Peavey Electronics
Being the birthplace of the Blues and homeland to “The King”, it is only
appropriate that Mississippi also is home to one of the largest and
well-respected musical equipment manufacturers in the world. Hartley Peavey,
founder of Peavey Electronics attributes his love for the music industry to
growing up in the 1950s when “Mississippi was literally the birthplace of what
we now know as rock 'n roll.”
Peavey grew up loving music, being exposed to a variety of genres through
working at his father’s music store in Meridian, Mississippi. In 1957, following
a Bo Diddley concert Peavey attended in Laurel, he decided he wanted to take his
passion and make it into a lifestyle; he wanted to be a guitar player. His
father was less enthusiastic and agreed to allow his son to take guitar lessons
and then would consider buying him an electric guitar later. As with most
teenagers, the prospect of “wait and see” was not appealing, and so, he decided
to take matters into his own hands. During the next year Peavey created his
first electric guitar by modifying his classical-style nylon guitar to accept
steel strings, and also built his first amplifier. This new found knowledge only
fueled his passion more.
After graduating from Mississippi State University in 1965, Peavey founded
Peavey Electronics with the goal of producing quality guitars, amplifiers, and a
full line of audio products to fit any need, at a fair and reasonable price. The
year of its founding, fair and reasonable was virtually inexistent in the
musical equipment industry as most family owned equipment manufacturers sold out
to large conglomerates, and the quality of the brands diminished with the sale.
This opened the door to allow Peavey to compete, grow, and eventually conquer
the musical equipment industry.
Since its founding, Peavey Electronics has grown from one employee to more than
1,000 working in 33 facilities in Mississippi and Corby, England. Peavey boasts
a total of over 1.5 million square feet of manufacturing space worldwide. The
Peavey brand encompasses over 2,000 products which are distributed to more than
136 countries around the world. Peavey has also earned 180 patents in musical
instrument design and audio technology.
Peavey’s success is attributed to the quality of its products which is evident
by the wide use of its products by professionals in the music entertainment
industry. World-renowned musicians from every musical genre use Peavey
instruments and sound equipment, from rock band Nickelback to country music
legends Hank Williams Jr. and Merle Haggard; even the legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd
has long stood behind the Peavey brand name. Peavey and its four additional
brands—MediaMatrix®, Architectural Acoustics®, PVDJ™ and Crest Audio®—can be
found behind major concert tours, and in venues such as the Sydney Opera House,
Hollywood Palace, and New York’s Apollo Theater, not to mention the U.S.
Congress.
Peavey builds more than quality products but also helps to produce strong minds.
Company president, Mary Peavey, serves on the national board of directors of the
Afterschool Alliance, and is an advocate for afterschool programs, dropout
prevention, and education. Peavey also works with the Kennedy Center Partners in
Education and Carnegie Hall LinkUp! programs, and has sponsored the annual
Mississippi Grammy Celebration and Peavey Awards event—which benefits the
Mississippi Blues Trail—since its inception in 2006.
To learn more about Peavey Electronics and its vast line of audio products and
instruments, please visit: www.peavey.com