Peavey Electronics
Encyclopedia
Peavey Electronics Corporation is one of the largest audio equipment manufacturers in the world, headquartered in Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi. It is the sixth largest city in the state and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area...

 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

History

Hartley Peavey
Hartley Peavey
Hartley Peavey is a founder and CEO of Peavey Electronics Corporation and a well-known innovator in the musical equipment industry. A 1965 graduate of Mississippi State University, Peavey has been recognized by his alma mater as an Alumni Fellow and as the 2004 commencement speaker...

 founded Peavey Electronics in 1965 after building his first amplifier
Amplifier
Generally, an amplifier or simply amp, is a device for increasing the power of a signal.In popular use, the term usually describes an electronic amplifier, in which the input "signal" is usually a voltage or a current. In audio applications, amplifiers drive the loudspeakers used in PA systems to...

 in 1957. Since its foundation, Peavey Electronics has been privately owned, and has grown massively from their humble beginnings in Hartley's basement in the 1950s.

The company maintains a museum featuring memorabilia related to Peavey Electronics and its notable users, which is open to the public.

Company information

Peavey currently owns 1.5 million square feet (140,000 m²) of manufacturing/assembly area over 33 facilities across North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, 18 of which are located in their home state of Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

. Products are manufactured mainly in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...

, and are distributed to 136 different countries across the globe. They also hold 130 patents, and have a product range of around 2000 designs, with between 80 to 100 being added each year.

Peavey Electronics also owns 5 major electronics brands, namely MediaMatrix, Architectural Acoustics, PVDJ, Crest Audio
Crest Audio
Crest Audio, Inc is an American company that produces professional sound equipment, including audio mixers, power amplifiers, and loudspeakers. Crest Audio was founded in the late 1970s by Jean-Pierre Prideaux in California...

, and Trace Elliot
Trace Elliot
Trace Elliot is a United Kingdom-based bass amplification manufacturer, and has a sub-brand, Trace Acoustic, for acoustic instruments.-History:...

.

Noteworthy products

Although Peavey Electronics produces a wide variety of equipment, a few notable designs stand out through their popularity and/or use by major professional musicians.

5150/6505/6534+ series guitar amplifiers

These amplifiers and speaker cabinets were the result of a collaboration with Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...

. The 5150 has gained popularity with modern hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

, hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...

 and metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 bands and guitarists due to its large amount of distortion. Jerry Cantrell
Jerry Cantrell
Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter best known for his work with the grunge/metal band Alice in Chains, as lead guitarist, backing and co-lead vocalist, and co-lyricist. He performs lead vocals on his solo projects, and is part of Alice in Chains' harmonizing...

 of Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...

, uses this amplifier. While touring with Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...

, Cantrell asked Eddie Van Halen, "...if I could buy [one] off him at the end of the tour with them, and when I got home there were three full stacks and two guitars waiting for me." In 2004, Peavey and Eddie Van Halen parted ways, with Eddie taking the 5150 brand name with him. This resulted in the renaming of the amplifier as the 'Peavey 6505', with slightly updated styling but original circuitry. The 5150 II, which contains an extra preamp tube for more headroom and gain on the Rhythm channel, is the old equivalent to the new 6505+. In 2010, Peavey released a new amplifier for the 6505 line, the 6534+. It is much like the 6505+, the difference being the 6534 has EL34 power tubes instead of the 6L6 power tubes found on the standard 6505 amplifiers, giving it a more "British flavor".

Bandit series guitar amplifiers

The Bandit amp series are solid-state
Solid state (electronics)
Solid-state electronics are those circuits or devices built entirely from solid materials and in which the electrons, or other charge carriers, are confined entirely within the solid material...

 combo guitar amplifier
Guitar amplifier
A guitar amplifier is an electronic amplifier designed to make the signal of an electric or acoustic guitar louder so that it will produce sound through a loudspeaker...

. The Bandit amplifiers were introduced in 1980 and remain in production today (2011).

The earliest model Bandits had a power rating of 50 watts RMS into an 8 ohm
Ohm
The ohm is the SI unit of electrical resistance, named after German physicist Georg Simon Ohm.- Definition :The ohm is defined as a resistance between two points of a conductor when a constant potential difference of 1 volt, applied to these points, produces in the conductor a current of 1 ampere,...

 speaker. The power rating has gradually increased over time, and current model Bandits are rated at 80 watts RMS into 8 ohms, and 100 watts RMS into 4 ohms. In the mid-nineties, the Bandit was used to introduce Peavey's proprietary TransTube circuitry, a solid-state technology aimed at emulating the sound of tube amplifiers
Vacuum tube
In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...

.

Bandit Models

  • Bandit (1980)
  • Solo Series Bandit (1981-1983)
  • Solo Series Bandit 65 (1983-1986)
  • Solo Series Bandit 75 (1987-1988)
  • Solo Series Bandit 112 (1988-1995)
  • TransTube Series Bandit 112 (1996-1999)
  • TransTube Series II Bandit 112 Made in USA (2000-2004)
  • TransTube Series II Bandit 112 Made in China (2004-2007)
  • Peavey Bandit with Transtube Technology Made in China (2008-current)

Classic series guitar amplifiers

Peavey's line of guitar amplifiers made specifically for blues, jazz, and classic rock players. The original Classic series amplifiers were introduced in the 1970s (and were originally called the Peavey 'Vintage' series), and used solid state preamps and 6L6GC power tubes. The current line of Classic series amplifiers use 12ax7 preamp tubes and EL84 power tubes.

CS series power amplifiers

The CS series amplifiers (mainly the CS800) are some of the most used amplifiers in the world, and among Peavey's best selling products.

