Hartley Peavy grew up in Meridian, MS and spent time working in his father's music store repairing record players. While he was in high school, he gained recognition, locally, for guitar amplifiers he built by hand. Before college graduation, he decided to go into business for himself and Peavey Electronics was established in 1965 out of the basement of his parents' house. The first amps Hartley began producing were P.A. system amps and cabinets. The young Peavey's company took off in a hurry and the first shop was built in 1968 along with hiring another staff member. By 1970, there were 150 people working for Peavey! At this time they were still making P.A. amps primarily, but guitar and bass amps were becoming popular as well.
After a decade of making amplifiers, Peavey emerged as a guitar builder as well. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Peavey nailed the market at the perfect time. The tube scare of the 1980s couldn't have come at a better time as they were producing all solid-state amps. In the 1990s, Peavey released the EVH5150, which was an amplifier developed in conjunction with Edward Van Halen. This amp has been one of Peavey's most successful amplifiers and later on they released a series of guitars with Van Halen. In the mid-2000s, Peavey introduced their Custom Shop, which allowed customers to personally customize guitars and amplifiers.
Hartley is still president of Peavey Electronics and they are still based in Meridian, MS. They offer a full line of electric guitar, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, and keyboard amplifiers as well as PA systems, power amps, preamps, mics, and a variety of other electronics. For more information on Peavey electric guitars, refer to the Blue Book of Electric Guitars. For more information on Peavey acoustic guitars, refer to the Blue Book of Acoustic Guitars. For more general information, visit Peavey's website or contact them directly.
Amplifiers, speaker cabinets, and other electronics currently produced in Meridian and Leaksville, MS, and overseas. Peavey Electronics are distributed by the Peavey Electronics Corporation of Meridian, MS. The Peavey trademark was established in 1965.