If Peavey want to salvage their reputation, perhaps they'd consider getting their CEO to take part in an episode of "Undercover Boss". What could possibly go wrong..?

"Prison Labor" Era Peaveys will be worth a fortune some day

"We have no record of something that didn't happen." Do any of us? Come to think of it, I don't have that Billion dollars I never had either. Thanks Peavey!

Not keeping proper records would be a real Pet Peavey.

KDH, if you see this, you could always file FOIA requests with all the prisons within the vicinity of Peavy HQ to see if they can produce documentation about manufacturing contracts with Peavy.

I went to prison for three years, the state operates a farm where I was and uses slave labor. I got paid 1.75/hr and I was required to work 7 days a week for a minimum of 12 hours per day. They provided lunch, it was four pieces of bread, 1 piece of bologna (or some other meat-like), a cookie, a half pint of milk, and a handful of corn chips. It was blisteringly cold, my clothes were provided by the state and I my overalls were too small and riddled with massive holes. The zippers didn't work. The water was undrinkable, loaded with lead, copper, and radium. The DNR people came by and said they wouldn't even water their gardens with the farm's water. The cows drank it though, and we were supposed to drink the milk! My boots had holes and my feet froze. The terrible levels of animal abuse I witnessed by the staff and other inmates is something I try not to think about. It brings me to tears. It is why I ultimately quit the farm once spring came around, and quitting makes you look really bad in the guards' eyes; they don't like you after that. That* is slave labor. If Peavey offered jobs to prisoners, they were blessed to work there. Peavey would've paid them VERY similar to what they paid free people. This is much more than what Mississippi Corrections would pay. They would've hired "risk assessed" minimum security inmates if they did. I'm too young and not even from Mississippi, so I have no clue if they did or not. This is an interesting topic, but you're taking an uninformed and narrow approach to it. Peavey should be given praise, not ridicule for offering prisoners a chance to prove to the community that they can work outside the fence without something bad happening. People can get reduced sentences, parole, actually pay restitution to their victims, save money for their eventual release as a result of working outside of the prison grounds. You need to understand it's a steppingstone to inmates who are releasing soon. Some of these inmates may have never even had a job before, but they were low risk assessed by the DOC and applied and given an entry level position. They hopefully learned how to be an employee at an actual company, and hopefully learned a skill that may help them down the line. I know many ex-prisoners who make great money welding because of programs such as these. I'm basing all of my statements on DOC living, my beliefs, life, and experiences. Hartley Peavey is an American Treasure. If not for HP, I'm not even sure if I would know how to play guitar. In my youth, my family and friends were too poor to afford Fender amps and Gibson guitars. We played Peaveys and we loved every second of it and we were thankful to have road worthy, professional gear at an affordable price. I don't understand why you are grasping at straws trying to hype up your channel with literal bullmess. Have you researched work-release programs? Did you have a good understanding of their purpose before you made the videos? My guess is that you did not. I bet you thought you had controversial details and wanted some clicks for the algorithm. Shame. Your other videos are alright, though.

Like I said in the other video. I have lived in Meridian, MS all my life. I worked at Peavey in the 80's. I have never heard of Peavey using prison labor until this interview with Lynch. Meridian, MS is a small town where everyone knows everyone. If this were true, I would think that it would be well known here.

Peavey is so good at digging their own increasingly deep grave.

Well if Peavey did use prison labour, good on them because clearly the folks they used were some of the best amp builders around. My old Peavey gear is still running faultlessly whereas EVERY other brand of gear I've used over the years (and there have been a few) have long since given up the ghost.

I worked at a state prison for 35 years before retiring. I only remember two or three times where private companies would use prison labor. Once was a fishing lure company. The other was a plasma collection outfit. Inmates were paid the federal minimum wage which was way more than what the prison paid for regular prison jobs. Inmates could not have cash. Each inmate had a bank account. The inmate got 1/3 the wage to spend, 1/3 went to the state for room and board and 1/3 to a savings account for when the inmate was released from prison.

