StormLeader Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 I'm looking at getting a used Peavey Special 212, and I'm wondering what you guys think about it. I'm into metal but I want to start playing in my Church Services, so a decent clean channel would be nice. So I guess what Info I'm looking for is: #1: Does it have a decent clean channel? I can always build\buy stomp-boxes for distortion. #2: Does it take effects well? #3: I know I'm going to get flamed for this question, but does it sound (In your opinion) like a tube amp? This part really isn't that important, I'm just wondering. Thanks! -Stormy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted April 22, 2009 Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 Have you checked out Harmony Central or Ultimate Guitar reviews? I can tell you that it won't sound like a tube amp though, because it isn't. But you can put something like http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=40448 in the effects loop to get something tubier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormLeader Posted April 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 Yup on both of those sites, I'm just wondering if anyone here has a opinion. And thanks for the link to that, that looks very interesting. -Stormy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim37 Posted April 22, 2009 Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 maybe take a trip to your local music shop and plug one in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormLeader Posted April 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 I would, but Peavey no longer makes them, I think they stopped production in like '05. -Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anderekel Posted April 22, 2009 Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 Are you lookin' at ebay to get it? Cause if you're getting it directly from the guy, like off craigslist or something, then just see if he'll let you go over there and give it a try. As far as the peavey goes, I have a peavey studio pro 112 and have messed around with a bunch of peavey's at the local store. I haven't tried that specific one though. Looking it up it looks like it's my amp with one more channel and one more speaker and a little more power. From using my am (also has transtube technology) it sounds pretty good to me, I like it, worth keeping around anyway even though I have a little orange tube amp now. It doesn't sound like tubes, I mean, it's SS, it never will, but it does sound pretty good. Judging by what I've seen, if you can use that much power and can get it at a decent price (assuming it works fine) then by all means go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormLeader Posted April 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 Yeah, I'd getting it off Craigslist, so I could ask if I could try it out. It's not that I really need that much power, it's just that the 30 Watt Marshall I've been using is starting to get kinda grumpy. And from what I under stand the T-dynamic knob allows you to turn down to power to like %10. The guy is selling it for $200 with the foot-switch, but I figure I can get him down to around $175, if not, it's still a great deal. -Stormy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 If it sounds anything like the bandit than it's poopy. I'd suggest spending your money elsewhere. I've never liked the tone of the solid state peaveys. Really the classic series are the only peavey amps I like. If your looking to play in your church service you probably want a low wattage tube amp that can get great overdrive tone at low volumes (because we all know church sound guys are more worried about volume than actually getting a good mix for god knows what reason). The new Vox AC4TV is a low watt single channel tube amp that is coming out in a few months and from what I hear they sound killer, and at $250 for the combo, $199 for the head how can you resist? I'm going to buy one and run it cranked with an A/B switcher to swap between it and my Orange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 Blackstar and Blackheart also sell some good low-cost tube amps, but are going to be louder than the Vox. You can drop the gain by switching to a different preamp tube though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormLeader Posted May 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 Ok, Thanks for the advice guys. I've decieded agaist the amp, as I might be able to pick up a Peavey Valve King Half-Stack for a great price. But my question is, would a half-stack be to loud for bed-room playing? I mean is it just plain impossible to get the thing quiet enough? Thanks for all the help guys. -Stormy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoot2thrill Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 Look into a used classic 30. It has good cleans with a very good overdrive. All you need for "metal territory" is a distortion pedal.