Anybody use Peavey amps?

[Jp.]

Thinking about the Valveking 212. Like this http://www.peavey.com/products/browse.cfm/action/list/cat/308/ValveKingSeries.cfm

but not sure if "features" should take place over "brand name"

I'm not to fussed/snobby over country of origin. ie Vox,Orange and alot of Laney are all made in Eastern countries.

Laney often gets a good wrap around here but I've never really heard much about Peavey.

Before anyone gets all excited about Engl amps dont bother, there almost impossible to get in West Oz and prohibitvly expensive when you can get 'em... Sorry :)

[dave_mc]

well, the valveking's alright for a budget valve amp, but make no mistake, that's what it is. if you're ok with that, go for it.

I prefer the classic 30, though when I tried it up full recently (had only got to try them both at low volumes before) i wasn't so fussed- it got a bit raucous sounding, for lack of a better word- a little unstable/over-the-top sounding.

That's probably not much help, unfortunately. What's your budget, and what music do you play?

EDIT: oh, around that price range, I'd say the laney vc 30 is your best bet, IMO.

[TwilightOdyssey]

I'm going to chime in on this one, as I've had nothing but bad experiences with Peavey amps. (I had TWO 5150 heads die on me) I've played through just about every amp Peavey makes, and really don't like any of em.

[Bird]

I have a classic 50 and it's rock solid, it's about 10 years old. Friend of mine has the classic 30 which he uses for studio work and he's never had any problems either. Check out some reviews on Harmony Central. They're not meant to compete with high end boutique amps, but they are a solid great sounding amp and the price is right too.

[headtheball]

Peavey get such an easy ride on HC though. Those across the pond love their peaveys!

The valve king is, as Dave_mc said, a budget valve amp. You do get what you pay for, very much so in this case. I tried a 1x12 in Belfast not a million years ago. A bit chewing-gum and stringy on the construction front, to be honest, rattly pots, ill fitting fascia and the covering (vinyl/tolex etc) was as ropey as a big bit of rope. It sounded fairly average, certainly not bad, but not overly characterful either. The second stage of gain (boost or whatever) wasn't too terrific either...Very, very fizzy. That knob that apparently alters the reponse from class A/B to A does very little unless the amp is wound up hard, and even at that, it's not earth shattering.

Still the cleans pretty good, the lower gain reaches are pleasant and it is pretty damned loud, so that might swing it, if you find one a bit more finished than I did.

The Laney VC-30 is *such* a good call. I've bought a 2x12 in the last couple of months and it's just brilliant. I'd check out the chinese made randall valve amps as well. They do look a bit like they were designed on a fag packet, but they sound really, really good.

[msplines]

I've had two Peavey Classic 30s for five years and they are excellent amps. The "raucous" sound at high volume is easily dealt with by careful selection of EL84 tubes as is the occasional complaint about headroom and lead tone (preamp tubes). I know four other people with these amps - no worries. They are also loud enough for any gig unless you play in a power metal foursome or have a loony drummer, in which case you need to DI or Mike.
The valve king is indeed a budget amp and the (early) ones I tried were fizzy and had channel switching delay problems - a right barsteward live as you get dropouts when switching from rythm to lead and vice versa!

[Searcher]

I've never played a Peavey I liked.  However, I haven't played them all.  ;)  

I'm willing to take the Classic 30 for a test run, but I doubt I'd go for a Valveking.

[Fourth Feline]

I have a ten year old Peavey 'Classic 20' which has been great. The only modification needed over the years was to fit a Jensen C10R speaker and slightly lower gain pre amp tubes. Both of the previous was not made necessary by breakdown, but because I like a big clean 'Fender Twin' sound in a small box. It cranks nicely too ! If I was starting again I would have bought the Classic 30 for added reverb and a little more power.

As a casual p.s. I also have a Laney LH50R (the slope front reverb model). It has a lovely warm 'retro' clean channel and an incredibly smooth/powerful overdrive channel. There again I replaced all stock valves with Philips/GEC N.O.S. valves to optimise the qualities of the existing circuit.

I am comparing the above to a Fender 'Evil' Twin, so they have weighed in against the 'big boys' very well.

Regards,

Derek.

[mikeluke]

I'll chuck in a strange one - doesn't have a reverb option but one of guitarists in the band has a Brunetti Maranello - great little amp - also it is quite light for a valve amp so no sore backs/shoulders etc...

I have a Peavey Classic 30 - no complaints - well, the reverb does hum a bit....

:-)

Mike

[blue]

well, the reverb does hum a bit....

you mean it smells funny? :lol:  

(sorry, couldn't resist.  hey, just thought!  bareknuckle could market deoderant products called "humbuckers"!  ...right, i'm away back to bed...)

[mikeluke]

Too subtle for me at this time of day....

[Neemo]

I don't know if this counts but I have a Peavey Rockmaster tube preamp and I love it to death. Very nice sounding and no technical issues even though it's quite old (made in '94 I think)

[OD-Black_Fire]

Try out the B-52 AT-100. Its about the same price as the valveking, but IMO its much much more solid. More Duel Rectifier like though.

[JJretroTONEGOD]

I like the 2x12 but for that price range you could get a Cornford Harlequin hand made class A recording amp, that you can hook up any cab you want to make it louder. More watts does not mean an amp sounds better, it's all the the quality of the circuit, some amps are silent, some noisy. I highly reccomend the Cornford Harlequin even though I havent got one, I know they're the best tone for the money. It's cos I'm poor most of the time. : ( but at least I've got a BKP90 and a Mule in my guitar : D