Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

[jon the art guy]

GC had a Peavey setup for some reason, and I plugged into a Valveking 50 combo, which I didn't mind at all.
Thing is, I thought they were a pretty straight-ahead medium gain tube amp. This one had power scaling down to 1 watt, variable class a to ab knob, and what I'm assuming is a variable "looseness", which sounded like it was unhinging the bass and mids a bit.

I really liked it! Nice meaty cleans. The gain channel broke up in more of my liking and less smooth and uh...good...but, I imagine the amp is also mod fodder.

SO, has the Valveking been like this since it's inception?

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

I looked at the new model yesterday and had the same thoughts
I don't think they did
Or at least I think the newer design has several upgrades
I too, liked the tight/loose knob
The power scaling
And such

I found the classic 30 to be more to my tastes tho

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

IIRC those are all new features. The second guitarist in my classic rock cover band is actually in need of a new amp and this is right in his price point. What did you think of how it might sound for those kind of tones?

 

[DeathALT.]

Re: Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

I've been interested in the new 50 watt combo and like that it's almost $400 cheaper than the Marshall DSL40C, and has all the features (tube indicators, and power scaling especially). Really want to put both of these to the test.

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

I'd say take a serious look at it. I mean, it's a Valveking, so I imagine it's going to sound like a Valveking; kind of that hi gain British, with some fizz on top. The tightness control really does loosen it all up into an almost stoner-esque or Leslie West flubby vibe with much thicker low-mid presence, though I didn't hear too much altering of the highs. The AB is your standard half-ass Marshall and the A sounds a little more Voxy.

Oh, forgot to mention, there's a pair of 6l6s in it, and a tube minder function. A couple LEDs on front, and I'm assuming they'll dim or turn red or something when it's time to change out out. Like the Infinium thing Bugera does.

It can also be clicked down to 1 watt and can record to USB.

Dang, I'm really talking myself into it too. :X I thought the combo of the dark humbuckers on the Epi SG400 I was playing were a really tasty match for me with this amp. I'm not sure it'll pull edgy tight metalcore tone. I suspect a pedal would help though.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

I didn't know they had power scaling. That must be new.

The last one I tried was absolute horse ****. Boring clean; fizzy, indistinct high gain. Build quality of a dollar store spatula. Sorry excuse for an amp, in general. That was around 2007 I think.

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

I didn't know they had power scaling. That must be new.

The last one I tried was absolute horse ****. Boring clean; fizzy, indistinct high gain. Build quality of a dollar store spatula. Sorry excuse for an amp, in general. That was around 2007 I think.

Actually, dunno if its scaling or attenuation, my bad.
It still might suck on the gain channel but I'm a fan of lousy distortion, silicon Fuzzes and the HM2. It was the clean channel that I thought some decent cream to it, especially when fiddling with the class and tight knobs.

I'm also essentially ampless. Mac and cheese looks like a 7 course tour of Tuscany when you're starving to death.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[Dwimmerlaik]

Re: Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

The ValveKing series has been completely re-designed. They were announced at NAMM 2013 but it took Peavey almost a year to get them into stores. There has been almost zero promotion of them and Peavey has only just posted demo videos this week...

In my opinion (though as a Peavey product lover I'm a bit biased) there is no other amp in the same price range that can deliver the quality of tone, variety of features, and recording flexibility of the new ValveKing.

If you have the opportunity to play one it's worth your time.

 

[dominus]

Re: Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

The ValveKing series has been completely re-designed. They were announced at NAMM 2013 but it took Peavey almost a year to get them into stores. There has been almost zero promotion of them and Peavey has only just posted demo videos this week...

In my opinion (though as a Peavey product lover I'm a bit biased) there is no other amp in the same price range that can deliver the quality of tone, variety of features, and recording flexibility of the new ValveKing.

If you have the opportunity to play one it's worth your time.

Now they just need to make a 6505 with those features.

 

[Duffy1949]

Re: Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

I've been interested in the new 50 watt combo and like that it's almost $400 cheaper than the Marshall DSL40C, and has all the features (tube indicators, and power scaling especially). Really want to put both of these to the test.

I'm not sure where you are getting this.