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anderekel Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 I have a half stack in my bedroom. It's a 200 watt 4x12 I believe, I'm usin' an orange tiny terror (15/7 watt tube amp) and I can't turn it up very far when I have the gain up. I would say if you want to go with an amp head and a speaker cab for your room, go with a smaller tube amp head (apparently there are some pretty nice, low watt heads goin' for only a couple hundred, that's what people on this forum have said anyway) and go with a 1x12 or at 2x12. You'll be able to push the tubes a bit and it won't be as loud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormLeader Posted May 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 The amp has a master volume on it, so I can still push the tubes without it getting loud. But my question still stands, can the half-stack get quiet enough? -Stormy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 The amp has a master volume on it, so I can still push the tubes without it getting loud. But my question still stands, can the half-stack get quiet enough? -Stormy Sorry, but no. The master volume control on amps is a volume placed right before the power tubes. When you turn it down the power tubes are no longer being pushed into overdrive and you only have preamp tube "distortion". The poweramp tube "overdrive" is where the creamy goodness comes from. Preamp distortion is always "harder" and not as smooth as poweramp distortion. But some people hate the sound of poweramp tubes being pushed, so you'll have to decide for yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 (edited) I have a 5/3 watt into a 112 and it's still way loud for playing in a bedroom. The 3 watt setting is a good volume but the tone blows. You aren't likely to get a good tube amp that'll do bedroom levels. Edited May 6, 2009 by Keegan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoot2thrill Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 I have a 5/3 watt into a 112 and it's still way loud for playing in a bedroom. The 3 watt setting is a good volume but the tone blows. You aren't likely to get a good tube amp that'll do bedroom levels. I dont know man, if you get a small tube amp that sounds halfways decent...you can crank it. That will get those tubes saturating and sounding near perfect. Vox AC4 comes to mind, as well as this little gretsch amp that i think is 5 watts. I thought it sounded pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim37 Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 there are a few mico watt amps i think they are called out there the only comerical one i know of is blackheart's ant killer (its also the cheapest) then there are several boutique amps like guytronix gilmour (they also have a gilmour jr kit) also go to the ax84.com they have a pretty cool little amp called the firefly it runs a 12ax7 in a self splitting config to make it a push pull 1 watt amp. but personaly i havent seen any of the low watt amps that impress me they are all lacking in a critical area they skimp on the preamp section most modern amps really need two preamp tubes (atleast three preamp sections) to do what is expected of them these days (run a tone stack and have nice gain too) but the low wattage amps tend to be based on vintage amp designs and only run a single preamp tube. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 I'm not saying the little ones don't sound good. They're just mostly too loud for bedroom playing(5 watts into 112), distort too soon(5 watts with an EL84 power tube), or don't have enough control(like just a volume). The Gretsch Champ-clone combo looks like it would be the best if only it had more control. http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product...-Amp?sku=481874 If you don't mind not having a decent clean you can do any 12AX7/EL84 amp. I have a Blackheart 5W and love the overdrive sound. I can't seem to get a clean sound at a good enough volume to make the speaker sound good though. I have to crank the treble to make up for the muddiness at lower volume. Of course, it would help if I had a smaller speaker and a lower output guitar to get the clean sound. This Junior isn't built so much for the cleans. My cheap Fender solid state does cleans very well, but god forbid you overdrive it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormLeader Posted May 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 Looks like I won't be getting it, as the pawn shop that was selling it ended the bidding 4 days early, I'm assuming that they sold it at the shop, as the high bid for it was at $16.50 at that point. -Stormy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 You can get small modeling amps these days with headphone jacks...with a good set of headphones you can jam without disturbing anyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acousticraft Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Try one of the new Vox VT30 or 50 watt valvetronixs. They can save 8 patches that can be changed with the floor switch and have heaps of great moddelled tones with built in attenuator. I have an older model AD50VT and with the wattage attenuator you can crank it hard out at low volumes at home and get a good tone. I use it for church worship and love it as it has volume if needed and not too heavy to move in and out of cars etc. If I went to all valve AC15 it would probably be another 20 pounds heavier as the transformers are so heavy. The other option is one of the older model Vox AD60VTX which can be used with the VC4 or VC12 floor boards. A friend of mine who has played in lots of bands tells me the low wattage tube amps get lost in the mix and you need probably 15 watts min. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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