Peavey Classic 30 or 50?

[ledzepp29]

I'm planning on getting either one of those amps and need to know if the 30 will be loud enough for various sized gigs(not sayin i get em but you gotta be prepered haha) can i save my money and go with the 30 or will I eventually start to GAS for the 50? also are the blue marvel speakers these amps come with good or will I want to change them? thanks

[bvc310]

Re: Peavey Classic 30 or 50?

Hey, i would suggest just to go with the 50, it has a better tranny and is a little better built amp. used, the prices are rediculously close as well so why not just go with the extra wattage. As for the blue marvels, they are so so speakers. They are ok on a budget but do get farty when pushed. I suggest replaceing the tubes be the first amp mod followed by speakers. I got a pair of eminence GB12s from www.avatarspeakers.com which i love for $115 shipped i believe.
Cheers,
Brian

[Benjy_26]

Re: Peavey Classic 30 or 50?

I to vote for the 50, though a local gent runs a pair of 30's in stereo with a MM Albert Lee modle and gets an unbeleivable sound for country and blues.

[Kent S.]

Re: Peavey Classic 30 or 50?

The 50 will give you more headroom clean, lead wise I'd opt for the 30 though, as it's a bit sweeter also. I'm not aware of the tranny being better per se' in the 50, but then again Peavey maybe doing a Fender a changing stuff back and forth ... who is to say what they have in there. You won't get much if any volume difference between them, but you will get more headroom.
Also the 50 will be a bit more dynamic at louder volumes and the 30 a bit more compressed. The blue marvel speakers, yeah I'd replace them also ... I agree with the comment that they are alright, but not great. The mid boost if modded becomes very useable clean or overdriven. I you're playing more loud clean stuff, and moderately overdriven lead stuff ... then the 50 is probably the way to go; if more overdriven rhythm stuff and heavily overdriven lead stuff, then the 30. Other than that it comes down to cost issues.

[butnut]

Re: Peavey Classic 30 or 50?

I think the 30 is a good tube amp for the money. It's a good small club amp, we mic'd all amps through the PA so I have'nt gone past 3 (which is loud) and I'm sure pushed, (un-mic'd) I would have to make adjustments on my Reverend DriveTrain which I leave on. The stock speakers did lack punch...I was lucky a friend gave me a vintage Marshall labeled Celetion which really added punch and vibe. I can't speak for the 50 since I never used one, but this 30 is light enough for this geezer to lug around without throwing my back out and I know will handle any small-med gig. I'm pretty pleased with the stock tubes, probably won't mess with 'em unless they go bad.

[Thames]

Re: Peavey Classic 30 or 50?

I'm asking : is there a particular reason you want to go with Peavey ?

There's a lot of other amps out there, in the same price range, that are better than the Peavey.

[mjsever]

Re: Peavey Classic 30 or 50?

I like those Peavey amps a bunch! I think that for the money they are just about as good as you can get, although I may not be familiar with the amps that Thames is referring to.

I'd recommend going with the 30-watter. I have a 60-watter that is much too loud, and I never turn it up past 4 or 5 even on relatively big stages. Most of the time they're micing your amp anyway, but even when they're not I think that 30 watts of tube will push you over a drummer. In practice i'm only at about 2 or 3.

Pesonally, I'd rather have a smaller amp that sounds better when I turn it down during band practice, but the next smaller Ampeg is only 15 watts so I can deal with 60w.

[msplines]

Re: Peavey Classic 30 or 50?

You'll find the 30 is more than adequate for club gigs, I play in a 6 piece with a drummer of solid virtues and I've never gone over half way up, clean or dirty even outside.
The 30 is sweeter when clean or cranked and responds well to changes in tube types if the fancy takes you. For bigger gigs, you'll be miked anyway(and it's light)!

[msplines]

Re: Peavey Classic 30 or 50?

I'm asking : is there a particular reason you want to go with Peavey ?

There's a lot of other amps out there, in the same price range, that are better than the Peavey.

I'm a big fan of the Peavey 30, but I'm always interested in gear in case some pops up for sale - which amps are you talking about, and why are they better?

[Thames]

Re: Peavey Classic 30 or 50?

I'm a big fan of the Peavey 30, but I'm always interested in gear in case some pops up for sale - which amps are you talking about, and why are they better?

Laneys are the best example I could give right now.

I have owned a PV C50 for 4 years. At first, I really liked that amp... but the more I played it... the more I became frustrated with its tone. I bought the 4x10 version btw. Here's what Ive done :

1- Swapped the 10" Blue Marvels (marvel ?? there's nothing "marvelous" about them...) and put some Celestion G10L-35. Not enough bass. I sold all of them.
2- Put in a separate cab 2x Eminence GB12. Ah.. there's some improvement!
3- A few months later, I noticed the amp lacked some "breath" at high volume, like if it was always forcing to cut thru the mix. Same problem.
4- Performed many mods on it (blueguitar.org). Ok, it has improved the tone, but I was still unsatisfied again, a few months later.

Always the same problem with that amp...I was happy a few months, then I started to get frustrated with it. I started talking with some folks here and there on various BBS, and we all came to the conclusion than the Output tranny was the weak point (Trace Allen from VoodooAmps). No existing replacement. Well, I ended selling it, put enough energy and time to make it sound "right".

Then I visited every store in the area (some at 200 km from home!!) to find THE "right" amp.

I finally settled for the laney GH50L. This amp is a pure straight-forward design that delivers the good. No reverb, 1-channel (with fs-able extra gain). Cleans up nicely with guitar vol. knob, tube-couple efx loop (3 modes). It's pretty well assemble and mounted inside, kinda like old Hiwatts (not that clean, but similar!). This amp is definitely a cross between Hiwatts (big thumpy headroom/clarity) and Marshalls (OD & balls!). Laney did a fine job matching clean/OD with their amps.

It's also a nice platform to work on. Just put some nice tubes for a good start. It's quite cheap (used) and is reliable. Very well made. I bought mine for ~300$ on eBay.

Of course, this is MY opinion, it doesnt worth necessarily more than any other, unless they never tried both!

[msplines]

Re: Peavey Classic 30 or 50?

Laneys are the best example I could give right now.

I have owned a PV C50 for 4 years. At first, I really liked that amp... but the more I


It's also a nice platform to work on. Just put some nice tubes for a good start. It's quite cheap (used) and is reliable. Very well made. I bought mine for ~300$ on eBay.

Of course, this is MY opinion, it doesnt worth necessarily more than any other, unless they never tried both!

Phew, alot of work and no mistake!
The 30s are a lot sweeter than the 50s, so it's less hassle to get a nice tone out of them. All the guys I know sold their 50s after a lot less effort than you.
The 30 has a nice reverb as well, but people should know that the tubes are EL84s which have their own character.
Your Laney sounds a great base to work on, what tubes and speakers does it have?