Peavy Stereo Chorus 212 Single Unit Amp

Charles Buttner Jr · Post by **Charles Buttner Jr** » 9 Feb 2003 10:44 am

I just picked up this amp and was hopeing someone might offer some suggestions on how to set the controls for Steel Guitar.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 9 Feb 2003 6:48 pm

It's really a marginally acceptable amp for steel (it was designed for straight guitar). I played one for several years, and was always using several of the built-in effects, but I was unhappy with the lack of bottom end.

A few years ago, I installed a LeMay mod to this amp, and the improvement was startling, to say the least! Now I have the bass response that the amp should have had when it came from the factory!

A good starting point for unmodded amps is (normal channel)

Pre Volume-8
Low 10
Mid 0
High 4
Presence 0
Master 8-10

Once it's modded, you'll probably have to lower the bass to 6-8 (even there, it'll have more lows than the stock amp does at 10). The mod isn't cheap, and you'll have to find someone with solid-state experience to install it, but it will make this an amp worth keeping!

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » 10 Feb 2003 8:33 am

Donny is right, it isn't an amp that was designed for the low frequencies that a steel guitar produces. Any engineer can take any six string electric guitar amp and make it sound somewhat decent for steel guitar, but until a steel guitar amp is compared to it side by side, the obvious improvements of a steel amp are not evident.

Differences such as speaker voicing, damping factor, etc. improves the performance of an amp for steel guitar applications. The 12" Peavey Scorpion speakers in the SC212 were not designed for this application, so they would sound rather "mid rangy". The Stereo Chorus 212 could reproduce the low frequencies that a six string electric required and was a very popular chorus type of amp for its intended six string electric application.

Mike Brown
Peavey Electronics Corporation[This message was edited by Mike Brown on 10 February 2003 at 08:34 AM.]

Charles Buttner Jr · Post by **Charles Buttner Jr** » 10 Feb 2003 11:28 am

Thanks for the info Don. Looks as if Mike agrees with you. It really does not sound bad but it would be better with more low end. Mike, does Peavy have any modifcations other than what Don is refering to that would improve on this problem.

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » 10 Feb 2003 12:22 pm

No sir, we don't offer a mod kit for that particular model. If I can be of further assistance, please contact me here at Peavey by phoning 1-877-732-8391. Our office hours are from 8am-6pm CST.