Peavey Guitar amplification

I bought this off a guy that needed to some cash for $300 Canadian. This amp has a lot of power, a nice tone and is reliable. The built in distortion is terrible. Since this head is pretty old the distortion is just tube overdrive. The built in reverb and flange doesn't cut it with me either. This thing is strong and built to last If you can find one of these ancient guitar heads for a decent price get it! They (Peavy) don't make amps anymore the way they used to. Put some groove tubes in it and your set. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

The Peavey Bandit 112 is the flagship combo in the company's venerable line of transtube amplifiers. It's been in production for decades and has survived the changing times regardless of the era. This newest version is an 80 watt 1x12 combo with two channels, one for clean and the other for drive. The amp also has onboard reverb and an effects loop, which are very handy. This modern version of the amp has an updated and modern looking cosmetic structure with lots of classy chrome accents. Sadly though the parts on this amp do feel cheaper and more likely to break with mild use when compared to the older models. They also have a Sheffield speaker replacing the Blue Marvel version. UTILIZATION Getting a good sound out of this amp is pretty easy. Peavey gear has a fairly intuitive interface that is able to be dialed in for a whole host of sounds by any player. The channels are laid out in typical fashion with gain, volume and EQ controls. As well, there are voicing switches on the front panel that alter the tonal structure of the amp by giving it a more vintage or more modern voice. The transtube technology is really something cool... It does indeed make the amp sound, and FEEL more like a higher powered tube rig with more sponginess and compression to bring out natural overtones in the sound. Awesome. SOUNDS The Bandit 112 is one of those amps that sounds excellent with a whole variety of guitars and tonal styles. The clean channel is very nice and pristine. It's a bit flat sounding at times and lacks a bit of the sparkle I like in a clean tone but for a solid state tone it's pretty good for sure. I like it as well when hit with more gain or a boost pedal for a gutsy and crisp blues tone. The drive tones are great too. Whether you're doing classic arena rock or modern thrash metal, this amp has a very clear and defined tone that at times really does sound like a decent tube rig. The voicing switches really come in handy here to alter the tone to different levels and types of gain structure. Props to Peavey, this is an admirable sounding rig for sure. OVERALL OPINION All in all I think the Peavey Bandit 112 is a fantastic solid state jamming amp with a great layout, cool looks and some very tubelike tones within. The parts used could be better but for an amp of this price it can be overlooked. At about $350 new these amps are a great buy for anyone who needs a high wattage combo for jamming or gig situations that sounds like the tube amps costing a lot more!

The Peavey Vypyr 30 is the second smallest amp in the recent line of Vypyr amps. It is packed chalk FULL of cool features that kids today are ridiculously lucky to have in a $100 amp. It features 11 amp models with 2 channels each, several different effects spread out over 2 different effects blocks, a separate delay and reverb section, and the ability to dial in tones from Fender clean to Diezel or Mesa grind all at the twist of a few knobs. It's a solid state 30 watt amp with an equally small speaker, and two extra 1/8" jacks, one for aux. in, and the other for headphones UTILIZATION Fortunately for new users, the interface for the Vypyrs is extremely easy to understand right from the get-go. Peavey has laid everything out like a typical amp/effects setup, with your stomp box effects first, preamp factors(amp sounds) next. Other effects follow that and then adjusting power amp factors (bass, midrange, treble) and then finally a master volume to control exactly how loud your preset is. It's very easy to get to know and once you dial it in it's easy to lose yourself in hours upon hours of fun with this great practice tool. SOUNDS This amp is great for many different sounds from clean to high gain. While it lacks the general tube feel of the high dollar amps it's emulating, I really can't expect much better tone out of a $100 practice amp. It covers a wide variety of different tones and sounds great at all them. Some of the high gain sounds a bit compressed for my liking but for a beginner I'm sure it is just cool to have so many flavours of distortion tone available, plus all the cool effects built right in. I really like some of the low to mid gain sounds like the AC30 and Badcat with the gain turned right up as it gives a more natural tube like sound than the higher gain Mesa/Diezel/Krank models do. This is especially true of the smaller 15w and 30w version with their tiny little speakers, but I'd say it's true of the whole series, even the tube ones. OVERALL OPINION All in all I think the Peavey Vypyr 30 is a FANTASTIC bargain for the $250 new that they cost. It's really quite mind boggling to think that such a small and inexpensive amp can sound this good with a wide variety of sound emulators. It's definitely my go-to recommendation for a small practice amp as there is simple no better bang for your buck than the Peavey Vypyr series.

