What are your thoughts on the Peavey Windsor

Re: What are your thoughts on the Peavey Windsor

if you liked the sound then you liked the sound. People use pedals into marshalls all the time.
 
Re: What are your thoughts on the Peavey Windsor

if you liked the sound then you liked the sound. People use pedals into marshalls all the time.

Word.

Get one, set the knobs all to noon, and step on a DS-1 pedal with it's knobs set to noon.

Rock.
 
Re: What are your thoughts on the Peavey Windsor

I can say the windsor head is in that marshall vein and it will approximate that marshall midrange bite.
IMO the windsor is a little harsh, esp. at low volumes, and it needs to cranked to get past that.
I'm not a metal player but I think it could do 80's metal with hot pickups and if you crank the volume. EL34's are pretty great that way.

edit: $400 tho? I got my used DSL50 for $600. I don't think I'd ever get a windsor when channel-switching, reverb-having, made-in-the-UK EL34 Marshalls are still available for cheap.

DSL + boss DS-1 > windsor + DS-1
 
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Re: What are your thoughts on the Peavey Windsor

I can say the windsor head is in that marshall vein and it will approximate that marshall midrange bite.
IMO the windsor is a little harsh, esp. at low volumes, and it needs to cranked to get past that.
I'm not a metal player but I think it could do 80's metal with hot pickups and if you crank the volume. EL34's are pretty great that way.

edit: $400 tho? I got my used DSL50 for $600. I don't think I'd ever get a windsor when channel-switching, reverb-having, made-in-the-UK EL34 Marshalls are still available for cheap.

DSL + boss DS-1 > windsor + DS-1

+1 dont spend $400 on the windsor......you can get a great used Marshall for around that price
 
Re: What are your thoughts on the Peavey Windsor

i'd be interested to hear one through a non-windsor cabinet

is the windsor all-tube signal path and EL34s?

if you can get a DSL for the same coinage, i'd probably go that way
 
Re: What are your thoughts on the Peavey Windsor

I got the the Windsor head with the matching 4x12 cab from MF 2 years ago when they had the stack for $399 shipped. For the price they are great amps. You get classic marshall style tone that can get close to metal if you push it with an OD pedal. I play in a Christian rock band tuned to drop C# and it does works well for that. And a stock DS-1 actually sounds awesome through this amp. I have not played through a DSL so I can't comment on how they compare. The only thing I don't like about it is how FREAKIN LOUD it is, and it does sound much better when its crank but finding somewhere to play it that loud is the problem lol I think you can usually find one on ebay for around $250 when they are on there.
 
Re: What are your thoughts on the Peavey Windsor

Out of 100 reviews on Musicians Friend, there were about 8 bad ones. The rest were about 90% "this thing is perfect" reviews, and about 10% where some old pro reviewed it.

Those 10% guys were into the idea that it would be great in the right hands, and sound crap to someone who didn't know how to set up a big single channel amp. These guys also recommended putting in some decent tubes, and they'll make a difference.

Worth a try, in my book.
 
Re: What are your thoughts on the Peavey Windsor

I like them.

I'd echo that there are other, similar, better amps for a little bit more money, but if you can find a screaming deal on a used Windsor then you'll be doin fine.
 
Re: What are your thoughts on the Peavey Windsor

Out of 100 reviews on Musicians Friend, there were about 8 bad ones.

You could say this about almost all of the products on that site. I think everyone that goes there to review a product feels guilty for buying it.
 
Re: What are your thoughts on the Peavey Windsor

For that kind of coin for one of the MAs, you can find a good used DSL 50 or 100, like Fuse suggested. You'd be able to get whatever price you pay for it back out of it if you sell. That MA is gonna take a 25% hit right out of the store.
 
Re: What are your thoughts on the Peavey Windsor

And the JCM900s? :|

2 of my fav guitarists have used JCM900s a lot and I love the recorded and live tones. I'd love to play a few different ones sometime. Seems like the right one could be a great workhorse.
 
