I Tried Using An Old Peavey PA Head As A Guitar Amp

[@DannyO-j4q]

My first guitar amp in the 70s was a tube PA - something made in the late 50s for school assemblies I think. I didn't know about impedance matching then, but I did have to buy an adaptor to the 4 pin mic connector. It sounded great with my Japanese Les Paul copy (no-name w/ bolt neck.)

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

Right on. I’ve seen old pa conversion amps like that and have always wanted to try one. I think they’re called Bogen amps?

[@DannyO-j4q]

@@Chucksguitargeekery Thanks, but no, it wasn't a Bogen. They were a lot better than what I had. I had a budget portable PA unit. It had one speaker in a case with the amp. The amp sat on the bottom and the speaker was on top vertically. I'm pretty sure that it was made in Chicago. Once at a basement birthday party gig someone spilled beer on it, and it shorted. I gave it to a friend who wanted to cannibalize it for the transformers.

[@dddd717]

You should check out sunn pa’s the solid state versions can get gritty on there own

[@jdram58]

I play through an old Yamaha powered mixer Pawn shop special what the hey whatever works its just a hobby can play my bass or guitars and vocals

[@Whickedlee]

used the Realistic 100 watt pa from Radio Shack and a 12 inch home stereo speaker doused in hairspray. our van was robbed and i had no rig for a few months. i hooked a Metal Zone pedal to the PA and played a bunch of gigs. good times.the 90s were fun. I recall playing with it on a bill with John Cugar Concentrationcamp. that PA was my rig opening for Guitar Wolf as well. embarassing but cool.

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

Right on, there’s more than one way to get loud 🤷‍♂️

[@andrewcorrea5414]

Found this head with latched front and back doors and the speaker boxs x2 horn 4x10 and 10,12 speakers FREE BY A TRASH CAN!!!!! Just have to add a silicone to one speaker and ordered the horn for 2 bucks and all set to party 🎈!!!!!!

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

That’s a hell of a find! These Peavey’s last forever

[@jessebreakspear6656]

Leslie West from Mountain famously used a Sunn Coliseum tube PA for the guitar. not sure if he jumpered the 4 channels or had them rewired to cascade but either way it was probably the hairiest all-tube sound for the time. sometimes history can repeat in a cool fun way though. a mixer or a PA with send return jacks for each channel would be super fun to cascade all the channels

[@Xmurphy28]

I think Sunn might have helped WEST with the setup that night. Bill Eberline was probably involved. Mr West was all about the "TONE", I saw Mountain PERFORM in Miami in 1969 at the Jackie Gleason Theater and West's Guitar could be heard over everything as it was driven by a Sunn Coliseum P.A. Amplifier that was cranked. I will never forget hearing and feeling the famous Leslie Wes TONE? Humbucker was his second language.

[@zeestripes325]

I have done that same thing on the same mixer but I remember hooking up a Roland GP-8 stereo effects through it so I could hear the stereo mode. It was fun! Glad to see other experimenters out there sharing this type of content.

[@dave-eb7vk]

Bought a mouse nest infested old Kustom amp and cabinet at a farm consignment auction for 7 bucks. Turns out it had 2 mint 15 inch peavey black widows in the cabinet. Put them in a free cabinet someone gave me. Run an old peavey pa head with it. Got the pa head for 90 bucks. Great 97 dollar guitar amp.

[@anthonyman8008]

That's a blessing!

[@BonafideToolJunkie]

Not so great for the homeless mice.

[@squirelova1815]

Whoa...you're like a Buck Dharma reincarnation or something with Elliot Easton mixed in. You definitely have what every player strives for though- unique style.

[@vav413]

I love that guitar! the headstock is cracking me up but it's badass. great playing bro

[@RamMasterRay]

It's a birth control guitar. With anything cooler looking, he would be swarmed by hordes of women.

[@jonsampson9714]

The Peavey XR600B is a bulletproof, made in the USA working man's PA Mixer. At one time I had 3 of these. This is now my backup if my Mackie 808S ever fails. I also use it on occasion to run additional speakers if I play a bigger room. With that said. I can see where this would make a beast of a guitar amp as it has a two ohm minimum load, meaning you can run four - eight ohm speaker cabs from this one amp. Like I said, it's a real beast!!!!!

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

Indeed a beast! My dad gigged with this one through the 80’s and early 90’s. Then it served me through high school and college bands. This was even in a flooded basement and submerged at one point. Still kickin’

[@pherman8852]

I’ve had one for years…it keeps blowing the output transistors, but a funny story: I was playing through it in my room, smelled something, and when I turned around the cone on the speaker was on fire. I was on the second floor, but luckily there was a balcony in my room. I threw it off and the speaker cabinet burned up in the back yard. I’m not good anyway.

[@twowaymuir]

Hell, why not! Use anything that works. Played a Johnny Pro bass back in the late 80's and I used an old Kustom PA head and a custom homemade 2 - 12" cab a friend did not want any more and it had this cool raspy tone that had others asking me how I got that sound. Was playing bass in a 3 piece blues band for a bit at that time. That sure is an over the top More Paul guitar you have there. Did you make it?

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

Right on, I rocked an old Kustom PA200 head as a bass amp in high school. The guitar is actually a Musicvox Spaceranger I got as part of a big gear trade lol.

[@derekkeel6329]

DigiTech GNX ,left channel split into Crate PA-B4150 /2-15" PA's with horns; Acoustic 140 /2-10" PA's with horns. Right channel into Sonart 2-12" PA's with horns.

[@adamh7947]

Dude your playing is awesome.

