Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

[AniML]

I recently bought a Pro Jr, but am second guessing myself. It is damn loud for basement jamming, which is all I do and it's got a bit more tube rattle than I expected.

I'm thinking the peavey might be a better fit because (a) it has a master volume and (b) a built in attenuator. Demos I've heard sound nice. I haven't really seen any discussion on it here. Has anyone tried or bought one?

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

I haven't tried one, but it sure is feature packed.

 

[DMR]

Re: Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

I was so close to pulling the trigger on the Classic 20 but ended up going with the Fender Bassbreaker 15 head. I kinda regret it because the power scaling of the Classic 20 would've been nice. The Bassbreaker is a LOUD 15 watts.

 

[brbadg]

Re: Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

Why don't you get it looked at? Since you want the attentuation, how about a weber mini mass?

 

[Spudman]

Re: Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

I have the Classic 20 combo. It's a really sweet amp. However, it doesn't have the features of the new head version. I'd definitely get the head if was to have the choice again because of all it can do. The combo sounds great (with another cabinet), but the head is a do it all machine. Plenty loud for stage or suitably quiet for bedroom.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

I was so close to pulling the trigger on the Classic 20 but ended up going with the Fender Bassbreaker 15 head. I kinda regret it because the power scaling of the Classic 20 would've been nice. The Bassbreaker is a LOUD 15 watts.

I kinda like this idea
the Pro Junior isn't vintage or anything

add an attenuator
Probably much less than the baby Peavey

although it would still not have the other cool features

 

[Wattage]

Re: Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

I really liked the pv head, I need it like I need the flu but I wouldn't hesitate

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

made me look at the mini's
I like the Classic and the VK , the 6505 is a metal dream

headphones and dummy load makes each easily bedroom aces
speaker sim on USB and XLR outs makes it easy to record

I'm diggin it

 

[JimmyO]

Re: Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

The Pro Junior is a good little amp, perfect for garage rehearsals. You could try getting a good overdrive pedal like an 805 to get your driven tones. A decent clean tube amp with a good drive pedal will likely sound better than a driven tube amp attenuated to bedroom levels.

 

[moshpit817]

Re: Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

made me look at the mini's
I like the Classic and the VK , the 6505 is a metal dream

headphones and dummy load makes each easily bedroom aces
speaker sim on USB and XLR outs makes it easy to record

I'm diggin it

I had the 6505mh and it was just ok.IMO Peavey crammed too many features in a small head,yeah the features are nice,but the head I had at 1st always ran so hot when you touched the front panel to make adjustments it damn near burn your fingers,so I sent it back and got another one and same thing if not worse,so I called Peavey and they said a quick bias adjust will fix that,so I checked bias with my tube probes,and 1 tube was at 31mv and the other at 22mv,so I just put in a new pair of matched JJ's and biased at 27mv where it sounded the best and it still ran hot,any colder and the amp sounded so thin and sterile it was ridiculous,and the bias drifted so much,even with a new Peavey installed bias adjust pot I sold it Thank God! What a nightmare! Look on Peavey forum for more 6505mh horror stories! Sorry Peavey that amp head sucked!! Sorry for intruding on your thread !!

 

[AniML]

Re: Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

No, thanks for your experience with the 6505. I want to hear the good and not so good, but I'm only considering the Classic model. I have not seen any online reports of C20MH overheating, but still have to wonder if they are similar enough where the issue with the 6505 might occur on the Classic

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

In the reviews I saw
I thought the Valve King version to be the most interesting

6505 really doesn't do cleans
The class A option on the VK is unique

But again, no experience to report

 

[stratguy23]

Re: Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

OP, if you mean the Classic 20 MH head, I don't currently own it, but did spend a good amount of time in a store playing it.

The clean channel is awesome, one of the best I've ever heard. It's sparkly and responsive. I am not even a clean channel kind of guy, but that was a delight to play.

The drive channel sounds to me like a driven Fender tweed - respectable, but not my thing.

What this adds up to is essentially a low-wattage Fender-ish tweed amp in head format, with attenuation down to 1 watt and USB out for direct recording. Also, you get a footswitchable global volume boost - something the other Peavey MH (ValveKing, 6505) heads don't have. Those boosts, as I understand, are gain boosts, not clean boosts.

In other words, it's filling a hole that Fender isn't right now.

Given how good the clean channel is, I may pick up this amp as a pedal platform. The matching Peavey 1x12 tweed cab is kind of large, so I'm thinking of going with a smaller tweed cab like maybe the Carvin 1x12.

