Peavey Bravo!

[ChewyNasalPrize]

Got one of these today really cheap. It's dirty as heck and looks like it's been sitting in someone's garage for the last 20 years but it fires up and sounds incredible! When I first started playing though, the volume slowly dropped down to a very low level even with everything maxed. It sounds fine for the first few minutes then it just kind of slowly and gradually drops off. I read online somewhere a suggestion to bridge the effects loop with a patch cable and THAT WAS IT! :tu: Jammed on it for about an hour and never did get it up over 5 because it is now SO loud!  :dbtu:

Do I have to keep the loop bridged or should a good cleaning take care of it?

I plan to crack it open tonight and check/clean it out and at least replace the stock speaker with a WGS Reaper 30 I have handy.

Does anyone have any experience with this amp? Thoughts? Suggestions?

Chews

[Enzo]

Squirt some contact cleaner into the return jack, then push a plug in and out quickly three or four times.   See if it works by itself now.

There is a cutout contact in the Fx return jack, and they can get dirty.  By spraying cleaner in it and pushing a plug in and out, we hopefully will clean those contacts.


Less likely, but possible would be a defective jack, or even a cracked solder conection.   But I am betting it is just dirt.


"Dirt" in this sense means electrical dirt, not actual dirt like muddy shoes track in.

[ChewyNasalPrize]

Thanks Enzo- Got it all apart now. Cleaning and scrubbing! Cleaning and scrubbing!  :tu:

Cobwebs, spider eggs, pennies and original Peavey Super 7 preamp tubes! Power tubes are unmarked but it doesn't look like it has every been opened. Sounds really good though. Wonder if new tubes would make much difference. It's dated 1990- the speaker is anyway.

Everything is cleaning up well but the reverb tank. It has several quarter-sized corrosion spots on the top. Works OK just really ugly.

[ChewyNasalPrize]

Ok- got 'er all cleaned up and speaker swapped. She sounds great and looks great! <3)

I did what you said Enzo for the effects loop jack and it seemed to fix it. Volume stays at the same level with the loop bridged or not. Thanks for that tip!

I left the tubes as is for now since it sounds fine to me. Might try swapping a few things out after I've played with it a while. I did pull the power tubes and "Made In USSR" is printed VERY lightly- almost missed it- but there is no brand name. Research suggests they might be Soveteks. Also heard Peavey may have used rebranded JJ or Sovetek 12AX7s for their "Super 7" tube. If the EL84s are Russian I suppose the rebranded AX7s could be as well. If these were made before 90 when the amp was built, I doubt they would be Chinese but who knows. At any rate, I'm very pleased with it.

The WGS Reaper helps a lot too. Makes it sound "bigger" and a little less harsh and mid-heavy than the stock Eminence.

All I got to say now about this amp is- "BRAVO!"  :dbtu:

[Roly]

Cleaning and scrubbing! Cleaning and scrubbing!  :tu:

...seems to be what techs spend most of their time doing. (sigh)


Just a point for future reference; when you get an amp that hasn't been powered up for more than a couple of years you should really bring it up gently the first time using a low power Limiting Lamp so the electrolytics in the power supply have a chance to re-form.  It is quite possible for caps that haven't been powered in a long time to go into leakage runaway and literally explode.  This may or may not do a lot of harm but you will need a change of underwear before you set about replacing them.

[ChewyNasalPrize]

Thanks Enzo!

[ChewyNasalPrize]

Update:

I changed the tubes and it really kicks but now!  :dbtu:

I got some Mullard EL84s new production and put those in first. My first impression was that they were thinner, quieter sounding and break up sooner than the stock tubes. I like the smooth breakup of the Mullards but I also like the full, low-end and clarity of the stock tubes.

I left the Mullards in though and tried swapping the Peavey Super 7 AX7s out for some tubes I already had on hand. After several combinations I found that a NOS JAN Philips 5751 in position 1 really added body, depth and put back that low-end the Mullards seemed to pull out. It also gives the clean channel a bit more headroom. Tried several other tubes including a NOS DW7 and AU7 (which both sounded more clean but had less "presence" I guess- quieter) and an Electro Harmonics AY7 which sounded great- clean and clear and sparkly. It also added depth like the NOS 5751 (though not quite as much) and also added a little more clean headroom than the 5751.

Then I put a Sovetek AX7LPS in position 3 which someone who tweaks Peavey's said this particular tube works well in the phase inverter slot. It did, nice clarity and fullness. I just happened to have this tube that came stock in an old Tube Works pedal.

Then I put a JJ 5751 in position 2 and didn't notice much if any difference from the stock Super 7. It sounded a little dark and muffled by comparison actually. But I put the Electro Harmonics AY7 in position 2 and it sounds MUCH better. The distortion is not as fizzy and it sounds full, strong and crunchy but the amp can still go REALLY over-driven if dialed that way. I can now get more of an old Plexi crunch in addition to all the overdrive I might ever want. If I had another NOS JAN Philips 5751, I bet it would work well in slot 2 also.

Leaving the Mullard EL84s in there for now since the low end seems to be back.

Gotta say I'm really thrilled with this little amp.  <3)

[Roly]

Gotta say I'm really thrilled with this little amp.  <3)

Excellent!   :dbtu: