Peavey's PR TRAIN WRECK 

Sorry for the angled and flipped clips. While this video uses these clips for commentary purposes and is classified as fair use, the automated bots register the clips used and block the video in certain areas around the world. To avoid this, the clips have to be altered in this way. My apologies.

"I'm upset she doesn't see the big picture". For her, the big picture is making sure her family doesn't die, dude.

Peavey's COO: "I'm just upset she doesn't see the big picture." Right, because your assembly line worker gets paid like the COO of your company, dude. Knowing the big picture is YOUR job.

I'm sorry but the fact that Misha uses his literal signature amplifier as a power amp for a Fractal will never not be hilarious to me.

I want to see an undercover boss for Behringer. They can dress the boss up like a robot and see if he can speak binary to the other robots.

It should be remembered that whilst the companies shown on this programme reward the specific people that are featured in the episode, the problems that exist within the given company are being endured by ALL the employees.

I heard through the grapevine, that Hartley’s own son left the company, after doing all the design and programming for Peaveys Media Matrix line. The son asked to be treated as a partner on that project instead of an hourly employee, Heartly said nope. So the son left, went work for QSC and created QSys and is now dominating the industry.

"Peavey mic." I'm dead 😂😂

It's sad how far Peavey has fallen. They used to be super solid.

I worked at Peaveys for 9 years in a variety of capacities. I tested everything from recording equipment to keyboards. The pay truly was awful but back then ( 1985 - 1994) man were those some good times. It was not always like it is now. I drove from Tampa through Meridian this past weekend, Meridian is now basically an open air prison for people living in poverty. I asked my nephew who lives outside of Meridian about what there is to do in Meridian. His response was “ the only thing left to do in Meridian MS is LEAVE. There was a golden age at one time. Glad I was there during that time. There is a season for everyone and everything. I think Hartley and company did not see the big picture either.

The fact that 30k gets taked about as "life changing" really shows how little people are paid, and then they screw him over copletely.

This is my hometown. People used to make a big deal of working for Peavey, and everyone I knew that worked there said they were good people, and that after Hartley's wife died things just started going down hill for the company. She was the president of the company. It's still sad seeing what they have become.

All too often, this story accurately depicts what is wrong with “magnanimous” American companies! They attempt to maintain a benevolent public image, while actually treating their employees with indifference and contempt.

PR department must have been housed in one of those closed factories.

Boss: Hi, I'm the new worker and definitely not your boss in a cheap disguise Peavey employee: Run. Run as fast as you can. Do not turn back. Forget you were ever here.

Both my parents worked for Peavey for over 2 decades and it literally sucked the life out of them. They are literally a dismally managed company that doesn't know how to continue managing a brand through tough times.

When Hartley's wife Melia was in charge of the company, they always said they would NEVER enter the mail order market. After she passed away, Hartley Peavey started selling to all the catalog companies, and when that happened, the mom and pop dealers (that had MADE that company the giant that it was) started losing faith/interest in the line because it was no longer the profit machine for them that it had once been. Peavey did this to themselves. Some of their product is still very solid, but much of it today is not made as well as their stuff used to be. The trying to compete with the companies selling through mail order game is nothing more than a race to the bottom of the barrel.

The show never covered what Peavy's greatest issue was. I don't think it's "no one cares if it is made in the USA" issue as much as it's a very slim market now for the working musician who wants quality without paying for the brand name. And too much competition in the mid-tier market. When Peavy built the company, it was about quality USA-made equipment for the working musician. It wasn't a status brand like Fender or Marshall, but it didn't have the price either. And it wasn't total garbage like lower-end starter brands. Many popular musicians used Peavy because it had that blue-collar vibe to it. As the video said they tried going high-end with Eddie Van Halen. While that was good for awhile it was a nitch market. And that fell apart when they signed Joe Satriani. Ed got pissed and left and Joe's partnership with the company only lasted 3 or so years before he went back to Marshall. So unlike their competition, they had no impact on musicians on their roster and were still trying to compete with Ed's EVH line. Then they tried to compete on the low end against Line 6, which you couldn't do as a domestic company and wasn't their swim lane. They also tried to challenge IK Multimedia in the home amp sim market. Peavy was never about chasing someone else's tone and feel, it was about capturing yours while not emptying your wallet. Of course when imports became better quality that really was where the ship started to sink. Specifically, Behringer's mixing boards cut into their market share. When companies started making lower-end amps to so anyone could play a Fender or Marshall it was a hard blow. Quality guitars flooded the mid-tier market all with celebrity endorsers. When you can get Eddie's guitar for $650.00 why wouldn't you? Peavy never grew and enhanced on what they did best. They neglected that part of the business and allowed the competition just to walk in and steal that market. They tried competing in new categories and failed. And lord knows they couldn't market themselves going in so many directions. That is why they are barely a blip on the radar these days.

As a southerner who grew up rockin' I felt pride that Peavey was growing up in that same era gaining in popularity throughout my youth (I'm 62 now). They made solid gear that delivered value and was reliable. In the eighties they hit some home runs like the CS400 power amp and the Black Widow range of speakers. These were affordable yet world-class in performance. Perhaps this reached a even greater level when the 5150 head and BW cabs took on the Marshall/Celestion supremacy. Now the trick is to remain favored at that level. The music business is one fickle mistress and technology moves ever faster. Add in the threat of ever better Chinese sourced builds from all of the heavies and the market was being sliced and diced in every direction. The "soup to nuts" we make it all from mics, cables, instruments, stage/studio amps, to touring PAs whole systems was becoming a albatross. It's impossible to be uniformly profitable and even desirable in everything on levels from beginners to professionals. Time to focus on the core again. Do that core really good and offer it at decent (i.e. fair, not firesale or obviously unsustainable) pricing for the no non-sense builds. Bring it back to American-Made so users can have pride of ownership and passion about the brand. It will be be a smaller company but one that can get back to profitability and quality in equal measures. I know...easier said than done. But I always root for the embattled iconic American underdog to rise.

Thanks for doing this. Too many people are NOT talking about this in our "Guitar Community" and it's a BIG deal! It's Peavey!

At the time the episode aired,I was working at a full line Peavey dealer. Shit had already been going downhill with them for years,but that episode of UB really was a knockout blow.

Hartley screwed his local dealers. I know. I was there. Zero sympathy.

Good video. - there’s nothing more sickening than hearing a CEO complain that the workers ‘don’t get the big picture' when a) they aren’t told the big picture and b) the big picture is that they will be thrown out on the street, in order to preserve the income and lifestyle of the bosses. Peaveys problem was lack of imagination and innovation. There was nothing wrong with their products. They were great for what they were. But what they were didn’t really inspire anyone. Rock solid and reliable Peavey Amps were used backstage for warming up and tuning, guitar techs quite liked them. But they were rarely used on stage. There was a time when many small pubs and clubs would have a peavey bass amp as part of their back line, uninspiring amps, but solid and reliable and it saved the bass player from having to bring one along. Successful amp manufacturers need either heritage/innovation or huge innovation. Peavey had neither

As a music store employee that was a Peavey dealer, I was sent to Meridian for a one-week training session way back in the 80's. It was quite impressive and Peavey had a large market share at that time because their equipment was, frankly, cheap. They made a lot of things that were NOT very exciting. Their guitars looked pretty boring and they didn't sell. While there, all the other guys (it was all guys) from around the country were in a room with a PA system. A guy was trying to turn it on and play a CD through it; but nothing came out of the speakers. He turned up the channel, the the mains, then realized...."Oh, the power isn't on. But he DIDN'T lower the faders he had raised. I was on the front row when he turned on the power amps...the VP of Peavey was there and tried to stop him..."NO!" Too late, the sound came on like a cannon shot and I actually fell out of my chair. LOL. They got it turned down but my ears were ringing the rest of the week. Then that guy said to the VP, just feet from me. "I wouldn't be surprised if that guy sues us!" The VP gave me a dirty look like, "Don't even think about it," but he was also really mad at his "sound tech." I was hoping they would win me over (since I was not a fan of Peavey and was a keyboardist; and they don't make keyboards), but...no!

