How many Session 400 users?

Frank Parish · Post by **Frank Parish** » 30 Jun 2001 3:51 am

I've got a 75 and a 76 model still in use.
15 inch BW's

VERNON PRIDDY · Post by **VERNON PRIDDY** » 30 Jun 2001 6:35 am

I Have Two With JBL's Great Amp's Best I Have Ever Owned. SONNY.

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SONNYPRIDDY

Kenny Davis · Post by **Kenny Davis** » 30 Jun 2001 7:08 am

Replaced my Duece with a Session 400 in early '76. Always use JBL. Love it!

Bill Crook · Post by **Bill Crook** » 30 Jun 2001 7:24 am

Have had a early issue "Sessions 400" for years.

Several times I have thought about selling it but each time,I get cold feet. I'ts just something about the power and sound from that thing !!

Neil Flanz · Post by **Neil Flanz** » 30 Jun 2001 7:51 am

I bought mine brand new in 1972 and it still works GREAT! I believe it's been in the repair shop about three times since I bought it. I sure am happy with it!

Ron Hiler · Post by **Ron Hiler** » 30 Jun 2001 7:54 am

I have a 76 with a JBL I bought new.
Ron

Robert Thomas · Post by **Robert Thomas** » 30 Jun 2001 9:12 am

I must be a renegade. I have tried so many different amps for my steel and I have never been satisfied with their sound. I have stuck with what I like for over 30 years. I have 2 cabinets with 2-4 ohm, 12 inch speakers and 1 8 ohm horn driver in each box. I use a Peavey XR-560 amp head to drive them and find the sound spectacular. Maybe I am to picky, but I have not been able to find an amplifier that I felt was really made for PDL. My opinion.
By the way, these are still the same speakers I started with over 30 years ago.

Dennis Detweiler · Post by **Dennis Detweiler** » 30 Jun 2001 6:12 pm

I play throut two session 400s
One is a 1974. The other a 76. Both have recently had LeMay kits installed. Both with new 1501 BWs. The 74 is a little warmer in the midrange and delivers an honest 200w. The 76 pushes 160w.

Joseph Barcus · Post by **Joseph Barcus** » 1 Jul 2001 6:08 am

I have a session 400 but have no ideal what year it is. its a good amp but the weight of it has kept me from leaving the house many times. Id trade it for a good power amp with a speaker but then again that would be moving two things. id have to say out of the amps ive had my best one would have been the webb i had a few years back it was light in weight and could blow any amp off the stage if you really needed too. but i got hard up for money and sold it lol take care joe

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carter single 10

tomsteel · Post by **tomsteel** » 1 Jul 2001 2:04 pm

I just bought a seesion 400 a couple of months ago,from a guy off the forum.It sounds so good.I wonder,what was the first year they came out,and how can you tell from the s/n the age?Mine is OA-625201.Kenny Malugin

jerry wallace · Post by **jerry wallace** » 1 Jul 2001 4:09 pm

I have a 1976 Session 400 head only amp..Peavey only made a few of these..Its the regular Session 400 amp without any speaker..Looks kinda strange..Its the same as a combo amp but only about 8" tall..The reverb tank is in the bottom of the "top /brain " only amp..I am currently using my Session 500 speaker with it But I am looking for a 1501 or JBL in a cab to use with it..Its sounds great..
BTW-- the date of manufacter,is stamped inside of the chassis where all of the electronics are..You do have to take it apart to find this date.. Inside mine is stamped OCT 1976 The serial # is 6A-66320..

[This message was edited by jerry wallace on 15 July 2001 at 03:38 PM.]

Dave Robbins · Post by **Dave Robbins** » 1 Jul 2001 4:42 pm

I still have one mid 70's Session 400. Over the years I have used many of them. Since the change in the 1501 Black Widow, I haven't used it as much. After blowing the "basket" some time back I found it difficult to replace. Mine originally had the "spider web" type. Thanks to "Bob Hempker" for the basket and "Peavey" repair, I once again have the amp back together and working beautifully, but I don't use it that much anymore. I love the sound of these amps but don't want to risk "blowing" the speaker, etc, in a loud gig.I now use the later model Peavey amps that have the "DDT" for those gigs.I know the newer speakers will work just fine, I just prefer keeping it as original as I can
If I'm going on a traditional type gig and know the volume level will be modest, I take the Session along. It seems the tone is always perfect, especially if I play my old '64 push/pull through it.
They were great amps for their time!

Dave

Dennis Detweiler · Post by **Dennis Detweiler** » 1 Jul 2001 6:04 pm

Kenny...Someone correct my if I'm wrong, but your session is a 1980. The first two digits on the serial number on the back of my older one is 4A. It's a 1974.
My other amp starts with 6A. It's a 1976.
I'm almost sure that the first year for the session 400 was 1974? I've never known of anyone that had a serial number older than 1974? Unless possibly a promotional earlier model?
Dennis

Frank Parish · Post by **Frank Parish** » 3 Jul 2001 4:49 am

Dave,
I'm pretty sure Peavey quit making the baskets for the spider type speakers. I use the 1501 super structures and have never blown one. I did have somebody else blow one for me once that played way too loud. The sessions are the amps I take to gigs where I figure it might get loud because I know they can take it. What do you use in a bar type gig?

