Peavey Pro 500 - any experience?

[ack1961]

Anyone here have any experience with the Peavey Pro 500?  I need to send out my Mark VIII head for repair...or cremation.

I can get it real cheap (it's like new) and I'm thinking about pairing it with my 210TVX and BW-115 (both are 4 Ohm cabs).
 12AX7 preamp tube for warm tube sound
 500 Watts @ 2 Ohms; 350 Watts @ 4 Ohms; 200 Watts @ 8 Ohms
 front and rear 1/4" input jacks
 -10 dB pad for active basses
 tuner send jack for easy tuner hookup
 input mute with blinking LED for silent tuning
 contour control for tube-type EQ curve
 active low and high shelving-type EQ
 3-bands of versatile, full-parametric equalization
 side chain effects loop with wet/dry control
 foot switch capable input mute and effects loop
 low Z electronically balanced line out with pre/post EQ switch
 ground lift switch for line out
 both Speakon® and 1/4" speaker jacks
 preamp out/power amp in jacks
 DDT speaker protection system with defeat switch

I also have a chance to get an Avatar B212 Neo (also like new) for it.

[nofi]

15 knobs and 4 buttons, i wouldn't know where to start...or stop.

[Pilgrim]

It has more EQ options than I need, but I surfed some reviews online and they're uniformly positive.  (ALthough I'd pick up a used G-B Shuttle 6.0 or 9.0....)

If the price is right, why not gopher it?

[ack1961]

It has more EQ options than I need, but I surfed some reviews online and they're uniformly positive.  (ALthough I'd pick up a used G-B Shuttle 6.0 or 9.0....)

If the price is right, why not gopher it?

Thanks.  Yeah, I've read what few reviews I could find on it. Not an extremely popular amp (in terms of numbers), but I had the chance to A/B against my current rig and it is a nice fit for me, so I am now the proud owner.  Too good of a deal to pass up.  The seller had moved to a G-B Shuttle, as weight has become a factor (and the fact that it is an awesome amp).

[Pilgrim]

Looks great there!

I suspect that a lack of popularity may have been linked to its parametric EQ, which most shade tree musicians haven't a clue how to use. 

And I checked specs - yup, at about 26 pounds it's not a featherweight.  OTOH, that's not an unreasonable weight for an amp.  It ought to be a good one...let us know.

[jumbodbassman]

don't know much about the peavey's other than the marK  which is actually a great head.   Avatar stuff is very good but i don't have his neo stuff....

[ack1961]

Looks great there!

I suspect that a lack of popularity may have been linked to its parametric EQ, which most shade tree musicians haven't a clue how to use. 

And I checked specs - yup, at about 26 pounds it's not a featherweight.  OTOH, that's not an unreasonable weight for an amp.  It ought to be a good one...let us know.

Damn!..and to think that one of my goals was to someday get to shade tree musician level.  I may be doing this bass-ackwards.

Yeah, there's lots of dials and tumblers on this thing, but the manual is great and the cheat sheets let you dial in a sound (based on the dial setting pictures) and you can tweak it from there to taste.

I think this head is 10 lbs. lighter than the Mark VIII head.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

this:

I suspect that a lack of popularity may have been linked to its parametric EQ, which most shade tree musicians haven't a clue how to use. 

It's a very nice amp, at least from a user perspective. They don't sell well enough to get an accurate view on longevity or build quality.

[Pilgrim]

If that amp is half as bulletproof as the Peavey Mark Vxx series, it will be a total winner.

[ack1961]

Q: How do you know when your rack tuner is the biggest POS on the planet?
A: When you use the edge of it as a clip-on surface for your $10 Snark

[Psycho Bass Guy]

If that amp is half as bulletproof as the Peavey Mark Vxx series, it will be a total winner.

The problem is that those amps are made overseas and if they are anything like other recent Peavey MI amps, potentially unserviceable in practical terms.

[ack1961]

The problem is that those amps are made overseas and if they are anything like other recent Peavey MI amps, potentially unserviceable in practical terms.

Since both my Mark VIII & this Pro 500 were made in the US (Meridian, MS), it might not cost me a fortune to send my Mark VIII there for some TLC.  We'll see - still looking for someone in NC who will look at/service Peavey amps.

[rahock]

No experience with that amp but I've been using that Avatar cabinet for a couple of years and I'm very happy with it. I'm using a 4ohm cab and I've run a 400watt Seymour Duncan head and am currently using a Genz Benz Shuttle 600watt head and I've been loving it. If you're going to run at 2ohms to get the full 500watts out of that amp, it should sound great. If it's a 4ohm cab and you're only getting 350 watts it will still probably sound good because it doesn't take that much power to get those speakers moving , but the full 500 would make it really sing. One thing I changed on my cab was replacing the mounting screws for the speakers. They come mounted with something like a drywall screw and I had a bit of intermittent rattle, so I swapped them out for some TBolt anchors and put a little Loctite on them and it's been rock solid ever since.
Rick

[ack1961]

Thanks, Rick.  When/if I get that Avatar 212, I'll open it up and have a look at the mounting screws.
So far, this head is stout paired with the 210/115, but I'm always looking to jump on a good deal.