Thoughts on a Peavey Windsor Studio?

[Racherik]

Title pretty much says it all.

I'm looking for a low watt tube amp, and was wonder what any of the forum member's opinions of it are. I'd try and audition one myself, but there isn't a music store within 300 miles that carries one.

I've looked over a copy of the schematic. On paper at least it looks like it's a pretty typical tube amp design using two 12AX7 and a EL34.

I've done the classic google review search, but most of what I'm finding is negative opinions of people who I'm not convinced have a clue.

Thanks in advance.

Racherik

 

[groovyisland]

i had a peavey windsor studio and couldn't wait to get rid of it

it just sounded terrible to me

 

[ocnor]

I'd try and audition one myself, but there isn't a music store within 300 miles that carries one.

I've done the classic google review search, but most of what I'm finding is negative opinions

Those 2 sentences would have the robot flapping it's arms yelling "WARNING! WARNING! DANGER WILL ROBINSON!"

 

[Racherik]

i had a peavey windsor studio and couldn't wait to get rid of it

it just sounded terrible to me

What was wrong with the sound? What kind of tones could you get with it? Do you think there was a defect in it? What did you replace it with?

 

[stevieb]

I have no experience whatsoever with that Peavey amp.

I may be able to extrapolate from other amps I have owned, which include...

A Peavey Bravo. Wonderful amp, one of those "shudda never sold it's," and

a Fender Super Champ XD- notable here because I bought it over the Vibro Champ XD because when I auditioned them both, the SCXD has less noise, which I attributed to it having two power amp tubes, not one (like the VCXD and the Peavey Windsor.) Other than that, no issues.

It has been my observation, here and elsewhere, that (some) people like to rag on Peavey, even though they have no basis for it. I chalk it up to snobbery and lemming-like behavior- it it ain't Fender or Marshall, or you didn't pay stupid-money for it, it MUST be crap. Let me go on record, here- Every, and I do mean EVERY, Peavey amp I have ever had was a good one. Not a loser in the whole bunch. Tube or SS, guitar or bass, instrument or PA, from 15 to 260 watts, they have ALL performed well, and all had "good" tone. Heck, I'd still have my Classic 30 if I hadn't found a Delta Blues 210, and the only reason I sold the DB210 is because I acquired a vintage Fender Deluxe Reverb that sounded just a little better. Just couldn't justify, at the time, keeping two amps that were that much alike, in both power output and tone.

Looking at the specs, that Peavey has some very impressive features, the ability to use just about any power tube, built-in power attenuator (I am fruit for two things- tremolo and power attenuators), and foot-switchable, by-passable effects loop being perhaps the neatest. Man, if I had a spare $400, I'd be buying one right now. If there is one thing that would stop me, and I admit it's a biggie and perhaps would stop me, dead in my tracks, is that it's made in China- I HATE that.

 

[SHEPPARDB.]

I had a Windsor 100 watt head and I can say without a doubt that is the biggest pc of shit I've ever had the misfortune to play through.Lucky for me I got it in a trade so I didnt have anything really invested in it.
Listening to the youtube demo the studio sounds no better.
That amp is not worth 100.00, much less 400.00.If you want a small low watt amp that is versitile and well made, look for a peavey classic 20.Should be able to score one for half the price of the windsor.

 

[DrewPeterson7]

Looking at the specs, that Peavey has some very impressive features, the ability to use just about any power tube, built-in power attenuator (I am fruit for two things- tremolo and power attenuators), and foot-switchable, by-passable effects loop being perhaps the neatest. Man, if I had a spare $400, I'd be buying one right now. If there is one thing that would stop me, and I admit it's a biggie and perhaps would stop me, dead in my tracks, is that it's made in China- I HATE that.

The bigger issue though is whether or not it's the right amp for a particular player.

I suspect a lot of the Windsor hate stems from the fact that, evidently, it's not a particularly high gain amp. Admittedly, this is because most of the guitarists I know are into heavier stuff, but I know a lot of people who played it and were really underwhelmed simply because it didn't provide much in the way of saturation (especially compared to Peavey's more laughably oversaturated offerings like the XXX). That in itself could explain a bunch of the more negative reviews.

 

[stevieb]

SheppardB is sounding a LOT like the folks I mentioned , but he does make a good point- Peavey Classic 20's are great little amps- heck, you can often score a Classic 30 for around $300.