This is a metal machine. This little combo if you can call it little packs a huge wallop of a punch. This is the amp that inspired the XXX amps from Peavey. Some say these amps have more juice and girth than a 5150 or a XXX, but that is a hard battle to take. They are equally appealing and inspiring. These amps are basically gain and more gain. This is a two channel amp that has a crunch channel and than an ultra channel for even more gain. This is specifically designed for the metal or hard rock player in mind. This is basically the same amp as the one 12 inch speaker combo. You get all the same tone and features as the single speaker but just an added speaker. It does push more air with the extra speaker so the tone is more open and 3D. UTILIZATION FEATURES: * * All-tube amp: four 12AX7 preamp tubes and two 6L6GC power amp tubes * * 60 watts at 4, 8, or 16 ohms (selectable impedance) * * Three footswitchable channels: Ultra, Crunch and Clean * * High-quality speakers: 112- dual 12" Sheffield® 1230 speaker * * Footswitchable reverb * * Effects loop * * Master volume * * Clean channel: volume; bright switch; low, mid and high tone controls * * Crunch and Ultra channels: pre- and post-gain controls; gain boost switch; bottom, body and edge EQ controls * * Passive EQ for Clean channel, active EQ for Crunch and Ultra channels gives increased tonal response * * Footswitch included * * Resonance switch SOUNDS I find that the extra speaker of the 2x12 gives a more open tone where the 1x12 can seems a little small . Of course the extra speaker does push more air so that could just be the feeling.If you get the chance to get one of these amps in front of you you will immediately know the power it has with the first strike of the power chord. This crunch master amp has so much gain sometimes it is unusable. Either way it is a lot of fun t play around with that much overdrive. The amp like all Peavey amps sounds the best with a Gibson Les Paul or another guitar with a humbucker installed. The Peavey amps can sometimes have a lot of fizzy distortion which isn't a bad thing but just a taste thing. A think the humbucker is able to clean that up a bit with the double wound pickups. This is a rocker guitar amp and with two distortion channels there isn't much in the heavy metal world that this amp cannot cover. OVERALL OPINION These amps have been discontinued for a while now. I have seen them in the classifieds for around $410, which isn't bad for a two channel tube amp. You can find them pretty easily on ebay or a forum of some kind. They stick out like sore thumbs sometimes. I would recommend this amp to anyone who need a great sounding metal amps that can do just about any metal or hard rock tone imaginable. This is a good and cheap amp for someone needing to rock out.

This is a Peavey cabinet with Sheffield speakers, which is the Peavey equivalent of Celestions. It is switchable between mono and stereo, is rugged but not too heavy, has wheels, and can really take a beating on stage or on the road between gigs. The speakers sound really full and can produce great tones at a variety of volumes. In the nearly ten years I have owned this cab I've never had any problems with anything rattling inside the cab, nor any buzzing from the speakers. The front grill of the cabinet is metal and removable, making it relatively easy to paint. This is great for customizing your own rig and giving your band (or just yourself) a really unique look. I was lucky enough to have bought this cab for $100 from a family member! I'll probably never sell it, unless I really need to scale down the size of my rig. I liked this cabinet so much that I had to seek out a matching straight cab (bottom, not slanted cab) that cost me four times as much and was not in as good condition. However, with both of those cabinets paired together, it makes for the ultimate full-stack. For live, I think this is an excellent cabinet, due to its ruggedness and consistent sound. I have used it to record, but in my opinion, a better tone can be found with a more expensive branded, single 12" cabinet, such as a Mesa Boogie with a Black Shadow speaker or a higher-end Marshall with a Celestion. If you can get one used, just check out the sound first to make sure there aren't any problems, and you'll probably be good for a long time with one of these. Just keep in mind that this cabinet is only going to sound as good as the amplifier that it is paired with. I have used this cab with a Fender Roc Pro 1000, a Marshall JCM2000, and a Mesa Boogie Single Rectifier, and by far the Single Rect had the best sound through this cabinet.

