Right, i'm back to step one with amps again

beckyjc

Because i'm awkward.

I keep thinking, is buying a vox really worth it? I mean, +

Rick

definately peavey classic 30

beckyjc

Yeah I thought of the peavey as someone mentioned it on my first one of these threads.

Are valve amps louder than ss? Apparently they are, a 30 watt valve would be louder than a 30 watt solid state? Because this thing needs to be able to cope with a gig in front of the entire school in our sports hall/gym. Which is a pretty huge room.

So I can get a good idea.

The peavey seems nice. A few youtube videos sound good. And alot more portable than the twin.

holikujak

get a reverend hellhound

beckyjc

Sounds a bit imtimidating. Info?

Rick

i think if you turn a 30 watt valve amp up full, it'll pretty much blow you away. should be ok for a gig in an assembly hall

holikujak

they were made by reverend

they stopped making them but you can pick them up for a on ebay for pretty cheap relitive to how quality they are, you wont see a single non-enthusiastic review on harmony central. its got a switch to switch between fender/vox circuts, its 60/40 watt so you can switch that depending on how much headroom you want. i couldnt find the spec sheet on their site but here are some reviews: http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend ... views.html

beckyjc

I cant find the reverend on UK ebay. I can't really do ordering overseas.

The demos make the peavey sound a bit flat and bleh on the clean channel. It sounds better in real life right?

Mike

Don't get a Twin, that's far too much power and they're extremley overpriced. I'm go either for a Classic 30 or a Hot Rod Deluxe

jellybelly

Mike said: Don't get a Twin, that's far too much power and they're extremley overpriced. I'm go either for a Classic 30 or a Hot Rod Deluxe

Bingo. Anything else you get will be pointlessly big (and probably knakered if you get it for

jellybelly

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FENDER-HOT-ROD-DE ... dZViewItem

(ebay deluxe) (cheap)

http://www.soundcontrol.co.uk/mod_1/pag ... 3.1.1-7-73

(new deluxe) (

Doog

Bear in mind, tube/valve amps require occassional servicing and retubing. They do sound great though.

jellybelly

Doog said: Bear in mind, tube/valve amps require occassional servicing and retubing. They do sound great though.

but its worth every penny...FACT

(did you know people are twice as likely to believe you if you say FACT at the end of every statement??.....FACT)

(Also, 78% of facts are made up on the spot............................FACT)

Fran

beckyjc said: I'll need something that's loud enough for a gig without sacrificing tone, handles effects well and that will compliment my jag.

I've got a marshall DSL 401 that's a 40 watt valve combo, easily transportible and loud enough to drown any drummer out. I've played about 30 venues with it and NEVER had to mic up through the PA and it sounds good with a jag. That was my set up i used on the recording (on the link at the bottom).

I'll second the JCM800 as well, my friend got one fairly cheap and they sound good with a jag too.

SawaotheBuster

I was looking at that. The Reverbrocket from Ampeg, has anyone played it here?

beckyjc

I was looking at the hot rod too, the twin seemed a bit too much.

I'm quite liking the peavey now though. Not too long untill I change my mind again. 😆

I'm not really much of a marshall fan, they just don't do it for me. I've never played one myself but watching the guy who owns a nearby music shop showing off with his Marshall JCM it just didn't make me want to sell most of my major organs and both legs to buy one.

Also, I know that valve amps need extra care. Where can I get some details on changing tubes, servicing etc.

Is there a standby switch on the classic 30? Can't find any pannel shots.

jellybelly

I think its class A so I wouldnt know if it'd need a standby switch. If the amp you get is half decent then the tubes will be fine to gig for at the very least 6 months if not a year (unless you're picky or you crank it to get your distortion). And I agree totally about marshalls.....except the JCM800. I used to have one, got stolen.I loved it, it sounds great, easily marshalls best amp, in my opinion. The 900 and 2000 series I disliked immensely, and Im not a fan of non-master volume amps. If you get to try one, there ace. go with the peavy though....

Dunxy

Peavey classic 30 (like most other amps) isn't class A.Its just push-pull parallel ab1/ab2, most likley cathode biased, and biased on the hot side.

That aside class of operation is really of no relevance to an amp needing a standby switch.Stand by switch is really only useful or two things, A allow the tubes to warm up a little before you actually apply voltage to the plates and screens B if you gig a lot, and want to leave the amp at its set level without actually having the amp running fully between breaks etc,but if it was me I would just turn the bloody thing of.

On amps without stand by switches if you just power them up with all volume controls on zero and don't provide it a input signal and give the tubes a couple of minutes to come up to temp the amp will be fine.To turn of ANY tube amp with or without standby switch you should be switching the amp straight of, NOT to standby first as is commonly thought.

If you must have a stand-by switch, it is by all means a cheap and easy mod, just not really needed.

beckyjc

I think it was a 900 he was playing, i didn't really look properly.

There's no chance of playing one near here though.

They usually sell nameless old ss amps, if I go to town they proudly display marshall MGs in the middle of the room. And the odd valvetronix and roland cube.

I know about the purpose of the standby switch. But they would probably only confuse me though, i would instantly forget which order to turn them on in. Aren't you supposed to not plug/unplug your lead with tube amps switched on because it damages the tubes? Or is that only because of the feedbacky crackling you get.

Dunxy

If your amp has a power switch it would be advisable to have it of when you plug it in(offcourse the outlet itself should allways be switched off). Its not going to make any difference if you plug it switched on and then turn the outlet on or plug it in switched off and turn the outlet on and then then switch the amp on.I have a couple of 50+ year old amps that don't even have power switches. One thing to make sure of though if the amp isn't fitted with a stand by switch is that the amp volume controls are all the way down,that way you shouldn't really here anything at all through the speaker then when you power it up, if you do it may be a sign of other problems, like worn out tubes and or caps.

One thing I will say is that the majority of popular production valve guitar amps are far from well designed and built and are very UNSTABLE, that is why they have a tendency to self destruct, sometimes no matter how well you look after them they can just go poof! At the same time they can last for years without ever having an issue. A lot of people think that they damaged there amp somehow by doing some small thing, when in reality the amp was just always running on a knife edge to begin with, sometimes such small things a small line voltage fluctuation is enough to put them over the edge.The poor quality and constancy of the current production tubes doesn't help the situation either.