 

[groovyisland]

What was wrong with the sound? What kind of tones could you get with it? Do you think there was a defect in it? What did you replace it with?

the clean sound was very dull and the distorted sound was buzzy and unusable. i think thats just how they sound. i use an epiphone valve junior head with matching cab. its much better.

 

[ranjam]

Pretty much without exception, when you ask about a small guitar amplifier, you open a can of worms and get 1,649 'expert' opinions'. So, if you aren't prepared to put up with a lot of BS, don't ask. And, without exception, all answers about Peavey (or Behringer) gear will have 'POS' in the reply from 'experts' who own 'real' gear.
If you prefer a one knob 5-watt amplifier with a Chinese speaker to a 15-watt amplifier with a dedicated recording XLR output, a power attenuator, and an FX loop, well....... it's your money. But there is a reason one of the amplifiers in this conversation has dedicated mod web sites (it can't be all that and a bag of chips, regardless of what anyone writes), and the other..... doesn't.
Just my 2¢. Feel free to disagree, flame me, and generally try to justify why Peavey doesn't float your boat. You're still in the minority.

 

[groovyisland]

i have nothing against peavey

ive had a delta blues and a special 120 that i liked

there are just some amps that have sounded horrible to me and the windsor studio is one of them. dull and lifeless

roland blues cube and traynor custom valve come to mind. i had seen good reviews of these before buying

ive had lots of guitar amps and some of them have been rather expensive

the valve junior sounded good to me from the first and i have amazed others with it. they cant believe the good sound coming it

my amp for playing out now is an ampeg j12t which is a great amp but not made anymore

go ahead and buy a windsor studio but remember im not the only one who thinks they suck donkey dong

 

[stevieb]

...there is a reason one of the amplifiers in this conversation has dedicated mod web sites...

Which amp is that? Classic 20? Bravo? (I doubt it's the Bravo- as cool as they are, they are just hardly known.) Care to list some of the sites? Thanks.

 

[stevieb]

i have nothing against peavey

I was careful to say "SOME" folks. Really, not calling anyone out.

 

[DrewPeterson7]

Which amp is that? Classic 20? Bravo? (I doubt it's the Bravo- as cool as they are, they are just hardly known.) Care to list some of the sites? Thanks.

I think he meant the prior poster's Epi Valve Jr reference.

I don't think that people mod it is necessarily a knock on the amp - rather, it's a super-affordable 5W tube amp. The basic platform is a rarity, so for anyone looking for somethign a little unusual in a low wattage platform, it's way easier to tweak an existing amp than build something from the ground up.

I mean, there are entire websites dedicated to modding Stratocasters too, and while they may or may not be the guitar for you, they're still damned nice guitars. That sites exist doesn't mean otherwise, it just means they're very easy to mod based on the way they're built.

 

[ranjam]

Modding a Strat? You take that back!
No, you don't 'mod' something that no one believes the awesome tone coming from it. Regardless of how easy of a platform it is, if it was all that, you'd leave it alone or risk screwing up a good thing. Well, even that's not 100% true. There are mods for the Tiny Terror, and that's an awesome amplifier. It only gets one sound, but what a sound it gets.
My house is full of 'small' amplifiers, and that includes a Crate V18, a Peavey Classic 30, a pair of vintage Traynor Guitar Mates, a Blackface Champ, and amplifiers I've built myself. They all have their sound, and sometimes I just feel like using one over the other. None are bad, per se. But you do notice a 12" speaker just has a better, tighter bottom end than a small 8" speaker. You can't fight physics. However, if the song calls for that buzzy 60's type fuzz with no bottom end, a Champ is a perfect amplifier, along with my Shin Ei Companion fuzz. It sounds like crap, but sometimes it's awesome.

 

[ocnor]

There are mods for the Tiny Terror, and that's an awesome amplifier. It only gets one sound, but what a sound it gets.

On another site a bunch of guys kept harping about how great the tiny terror sounded. So I posted links to 2 youtube clips. One was a clip of one of those guys playing a tiny terror which they claimed sounded awesome. The other was a 12 yr old kid playing a pocket pod into a gorilla practice amp. The tone of both clips was practically identical which completely pissed them off.

 

[groovyisland]

i thought the windsor studio would be like a thd univalve what with the attenuator and all

you might want to look into getting a used univalve on ebay. i got one for about 550 with the yellowjacket adapter and a bunch of different tubes.