Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

[75lespaul]

So....I got my Windsor from eBay yesterday. Unpacked it and cranked my Les Paul with Brobucker bridge into the front, and plugged the pooper jack into my Hughes & Kettner Triamp cab loaded with Celestion G12H80s. As expected, it sounded lame. So this morning I ripped apart the cab, yanked the 80s and loaded it with made in England Greenbacks. I then stuck two 12AX7M Mullard reissue tubes in V1 and 2, and tried it again. Way better but still....uninspiring? Here's the thing. It sounds almost exactly like the 77 Marshall 50 watt head I used to own, but it definitely does NOT sound like a hot rodded 800 as has been described. Lots of mods for this amp online though, and I've read Wattage and others say that with a good bias adjustment, this amp comes alive. Snapped some pics and will post soon. Next up...the VK100 when it gets here.

 

[Artie]

Re: Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

Cool. I'll be following this thread, because I have one too, that I'm not impressed with. Maybe thats because I play it with the volume at .025 on a scale of 1 to 10. It's not really what you'd call a "bedroom" amp. (100-watt tube amp.)

Seriously though, I'd love to hear how you dial this in.

Artie

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

How are you, Artie! This amp's sweet spot seems to be somewhere around half volume on the master. It does do a very good Angus Young sound, because the distortion on this amp isn't heavy at all. Has a pretty good AC/DC type drive and REALLY early Priest, but that's about it. I'm not an electronics guy by any means, so I'm a little wary of doing mods myself because of voltages and all, but I've always wanted to learn how to bias and made small mods. Lots of mods for the Valveking as well, but man, I heard an "Appetite For Destruction" mod for the Windsor that sounds fantastic. Some great hot rodded JCM800 mods too, but if I could get this to sound ANYTHING like the Silver Jubilee I had to sell (can anyone say "yeah, right!"), I would seriously break down in tears, lol. I gotta hear this through my other cab I have at the house where the band jams, which has a V30/G12H30 X pattern configuration. Actually gonna head down the basement now and try it out with my Super Distortion loaded Les Paul and the Custom 5 loaded Jesuscaster. Yep, THAT Custom 5!

 

[Artie]

Re: Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

How are you, Artie! This amp's sweet spot seems to be somewhere around half volume on the master.

Doing great, and yes, I've heard that a simple mod to do on this amp is to yank two output tubes, making it 50-watt. I need to revisit this. If you see a mushroom cloud from down south, you know it was a fail.

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

Same if you see one from up North, lol. Well, it definitely likes hotter pickups better. This amp needs something to hit the front end hard. I guess that means the preamp stage of this amp is weak? I put a Boss GE-7 in the effects loop and it makes it an entirely different amp. Not brutal, but really heavy. It does have that dreaded earlier Marshall disease though where the crunch sounds really good, but solos sound kind of thin and frail. At least my 77 did. Even my plexi reissues and 73s needed some kind of help to get searing hot solos. I'll keep you updated, and if the mods go well, will post some clips. With work, I don't expect to get to them until early spring though, but let's see.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

Proper bias could definitely be a major factor. That and maybe try a 4X12 loaded with Cannibis Rex's. That would make a 200 watt cab with speakers of 103.2 db efficiency. With lower volume, the Cannibis Rex sounds quite full and clear. As you push the gain, you retain a nice low end but with an increasingly warm mid, it tends to smooth out fizzy amps with aplomb.

 

[Gone_Shootin]

Re: Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

Before you mod it, try an overdrive in front of it. Personally, I would try a Wylde Overdrive, but use whatever tickles your fancy.

And if you do decide to mod it, write down the mods and their instructions down on paper, along with a checklist of what to do. Then when you get ready to do them, just take a multimeter and verify that the caps are drained down to a safe level. Most modern amps have resistors in the circuit that bleed off power to ground after the amp has been shutoff and should render the amplifier safe after about 10 minutes or so (varies depending on design). Then just be careful, gentle with the components, and use good soldering technique.

 

[Gone_Shootin]

Re: Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

Doing great, and yes, I've heard that a simple mod to do on this amp is to yank two output tubes, making it 50-watt. I need to revisit this. If you see a mushroom cloud from down south, you know it was a fail.

Don't forget to cut halve your ohm setting on the output, because when you pull two power tubes, the amp sees the speaker cab as half of the actual cabinet ohm rating. Also make sure you either pull the outer or inner tubes.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

Assuming the bias/tubes are OK: having to jump through hoops to get an amp to sound just passable, means a bad purchase, IME.

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

Thanks for the tips, everyone. Yeah, I got zapped something fierce by a 65 Fender Deluxe around 25 years ago and it was NOT fun. Prolly what kept me from digging into mods. Jeff, I kind of expected this so if nothing makes it sound really good, I'm going to basically use it as a power amp for my Tonelab through the loop. If that doesn't sound good, then I'll chalk it up to a bad purchase. A cheap one though. Actually, I'd say that at the moment it is passable, but I'm stubborn. I want it to sound great, lol. Nice easy amp to start messing with mods on as well.

 

[GilmourD]

Re: Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

What power tubes do you have in it?

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

What power tubes do you have in it?

What are probably the stock Ruby EL34s.

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

Pics as promised. Snapped lots of the guts for those of you thinking about getting one and maybe modding it or whatever. Hope these pics help out.













http://s94.photobucket.com/user/67fury/media/G12H80s 011.jpg.html

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

And for those that don't like the amp...hot chick with a gun.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

Summer Glau. Yum!

Bill

 

[Van Noord]

Re: Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

My guess is that you'll like the VK more.

 

[allbutromeo]

Re: Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

Summer Glau. Yum!

Bill

This^ haha

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

Summer Glau. Yum!

Bill

:smokin:

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

My guess is that you'll like the VK more.

Your guess was correct. Now to fix it.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Got my Peavey Windsor yesterday.....YAY!!!!! I think.

It makes me wonder what an amp like that would sound like with point to point wiring. That and as I said, proper bias. From what I've heard, some companies run their tubes fairly cool which increases tube longevity, but diminishes tone. Something called "crossover distortion" occurs when tubes run too cold, and it tends not to be acoustically pleasant.