When we think of the earliest electric guitar amps, names like Rickenbacker, Gibson, Vox, Marshall and Fender will often be the first that come to mind. Peavey came into the picture not too long after, with the company dating way back to 1965.
Founder Hartley Peavey – the son of a music store owner in Meridian, Mississippi – was a guitar player who dreamed of becoming a rock star, but quickly found he was better suited to building the equipment being used by working musicians.
This led to him acquiring his first patent in 1964 and starting the company from the upstairs room of his father’s shop a year later.
Today, the company is known for producing amps, electric guitars, bass guitars, acoustics and ukuleles, as well as all kinds of pro audio systems and accessories. As current CEO (and Hartley’s son-in-law) Courtland Gray explains, there is no singular Peavey sound; the company has manufactured equipment that’s been used in all kinds of genres over the years.
A lot of rock and metal players will be familiar with the Eddie Van Halen connection and the collaboration that gave birth to the original 5150 signature amps from 1992 to 2004, which continued as the 6505 after the partnership had come to an end.
Then there are other big sellers like the Classic series – tweed-covered combo amps and heads capable of delivering American-style Class A tones as well as a throaty British crunch – or the famously affordable and solid Bandit series that has graced stages of every size the world over.
With the company celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, Gray talks GW through the legacy and gives us a look into Peavey’s future.
What can you tell us about the first Peavey amps?
“Early on, Hartley was making tube amps that were copies of older models that were out there. He’d made a reputation for himself, but that’s not what got the company going. Amps were his passion, but he’d try selling them to the stores and they’d tell him, ‘The last thing we need is another amp. What we really need is a PA system.’
“So Hartley looked at some of the main ones already out there, like the Shure Vocal Master. He broke down the components inside and then realized he could make it and sell it for a lot cheaper. That’s actually what launched the company.”
So what kind of amps helped get him noticed after that?
“He got into the solid-state side of things fairly early, having made contact with someone at RCA who developed a lot of their components.
“I’ve seen some of the letters back and forth about the designs; eventually the guy said he’d come down and work for Hartley. That person’s advice was a bit like, ‘Throw out the manual and forget what it tells you; here’s what you need to do.’
“It was a leg up over the competitors because Hartley now had some really good insight on the spec side of things. Those early Musician, VTM and Mace amps were great products that were very affordable. They all helped get the company noticed.”
How did the Eddie Van Halen connection come about?
“As I recall, Eddie was looking at doing his own amp. He contacted us about making some amps and guitars and started working with our engineers on the heads first, going back and forth, testing things out.
“Eddie spent a lot of time over here in Meridian, checking the tones and tweaking everything bit by bit to make a great product. I guess it must have been a big shock when little Peavey in Mississippi got the biggest guitar hero out there working on a signature product.
“But I think Ed just appreciated the quality of craftsmanship at Peavey. We built a rock-solid guitar amp with a team of highly skilled engineers to give Ed exactly what he was looking for.”
The Wolfgang signature guitar started life at Music Man in ’91 and became a Peavey model in ’96.
“Yeah, he came to Hartley asking him to copy it. But Hartley wouldn’t copy something in that way; he wanted to develop something a little bit different. We already had a body style that was similar, so a few adjustments were made. We already had the headstock as well, so that became a debate at one point, because Eddie wanted a certain headstock but we already had our own trademark.
“I think we let him have the body shape he wanted, but we kept that little scoop in the headstock, which was unique to the Wolfgang, and then the HP 2 which replaced it after he left.
“If you see the EVH Wolfgangs that have been coming out after we parted ways, you’ll notice they have a cutout – almost like a can opener – because Ed couldn’t use our scoop. It was the closest he could get without infringing on the trademark. Together we designed a really good-looking guitar that we still make to this day.”
What can you tell about the end of that partnership?
I think Eddie got rubbed up the wrong way because we had another superstar guitar player in our lineup, and he always figured he was the artist for Peavey
“The best we can figure is that we joined up with Joe Satriani and made a signature amp with him called the JSX. I think Eddie got rubbed up the wrong way because we had another superstar guitar player in our lineup, and he always figured he was the artist for Peavey. So he decided to leave.
“We gave him the 5150 name because that’s what he wanted his amp to be called. But it was part of the agreement that we wouldn’t make the guitar if he didn’t make the amp.
“Shortly thereafter, we were at a trade show and heard this amp that sounded just like a 5150. And sure enough, he’d come out with his own version. I think he even used our engineer to develop the new one. That was in 2005, around our 40th anniversary. Having been founded in 1965, we decided to call our amp the 6505.”
There have been a lot of famous Peavey users over the years. Which are the first that come to mind for you?
“Hell, you can go back to Merle Haggard and Conway Twitty. Those are classic guys from way back when who were using Peavey gear. I’ve got to mention Adrian Vandenberg, because we recently reissued the old Vandenberg guitar we did with him back in the early ’90s.
“Obviously we’ve got some of the top metal guys using the 6505. We redid that amp a few years ago. We went and deciphered everything behind the sound. The tone had changed a little bit – we hadn’t done anything to the design, but some people were swearing that something was different.”
Did you ever find out the reason behind it?
“We realized that the transformer had changed somewhat over the years – tiny changes in materials at the factory – and then the factory changed. Naturally, the specs got ever so slightly different over the years, so we went back and really dialed into that original output transformer to get it back to how it was.
“We also have the Invective, which is an iteration of that design with the addition of a top-of-the-line clean channel to add more dynamics into the player’s pocket. We collaborated with Misha Mansoor on that. He’s another great endorsee to have.
“It’s an amp that can do it all. We have a guitarist who plays for one of the top country guys, Jason Aldean, and that’s what he uses. It’s become his go-to, even though he doesn’t play heavy music.
“It’s nice to see an amp like that being embraced beyond the metal community. Unlike Marshall or Fender, Peavey really doesn’t have one sort of sound. We’ve produced equipment being used by players working in different genres.”
What’s next for Peavey?
“The Bandit is important for us historically, so we are working on a new version. I would say it’s been quite frustrating in terms of development. We deviated from what it should be and tried to make it a little more than it needed to be. Eventually we realized we’d over-designed it, so we ended up scaling it back a little. That will come out [in 2025].
“Some of the more unique Peavey products still get a lot of interest, and the aftermarket sales are strong, which shows we’ve designed things that have become very sought-after.
“Hartley isn’t interested in reissues, because in his mind we’re always pushing the needle and moving forward. But there are some legendary Peavey designs that people want, so we have a series of preamp pedals coming with the old circuitry from historic products.
“We’ve also been talking about bringing the composite acoustic guitars back, but we’ll have to see.”
- For more information, head to Peavey.com.