This would probably go a long way in explaining how Peavey, during their heyday, could put out so much high-quality, US-made stuff at prices well below just about every other US manufacturer at the time. I’m not sure how it would’ve been in Ireland, but during the 70s and 80s Peavey sold millions upon millions of dollars worth of music and PA equipment to seemingly every school and venue throughout the country. It was unremarkable, but very well made, affordable and reliable as hell - you could beat the shit out of it and it would just keep working for years. But being that affordable and ubiquitous was something most other music equipment manufacturers in the US at the time couldn’t compete with (Yamaha was probably the only one anywhere who could, but they aren’t an American company), and that’s when you see a lot of them begin to move manufacturing overseas to get a cheaper product. I don’t know if this is what actually happened, but it would explain a hell of a lot about Peavey’s success during its best years.

The allegation makes me feel conflicted. I love my XXX amp. It is the second tube amp I bought. Had a little 30 Hughes & Kettner 30 Watt for a few days before returning it. I still have the Triple XXX after all these years. I will never get rid of it. Everytime I hear a story about Peavey it's not a feel good one for sure. To be frank, the USA has a wanton love affair with unbridled capitalism that tells the ugly story of cheap labor and putting profits over people over and over again. Without any legislative guardrails this is the natural outcome we will see again and again. If a company wants to grow and stay in business because more and more people want their products; they will engage in whatever it takes to survive. We can hate the players, but we should be hating the game too. We are a part of this and we keep choosing it in the voting booth and at the store. Not defending this, just saying we can feel outraged and bummed as much as we want, but it's just ideological masterbation unless we do something differnt.

Has anyone considered that this rumor may have spawned from peavey hiring ex cons? Not a single person has came forward to say they built peavey amps while they were in prison so I doubt it ever happened.

If it’s true that peavey used prison labour, why would that be a bad thing? If the quality is up to par I don’t see any problems with it as long as both parties were “happy” with it. If they mean slave labour or some variation of it, then ofc it’s a problem.

Slander is not easy to prove in court. First they have to prove that someone’s comment was in fact a lie. Then they have to prove that it hurt their business and reputation. It will be interesting to see if there are any further developments.

Dude thank you so much for the hardwork. You present the news we want/need and in a way we all like. These are important matters and we definitely appreciate what you're doing... keep it up!

Peavey used to be a great company with great products. Some of the best pa amps in the seventies and great guitar amps for many many years.

As an excon, it aint that bad...the tans u wear, the original white t shirts ur issued (not the ones u buy off commissary) all made by female inmates at the only womens prison out here. So if peavey has inmates making amplifiers its like 'ok, so what?' To me, and i come from prison.

The best Guitar journalism, keep up the great work!

If anyone at Peavey has or knows where I can buy an early 90s Blues Classic with 1x15 speaker please let me know. That's the best damn amp I've ever used and I want another one for a stereo rig. Great amp!

I honestly don't care if they use prison labor... The inmates are doing their time anyway.. why not spend it building amps and cabs? I'm sure that's better than stamping license plates or cleaning toilets.

My amp is so Metal, it was made by convicts. Actually, I really like my old 90's Classic 50/50 rack tube amp. Hard to get any better amp for a pedalboard rig. Plus it heats the studio in the Winter. Weighs a bloody ton. Sounds f'king amazing when you push it hard.

Hartley needs to dump Courtland Gray and get Peavey back on the rails where they belong.❤ Peavey fan for life.

Pretty much as expected: this looks very much like a least-effort way of denying something that you know that you are guilty of.

The original Peavey Bandit was one of the best damn SS amps ever. Built like a damn tank. I still have both of mine from the early 80s Toss a Boss HM2 In front set to A more bass driven tone and not that ice pick crap........man those were the days. Add a charvel or Kramer and the world is great again lol.

I live in the South , in between La. And Ms. It's common for companies to use work release prisoners. It's a win / win situation. It's not slave labor.

If you own Peavey equipment like I do, it’s frustrating to get parts let alone info. Nobody there knows what cable is used to link the 5150 cabs, nor do they know about the casters for the 5150 cabs. So if they can’t give you customer service for there most popular product line, how would they be able to help with anything else?

I'm so happy my peavey amps were made in prison, I hope the poor inmates got to play a guitar through the amps after they built them to test and jam out. Prisoners who built peavey amps we salute you for those who built the Rock soild amps while in the slammer sincerely hats off to the crafty inmates that possibly have a job now in the guitar industry from all that they've had experienced building peavey amps in the pin.

