Ahh, so THIS is why I gig a PRS amp...

[andy474x]

This week at band practice, I arrived to the sad tune of our rhythm player telling me that a preamp tube burned out on his Peavey 6505+ head. No spares, so I switched a couple tubes around to get him sounding right again, put the bad tube in the effects loop spot since he doesn't use it. Not a long term solution but it worked for the night. Took it home to get it back to 100% again. Got in the compartment where the preamp tubes are, and as I'm pulling and replacing tubes... holy crap, the circuit board these tubes are mounted to is FLEXING. On the order of over 1/2" or more when you push a tube in. And the whole preamp layout seems to be printed on this flimsy little circuit board. So I'm thinking to myself, what would it take to break a solder connection or just have a printed lead go bad, when the thing bends like this? Definitely going to recommend that he gets a new amp after seeing this, could be a gig breaker. He's been thinking about it already for other reasons, so it should be an easy sell.

Very surprised by the crappy quality of this amp, as Peavey has been big in the touring rock scene since the 5150. So this is why I love my PRS amp. I compared mine to his, and everything I could plainly see was higher quality on the PRS - tube sockets, circuit board, switches, handle, jacks. Not to mention the PRS sounds killer cranked up, and keeps up with our stage volume with only 30 watts. And saves my back! Yes, it's an import, and yes the line was discontinued, but for my money this amp is just what I needed and continues to shine!

 

[László]

And that, in a nutshell, is the difference between cutting corners, like Peavey, and quality like PRS.

Nice of you to fix up your buddy's amp by the way! :top:

 

[Raven17]

Yup, good save

 

[jimfisher]

I got a chance to visit the PRS factory yesterday and we spent a good bit of time in the amp room. What was interesting is that there's a big rack of chassis-es (how do you spell that plural??!) with every model they've produced. These are the ones that Paul & Doug call their 'gold standard' as they set the standard for the tone they want from every production amp. It is really a very small production area so every amp they ship has been so thoroughly tested and tweaked to get the sound that Paul wants. Very cool to see!

Jim

 

[vchizzle]

Tubes mounted to boards has always made me nervous. Some companies do it with thicker, heavy duty boards with good results. I just prefer chassis mounted with the flying leads.