This is the same amp as the 1x12 valvking but just added one extra 1x12 speaker and doubling the wattage up to 100 watts. This is one extremely versatile combo amp. It has two channel one for clean and then one for a dirty tone. Both channels are very usable and voiced for a great rock n roll sound. The amp has a ton of features like reverb and a bright switch as well as a boost switch for the lead lines. The amp is voiced more in the British flavor of things. Even though it has 6L6 power tubes which is more used in American metal tones, the amps overall is more toward the British voicings. The tone is remarkable for being at the price point that it is in. The only thin I don't like about this amp is the effects loop in on the front of the amp. this means if you use the effects loop you will have 3 cables running in the front of this beats and couple that wit a mic then you are getting crowded. Peavey ValveKing 212 Combo Features: 100 watts (rms) into 16, 8, or 4 ohms (switchable) Four 6L6GC and three 12AX7 tubes Two independent footswitchable channels Separate EQ for each channel Footswitchable gain/volume boost on lead channel Dual paralleled speaker jacks Two 12-inch ValveKing speakers Reverb with level control Buffered effects liip Resonance and presence controls New TEXTURE™ variable Class A simulation control (patent pending) UTILIZATION Details Type Tube Number of Channels 2 Power 100W Speakers 2 x 12" ValveKing No Effects Reverb EQ Bass, Middle, Treble No Amp Modeling Preamp Tubes 3 x 12 AX7 Power Tubes 4 x 6L6GC Inputs 2 x Instrument Outputs 2 x Speaker Footswitch I/O Effects Loop Height 20.6" Width 26.4" Depth 11.6" Weight 64.5 lbs. SOUNDS If you keep the amp in the clean channel and click the bright switch in the off position then you get a solid jazz tone that is rich and full bodied. It is a very warm tone great for jazz riffs and runs. If you click the bright switch on then you get a great spanky country clean tone. All you need then is to add a little reverb and you are golden. When you go over to the dirty channel this is where things heat up. The tone is very thick and chunky. I like this tone with a medium to low body tone such as an ash or alder bodied guitar. This get your tone to cut ore when you have such a beefy distortion tone. OVERALL OPINION For the money it doesn't really get any better than this amp. At new these amps come in at around $650, which in my opinion is a steal for a solid two channel amplifier. The ability to switch from class A to AB is another remarkable feature this amp has. I would recommend this amp to anyone who is on the lookout for a great sounding combo amp that won't break the bank and that has real tubes in it. There is no modeling or solid state design in this amp...just real tube distortion and thick colorful clean tones.

For the money it doesn't get much better than this amp. To get this solid sounding of a combo amp and to get it well under $1000 is remarkable. The tone from the 6505 is just geared towards rock, hard rock, and metal. This is just a brutal amp with tones of tone for any guitar player. Peavey 6505+ 112 Combo 2-channel, 60-watt Tube Amplifier Features at a Glance: 60 watts (RMS) 16, 8, or 4 ohms (switchable) 5 x 12AX7 preamp tubes 2 x 6L6GC power amp tubes Footswitchable lead/rhythm channel select Effects loop Separate 3-band EQ on each channel Separate resonance and presence controls for each channel Rhythm channel: pre-/post-gain, footswitchable crunch boost Lead channel: pre-/post-gain controls Genuine Accutronics 3-spring reverb Integrated MSDI microphone-simulated XLR direct interface 1 x 12" Sheffield speaker Top handle External speaker outputs UTILIZATION Details Type Tube Number of Channels 2 Power 60W Speakers 1 x 12" Sheffield No Effects Reverb EQ High, Mid, Low No Amp Modeling Preamp Tubes 5 x 12AX7 Power Tubes 2 x 6L6GC Inputs 1 x Instrument Outputs 2 x Speaker, 1 x MSCI (XLR - Microphone Simulated Direct Out) Footswitch I/O Effects Loop SOUNDS This amp needs to be played with a humbucker pickup guitar such as a Gibson Les Paul or a Gibson Explorer. It needs that rock guitar for the gain style this amp produces. You can play any guitar single coil or humbucker but I think it sounds the best with the proper high gunner pickup. The resonance and presence controls really enable this amp to do what you want with the the bottom end of the tone. The two controls are the key to this amp in my opinion. OVERALL OPINION At new these amps come in at around $600 which is a freaking steal of a price. You can get a lot for this kind of money but you sure can get a stellar sounding Peavey amp. I would recommend this amp to anyone needing to stay within a tight budget and needs a proper sounding metal or hard rock amp.