Not having "any record of a NDA with George Lynch" doesn't mean they never asked him to sign one. It means it never got past the "Hey, would you be willing to sign ..." stage.

They wouldn't "have record of any NDA with George Lynch" because he didn't sign it, apparently. You likely won't keep record of something that wasn't signed or enforcible due to being signed or implied to be signed (such as if it were included within a stack of legal terms for a contract).

It sounds like Peavey would be the easiest company in the world to rob. Steal their money, and when they try to press charges, ask them "Do you have any record of possessing this money?" Peavey: "...oh shit."

I once had an issue with my bank account being used by someone in Texas. The police investigation traced the bank fraud to a prison in Texas and determined that AT&T was using prisoners to process payments. Yes, prisoners had access to banking information of thousands of customers. I think we would all be surprised by how much minimum wage work is being conducted by prisoners and how well it is being covered up, or simply ignored. That being said, if Peavey had prisoners assembling circuit boards or putting parts in bags or whatever, I don't have an issue with it. They were probably happy to have something to do other than sit in a cell.

I live 30 minutes from Peavey headquarters. Ive applied for jobs at peavey hefore theu shut everything down accept their carbon fiber acoustics, i went to Junior College with a woman that had me try out for a model shoot they were doing on a new form of the bandit 112 amp lol. I even was talking with a band out of California that had connections with Peavey to be their bass player, but it all fell apart lol, and ive never once heard that Peacey used prison labor for any of their manufacturing. I even bought my very first accoustic, a martin, and first electric, a Peavey Accelerator F floyd rose, from the storefront where it supposedly all began. I lived here consecutively for 19 years before I moved and i never once heard that Peavey employed prison labor for manufacturing. They definitely lost quality control, gave up on innovation, and gave up on Mississippi, but i dont think they ever employed slave labor lol. Hell my english teachers son was an electrical engineer for Peavey and he never mentioned anything like that. He won some award for a bass amp design or something. His family was very liberal from what I remember. I dont think he wouldce worked for someone using prison labor, but I could be totally wrong lol. Sounds like George Lynch didn't like this area lol. It is a rough place. Besides Peavey there isnt anything else going on out here lol. Maybe casinos and a BS music museum called The Maxx with a high end studio nobody can get a job at lol. George could use any number of reasons not to work with Peavey, but prison labor seems like a stretch lol. Hell, ai could drive to their corporate office and ask them on Monday if you want 😂.

For those struggling to understand why prison labour for a big company is a problem, it's exploitation, pure and simple. Feels odd to have to explain this as an English person, but there's a loophole in American law whereby, as soon as you're convicted of something, you lose the right to refuse 'work'. Essentially states, slavery is still legal in America, assuming you are convicted of committing a crime. A big brand like Peavey requires an enormous workforce. Imagine the number of staff required. Then imagine the potential that the majority of staff, aren't employed, but, in fact enslaved. Working for practically nothing, assuming they're paid at all. Then imagine how many tens/hundreds of thousands of jobs that, in other circumstances would provide a decent wage, instead are removed from the general public. You might be able to successfully argue that this is on 'legal' grounds, technically fine. BUT there's absolutely no way you can argue this is morally right. This is, if true, total BS. Qudos to George for having the balls to say something about it. Also to KDH for putting wider attention on this. Curious to see where this goes. Seems like Peavey have a lot to answer for.

If Peavey did employ prison labor, I don't see anything wrong with that. Finding convicts useful work where they can make some money, and perhaps learn employment skills towards their eventual release is usually considered to be a good thing. Convicts usually have a difficult time re-integrating into society after their release, and anything that will ease that transition is good. We even had convicts cleaning our offices at the college where I worked for a while. That turned out to be not such a good idea, but that makes the point that just looking at convict labor as cheap labor is not very realistic. There are some unique challenges to working with convicts.

