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Vintage threads from the first ten years

EL84 amps

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9/23/1997 10:21 AM

Hi,
I own a Peavey Classic 50 4x10. I know it is not a Fender or a Marshall, but what can I do to make it sound better. The clean channel is fair, but has no sparkle no bloom. The lead channel is just rotten. The preamp just distorts too much to get good volume. I know it is my fault for buying the amp, but I was wondering what I could do to make this amp more tonally appealing. I would like to make it sound more Fendery and smooth out that distortion for a nice lead. I don't see too much on Peaveys and that's what made me ask. I work on pinball machines, videos, and PCs, so I have a good knowledge of schematics and electronics. So what do you guys think? I am open to all suggestions.

9/23/1997 12:45 PM

Hi,, I have never tried the
Classic 50 but the Classic 20 I own
is a very nice sounding amp...
I tried the Classic 30 and liked
what I heard also. Seems this
amp line sounds better to my ears
through 12" speakers though...
These amps are printed circuit
board based so mods are more
difficult and schematics are
also difficult to find unless you
know a service tech willing to
part with one...
If you can't get it to sound the
way you want, consider stripping
it and rebuilding it salvaging the
transformers. It would definitely
make a respectable candidate for
a DIY project...
Best luck with it...

Steve K

9/23/1997 1:36 PM

Steve,
Thank you for answering my email. I have heard the Peavey Blues Classic w/1 15'' speaker, so I agree with you that the larger speakers sound better in these particular amps. I have often read in mags about changing preamp tubes from 12ax7 to 12yb7 or something to smooth out the overdirve. What is your opinion on this? Also, I have listed an Hilgen amp that I wouldn't mind gutting for a DIY. Could you please give me your opinion on this? I am looking for classic Fender clean (good headroom) and useful overdrive (no metal, but good Zepplin type), any ideas? tHaNkS...

9/24/1997 5:32 AM

Hi John,,, I have experimented
with different preamp tubes in
several different amps and its
a hit or miss situation. Seems
to work out for me better in
some amps than in others. Right
now I use a 12au7 in the first
gain stage of my Princeton amp
and love it. It matches up well
with that amp and the OD pedals
I use with it better than the
stock 12ax7. Try it. Also try it
in different stages too. Might
find something you like better.
It is just the gain factor that
you are tweaking. You can dig
around this web site for the
gain of all the different tubes.
As far as the DIY project you
mentioned, I am a newbee to this
DIY thing so I'm not qualified
to comment on that. I'm not
familiar with the Hilgen amps.
There are probably some
"adjustments" you can make to
your Peavey amp to get more head
room (like swapping out preamp
tubes) but the EL84 is by nature
a dirty, raunchy, Marshally type
tube so it will be tough to get
the Fendery type "shimmer" I
think you are refering to.
Another option would be to rebuild
the amp with 6v6's. I believe
your transformers and such would
be a decent match for them. It
would involve research and work
but would be cheaper than buying
a second amp. Jim Kelley amps
that I've checked out in the past
used 4 6v6's I think and those
are some sweet sounding amps!!!
Lets not forget that Jimmy Page
used this little tiny amp (Supra
I think) to get the monstorous
sized tone on that classic first
Zepplin album. I think the Supra
amp used little 6v6's also. Its
a great tube...
Best luck with it...

Steve K

9/24/1997 9:23 AM

John,

Try to find schematics for your amp.
To get more headroom should not be that
difficult. It may be that the rectifier
tube (tube with name beginning with number
5, 5AY7 or something) is getting old, this
creates bigger "sag" and the amp distorts
easily.

Changing to 12AU7 helps for preamp
distortion. If it's EL84 equipped
amp, there's not much to do, except
to change to new tubes and adjust
the bias.

One problem may be, that you
try to play with preamp distortion,
which is not as sweet sounding as
power amp distortion. 50 watts is
quite a lot, maybe too much. If
there are 4 power tubes, you can
take two out (don't recommend
doing this by yourself without
schematics, but usually the outer
or the inner tubes are the right
ones to remove) to reduce power.
Then use the clean channel, and
overdrive that with some outboard
device (distortion box or anything),
and play loud. Remember that Fender
kind-of vintage tone is get when
the amp is played at it's full
power, how load, depends on how much
power it can produce.

9/25/1997 5:43 AM
M. Romasco	I dont think the classic 50 has a tube rect. I beleve it's ss. I agree w/ Ken, try an extention cab.

9/25/1997 3:51 AM
Ken Lewellen	The safest and easiest thing to do is to try some different speakers. Go to a music store and play through some of their extension cabinets. Sometimes they will let you play through the speakers in a combo amp also, so you can get that open back sound. I would do this first, before making any electronic changes.

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