Re: [Harp-L] Peavey Classic 30

[Doug Schroer <dougharps@xxxxxxxxx>]

I use a Peavey Classic 30 I bought from a guitar player, with a Mexican CM Green Bullet mic, and it works great!  I modified it to improve the tone and manage feedback, and didn't need a tech, or to open it up and cut wires.  I used the stock EL84 tubes.  I replaced the Blue Marvel 16 ohm speaker with an 8 ohm Peavey Sheffield Model 1230 speaker I already had (I am sure a Weber or Jensen would work as well or better, but the Sheffield worked fine for me, and was inexpensivewhen I originally bought it!) I plugged it in to the extension speaker jack, attaching speaker wire to a 1/4 inch plug.  Using the extension jack switches to the 8 ohm tap from the transformer.  I had previously noted that an extension speaker helped reduce feedback, and I had read about using an 8 ohm speaker plugged into the extension jack on the blueguitar.org site. I taped off the original 16 ohm leads to avoid a short.  I used 3 12AT7 preamp tubes to replace the 12AX7 tubes, reducing feedback.  Yes, I can
 still make it feed back if I play really loud or the room is lively, but at any reasonable volume it works fine and has great tone, including the lows. I stand within 5 feet in front of the amp.  The CM Bullet mic is better for the lows with the Peavey than my EV630, Astatic biscuit (ceramic element), or my Turner 22x.  I think that the input impedance is not high enough on the Peavey for crystal or ceramic elements to produce good low frequency tone.  My settings are Bass 8, Mid 6, Treble 4.  I use the clean channel, with reverb on 2 at the most.  Reverb on the Peavey can make it too bright in tone.  
 
My other mods were not really necessary for non-reverb tone, but I bought a replacement 3 spring accutronic reverb on ebay to improve the thin sound of the stock 2 spring reverb. I really use very little reverb and probably didn't need to do this:  I just wanted to have good reverb in case I ever wanted it.  I also bought a tube guard to protect the tubes from getting snagged by the cord.  The Peavey Classic 30 is louder than the Fender Blues Junior, though the Fender is a loud 15 watts, and I like both amps.  
 
My other amps are a Gibson Explorer ('61 or '62) with 2-6V6s (great in the studio or small quiet rooms), a Stromberg-Carlson Signet 22 head (2 EL 84s) slightly louder through cabinets described below, and a Knight KN3245 (2-6L6s) head.  The Knight has 5 Megohm input impedance on its mic inputs, making it great for the ceramic biscuit mic, though the green CM bullet sounds good, and so does a high Z EV 630.  I use the biscuit and the Knight to drive 2 eight ohm 10" speakers in series, wired parallel to a 16 ohm 12" speaker, using closed back cabinets, and it creates incredible tone. 
 
However, the Peavey is easier to haul to a gig than all that, and sounds almost as good!  I also play to the PA acoustically through vocal mics, or sometimes to the PA cupping a Shure PG-57.  
 
Finally... Yes, it is true:  you have to have your own internal tone before amp tone becomes significant.  (I hate it when people keep posting it, but it is true!!!)
 
Doug
 
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> 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...


		
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