Peavey definitely didn't use prison labor. They use to employ about 4,000 people in central Mississippi and there were factories all over Meridian and other nearby cities. They still own most of those now-decommissioned factories, and trucks, etc., which are still all around the area. They used to have a "Peavey Family Fun Day" that was attended by about 10,000 people and major artists like Journey and Kenny Loggins played at the event. I know that George Lynch had a big falling out with the designers there before his signature amps came out, and I've heard there's plenty of bad blood, and bad behavior - which I won't get into here - but what he's saying is very provably untrue. Talk to anyone who was around that part of Mississippi before Peavey offshored, and there were visible signs of Peavey's manufacturing everywhere, and everybody knew dozens of people who worked there. There was, and is, one state pen in Mississippi, the infamously brutal Parchman (of which the oft-covered song "Parchment Farm" is based on). Peavey amps, guitars, and especially sound reinforcement equipment were fairly complex beasts, and there's no way in hell anything with a circuit board, or even any electrical components at all, were manufactured there. This is the worst kind of internet telephone game: talk to literally anyone who knows anything about that company and that area, and they'd be able to debunk Lynch in a second, but people believe what they want to believe.

Saying we have no record of something that happened like 20+ years ago isn't necessarily shady. The guy who's making these statements for Peavey probably didn't work for Peavey when this happened, in fact there's probably not a lot of people from that time still at Peavey. The PR guy probably did a basic search of these topics found nothing, had no one else to ask and just wrote that he had never heard of any of this.

George said he had knowledge of them using prison labour and it wasn't until they wanted him to sign an NDA not to discuss it that he decided he didn't want to do business with Peavey. So his own wording makes it sound like he was more against being told not to talk about it than he was against the actual practice of "slavery". And despite him being so opinionated about it on that podcast, he's never mentioned it since and can't be contacted for statement now.

A Peavey Classic 50 4 10 was my main amp for nearly 25 years as a working musician (lead guitar/vocals). It was an outstanding product, made in the US of A, very rugged and reliable, and always sounded great whether I plugged straight in or used a pedalboard. It sounded equally great in very small pubs as well as much larger venues, and that's "value for money" by *any* reasonable standard. The only thing I didn't like about it was the spring reverb, because I dislike any spring reverb unit I've ever used or heard. The *very* best reverb I've ever heard came from a custom-made reverb unit another player I knew had; it was a 110 volt AC all-tube circuit that his amp builder created for him, and man, that thing sounded *so* lush! I was forced to give up being a working musician some years ago due to physical disabilities, so I started looking around for something lighter. I eventually sold my 62 pound Classic 50 4 10, and almost bought a used Classic 30, but once I learned that Peavey had relocated all their manufacturing to China, that really turned me off. A few years ago, my sweet sister bought me a Vox AC4C1-12 (also made in China, but a great little amp in its own right) for my birthday, and I fell in love with the little beast right away. At less than 24 pounds, it was the lightest all-tube amp she could find, and I finally had something I could take to occasional open stage jams without hurting myself in the process. I have no issue with companies using prison labour just as long as the inmates are earning a fair wage and learning valuable job skills for when they get released. Either way, it definitely beats Chinese sweatshop/child labour!😉

I’ve been hearing about the prison labor thing since the ‘90s. I assumed it was a legit prison program that would benefit the prisoners, as someone else mentioned in the comments. Pros and cons aside, it would have been a good faith effort to help the prisoners. Or, it could just all be an urban legend that refuses to die. If that is the case, then clearly Peavey is clueless how to handle this.

"Peavey don't have any record of me contacting them, but its a good thing that I do" Possibly the coldest statement you could have made lmao

I still have original 1970s and 80s Peavey amps... i still play them..still work and sound great..lol just saying..love old peavey..not sure about todays stuff...

Not taking sides here but wanted to explain how “Prison labor” could be taken out of context. Keep in mind I know nothing about this story just a little about prison/jail work release. As far as I know, no state inmate can work for a private corporation while incarcerated, but a county inmate (misdemeanor) who is awarded work release is allowed to drive and work at their job. So if an employee of Peavey got a misdemeanor charge but was awarded work release, they would be able to resume their regular schedule at Peavey while incarcerated. Using state and federal inmates to work at a private company would fall under corruption laws for the prison and the company.