Dave Robbins · Post by **Dave Robbins** » 3 Jul 2001 8:04 am

Frank,
I've played various amps in "live" settings.
Let me say right off the top, I love the Session 400. It very well may have had the best tone of any steel amp Peavey ever produced. But, it will not stand up under heavy abuse. I know from experience. One club I played here in town was a very loud gig, great music and good band, but loud! And on good nights even louder! During that period of time I went through three "Black Widow" baskets, just "puked" them right out! I also had to have the circuit boards resoldered a couple of times as well. All this while playing through "two Session 400's". I really don't think they were ever intended to be as much a "live" amp as they were a studio amp. Read the handbook that came with those amps. Also, the "sensitvity" knob circuit is designed differently from subsequent models. I always played mine, in a normal moderate level venue, with the "sensitvity" as close to full counterclockwise as possible, but the louder the gig, the more you have to crank that sensitvity up. You're talking about an amp producing 200 watts! That speaker is just not going to stand up under that very long. That is the reason for the redesign of the later amps, both in the sensitvity circuitry and in the addition of the DDT circuit that was added. With the DDT, it protects the speaker from getting those big watts , let alone the "spikes" that can dump an otherwise excellent speaker. On the later amps I run the sensitivity wide open.
My favorite Peavey amp at the present is my Vegas 400, which has a very "warm" sound. I have used this on probably 90% of the past gigs I have done. I also have a newer Nashville that I take on the road in case the amps provided are not what I think they should be. However, it is a "convenience" amp for me, small and portable, with good power and of course that distortion protection circuit. I must say it is not my favorite sounding amp, though. Lately, I have an amp of Loren Nelson's (steel player for Tracy Lawrence) that I like that has pretty good tone. It is an older version of the Nashville that has a warmer tone than mine. It does not have the "mod" made to it and I prefer that over my later Nashville which does have the mod. When ever I 'm going to play an "easy" gig I like to play the old Session 400. It has a warm tone and is real sweet. I just don't want to blow it or risk the chance anymore. Low notes and C6 can be the kiss of death on those old amps. Those old baskets are not produced by Peavey any longer and are getting harder to find. So, take care of the one you've got! Yes, the newer version of the 1501 speaker will work but I like to keep my old Session as near original as possible. During the course that I have used my Vegas, loud gigs and all, I have never blown the speaker! The distortion protection circuit works! The same I can say for my Nashville, never blown the speaker! Not even on loud outdoor types of gigs.
A lot can be said for the newer Nashville 1000. I have played these on several occasions and they look like very promising amps! Especially with the changes made in the EQ frequencies. They're "sweet" sounding to my ear. But until I have one or have use of one for an extended period of time, I'll keep using what I have. I'm real used to the EQ cicuits of the Vegas and Nashville types and can usually get what I'm after that night.
I believe, in an old feature story on Paul Franklin, back when he was working for Jerry Reed, that it was a loud gig and they blew speakers in the old Session 400's practically nightly! Yup! That is a loud gig!
Like I said in my previous post, the Session 400 was a good amp for their time.
If you're still playing through yours, I'm sure you are probably getting a great tone.

Dave [This message was edited by Dave Robbins on 03 July 2001 at 04:51 PM.]

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » 3 Jul 2001 10:33 am

Thanks again for your support of Peavey gear.We appreciate it!

Craig Allen · Post by **Craig Allen** » 3 Jul 2001 10:41 am

I'm on my 2nd Nashville.
My favorite amp was my Session LTD Wedge.
I wish I could find another one. They were heavy, but well worth it.
This Nashville just doesn't have the "balls" that the Wedge had. Still it's the best I can find for steel, for me.

If anyone has a wedge they would like to get rid of, I have a 1999 Nashville 400, with the Peavy Mod. It's been in aan Anville case, since I bought it, and not abused.
I would trade straight across, or .........

Frank Parish · Post by **Frank Parish** » 4 Jul 2001 7:02 am

Dave,
That's some interesting info on your experience with your Sessions. When I got my Pro-Fex II, instead of getting some speaker cabinets I ran a direct line from the second input on the front of the Session 400's to the power amp to bypass the EQ and let the Profex II do what it was designed to do. That gave me full volume from the Profex II and for many years I ran it on all the way full. I never did blow any speakers although a time or two I heard them rattle a little with the big notes on the C6. I never could use the JBL's as they wouldn't hold the volume at all. Currently I'm still using the same set-up with an old P/P and never go above 3 or 4 on the Profex. It still sounds great and to date I've only replaced the filter caps once and I can't be sure if it was even these amps because I've had about 5 different ones but these two are my mainstays. Any of the newer ones never seemed to have the tone the older ones have. I've got two Evans amps with D-130's that sound great but won't hold the volume like the BW's.

