Peavey SESSION 500 Operating Manual

Operating Guide
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Three years ago our design group initiated the Session® S00 program. Hundredsof ideas coming from professional musicians, music
dealers and field technicians as well as our own staff musicians and electronic/mechanical engineering groups were discussed,
evaluated and "distilled" into a concise set of specifications which formed the basis for the new Session®. As the project progressed, we
were able to draw from our experience gained in allied areas such as sound reinforcement amplification and the design of new
loudspeakers made from the "ground up" in our own specker/transducer laboratories.
The basic emplifier/speaker system was "road tested" for several months as a "baro bones" prototype and the input we got was that
aven with the increased power and dynamic range available from the amplifier, the emp could still be overloaded, especially
when heavy
"power chords" and excessive pedal action were used. During this same period of time, another R & D teem had been working on the
special problems of compression related to sound reiniorcement power amps....It was natural for the two A & D teams to combine their
stforts ang apply our newly developed "Distortion Detection Technique" compression circuitry (patent pending) toeven further improve
ind enhance our musical instrument amplifiers. The resulting power amp used in the Session® features DDT® compression that virtually
liminates amplifier clipping with the resulting harsh harmonics and speaker problems that are often encountered when the amplifier IS
iriven into hard clipping and square waves are delivered to the speaker system.
The new Session® tone controls retain many of the equalization characteristics of the old Session® but now include a unique "state
ariable" midrange equalizer that enables both boost and cut, as wall as shifting of the conter point of the midrange equalizer. This
:apability further enhances the tremendous tonality and dynamic range available from the Session® 500.
To further satisfy the needs of the touring professional, we have designed a variable electronic crossover into the Session's® signal
srocessing circuitry to allow bi-amping the system through auxiliary power amps/speaker systems. By including this "state variable"
It has been recognized for many years that the traditional steel guitar/volume pedal/amplifier arrangement commonly used is
definitely not the most ideal setup. Analysis showed that certain relatively minor circuit revisions, including some novel gain balancin:
circuitry, could actually allow the volume pedal to be inserted into the amplifier itself, thus tremendously increasing the overall
performance of the system from the standpoint of dynamic range, noise, and freedom trom tonal change as the volume pedal is moved
throughout its range. For the f i r s t time, the Session® 500's innovative circuitry removes the loading effects and resulting tonal changes
caused by the volume pedal's interaction with the instrument's pickup.
Musicians onstage and in the stuaio are constantly faced with the problem ot "micing" their amplifiers, or using what is popularly
referred to as "direct boxes," to get the signals from their instruments into a form compatible with studio or sound reinforcement mixing
consoles. In recognition of the fact that the console should be fed a direct signal that corresponds as closely as possible to what's being
heard through the speaker system, Peavey has designed a transformer balanced l i n e amplifier with roll-oif characteristics virtually
identical to those encountered in high powered musical instrument loudspeakers. This unique circuit enables a balanced line level signal
output to be obtained from the Session® that closely matches what is being heard from the speaker to be fed to the mixing
console....without the use of auxiliary devices such as direct boxes, micing the amp with the additional problems of extraneous noises,
feedback, etc., etc.
Furthercomments from the field indicated the desire for an advanced phasor system that would allow enhanced phasing effects with
sufficient range to create and/or simulate the many flange/phasing effects being used in contemporary music, Our circuitry utilizes the
latest in semiconductors and computer-aided design techniques and enables a tremendous range of effects from slow, almost
imperceptible effects to deep "swooshing" effects so characteristic of studio phasing /langing units. The extreme range of the phase
oscillator yields rates from extremely slow to rapid variations characteristic of tremolo or vibrato.
'Another feature often desired by professional stee! men is a distortion/string effect with bullt-in expander and noise gate to allow
virtually infinite sustain witha very quietstandby operation. This circuit can create harmonic effects similar to fidcles as well as previously
Unavailable string/sustain effects. After considerable investigation into devices currently being used by studio musicians to achieve
similar effects, our R & D team devised an entirely new type of circuitthat features electronic "expansion" combined with a noise gatethat
yields full and mellow string type sounds that have almost unbelievable sustain. The Session® 400 featured a unique complementary
reverb drivewhich has been retained but refined with new circuitry that allows the drive coil itself to be a part of the negative feedback loop
of the drive amplifier. This circuitry allows a tremendous sustain and dynamic range to be obtained from the Accutronics delay line.
Comparison with competing models will illustrate its marked superiority.
Stee players have repeatedly asked to have the capability to control theeffects and reverb functions remotely, Since both handsand
teet are used when playing pedal steel, we devised a "clip on" control box which is designed to clamp on the leg of the steel, This
convenient and practical arrangement even further enhances the flexibility of the 500s effects features!
Overall, the Session® 500 truly represents the "state of the art" inmusical instrument amplification. Just as the Session® 400 has been
accepted by guitarists other than steel players, we feel that the new Session® 500 will be even more desirable to jazz andcauntry players
and even rock guitarists desiring almost infinite sustain effects with tremendous tonal control, power output capability, and dynamic
range. We invite you to check and compare the Session® 00's features with any amplifier on the market today, regardless of price, and
you will readily see that it is truly without peer.