what's a Peavey Mace?

[ginormous]

A guy at church scored a used one for $150 US, not long ago. The old pointy logo, black-on-blueface controls. It's a combo amp: six power tubes, I think EL34's. 2 channels, loaded with 2 aftermarket Black Widow 12s (red-spiderweb-on-black graphics). Built-in phaser (I think other FX also), long spring reverb tank.

The speakers were wired out-of-phase, but once we had that settled, it was a good clean sound. The footswitch had 4 buttons, one of which activated both channels -- way loud! Scream city, gain for days.

He mentioned something about a Marshall lawsuit, which led to this model's demise. Anybody got info on that? Is this a good score? If one pops up again, should I jump on it?

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: what's a Peavey Mace?

I've never heard of any lawsuit regarding the Peavey Mace. I think Hartley just went on to do other amps, like the solid-state Solo Series, the MX, Heritage, VTMs, Rangers, Duel 212 and the Ultras. Mr. Peavey never seems to stand in one place too long. Originally, the tubes would have been 6L6s, but it's possible your friend's amp was modified.

The Mace, as you found out is one powerful amp and went head-to-head with the likes of the notorious Fender Super Twin. Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarists were using these amps back in the early days. The Marshalls, Ampeg V-4s and Fender Showmans would blow up with the high volumes and heavy touring, but the Maces stayed together. Rossington has said many times how much he loves these amps.

After the plane crash, the band's gear was warehoused for several years. When Skynyrd finally went back on the road, those amps were simply cleaned up; the spiders chased away; and re-tubed to do battle again.

The Black Widows came about because so many bands were blowing though the JBL D-120s (and the D-130s and D-140s), and the Altecs of the day. Widows are designed to run hot and loud--and most importantly, to be reliable. The basket and cone assembly is easily replaceable in the field, should the need arise.

Though many players today use smaller amps, a big amp with a ton of headroom is still fun to play at concert levels.

Sounds like a good find.

Bill

 

[marvar]

Re: what's a Peavey Mace?

I had one of those back in the day- LOUD AMP I'M TELLIN' YA!
I really didn't care for it that much- waaay to clean for my taste. You definatly need to put a pedal in front of it to get any od. But, 6-6l6 tubes, ss preamp, 120 watts. All those tubes just cookin' and glowing blue, was really cool looking.
I ended up trading it for my first Marshall 50 watt.