Peavey Classic 20 for BLUES

I have plugged it in and tried the controls on various settings.  First with the Fender Deluxe Lone Star Strat and secondly with the Epiphone Riviera Custom P93.  The two EL84 and two 12AX7 Mullard tube replacements and the WGS G10c/s speaker provide a smoother, earlier breakup-- perfect for the blues guitar.  I actually anticipated a little more headroom, but I was able to mix it clean with no problem at all.  I turned the master to 3 o'clock and the volume set to to 9 o'clock, which cleans it up nicely and will allow me to play it at church on a mic to the PA system.

This amp was built in Meridian, Mississippi, in the good ol' USA!  I love American made musical instruments and equipment and they are getting harder and harder to afford, these days.  The amp came with the original owners manual/guide with some great information, such as how to mix the amp for clean, metal and blues. In the shipping box I found the seller had placed the original warranty cards/documents with the sign offs for quality assurance by the experts that built the amp!

I love the overall tone of this amp.  Truly, this will be my favorite amp ever, and I am including the Fender Blues Junior I sold-- though a great amp for clean headroom, in my humble opinion it is too loud and shrill without early enough distortion, and the VHT Special 6 Head and Cab, which I also sold because it, too, had to get too loud to get the breakup I needed for blues.  I will continue to use my Vox AC4TV10 for low volume practice, the Crate Vintage Club 20 for gigs requiring more volume and the Fender Deluxe 90 DSP amp when I need a lot of volume and great Fender clean tone.

I am ordering the gold Peavey logo badge in its original form because I love keeping things stock.  Some Classic 20 lovers remove theirs, I assume for an image purpose, but I like the look of completion that it will bring.  I am amazed at the condition of this amp built in the 1990's!  These things are solid.  The seller was very professional, removing the tubes and wraping them separately.  I enjoyed the ease in installing them in the amp.  So simple to reach in there and gently rock them in place. Also, the newish set of JJ tubes he had tried in the amp were also included in the shipment, in case I want to give them a try.

One of the things I love about this amp already is the open back for sound and, in addition, access to make tube changes.  The chrome chassis is beautiful, too; like the chrome bumpers on cars I remember longingly from the 50's and 60's.   The tweed tolex is gorgeous and in excellent condition, particularly given its age.  

My vintage Peavey Classic 20 is my new favorite amp-- hands down!  Point your mouse and click on the pictures to enjoy a better view of each one.  -- Guitar Man

Peavey Classic 20 Tube and Speaker Swap

Here is my Peavey Classic 20 15 watt tube amp.  It is a Class A with two 12AX7 and two EL84's.  The tubes were replaced recently by the individual I bought it from with a matched set of Mullards and the speaker has been replaced by a WGS G10 c/s, which I have researched a bit.  It is designed to smooth out the breakup and allow the amp to gain more clean headroom, while still achieving nice bluesy tone.  The tubes reduce the power output approximately 15-20%, also allowing for more versitile usage of both clean and overdrive sounds, as needed.

I will be pleased to use this amp for small gigs and plan to look for a 1X12 or 2X12 extension cabinet that will allow me to play this in a larger gig/venue. 

More pictures to come later.  Stay tuned blues guitar friends! -- Guitar Man