We had to actually stop selling the Chinese Peavey amps at the music shop I worked at due to customers bringing them back the next day, hardly one worked as it should have, it cost us a lot of business and customers.

God I feel for those employees. Maybe peavey's top brass should make a tigerking-like documentary, and promote it on disneyplus

Every few years, I'm surprised to find out Peavey is still around. When I hear stories like this, I wanna know if the owner and top brass took a cut in pay during the downsizing. If not, your company deserves to fail.

I wish Peavey still made guitars, basses, and synths in the USA.

I remember seeing nothing but Peavey amps & cabs when I was a kid in the 80s & 90s

This reminds me of Commodore International - here was a company that had a very affordable, great computer to sell, which was the best-selling personal computer in the world, but bad decisions, bad management and terrible interactions with resellers absolutely buried them.

When I started playing guitar in the 80s Peavey was like the main everywhere, everyone had one, amp. And their stuff was super solid and never broke down. I have an small amp that was from one of the last years manufactured in the USA. I feel like they could've kept their jobs in the US and still competed. I think people DO care about where stuff is made, but nowadays it's either affordable from overseas or super expensive boutique gear if it's made in the US.

Up to the early 90's, their amps were very solid. I still seek out their US Made stuff, because it's easy to fix, and works well.

Peavey was innovative and quality in the 80's and into the 90's. Then, they seemed to have stopped innovating. Black Widow speakers were the bomb... then, everyone else caught up. Their amps had a sound... then everyone else created a new sound that was more desirable - but Peavey didn't change. Peavey was known for quality... then they started moving everything to China, so the overall brand's reputation changed on the quality and the stuff still made in the US was considered suspect quality, too. At least, that's what I've felt and heard other musicians in the area express.

I met Hartley in 2001 and he told a room full of people "Peavey will NEVER outsource and never sell to Guitar Center". Guess what he did a short time later. I was almost an artist endorser for Peavey in 2005 and am glad I turned them down.

For decades, Peavey's strategic advantage was being located in MS, where business regulations and employee protections are among the weakest in the US, and at the same time, Hartley would go on and on about how government was hobbling his ability to thrive. Along come Asian manufacturers undercutting that Peavey advantage the same way he did with US competitors back in the day, and he got caught with his ass blowing in the wind. Now all he's got left is trying to develop products that can be manufactured in Asia cheaply, like Incredible Hulk crap guitars that bring money in mostly for aftermarket comic collectors.

I work in IT for a manufacturing company (non guitar) based in the US South that is doing quite well. Peavey could have been competitive if they hadn't been so set in their ways. I guess it works out for other manufacturers in the area because we can hire the great employees that Peavey discarded.

I'm from Mississippi and am very familiar with peavey. The reason peavey got in the shape they are in is because their quality has steadily declined since the 80's. You never see musicians, even here 60 miles from peavey headquarters, using their equipment. The only way peavey lasted this long is because they became a huge supplier for church P.A. systems.

I’ve been a Peavey fan for years, and I was fortunate to have toured the plant and taken seminars there in ‘84.I got to meet both Hartley and Melia on the last day. Hartley always seemed larger than life but back then he did speak a lot of common sense about the industry, particularly from a legal standpoint. How the mighty have fallen. I still have some Peavey gear at home - a 90s Classic 50 which has the nicest cleans and British distortions, an ‘89 Falcon which is one of the best constructed guitars I have in my collection, and a Powerslide lap steel. Peavey still does offer instruments via mail order on their website, but these are cheap, lower end stuff I wasn’t very impressed with - and much of it isn’t even in stock, just COMING SOON. Perhaps someone could finally buy the company, then re-introduce some of their classic guitars and basses, built by a reliable third party like the company that supplied Brian May’s company. I mean, Harley Benton, Thomann’s brand, just released a copy of the Cirrus bass, so you know people are looking for that…..

