Peavey XXL

[brinton]

Opinions/Experience anyone?

I'm wondering if I should trade my 212 Fender Deville for a 212 XXL, the distortion on my deville is a little too old school and doesn't cut it for me (though the cleans are awesome). I liked the way it sounded on musicians friend. I'm really interested in Hybrid amps right now, and I would love having crunch and drive type distortions. I gotta try one when I get the chance.

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Peavey XXL

Opinions/Experience anyone?

I'm wondering if I should trade my 212 Fender Deville for a 212 XXL, the distortion on my deville is a little too old school and doesn't cut it for me (though the cleans are awesome). I liked the way it sounded on musicians friend. I'm really interested in Hybrid amps right now, and I would love having crunch and drive type distortions. I gotta try one when I get the chance.

I would say keep the Fender and find a Dist. pedal that give's you the
sound your looking for. Hybrid amps have been around awhile. I've
owned a few. I see NO bennefit in this Idea. IMHO you only get true
tube sound w/t a tube pre and a tube power section. Once you have
a Amp with awesome cleans , You got a winner! Cuz' you can't buy
a pedal that does CLEANS. But there's a bunch of OD/DIST. pedals
that can give you almost any heavy sound you want.

 

[jcarlos]

Re: Peavey XXL

I would say keep the Fender and find a Dist. pedal that give's you the
sound your looking for. Hybrid amps have been around awhile. I've
owned a few. I see NO bennefit in this Idea. IMHO you only get true
tube sound w/t a tube pre and a tube power section. Once you have
a Amp with awesome cleans , You got a winner! Cuz' you can't buy
a pedal that does CLEANS. But there's a bunch of OD/DIST. pedals
that can give you almost any heavy sound you want.

I agree with this position. The fenders do clean better than about anything else. I have a XXX and it has a dark and somewhat sterile clean and I assument the XXL will be similar. Get a good pedal, I mean a real good one and I think that you'll be set. To get the "Fender" clean, I have to get another amp. The POD can clean up my amp some, but it'll never be as dynamic as the true Fender clean.

 

[willeubanks]

Re: Peavey XXL

I've always like a Fender with a good distortion/OD pedal. I'd stick with that. I'm not a big fan of the XXL anyway.

 

[brinton]

Re: Peavey XXL

Any pedal suggestions then? Preferably I would like to have a very versatile pedal, I can't stand the POD 2.0 (which I have). I't always sucks the true sound out of my guitar and no matter what I do with it (I've done everything I can with it) it doesn't sound "tubey". I clicked on one of Gearjoneser links and there're two pedals that's suggested to be used between the POD and the Amp to "keep it real". Problem it's 399 or something like that.

 

[brinton]

Re: Peavey XXL

what about this tech 21 tri ac or what ever it is? http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guitar/s=effects/search/detail/base_pid/151794/

 

[DARTHWOLFGANG]

Re: Peavey XXL

Brinton,

I got rid of my Deville 212 partially for the same reason.The Deville is a great blues amp but I was unimpressed with the dirty settings even with my Boss OD-20 Distortion setup-it just wasn't what I wanted.I recently traded straight across for a Crate Blue Voodoo head and 4x12 cab with reissue Celestions and I couldn't be happier The Peavey XXL isn't a bad setup-but it is still only solid state vs. your Deville-which still has 10 times better tone than the XXL will ever have!It will be more cost effective to pony up the $$ and get a top notch distortion pedal.$200 spent on a boutique pedal is better spent than $900 on a new Peavey XXL that you may end up unhappy with down the road.I know the Deville 212's are catching around $500 on Ebay if you decide to go that direction.Good luck in your search

~GLENN

 

[theodie]

Re: Peavey XXL

Before you make a decision I would strongly recomend going to a music store and checking out a XXL. I find my to be very versitle and it does everything very well if not great. I know with out a doubt it sounds better than a distortion pedal through and amp that I have played. Granted I have not played every distortion pedal on the market, I have used pedals and processors from boss, digitech, tech 21. I know it blows away these pedals on distortion. I absolutly love the clean channels on this amp also. They are outstanding!!!! The fender amp is nice if not great for some things, mainly blues ( I am not knocking fender amps) I think you will be very impressed and happy with this amp. I have experience with many amps. I have played mesas, marshalls, fenders, etc. I can say the XXL is my all around favorite. About the whole tube issue, I think for the most part tube amps sound alot better than solid state amps. I can say this amp is an exception to that rule. Go try one out, give it a good chance, tweak it and see what you can get out of it. Let your ears be the judge. Dont judge it on whether it has tubes or not.

 

[inter]

Re: Peavey XXL

I simply can't stand any kind of pedal distortion .

I was in the same boat as you and I think most players go for a different amp every couple of years.

I'd say go for a used 5150 combo. Replace the tubes from www.eurotubes.com.

BTW, you are going to lose that fender clean tone so if you can have both, you'll be set.

