Peavey Blazer 158 Silver Stripe

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aoresteen
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Peavey Blazer 158 Silver Stripe

Post by aoresteen » Tue Mar 12, 2013 8:14 pm

Well, as I'm leaving the Orlando area on Thursday, I made a final pass through the pawnshops today to see what treasures I could find. I hit the last 8 today having been in 12 others on Saturday.

Walking into a Cash America shop, I see a battered Peavey Blazer 158 Silver stripe and after some negotiations I walk out with it for $18.78 plus tax - $20 total

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Obviously it's a very rare model as it has a YELLOW Peavey logo:

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I'm thinking that it must have been a custom amp for the Sultan of Brunei with that yellow logo. The logo alone is worth $26.73 as they are very very rare :) !

It must have been a factory relic as it's missing the all the top corner pieces:

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When I looked at the back I knew it was a very hot amp as the rear back has been totally removed to allow greater air cooling to get to the amp.

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Alas, when I got it home the disappointments sank in. It has the following deficiencies:

1. None of the pots have any scratching sound. For a relic I expected at leat one pot would be scratchy. What a disappointment!

2. Both channels work. I would expect at least one channel to be out if not both.

3. The reverb is too strong. With a relic the reverb should be weak.

4. The overdrive channel is usable. The OD channels are supposed to be tinny and scratchy.

5. It's too loud for my apartment. These relics are supposed to be for display, not to actually work and make noise.


With these faults I'm thinking about taking it back tomorrow and getting my money back. What do you think?
Last edited by aoresteen on Mon Mar 05, 2018 12:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Classic30inCincy
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Re: Peavey Blazer 158 Silver Stripe

Post by Classic30inCincy » Wed Mar 13, 2013 9:10 am

Good Deal......

Shop Agree To Allow Future Loan Value :?: :roll: :?:

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az.peaveyman
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Re: Peavey Blazer 158 Silver Stripe

Post by az.peaveyman » Wed Jun 21, 2017 6:12 pm

Uhh, your Peavey Blazer 158 has an distinctive road worn patina, has full functionality, and a strong reverb. At $20.00, pet rocks make a thud sound (upon being dropped).Still it has a zero sum value from nothing. Seriously, in this instance one has to lower their expectations . Dude, you got a very good deal. Then again, sell your Blazer 158 for a silly profit on Craigslist. Be smug - you win either way

dalrymple
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Re: Peavey Blazer 158 Silver Stripe

Post by dalrymple » Thu Jun 22, 2017 9:15 am

Looks like you got the matching speaker/Logo package, WTFyellowgold! It was only available through one dealer, who's identity is a secret. Only 250,000 made, so it's REAL RARE, like a good steak. The missing corners were where the original owner hid stash, and of course they lost the screws. Screw it! Who need corners? Besides, the reduced weight makes it even more portable.

The fact it has no defects is merely a ruse. It's obviously just waiting to crap out on you at that big audition for the record co. Fuc*#n' POS.

Turn all knobs to 12 and plug in a big hollow body jazz guitar. That's Tone!
Dalrymple

aoresteen
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Re: Peavey Blazer 158 Silver Stripe

Post by aoresteen » Mon Jun 26, 2017 11:07 am

Well, I still have it and will post some photos soon. I made a few mods to it....

aoresteen
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Re: Peavey Blazer 158 Silver Stripe

Post by aoresteen » Mon Jun 26, 2017 12:26 pm

Well after 4 years this project is finally "done". Lots of stuff caused it to be set aside but today I finished it up.

The first thing I did was I ordered replacement parts from Peavey - corners, logo, handle ect. Next I stripped everything out of it and peeled back the Tolex from the bottom half. Onto the table saw it went and I cut the cabinet in half. I then reattached the bottom to the shortened sides and re-glued the Tolex. I removed the grill cloth from the speaker baffle board and cut it down to fit the head sized cabinet. Here's the head sized cab completed:

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The speaker wires are floated from the chassis meaning the negative speaker wire (blue) is not grounded to the chassis ground. I cut a piece of wood for a female 1/4" jack and bolted it to the back of the chassis. Soldered up the speaker wires (I had to extend them) then reassembled the amp.

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Here it is driving a custom 4ohm 3 speaker cab:

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My keyboard player was using a 10 watt amp for rehearsals which worked fine but The Blazer 158 has reverb so I made the head. 5 more watts never hurts anyway.

Full story on the "Squier" 3 speaker cab is here:

https://www.ssguitar.com/index.php?topic=870.0

I'll have to change the speaker cab logo to Peavey :)

While I had the Blazer 158 open I took a look at the pcb and found an op amp - a JRC 4560D. I'll pull it, install a DIP socket and replace it with an OPA2134s.
Last edited by aoresteen on Mon Mar 05, 2018 12:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Monkey_Relish
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Re: Peavey Blazer 158 Silver Stripe

Post by Monkey_Relish » Tue Jun 27, 2017 7:23 am

While I had the Blazer 158 open I took a look at the pcb and found an op amp - a JRC 4560D. I'll pull it, install a DIP socket and replace it with an OPA2134s.
That op amp drives the reverb tank. Don't be surprised if it sounds worse. Many a Bandit owner has found this out. Still, try it for yourself.
You could try the JRC 4560DD, a lower noise version of the JRC 4560D.