The irony of all these USA factory closures and moving to China is that they might have done better staying in the US. Phillip McKnight briefly touched on this, but there’s a million made in China budget amps. Peavey selling themselves as a rock solid, USA made, quality working man’s amp would have really helped differentiate them from their competitors. Now they’re no different from any other amp brand, and their name alone can’t carry them.

Such a disaster. When I first heard about it I just felt bad. Though I still love peavey amps, but this was just unforgiveable.

This is really unfortunate. I own several Peavey products, and they’re all great. I really want them to succeed, and I want to know that they’re doing right by the people who work for them.

Peavey is a sad story. They died largely because they tried to stay in the US past when it was feasible. They were one of the last to outsource and paid the price for it. I wish Made in the USA was more viable than it is.

I used to be around PR staff for instrument manufacturers because I dealt in PR with musicians (among other things). I can guarantee you that there are plenty of instrument companies that would make for some fun reality TV. Depending on your definition of fun.

My very first guitar was a Peavy T-60. My parents bought it for me for Christmas when I was 15. I still have it (37 years later), and while I rarely play it anymore, I have a deep emotional attachment to it. Mainly because it was a gift from my parents who always supported my love for music, but also the fact that it opened me up to the world of guitar, and playing music in general. Years later I bought some big Peavey speakers for my PA and my band powered them with a 7,000 watt Peavey amp that never let us down. I'll always have a soft spot for Peavey, just because of my history with their products, but it did break my heart a bit when I watched this episode of Undercover Boss. Great coverage of the story, great video.

I owned an American-made Peavey Bandit until recently. I traveled with it, gigged it, and otherwise abused it for 8 years… Never had an issue with it. They’re built like tanks, and sell for crazy cheap on the used market! Imo if the company ditched their dated 80’s image and marketed themselves as a uniquely American-made, budget-friendly, high-quality brand, they would still be relevant today. Their mistake was trying to fix their declining market share by entering direct competition with everyone else in the import product market, when they should have just accepted their smaller role in the industry.

Love the investigative nature of some of your videos. It sets your channel apart and makes the content interesting as hell. Can’t wait for the next audit, whenever that may be. Stay cool my Irish brother.

I watched that episode of UB, it made me ill. I bought a Peavey amp in the ‘80’s (Renown - solid state w/2x12”) and it was junk. Because of the way Peavey treated their employees, I wouldn’t touch their products ever again. Carvin/Keisel guitars are still made in the USA, with quite a lead time, guess they know something Peavey doesn’t. Btw: don’t feel sorry for Peavey, piss poor management did this, not the employees! 😎🎼🎸

Im from Meridian, Ms. Ive known many people that have worked at Peaveys over the years. Believe me shitty management practices are nothing new. Its always been like that. If I had a nickel for everytime someone was "fired" right before their retirement, well.....

I managed a store that was a big peavey dealer in the 90s. The decline started right Melia Peavey passed away in 1998. Hartley couldn’t supply. USA products, threaten dealers with selling to GC, told stores we weren’t doing enough. When we toured t he factory we could tell he treated his employees poorly.

I feel if they made a 60 watt version of their 6505 series at a cheaper price than the EVH 5150 50 watt amp, they would make a killing in the market.

One of your videos popped up in my feed. I've now watched 4 in the last couple of days. Great, no bullshit analysis. Very astute observations, too. Keep up the great work!

When Peavey was booming (back in the day) you could take a peavey head launch in out of the back of a pick up in the dead of winter in nowhere Kansas, turn around and pick it up, then plug it in at the next gig and it would keep going. I know this to be factual because it happened to me. It was not intentionally tossed and it was 8 degrees outside and we had no room for our equipment. Point is, I recall a time when you could not destroy a Peavy. Peavy Mace for example, sure it was a boat anchor but those damn things, if you can find one today, are still playing. Today, I wouldn’t give a bucket of piss for one Peavy product. It’s sad, since they really had the market mastered because they built a product that lasted and lasted. I still have an old solid state made in Mississippi and it’s loud tough and when I see the back of that speaker and knowing these folks probably had something to do with the manufacturing of it, I’ll hold onto it forever. It will outlive me. Dear Peavy, be the different company. Let go of the whole market, price competitiveness for now, make a product in the US that proves who you were. The price point will be high but make the quality higher. Be the better company. Pull out the old drawing board and go back to it. Until then, no Peavy products for me.