Re: What are your thoughts on the Peavey Windsor

Heres my round up of cheaper (bargain) marshalls:

MAs just dont sound good to me...dont know why - maybe its the speaker cab? Id rather have a windsor with an old marshall cab filled with g12t75s.

DSLs have a great modern sounding dirty channel and a useful clean. Good amps for a working musician. Reverb and eq flexibility.

JCM 900s dual reverbs are total workhorses too (i had one for 10 years). The two reveb levels is a useful feature when channel switching. Eq is shared for both channels. I think i prefer the DSL, but ive never actually played them side by side. With the right tubes (and overdrive pedal) these things work great.

JCM 900 Master Volumes only really go from overdrive to really crunchy, but for what they do they are just superb. Very harmonically rich amps with a classic sound. It does have a really fat dirt on its own, but pair it with a good overdrive and you can play all day and have a surprising amount of versatility with the 2 volumes. No reverb, but its my fave of the bunch - its essentially a jcm 800 master volume with an extra dirt circuit thrown in. Its the least featured of the bunch but it has the best tone.

All of the above need to be set at least 5 on the master to get the best from them, so bear that in mind. Its probably the point where the inbuilt diode clipping blends in with the powertubes beginning to saturate so they just get fatter and groovier. However that point is pretty loud so bear that in mind. Same really goes for a windsor. The good news is most of the old (easy to find and cheap) 1960 cabinets from marshall came with g12t75s rather than vintage 30s, so they are a lot easier on the ears. V30s are epic but they have such presence and edge, its hard to get your amp running warm enough before they kill you with their blistering cut and burn. This is something to bear in mind these days when taking into account the stage volume and the demands from the front of house guy etc. Having the amp running at the same level with G12ts is not quite so loud or present, but you will definitley get a big chunky sound.

With all of these, a nice overdrive is the key and keep the gain levels on the amp a little lower. I dont dig the ds1 because its too compressed and buzzy, but a ts style works (sd1, ts, mxr gt, fulldrive) like a charm. Best by a mile for cheap is the MXR.
 
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Re: What are your thoughts on the Peavey Windsor

dont spend money on any of the new marshalls (other than maybe the class 5, vintage modern, or plexi RI's). The new marshalls suck in my opinion; dont waist your money. Save and look at the used market and get a REAL marshall. I bought my '83 JCM800 at a local music shop last summer for $600!!! Its bone stock and once I spent some money putting new tubes in it and getting it re-biased, it sounds like a million bucks! Granted you may also want to invest in an attenuator because the ONLY way to get good tone out of an older mashall is to crank it! and they are louder than sh*t!!
 
Re: What are your thoughts on the Peavey Windsor

I had a Windsor and I liked it. Its great for a raw AC/DC rock sound. And covers about any type of classic rock. I wish Id have had one YEARS ago! I sold it because it was single chan and wasnt as refined as my main amp.. But its a good punk/classic rock tool and you can put the pedal for the metal.. haha (lame I know, but I tried.)
 
Re: What are your thoughts on the Peavey Windsor

ehh compared to the MA series the Windsor wins...

don't buy anything for brand-new sticker price from Musician's Friend tho...i mean if you really, really hate yourself and you don't want to get the best deal for your money go for it...but the used market and your local stores can and will save you a ton of cash in this situation.
 
Re: What are your thoughts on the Peavey Windsor

You can find the Windsors all day long used for $250 area, new I thought they were about $350. Be patient and you'll probably find one with the tubes already swapped out and/or upgraded which is a plus.

They are very solid Rock amps, Metal that's not completely OTT yes, very modern super high gain Metal no. Like almost all MIC amps you'll need to have a tech go over some of the soldier joints when you swap tubes, not a big deal IMO and easy enough to get to everything.

I had mine for 3 or 4 years, gigged the hell out of it, recorded with it and generally had a great experience with the amp.
 
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