My take on the Peavey Windsor head...

[cliffenstein]

Re: My take on the Peavey Windsor head...

Resurrecting again... I'm now playing a first year DSL100 as my gigging amp and the Windsor has become my backup amp as well as what I use at home.

I sold my Windsor cab for $120 and got a Marshall 1982a for $199. The 1982 has 2 Celestion G12H-100's and 2 WGS Veteran 30's in an x-pattern. My Windsor head goes into the 1982 cab here at home.

I just retubed my Windsor with regular ol' JJ EL34 (power) and 12AX7's (preamp). I've long believed that JJ's are the perfect match for Marshalls and Marshall voiced amps and the Windsor is no exception.

The tone I'm getting here at home at low, moderate and loud volumes is absolutely fantastic. It really is. I didn't mind the Windsor into the Windsor cab, but this Marshall cab puts this amp in a whole other league!

I really believe that some day these Windsor heads are going to have the kind of reputation that other "Marshall killers" of yesteryear now have (AOR, Butcher, MIG, VTM, etc).

Next summer I'm going to buy a late 70's JMP style headshell made to fit this thing. It deserves to look better than it does in its stock appearance.

It's such a great amp.

Oh...one more thing. Tubes really make a huge difference with the Windsor. I tried a quad of Svetlanas in it before the JJ's. The Svets made the Windsor tone very harsh in a way that couldn't be dialed out.

 

[YJM_Rocks]

Re: My take on the Peavey Windsor head...

Where's the "beating a dead horse" emoticon? I had a Windsor for years (sold it for literally $100 with the cab) and liked it a bit but the quality of the build was awful. Also, it just doesn't come close to the quality of a Marshall in terms of sound or durability. Mine never left the house and I am really gentle with equipment and it still had an input jack break off the board and some strange happening I couldn't figure out. I had a 1980 JMP 2204 (never should have sold it) and the Windsor just didn't compare. A real master volume Marshall has about 10 times the body and fullness in tone. /thread

edit: I'm not a Peavey hater either. Love the Classic 30. /thread

 

[cliffenstein]

Re: My take on the Peavey Windsor head...

I owned a 1979 50 watt JMP head that was stolen after I'd had it for a year or so. I didn't have another grand to replace it at the time so I got a Peavey VTM60. The VTM was ugly, but it sounded great.

I gigged with my Windsor for a year and a half and had no problems whatsoever. The tone I get from it reminds me a whole heck of a lot of the JMP.

I love my DSL, but there isn't some great big chasm of a sonic difference between it and the Windsor. That of course applies solely to the tone I go for (Angus Young meets Johnny Ramone). I'm a "set it and forget it" kind of player, so I'll admit to having fewer requirements than many other players. For how I use it, the Windsor definitely gets the job done.

One more thing...I bought my Windsor used and have never played another one so my experience is solely with the one I own. I have no idea its history or if it's ever been modded. My guess is that it has not been modded, but I do not know that with any kind of certainty.

 

[tman]

Re: My take on the Peavey Windsor head...

I have a windsor head and I love it.I do believe it hits a nice vintage type tone very well.I upgraded it with a OT and choke and I plug directly into the return of the loop and just use the power section with a clean boost from a Marshall BBII pedal and slight compression/sustain and it rips at volume very punchy and nice vintage gain. I can get clean tones on this amp as well not sure why everyone *****es about that I can get it no problem. If going through the pre-amp if you use some lower gain pre-amp tubes it still sounds very nice.Keep the pre-amp vol low and the master higher and you will get a good 70's era type tone for sure.For sure playing the Windsor through a better cab makes a world of difference also I play mine through a Marshall 1960B cab and it rocks