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Posted by: mhskeide Jan 22 2010, 12:28 AM

Hi guys, sorry for spamming the gear forum again

Before writing any more let me state: I tried to use the search engine to find a previous thread of this subject, not with much luck

Anyways, I was almost ready to seal the deal for an over 10 year Peavey Classic 50 W 2*12" amp.
But then I suddenly realised, Fender Hot Rod doesn`t cost too much either, and it sounds awesome!
I would love some views on these two amps if someone has tried them both
What I`m looking for are some clean bluesy tones ala Clapton and John Mayer, and some more dirty tones in the style of Ac Dc, Dick Dale..John Mayer`s overdrive tone (yeah, been listening to him a lot lately ), maybe some Zeppelin? No need for high gain, I don`t play in any metalband, and I will buy the HT-5 when I sell my old amp for use at home.
I think you get the picture


I would also love more tips for amps. I`ve already checked out the Egnator and Fender Twin reverb, but the TR is a bit expensive, and the Egnator Rebel`s 20W too little (more wattage will result in too expensive). I played through a vox on a gig two weeks ago...and concluded that AC30 just ain`t my style, so don`t bother mentioning
No requirements for number of speakers or combo/stack, but it should be at least 30W, all tube and not too expensive. I want to buy my amp in Norway (where I live, daah), so the price will be "norwegian", meaning in US the amp should not cost more than 6-900$

I hope I remembered everything, just ask if not

-Magnus

Posted by: sted Jan 22 2010, 11:38 AM

Hey pal,

I have fender blues deluxe and is sounds very much like the sound you're after! Ive used it in pub gigs and even though its rated at 40w I couldnt really play it any louder than 3-4 on the master volume, it is seriously loud. It takes overdrive pedals very well, i use a TS9 and OCD which sounds great, also a wampler pinnacle for some squashed brown sounds. I tried the twin reverb and the 65 reissue too, but they were massively heavy things to handle and monstrously loud, beleive me mate these things are made for huge venues!
The only problem is that it cant really do high gain imo, so if you want nice liquid lead tones then you may have to really seek out the right pedal for the job.
Obviously the tone is very revealing but its very close to SRV/mayer/clapton tones, it doesnt have a gain channel to speak of, more a bit of smooth drive rather than overdive.

Hope this helps!

Posted by: Staffy Jan 22 2010, 11:54 AM

Hmmmm, I don't agree with You here Sted. (You know I would'nt, dont You Sted??? )
I will say that it depends on what tubes You put in this babe as well as boosting it a little bit.....
I had mine since it was released and was supposed to sell it a while ago, but I took it to that amp-guy in Denmark.
He switched the tubes and we tested some different NOS-tubes for the pre-amp, and now it sounds amazing.....
You will hardly believe what junk of tubes Fender & Marshall uses on their new amps, even MESA is running russian tubes, however
they say that they have tested them thoroughly and wastes about 90% which I have hard to believe....
Anyway, the Blues Deluxe is by now the most versatile amp I ever had and is only beaten in sound quality by my Tweed Deluxe.
I've also tested my Marshall cab with the Blues Deluxe and that sounds just awesome too, now I'm gonna get a 2*12 cabinet for it with some Weber speakers in it.....

//Staffay

Posted by: sted Jan 22 2010, 12:23 PM

Yeah I knoew you would, tbh I can only refer to it as the standard item as thats all ive got, im sure you're right about the tubes though. I would love to retube it and bung a weber in there to see what its like!

Posted by: mhskeide Jan 22 2010, 12:56 PM

Sounds pretty convincing to me



I didn`t expect it to have any high gain neither. I`m only using high gain at home anyways, where I`ll hopefully be buying a HT-5 within short time
But the gain I was hoping for was as mentioned some Mayer/Clapton/SRV.
You can say that the maximum gain needed is something like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uANVBPVaf-g&feature=fvst

If I need to play louder with more gain, I`ll probably buy a Satchurator or something similar



Which means, the Fender-amp will turn out as a pretty good buddy if I change the tube to something more rocky ?
Problem is, I don`t have a clue which tubes sounds good for what. I just imagine the EL34 and and 6V6 are common in rock amps...?
tubes doesn`t cost too much anyways, do they?

Lots of questions

Posted by: Staffy Jan 22 2010, 01:17 PM

The sound on the clip is really some Marshalls played at a very loud volume.... in the matter of gain You can very well achieve this with the amp running hot and some mid-range boost, but however, a Marshall is a Marshall....... and a lot of sound comes from the boxes itself....

EL34 and 6V6 is really the power tubes and not the pre-amp tubes, that is 12AX7 in most amps.....
The power tubes is not so critical to the tone in the amp, what gets a huge difference is really the pre-amp tube.
In a Blues Deluxe there is only one to change.... NOS - tubes costs about 40-70$ as far as I know.
There are Sylvania, Philips, RCA and some others that are really good for getting a good tone in whatever tube amp You use....
But since every tube has its own characteristics and really makes a big difference, its preferrable if You have the opportunity to test which one You like first....

//Staffay

EDIT: Check this page by my amp-technician: http://www.larsreinau.dk/about3.html
He's danish but Im sure You will understand...

Posted by: mhskeide Jan 22 2010, 01:20 PM

Regarding the pre-amp tube, I reckon that it is a subjective matter, so I guess I have to test the amp out a bit first before making my mind

About the gain-demo-thingy with the Airbourne video, I know it`s a Marshall-style gain, but I was asking for the amount, not the style
Anyhows, I`ve done some researching at youtube, and with the "more-drive" button on the hot ride, I got more than enough gain for the rocker-child within me, whilst the metalhead must wait a bit longer

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Jan 22 2010, 03:29 PM

I don't own any of these amps, but I've tried Hot Rod and Classic 30 combos in stores. Hot rod is better IMHO than Classic 30, but that is subjective matter. Peavey has darker tone, whilst Fender has richer and sweeter cherry sound. I personally don't like any preamp based overdrive on Hot Rod above 6 (don't like "more drive" button as well). Power amp is a different tone altogether, and whilst it can be great, it depends a lot on power tubes, and the ability to crank the amp, which may be on rare occasions. If you want classic rock gain, you may be needing an EL34 kind of tone and small wattage.
It's a tough choice, but if you are looking for a good amp for little money, I think Hot Rod would do the job nicely. The reason for choosing hot rod is that it is a good modding platform, and a good tone platform all together, accepting pedals nicely. It's not that pricey as well.
There are several good ways to improve the sound of it by upgrading, basic ones being tube swaps and speaker swap, and that can indeed improve the tone dramatically since the circuit itself is very basic, and very tube-dependent.
However, you may not be the person who is prepared to do the modding, it depends on a budget, good tone tech, and equipment availability. If you want to save some money on upgrades, buying a limited edition (wine red for example) with celestion speaker in it would upgrade the sound a bit, since I played both stock version and wine red one (and some other LEs as well), and wine red indeed has a lot smoother tone. Stock speaker in black one is a bit harsh. If you buy limited edition one and upgrade the tubes you may have yourself a really nice sounding amp without too much hassle.