The VK 50 is 599 (US) and the DSL40C is 699: difference = 100 dollars.

I checked one out the other day. The VK 50 is wide open in the back with a very small panel going across at the bottom. I would want to install some rear panel wood mounting strips and make a panel that closes in most of the back, except for a couple inch high ventilation opening all the way across, under the chassis; a two - four inch opening.

From the back it looks flimsy and weak. Any rough handling in transit, etc., could possibly break the joints if you don't beef it up. It is a fairly large cabinet with minimal support and an almost totally open back. The speaker looks beefy.

By the way, the VK 20 uses the exact same cabinet. They are big cabinets, which is a good thing in my opinion.

The main problem I see is that for another 100 dollars you can get the Marshall DSL40C with the Celestion Seventy/80 speaker - a half way decent speaker to begin with. The Marshall also has a switch to bring it down from 40 to 20 watts and sounds good at bedroom volumes, and has "EL34" power tubes. The Marshall has a great sounding classic gain channel with gain and volume controls, and a Ultra Gain channel with gain and volume controls. On the Clean channel it has a very cool "crunch" button that overdrives nicely; the Ultra Gain channel has both Lead 1 (green LED) and Lead 2 (red LED) voices, activated by the Lead 1/2 button. It has separate presence and resonance control knobs, and separate reverb control knobs for the Classic Gain and Ultra Gain channels. The cabinet on the Marshall DSL40C is also much thicker and more heavy duty and the back of the amp is mostly closed with a nice ventilation grill. It is a very cool amp and impresses me as a much nicer combo amp compared to the VK 50, from my personal experience. I have a DSL40C and use it all the time to great affect. So for me the Marshall would be worth the extra 100 dollars and the possible wait to save up for it.

I hope this contrasting viewpoint is of value to someone investigating the VK 50.

 

[wicked1]

Re: Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

I didn't know they had power scaling. That must be new.

The last one I tried was absolute horse ****. Boring clean; fizzy, indistinct high gain. Build quality of a dollar store spatula. Sorry excuse for an amp, in general. That was around 2007 I think.

+1. I drove about 40 minutes to check out a used one. I absolutely couldn't get a decent tone out of it. Sounded terrible. I remember thinking this couldn't be as bad as it was. It sure was! Really no good tone,just mud.

Nothing like these descriptions. Nothing close.

 

[rbc]

Re: Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

I've been interested in the new 50 watt combo and like that it's almost $400 cheaper than the Marshall DSL40C, and has all the features (tube indicators, and power scaling especially). Really want to put both of these to the test.

This video might give you a taste of the Valveking 50 combo:

 

[Nostalgic Distortion]

Re: Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

Now they just need to make a 6505 with those features.

 

[Nostalgic Distortion]

Re: Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

Like most Peavey products the Valveking series is actually pretty great for the price & it's been much improved since the first version hit the shelves! I have a bunch of truly iconic amplifiers (Marshall, VOX, Fender, Mesa, Dr. Z, Etc.) but I play through Peavey stuff nearly exclusively these days!!!

While I absolutely love my other amps, in a live setting or for a party, or even just in a practice situation, give me a Classic 30 with a speaker upgrade & my pedal board any day!!! I mean they make a good, versatile, & rugged product at a price point that just can't be beat IMHO which makes them perfect for lugging around!!! Plus if they get broken or stolen your not out thousands of dollars!!! LOL, anything past new tubes you can just buy another one!!!

My other amps are just in the back being stored so they still get used plenty at home & I still record with them pretty often although my 6505 mh & Classic 20 mh have some great recording features so I do record with those a lot too!!! Anyhow, if I've got to leave something out in my living room where my 1 year old can get at it or something to bring to a party where a bunch of drunk a$$holes could possibly spill their beers inside them, it's probably going to be a Peavey!!!

I live in a pretty rural area so 99% of the time I can replace Peavey's products for less than it would cost me to send it to the tech & have them repaired....

 

[Darg1911]

Re: Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

I have a Valveking combo. I think it's the first gen? Had it for a while. It's when they had the 1X12 and 2x12's I think. I have the 1x12. I almost never play through it these days but it's decent after a speaker swap. Didn't like the stock speaker. A WGS Retro 30 was a big improvement. But it does hum. I've been inside it to install external bias test points and bias adjustment pot. But I never did try and quiet the hum.