JSX series guitar amplifiers

Like the 5150/6505 series, the JSX series was designed for a recording artist: Joe Satriani
Joe Satriani
Joseph "Joe" Satriani is an American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, with multiple Grammy Award nominations...

. Satriani was looking for an amplifier that was customized to his style, that had every feature he required, and would work in both live and studio applications. This was reissued as the Peavey XXX II.

Radial Pro Series of Drum kits

The Radial Pro Series were Peavey's high end drum line. In production from 1994 until 2002, it consisted of the RBS-1 prototypes, radial pro 1000, 750/751, and 500/501 models. The flagship 1000 model consisted of a radial bridge that took all the mounting stresses, and a 3-ply thin maple shell to enhance the resonance. The 750/751 series had composite bridges and stained maple shells. The 500/501 series had composite bridges and wrapped maple shells.

Triple XXX/3120 series guitar amplifiers

The basis on which the JSX series was created, the XXX series provides a tonal range from what can be described as "glassy" cleans to "full body" hi-gain tones using its 3 channel interface. This was recently reissued as the Peavey 3120.

ValveKing series guitar amplifiers

All-tube amps for rock musicians. Higher gain than the Classic series. A notable member of this lineup is the Royal 8 5 watt combo, similar to a Fender Champ
Fender Champ
The Fender Champ was a guitar amplifier made by Fender. It was introduced in 1948 and discontinued in 1982. An updated version was introduced in 2006 as part of the "Vintage Modified" line....

.

Vypyr series guitar amplifiers

The Vypyr series of amps are highly powerful modeling amplifiers. They generate different amp sounds depending on which desired amp is chosen. Some amps that are include are the Fender twin and deluxe, Mesa/Boogie Rectifier, Diezel Boutique, Krank Krankenstein, Vox AC30 and a large collection of Peavey amps like the 6505, XXX, JSX, classic. In addition to these amp models, these amps feature 11 editable pre-amp effects (All But Vypyr 15), 11 editable rack effects, on-board looper (Vypyr 30, 60, 75, 100, 120), MIDI input (Vypyr 30, 60, 75, 100, 120), and USB 2.0 connectivity (Vypyr 60, 75, 100, 120). The Vypyr 60 and Vypyr 120 amps as well as the Vypyr 120 head feature 12AX7
12AX7
12AX7 is a miniature dual triode vacuum tube with high voltage gain. It was developed around 1946 by RCA engineers in Harrison, New Jersey, under developmental number A-4522. It was released for public sale under the 12AX7 identifier on September 15, 1947. The 12AX7 was originally intended as...

 and 6L6GC tubes.

TNT series bass amplifiers

The TNT Series bass amplifier first entered the market in the late 70's as a 45-Watt combo with one 15" speaker. The high-power TNT bass amplifier series was introduced as a 150-200 watt bass combo primarily equipped with a Scorpion or Black Widow 15-inch woofer. The TNT series was recently updated to 600 watts, under the title Peavey Tour TNT 115. It is currently the most powerful bass combo sold by Peavey.

Windsor series guitar amplifiers

Introduced as a low-cost clone of the vaunted Marshall
Marshall Amplification
Marshall Amplification is a British company, founded by drummer Jim Marshall, that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, brands personal headphones/earphones , and, after acquiring Natal Drums, drums and bongos. Marshall amplifiers, and specifically their guitar amplifiers, are among the most...

 JCM800 2203 Master Volume. The internal design is essentially identical to the vintage Marshall, with the exception of using a plate-fed tone stack instead of the Marshall-trademarked cathode follower.

Wolfgang series electric guitars

See also: List of Peavey guitars


These were a result of a collaboration with Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...

 to produce his "ideal" guitar. The design was relatively successful, but did not gain the reputation or popularity of similarly priced guitars such as the Fender Stratocaster or the Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...

. The Peavey Wolfgang was discontinued in 2004.

Notable users of Peavey equipment

  • Varg Vikernes (Burzum)
  • Jeff Berlin
  • Buckethead
  • Steve Cropper - (Booker T & the MG's, The Blues Brothers, signature endorser)
  • George Cummings - (Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show)
  • David Ellefson - (Megadeth)
  • Robb Flynn - (Machine Head)
  • Stuart Hamm
  • Pepper Keenan (Corrosion of Conformity)
  • Tak Matsumoto
  • Tom Morello - (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave)
  • Ted Nugent
  • Gary Rossington - (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
  • Jordan Rudess - (Dream Theater/Liquid Tension Experiment/David Bowie)
  • Rudy Sarzo - (Whitesnake)
  • Joe Satriani
  • Andy Taylor - (Duran Duran)
  • John Taylor - (Duran Duran)
  • Kim Thayil - Soundgarden, former user, VTM 120 amplifiers
  • Devin Townsend - (The Devin Townsend Band, *Strapping Young Lad)
  • The Trans-Siberian Orchestra
  • Adrian Vandenberg - (Vandenberg, former Whitesnake, former signature endorser)
  • Eddie Van Halen - (Van Halen, former signature endorser)
  • Cinemark Theaters - the sound system used in their theaters
  • Jerry Cantrell
  • Joe Garza skullz and bonze
  • Bring Me The Horizon
  • August Burns Red
  • Conway Twitty
  • Jerry Reed


Legal cases

In 2009 Peavey Electronics Corp. filed two lawsuits against various companies under Behringer/Music Group umbrella for patent infringement, federal and common law trademark infringement, false designation of origin, trademark dilution and unfair competition.[ref] In 2011 The Music Group filed a lawsuit against Peavey for alleged "false advertising, false patent marking and unfair competition." [ref]

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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