Peavey has been providing bass players with some of the most rock-solid, best bang-for-the-buck amps for decades. But don’t get the impression that they are generic or boring; far from it. Back in 1996, Peavey released one of the most awesome tube amplifiers ever conceived, the Classic 400. Never heard of it? That’s because sadly, it didn’t stay in production for very long. But if you ever heard one (or lifted one!), you’d know this was a Moon-shot like none other. First of all, the dang thing weighed 93.6lbs. My math ‘buddies’ tell me that this means it’s almost 100 pounds. Not only could it power a small city, but it also featured two channels - a clean and a crunch - that could be switched or combined remotely. It also had a foot-switchable effects loop, resonance/presence controls, and Peavey’s DDT power amp compression circuit. But get this; there were no solid state devices in the signal path – just pure tubes, baby. Of course, you could use either of its massive transformers as an anvil.

Flash forward a bit. While most bass companies might add a preamp tube here or there to some of their models, Peavey astounded the bass world in 2007 when they announced the release of not one, but two new all-tube bass amps. The few of us still standing after hearing that were bowled over when they mentioned that one of them, the VB-3, would be a 300-watter weighing only 37 pounds. Huh? Yes, Peavey has gone where no bass amp company has every gone – again. Here’s where the Classic 400 comes back into the picture. The two major lessons learned from the 400 were:
1. Bass players LOVE tube amps.
2. Bass players HATE lugging 100-pound heads around.
The VB-3 delivers 300 watts of all-tube power, but instead of the gigundous pair of transformers that just about every all-tube bass amp requires, Peavey is using a universal switch mode power supply (SMPS) - the first ever to do so in a tube amp - to shave off about half a ton of weight.

We asked Peavey’s Fred Poole how did the idea for a SMPS come about, and what were the engineering challenges to incorporate it? He told Bass Gear Weekly that Hartley Peavey has always wanted to make a high-power, all-tube bass amplifier with a SMPS, but there are many challenges to overcome when incorporating them into tube amplifiers. Here are a couple: ??1. The extremes of high voltage/low current and low voltage/high current in the power supply; and??2. Switching supplies, if not designed properly, can interfere with other electronic devices. This is because they operate in the range of radio communications. Tube amplifiers can be very sensitive to radio interference. The shielding inside of the VB-3 is very sophisticated for a bass amp and is designed to deal with radio interference.    ??The reported result is that the amp sounds and feels completely like a tube amp. The VB-3 sports eight EL34 tubes, four 12AX7 tubes and one 12AT7 tube, and the setup is quasi-dual-channel with Volume/Overdrive, master Resonance and Presence controls, a footswitchable tube compressor and a 9-band EQ.

We heard the VB-3 at this year’s NAMM show (in a private booth, so it was possible to get an inkling of the sound), and, man-o-man! We liked it! We are happy to report that the VB-3 is NOW SHIPPING. Price is around $1700 in the US. peavey.com

A few other Mesa/Boogie tidbits: the Titan V-12 and Walkabout now come in black. Also – there’s an urban myth we’d like to mark as TRUE. In case you didn’t know, Mesa’s Scout line of combos mates the mini-sized Walkabout head with one of two lightweight, neo-loaded cabinets - one featuring a 12” driver and 8” passive radiator, and the other offering a 15” driver plus 10” passive radiator. Mesa/Boogie also makes both variants as Scout Extension cabinets to add to either combo. But get this – when Randall was out picking grapes, the elves of Petaluma swapped out the passive radiators in each of the extension cabs for the next size up. So the 12” Scout Extension gets the 10” passive radiator and the 15” variant gets a 12’er. When you add in the extra internal volume each extension cabinet has (due to the missing head), you effectively have a completely new stealth Mesa Cabinet. Reports are that these stand-alone extension cabs have a fuller and bigger sound, while retaining an easy-to-grab size and weight. Rest assured, we’re going to try them out firsthand, just to be sure.

mesaboogie.com

Mesa/Boogie’s amazing story started in 1969 when Randall Smith began his search for the ultimate tone. In case you didn’t know (and didn’t read about it in Issue 1 of Bass Gear Magazine), Mesa’s first five models were bass amps! I can still remember my first Mesa/Boogie rig: a Bass 400 and RoadReady 115, ordered from their cool catalog, and sent to me direct from the factory. Oh, those months spent awaiting the UPS truck… In fact, for the first 20 years of Mesa/Boogie’s existence, the only way you could get an amp was by calling the factory, sending in your money, and waiting for them to build it. In the late ‘80s, that all changed. Mesa limited direct sales, and opened up dealerships around the world. On the eve of their 40^th anniversary, we’re thrilled to announce Mesa/Boogie is going back to the future, and better than ever.

Hot off the presses! Mesa has announced that they are making it a lot easier to get the exact Mesa/Boogie rig you crave. Qualifying US and Canadian Mesa/Boogie Dealers can now sell the full line of Mesa/Boogie gear on their websites to customer that reside within their respective country. And US customers can once again order direct from the factory. Why the big change? Customers have been clamouring for it. No matter how many dealers Mesa has (and there’s an ever dwindling amount of quality retailers out there), you could never be sure you’d find the model you want. So customers can now order on-line through the dealer’s website, instead of playing hide-and-seek.

A note from the head honchos at Mesa/Boogie: they encourage you to call or go to your local Authorized Mesa Dealer first. They fully support their independent dealers and want them to thrive. Authorized Mesa Dealers provide the best opportunity to play and compare the products before you purchase so you can make best buying decision. They also stock many of the products and can provide immediate delivery and service, whereas the Mesa factory is strictly build to order, with minimum lead times of 6 to 10 weeks (more on this below). So see what’s available locally or on-line from your local dealer as your starting point. If you need to order from the factory, give them a call. In fact, that’s the only way you’ll be able to do your factory orders at present - this is so new that the Mesa/Boogie website hasn’t yet been updated for factory on-line ordering.

Here’s some inside information about wait times from Mesa. Mesa/Boogie is a build-to-order company. That means they don’t make products, unless someone places an order. They’ve refined their product ordering system so they can retain handmade quality, but still make enough to fill demand. This is not as easy as it sounds. In a rough sense, it works like this: each day, a different product is manufactured. Since there are 50 or so products among their guitar and bass offerings, it takes about six to eight weeks to get through the cycle and orders are built by order date. The good news is that most orders ship within the six to eight week window. But let’s say you want a leather or colored vinyl cabinet and matching head? Get this - build time is still planned to be six to eight weeks. Polished hardwood? Eight to ten weeks. That is pretty amazing. Mesa/Boogie direct orders also come with a 5-day return policy with a 100% refund on the cost of the product (if it comes back pristine, in its original packing materials), less all shipping costs.

mesaboogie.com