Peavey probably not lying about "not receiving" the email. there is no point in doing that, given all emails go to a sent folder, so it is easy to evidence it. It may have been overlooked or it was stopped by their mail filtering system, etc. Also, departments not always talking to each other in these big companies on a daily basis, and finding the right team for an email can be challenging too - if you have ever worked for a multinational company, you know - so the person who was told to write a statement likely had no information of the email.

Nice work as another said u ruffled some feathers 😂 prison labor has always been associated with license plates 😂 now with fairly expensive amps I would kinda worry about the craftsmanship not implying that they are not hard working folks ! But do they understand the technical works of building amps now Peavy is manufacturing in China which pisses me off cuz folks lost their jobs in the states very disappointing..

I’ll also add…SO WHAT, if they used prison labor..at least it was in the US and not Asia…Peavey is/was one of the last few companies that actually did everything in the US..and though it may not be a lot…Prisoners get paid for their work..

Considering George Lynch was the sole source, I found your video a little far-fetched. George erroneously stated he believed the makeup of Meridian MS was a prison and Peavey. He put two and two together.

Not once did they clearly say, as they would if it's not true, we are not and have never used prison labor to build any of our products.

I love your channel first off. Second id like to respectfully stand with Peavey on what I know to be true. I own a music store and have had good experiences only with these people. Until i see otherwise with my own eyes I will continue to support these folks. Thanks to KDH and Peavey for making my musical journey more fun!

I do not see the issue of incarcerated prisoners working for any company, firstly - they are paid for this work (which is legislated and regulated) and secondly - their incarceration maintenance costs huge tax payers' money, so working is part of their resocialization.

I live approximately 6 hours east of Meridian, Mississippi. It is certainly not uncommon for businesses, including corporate entities, to employ prison labor in southern states. Not sure about the rest though f the country but down here it’s just another day. Not saying it’s right but it is what it is and doesn’t look like we’ll see any reform with this anytime soon.

I can tell you..I’ve chatted with Peavey Engineers, over the phone, and if their prison help..Their pretty educated..They were polite and took the time to help me trace a circuit issue….so maybe it’s just the building of the amps, which if true..As a repair shop..I can say they do an excellent job with the building of their products.!!

IKEA has a history of this..... This is from an article from 2012... ''Ikea says sorry to East German political prisoners forced to make its furniture. Peter Betzel, head of Ikea Germany, apologises for the flat-pack furniture company's use of prison labour in the 70s and 80s'' Slaves working in GERMANY in the 20th Century............................................................................................................................. must be just another 'conspiracy theory'......

You are sending mails from a gmail account, which are often denied by the receiving mail servers due to an security update.

NDA is standard industry practice and NO big deal. Hell, Sweetwater and Musician's Friend even have a confidentiality NDA notice at the bottom of their price quote emails!

Doubt it’s true, but I wouldn’t care if it was. Convicts work in jail. What does it matter if it’s stamping license plates or assembling amps?

Guitar world is the tabloid of guitard news.

I spoke with someone in Peavey's purchasing department and she told me a few months ago that they don't manufacture anything electronic at their Mississippi location. It is all made in Asia somewhere. I'm not sure if many are employed in Mississippi for manufacturing purposes, likely just desk jobs.

I don't have a problem with Peavey using prison labor. 1. It's an excellent trade to learn. 2. They have to work in prison regardless, be that in the kitchen, laundry, janitorial, or breaking rocks what would you choose. 3. They are not slaves because they are not innocently locked up and forced to work they are locked to keep them away from society and to pay for their crimes. you have to do something while you're there. Just the way I see it.

I really appreciate your logical analysis of issues. It seems like logic is a rare commodity these days. Thanks!

I like Peavey

Some states do have statutes that state that inmates can as part of serving their sentances be required to work during their incarceration. They may also get paid but their hourly can be as low as .50 cents an hour. A municipality may have to pay the cost of a guard that escorts them to, during and from a work area. You even see a scene in the movie 'A Shawshank Redemption' when the local businessman is imploring the prison warden to not bid on a big job he desperately needs to avoid going under because with cheap labor, the warden can undercut anyone's lowest bid.

