Your Peavey Session 400 Preamp Pedal Review

[Dennis Detweiler]

Brooks, the EPS 15C pronounces the highs a little more than a Wheelhouse 200 or 1501. When I used a 15C I bought a Broughton Low Pass Filter mini pedal to dial down the the highs. It's a handy pedal and works great for controlling the highs. The Hi Cut on the 201 may be enough to knock the edge off. My 400 pedal settings after the Elks job last night are:
Volume 7, Bass 8, Treble 5, Sensitivity 10, Mid 3, Shift 6, Presence 0. I used a Matchbox last night for a buffer and mellowed it out a little more with the tone control. Everybody's tone settings will vary with regard to the steel, pickup, cords, volume pedal. I played my 1975 Maple body MSA, Telonics X12 pickup, ShoBud volume pedal. Connections: guitar to Matchbox to volume pedal to Ibanez Anolog Mini Delay to Nux Damp Mini Reverb to Session 400 pedal to Quilter 201.
Fred has a point with having to use another delay and reverb for the lap steel unless an A/B box could quietly switch the delay and reverb from steel to lap steel?
We were typing at the same time. Sounds like you have it figured out.

[Fred Treece]

Edit: and I guess, thinking ahead, the disadvantage of going both instruments thru the one Quilter Toneblock 201, is that there will be just one D.I. out for those occasions where there is a bonafide soundman: he’ll most likely have to tweek sound on the fly when switching instruments (?).

Or put a mic on the speaker into one channel plus run the direct out to another. That way the soundguy can just mute one channel or the other. Of course, this requires the attention part of someone with attention deficit disorder.

[Dennis Detweiler]

As Fred said. Then, have another mic for you patched only to the sound guy to wake him up when you switch instruments.

[Peter J Birch]

I am a relative newbie to PSG and a total newbie to this forum. Have been playing 22 months.
During that time I have spent too much time trying to get a really good sound. Many amps and FX's.
Eventually I got close with PSG thru a Fractal VP4 to a Tone Block 202 fitted into a cabinet (like the Quilter made but now discontinued in 12"). I put a TT-12 in it - so very light to carry. (Had to invest in a multi-tool though to incorporate the two)

When I read that Peavey were bringing out a pedal range, I ordered a Session 400. It arrived at the end of August.
Tried various settings some good some bad. Then decided I didn't really like the TB-202 preamp. So went direct to the return socket which I have been doing with a lot of FX boards over the years.

The sound was then more controllable. It took me a week of tweaking to come to what I really liked.

Session400.png

Now I know that this will not suit everybody because it all depends on our individual signal chains. I aim for a milder sound with NO highs that make my ears bleed.
I have kept the above settings for a month now and see no need to change, which for me is a miracle.
I would rate this pedal 10/10. It does just what it is meant to do. No reverb but wouldn't use it even if it were in-the-box as the delays and reverbs in the VP4 are some of the best.