We Lost Our Identity | Inside Peavey’s Return to Roots

[CorrosiveMatter]

Maybe talk about coming back to the US for some manufacturing... maybe.

I think they are still lost and it makes me sad. Some of my favorite amps were the good old Peavy stuff and Hartley hates the thought of reissues but the innovation they have shown for many years were Invective, solid state amps, and a reissue?

 

[dronerstone]

I dunno, I believe they're somewhat misunderstood or ignored outside the Van Halen and stoner/doom "CVLT" crowds.

They could very well tap into that and add a few more pedals to their preamp portfolio.

Standard 260? Musician? I'd definitely consider.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

I thought Peavey were done and dusted. I genuinely didn't realise they still existed in any form.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Every guitarist and bassist I've known here in the States has had a Peavey of some sort, at some point in their guitar life. They were always tough, priced well, unique and versatile. Like many companies, you can have a number of bad years for various reasons and have a very hard time recovering. A lot don't recover. I hope Peavey can because it's an American brand to be proud of imo.

 

[LCW]

Seems like they were maybe trying this so called comeback with that Josh Homme Peavey combo.

Edit: Peavey Decade

 

[LCW]

The aversion to reissues sounds an awful lot like Randal Smith.

 

[AutomationBias]

Maybe I'm the exception, but I have no fond memories of Peavey amps. I grew up in the ruralish south and that was pretty much the only brand you could get at any of the local stores. This was before the internet, so we were all stuck with it.

 

[BFRaid]

I picked up the new Decade pedal, and it sounds exactly like the amp. It is very cool and flexible, I got it mainly to color some rhythm tracks in the studio. It was pricey, but I was looking for a certain retro sound, and it nailed it. If you are looking for retro, this pedal is awesome.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Dump the shitty Skynrd amp schtick as and get back to the OG 5150. Reskin the XXX while you are at it. Rebuild the Bandit line to dump on the Katana while you are at it.

 

[nicolasrivera]

Unfortunately, Peavey will remain nothing more than a memory.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Dump the shitty Skynrd amp schtick as and get back to the OG 5150. Reskin the XXX while you are at it. Rebuild the Bandit line to dump on the Katana while you are at it.

They're actually the one brand I can say -- yes, you need to still make the classic models that got you on the map, but aesthetically... redesign them. The old style is charming, and it brings back a bit of nostalgia... but it's no Fender or Marshall charming. Looks shouldn't matter, but they do.

 

[JiveTurkey]

They're actually the one brand I can say -- yes, you need to still make the classic models that got you on the map, but aesthetically... redesign them. The old style is charming, and it brings back a bit of nostalgia... but it's no Fender or Marshall charming. Looks shouldn't matter, but they do.

Oddly enough; the red stripe Bandit is one that could generally stay as is, imo. The rest? Time for a fresh coat of paint. And maybe a resize to not be the size of 2 cinder blocks side by side

 

[MirrorProfiles]

“we lost our identity” seems to correspond with whatever psychedelics Peavey seem to have been consuming for some time.

 

[0XI0]

mississippi bEErEEnger

 

[metropolis_4]

Dump the shitty Skynrd amp schtick as and get back to the OG 5150. Reskin the XXX while you are at it. Rebuild the Bandit line to dump on the Katana while you are at it.

Is it schtick though? I mean, nobody slams Fender, Marshall, Vox, Mesa, Soldano, etc. for releasing amps featuring their brand’s classic styling.

Agree on the Bandit line and OG 5150!

 

[Frodebro]

Maybe talk about coming back to the US for some manufacturing... maybe.

Hartley was one of the few people fighting against the trend of outsourcing manufacturing, and was extremely outspoken about it. But the rest of the market went that route, so eventually Peavey was forced to do the same to keep prices competitive.

 

[MatrixClaw]

As soon as that Undercover Boss episode aired, they went downhill immediately. Then they lost all competitive advantage as soon as they decided to move all production to China. Peavey used to stand for solid amps (and guitars), made in the USA, at a good price. I think most people would've rather seen their amps increase in price rather than move offshore.

Moreover, they stopped innovating. They released the Invective but it was impossible to get and by the time stores started stocking them, the public had lost interest and moved to EVH. EVH became the new go-to for the high gain sound that they had pioneered for decades. They haven't released anything new outside their original designs as a base in almost 20 years, but making reissues isn't really feasible for most of their amps because they are plentiful and available on the used market for cheap still.

The main advantage that Peavey had over its competition is that you could get a USA made amp for a grand or less. No other brand could even compete in that range, so they flooded the lower end market. The only real step up in the US was Mesa and now they're 2-3x as expensive, but they were always considered higher end amps, whereas Peavey were budget amps. Peavey either has to compete with low end modelers now or they need to release new designs with features that compete with higher end brands and most likely bring production back to the US for those amps

 

[FuzzyAce]

I mean, nobody slams Fender, Marshall, Vox, Mesa, Soldano, etc. for releasing amps featuring their brand’s classic styling.

Because their classic styling looks better.
The ones that are cool from Peavey tended to borrow aesthetics from the brands above.

 

[dronerstone]

I love the "would survive nuclear war" aesthetics of the heavy-ass solid-state Peavey heads from the 70s.

 

[Frodebro]

As soon as that Undercover Boss episode aired, they went downhill immediately. Then they lost all competitive advantage as soon as they decided to move all production to China. Peavey used to stand for solid amps (and guitars), made in the USA, at a good price. I think most people would've rather seen their amps increase in price rather than move offshore.

The company was already in deep shit long before that Undercover Boss thing aired. In fact, they were so fucked that I seriously doubt that TV show would have caused any more damage than they had already self inflicted upon themselves.