peavey classic 50

[twoheadedboy]

Re: peavey classic 50

I think what you need to do is get out there and play a ton of amps until you find something that does exactly what you want, even if you can't afford it. Once you know how that amp works, it will be much easier to work backwards and find something in your price range that you dig. You should be able to get what you want out of a modded bassman. I get all the tones you described (blues, rock, rockabilly) out of my modded 50 watt '59 bassman clone. Bassmans are probably the easiest amps ever to mod, and if your tech can't hook you up with the mods to get nice low-gain rock and blues tones, find a new tech.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: peavey classic 50

yeah uh...sorry for all the amp posts

BUT

i think maybe one of these with vintage 30's and converted to 6l6's might be the amp i'm lookin for, and it'd be cheap. If i remember right these amps can do everything from blues to rock, i played one, sounded okay, but i didn't like the EL-ness of it, or the speakers, other than that it was a great amp, even had a button for another gain stage, which seems like it'd be ideal for what i'm lookin for, and an effects loop, which is a nice touch. I think the tweed one even has reverb & an active presence knob

any thoughts? testimonials? reasons for yes? reasons for no?

I generally like every 6l6 amp peavey makes, but i dunno how well the conversion would go over, i don't wanna hafta have cap values changed or any of that

I own a 10 year old Classic 50 Head version that i run thru a 5150 cab.... I mostly use it for clean sounds.. The drive channel sounds great when cranked up on high volume! I own that head as well as the Classic 30 combo and for me the only issue i have with both is i wish the things had more bottom end..... Even thru the 4x12 cab it seems to not have enough for my tastes. But they do have a lot more bottom end then my Fender 65 Deluxe amp!

Still amazing amps and i buy them used when i see them! People do not grab them as fast as say a Fender amp used... Also since it is a Peavey they are always less money and a steal used. I have no idea why a lot of people snub Peavey gear but some of it can be great.

WhoFan

 

[joelap]

Re: peavey classic 50

I'm not gunna preach to you Drew, because I know what it's like. Guys our age have 1) limited funds and 2) limited time to find that "perfect amp". I've been holding off for almost a year now on buying my first tube amp so I can either have Jeff Seal build me one or build my own (hopefully with Jeff's guidance).

If I could say one thing, I'd just say this, and this is just my opinion. To me, mods are supposed to make a good amp sound better, to improve upon characteristics you already like, or two tweak a few minor flaws. Most mods aren't about totally changing an amp (or pedal), but rather emphasising its strengths and compensating for its weaknesses.

I really hope you find the amp/sound you're looking for buddy, you've been searching for a while. Find an amp that you love the sound of completely stock, then worry about tube/speaker tweaks. Have a friend blindfold you so you don't know the brand of the amp, if you are biased (I know you dislike Marshall's)

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: peavey classic 50

well, it sounds like EL's may be the way to go for this kinda sound, up until now i've been dialing amps trying to get the sound i have now with the POD & bassman, but now i can focus more on blues & more middy rock oriented tones

anyone got clips of the classic 50 or jtm?

preferably demoing bluesy tones, then more rockin tones, then kick on a TS for the hell of it

 

[Quencho092]

Re: peavey classic 50

have you heard the beano album with eric clapton and john mayall? It's pretty much the first time a blues/rock artist got the cranked marshall tone from a JTM 45 2x12.

Download hideaway, steppin out, and stormy monday by clapton and the bluesbreakers and you'll see what i mean by good tone. He did it with an HH config les paul, which is pretty close to your HH tele blackout. The JTM 45 combo is technically a hot rodded bassman with 2x12 celestions, a more agressive tone stack, tube rectifier, and some pretty sweet crunch.

You can also simply buy the head and run it through your current cab. Another great idea is to use an amp switcher so you can run the bassman 100 for your cleans, and flip on the jtm45 for your crunchy blues/rockabilly tones.

 

[casblah]

Re: peavey classic 50

yeah i played the 30, i figured the 50 would have the same thing, i saw a band last night that had the 4x10 one and it sounded pretty alright, had a good of gain to it & zero pedals, so i thought there had to be atleast one more gain stage or boost or something in the amp

i have my gigawatt amp, now i'm just looking for something for home, studio, and practice use, i play lots of genres, and most of them don't require that 170 watts, but they do require tones i can't get right now. But that 50 watt 4x10 set on a chair was loud enough for the stuff that i don't need the 170 for, like blues, rock, and rockabilly & crap like that

my hearing is pretty good, i pick up on a lot of things other people can't, actually

i just like 6l6's more, that's all

Just curious, what amp are you refering to,that puts out 170 watts?

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: peavey classic 50

i have a jeff seal modded bassman 100 that puts out 170. It rules

downloaded the songs, it's not quite what I'm lookin for

chords are still a bit coarse, notes sound a little too gritty

I think EL84's actually would be the way to go for these sounds

prolly a classic 50 4x10 & then maybe an extension cab with a couple v30's

oh, and the tweed classic 50 EFX has an active presence control (other one is passive) an external speaker jack, and a standby switch, which the other doesn't

that's from peavey's website

also, are they closed back? open back? what

it doesn't specify

 

[Xeromus]

Re: peavey classic 50

Dude, try out a bunch of amps. Buy the one you like the most. DON'T MOD/TWEAK IT!

SELL the bassman.

case closed.

