Re: [Harp-L] Peavey Classic 30

["Ralf K. Buschner" <r_buschner@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Jim,

> Any experience of/opinions on the Peavey Classic 30 as a harp amp? I
> tried one (it's some years old) and it seems a bit thin on tone to me,
> plus I can't turn it up above about 3 without it feeding back like a
> banshee - tried both a JT30 and a Shure 545 mic, the 545 was worse. The
> tubes are 3x12AX7A (Peavey-branded) preamp and 4xEL84(Sovtek) power.
> Stock (completely anonymous) speaker. Are there tube configurations that
> would improve it... or is it not worth persevering ?

i also own that baby, and fully agree with you regarding the rather thin 
sound. So i went forward and changed the 1st tube into a 12AT7. Additionally 
i mounted a master volume pot, so i can crank up the volume pot and turn back 
on the master volume pot. Now i had the full range from 0 to 12, and can 
change the distortion level with the volume pot.

But the baby still had the same sound, so i had to do some more sophisticated 
mods - changed the circuitry of the 1st tube to a fender like circuit, did 
some mods in the tone stack, and changed the circuit of the final stage from 
fixed bias to cathode bias. This all helped a lot, but i wasn't yet really 
satisfied with it. So i bought a Jensen speaker, but NOT a Alnico type, but a 
ceramic - C12N. This caused a really dramatically change of the tone, now 
this amp has really balls! Lots of bass, and a really sweet breakup.
Some guys first mentioned "Peavey is trash, doesn't sound really good for 
harp!", when they saw him first, but changed theirs mind, when they heard, 
like the amp boogies. And on christmas day i had a gig with a bunch of Harley 
riders in the audience, and when i plugged my Argonne mic in and played some 
notes for adjusting my sound and volume, i heard from them "Whoooaaa! What a 
bass!!!"

I think, it's right now! :-)

But: For the mods of the circuitry, you should have a bit more than only basic 
knowledge about electronics, because it's a lot to do, cutting leads on the 
printed circuit board, drawing additional wires, adding components and 
similar stuff. Or you have an experienced electronic freak in the 
neighborhood...

For more details, send me a mail to r_buschner@xxxxxxxxxxx - i wouldn't like 
to annoy all the guys here with detailed tech stuff...

cu,
Ralf