This is an instant classic for Peavey amplifiers. This amp is just a great sounding low priced amp that will crank out some high gain tones and clean up real nice. This amp is exactly the same as the 60 watt version but with double the wattage power, one extra 1x12 speaker, and two extra power tubes. You will have two more extra power tubes which are 6L6's and that is basically it. What a killer little practice amp! This amp has a very good tone for being an amp modeler and enough features that will having you playing for hours. You actually might be spending too much time tweaking then actually playing so this could be a bad thing. Either way this is a nice bang for your buck all around effects and amp modeling amp. Peavey Vypyr Tube 120 Modeling Guitar Amplifier Features: 120 watts Four channels with 3-band EQ, master volume, and pre- and post-gain controls Real 6L6 tube power Two 12" custom-voiced modeling loudspeakers 11 editable rack effects 11 editable stomp-box effects Up to 5 effects simultaneously On-board looper On-board chromatic tuner Up to 400 presets with optional Sanpera™ II footswitch Studio-quality USB computer interface MIDI In Tap tempo button Studio-quality headphone output MP3/CD/Aux input Patented TransTube® technology in the preamp UTILIZATION Details Type Hybrid Number of Channels 4 Power 120W Speakers 2 x 12" Effects Reverb EQ Low, Mid, High Amp Modeling Yes Number of Models 400 Presets, 24 Amps Number of Tubes 5 Preamp Tubes 1 x 12AX7 Power Tubes 4 x 6L6GC Inputs 1 x Instrument, 1 x Aux (1/8") Outputs 1 x Headphone (1/8"), 1 x Speaker Footswitch I/O No Effects Loop SOUNDS This is an all encompassing amp that you only need a guitar and cable and you are set. It is a nice amp for those starting out playing on the the electric guitar and mom or dad don't want to shell out too much money just yet. Compared to the solid state Vypyr series this amp has a lot more dynamic range and punch to the tone. Not a bad or good thing just a personal taste thing. The tone has more girth and tube feel obviously with the added power tubes. I like this amp with a humbucking pickup style guitar. Since this amp is sort of modeled after some of Peavey's more high gain amps it is only fitting to play it with a guitar that can cut some of the hum and noise out. Plus the increase of gain with the humbuckers is essential when playing in the XXX mode of this amp. OVERALL OPINION At new these amps come in at around $650, which is a steal if you ask me. For what you get and the options to explore this amp is just killer for the price. You couldn't find a better sounding amp or something even close to the price of this amp. Peavey are masters at keeping decent enough tone in a rather nice price point. I highly recommend this amp to anyone thinking of getting a practice amp and doesn't want to shell out a ton of money to get. Just need a cable and guitar and you will be good to go. Personally unless you are gigging with this amp there really isn't a need for the extra 60 watts so if you are buying this for practicing at home or giving it to a beginner player than the 60 watt version will suffice.

These are not bad for the money. The produce a very usable and full acoustic live tone. As we all know these amps are not used for recording since the guitar is always miced up directly. These amps are for a live performance or something where you need to amplify an acoustic sound. The amp is very good quality and a great sounding amp. It has two channels which to me is a bit overboard for an acoustic amp, but I'm sure I could find a reason to use the second channel. Peavey Ecoustic E208 2-channel Acoustic Guitar Amplifier Features at a Glance: * 30 watts * 2 channels * Solid-state preamp * 2 x 8" premium full-range loudspeakers * 1/4" input on channel 1 and combo XLR/ 1/4" input on channel 2 * Headphone output * Analog chorus * Spring reverb * Separate level controls for each channel * Dedicated EQ for each channel UTILIZATION Details Number of Channels 2 Power 20W Speakers 2 x 8" Stereo No Effects Ch 1 and 2: Chorus; Ch 2: Reverb EQ Ch 1: Low, High; Ch 2: Low, Mid, High Feedback Control No Inputs 1 x Instrument, 1 x Combo (XLR/TRS) Outputs 1 x Headphone (1/4") No Footswitch I/O No Effects Loop Height 15" Width 19.63" Depth 8.75" Weight 25 lbs. SOUNDS The sound is quite impressive! It comes in at 20 watts which is a loud amp for an acoustic. This amp will give you the sound projection you need for small coffee shop gigs or light clubs. The amp can be miced up for louder or bigger operations. The rveerb and chorus effects on the amp are a nice addition to the amp which allows the user to add a nice chorus or reverb overtones to the sound. And you can assign the chorus channel one or channel two. OVERALL OPINION If you are in the market for a live acoustic amp that will be very portable and lightweight then this is a good one to have. At new these amps come in at around $180. Not a bad price for a solid sounding acoustic amplifier. I would recommend this amp to anyone who does live acoustic or small gigs then this is a good tool. You won't break the bank on this amp.