Damn it I swear you are the most backwards gear person I know. You try to take an amp that doesn't do or sound the way you want it to, and then you try to turn it into something else.

Why not just get an amp that you like in the first place?

 

[SoCalSteve]

Re: peavey classic 50

Try a Valvetronix or Spider II

 

[Quencho092]

Re: peavey classic 50

i have a jeff seal modded bassman 100 that puts out 170. It rules

downloaded the songs, it's not quite what I'm lookin for

chords are still a bit coarse, notes sound a little too gritty

Those are kt66 (6l6 family) tubes, dimed amp, les paul bridge pickup, dallas rangemaster boost. Maybe a little too muddy for what you want.

Try the amps anyway though. You'll probably find lots of the tones you want at lower volumes, and while the amp is not being driven hard by a dallas rangemaster like the one clapton used in the recordings. And the speakers were very low wattage greenbacks.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: peavey classic 50

I'll try out the 50, if i don't like it, i'll drive somewhere that has the mesa & jtm

and yes xeromus, the bassman 50 will be sold on saturday, 170 i'm keepin cuz it rules as a pedal platform. But the next amp won't be modded any more than new tubes & speakers maybe

i think the 410 classic, maybe with a dual v30 ext cab, should cover what i want, like i said i saw a band the other day & a guy had it, sounded good

the whole thing with the bassman was that i liked how it was EQ'd how it sounded, and i assumed getting it to break up sooner would be a simple fix, but such was not the case

 

[Xeromus]

Re: peavey classic 50

You're a good guy, sorry if I sound like I'm being hard on ya. It's just that I actually read the threads you post and try to make suggestions, but there really weren't any to make as far as the bassman went.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: peavey classic 50

thanks man, and yeah i know the bassman is a lost cause, hence selling it, but i mean, you wouldn't think that just getting a little more gain would be that difficult, oh well, next time i'll know better. And with a ts it sounded all...80's dc punk, and i stopped playing that when i threw out my bong, haha

speaking of, the classic, i was planning on using a ts & a ds-1 (not at the same time) for boosts for leads & such, and fenders tend to get farty when you do stuff like that, like take the max gain out of an amp & push it farther, is that the case with the classic?

it's also a concern cuz right now i'm building a tele with a hot rail, and that thing, well, you know

basically with the TS I'm gonna use it as a mid & volume boost, and use the ds for volume & a little compression & more drive, is that feasable?

i just wanna make sure that pushing more gain into this amp will actually sound...good, haha

 

[Quencho092]

Re: peavey classic 50

el tubes tend not to fart as much as 6l6's because they dont have as much bass when cranked, which is why the marshall cranked tone is so legendary-it keeps sounding great the louder you crank it.

The only thing i'd be worried about in the case of the classic 50 is the fact that you might be getting a little too much power tube distortion at the volumes you need.

Since you have so much power with the bassman 100, you could use it as a PA system. Just buy whatever amp gets THE tone you want at any given volume, mic it, and run the mic into your 170 watter. This way you can get alot more spread and volume, or you could even use the classic 50/jtm 45 or whatever amp you get as a monitor.

 

[TheJangus]

Re: peavey classic 50

That would look weak.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: peavey classic 50

well, i'm pretty sure with an extension cab it'd be fine, volume wise, and i don't suppose it'd get louder after 10

so for rock situations with the boosts & all that, that'd be more like a thing with a 2 guitarist band, so i can stand out when i need to, and sit comforterably in the mix when i need to

plus, as is the case with 6l6's, I'm sure there are higher headroom el84's out there, that'll distort beautifully when pushed a little past 10, instead of too much like the stock ones may

 

[Mike M.]

Re: peavey classic 50

Drew, I don't have the C50 but I have the C30 and unless I'm mistaken I believe the tube layout is the same in both amps. To get a bit more clarity and clean headroom from the clean channel I put a 5751 tube in V1. This will also have an effect on the OD channel. I tried many tubes and for me a Sovtek 12AX7LPS sounded the best to me. You may try this and hate it but for me it worked. I also tried a few differant speakers and for me a 30 watt ceramic Weber Blue Dog (recommended by our very own Stevo) did the trick. I don't know what these changes would do for a C50 but they were pretty cheap and they helped. Just trying to help.

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: peavey classic 50

thanks for the help

yeah EL84's are totally new to me, never dealt with them, i have a pretty good grasp on the different types of 6l6's but that doesn't help me in this situation

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: peavey classic 50

I seriously can't believe how you guys get mad at Drew for wanting to try new stuff with old amps. If people weren't constantly trying new things we wouldn't be able to sit here and talk about whether an alnico 2 or alnico 5 magnet is better for sounding like blah blah blah, you know what i mean?

Let him experiment, it's his money and stuff. I hope he keeps it up for years and starts his own amp company.

-X

 

[drew_half_empty]

Re: peavey classic 50

I seriously can't believe how you guys get mad at Drew for wanting to try new stuff with old amps. If people weren't constantly trying new things we wouldn't be able to sit here and talk about whether an alnico 2 or alnico 5 magnet is better for sounding like blah blah blah, you know what i mean?

Let him experiment, it's his money and stuff. I hope he keeps it up for years and starts his own amp company.

-X

i think they're just frustrated, that's all, and it's understandable

as far as starting my own amp company, yeah i could definately see that happening, except i'd spend like a year just tweaking & refining each amp

now that i think about it that's not necessarily a bad thing