Peavey Penta, any good, or easily modded?

[Hardvalve]

There is a Peavey Penta for dirt cheap here locally, I understand these are handwired, with high end components. I have found some info on them, but kind of limited. I know these were made to be the Rossington model, but that never really panned out. Anyone owned one, spent time with one, or have good info on them? How about modding one for better tone? I am mostly a modern metal player, but do like some classic tones as well. Any input would be great.

[Hardvalve]

Nobody, huh??

[ManofWar55]

Be our guinea pig. Do it.

[Hardvalve]

 

Be our guinea pig. Do it.

 

 

No way, I need some input first. Somebody has to have played one of these.....WTF!!!

[Dolf]

I've played two of these, they were absolutely terrible in every way and produced not a single usable sound. JME

 

I would rather use a solid state randall or a modeler for any situation over the Penta. And I'm a snobby tube snob.

[Hardvalve]

 

I've played two of these, they were absolutely terrible in every way and produced not a single usable sound. JME I would rather use a solid state randall or a modeler for any situation over the Penta. And I'm a snobby tube snob.

 

 

This is useful.....What a shame.

[charveldan]

Keyword: "dirt"

[Dolf]

I would PLAY IT first and see if you like it. Might jive with you.

 

I remember getting a shitload of hate from some guy on here last time the penta came up and I gave my opinion It's just an opinion, those vary from person to person

[Gary Cohn]

It's a peavey.

 

 

This means that it's basically a crate/piecer. Glad I could help.

[Hardvalve]

 

It's a peavey. This means that it's basically a crate/piecer. Glad I could help.

 

 

I personally am not a big Peavey guy, but LOTS of people have made good use of 5150s. This was supposed to be a handwired high end amp, and an attempt to break into the "boutique" market. I would not rate this the same as a Crate, that may be a bit of a stretch.

[wrongnote85]

how much is dirt cheap?

[Hardvalve]

 

how much is dirt cheap?

 

 

400.00

[dunning-kruger]

Whats peoples gripes with peavey? 5150? Classic 30? Peavey xxx? what the hell you might not like all of them but they where great none the less. I agree crates suck balls, but peavey is in another league.

 

I say give it a go, for 400 its definately worth a look at. made in the USA and what knot, point to point, hand made. Really arent you curios to see how this thing sounds stock and just keep it? It might cost 60 bucks to mod it at a local amp tech anyway. im saying its going to sound like a JCM800 with more gain but who the hell knows?

 

OH and 5 voicing, and 140 watts, must be alot of bottom end.

[Hardvalve]

 

Whats peoples gripes with peavey? 5150? Classic 30? Peavey xxx? what the hell you might not like all of them but they where great none the less. I agree crates suck balls, but peavey is in another league. I say give it a go, for 400 its definately worth a look at. made in the USA and what knot, point to point, hand made. Really arent you curios to see how this thing sounds stock and just keep it? It might cost 60 bucks to mod it at a local amp tech anyway. im saying its going to sound like a JCM800 with more gain but who the hell knows? OH and 5 voicing, and 140 watts, must be alot of bottom end.

 

 

I could mod it, just was wondering about the stock tone, and people's experiences. 400.00 is cheap for sure, and seems like a better made amp according to their sales pitch...The new Gary Rossington is the same supposedly, and it is 1399.00 street.

[dunning-kruger]

when it comes to peavey I notice when they come out with a new version of the same amp, nothing really changes in the transition, aside from the moddeling and ss amps. The new Gary watchamacalet is probly a repackaged version of the same amp. Like for example a classic 50 and a classic 30. the only diffrence is the tremolo circut. Fender deluxe and fender blues deluxe same thing just one has tweed and the other dosent.

 

your just getting the one with the older skin on her hahahahah, same girl underneath hehehehehe.

[DrakkarTyrannis]

From what I understand the Penta didn't go over well with people. It had a couple sounds..but the XXX mode was horrid trash. Modded it fares a lot better as FJA and others have proven. If you get it, try it out..then mod the phuck out of it.

[Kardula]

I hated the ones I playes. The concepts was cool, but the tone were just terrible.

[ENdtime]

The low to medium gain tones were actually ok. nothing new or mind blowing, but definitely solid and a boost on the lower gain modes was cool. The high gain sounds were just way off. Not really sure what happened there. Considering PVs great high gain tones on their other amps this was nothing like the other hi gain PVs.

 

If you are a modern metal player then this won't come close.

 

For bluesy stuff to classic rock, its serviceable.

[Edge11]

Hook it up with a schematic and we'll see whats up.

[Ricky the rocker.]

The penta is a good amp hard to get rossingtons tone because his are modded not sure whats been done to them but if I had my guess it was a tube change. I know the maces Skynyrd used had groove tubes in them not sure what grade.

[Mark Wein]

I owned one for a while but it was so loud it was impossible to use.

[WRGKMC]

My buddy has a band is famous enough to have Peavey as a gear sponsor.  (Mark May of the Dickie Betts Band).  The amps they use are from Peavey's Pro line or gear which is way better then the junk sold to most consumers.  As a Technician I've done repair work on their pro line and its like day and night compared to the budget stuff.  

I highly doubt changing the tubes would make much of a difference.  Speakers?  Possibly.  Changing Speakers would create the biggest single change in amp tone. Tubes create a much smaller change in tone/drive.  Many guitar pedals can easily emulate/mask that tube difference by simply changing how much gain is fed to the various stages. 

From what I read the amps had an analog voicing control which rewired the amp to give the amp some crude amp modeling capabilities. Nothing ground breaking there even for an amp thats 14 years old.  My Ampeg V2/V4 amps had basic midrange modeling back in the 70's and was capable of sounding close to a Fender or Marshall depending on its settings. 

