in mine, can't say that was a big improvement but the speaker change was. I tried a TT 12 and didn't like the tone. The TC Furlong 12 done the trick.

[Don Mogle]

Larry.

As soon as I restore the original cabinet, I will try the TC12 that now resides in another extension cabinet. I haven't tried the Scorpion yet, but I hear they are good speakers. Thanks for the info...

Don

[Larry Dering]

Good plan. Never know what may make the proper connection. You might like the scorpion.

[Calvin Todd]

I’ve been loving my Special 130 with EVM12L!
Also been using a Reno 400 in a Nashville cabinet with a Big Ben eminence and am pleased.

[Tommy Auldridge]

Don: Is the e.q. setting shown in the photo, exactly how you want it? Thanks. Tommy.....

[Don Mogle]

Tommy,

No, this is not how I run it now. I will take another pic when I get back home.

The mid/ shift control is close. I got the EQ settings in another post by Paul Wade which can be found on a Forum search. This was my starting point that works pretty well. Keep in mind this is in my music room. It could change in a live situation for a better cut for the steel.

Just got home. Here are my settings. The fat knob (High Pull Thick) is pushed in. Presence can be adjusted for taste. The mid/shift controls are at 9 and 2 as shown. This should be a starting point and tweaked for your equipment.



Thanks, Don

[Don Mogle]

Special 130 settings are posted...

[Tommy Auldridge]

Don: Thanks. I have a Special 130. I put the amp. in a NV400 cabinet with a 15' Black Widow 4ohm speaker. It's really only a spare in case I ever have a problem with my NV112.. It sounds real good, but I'm never sure how to get the best E.Q.... It's also kind of over kill. Much more than what I need. Thanks, Tommy.....

[Thomas Wagner]

Can the speaker be muted when playing through the pre-amp?

When practicing at home, I typically plug into my audio interface and listen with headphones with the computer, would prefer the amp remain silent during my use.

[Jacques Boudreaux]

Man. Quite the bump from December 2020!

I love old Peavey amps. Cool to see the restoration pics of the Special 130.

I currently have my steel running into an old Peavey TNT 100. Just a good, all-purpose, whatever amp. No reverb, no FX loop, no headphone jack, just straight up amp.

It does have a mid shift knob though, and it comes in handy. I run it similar to Don's settings--mid shift is turned up high, and I squash the mids at that frequency. I'd guess I'm taking away a lot of the 750Hz-1KHz range with this configuration.

This thread got me wondering what kind of speaker is in there. So I went digging just now. Not a black widow, but one of those square magnet ones made by Peavey. It has 15845B marked on the back. I got a pic below.

Amp sounds alright as is. Would probably really sing with a nice black widow with aluminum dustcap (my fave)

[Jerry Overstreet]

I can't tell you much about the speaker Jacques as I'm not really familiar with that make but according to the EIA codes it is a CTS driver.

137 78 26, best I can make out the smeared numbers indicates
137 CTS
78 year
26 wk

Your TNT bass amp is rated 45 watts @ 8 ohms will provide decent practice or small room power and the eq can be set for a decent tone. You'll probably want to add a reverb or delay pedal or both for some shimmer and shine though.

A compatible Black Widow might be a 1502-8 but it wouldn't have an aluminum dust cover in an 8 ohm configuration unless you can find a very early one.

The other more recent Black Widow with the metal dome is the 1501 but they were only made in a 4 ohm driver...probably not compatible with an 8 ohm amp.

Some of the very early BW spider web flat magnet speakers were made with the aluminum cap but many were FOH drivers.
The very early ones are hard to find though.

Those Black Widows were built for high power and rated from about 250W to 350W over the years.

For now though, just enjoy the experience. Good Luck!

[Jacques Boudreaux]

Jerry: Thanks for the reply, I enjoy your posts.

I see you know your way around some peavey speakers.



So I have four of the 15" 8 ohm aluminum dustcap BWs. They are currently in a bass cab, and they sound great. I love the 15s especially on bass.

I also have four of the 12" version, also 8 ohm.

And a replacement basket for an 18" (not entirely certain if 4 or 8 ohm).

The 12s and 18 are aluminum dustcap as well. I don't see too many 18s getting used in steel rigs, but this thread all of a sudden has me thinking about how that would sound.

Yes you're right. 45W RMS at 8ohm output on the TNT. It sounds great as it is for guitar/bass, will probably keep it as is for awhile, see how that squareback speaker sounds with different steels. The Boss graphic EQ I use has given some good results for steel as well.

And good call on reverb/delay. I have a Boss RV-3 set to the delay+reverb setting. You can kinda make it out on top of the amp on the left side in that pic I posted previously.

Shimmer/shine: [ENGAGED] NOT ENGAGED

The only other thing I think this setup could use for steel: a subtle touch of compression. I'd probably put it right before volume pedal. Hadn't thought all the way through that yet.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Ha! Thanks Jacques. Yeah, I see the RV3 now, I didn't notice it earlier. Probably got a nice sound with your rig there.

I'm no expert on BWs but I became interested in them somewhere in the 80s and backtracked to the first Spider Web Black Widows. The flat magnet with the the spider label.

I'm nerdy like that sometimes.

Like you, I have a variety of Black Widows in 12s and 15s in stereo and single speaker guitar and steel rigs. I've tried and owned others but these are the ones for the sound I like.

FWIW, when Peavey introduced the Session 500, they offered an 18 in. BW speaker as an option. Never saw one or heard of anyone actually ordering one that way though.

[Jacques Boudreaux]

Woah, that would be cool to encounter one of those Session 118s in the wild. And yes I think I've seen pictures of the original BW online. I do not own one.