Why I haven't been around lateley

[Markk Darkk]

For brevity's sake, I don't list all the particulars of the repairs and replacement parts in this sequence of events.

But I borrowed a Vypyr VIP 2 and liked how it made me sound. I bought one, I liked it so much. Then I got the Sanpera II for it and liked it even better. The Sanpera II to me was, once I got the hang of it, easy to use and very well designed. One thing I loved about the Sanpera was that the switches were far enough apart that I wasn't sometimes inadvertently pressing two switches simultaneously.

But it was about that time that the problems started. The Vypyr VIP-2 with the Sanpera II connected, it would reset itself. I had my presets saved at bank 88 (because that's where I found the first preset I knew I could use, the one called "Texas" and started building my go-to presets around that. I'd be wailing along in a gig and then silence. I'd look down at the display and it would be blank or flickering. Eventually it would restart at A-1. Or the volume would drop very low. Or, worst of all, the Vypyr 2 would be producing no sound at all.

Through all of this, I can't fault the dealer where I purchased the Vypyr and the Sanpera, and I can't fault or complain about Peavey. The dealer was able to do some repair, and Peavey warranted the repairs without a quibble. But the first Vypyr I purchased, after the second warranty repair, Peavey just replaced it. While I waited for the replacement to come, I borrowed again the first Vypyr that so impressed me. Same thing happened: amp failed -- during a gig, no less, although fortunately it was on the last song of the night. It, too, was still under warranty, so I was luckily able to return it to the person I borrowed it from in working order.

The replacement amp failed and I got yet another Vypyr VIP 2. By this time, I was on the third Vypyr 2. And then that one at a rehearsal started resetting and the volume dropped low and couldn't make it loud enough to be heard. Well, with the Sanpera II, I'm locked into this Peavey thing now; I can't use the Sanpera II with any other brand. So I told the dealer to put me into something Peavey, something not Vypyr VIP 2 that I could still use the Sanpera. That meant I had to go with a Vypyr 3 since the next thing up, Vypyr Pro, wouldn't take the Sanpera II. Surely, I thought, the components won't be the same in the 3 as in the 2 and my problems will be at an end.

After maybe two weeks, the Vypyr 3 did the same thing: resetting, loss of volume, plus I had some intermittent crackling from the speaker even before the volume loss thing happened. I had to just call an end to the rehearsal. I was in danger of losing my gig. After three VIP-2s, when I came back to the band carrying another Peavey, I was getting some sidelong looks. So I couldn't, I didn't feel like, go back to the band wagging another Peavey.

So I went back to my dealer with the Vypyr 3 that was a deadster and said, Look, just put me in something I can drive off the lot here that is going to be reliable and not fail on me down the road somewhere.

So I traded in the VIP 3 on a Fender Mustang GT200 (wanted the GT100 but he didn't have one and I needed something right then). The Sanpera and the MIDI cable, I just gave them to him. Hell, I couldn't use them anymore anyway.

Again, I can't complain about Peavey service. I can't complain that the dealer treated me badly. Both of them were excellent and were patient.

I prefer the tone of the Peaveys over the Fender I have now. I prefer the Sanpera II over Fender's MGT-4 footswitch.

But Peavey was just simply unable to provide me with even one, single amplifier that exhibited any reliability; one, single amplifier that I could count on it working.

Thanks for listening.

[Fastwind]

Sorry to hear about your problems, man. I can feel the pain you went through!
I feel Peavey has made a little too many compromises with the VIP series. As good as they sound, the hardware used was not very reliable...
The Vypyr Pro is a different beast, with better components, more amps/cabs/effects, more parameters to edit and a better overall quality.
I can understand that you have lost your faith in Peavey stuff, but Peavey has always been known for its reliable hardware (exept for the Vypyr VIP maybe...?)

You obviously moved on to the Fender (which is not so bad...), but if you get the chance to try out a Vypyr Pro, then don't hesitate to do so. It's probably the greatest modeling amp ever made and sounds even beter than the Vypyr VIP 2...

By the way: your Sanpera II would have worked very well with the Vypyr Pro! For changing presets, volume, wah, looper, manual mode,... the Vypyr Pro is backwards compatible with all Sanperas...

[lionheart]

Made in USA = highly reliable.
Made In China = highly profitable.

I have a lot of respect for Peavey's Made In USA products of yesteryear - ultra hard working, reliable, very good quality, easily repairable and toneful.
I have very fond memories of the USA made Ultra, Triumph, Bandit and Backstage amps that I have owned in the past and actually preferred to use these over Marshall products of similar design and capability, which is almost sacrilege for an Englishman like myself to admit to !

