Peavey Classic 30

[xStonr]

Anyone have one. If so what are your opinions. What tubes have you upgraded to. And if so, have you changed out the stock speaker.

[bigdaddyweed]

xStonr, how's it goin'? I have a Peavey Classic 30, and even though I have a Mesa and a Dr. Z, this amp has a special place in my heart, and in my amp line up.
I upgraded it to Groove tubes, and I've had several different speakers in it. I had a ToneTubby ceramic in it, and it sounded much improved. It currently has a Weber Blue Dog in it, and this speaker has really brought it to life. Doesn't seem to matter which guitar I use with it either, it responds well.
I like it so well, I've even thought of running two at a time, maybe each with it's own speaker and tube set up.
I have some extensive harmonica work coming up, and I'm thinking about trying the harp through it. You never know...........

Later...............weedman

[GuitarTechCraig]

I used to have a Classic 50 and have tried the Classic 30. nice amp. I had me amp guy retube it with JJ tubes and rebias it. The tone improved. Peavey stock tubes are Shuguang 12AX7 preamp tubes and Sovtek EL84 power tubes (rebranded Peavey)..

By the way, just FYI, Groove Tubes sell many varieties of the same tubes because they are a reseller. They sell Sovtek, JJ, Svetlana, SED, Shuguang, all tested and rebranded with the Groove Tubes logo. So, Groove Tubes is actually a general term, kind of like "I have tires on my car". Doesn't tell you what kind of tires.

[sumgai]

Craig,

So, Groove Tubes is actually a general term, kind of like "I have tires on my car". Doesn't tell you what kind of tires.

Yes, but it does tell one about the quality of the tires thereon. It's sort of like saying "I got my tires at Les Schwab". Doesn't tell the listener a thing about the tire itself, but it does say that the purchaser bought the tire at a well-respected outfit, that the purchaser paid a bit more for a lot of "peace of mind".

Groove Tubes has never tried to hide the fact that they re-sell other brands, but what they offer is a "pre-purchase" testing service that saves the musician a lot of time, money and hassle in trying to find good tubes. That, and their outstanding warranty, are what keep them going year after year.

Not to mention, several years ago, they bought the old GE tube manufacturing machinery, and opened up shop again, using all the original tooling. They now make some of their own tubes, most notably the 6L6's they show in their catalog as 'GE'. (They do tend to show either a brand or at least the country of origin when they label a tube, to give you an idea of what you're getting for your money.)

HTH


sumgai

[sumgai]

stony,

Anyone have one. If so what are your opinions. What tubes have you upgraded to. And if so, have you changed out the stock speaker.

For the record, the Peavey Classic series are the singularly most under-rated amps ever built and sold, anywhere, at any time. The Crate Vintage Club series are close seconds.

Some of Peavey's speakers are decent quality, but like anything else that's mass-made, they're not the best sounding thing you can get. You'll have to try several of them yourself in order to find what sounds best to you.

If bucks are a major consideration, you might start with the new Neodymium class of speakers. The magnets are a rare-earth material that's much lighter than previous generations, yet supposedly they sound as good if not better than the older Alnico jobbies. Made by Eminence and other reputable manufacturers, check the web for sources near you.

HTH


sumgai

[xStonr]

I just retubed mine. I ordered as matched quad set of JJ EL84's for it and I did have an assortment of 12AX7s around the house. I went with the Tung Sol reissue in V1, Sovtek 12ax7lps in V2 and in V3 a JJ ECC83s. I have GT mullard that I might use in one of the slots. So BigDaddy, which Blue Dog do you have installed, the Alnico or the Ceramic? I am leaning towards the Ceramic version as it's more in my budget.

[chrisdb]

any thoughts on the peavey delta blues? i have slowly morphed to nearly all peavey stuff- guitars and amps- but i'm still using a solid state bandit 112 shefffield/transtube for guitar. I hear good things about the delta blues, but the cool thing about peavey is finding the really good products that are completely overlooked and undervalued. is the classoc 30 one of them?

