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for me, my first encounter with Peavey was when the rich American kids from the international school came to my school for concerts and sports. They had Peavey speakers and Reebok sneakers!

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That's funny because (as a rich American) Peavey amps were known for being inexpensive, but LOUD. When you're a 14 year old guitarist and you need big volume without big bucks, you go Peavey.

Rich kids got Marshall. Or Mesa Boogie.

That is my memory too (Australian) - Peavey were cheap but reasonable. Loud, reliable but sounded pretty bad. Mesa was certainly top end boutique.

I play guitar and this is still very true today - Peavey deals mostly in the lower to medium bracket and their most legendary (and "premium") amp is beloved for just that: (comparatively) cheap, reliable and a distinct sound.

Interestingly enough, another guitar amplifier company that could be considered VERY premium started in a very similar way: modifying and building their own gear just out of frustration with (back then) existing gear and lack of money: http://diezel.typo3.inpublica.de/history.8.0.html

Actually, Boogie did too: http://www.mesaboogie.com/US/Smith/our_story.html

True for any number of companies, including Marshall/Orange/Sount City/HiWatt in the UK, pretty much ALL of which got into business after being recruited to build louder amps for The Who.

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