Glad to see this brought back into the light again after all these years. This is the sort of horror story that deserves to follow them until the day they shut shop...

There is a lesson here - never sacrifice yourself for a company! Why? Because they will never hesitate to let you go without so much as a "f*ck you" on your way out. If you have an opportunity to improve your life (career-wise), TAKE IT and don't look back. Sentiment won't pay for your dreams.

I purchased my first Sound System in the late 70's when I started my first small band. It is a PA-100, (100 watt high impedance with 2 speakers. I still have it and it works, it never broke. Fast forward to present day, I was trained by the biggest and best live sound companies here in Hawaii. The repair people is shrinking here and the last best guy mentioned of all the different manufacturers that came after Peavey, Peavey was the best, (I agree). I also play guitar and I am a firm believer in Vacuum Tubes. I do like the Fender sound, but own 1940's Gibson and Rickenbaucher Point to Point wires amps, (yes they still work). The amp I gig with is a point to point all tube custom made head, (made by a good friend). I would like to get a Tweed, Peavey Classic 30 amp one day. Currently I am in a Roots Reggae Band for the past 16 years.

I am Peavey CVLT to the core. Always have been. But this,... was a Sad day. I am old,.. and was a Teenage Kid, in the Heart of the 80's, when every Kid on the Block, owned a Bandit, or Backstage. They were inexpensive, Loud, and made in Abundance! The old ad's, in the Guitar, and Rock mags, were the first ever, Directed at US,... the kids that wanted to be Rock Stars. This made HP an Icon to us. Our Champion. We couldnt afford Marshalls, or Gibsons,.. But Hatley Made us comparible gear, at prices we could afford,.. Then EVH starts playing them (among others) and we could actually own the same amps our idols played! I still play old Peaveys, 70's and 80's stuff is still alive, because it was all Bulletproof. When you open one up, you can immediately tell the build quality was exceptional. Big potentiometers, Giant transformers, Huge Speaker Magnets,. ect,ect,ect. Its unfortunate that such a Huge part of our memories, Youth, and Music history went So Far wrong,... But its everywhere you look now. Its all overseas, Cheap components, and built to Fail. ALL of that said,.. Theres STILL nothing like that Original, Vintage PEAVEY Gear! And the resurgence, and insane prices, have made my old, modest collection worth a fortune! I still love what ol' HP did for us,.... But Im saddened at the road this Iconic Brand has traveled down.....

I have heard references to this episode before, but I could never find a copy of it anywhere. Thanks for the breakdown!

I use to only use peavey amps. My valve king, 5150 etc. some hard cash in the amps but when I saw this undercover boss episode when it released I sold all my peavey amps and took my business elsewhere without looking back. I believe in companies taking care of their workers I feel that my money could be better spent elsewhere. Many peavey loyal customers saw this episode and were angered to the point that they stopped doing business with the company as well. I know the episode caused further financial issues with the company, but they took it upon themselves to go on a undercover boss and the world found out just how shitty and how disconnected they were with employees.

Love your investigative topics. Keep them coming.

I remember the furore when this Undercover Boss episode came out. Peavey were trying to continue with manufacturing in the US, but they were not perceived as a high end brand and therefore their margins were getting smaller as they tried to compete with imported gear. A shame, as their gear was super reliable despite being considered a bit boring and it was popular with a lot of professional acts back in the 80s and early 90s (I even bought a Peavey 1820 cabinet because Peter Steele of Type O Negative used them).

