Sonny

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http://geocities.com/sonbone1
sonbone@geocities.com

The 112 is a great little amp but, IMHO, Peavey has been reaching for the great steel amp tone they achieved in the Session 400 and LTD 400 in the 70s. They made lots of changes and added lots of features but I feel that the amps lost their soul. Please note that this is ONLY MY OPINION. I'll take my old Session 400 over ANYTHING Peavey has made since. The LTD is the same amp in a smaller cabinet. The Sarno/Fox mod is the way to go if you caps are starting to dry up and the amp needs a general 'going over'. Send it to Ken. You won't regret it. Of course, if it ain't broke there's no need to fix it.

Once again, just my opinion.

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whats everyone take on the new Nashville 112

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It's not so new anymore. It's been out a few years. Peavey has sold tons of these amps. If you read the posts like Jack suggested, you will find that the overwhelming response is that it is a very good sounding amp. It's light-weight makes it particularly flexible and vesatile solution for both rehearsals and gigging in small to medium sized clubs. Many people gig with a pair since they are so light, giving the extra punch they might want for a large club while still maintaining the light weight and flexibility advantages of using one when only one is needed, which is most of the time. I won't do any name-dropping, but if you read the threads in the Electronics forum, many major players are using them as their amp of choice. IMO, it is the best thing Peavey has ever done, their fantastic earlier amps not withstanding.

Then I put the Rains through a Nashville 112.
It took longer to find a decent tone, but it was still a bit honky.

I tried a Steel King, at Bobbe Seymour's and didn't find it was something I wanted.

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Lee, from South Texas
Down On The Rio Grande

Mullen U-12, Excel 8-string Frypan, Evans FET-500, Fender Steel King

Fred, what I mean by honky is a nasal tone quality.

[This message was edited by Brint Hannay on 14 November 2006 at 08:50 PM.]

I've been a confirmed tube amp lover since I started playing guitar a real long time ago. I especially tend to like the scooped-mids blackface/silverface Fender tone stack. From from my conversation with Bob, I think he does also. Even on steel, a good Deluxe Reverb or Twin Reverb at moderate volume is my model for great tone, but depending on the situation, I often find I can't get enough clean juice from them, hence my interest in finding alternatives.

I have had an LTD 400 for a while now - I agree it's a good-sounding amp, but I also think mine tends to sound a bit "honky" when pushed - like Brint, I also mean nasally in the midrange. I've been meaning to modify the tone stack a bit, but haven't yet gotten around to it. I find I can dial this honkiness out a bit better on my Session 500, but at 85 pounds, it's just too big and heavy for a lot of gigs.

So, I spent a couple of days checking both the NV 112 and Steel King out at Bobbe's this summer. I liked them both - I just plugged a variety of guitars straight in, no external effects, and tried to hear the tone of each amp with a wide variety of settings and guitars. However, even though I usually prefer the Fender tone stack, I liked the NV 112 sound better, not to mention the smaller size and weight. To my ears, the sound is warm, but less honky than previous designs. Of course, it depends on the guitar and other factors like pickups, effects, and so on. But if I preamp with a black box, I can even live with a Tele straight into the NV 112 - it's very clean, but still has a good sound. An archtop jazz guitar sounds great straight in. The NV 112 also works very well with a Pod to quickly vary tones between steel and guitar - so much so, that this is what I use as my standard gig setup right now.

To my ears, the Steel King had a more scooped-midrange sound than the NV 112. To my tastes, just a bit more scooped than I wanted. Naturally, this may be exactly what floats many boats. But to my tastes, Bobbe's LDG and Emmons P/P just came alive with the NV 112 - nice warmth, and I was able to dial out the annoying honkiness. But it may be a bit midrangey for some people or situations.

One problem up Nawth here is that it's hard to find a store with a NV 112 or Steel King to try, much less both to do a critical comparison. But, of course, I think it's important to listen for oneself to really hear what's going on.

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Will someone please tell me what Honky is supposed to mean?

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Fred, to most players, it means having a strong "nasal" quality in the sound. Lots of high mid range in the sound, but no real "body" or fullness. The overall impression is that there's not enough bass...like the sound you used to get from an old portable TV set.

Don't forget that a "tone mod kit" would've never came about unless there was a Nashville 400 to begin with. There is no science to the Nashville 400 tone circuit, only years and years of experience in designing steel guitar amplifiers and finding out what works and what doesn't! It's like a recipe, ie; it takes a few try's to get it right.