[@frigglebiscuit7484]

ive got a peavey pa200 that i use with one of their 210 column speaker cabs. it looks fresh out of some 1978 rock concert.

[@BigJakeMusic]

The sound effects at the beginning are hilarious xD

[@danvankouwenberg7234]

That's my kind of shit man. Kinda sounded like an HM2 and then almost like a wave folding distortion. Very cool.

[@cudilleiro]

Why don'to you try to test this with a terror stamp from the loop out to this dinosaur? Testing hiZ and PWR AMP

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

Yes, with any guitar preamp you have, you can run it into the effects return/power amp in on a powered mixer and use it to drive a guitar cab if you want a lot of power. I’m sure you could peel paint off the walls with a good cab.

[@Catfish2255]

I just bought a mint condition MX-6..These are fine for just about anything.It's a powered eq amp.

[@cantfindamerica877]

So I says to myself, that’s a funny guitar carve right there. So this guy has a healthy sense of humor. Or he can shred with the masters? It looks like both are going on!

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

I try to keep it high and tight

[@diegoambrosio9121]

Excellent sound, brother! I am deciding on getting a PA head as an amp. Will you please try a tube preamp (Mesa V-Twin) with the PA head? (it might improve the sound) Appreciation for the video.

[@Elruido702]

Same here, did you end up going with the PA head ?

[@diegoambrosio9121]

@@Elruido702 I got a Ross System PA head, but it is not working. I am still to find time to take it to the shop. When I get it repaired, I'll post a message for sure.

[@Braineaters8]

@@diegoambrosio9121Did you perhaps get it fixed?

[@GoCreateSomething]

I'm sitting here in my computer room looking at one of those that hasn't been through a flood. Looks pretty pristine. I suspect the eq isn't all jacked too. You could probably use it like a clean amp with all your drive and distortion coming from pedals. That might be nice so you don't have to blow out your ears with the amp's level being maxed for distortion. Hmmm.... Time to buy some pedals! Thanks for this odd bit of inspiration.

[@michaelcarrasco4369]

Hey Chuck, have you tried running a Peavey Musician 400 Series guitar head amp with a Peavey 4 -12 speaker cab.

[@marcschleicher9383]

Sounds awesome! Great playing!

[@mr.anderson70]

I've used one of these as a bass head with an Ampeg DI pedal. One of my bandmates said he hates me. Cheap SVT.

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

A lot of people look down on Peavey users, I think we’re the smartest of the bunch 😊

[@anthonyman8008]

@@Chucksguitargeekery a buddy has one, I just seen it today! Wants 700 for it and speakers, but super mint! I was playing my 36" gong through, my latest video

[@matthewmurphy9779]

The ghost of Peavey strikes again!

[@kurtisacevedo5911]

nice playing dude,

[@crilf5830]

Try using a car Audio amp into 2x18 kicker woofers via a fuzz face.

[@patrickpuzzo416]

Thanks!

[@SkelaKing]

How are you recording the audio? Are you using direct input from the speaker out jacks or did you hook it up to some speakers

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

I actually used a Weber headphone tap on the speaker output, then sent that to a Mooer Radar for Impulse Responses, then I record right to my phone from there through a Roland Go:Mixer.

[@SkelaKing]

@@Chucksguitargeekery ahh gotcha. I’m trying to record the output from this directly and I’m wondering if the “main/monitor” outputs are line level. I know the speaker outputs will blow my interface without a headphone tap, but maybe the outputs on the front are a low enough signal?

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

I’m not sure, I’ve never used those on this, but I’m assuming line level. Or, maybe run it through a DI box with a signal pad on it first, just in case?

[@matthewjdouglas6471]

What speakers are you using please.

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

I have it running into a load box and then an impulse response in the Mooer Radar. It’s been a while, but I think I used an IR of an Orange 4x12? Can’t remember for sure.

[@matthewjdouglas6471]

@@Chucksguitargeekery thanks, I don't know what half of that is but it sounds great. I have a peavey 684f and 2x 10 inch 300 wat speakers. Was wondering if I could use all that as the amp and speaker for my electric guitar. I have a small practice amp but was gifted the peavey pa and prosound speakers.

[@ReverendHellbilly]

Wow.not bad.😈🍸🍸

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

I was really surprised by the way it distorted 🤷‍♂️

[@ReverendHellbilly]

@@Chucksguitargeekery yeah.I knew they are good for acoustic guitars,but wow crazy.I like that you cranked the mids.cheers

[@anthonyman8008]

@@Chucksguitargeekery did you see Game Changer's plasma pedals and channel strip yet. I'm subbing incase you do a review tbbnhrough this PA. thanks! I have a pretty expensive PA bass! Love Peavy.

[@jesselovett4934]

But will it chug?

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

I don’t want to infringe in a Swede’s territory to find out

[@jesselovett4934]

@@Chucksguitargeekery I'm sure Ola wouldn't mind lol

[@erikarabie]

Is this solid state?

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

Yep!

[@friedrich1957]

Kick myself for getting rid of mine. Killer bass head. 300watts @2 ohms. Swiss army knife for low budget musicians. Great as a vocal amp. Run your monitors. Acoustic guitar amp. Bulletproof gear.

[@MrMillsfrank]

No way this is real...

[@Chucksguitargeekery]

I plugged it in and cranked it up, that’s the sound it made 🤷‍♂️

[@hardluckharris]

Ugliest guitar I've ever seen but it sounds great

[@garethde-witt6433]

Like no one ever did this before 🙄

[@walterkersting9922]

Seems like it’s over qualified.