Mr Relish

aoresteen
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Re: Peavey Blazer 158 Silver Stripe

Post by aoresteen » Tue Jun 27, 2017 5:23 pm

Monkey_Relish wrote:
While I had the Blazer 158 open I took a look at the pcb and found an op amp - a JRC 4560D. I'll pull it, install a DIP socket and replace it with an OPA2134s.
That op amp drives the reverb tank. Don't be surprised if it sounds worse. Many a Bandit owner has found this out. Still, try it for yourself.
You could try the JRC 4560DD, a lower noise version of the JRC 4560D.

Mr Relish
Thanks! I wasn't sure just why it was there and made a note to check the schematic. I will give the DD version a go when I do the swap.

Aloha
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Re: Peavey Blazer 158 Silver Stripe

Post by Aloha » Wed Aug 02, 2017 6:02 am

Hello, have a Blazer 158 the Reverb working.Has a 2 wire lead that plug directly into the 2 stem connector on the Reverb
unit inside tank.Would like to install Bandit Reverb tank.Any ideas that can help?

TimmyV
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Re: Peavey Blazer 158 Silver Stripe

Post by TimmyV » Wed Aug 02, 2017 1:14 pm

Aloha wrote:Hello, have a Blazer 158 the Reverb working.Has a 2 wire lead that plug directly into the 2 stem connector on the Reverb
unit inside tank.Would like to install Bandit Reverb tank.Any ideas that can help?
The bandits reverb tank is way too big to fit into the blazer. You might be able to fit an 8" tank in there. Mod or accutronics 8eb2c1b. But I'm not for sure so you'll have to measure it. I've actually always wanted a blazer for this exact reason. Just to see if it will work:)

TimmyV
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Re: Peavey Blazer 158 Silver Stripe

Post by TimmyV » Wed Aug 02, 2017 2:18 pm

Aloha wrote:Hello, have a Blazer 158 the Reverb working.Has a 2 wire lead that plug directly into the 2 stem connector on the Reverb
unit inside tank.Would like to install Bandit Reverb tank.Any ideas that can help?
I'm assuming that amp has a spring reverb tank in it. Please inform me if it does a may look for one of these amp if so.

Aloha
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Re: Peavey Blazer 158 Silver Stripe

Post by Aloha » Wed Aug 02, 2017 9:07 pm

Hello,
The Blazer 158 has actuall Reverb tank.Known as Minni 5 1/2"+1 1/4". Didn't get hight probability 3/8". Springs are 2.The Reverb tank is not on the board but right next to.Plenty room for the 8eb2c1b.What kind of ground wiring instructions should be considered for installation?The original #7eb1e1a with no rca jacks,year1997.Its really neat sound with Reverb kicked in.But what the heck like to try go big.

TimmyV
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Re: Peavey Blazer 158 Silver Stripe

Post by TimmyV » Wed Aug 02, 2017 11:18 pm

Aloha wrote:Hello,
The Blazer 158 has actuall Reverb tank.Known as Minni 5 1/2"+1 1/4". Didn't get hight probability 3/8". Springs are 2.The Reverb tank is not on the board but right next to.Plenty room for the 8eb2c1b.What kind of ground wiring instructions should be considered for installation?The original #7eb1e1a with no rca jacks,year1997.Its really neat sound with Reverb kicked in.But what the heck like to try go big.
Idk . Do us a favor and post a picture on here of inside the chassis so I can see what you have there. That would make it a whole lot easier for me to envision the mod. I'm thinking the reverb harness from an envoy of that same series would work but I would need a peek at the inside of your chassis.

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Enzo
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Re: Peavey Blazer 158 Silver Stripe

Post by Enzo » Thu Aug 03, 2017 6:46 am

Like most tiny practice amps, this has a pair of two pin headers for reverb connections.

Look at the schematic. The return - the output end of the pan - connects to one pair of terminals, the shield to ground the signal lead to R53. The drive end - to the input end of the pan - has no ground, and the metal pan should not be grounded to the outer part of the RCA jack. The "shield" of that pair goes to C36 and IC2-2. The signal lead goes then to IC2-1. In reality polarity of the drive end doesn't matter, so you are wiring the drive coil of the reverb pan across R51.


Your would wire up two short RCA cords with bare wires on one end of each. Wire those either directly to the board or to small connectors.

Aloha
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Re: Peavey Blazer 158 Silver Stripe

Post by Aloha » Fri Aug 18, 2017 7:03 pm

We're can I get a input jack for the 158 Blazer silver 1997?Tried new soldering but still some time still doesn't work.Also put pressure to the top copper connectors.
Thanks

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