Hey All - just under two years ago I purchased a Peavey Max 110 combo on taobao here in Chongqing, China. It was on promo for 1250rmb...just a hair over $200USD. I had thought it would be a decent apartment practice amp.
To be honest, it has mostly sat unused...it was simply too loud for the apartment..I would basically have to plug into the active (padded) input and keep gain and master so low it wasn't enjoyable to play through.
I have recently started playing a regular Thursday gig with both bands I am in at a local bar. One band is keys, guitar, drums and shared vocals -with trumpet on a few tunes...some pop, some oldies, some mixed bag stuff (Waterboys, Cure, blues, originals) the other band is guitar, bass, drums and vocals, mostly harder rock, alternative, bit of punk (Nirvana, Misfits, Beastie Boys, Fugazi heavy versions of Beatles/Beach boys and originals)
Bar sits 100-160 or so...guitarist is on a 1x12 Laney combo, KB and vocals through the PA, drums are not mic'd. The Peavey covers it without issue...really impressed with how it carries and how it sounds for such an inexpensive amp with relatively low power and small speaker area. I had assumed I would need to use it in wedge position and run a line to the PA from either my MB Super Booster or DI after my Joyo American Sound...after a few weeks it seems to sound best in 'standard' position...and I just run my Moen Comp and an EP boost in front of it (using the onboard tuner for tune/mute function).
I typically play a USA EBMM SUB (2 band) Ray if both bands are playing, as it can cover both bands well enough..If I run it into the passive input (which I typically do on all all amps) I still can't really push gain or volume much beyond noon or it is too much..I currently have it strung with Fender Flats - bass about 50%, treble around 25%, volume on 80%
All in all, the amp is decent sounding, very powerful for what it is - I find I don't use the 'Psycho-Acoustic' low end boost (the stage seems to accentuate lows as it) and rarely use the TT boost...will bring the Classic 50s P next week just to see the difference. Until this set-up I had regretted buying this amp..now that I had a chance to open it up, I am considering buying the Max 158 for apartment use and would totally consider the 112/115 or Max heads as an option moving forward if I needed a larger set up. For the louder band (more drive to the sound) I add enough gain for some hair in base setting and use the EP to push it a little more.
Were I back home in Canada, I wouldn't have considered this amp..I would have went with a Fender Rumble, GK or Traynor..none of those were available (and Ampeg too pricey) here. Nothing against Peavey...I loved the Delta/Fire/Nitro series heads...played a pile of gigs on a Tour 450 ...like all of us played plenty of hours on TNT 115s and similar...but didn't really dig the previous generation combos when tone/weight/price was considered. Worth checking out if on a budget and weight not a defining factor.
..sorry longer post than I intended.
To be honest, it has mostly sat unused...it was simply too loud for the apartment..I would basically have to plug into the active (padded) input and keep gain and master so low it wasn't enjoyable to play through.
I have recently started playing a regular Thursday gig with both bands I am in at a local bar. One band is keys, guitar, drums and shared vocals -with trumpet on a few tunes...some pop, some oldies, some mixed bag stuff (Waterboys, Cure, blues, originals) the other band is guitar, bass, drums and vocals, mostly harder rock, alternative, bit of punk (Nirvana, Misfits, Beastie Boys, Fugazi heavy versions of Beatles/Beach boys and originals)
Bar sits 100-160 or so...guitarist is on a 1x12 Laney combo, KB and vocals through the PA, drums are not mic'd. The Peavey covers it without issue...really impressed with how it carries and how it sounds for such an inexpensive amp with relatively low power and small speaker area. I had assumed I would need to use it in wedge position and run a line to the PA from either my MB Super Booster or DI after my Joyo American Sound...after a few weeks it seems to sound best in 'standard' position...and I just run my Moen Comp and an EP boost in front of it (using the onboard tuner for tune/mute function).
I typically play a USA EBMM SUB (2 band) Ray if both bands are playing, as it can cover both bands well enough..If I run it into the passive input (which I typically do on all all amps) I still can't really push gain or volume much beyond noon or it is too much..I currently have it strung with Fender Flats - bass about 50%, treble around 25%, volume on 80%
All in all, the amp is decent sounding, very powerful for what it is - I find I don't use the 'Psycho-Acoustic' low end boost (the stage seems to accentuate lows as it) and rarely use the TT boost...will bring the Classic 50s P next week just to see the difference. Until this set-up I had regretted buying this amp..now that I had a chance to open it up, I am considering buying the Max 158 for apartment use and would totally consider the 112/115 or Max heads as an option moving forward if I needed a larger set up. For the louder band (more drive to the sound) I add enough gain for some hair in base setting and use the EP to push it a little more.
Were I back home in Canada, I wouldn't have considered this amp..I would have went with a Fender Rumble, GK or Traynor..none of those were available (and Ampeg too pricey) here. Nothing against Peavey...I loved the Delta/Fire/Nitro series heads...played a pile of gigs on a Tour 450 ...like all of us played plenty of hours on TNT 115s and similar...but didn't really dig the previous generation combos when tone/weight/price was considered. Worth checking out if on a budget and weight not a defining factor.
..sorry longer post than I intended.