I used to work as an intern at the Peavey Hollywood showroom from October 2013 till February 2014. That store was awesome and they had the entire Budda, Trace Elliott and Composite Acoustics line alongside Peavey. I also remember Peavey at the time had the Devin Townsend signature guitar, which was a very good model.

I was a big Peavey 5150/6505 fan, used them for years. I always had one around since 1998 or so. After I watched this episode when it aired everything Peavey was sold/traded. How they handle this whole situation was disrespectful to is employees. I did not want support a brand that acted this way. If want that 5150/6505 sound I’ll play an EVH, better quality, and more versatile.

I grew up seeing Peavey used by my guitar playing friends because the quality was so good at a low price. I was surprised when I went to see Journey in 1980 and saw these huge speakers with the Peavey logo staring at me. They were using Peavey amps too that I think were PA amps. I can’t remember. No matter who used them, no matter the quality, they kept being seen as a brand you only use when you’re at the bottom. It hurt their sales bad. Peavey worked hard d to provide quality for the money and were paid back by being abandoned as soon as a band started making big money. Teens were doing everything they could to avoid being seen with the Peavey logo since they were known to be low price. They made guitars that showed MADE IN USA and were made well but few would pay the price for the more it cost to make them here. This scar would continue for Peavey forever. Eventually their quality suffered trying to keep up. I could get a made in USA Peavey guitar on the used market for peanuts and was way better than other foreign stuff out there. The stigma would never leave and caused what you see today. Mr Pescey tried his best to make quality at an affordable price and did not get the recognition he deserved.

Extremely sad situation ! Meridian Mississippi (home of Jimmie Rodgers) is a depressed area to begin with. My son and I went to they're factory about two years now. I must say it WAS very depressing. There is NOT a lot of jobs or anything big time going on for those folks in Meridian. And they are super nice people. Hartley is Heartless ! That WAS once a "career" for folks, but I don't think Hartley looked at them as family, just "workers" :-(

I'm from Hattiesburg MS. Just an hour south of Meridian. 80% of the active bands in there area are armed to the teeth with Peavey gear. Hard to find and collectable stuff too. I've played with two different guys with Peavey branded EVH Wolfgang's (which can sell used now for upwards of $3k). Block letter 5150's are very common here too. I just sold my 2nd ultra head on reverb, and have played through 3 different JSX heads. MS is all in all, a shit hole. Peavey revolutionized so much in the music industry. I was always so proud of them. Seeing practices like this as someone who's been laid off before, and seeing them happen in my home state famous for economic despair is like a knife in the gut. I'd honestly always heard Hartley was a cunt. I just hope the employees landed on their feet.

I spent 5 years in a road band in the late 70's and we used 5 peavey stereo power amps for our pa sys. These things were bricks, 2 or 3 setup/teardown per week 45 weeks per year, bouncing around in the cargo hold of a bus on bad roads great price at the time.I have my 12v decade which I used on the bus still works great. The quest for the almighty dollar has ruined many good things.

Your posts are always so insightful and intelligent. Thanks!!!

Thanks nice one. Would love to see this whole episode.

"...deeply committed to our customers..." They needed to be deeply committed to their employees. Smdh.

Really great video! My first electric guitar was a Peavey. Sad to see them fall from grace this far. Even sadder to see what these dedicated employees went through. Hopefully they all have better jobs with better companies.

You should keep doing vids like this man, your great at it!

This channel has really come a long way!

Sad KDH Peavey was such a good company back in the day.

I still have my '84 T-60, I love it! super well made Guitar, versatile sounds, plays great. Sadly almost every Peavey amp I've ever had has died.

I've recently discovered your videos. You're doing great work fella.

Keep up the good work. I hope your channel continues to grow.

Hmm this will be interesting. I always wondered why peavey just kind of faded away. Either way, I love my 6505+, that thing is a monster. I run it through a Friedman BE412 (2xV30 + 2xGreenbacks). It’s magnificent. Edit: i never saw that episode… that is seriously messed up. It appears their financial hardships are brought on by their own actions. Then they just go into a spiral and take more stupid actions to fix the stuff they screwed up, and on and on. At this rate, peavey won’t be around much longer and it will be mostly their fault. Have to say I probably won’t be buying much from them until they bring back the jobs and get a new plan. Bring back our JERBS!!!