Dave Robbins · Post by **Dave Robbins** » 4 Jul 2001 3:47 pm

Frank,
my response was more about whether the old amps will "stand up". How loud you are playing is the problem, not how high you are setting the levels. You could run the levels at high settings and never drive the power amp all that hard. But, when you are playing in a loud environment with a loud band you are more likely to be setting the levels high and playing harder too. That seems to be when the damage is done. You can drive that 200 watt power section to the point where the speaker just can't handle it. It would be really hard to find "any" speaker we would like the sound of that could handle the sustain high levels or harsh peaks from a 200 watt amp! That is the whole purpose of the DDT . It shaves those peaks off so you aren't "hitting" the speaker so hard under those conditions. I would say that most steel amps are just "loafing" when played at moderate levels with the head room that is built in. It is when that head room no longer exist we get into trouble. As good of a sounding amp as the Session 400 is, that power section without any DDT circuit is capable of "dumping" that speaker, even as good as the Black Widow is! Steel amps are designed for lots of headroom that many players will never need in normal situations. But play in severe situations, concert levels, loud clubs,and outdoors gigs that require high levels and really diggin' in and you run the risk of damage. I'm cetainly no electronics tech by any means, there are others on this forum who are very knowledgeable about the inner workings of our amps, I can only speak from experience.
The sound of the Session 400 is just too good to risk damage in those severe situations when there are other amps more capable of handling the situation.
As for sound, it is like my Granpa used to say " you can get used to anything, even a turd in your hat band, if you want to!" The newer Peavey amps may not sound like the sound you are used to getting, especially if you lean towards the sound of the Evans amps,
but Peavey offers several different models, depending upon your needs and your ability to get tone from what ever you play through.
I feel I can get just as good of a tone from my Vegas as I can from my Session,although not identical. However, one sounds just as good as the other. There is also the new Nashville 1000, which to my ear doesn't sound like anything else Peavey has produced to date. Although it seems to have the makings of a great steel amp!
Amps models change, it still "boils" down to your ability to get tone from whatever you play through and "your hands!" I have heard Buddy play through various different amps, but he always sounds like Buddy with "impecable" tone.
I repeat, the Session 400 was a great amp for it's time, but there are "tougher" versions, for those requiring an amp that can stand up under the toughest of situations. especially, if you know how to get good tone!
I look forward to hearing you play!

Dave

Frank Parish · Post by **Frank Parish** » 5 Jul 2001 4:18 am

Dave,
I've played through a Nashville 1000 but only for a few minutes and really couldn't tell much about it. I was trying another guitar out at the time and really didn't mess with it much. I keep waiting for Bose to make an amp with an 8" speaker that'll blow everything else away but it's been a long wait. I had Shot Jacksons son put a fuse in an old Session with the JBL in it once to try to keep it from blowing the speaker out again. I never did blow the speaker any more but eventually traded the amp for a newer model Session Limited for the effects loops but never thought the tone was as good. The one I traded was a 74 model and also had a headphone jack installed where the light was to keep my girlfriend from losing her mind. Mike Brown told me they never made a mod kit for those old Sessions because everybody loved their tone and never had a request for it. The next chance I get, I'll pay closer attention to the Nashville 1000.

Dave Robbins · Post by **Dave Robbins** » 5 Jul 2001 6:13 am

Dave

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » 5 Jul 2001 6:49 am

As long as you guys are out there playing and using our amps, we will strive to provide the best product that can be designed and built by the "hands of man". As mentioned here, DDT(Distortion Detection Technique) is our patented protection circuit, and it does work well to save speakers.

The Peavey "Spider" BW speaker was designed and invented and was a result of our frustration with JBL, who would not warranty their speakers in the older Session 400 amplifiers. A lot of "good" came from that experience and it shows in the Peavey Black Widow series of speakers.

Your input is valuble to us, so please call me or e-mail me if you have input with your experiences. Thanks again for using Peavey products.

I can be reached toll free in the U.S. at 1-877-732-8391. Outside the U.S. at (601)483-5365.[This message was edited by Mike Brown on 05 July 2001 at 07:55 AM.]

KENNY KRUPNICK · Post by **KENNY KRUPNICK** » 5 Jul 2001 8:28 am

Session 400 Limited.

Dave Robbins · Post by **Dave Robbins** » 5 Jul 2001 9:35 pm

Mike Brown,
Yes, the DDT does work! I've not blown another speaker since using the amps with DDT. I am a firm believer in this circuitry.

Thanks to you guys at Peavey for all your research and hard work, and for listening to us "whining, complaining" steel playes!

Dave