I don’t know whether Peavey was or wasn’t using prison labor but even if they were, it’s not immediately self evident to me that utilizing the labor of prison inmates to assemble products is actually wrong or unethical. I’m certainly open to any arguments but it really doesn’t strike me as being anywhere near equivalent to “slave labor” as many people seem to believe.

KDH always shows receipts GIGACHAD (the only other official correspondence we have on the issue now is that peavey lied to guitar world about your request, KEKW, gottem); classic peavey digging their own hole

Thank you for your hard work and your honesty.

Any x cons telling any tails of having to make amps in prison? There you go.

It’s is probably the only way a company can still make amps in the USA that normal people can actually afford.

From Leo: While generally like your work, you have slandered Peavey, making it appear they did something shiftless and underhanded. I do have some direct experience with prison programs. Peavey would have admitted it if they had used prisoners, for there is NO SHAME in the programs. 1) If Peavey has no record of someone they never heard of, that is believable. 2) If Peavey says they did not use prison labor, I believe that. 3) I have practical experience with DOC rehab programs that partner with businesses to prevent recidivisim. It is a complicated and costly program to run, but it can help people get back on their feet after incarceration. It is NOT cheaper for the employer. While the prisoners only clear a small portion of the wages, they are also working off their prison cost debts, the extra security and transportation costs, and the company also absorbs the costs of heavy inefficiencies and irregular work schedules. I respect any company that will partner to keep people off the street. No one should pile on the "hate Peavey" bandwagon, especially if a person has a Chinese made Epiphone, Squire or Fender product on the wall, as well as a Vietnam built Marshall. I would like it if Fender and Gibson would step up to bat and participate in an anti-recidivism program. Lots of basically good blokes get lost after incarceration for a drinking, drug or some other stupidity event.

Bought a made in 2004 made in US Peavey Classic 30 about 5 years back for $400. It's been a workhorse! Not the best amp ever but still lots of tube goodness.. in terms of tone/breakup I'd put it somewhere btwn a fender and Marshall, maybe close to a hiwatt type thing

Why do you think they called it the Peavey BANDIT??…I’ll show myself out.

well that finally explains why peavey sounds so good for playing the blues.

Thanks for the detective work. Batman of the guitar world... doing God's work my friend

Perhaps it might be interesting if you were to spend some time investigating Lynch’s history of statements and whether he has a tendency towards misrepresenting facts/situations (just to be fair)

On another note I can imagine Peavey employing people coming out of that prison if they’re the other big industry in that locality.

Bit ironic that you kept bringing up Peavey saying they have no record of your email, then say "can't believe I miased Peavey's statement on this".

There have been rumors about Peavey using prison labor for decades, about 40 years. Going back to the Predator guitar series. George heard rumors and believed them. Then there's the prejudice factor of something being made in Meridian Mississippi, to consider. If something is made in Mississippi, then it _must_ be made by prison labor (mostly black) with Ku Klux Klan prison guards watching on behind mirrored sunglasses, on horseback, with their shotguns and whips ready. I think George might be tapping into that trope, as well. What we have here, is a failure to communicate.

even if peavey uses prison labor ill still use them

I got family that's done time in Georgia, Peavey absolutely uses prison labour

I'll be the "devils advocate" here and say, good for Peavey ! If I were stuck in a jail cell all day, I would be more than happy getting out and doing something constructive that might actually give job skills for when I get out.

I don't trust George Floyd Lynch. In August 2020, Lynch announced that he was ending LYNCH MOB due to the racial insensitivity of the moniker, saying he would no longer record or perform under that name in respect to George Floyd and BLM. Lynch however quickly had a change of heart when the gigs dried up, stating: "The new name wasn't working, I didn't feel comfortable with it, the fans weren't comfortable, and promoters didn't feel comfortable, which is a huge issue; how can we get people out to the shows if they don't understand who's playing? So, it was just like, 'Why am I fighting my own history?' The truth is that I never really got a ton of flack for the name, so that wasn't the issue. "At the end of the day, the Lynch Mob name has always been a bit of a problem for me personally, and it will always be to where I’ll always carry discomfort with it. But obviously, I can rationalize it because it is my last name, and I have over 30-year history with it, and it makes me money. So, nothing is perfect in life, but I know my heart is good and pure. I know what it represents to me, so I made a business decision to go back with the name Lynch Mob once the events of 2020 were in the rearview mirror."