[bigdaddyweed]

..................which Blue Dog do you have installed, the Alnico or the Ceramic? I am leaning towards the Ceramic version as it's more in my budget.

xStonr, I went with the ceramic, also because of price. Your choice of tubes looks good, the main thing is, if it sounds good to you or not.

chrisdb, I have heard so many good things also about the Delta amps from peavey, both for guitar, and playing a harp through, but I have never had the pleasure of playing through one, and my wife sees right through that "it followed me home" thing. She's just too smart.

later..............weedman

[leadfingers]

I have a Classic 30. I , too, retubed it after several years, with Groove tubes. Love the thing. Don't get a lot of opportunities to play it at any type of volume since I play in a church (250 folks usually, and I go through the PA with a modeler)

But, on occasion, when no one is home, I plug in and put the volume know up to around 5 or 6 and let her go! Love IT!! ;D

Somewhere , I think on this site, there was a little blurb about an upgrade to the chips in the preamp section. Something about the op amps Peavey uses are not quite the quietest ones available and the replacements really cut down on the hiss you hear when your not playing. (not that it is all that noisy, but hiss can be annoying) I keep telling myself,'one day I'm gonna find that thread and do the mod', yeh, one day!!

And then there was the time I was traveling to Meridian, Mississippi and ran into Hartley Peavey himself at the airport!! REALLY!! I was catching a flight out and he was putting someone on a flight. Only got to talk with him for like three sentences.

Told him I had the Classic 30 and how much I loved it. He replied that he thought it was probably the best amp they designed and it was his favorite. Seemed sincere!! But hey, a good sales guy would've probably said the same thing about whatever model was mentioned.

At least he didn't just brush me off.! On another visit there, I stopped by the factory and got to sit in the reception area and play three guitars through a couple of different amps. The folks there were really great and let me just sit and play in the sound isolated room. It was cool!

The bummer was every time I was in Meridian, it was on a day that the Peavey museum was closed!! ARGH!! Either closed that day, or closed early and I was too late getting there. Ah well, meeting THE MAN helped deal with the disappointment!!

Andy

[xStonr]

I'm at it again. I got a good deal on a NOS GE long plate that I put in V1, V2 has the Tung Sol, and V3 has an EH 12ax7. This amp sounds good with whatever combo I put in. But you all know that we can't leave well enough alone. Also, I scored a lightly used Blue Dog it should be here any day now. That I'm excited about. I'll let ya all know how it works out.

[billg3]

I've got one. Bought it used from a friend who was never satisfied with the sound he got from it. (He is a classic Strat to Chandler overdrive to Fender Twin guy and has never been satisfied with anything different.)

I changed out the tubes to all JJ Tesla's which smoothed the sound quite a bit. Still has stock speaker.

[xStonr]

The speaker arrived today and I went to install it. What a major hassle it was. I didn't know I had to remove the chassis to change out speakers. The designers could have made the cab an inch or two bigger and it would have been so much easier. After the speaker change it didn't sound so good so I'm trying to dial in the tone controls to no luck. I'm thinking I screwed up the amp after having it for only 2 weeks and I'm pd with the thought of taking it to a amp tech for warranty work. I look closely and I had depressed the boost button on. I made the change in the buttons position and WOW it was so much better. The amp just opened up so much more. That button is the other thing the designers need to change. I can't believe how much tone it sucked out of the amp. While I'm at it, the amp could use a modular connection power cord and a 1/4" jack for the speaker too. Okay I'm done now. The amp sounds great and I'm very happy with it.

[mr_sooty]

I have a Classic 50 and it's the greatest. I've had it for 8 years and I wouldn't part with it. 4x10 version. Super versatile, beautiful clean tone, unbeatable reverb for it's price, rich, smooth overdrive. My tastes have changed over the years but this amp can do anything I ask it to. I agree with Sumgai that Peavey Classics are seriously under-rated

My mission the day I bought this was to buy a Fender DeVille, but in a side by side comparrison the Peavey won hands down. People always ask why I bought a Peavey, until they hear it, then they ask where they can get one.