[math2014]

Hi all,

Ok, guitar forums etc (HC) have me greatly confused. To cut a long story short... I want to move from my crappy 15W SS fender amp, to a proper valve amp for home practice mainly. I ve tested numerous amps, and i ve made up my mind as of which amps i like tone-wise. At the same time i care about build quality and reliability and here comes the trouble.

The amps i am considering are a Peavey Classic 30, and a Marshall DSL401.

People at harmony central forums tell me that the marshall is an absolut crap (bad reviews as well for reliability) and praise the Peavey amp.

People at marshall forums tell me otherwise, and an amp tech over there tells me that the peavey and marshall are on par with respect to build quality and reliability, but the marshall is in general a better amp with more features.

UK shops (at least 30 of them) say that both peavey and marshall are reliable and equally well built.

Marshall has made a redesign on the specific amp to address reliability (overheating) issues, and they impressed me with their customer support over the phone when i asked them questions.

Marshall has 3yrs warranty and costs 750$ in the UK (1100$ in the US), Peavey 1yr warranty and costs 650$ in the UK without footswitch (650$ in the US but you get it for 500$ usually).

Will play hard rock 70s mostly and some Nirvana , GnR, Tool, Placebo etc from modern stuff.

So whats your take on this?

I am confused by those forums... so i ask guidance and advice from trustworthy advisers here

As an example here is a link to a relevant thread at HC

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=917487&perpage=20&pagenumber=1

 

[Zark]

As a Peavey Classic 50/50 power amp owner I'm a little biased

But save some coin and go with the Peavey, I haven't had a single problem with my 10 year old Peavey amp.

 

[Echo]

Being a keyboard player is so much simpler when it comes to this sort of stuff

 

[JRB]

You should join the Coast Guard.

 

[H8R]

I've personally seen Marshall heads fall out of two story windows and work fine the next day. Most everything they make is built like a tank.

That said, go with what sounds best to your particualr ears, because that's what will matter down the road.

 

[math2014]

So i shouldnt give a damn, about what people say on X amps reliability etc and just go by tone right?

 

[H8R]

So i shouldnt give a damn, about what people say on X amps reliability etc and just go by tone right?

Well, go with established models anyway.

 

[math2014]

established according to a forum or shops?

 

[Leethal]

Why not a Fenders Blues Jr. Nice and Clean sounding... Way louder than you could imagine especially with a Tube Screamer Pedal...

 

[Buck Fever]

I had a Marshall for years. I don't recall what model it was anymore but it was a 50Watt driving two 12". It would overheat constantly and I could only play for about two hours, and that was when I had a fan blowing straight into the back of the cabinet. Then I got a Mesa Dual Rectumfinder Trem-o-verb and never had a problem again. Much more reliable, MUCH better tones across the spectrum too. The Marshall is a one trick pony...only sounded good loud and crunchy. The Mesa had such a smooth tone across both channels and had such a wide variety of tones that it just blew the Marshall away.

I've since sold all of my electric guitars, amps and most of the gear. If I ever were to play electric again, I'd buy another Mesa.

 

[MMike]

I have a Peavey Classic 30. If you want to play Nirvana and all that, I think you be disappointed. The Peavey Classic series is very bluesy oriented. the distortion is a little on the weak side. That said, I've never used a distortion pedal with it, so maybe you could make it work.

I do also have a Rivera Chubster 40. This is a way cool little amp. I wanted a small amp for home use with a nice sound...because I wanted an amp with a little more grunt than the Peavey. NOw it's triple the price of the Peavey, but it has some really nice features. I actually did a review of it on harmony central. (and that's where I found it actually. I was actually looking into a Mesa Boogie Nomad 45 and a bunch of people where complaining about it. Someone mentioned the Rivera so I started researching. No regrets at all.


But all this to say that if you want a big distorted sound, I don't think the Peavey will do it for you. If you wanted to play bluesy, SRV type stuff, then I'd say absolutely. Because for the money, it's a great little amp.

 

[H8R]

established according to a forum or shops?

Just buy a well known and respected brand that sounds good.


Like, get the Santa Cruz and not the Huffy, ya know?

 

[bluebug32]

Just buy a well known and respected brand that sounds good.


Like, get the Santa Cruz and not the Huffy, ya know?

First off: what kind of guitar are you playing it with? If you have a LP, for instance, they sound great through a Marshall. This is the setup I've got and I've been very happy with it. Personally, I think Marshall amps offer a lot of bang for the buck and are tough and well built amps. I only have a smaller Marshall, that I play a Fender Telecaster and an Epiphone Les Paul through, and it seems to do the job just fine and the distortion is kickin' too. I've been quite impressed by the larger ones too. Honestly, I don't know much about Peavey's.

Good luck.

Beth

 

[bpatterson6]

Stay Away from Solid State.

2 Words.

Tube Amp.

Marshall JMP w/4x12 Marshall Half Stack

Soldano w/ 4x12 Genz Benz Half Stack

Mesa Boogie w/ 4x12 Mesa Boogie Half Stack