 

[JacksonShredHead]

Re: Peavey XXL

I have the xxl half-stack and i love the thing! You can make quite a few differnt distortions with it and all of them seem to have that "real" feel to them...... THe dampining switch is really nice and the effects loop! yeh buddy! I really really like it , but i'm the type who finds the tone i want and leaves it there. Anymore questions just email me guitargod53@yahoo.com

 

[joelap]

Re: Peavey XXL

Bah, If the XXL is Peavey's version of a Marshall AVT (mixing a tube in the preamp with solid state distortion), man don't do it. Sure, it'll be great for a while but then you'll notice how lifeless it sounds once you've had it for a while. Trust me, I know. I have an AVT. It's on the market...

for 80 bucks you can have an amazing distortion sound. Send a DS-1 (40 bucks) to Stratdeluxer97 to mod it (another 40 bucks). I'm not gunna go on and on about John's mod (It's infamous, I'm sure you've heard about it), but it's what I use for my distortion live. That's right, I use John's modded DS-1 live INSTEAD OF my Marshall head's distortion.

I've never tried a Keely modded Metal Zone, but from what I've read/heard it opens up the options for that pedal a bit too. Depending on how metal or how thick a distortion you want, you have many options to get the sound you're looking for.

 

[theodie]

Re: Peavey XXL

Bah, If the XXL is Peavey's version of a Marshall AVT (mixing a tube in the preamp with solid state distortion), man don't do it. Sure, it'll be great for a while but then you'll notice how lifeless it sounds once you've had it for a while. Trust me, I know. I have an AVT. It's on the market...

for 80 bucks you can have an amazing distortion sound. Send a DS-1 (40 bucks) to Stratdeluxer97 to mod it (another 40 bucks). I'm not gunna go on and on about John's mod (It's infamous, I'm sure you've heard about it), but it's what I use for my distortion live. That's right, I use John's modded DS-1 live INSTEAD OF my Marshall head's distortion.

I've never tried a Keely modded Metal Zone, but from what I've read/heard it opens up the options for that pedal a bit too. Depending on how metal or how thick a distortion you want, you have many options to get the sound you're looking for.

It is straight solid state. It dosent mix tubes and solid state.

 

[Artie]

Re: Peavey XXL

I simply can't stand any kind of pedal distortion .

May I introduce you to John? (StratDeluxer97)

(Do a search.)




Heh - Joelap beat me to it.

 

[bloodswords]

Re: Peavey XXL

if you think the XXL offers what you like to hear then get it. comparing it to the Fender is rather baseless because that's tube technology. knowing good tone trancends the brand name boundary.

i've tried countless tube amps but they can't seem to offer good top end unless cranked up. solid state amps do just that but it could be excessive for some.

 

[inter]

Re: Peavey XXL

Lol,

Thx Artie, He seems like a good guy .

Those do sound like nice & warm overdrive pedals, however I believe this thread is going in the direction of heavy & thick modern hi-gain distortion.

Ya know, I don't think I ever meet or heard of an older guy discussing the pros and cons of hi-gain distortion and frankly, I'd like to know what your doing in a Peavey XXL thread?

C'mon Artie, I'd luv to hear your favourite recorded hi-gain guitar tones.

(Sry mate, I couldn't resist )

 

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

Re: Peavey XXL

I don't think you'll like the XXL after having a tube amp. The Mesa V-twin would be a good pedal, or a Tonebone Hot British.

 

[theodie]

Re: Peavey XXL

I don't think you'll like the XXL after having a tube amp. The Mesa V-twin would be a good pedal, or a Tonebone Hot British.

Why not? I own a tube head and I have played countless other tube heads. I love my XXL. Why wouldnt he like it?

 

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

Re: Peavey XXL

I found going from my XXX to playing an XXL wasn't something I liked, to each his own I guess. I'm just a tube snob. The distortion was alot buzzier on the SS, and the whole amp sounded flat and lifeless to me.

 

[joelap]

Re: Peavey XXL

I guess the point we're all trying to make is that MOST tube amps sound MUCH better than MOST solid state amps. This may or may not be the case for the XXL, but then again, the sound that I like won't be the sound that you may like. Bottom line is that tube amps have a known reputation for being better tone-wise. That is may not be the case with the XXL, but it was the case with every solid state amp I've tried (but I haven't tried the XXL).

I just feel it's a safer bet to give our pal John a PM and try the modded DS-1 with your fender first. If you don't like it, you could sell the modded DS-1... I'm sure many people will be interested.

 

[theodie]

Re: Peavey XXL

I guess the point we're all trying to make is that MOST tube amps sound MUCH better than MOST solid state amps. This may or may not be the case for the XXL, but then again, the sound that I like won't be the sound that you may like. Bottom line is that tube amps have a known reputation for being better tone-wise. That is may not be the case with the XXL, but it was the case with every solid state amp I've tried (but I haven't tried the XXL).

I just feel it's a safer bet to give our pal John a PM and try the modded DS-1 with your fender first. If you don't like it, you could sell the modded DS-1... I'm sure many people will be interested.

I couldnt disagree with you on those point of views at all. You hit the nail on the head. You are right in saying that 99% of the time tubes sound alot better than solid state. I am just letting all of the tube snobs out there that there is a very good solid state on the market. I am not knocking tube snobs, I am one with the exception of this amp.