One thing about added circuitry you should always remember.  Small amounts of extra components can shape tone while producing negligible levels of tone/gain suck. Adding too many components will "always" cause diminishing returns. If the basic amp design has quality to spare, tone that wont be missed if the signal is routed through additional circuitry then the benefits may outweigh the results.

 If on the other hand the amp block is budget quality built with mediocre or even cheap components you probably haven't got much quality overhead to begin with. By the time you run the signals through a bunch of masking circuitry the signal degradation can wind up being quite severe.  There is no shortage of these kinds of amps out there. What seems like a great idea on paper may or my not translate to making it a workhorse. 

This goes for Tube and Solid State amps.  The latest amp I bought was a Peavey Valvetronic modeling amp.  Its probably made about the same time that Peavey was. The Vox uses a preamp tube as a power amp then rewires the tube to emulate several popular Class A, A/B tube amps. It then sends the signal to a SS power amp module to drive the speaker at loud volumes.  Does a fairly good job mimicking some of the tones but I've used the actual amps this one tries to mimic and my ears cant be tricked into believing they are substitutes for those amps. I can get some decent results recording but live its just not there. 

Its not just the tone either. Much of it has to do with the amps dynamic response to the guitar strings. You can take a dozen different pedals and mimic how a saturated Marshall amp sounds but its not going to come close to giving you the full range of gray tones which exist between 100% clean and full drive. Of course if you are dynamically monotone as a performer or don't play music that exploits the ranges between black and white then these kinds of budget quality modeling amps might be your ticket.  I'd advise staying away from the real deal however because an A/B comparison with the real deal will reveal the lackluster response all that extra circuitry produces. 

To be honest, I am not a huge fan of Peavey. I own or have owned many of their amps have never been a fan. Not only because I know how they are built but because I've owned so many quality amps over the years. 

Lastly, Modding amps is better left to the professionals. If you have a classic amp which can be hot rodded, that's one thing. many of those amp designs have been around since the 40's and making changes are pretty straight forward.  Modern amps are rarely good candidates for any kind of modding and you can usually forget the idea if it has PCB board. This particular model doesn't seen to have any schematics available. You'd be working blind making changes. You can do this with simple amps where everything is familiar. a complex amp that has a half dozen of more modeling circuits wired in, I wouldn't waste my brain power trying to mod that. It likely uses some rotary switches which already wires in most mods you might do and improving on that would require some analytical testing to be done, preferably on a computer screen using an electronics Cad program, the way this amp was originally designed. And If you're planning to do all that you can save all that hassle and expense by simply buying a more suitable amp to begin with.        

[xStonr]

[s7ephen555]

Peavey Penta (not the mussier Leonard Skinner’did’d burgundy or nuthin’).
 

I got one : i can rip {censored} up on one - I’m still disabled too, got 8 ribs out; top two on the right  ‘re a bitch in the collarbone and shoulder; anywho... thinking of getting another....hate of Peavey : that’s like the kids who didn’t wear toughskins that told the kids that wore toughskins that they weren’t a fashion statement...’course Peavey always does something ficked up : you just hope it’s somewhere it’s good - like the Penta White - don’t think toughskins came on anything but mocha up...kinda not really the colour that a product : made on high grade, of high grade, to be good enough on the schoolyard (rock and roll lives elsewhere?!?) When your rep’is can drop them down the stairs : maybe plan on another colour skeem other than white, no matter how good a douchebag  you  are:)!,..Back to me...!!!...rippen’ it - don’t hold back with a Peavey - aspire - be that military grade - be that star - eat demons for lunch - and rip that {censored} all the way to....well now, maybe let the drummer take care of that...he don’t have to worry about catching a ride at the crossroads - he got a car - ‘cause pizza’s always gotta be hot and tastie!!!  Peavey (now 2020) has had EVERY dial and switch and input and etc. Work in every model I’ve tried from manufacture in 1969 - 1974...its reverb is what taught my generation everything they needed to know about dead people: : :when I’m done - everybody’lll be seeing dead people!!! Finally - even a lot with a crackle : you can usually wiggle over the crackle and it disappears with play...

so : I’ve had a lot of Peavey products...beat all my Marshall amp stuff; though, not extensive : Fender got some good grit an’ can keep up ! !  !

They brought tech, precision, and ability to about the most insanely able dreamers in all of history; human kind...making a common man able to produce the storm - the fire - the magic of all that is rock and roll....I salute you Peavey: now quit being a bitch!

MINE ALSO GOES TO 11 ON EVERY DIAL !!!!

YEt, you only gotta be able to count to 5 to use it, but then you can start at the second being one : so you only gotta count to two......wait - hold on...count to two twos too....right : four....phew!!! only need to count to four, like that’s good ‘cause you can see how math can get’cha...too:)

And, like the Devils four time...not to two too to two too or nuthin’ to too, but ... anyhoo: ready to kick the devils ass!...

So, remember rock {censored}, kick the devils ass, and if your on a Peavyrip shot up .... and rip {censored} up anyway - like the DG - 355 ... pretty sure that one made me puke a bit ...in your mouth..BOO..!! So - Ya You!!! - Rock and You’ll only have major life problems....

oh, and I seen that rocky picture horror show  - only hetro guy gets chopped up with an axe - so it ain’t I donno you {censored}e...it’d’ud’did ... but I see you MF ass coming MF...!!!!....

So : get off Peavey’s {censored} !!!  ‘Cause it’s got a lot of asshole in its craw...well maybe that’s me: you get me - not as fun as you might think: my whole attention , we’ll look at the time: wasn’t one(ish) of you making by me breakfast 👀❤️❤️❤️: 👑 - out!