Valveking

  • Thread starter Thread starter JPXTom
  • Start date Start date
JPXTom

JPXTom

New member
I was at GC today, playing an Epiphone Les Paul(which i did get, its a standard cherry sunburst..gorgeous)through a peavey valveking. I've been looking for a nice little starter tube amp with some decent gain settings, so i decided to try it out. Now, it sounded really nice, but im just curious..are there any other amps i n its price range that are tube(the only non-tube i'd do is the line 6 flextone, which i DO really like as well) ? The 112 VK is only like $420 or $430, so anywhere from that to like lets say 600 bucks is my range. Any other good amps i should try out? I was also thinking of swapping out the VK speaker with a nice vintage 30. I'm also curious to try the spider valves, however they didnt have any out on the floor when i went there today.

So, in conclusion, Are there any tube amps in a range of 400-600(max of 700) dollars, worth checking out over the Peavey Valveking, with a decent distortion already on the amp? Cause i dont like many pedal distortions.
 
JPXTom said:
I was at GC today, playing an Epiphone Les Paul(which i did get, its a standard cherry sunburst..gorgeous)through a peavey valveking. I've been looking for a nice little starter tube amp with some decent gain settings, so i decided to try it out. Now, it sounded really nice, but im just curious..are there any other amps i n its price range that are tube(the only non-tube i'd do is the line 6 flextone, which i DO really like as well) ? The 112 VK is only like $420 or $430, so anywhere from that to like lets say 600 bucks is my range. Any other good amps i should try out? I was also thinking of swapping out the VK speaker with a nice vintage 30. I'm also curious to try the spider valves, however they didnt have any out on the floor when i went there today.

So, in conclusion, Are there any tube amps in a range of 400-600(max of 700) dollars, worth checking out over the Peavey Valveking, with a decent distortion already on the amp? Cause i dont like many pedal distortions.
Click to expand...


The Peavey Classic 30 is 600 bucks brand new.
http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-PEV-00583150.html
It's a decent sounding amp. My brother has one collecting dust ever since he bought his Fender Vibrolux.

I have the amp you played through, the ValveKing 112. I like it for it's versatility playing live. It has EQ on the clean and dirty channels as I'm sure you noticed. The Classic 30 doesn't.

The Fender Hot Rod Deluxe is better than both of the Peaveys and it's 600 bucks also.
http://www.americanmusical.com/item--i-FEN-213202.html
 
Kramer said:
I bet those blow the Peaveys away.
Click to expand...

They do! I have the V8, V16 and V32. They really aren't made by Crate it's a ST. Louis Music product. (Think Ampeg) You can't beat them for the money.
 
Micter said:
They do! I have the V8, V16 and V32. They really aren't made by Crate it's a ST. Louis Music product. (Think Ampeg) You can't beat them for the money.
Click to expand...

I don't think St. Louis Music owns Crate or Ampeg anymore. I believe they sold those lines a while back.
 
Alright, I Got Crate Palaminos, Fenders, and Classic 30s. Now, the VK has a really nice modern gain...do the others have this...b/c as i stated in the first thing, i really dont like a lot of petal distortions.
 
I played a Classic 30 and a Hot Rod Deluxe for a while. I prefer the Classic 30, it's one of the best amps I've had so far. I changed out the tubes with JJ's and it really warmed it up. Good cleans and good overdrive/distortion. The "overdrive" on the HRD is useless.

As far as the Valveking is concerned, I've heard a few of them in live situations and didn't like them. They sounded to harsh and gritty to me.

You might want to look into the Crate Blue Voodoo. I'm using one now and really like it a lot. My main setting is a nobel overdrive pedal, which i'm assuming is modeled after a tube screamer. i keep the amp on the clean channel and am able to get some great overdrive with the pedal and just roll my volume down for clean stuff. that way i have four settings, clean without pedal, overdrive with pedal, and heavier distortion with the amp's 2nd channel, and i can use the pedal on the second channel for a lead boost or whatever.
 
JPXTom said:
Now, the VK has a really nice modern gain
Click to expand...

I played one at GC. The distortion channel sounded horrible. The mids were nasally and the low end was very flubby and muddy even with the bass all the way off. I tried to play some lead riffs but they just didn't cut through. The clean channel was not bad but not good enough to make up for the crappy distortion. You might want to check out a used 5150 or a Carvin Legacy. Either of those amps will make the VK sound like a toy.
 
What about the Carvin MTS? And does anyone think i could get a marshall DSL in this range (600-700)? Whether it be combo/head?
 
JPXTom said:
What about the Carvin MTS? And does anyone think i could get a marshall DSL in this range (600-700)? Whether it be combo/head?
Click to expand...

I have a Carvin MTS 3212 and it's a really good amp for both cleans and high gain. It's kind of a cross between a Mesa Boogie and a Marshall.

The DSL 401 should be in that price range.
 
Epiphone makes an amp called the SoCal 50. The clips on youtube sound interesting.

I didn't catch what kind of music you play? That would be a big factor in what amps to look at...
 
Well im a bit all over the place...It's progressive/rock/experimental/post-hardcore...If you know Coheed amd Cambria, its somewhat similar to their tones with a cross of Mars Volta/Circa Survive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top