Peavey has this thing called the transtube technology. They have a patent on the idea and have been marketing it now for a while. Essentially what it is, is they have this hybrid style analog circuit matched with a solid state circuit. There still is no tubes in the amp, but it gives the feel and sound more closer to the feel and sound of real tubes overdriving. Peavey Backstage Features: * 10 watts (rms) * 6.5 inch custom designed speaker * TransTube preamp with 2 switchable channels * Volume and Overdrive controls * 2-band EQ * Tape/CD input for practice * Headphone jack UTILIZATION Details Type Solid State Number of Channels 2 switchable Power 10W Speakers 1 x 6.5" No Effects No Reverb EQ High, Low No Amp Modeling Number of Models 0 Number of Tubes 0 Preamp Tubes No Tubes Power Tubes No Tubes Inputs 1 x Instrument, 1 x Tape/CD (1/4") Outputs 1 x Headphone (1/4") No Footswitch I/O No Effects Loop SOUNDS This amp is not one of the high gain sounds we are most familiar with when it comes to the sound of Peavey. This is a clean channel amp with a second switchable channel that gets mildly dirty. You aren't going to get any high gain tones from this amp. Another great feature to this amp in that you can plug you cd player or ipod into it and jam along to your favorite songs. This is a great feature that really adds to the dynamics of this amp. OVERALL OPINION This is a practice amp and at new these units come in at around $60. That is a steal of a price. They are portable and light. You can also plug in your headphones and jam quietly in your home or office. I would recommend this amp to anyone who is on a tight budget ad you would like a good little practice and that won't break the budget. It is a price that is hard to beat for such a valuable skill building guitar tool.

The Peavey Classic 50 2x12 combo is powered by 4 EL-84 power tubes that deliver 50 watts of warm tube tone. The amp has two inputs (Normal and Bright), an effects loop, and an external speaker out. The Classic 50 has two channels, clean and overdrive. The EQ and presence controls are shared for both channels, but each channel has its own level control. This amp has a footswitchable spring reverb with one global level knob. UTILIZATION This amp is simple to use and it is easy to get a good tone happening with minimal knob turning. Set the EQ knobs to 12 o’clock and go from there. Like with most other Peavey amplifiers the “pre” knob is pre-amp gain and the “post” knob is the level control. Once these controls are understood, dialing in the amp should be no problem. SOUNDS The main guitar I use with this amp is a Gibson Les Paul Custom with a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge and a ’59 in the neck. I run through a pedal board consisting of a MXR Micro Amp, a Bodenhamer modified Boss SD-1, a Line 6 MM4 and an ISP Decimator noise gate. The overdrive channel on its own sounds full and articulate and has a little more gain than a Marshall JCM800. I either boost this channel with the Micro Amp, the SD-1, or both to achieve more intense levels of gain with outstanding results. With the help of these pedals, the Classic 50 goes from “classic” tones to more modern levels of gain. The shared EQ has not posed a problem in obtaining good clean and overdriven tones. I believe the key to this amp is keeping the master volume set relatively high and controlling each channels volume with their independent controls. This opens the amp up sonically and makes it much more sensitive to playing dynamics. This is a LOUD combo! With the ability to connect an external speaker cab this amp has the potential to knock down walls. The EL-84’s may look small, but they pack a wallop! OVERALL OPINION My favorite thing about the Classic 50 is its portability. While it is a heavy 2x12 combo, it’s far easier to grab this than a head and a 2x12 cabinet. The tone and reliability of the amp also outweigh any lighter competitors. For the price the Classic 50 is hard to beat. In my mind this was going to be an inexpensive combo to hold me over until I could afford another head and cab after selling my last rig to cover some personal expenses. That was over 4 years ago. I ended up being VERY content with the amp and it has performed well beyond my expectations. Is it EXACTLY what I want/need? No, but it is an excellent amp for the money and deserves far more recognition than it receives.

