b-52 amps

[karpathion]

ok i'll make it short. i dont have the money to buy a marshall jcm 900. or anything in that league. but i have stumbled on to an amp call b-2
ive never heard of them before. but they are getting great reviews.
anyone have any experiance with them. and are they really made by peavy

 

[Top Jimmy]

Re: b-52 amps

Made by Peavey? Not that I ever heard.

Basically they are considered the poor man's Mesa. I think they are a kinda cool cheap high gain amps. The only problem I heard is that their reliability is questionable.

I wanted one for the price but too loud for my living space.

 

[karpathion]

Re: b-52 amps

yeah i dont think you beat 600 bucks for a tube head

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: b-52 amps

Dude, the Peavey windsor is $600 for a complete half stack.

 

[korovamilkdud]

Re: b-52 amps

I just got my tubes changed finally after about a year and a half and it's great. I haven't had reliability issues really, it just had tubes that needed a change recently.

I actually like the clean sound it has, as do many other b-52 owners. The distortion is good too if you use the contour knob. It's crap without the contour on.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: b-52 amps

I tried it. Definately more Mesa than Marshall. The cleans are good, the reverb's decent, but the driven tones were much too fizzy and compressed for me. It's nothing a tube swap and a decent speaker set can't fix, really. For the price, it's a great sounding amp for heavier rock and metal, though I can't speak about the reliability.

 

[karpathion]

Re: b-52 amps

Dude, the Peavey windsor is $600 for a complete half stack.

but is it tubes

 

[gnoj_LL]

Re: b-52 amps

but is it tubes

yup, but it has more of an american tone. good for blues IIRC. very diff from a MESA

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: b-52 amps

Actually, the Windsor's got more of a British tone, as in Marshall.

The B-52's definately American.

Last time I checked, Mesa's are built in Kalifornistan.

 

[gnoj_LL]

Re: b-52 amps

Actually, the Windsor's got more of a British tone, as in Marshall.

The B-52's definately American.

Last time I checked, Mesa's are built in Kalifornistan.

Oh =) hehe disregard my previous post

 

[rashayritto]

Re: b-52 amps

you should go play both stacks in a store near you. the Windsor is a really bad ass rock stack. people say its a one trick pony, but i imagine you could get more mileage with your pedals.

the b-52 amps are pretty cool too, but IMO the Windsor is more rockin!

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: b-52 amps

The Windsor, like the Marshalls it's based on is a one trick pony.

But what a trick it is!

 

[rashayritto]

Re: b-52 amps

The Windsor, like the Marshalls it's based on is a one trick pony.

But what a trick it is!

true that! :fing2: if it were me man, i'd grab up that windsor and wouldnt even consider the b-52's. Only thing is....120watts is way too much for me :lol: i have more than i need at 36 watts

 

[Yngwiestein]

Re: b-52 amps

I don't know if I am in the minority here but my experience with Peavey has been very disappointing. I gave them up long ago. A rhythm guitarist I used to play with had one and liked it a lot. He dropped it down a couple of steps and ruined the knobs on the front but still used it for like a year after that. I would venture to say that it sounds something like a Mesa. The sound is good, not great but good enough.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: b-52 amps

I liked the B52 alot! I held off because there wasnt much info on reliability. But Ive not heard any bad reports and they have been out a couple of years.

 

[Yngwiestein]

Re: b-52 amps

I liked the B52 alot! I held off because there wasnt much info on reliability. But Ive not heard any bad reports and they have been out a couple of years.

I read some reviews about overheating problems but they supposed to issue with new fans now so should be a problem anymore.

 

[LoFiBrian]

Re: b-52 amps

the B-52 60watt head has a almost bassman(blackface) clean sound...warm and actually very usable. I was shocked...

the dist tones def. have that mesa character...though I got the impression they like a mesa need alot of dialing...All I got was buzzsaw when I wanted something less aggressive.

I know a few people who have the tri-rec 100watt and have had it trouble free minus a tube swap for years...

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: b-52 amps

true that! :fing2: if it were me man, i'd grab up that windsor and wouldnt even consider the b-52's. Only thing is....120watts is way too much for me :lol: i have more than i need at 36 watts

A 10 U 8 R

Takes 'em right down to loud-but-not-deafening.

 

[alex1fly]

Re: b-52 amps

I'm intrigued by these amps, specifically the AT-112. If it can cop a Mesa-like OD tone with the help of some pedals (and without the wicked buzz), I may just pick one up. The AT-212 looks nice too, with the extra features - three rectifier selects, high/low gain inputs, two OD channels instead of one, separate contour controls for each channel, etc. But all the extra features is part of what turns me off about my Roadster... I like to tweak the guitar/amp relationship, not just 50 switches on the amp.

 

[Yngwiestein]

Re: b-52 amps

I'm intrigued by these amps, specifically the AT-112. If it can cop a Mesa-like OD tone with the help of some pedals (and without the wicked buzz), I may just pick one up. The AT-212 looks nice too, with the extra features - three rectifier selects, high/low gain inputs, two OD channels instead of one, separate contour controls for each channel, etc. But all the extra features is part of what turns me off about my Roadster... I like to tweak the guitar/amp relationship, not just 50 switches on the amp.

Maybe good for money but still cheap amp. Will not get real Mesa quality unless you spend good money like for Roadster. Stock tubes very cheap so need purchase JJ or something.