 

[TeleJr24]

Re: Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

I played the Peavey at my local store and liked it a lot. The problem is that I'm not very confident that it would last a long time. I haven't heard (or searched) bad reviews but I've heard negative reviews of other products. And then there was that "Undercover Boss" episode that really left a bad taste.

As for the pro junior, I own one and love it. I did change the speaker to a Texas Heat 12 inch Though. I would keep the pro jr


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AniML]

Re: Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

Done and Done.

PJ is on its way back for return / refund. C20MH has been ordered with a 15% discount below street. Delivery gods willing, it should be here Saturday

 

[stratguy23]

Re: Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

Cool, keep us posted on how you like it.

My main hesitation about foreign-made Peavey amps is their reliability. I have the 6505 MH head, and while it sounds phenomenal, it does have the bias/heat issue that's well-documented. My particular instance of the issue isn't bad - I can live with it - but it doesn't inspire confidence in the MH line, since they generally follow the same build format.

Then again, modern Fender amps aren't paragons of build quality, either. The Pro Junior sounds very nice - to my ears, slightly warmer than the Classic 20 MH you'll be getting. Not better, just different.

I went through a similar shopping process recently and ended up with a Roland Blues Cube Hot. It attenuates down to 0.5 watts, perfect for bedroom, and has USB out for recording. Yes, it's solid state, but it is amazingly good for solid state - very Fender-ish. I'm pretty happy with it at the moment. If the Classic 20 MH doesn't work out, the Blues Cube Hot might be a good alternative.

 

[AniML]

Re: Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

Cool, keep us posted on how you like it.

My main hesitation about foreign-made Peavey amps is their reliability. I have the 6505 MH head, and while it sounds phenomenal, it does have the bias/heat issue that's well-documented. My particularly instance of the issue isn't bad - I can live with it - but it doesn't inspire confidence in the MH line, since they generally follow the same build format.

Then again, modern Fender amps aren't paragons of build quality, either. The Pro Junior sounds very nice - to my ears, slightly warmer than the Classic 20 MH you'll be getting. Not better, just different.

I went through a similar shopping process recently and ended up with a Roland Blues Cube Hot. It attenuates down to 0.5 watts, perfect for bedroom, and has USB out for recording. Yes, it's solid state, but it is amazingly good for solid state - very Fender-ish. I'm pretty happy with it at the moment. If the Classic 20 MH doesn't work out, the Blues Cube Hot might be a good alternative.

Yes, I saw your experience with the 6505 heat issue above and after searching other forums, I saw numerous other reports of the same issue - but could not find a single one related to the Classic.

The PJ had a pretty noticeable tube rattle / vibration even with the volume only at 2-3 (like a C30 ). I figured over time that was only going to get worse and why I returned it. That aside, it is a fun amp.

My other regularly played amp is a Vox AC4C1, also MIC and works flawlessly, so I think country of origin of is not so much a factor as a given company's or product line's quality control

 

[moshpit817]

Re: Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

No, thanks for your experience with the 6505. I want to hear the good and not so good, but I'm only considering the Classic model. I have not seen any online reports of C20MH overheating, but still have to wonder if they are similar enough where the issue with the 6505 might occur on the Classic

I wanted to like the 6505mh but it had its chances..now I would try the C20- and Valve king mh's..but to me the cabinet feels cheap as in might not hold up for the long haul,that saying I did make a 3/4" thick Pine cabinet that was larger overall and covered in black & white snakeskin tolex for the 6505mh,and mounted the chassis into it and it was a lot stouter..so the cabinet is something to possibly figure into your decision.for home or studio use without being moved or tossed around it would probably be fine..good luck!

 

[esandes]

Re: Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

Peavey classics rock. It's that EL84 goodness that sounds nice clean and like a hot marshall.

I had a Classic 30 and loved it. I had several Peavey amps and those are their best, IMO.

 

[AniML]

Re: Anyone tried the new Peavey Classic 20 head?

Well, I got the C20MH yesterday and was able to mess around with it for an hour or so. I really like it. Both channels are very usable and easy to dial in. Reverb adds a nice shimmer without sounding digitized. No hum or other noises. The 1/5/20w attenuator works great with little change in dynamics from one power level to the others. The pedal-operated boost adds a great natural lift and gives a more open feel to both channels.

I've been running it into a Greenback and it seems not nearly as loud as the 15w PJ it replaced. I'm guessing that's more the speaker than the amp. If I run into a more efficient speaker I suspect the volume would be more on par with the PJ. But besides the way the PJ rattled, even at lower levels, the overwhelming volume in my basement made the PJ a less than ideal fit. Taking nothing away from the Fender, the Peavey is definitely a better suited and useful amp for me.