Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

[Gearjoneser]

A couple years ago when the Peavey Windsor 100W EL-34 amps came out, $400 seemed like a very good price for an all tube British toned amp.

Now, I'm running into some great deals on them, like a few new ones Sam Ash was blowing out for $299!!! They're really not bad amps at all.....sort of like hotrodded JCM 800's. They can be a bit buzzy if they're run with the gain too high, but if you dial the amp in nicely, it definitely gets that AC/DC, Kiss, Judas Priest type sound.

Here's a great deal someone here should snag.
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Peavey-Wind...ryZ38076QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[YJM_Rocks]

Re: Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

I'm gonna go play one of those this weekend. I've been looking for a good JCM800 sound for a while. I did finally find a JCM800, but I couldn't bring myself to buy a 1990 model that sounded mediocre. I wonder how this will compare? I fear it'll be too loud, but we'll see.

 

[Top Jimmy]

Re: Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

Love um, but the neighbors don't need to hear me playing a 120 watt amp, selfish bastards.

 

[Rich_T]

Re: Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

I'm considering one as a backup to my JMP. Alot of amp for the money.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

I almost want to have one just because it's a fairly simple and inexpensive amp to tinker with. I wonder if anyone has done some upgrades, like they do with the Epiphone amps.

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

Give it a few months, and that stuff will start appearing on the boards. It might depend on how hard they are to tinker with.

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

One wonders what quality of transformers it has. Could be fertile ground to mod the snot out of this amp. Seems like a great amp for the money.

 

[YJM_Rocks]

Re: Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

I almost want to have one just because it's a fairly simple and inexpensive amp to tinker with. I wonder if anyone has done some upgrades, like they do with the Epiphone amps.

http://www.fjamods.com/

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

Cool. This is awesome. I like how he re-badged the Peavey's.

http://www.fjamods.com/Windsor.html

 

[YJM_Rocks]

Re: Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

I'm seriously thinking about getting one of these. Don't be surprised if you get a quick review this weekend.

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

Think about that. $600 gives you a modded hotrod.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

when they first came out, I was diggin them. then I figure there must be something wrong with them since they are going so cheap. Any reliability concerns?? PVs are usually solid

 

[YJM_Rocks]

Re: Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

Here's what I think:

They are a vintage type head. The kids are looking for the 6505, XXX, and Mesas. They plug into the Windsor and it doesn't give up the goods because it needs to be turned up or goosed a little. They walk over to the 6505 and it sounds good right when you plug in.

An ex-bandmate of mine played a Windsor recently and said it sounded like crap. I know why, because he couldn't get the gain he wanted out of it and probably had the volume on 1 in the music store. He's stuck on getting a Valveking now. I personally don't care for the Valveking. A lot of kids buy Marshalls too. For the prestige. Even if the Windsor had the same tone as a Marshall, the kid isn't gonna hear the tone, he's gonna hear the Marshall name.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

when they first came out, I was diggin them. then I figure there must be something wrong with them since they are going so cheap. Any reliability concerns?? PVs are usually solid

It's only because they're made in China, rather than US? like most Peaveys.
I think if there were a lot of reliability complaints, we would have heard all the horror stories by now, but most people haven't had any problems.

Of course, Peavey made these as inexpensively as they could, but that's the point....it's the only way they could sell it so cheap. Yeah, a vintage Marshall is a better amp, but they aren't $300-$400 either.

 

[B2D]

Re: Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

I've got one sitting in my rehearsal room at home. They sound kinda like budget single-channel Marshalls, and they're good for cheap tube fun!

Virtual Kevorkian has sent me a link of a band that used them for their guitar and bass sounds on a record and it sounded REALLY good... I'll see if I can get the link again.

 

[YJM_Rocks]

Re: Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

I just played one tonight. It sounded pretty schweet. I liked it over the 1990 JCM800 I played last week!!

 

[Simon_F]

Re: Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

If I recall correctly our man Wattage has been sporting a Windsor lately.

 

[some_dude]

Re: Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

I've rocked on a few times. Considering the price it's been hard to resist picking one up just to keep around for when I want that kinda sound.

 

[phil_104]

Re: Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

I have been using one as my main amp for almost 6 months now. I bring it everywhere with me, and I have had to issues with reliability, it's a very soli amp. I still think it's one of the better deals for the money out there.

The reasons why it's cheap?

1 ) It's made in China
2 ) It has a single Channel
3 ) It's voiced for classic british rock, and not very versitile.

If you ask me, I am in love with it. But it is kind of a one trick amp. It does the blues/rock thing...but don't even think about metal.

Besides that, killer sound for the price, couldnt ask for more.

 

[YJM_Rocks]

Re: Peavey Windsor. Great Bang for Buck Tube Amps.

...but don't even think about metal.

I see wonderful classic metal potential in this amp. It has a good bit more gain than a JCM800 and with an overdrive in front of it I think it would scream. Have you tried an OD yet? I just picked up a Boss SD1 today and it might be just the ticket.