Peavey Classic 30 112

[tommyga]

Hi Myles ..how are you?

I'm a 57 year old geezer that recently picked up a PV classic 30 1-12 combo. Mostly been a Fender guy..(and MARSHALL MAJOR in '78), but price/portability came into play here. Which pre-amp and power tubes..as well as replacement speaker..will clean up, or tame the Peavey? I know I'm never going to get the "blackface", or "silverface" thing exactly...but..can you help me get the amp to have more "Fender-like" clean headroom? P.S. I am only going to use the clean channel (effect pedals for everything I need).

Thank you very much my friend, I really do appreciate your time.

Tommy

[Bluesape]

Myles has his own sticky thread at the top of the page. You should post your question there. Welcome to our awesome forum!

[The Geoff]

I second the above, & suggest you put a 5751 in the V1 position.

 

G.

[Caevan O’Shite]

I second the above, & suggest you put a 5751 in the V1 position.

 

G.

 

Good call. Trust The Geoff. But Myles will have loads of good info for you, as well.

 

Make sure it's a REAL 5751, a New Old Stock 5751, as any "new" ones are simply re-labeled 12Ax7's that were poor performers. To quote Myles himself on the topic,

 

There is no such thing as a new production 5751. They are just 12AX7s that did not meet spec.

 

You need to go NOS which are not all that pricey and will last for decades.

[Larryz]

Welcome aboard tommyga!

[Fred_C]

Hey Tommy,

 

Welcome to the forum. I owned a Classic 30 for several years and really liked it. That amp will "run with the big dogs" at an incredibly affordable price.

 

Good Luck with it!

[haywired2]

Hey Tommy. I'm an old geezer too and have downed sized to a C30 has well. It currently has a Celestion 70-80 in it that I had laying around because I blew up the Blue Marvel I have a Weber Blue Dog on order for it and I can't wait to get it. Most of the Peavey guys say that's the one. I've had it on order since last month.

 

I do have an extension cab that has a V30 and a closed back that sounds killer when I hook it up. I haven't played with the tubes too much as it had JJ's in it when I got it.

 

Good Luck

[haywired2]

Hey Tommy,

 

Welcome to the forum. I owned a Classic 30 for several years and really liked it. That amp will "run with the big dogs" at an incredibly affordable price.

 

Good Luck with it!

 

Yeah Buddy it will

[tommyga]

Hey fellas. Thanks for you all being so nice and kind. Can you tell me ....(computer illiterate)..how I can post my message and have it included in the "Ask Myles"sticky, by any chance?

[Caevan O’Shite]

Hey fellas. Thanks for you all being so nice and kind. Can you tell me ....(computer illiterate)..how I can post my message and have it included in the "Ask Myles"sticky, by any chance?

 

Up near the top of the front 'page of this forum, you'll see:

 

 

Feel free to ask Myles

M(1 2 3 ...177 178 179 )

 

 

Click on the latest 'page listed (currently 179) and post a New Reply to that thread with your questions, similar to the way you posted a reply on this thread. To make it easier, you could highlight, copy & paste the text from your first post above into your post on the "Feel free to ask Myles"-thread.

 

After you've posted there, select "Add Topic to your Watched Topics" from the drop-down menu of 'Topic Options' (near the top/left), and you'll receive notifications of new posts on that thread.

 

Browsing through past questions and answers in the many 'pages there (as well as in past iterations of that thread from over the years!) can be quite an education, too!

[tommyga]

Thanks for the help, Quagmire. Man, I wish I'd have found this site years ago!

[Caevan O’Shite]

Thanks for the help, Quagmire. Man, I wish I'd have found this site years ago!

 

Giggity-guit-guit-guit-tar...

[pinkjimiphoton]

one caveat. yes, a 5751 is a lower noise/gain driver tube. BUT cleanliness is a function of headroom, and that's something an el84 powered amp isn't gonna have. if ya wanted to swap out the output sockets, and beef the power supply, you could go to a pair of 6l6's which may give just barely a bit more headroom (or a pair of 6v6's, which is about equivalent to a quad of 84's) .. but my advice is just love it for what it does. they are killer amps.

[Caevan O’Shite]

One thought: cultivate your "touch" and the "play the amp" approach. I get a LOT more perceived clean-headroom out of various tube-amps via my picking-hand "touch" and using the guitar's volume and tone-controls. Even pickup selection (as in switch-setting) has an affect here.

 

I used to think, many, MANY years ago, that I needed a 60 watt tube-amp or higher to get the kind of clean tones that I wanted; I did not realize just how much how I played affected the cleanness and clarity of the tone, especially on the low strings.

 

Turn your amp up a bit louder than you intend to play (most of the time ), turn back the mid knob just a little, roll-back your guitar's volume-controls a little, just enough to hear and feel a subtle difference in how clean and clear it sounds, and experiment with your picking-hand "touch".

 

Using these techniques, I've gigged with a band- in small settings- with a 7 watt tube-amp with good, fresh tubes in it, and gotten surprisingly decent, usable clean tones when I wanted 'em. And I've gotten even better- much better- clean headroom that way with a 33 watt Carvin Vintage 33 1x12 combo, which, incidentally utilizes a quartet of EL84's. And, incidentally, all of the tubes in that amp were hand-picked and tested for me by Myles, years ago when he used to head up the Special Applications Group at Groove Tubes/GT Electronics. The Matched (balanced) Phase Inverter and Matched quartet of EL84's that he selected for me made that amp sound SO much better all-around, much more robust and powerful, clean or dirty!