 

[rbc]

Re: Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

The mini heads have gotten a lot of attention, but there is a ValveKing 100 watt head. The attenuator will take it down to 5 watts. The Tone King did a review:

 

[Undone]

Re: Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

I have a VK100 head from the mid to late '90's and it has the class A/AB knob on the back. No power scaling though.They get a lot of hate from less patient folks. Every time someone hears mine they are all excited to see what I'm using then I laugh at their reactions and they walk away scratching their heads wondering why their boutique amp of the month is not so boutique all of a sudden
Limitless headroom and I find the gain channel with or without the boost to work quite well. It does seem to favor single coils more in the gain channel, but my humbuckers throught a Carl Martin Plexitone gets along fine also. Strokes for folks..I wouldn't hesitate to grab another if something happened to mine. You see them all day long for $200. Well kept secret if you ask me.

 

[Undone]

Re: Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

They take pedals extremely well and can definitely get you in the metalcore neighborhood. I would suggest staying away from the speaker cabs though. I've run mne through an oversize Mesa 2 x 12 with V30's and a Marshall 2 x 12 with Celestion G12T75's : popworm: and gotten good results with both Clean, crunch or crush, Zep > Gojira.....my two cents.

 

[Nostalgic Distortion]

Re: Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

I have a VK100 head from the mid to late '90's and it has the class A/AB knob on the back. No power scaling though.They get a lot of hate from less patient folks. Every time someone hears mine they are all excited to see what I'm using then I laugh at their reactions and they walk away scratching their heads wondering why their boutique amp of the month is not so boutique all of a sudden
Limitless headroom and I find the gain channel with or without the boost to work quite well. It does seem to favor single coils more in the gain channel, but my humbuckers throught a Carl Martin Plexitone gets along fine also. Strokes for folks..I wouldn't hesitate to grab another if something happened to mine. You see them all day long for $200. Well kept secret if you ask me.

I had one of those for a while as well & it was alright. I only paid like $250 for it & I liked it a lot better than a Windsor which was my only real reference point since they both seem to fill a certain "inexpensive & loud" void. The power scaling was cool & it takes pedals really well!!! Alas I sold it shortly after buying it, not because I didn't enjoy it mind you, but more because it was just big & I have better amps to use when I get the chance to use a large head. For a kid that needs something that can be gigged & used for practice though they are a great value!!!!

 

[Esseff]

Re: Peavey Valveking...did they always do this stuff?

I got a new Peavey Valveking 20MH Head but it was so bad I had to return it. Maybe it was faulty, but they had no replacements so they refunded my money?
I found:
- Not the loudest 20 watts so if you need headroom or have loud bandmates, it may not suit you.
- No channel select light is an annoying omission. I would swap the silly TSI lights for this simple feature.
- Great design but spoilt by thin case wood that gives it a cheap look. It’s made from chip board as expected at this price but for a few cents more they could have gone to 15mm thickness and made it look a little more professional.
- It’s much smaller in real life than the pics would have you believe. Even the chicken head knobs are shrunken versions bit it is well laid out.
- There are plenty of good sounds you can get out of it but it’s not a very user friendly amp.
- It comes standard with JJ tubes which are generally considered to be among the better tubes brands.
- It is impossible to get a balance between channels, both EQ and Vol. The drive channel is way louder than the clean channel, so you have to sacrifice a lot of gain to get the volumes even close to matching. Also the drive channel seems to need a lot more bass than the clean so you end up having to compromise on that too.
- There is a millisecond cut out as you switch channels which makes switching during a song a bit unprofessional sounding. This may seem like a small thing but it could be a deal breaker for some people.
- The reverb has a strange simmering effect to it. It isn’t bad, just a bit different but still useable.
- The gain boost button gives you too much extra Vol so it can be awkward to use. The instruction claim that it also boosts the clean channel to a lesser extent but I couldn’t hear any difference.
- Heat build up. It doesn’t seem very well ventilated and heat build up seems quick and excessive.

The bad balance between channels was the deal breaker for me. It's really a one-channel-at-a-time amp, not a two channel amp.