Current state of Peavey Parts Department

[Leo_Gnardo]

Reminds me of the Dead Mall series on YT.

Hey, I think I saw the trans you need under some paperwork!

Naw, it's being used as a doorstop. To let the rats in. Surprised they haven't cashed it in for scrap, might get a nickel a pound. That's where the bad one's going. At this point, maybe the whole amp.

[gbono]

Sad story about Peavey service - another US company building off shore to avoid tax burden in US. The company I work for not only makes money on service and parts but we repair/calibrate competitors gear. This would never happen in the MI world.

[Enzo]

Taxes? Maybe, but really, labor and materials. The parts would gave come from China anyway, but would have to be imported here. And certainly Wang gets paid a lot less than Bubba, not to mention bennies. It may be sad, but still a fact of life in manufacturing. I think taxes are just a tiny part of it.

I may be overlooking the obvious, but I can't think of any MANUFACTURERS offhand who support competitors' products. Sure a Chevy DEALER will service Ford cars, but GM itself won't. In this industry, my shop was authorized for Peavey, but also Fender, and Marshall, And oh just a pile of others, and none of those companies said anything negative about supporting competitors. WHile their shops authorized to do repairs were free to service others as well, Peavey themselves would never take in Fender products for repair, and for that matter, Fender would feel the same toward their competitors. But Peavey would not have any of the parts or documentation needed to service Fender and vice versa. Just as Ford would not have Chevy door panels or bumpers.

[g1]

I may be overlooking the obvious, but I can't think of any MANUFACTURERS offhand who support competitors' products. Sure a Chevy DEALER will service Ford cars, but GM itself won't.

At a fleet level it can sometimes happen. We have an old highways truck that is GMC, but the motor at some point was rebuilt by Ford and has an official Ford metal tag on the engine indicating this. At the time, Ford will have had the maintenance contract to service all the Hwy. Dept. vehicles, whatever brand.
I think this may also happen in the aircraft industry.

[Jazz P Bass]

I was in need of a PV14BT schematic today.
Chris answered the call by the 3rd ring and emailed the schematic at once.

[Leo_Gnardo]

I was in need of a PV14BT schematic today.
Chris answered the call by the 3rd ring and emailed the schematic at once.

I'm pleased to hear a good response. I wonder if it signals a better trend at Peavey Parts or was it just a fluke?

[Enzo]

There is almost no one there. Even dependable Roger suggested ordering from a parts house like Full Compass.

[SoulFetish]

Probably not going to get better. I’m not going to lie, this should scare me. But im not sure it does.
peavey had over 3 decades to fo something to elevate it’s brand; beginning with ditching their cheap, terrible logo in the 70’s.
They were an American company with some good sounding, well made, and reliable amps. But they chased the cheapest part of ths market into China…
its over for them

[g1]

It seems that Fender may also be chasing that same business model.

[Enzo]

Peavey held out a hell of a lot longer than most. It is like a drowning man. He holds his breath as long as possible, but eventually he has to take that first lung full of water. For most of my decades as a Peavey service center, they stood head and shoulders above the rest in terms of support. That 80s 90s stuff should run forever. And when it didn't it was easy to repair and was well supported. They kept parts on hand far longer than most. In my view their brand was well elevated. They fought the China thing tooth and nail for a long time.. Eventually they realized you cannot sell $600 practice amps.

[SoulFetish]

was[/B] well elevated. They fought the China thing tooth and nail for a long time.. Eventually they realized you cannot sell $600 practice amps.

you and I fix amps, so I thought they were a good company as well. But to the consumer, they were a cheap brand. Thats unfortunate.

[Enzo]

Indeed. But I tell you, there were tons of guys who played through PV amps with the logos removed or covered in tape, so the unwashed masses couldn't tell they were PVs. The musicians knew. The transtube Bandit was an all time popular amp.

[The Dude]

Don't forget the old CS series amps. I had a band bring me an entire P.A back in the day. They had rolled their truck and busted up most of their gear. 2 racks of CS800's kept right on working. They didn't even have to be opened up. Those things were indestructible. I don't know about elsewhere, but up in my neck of the woods, that had to be the most sold amp ever. I couldn't begin to count the number of those things I fixed back when they were popular- and not because they were poorly made. It was most always due to abuse.

Those days are, except for a few diehards, gone. The venues aren't there anymore and most bands don't carry around trucks full of gear like they once did. It's hard for a musician to justify spending a ton of money on gear as a business investment, so cost has become a primary factor- sadly, even over reliability. I don't really blame Peavey. The market just isn't what it used to be. You have to build what sells and what sells these days is primarily cheap crap. And, why support it with parts? It's more economical to replace it. The consumer has gotten exactly what he asked for.

In this disposable world, the problem for techs is that the consumer still expects us to fix gear that has no documentation or parts support. Not only that, but they expect us to do the repairs at a lower rate since they bought the product at a lower price. I find myself telling customers to "just go buy another one" more and more often as time goes by. Last summer, one of the schools had a shadow program where they send kids out to businesses to learn about careers they might be interested in. This kid asked me for some advice on being a bench tech. I told him my best advice would be to pick a different career.

[SoulFetish]

That makes me nervous, dude.

As far as peavey goes, the VTM is a great sounding all around rock n roll amp. Way underrated.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Don't forget the old CS series amps. I had a band bring me an entire P.A back in the day. They had rolled their truck and busted up most of their gear. 2 racks of CS800's kept right on working. They didn't even have to be opened up. - - This kid asked me for some advice on being a bench tech. I told him my best advice would be to pick a different career.

Wish I could put a straight line from A to B . . . those PV CS series amps were indestructible. And I did run into them on installations - relabeled & sometimes with panels removed.

Yes, pick a different career.