Is 50 watts worth risking the wrath of SHE?

AlohaJoe

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One more amp comes through the door and I'm as good as dead... HOWEVER, I've been dead a few times before. My amp-tech was given a beautiful black tweed non-working 2003 50w all-tube Peavey Classic with 2 12s in exchange for a bad debt. He fixed it, replaced all the tubes and caps and now that it's in perfect working order, he wants to recoup his time and debt. He's offered it to me for $350. Is anybody familiar with these? Is it worth risking "the death of a thousand frowns"?
 

Walter Broes

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Well, call me a snob, but I don't think a Peavey Classic is worth risking that - I really don't like them much.
Not a lot of low end (not nearly as much as a typical 2X6L6 Fender), weak IC-driven reverb that's not nearly as nice, deep, and dynamic as a tube driven one, a fairly ugly sounding drive channel, and generic speakers.
 

AlohaJoe

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Thank you Walter, you may have just saved my life. Besides, at 60lbs it's a little heavy. I'm into playing, but I hate hauling gear. Tempting price, but I guess I'll stick with my Li'l Dawg for now.

I do keep eyeballing the new Princeton Reverb RI, but $900 seems like a big chunk for a pcb.
 

mad dog

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I may be risking my marriage soon for a 40 watt amp, but this one is a SF Pro Reverb. Don't think I could live with myself were I to end up loveless, wifeless, homeless et al., over a peavey.
 

jcwu

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I have a Peavey Classic 50, in the 410 version. The reverb is alright - nothing to write home about - but the amp itself is a great workhorse. I liken the Peavey Classic line to the Guilds - the underdog brand, but built to last (and to be played!).

I put JJ tubes in the 410, and added a Weber Mass, so I can crank the baby without waking the neighbors in the next state. The just-barely overdriven clean channel sounds really sweet. But I agree with Walter - the drive channel leaves a bit to be desired. So I basically treat it as a one-channel amp, and put a stomp box in front for drive.

The stomp box I use is the Fulltone FullDrive, which can act as just a boost - oh man, when I crank the clean channel and add the boost, I get some lethal overdrive that's gotta be heard to be believed. Beats the pants off of the drive channel (not that hard, considering it wasn't that great to begin with).

$350 is a pretty good price, but I don't know how the 212 version sounds compared to the 410.
 
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