[Larryz]

one caveat. yes, a 5751 is a lower noise/gain driver tube. BUT cleanliness is a function of headroom, and that's something an el84 powered amp isn't gonna have. if ya wanted to swap out the output sockets, and beef the power supply, you could go to a pair of 6l6's which may give just barely a bit more headroom (or a pair of 6v6's, which is about equivalent to a quad of 84's) .. but my advice is just love it for what it does. they are killer amps.

 

+1 If you want a Fender, buy a Fender. No point in making major alterations. If you like the Peavey or Marshall sound, then use one of them especially if you like a clean sound. Pedals and guitars will change the sound of any amp depending on what's in-line. Changing a speaker can be a good thing and improve any amp's clean sound if you have the ability. I like 6L6 60 watt'ers as they are more efficient with less weight to pack around. I just don't use mine anymore and am more into modeling different amps direct to the PA using the Fender Mustang Floor. I could also make that Peavey sound like a Fender amp using the Floor in front of it...

[desertbluesman]

I find that any tube amp has a sweet spot in the EQ'ing for both overdrive and clean sounds. I am not a big fan of EL tubed amps, I do have one of them, and I found it's clean sweet spot, and I just put a distortion stomp in front of the input for overdrives......

 

I even have a Gallien Krueger Micro Lead amp which is solid state and I found the sweet spots in that amp for both cleans and overdrives. I am a tube lover, but since I already owned that amp, I found a way to make it usable.

 

Tweak those knobs until you find what you want. It'll be there somewhere or another.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Am I correct in presuming that your amp has a stock Peavey Blue Marvel 12" speaker in it?

 

If so, those are... not the greatest speakers out there... Amps with those speakers tend to benefit greatly from speaker upgrades.

 

I searched-up info on speakers for another GP Forummite and friend here that was looking for some tight, clear speakers with strong low-end; seems to me they might also serve you well. Note that JBL D120F's, which the second speaker mentioned below is similar to in some ways, came factory-installed as an optional upgrade on many vintage Fender Twins...

 

 

Hmmn; I ran across this EVM12L-like speaker- hefty, but should be strong in the low-end dept., and the price isn't too bad at all as new speakers go:

 

Eminence Delta Pro 12A

Bass/Mid-Bass Speaker/Guitar Speaker

 

As a guitar Speaker, The Delta Pro 12A became popular as a guitar speaker through the public, Eminence didn't have anything to do with it, as an alternative to the EVM12L. It ironically has similar specs. It's clean, relatively neutral - you get out what you put in....hear more amp than speaker coloration, big low end, warm/smooth mids and highs.

 

And another Eminence speaker that might suit your stated needs, this one a JBL D120-like model:

 

Eminence Commonwealth 12 Guitar Speaker

 

Clean, warm, full, non-distorted, un-adulterated guitar tone. Coloration: Warm and rich, but also very clean and well defined. Great presence! Very full and smooth. Very little cone break-up, but likes Overdrive. Genre: All Genres.

 

Cast aluminum frame an aluminum dust cap. Compares favorably to JBL D120.

 

____ [video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuD65-5P4fw

[desertbluesman]

Am I correct in presuming that your amp has a stock Peavey Blue Marvel 12" speaker in it?

 

If so, those are... not the greatest speakers out there... Amps with those speakers tend to benefit greatly from speaker upgrades.

 

Another option is a hemp cone speaker. Eminence Cannabis Rex. Tough to break in but absolutely excellent if you like more mids and bass and less ice picky highs. Also look into JJ tubes they help also. I have a Hemp cone speaker in my Super Champ X2 and it astounds me every time I hit the bass notes of my guitar.

[myles_rose]

Hi Myles ..how are you?

I'm a 57 year old geezer that recently picked up a PV classic 30 1-12 combo. Mostly been a Fender guy..(and MARSHALL MAJOR in '78), but price/portability came into play here. Which pre-amp and power tubes..as well as replacement speaker..will clean up, or tame the Peavey? I know I'm never going to get the "blackface", or "silverface" thing exactly...but..can you help me get the amp to have more "Fender-like" clean headroom? P.S. I am only going to use the clean channel (effect pedals for everything I need).

Thank you very much my friend, I really do appreciate your time.

Tommy

 

Tommy,

 

I replied to your question over in the Feel Free to ask Myles column where I found it posted. It was a great question on an iconic amp. I copied our dialogue and turned it into a note on facebook .... if this link works as well ....

 

https://www.facebook.com/notes/myles-rose/peavey-classic-30/10151616307986711

 

[pinkjimiphoton]

One thought: cultivate your "touch" and the "play the amp" approach. I get a LOT more perceived clean-headroom out of various tube-amps via my picking-hand "touch" and using the guitar's volume and tone-controls. Even pickup selection (as in switch-setting) has an affect here.

 

I used to think, many, MANY years ago, that I needed a 60 watt tube-amp or higher to get the kind of clean tones that I wanted; I did not realize just how much how I played affected the cleanness and clarity of the tone, especially on the low strings.

 

Turn your amp up a bit louder than you intend to play (most of the time ), turn back the mid knob just a little, roll-back your guitar's volume-controls a little, just enough to hear and feel a subtle difference in how clean and clear it sounds, and experiment with your picking-hand "touch".

 

Using these techniques, I've gigged with a band- in small settings- with a 7 watt tube-amp with good, fresh tubes in it, and gotten surprisingly decent, usable clean tones when I wanted 'em. And I've gotten even better- much better- clean headroom that way with a 33 watt Carvin Vintage 33 1x12 combo, which, incidentally utilizes a quartet of EL84's. And, incidentally, all of the tubes in that amp were hand-picked and tested for me by Myles, years ago when he used to head up the Special Applications Group at Groove Tubes/GT Electronics. The Matched (balanced) Phase Inverter and Matched quartet of EL84's that he selected for me made that amp sound SO much better all-around, much more robust and powerful, clean or dirty!

 

a-men