I feel we can reach out to the prisons it should be public record what they would have produced

"Peavey. We can't keep records. But we're slaving to bring you cheaper amps!"

Glad to know George Lynch was so enlightened 20 years ago that he was against Peavey’s use of prison labor, while he simultaneously didn’t have a problem collecting a check from ESP/LTD on sales of his lower cost sig models made overseas using a different flavor of slave labor. Not to defend the US privatized prison system. That’s a whole issue in itself. I’m just not sure how Peavey, who is now a shell of it’s former self, using prison labor 20+ years ago, is relevant to anything today. They’ve done a pretty good job at creating a PR shitstorm via other means since then. And making a drama video, over a washed up irrelevant 80’s shredder exposing Peavey 5 years ago seems like we’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel for content.

Whats the problem ? Isn´t it good if the inmates has work to do.

KDH: Did you use prison labor? Peavey: New phone who dis?

The guy who said "You get your labor where you can". What a slug.

i get that prisoners don't just make license plates it wouldn't be the most unethical thing to give opportunities to prisoners that translate to future opportunities. Ethical assurances to say the company is part of a rehabilitation program and not just solely relying on prison labor to create products they profit off of would be somewhat reasonable though finding out someone that is locked up for life is producing a product is similar to slave labor. No one wants that product. I avoid products from China cause of reports. Peavey would do good for themselves if they have a rehab program set up aiding the community to go public even with a few stories of individuals. I am quite alright avoiding them until i find more out my first amp long ago was a Peavey.

If you make some enemies as a journalist, it means you’re doing a good job.

I love Peavy amps

I see no problem using prison labor. As long as the compensation is proper and legal. I used to work a job where prisoners from the state prison worked also. They got paid and treated the same as all other employees. Only difference was they went back to the prison after work. Everyone else went home. George lynch is implying this is forced labor or extremely low wage labor. I don’t think that’s true. I don’t think peavy is run like the Shawshank Redemption. But I may be wrong

Why is this a bad thing? The prisoners are not forced to do this. They agree to the terms. This is not slave labor. You'd have to provide proof that inmates are being forced to do these things, not anecdotes. They potentially learn a trade that they can use when their sentence is up. If they are lifer's, well at least they are being productive. Also, it probably takes time off their sentence for being a good inmate or makes it look good when they are up for parole. Sounds more like actual rehabilitation than creating repeat offenders. Isn't it well known that convicts make things like license plates? I'd imagine this isn't too different from that.

I personally have no problem with prison labor itself, but Peavey could at least be honest about it instead of stating they "Have no records" of it. It just seems like a shifty way of dodging the question.

My lord. You know you got to peavey if they responded

OT Mr. Lynch is wrong about one thing. Meridian Mississippi is famous for something else. One of America's great songwriters, Jimmie Rodgers (b: 1897-d:1933) was born in Meridian & the town has a museum in his honor. It also hosts an annual festival. He is known as the Singing Brakeman or the Father of Country Music. He was inducted into both the Country & Rock & Roll HoF in the 1st year they opened. Famous for: Blue Yodel, Mule Skinner Blues, T-for Texas, T-for Tennessee, Waiting for a Train, a huge influence on Western music, Hank Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis et al.

Does any of this realy matter? as long as the amps were made to a good standard. I can understand the USA workers feeling that Peavey used the prison workers as cheap labour but this applies in most manufacturers, they employ cheap labour to keep profits as high as possible.

The Connor McGregor of music journalism! They messed with the wrong guy. Thank you for your amazing content

Is peavey sueing you for defamation, no, then they did it.😂

Peavey doesnt have schematics for the 5 pin automixer pedal for the 70s Musician 400 series. Why would they have records of something you and George made up?

Were the prisoners forced to work on Peavey amps? If it was a voulnteer program, (which some prison jobs are) I don't see what the issue is. I'd rather see them building amps than trying to find other areas of interest that may not be positive or detrimental to themselves or other prisoners. This "story" seems to be oriented more toward the story teller that any significant malfeasance on the part of Peavey or the prison.

Is Peavey still a functioning company?