The Peavey Ultra Plus is a 3 channel, 120 watt tube amplifier. It's considered the precursor to the Triple X and the Joe Satriani JSX lines of amps. The amp is powered by the fairly standard compliment of 12AX7s in the preamp section and 6L6s in the power section. There is also an effects loop and a reverb on the head, as well as a full/half power switch and a three position Resonance switch for a tighter or looser feel. There are three channels on the amp: Clean, Crunch, and Ultra. They are each footswitchable as well. Each channel has its own gain and volume control, and they all share the same set of standard bass, middle and treble controls. It can be somewhat difficult to dial in each channel with only one shared EQ, but once it's dialed in it was pretty killer. I haven't used the effects loop enough to comment on it. The reverb was nice... not too cavernous but also audible enough that you could hear it easily. All in all I felt that it was very well laid out amp and its modern voicing contrasted nicely to my Mesa Boogie Mark III head that I ran in stereo with it. (The amp also has a really funky logo that lights up and changes colours depending on the channel you're on. Green is clean, Orange is crunch, and Red is ultra. How cool is that?) UTILIZATION As far as the amp's setup, It was fairly simple to do. The channels are laid out very simply. The clean was, well... clean. The crunch channel was akin to more of a Marshall-y vibe... think classic L.A rock gunslinger tone, very brown. The ultra channel was the highest gain of the three channels and it was kind of like the supersaturated modern tone that so many bands used in the late nineties and early in the 2000's. I found it to be a little bit tighter sounding than the Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, but a different, more restrained voicing when compared to the 5150/5150II. I'd say the biggest hurdle I had with the initial setup was getting each channel to work with the shared equalization controls. The amp naturally had a fair bit of high end in the distortion channels... so I would turn down the treble, but it made the cleans then rather dark. In the end I had to compromise with slightly brighter distortion tones than I would've liked just to make the cleans have some sparkle... but all in all I was happy enough with the tones. I found that the rig took to humbuckers better than single coils, so that's what I'm basing my tonal opinions off of. SOUNDS When I had the Ultra Plus head, I was using it with either a Basson 2x12 or an old Traynor 2x12. Guitar wise I had a Parker Fly Deluxe, a Warmoth Telecaster with DiMarzio Twang Kings and an eighties Yamaha RGX 612a with stock active electronics. Here's a breakdown of how I found each channel with my main rig (Parker Fly, U+, and the Basson cabinet): Clean - Fairly neutral sounding channel. It had a bit of sparkle to it as you turned the treble up, but overall I didn't find it to be quite that remarkable. I'd say it was somewhat scooped in nature, so it lacked a bit of that midrange texture that I find so great. It sounded decent when I added in a bit of reverb... but most things generally do, so... Crunch - I liked this channel quite a bit. It reminded me a lot of that classic L.A rock sound. Very biting and articulate and great for the Van Halen/Dokken/Loudness type of vibe. I found it to be best in the "loose" resonance setting which made it react more like a British amp. If you tightened up the Resonance and added a bit more gain I found that the channel worked fairly well for modern tones as well... just with a slightly more vintage flavour. Ultra - This was definitely my favourite channel on the amp. It was extremely good for high gain riffage and soloing, but it was also quite dynamic and worked really well when I would roll my guitar volume back. The only caveat is that it sounded a bit too compressed when I had it in the tightest Resonance setting, but otherwise I quite enjoyed this channel. It was great for dropped D type stuff as well as a bunch of modern lead based passages. It compared very favourably to my Mesa Mark III as well... the pair of them made a very nice contrast! OVERALL OPINION Overall I feel like the Ultra Plus a killer value for the money. I think they're an extremely cool and underrated amp that are overshadowed next to the 5150s. The dirty tones were really cool, very modern and crunchy... and the Resonance switch allowed me to go from more of a classic voicing to modern. Like I said prior, the amp sounded killer in tandem with my Mesa Mark III head. The Mesa was more of a smooth, lead based voicing, so I set up the Ultra plus for more chunk and saturation... and the two of them blended together quite nicely. They're a real sleeper amp that can usually be had for under $400 if you look... I paid $300 for mine and I felt it was worth every penny. If you're looking for a well built, durable alternative to something like a 5150 or Dual Rec for high gains... give the Ultra Plus a shot for sure! (For those interested, I did a video demo comparing the two amps a while back which can be seen here:) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFw7U1PzIN8