there's a mod i've been trying to add gain, fatness and tone on smallish tube amps. It's fairly non-intrusive and all the parts you need for it can be found at most decent guitar stores.
worked so well on my 68 Bassman that i had to try it on a Marshall Class 5...works like a charm. Would be totally surprised if it didn't work for your Peavey.
Here it is:
First take one of these:
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Run it from your guitar's jack to the right-hand side of one of these:
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Then use another one of these:
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to connect it to your amp.
The best part about it? No soldering required, and it's totally reversible.
I've tried a Classic 30 with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers. I sounded better than the stock speaker...
Exactly what I did in my old 1x12 combo. I agree it sounded better. Plus the Vintage 30 is less sensitive, so you have to turn the amp up more which gives you more breakup.
You could also try some ECC83 tubes in the preamp. That will give you a bit more on the pre knob.
before you do anything drastic....have you tried a tubescreamer?
okay so if you have tried them and still want more crunch, then a speaker swap would be The next step. Try somnething like a G12T75 for more fatness in the bottom, and it also knocks off some tops so you can crank the gain a bit more and it wont sound brittle. I reckon one of them and your ocd and you will have a pretty good drive tone. The g12t75 works great in open cabs like yours and even creates the illusion of a closed back tone because of its fat bass.
I have not personally tried one .... but i belive the eminence private jack is a similar speaker to the G12T75.
okay so if you have tried them and still want more crunch, then a speaker swap would be The next step. Try somnething like a G12T75 for more fatness in the bottom, and it also knocks off some tops so you can crank the gain a bit more and it wont sound brittle. I reckon one of them and your ocd and you will have a pretty good drive tone. The g12t75 works great in open cabs like yours and even creates the illusion of a closed back tone because of its fat bass.
I have not personally tried one .... but i belive the eminence private jack is a similar speaker to the G12T75.
I used to have a Classic 50 212, so I guess that's close enough.
I agree with swapping the speaker, to a V30. I also used mine through a Marshall 4x12, along with the amps internal speakers, if I remember correctly. When I played my Strats, I used an SD-1, with the gain turned down, and the level cranked. Fatted it up nicely.
Most of all, turn that sucker up as LOUD as you can. The louder these things are, the better they sound. Even with the stock speakers, IMHO. Many years ago, I also had a Classic 20, that I used to take to jams. I had to crank it all the way up, but it sounded awesome!
If that's still not enough gain for you, then you may just need to get a different amp. These weren't made for modern metal tones. These amps were originally meant to compete with the Fender Bassman reissue, with a bit of a Vox flavoring, due to the EL84 power amp. Just obviously with with more gain, to satisfy more modern players(for that time, in the early '90s.)