The current Peavey Made In China products I have absolutely zero faith in - I speak from personal experience as a former owner of Vypyr VIP and current Bandit models, some of which I sold on, some I have had to dispose of due to irreparable failure.

When you take into account the general failure rate of MIC electronic products within warranty, any manufacturer who outsources production to China very much risks damaging their hard earned reputations for high quality and reliability.

Sadly, Peavey's reputation (from my own personal experience) has been utterly destroyed in the last 15 years wholly due to their reliance on non USA production facilities - if it's any consolation, Marshall's reputation has plummeted likewise.

It is a real shame because Peavey as a brand are synonymous with affordability, great tone and innovation - where they have failed miserably is in reliability and marketing.

In the UK you hardly see Peavey's for retail sale anywhere these days - why ?

Is it the result of poor marketing or a general perception of poor reliability from both retailer and potential end user ?

[Landshark]

my original Vypyr 30, VIP1, VIP2, and Vypyr Pro all work with no problems ... with the exception of the VIP1 and 2's knobs get a little wonky sometimes when changing values ... need to give them a DeOxit cleaning.

you should have saved yourself the grief and got a Vypyr Pro - makes the VIPS seem like toys in comparison.

[barber76]

Very good point raised by OP. While I never owned 2nd gen Vypyr or Boss Katana, from youtube videos I absolutely prefer Vypyr tones, no contest. But when I inspected those amps in the local GC, Vypyr felt a cheap plastic Chinese toy, while Katana felt built like a tank.
Btw, I'm sure Katana's are built in china as well, so it is not about country per se. It is about design decisions, cutting corners, and quality control (and about management bonuses, I suppose ).

[JamesPaul]

I went thru three VYPYR 30's before I had a solid one; all repairs covered under warranty. However my VYPYR 75 and my VIP 3 have always been rock solid from day 1. Components are what the are and Peavey has little control over components they don't manufacture. In my 30+ years of playing Peaveys, the 30 was only my second failure. It's a normal curve. You will always have outliers in the thin tails of the probability curve known as slim to non-existing. That is what we might have here. But I still get it. You need an amp you can depend on. Having owned and still owning quite a few Peavey amplifiers, I wouldn't base my overall Peavey experience on one amp.

[dalrymple]

I have owned all vypyr models, or worked in a band setting with someone who had one's I didnt. My series 1 15, 30, tube 60, and more recent purchase, tube 120 all perform flawlessly. The 15, 30 & 60 are more than 10 years old. I bought a hinky vypyr 15, and it eventually got worse and died.

My harp player is on his 4th VIP 1 in 3 years. All new, replaced by Peavey under warranty. But 4 in 3 years. One played less than 5 minutes, 1 for 3 mo., 1 18 mo. This one is almost a year old. Sound great with his harp, but cant say much for the quality overall. Let's not forget that Peavey doesnt consider the 15, 30, etc serviceable. They replace them under warranty because it is cheaper than trying to repair them. A comment on the cost of unit vs labor cost to service one.

At almost $900 w/ the right pedal, the Vypro is just in a different price range than these other cheap amps, and I would hope the longevity is better than the Vip series seems to be. Sadly, this model gained little traction in the marketplace for a variety of reasons, price not being the least. I was in GC San Francisco the other day, and they had only VIP1 and 2, no Vypro or Vip3 used or new. Pretty typical these days. I still have never seen a Vypro turned on, not even in a store.

A friend got his new VIP 3 delivered yesterday, so we will see how this baby lasts and performs out of the box.

Seems the Vypyr series has been consigned to the dustbin of history by the maker. Too bad I say, since I believe they still have the best sounding modeling going for a few hundred bucks, but no buzz about anything Vypyr or modeling for a few years tells us all we need to know about their desire to continue to develop these type amps.

Totally Vypyryzed.

Dalrymple

[Landshark]

At almost $900 w/ the right pedal, the Vypro is just in a different price range than these other cheap amps

i didn't even pay that much for a brand new one - $525 with coupon code from Sweetwater, forget how much for Sanpera Pro, but also discounted.
there's one on Reverb.com right now WITH Sanpera Pro for $400.

I still have never seen a Vypro turned on, not even in a store.

my local Guitar Center, with their piles of VIPS on the showroom floor, had never even HEARD of the Pro a year and a half after it was released.