Initial Review of Peavy Valveking 112

[JumpMarine]

Just got the VK from Kac, it's a nice looking and well layed out little amp.

50 watts(little less than that I'm guessing)
2x6l6WXT Sovteks
3xEH12ax7
2 Channel
Hi/Lo inputs
Speaker out
Foot switch(Kac included a Marshall 2 button since Peavey still doesn't have them available)

Clean Channel
Vol/Treb/Mid/Bass
Bright Switch

Lead Channel
Gain/Vol/T/M/B
Gain Boost(Preamp gain)
Vol Boost

Master Reverb
FX Loop in front
Texture Knob(simulates class a/b to a)
Resonance Switch(Loose or tight output)

 

[BluesGuyJ]

Re: Initial Review of Peavy Valveking 112

Tone? How does t react to your guitars and what styles of music do you think it best works for thus far?

 

[Push to Shuv]

Re: Initial Review of Peavy Valveking 112

Im interested as well, ive been looking at buying one of those.

 

[Kac]

Re: Initial Review of Peavy Valveking 112

I was pretty satisifed with the amp overall, but was using it as a head, and only using the clean channel, so it made a lot more sense to ditch it for an actual head.
The texture knob was not one of my favorite features, the class A simulation wasn't doing it for me at all, so I just kept it turned to A/B.

Rock On ~ Kac

 

[JumpMarine]

Re: Initial Review of Peavy Valveking 112

Clean channel is very nice, chimey and warm. Volume is drastically less than the gain channel. When in the full class A mode, breaks up nicely with a harder pick attack. A/B is nice and full with more head room.

Gain channel, LOTS of gain on hand but tends to get buzzy. A 12at7 in the V2 is supposed to cure the buzziness. The gain pot is tapered weird, from 0 to 2.5 is mild gain and articulate then jumps to double that at 2.6.

More to come as I tweak it....

 

[Mincer]

Re: Initial Review of Peavy Valveking 112

i played one for about 1/2 hour the other day in the store where i teach..and honestly, i hated it. really dull and lifeless, and i generally like peaveys. i demo'd it next to a 1x12 classic 30, and i liked the 30 much much better...and next to a SS Fender 2x12..the fender's clean was much much better. oh well.

 

[JumpMarine]

Re: Initial Review of Peavy Valveking 112

Tone? How does t react to your guitars and what styles of music do you think it best works for thus far?

It's touch sensitive, but I haven't really dialed it in yet. The woodiness of my R7 comes right through nicely though. It does have alot of gain, but I was able to get some nice blues light break up as well.

 

[JumpMarine]

Re: Initial Review of Peavy Valveking 112

i played one for about 1/2 hour the other day in the store where i teach..and honestly, i hated it. really dull and lifeless, and i generally like peaveys. i demo'd it next to a 1x12 classic 30, and i liked the 30 much much better...and next to a SS Fender 2x12..the fender's clean was much much better. oh well.

I think that has more to do with the speaker than anything. I'm going to try the Texas Heat in it first to see if it livens it up. Using the 2x12 cab really made a big difference, but I got this one to be more portable so got to have a good speaker in the combo.

 

[JumpMarine]

Re: Initial Review of Peavy Valveking 112

I was pretty satisifed with the amp overall, but was using it as a head, and only using the clean channel, so it made a lot more sense to ditch it for an actual head.
The texture knob was not one of my favorite features, the class A simulation wasn't doing it for me at all, so I just kept it turned to A/B.

Rock On ~ Kac

I noticed that it worked well with both a/b and a on the clean channel with the R7 and much better with just a/b on the gain channel.

 

[JumpMarine]

Re: Initial Review of Peavy Valveking 112

Just put the Texas Heat and a GT12ax7m in the gain channel, it's a whole different amp with just those two changes. Buzziness is gone on the gain channel, but could stand to lose some more gain with an at7. The speaker was the most drastic change. The TH is SMOOTH, American tone. Cleans are creamy and gain is very smooth with plenty of low end and mids, highs are round and not spikey. Got to try the Vintage 30 in here now.

 

[suislidE03]

Re: Initial Review of Peavy Valveking 112

Yea i tried the 1x12 in a store recently, and noticed the cleans were decent, but my Laney still smoked them in terms of tone and fullness and articulation and.. many other things. The gain channel isnt too bad on the 1x12, but when the other guitarist in my band got his 2x12 i noticed it had to be much much louder to get that same tone. Plus it can get very ugly on the lows with the resonance. The eq range wasnt very versatile; compared to my Laney, it was crap.

Overall i still liked the amp, but i did notice the texture knob hardly does anything. More of a subtle effect than a tone variance.

 

[JumpMarine]

Re: Initial Review of Peavy Valveking 112

I found that the texture knob had more effect to my ears on the clean channel than the lead. I just played it through my Vintage 30 loaded 2x12 and it went up one more notch on the cool chart. Suprisingly the TH by itself really smokes when you crank it up past 4. Can't wait to really open her up when my wife isn't in the house. I also find that the gain boost isn't for me, there's plenty of gain on tap without pushing over the edge. I'm thinking that a 5751 may be another cool alternative for the preamp.

 

[BluesGuyJ]

Re: Initial Review of Peavy Valveking 112

Sounds like a good deal man. Even if the tone isn't all that killer, the price is what really makes the amp. Def a great buy for the player that rarely gigs.

 

[JumpMarine]

Re: Initial Review of Peavy Valveking 112

I just did some more tube swapping and put the GT12ax7m in v1(clean) and an old RCA grey plate 12at7 in the v2(lead) position. It made a huge difference in smoothing up the gain channel and the clean is rounder and more chimey. This amp is turning out quite nice, though it isn't without it's minuses. I do with that it had reverb for each channel, a master volume, more sensitive tone stack and different pots, better spring reverb unit and a fix for the drop out when switching channels. The tone and sensitivity is very good with the simple changes that I have made. It's also a pretty quiet amp with no annoying hum or his. I'll post some clips as soon as I can.