When you first attacked that plank of wood you had the cheek to call an electric guitar, if you were like me you were in immediate need of something with which to amplify your clunky chord changes and morse code ‘solos’. If you were in luck, you might’ve found yourself in possession of a wee Marshall 20W job, with all-important parent-bothering distortion on tap at the turn of its golden dial. You might, if you had an elder sibling who’d already been through this formative stage in life, have access to a Roland Jazz Chorus, its syrupy-thick chorus effect giving you the ideal angle to your jangle. You might even, if you had a dad who’d once dabbled with being a weekend rocker or roller, have access to a Fender or a Vox or similar – a proper amp that required far more volume than was house-friendly in order to sound good.
Me? I had a shitty wee Badger Piccolo. A tiny, tinny 15W affair that only came to life when plugged into a Rocktek distortion pedal. But it was enough to stir enough conviction in my hacked and calloused fingers to stick with this thing called playing guitar.
At one point I graduated to a 30W Peavey. It had a chorus setting. It had a spring reverb that wobbled and vibrated like a violent Hannah Barbera sound effect if you banged or moved the amp while it was switched on. And it had a push/pull dial that changed the tone from fizz to fffffiiiizzzzz and back again. Coupled with the ever-present Rocktek pedal, this became my (coughs) signature sound.
The young guitar player in me was delighted to see three of my favourite groups employing the Peavey as a means to sculpt their sound. Paul Ryder of the Happy Mondays used one on Tony Wilson’s ‘Other Side Of Midnight’ as the solid foundation upon which the group rattled out their rickety street urchin funk.
Inspiral Carpets had two – two! – on stage at Glasgow Tech, one for the bass and one for a guitarist playing open chords through a fuzz box – just like me!
Most thrillingly of all, Ride – who had just released the ‘yellow daffodils’ 12” had one just like mine (not the one in the picture above – which means – amp detectives – that Ride had more than one too), propped up on a beer crate beside the drum riser on Glasgow Mayfair’s stage.
Ride? Ride! They make that glorious racket with a Peavey?!
And here was me thinking they’d be standing awkwardly and staring through lank fringes at their desert boots in front of a solid wall of Marshall stacks.
Between Ride and Inspiral Carpets and Happy Mondays, there was, it seemed, hope for bedroom guitarists everywhere. And sometimes, as it turned out, hope is all you have.
This popped up on Instagram recently.
It’s Pixies’ Joey Santiago with a Telecaster and a Peavey.
Wait! What?
Joey used a Peavey too?!
On Surfer Rosa?!?
On SURFER ROSA?!?!?
That ear-destroying surf punk mix of siren guitars and riffage heavier than a shower of blacksmiths’ anvils was created with a Peavey too?! Who knew?!
This is akin to winning the Le Mans 24hr on a pushbike. Mr Bean knocking out Mike Tyson in the first round. Hearts winning the Scottish Premiership…you get the idea. As unlikely as it seems, it’s quite possible to make thunderous alt rock through a humble Peavey amplifier. Rock me sideways, Joe.
Pixies – Vamos
‘Estabo pensando sobreviviendo con mi sister en New Jersey!’ goes Frank Black, all menace and snarl. ‘We’ll go to California!’ he screams.
Screeeeeeeee! goes Joey’s Peavey-powered guitar. The rhythm section pummels out a breathless and steady backbeat. Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Joey attacks those six strings like the Boston Strangler himself, bending them, twisting them, grappling the life out of them until ear splitting feedback saws its way through the stew.
At several points there are clangs – instabtly recognisbale clangs to any Peavey owner (but who knew at the time?!?) – of Joey hitting, banging, thumping the side of his amp until the reverb spring rattles like a cartoon explosion – that self-same cartoon Hannah Barbera sound effect first heard at home and in smelly rehearsal rooms now magnetised to tape forever.
I don’t listen to Pixies that much these days, but Joey’s social media post has had me scurrying back particularly to Surfer Rosa recently. A powerful reminder that the best things are often created in the most simple of ways.
Plain Or Pan 