On the other hand, it is easy to swap parts in an circuit existing amplifier circuit. I suspect that the "Hot Rod" Deluxe was a result of Fender engineers improving the tone circuit that they had created in the first place. I believe that we know our amplifiers better than anyone and have the right to change or improve our products when we believe that it will benefit our customers. Our relentless pursuit of improving our products is evident by our involvement in the design of steel amplifiers since 1973.

We originally had problems with the JBL speakers in the Session 400. JBL engineers told us that "there is not a steel guitarist that will need an amp that is rated at 200 watts". Therefore, the Peavey Black Widow was designed and introduced in the original Session 400. Also, this design featured our replaceable basket.

Plus, how do "you" know that "Peavey had experienced a lot of speaker failures in their steel amps"? Do you see and know about all of the speakers failures of all manufacturers transducer products? What is "a lot"? The Black Widow speaker is one of the most reliable speakers in the world.

Our engineers did not "limit the bass response" because of the LeMay kits! The low frequency response was limited on the opened back Session 400(1973) so that when that tenth string on the C6th neck was dropped, the speaker would not jump out of the cabinet. Maybe JBL realized this as well? Limiting the low end response doesn't have anything to do with mid range of a speaker.

I would appreciate it if you would verify these "stories" with me before you spread those rumors. Again, the Nashville 400 was designed in early 1980, which is long before the mod kits surfaced. Let's put the horse before the cart. We reserve the right to improve our products.

I'll address the issues one at a time.

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..how do "you" know that "Peavey had experienced a lot of speaker failures in their steel amps"?

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Mike, I believe you answered that one yourself...

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We originally had problems with the JBL speakers in the Session 400. JBL engineers told us that "there is not a steel guitarist that will need an amp that is rated at 200 watts". Therefore, the Peavey Black Widow was designed and introduced in the original Session 400.

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Designing and tooling up to make your own speakers probably cost many millions. Peavey wouldn't have done that if the JBL's were adequate, or if they'd have been receptive to some "design changes". (Obviously, they weren't.)

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Don't forget that a "tone mod kit" would've never came about unless there was a Nashville 400 to begin with.

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Well, that's hard to speculate. The tone mod kit was offered by LeMay for other Peavey amps, as well. Obviously, someone else besides me thought the NV 400 wasn't the only amp that needed improvement.

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Our engineers did not "limit the bass response" because of the LeMay kits!

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I didn't say that. (Go back and check my un-edited pos, if you like.) Actually, it was the other way around. LeMay offered the mod because Peavey engineers had limited the bass response.

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Limiting the low end response doesn't have anything to do with mid range of a speaker.

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I suspect that the "Hot Rod" Deluxe was a result of Fender engineers improving the tone circuit that they had created in the first place.

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Well, that's nice that you give them the credit. I rather suspect that Fender caught wind of what "others" were doing to their amps (in the way of circuit changes and parts swapping), and decided to offer something similar to, shall we say, "capitalize" on those improvements.

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The Black Widow speaker is one of the most reliable speakers in the world.

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No argument there. I'll even add the Scorpion to that statement!

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I believe that we know our amplifiers better than anyone and have the right to change or improve our products when we believe that it will benefit our customers.

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Yeah, yeah. I just keep wondering..."If it hadn't been for LeMay, would there ever have been a Peavey "mod kit"? Hard to say. I do wish it hadn't taken over a decade, though, and someone else's...uhh..."impetus" to get the ball rolling!

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I would appreciate it if you would verify these "stories" with me before you spread those rumors. Again, the Nashville 400 was designed in early 1980, which is long before the mod kits surfaced.

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These aren't "stories" Mike, they're opinions (and should be treated as such). Peavey amps (IMHO) were significantly improved (first) by someone else. 'Ya can't win 'em all! To your credit, you did finally respond to your customers. (And remember, JBL didn't!)

In closing, I'd like to say that I certainly do appreciate all that Peavey has done for the steel community. They are trying very hard. They have Mike as a very responsive customer service rep, and they are the only large company that seems committed to the steel player, at this point.

Fender? Well, after I constantly chided them about Peavey "cleaning their clock", they've finally come out with one steel amp (in the past few decades). Big whoop! They'll have to do a lot more to impress me.

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Turn Up The Steel
Johnny Cox
MSA Steel Guitars

Geo
FYI - NV400, NV112, Fender Twin Reverb, Fender 59' RI Bassman & 63 Fender Pro. 80% of the time I use the 112, for jobs needing more oooooopphhhhh, I slave the 63 Pro with an extention speaker.

[This message was edited by George Mc Lellan on 23 November 2006 at 07:51 AM.]