I have a 90s peavey studio pro and its one of the best solid state amps i've used. it's a damn shame that peavey fell like that.

My first rig (back in the 80’s) was Peavey T-15 guitar and a Decade amp...Peavey stuff was everywhere and affordable to us youngsters but over the years things have changed...great vid as always KDH... rock on bro!!!!!

Fascinating video, great work!

At a time, Peavey were making some EXCELLENT guitars and Amps. Jim Dicola (now head of R&D at Gibson) designed the EVH guitar and brought some serious updating to the guitar line in general. James Brown designed and engineered the EVH 5150 amp as well as their Tweed/Vintage line of Amps. Those late 90s/2000s guitars and Amps are excellent values. Now their stuff is garbage

I grew up in Meridian Mississippi and have had many interactions with the Peavey family in a public setting. This show is an exact representation of who they are. I had many friends let go and lost everything they had after they closed several of there local plants. It sad they deserve to lose every inch of there market share in the music industry. Wouldn’t own anything with that name associated with it.

Pretty sad story. I vaguely remember when it all went down. Their mistreatment of their staff is pretty horrifying to watch. I’m a little unsure of the point of revisiting old controversies without an update of where they are now. Most players have fond memories of Peavey or at least one of their products (I still have a Classic 50 i use almost every day!) and would definitely consider Peavey when buying gear, but not without taking into account their unethical workplace practices. Did they get their shit together or are they still a mess? 6 years is a long time.

Really well made video! Nice work!

Literally just needs the curb your enthusiasm theme

Seeing the writing on the walls with cutbacks like this is hard. I spent a couple months living paycheck to paycheck on a partial furlough before being let go just before COVID closed the world.

Great, well thought out video. I really enjoyed this. Great job!

Just found your channel and subscribed after watching the Roman Guitars video and this one. Great stuff man!

My first guitar back in the 80's when I was 14 was a Peavey with a hard shell case and built in amp. It was a great beginner set up.

Holy f .. as someone who also feels like I've spent a lot of years doing a job that hasn't offered me any of the opportunities I thought it would, while I watch newer employees climb up in front of me, I really sympathize with these workers .. and giving them monetary gifts for their hardships isn't what people with integrity want or need .. they want to be treated fairly and valued for their skills

I forgot to add how great of a job that you did in this video. Thank you for posting!

Interesting video. I had no idea about what had happened to this once great company, and feel sorry for the employees. These guys made super equipment, and should be very proud of their work. Thank you for posting this.

One of the big probs they had around ‘98 was their ERP system they bought. They threw millions into the system... they got screwed on that deal.

Haven't touched Peavey for over a decade since an incident with what used to be one of biggest music forums.

Thank you. You did a great job on this. I remember being broken hearted about this when it happened. It’s a shame. At one time, Peavey was a great American company that built unbelievably solid amps and guitars. My Peavey Wolfgang is the most solidly built guitar that I own to this day. Cheers

Dude..... good on you for working some "night watchman" vids a d keeping a weather eye out. Alot of people are very resistant to take open and unbiased shots at manufacturers like this. So thanks to you from a fella with roots in Cavan living in the states.

I remember seeing this episode when I was younger, and I got rid of my little Peavey amp the next day. Even as a pre teen with little experience on the fretboard, I was disgusted by the guy selling out his entire company.

I've been playing a Peavy keyboard amp as my primary guitar amp for 30 years, and it's been rock solid and sounds great after many gigs and only one replacement pot. They have made some great products and brought out some great music from people. It's a shame to see another American company going this way.

Binging all of KDH's investigative journalism to get through this Wisconsin winter 🤘

That was just painful to watch... ...and this vid is the first I've seen of yours but it earned a sub :D