Peavey Backstage Plus

I've been a musician since elementry school. I've played all strings including guitars, plus some brass and percussion. I like all music but prefer metal and alternative.

My first amp was a joke. It was only a little pactice amp with a 3 inch speaker. My next amp was a 100 watt Fender Twin Reverb, which was stolen. My third amp was this Peavey Backstage Plus. My friend had a backstage so I thought I'd try it. I plugged in at the store, turned up the distortion and cranked out "Number of the Beast". It sounded great to the amazement of everyone in the store so I bought this amp, new in the box, at Lier's Music in Berdoo. I paid $159 for it in the 1980's.

I like this amp because you can get distortion out of it without a pedal. It is light weight and is easy to carry over to a friends house to jam. There is a master volume knob marked "POST" and there is a pre gain knob which you can pull for "bright". This pre and post combination allows you to create an over drive kind of distortion. plus there is a distortion knob for true distortion, and there is a knob to pull for even thicker distortion. This amp was made for metal and with the right tweaking, it can sound like a Marshal.

At only 35 watts, this is only a practice amp. You have to mic this amp to play with a drummer. The other draw back is the quality of the sound fades at higher volumes due to lack of power. Also a real distortion pedal like MXR Distortion Plus sounds better than the built in distortion.

I've had this amp since it was new in the 80's and it is still in great shape. The box is long gone but the plastic packaging which it came in is still in use as the dust cover.

This is now only a back up amp but is served as my main amp for several years of being played everyday.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I purchased this amp at A second hand shop called Cash Converters for $199 brand new. I bought the Peavey Backstage Plus for my first amp.
I didn't really know much about the amp until i played it.

What i LIKE about the Peavey Backstage Plus amplifier is that even though it was only 35 watts it still cranked a hell of a sound out and still does! It is also good about the thickness, and brightness enablement which you can do.
And also the 3 gain controls which was the back bone of the amp:
1. Pre
2. Saturation
3. Post
And the idea of the idea of the 3 Equalization knobs.
And it sounds excellent with an Effects Pedal - preferbly a Multi-Effects pedal...

What i DON'T like about the Peavey Backstage Plus is how you have to change the GAIN knobs to a certain setting to get your distortion effect which i found hard to find out after fiddling for a long time (as you do with most amps).
But what i really disliked about the unit is that it has NO VOLUME control, yes NO VOLUME control which is really annoying and like i said you need to fiddle with the gain controls to get the distortion and the volume of the amp unless you use an Effects pedal which i do.
And last but not least is the x3 Equalization knobs... They don't really contribute to the sound that you want as much as you would hope so.

The construction is a 10" inch speaker (believe so - estimation - pretty sure) and the amp is a versitile amp for back-up settings and good for a solid performer of any type and age...
And the quality rating is pretty much good.

Look... If you're a person who doesn't care about size of Amps well this is definetely for you no questions asked. It is a great solid construction for all types of guitar players... But for me i still think i will stick with Marshall...

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Transistor amplifier made in US
35 Watts
summary connectors: 3 jacks between 6.35 monos + Phone + instrument between SECOND behind the amp.
Basic Rglages: gain (2 normal positions / bright), distortion, volume, 3-band eq, reverb ...
But, voil much more meaningful relationship than what I could tell:



USE

The standard configuration is what.
A manual ... pff ... Do not be a picnic granny on either highway!

SONORITS

Yes! This gives a good sound.
with what is called a guitar ... prfrence Electric Guitar ...

With a Fender means the Fender sound with Gibson, Gibson fat sound with guitar Vibracel, sound cingl ... the problem is that I have to sell this bullshit guitar ...
The feedback is dlirants.
The reverb allows psychdliques dlires not piqus beetles either.

Yet the


NOTICE GLOBAL

This is my first amp and c'tait.
A damn good thing at inspiring creation.
I saw a live Pixies on Youtube o grateux soloist uses a Peavey Backstage like. He gives her shots in feet!
In fact, the block rverbe spar as the rack of the amp (the block is rverb attach to the bottom of the amp, rsultat, when playing is that you would need to do dplacer the amp, the slightest shock dclenche an effect completely dlirant!)
The sound is anyway very good and faithful instrument is used.

Voil.

Transistor amplifier made in U.S.
35 Watts
connectors summary: 4 6.35 2 inputs jacks instru + phone.
Basic settings: gain (2 positions normal / bright), distortion, volume, 3 band eq, reverb ...
But, here is a link talking much more than what I could tell:


UTILIZATION

What configuration is standard.
Relatively easy to carry device.
May well be used for small concerts (without battery but then double pedal and drummer crazy ..)

A manual? ... Oh ... Do not make picnic granny on the highway either!

SOUNDS

Yes! This gives a good sound.
with what is called a guitar ... Preferably electric guitar ...

With Fender, you hear the sound with a Fender Gibson Gibson sound fat with a guitar Vibracel, sound crazy ... the problem is that I have to sell this bullshit guitar ...
The feedback is delusional.
The reverb can not bitten psychedelic delirium beetles either.

Again:


OVERALL OPINION

This is my first amp.
1989! It has ... 23 years! Nickel and it works!
A damn thing good at inspiring creation.
I saw a live Pixies on Youtube where grateux soloist uses a Peavey Backstage like this. It gives kicks in!
In fact, I made myself an observation: the reverb block is separated from the amp rack (Reverb block is attached to the bottom of the amp) when playing and that we need to even that moving the unit, the smallest shock triggers an effect on the sound completely crazy.
The sound is anyway very good and faithful to the instrument being used.
No chemical or Chinese there!
That's it.
If anyone is interested, I sell the mine is impeccable.
Bye.