Peavey Classic 50/50

I have been using a nice Digitech G300 poweramp for 20yrs. I used the power stage of a B52 AT100 for a bit and realized the great tone of tubes at low volume too. Been changing my rig and wanted the tube dynamics back at practice levels although the Digitech G300 is great loud. I seen one of these 50/50's at a store and went back the next day w/ my preamps to try it out and was blown away at the straight forward tone and brute power! It has been around for 24yrs so I had to get 4 EL 84's (of 8) and a new fan but it's fully restored. Front panel Pres/Resonance are great! I play Metal and classical w/ Distortion and going for an ENGL tone. This has been great for that b/c you can customize it somewhat with the (soft to hard) rating of EL 84 tubes. The B52's 6l6's were too glassy and the sound got lost but the EL 84's (GT's rated at 7) are perfect for what I need. Preserves the tone of preamps very well too! People cut down EL 84's for Metal but the two amps I have had w/ these were very heavy! A/B'ed it w/ some high end amps in the store and it held it's own= (Diamond @ $1700 -EVH III 50w). Pricy to retube though! If in need don't hesitate to grab one of these.

Basic rock and roll, 70's stuff, old school punk, some blues. As long as it has a good rhythmic backbone. I have several guitars, amps, been playing for about 25 years, guitar and bass. Run a sideline guitar repair business out of my shop at home. Have owned and tinkered with a multitude of different amps, guitars, basses, etc. I look at Musician's Friend catalogues as if they were Guitar Porno magazines! Haw, haw! No, seriously I am 45 years old and it's a big part of my life.

I bought it off Ebay for around 400 smackeroonies!

I have owned a lot of Peavey stuff over the years and I have been most impressed with their PA gear, I always thought that it was a good bang for the buck. Unfortunately, I have had some bad experiences with their guitar amps and most of the ones I have heard and owned just didn't really seem to measure up soundwise or qualitywise. I always went back to Marshall, Hiwatt, Orange, Mesa, etc. I bought this one with the attitude that I would give them another chance because the class A design, smalltop-retro-tweed-quasi- mini-Marshall type head cabinet design looked promising, especially with the chickenhead knobs. I remember when I first pulled it out of the shipping box and set it on top of a 4x12 cabinet and plugged my Les Paul into it. After allowing it to warm up a couple of minutes and started fooling with it I just fell in love with the thing. Very versatile amp with not only great clean tones but also a great hard rock sounding growl to it as well. Has clean and lead inputs with a toggle switch to choose between the two. The 4-EL84 3- 12AX7 class A design sounds like no other Peavey guitar amp I have ever heard, it is really warm and natural sounding. This is like a boutique amplifier for a fraction of the price. Absolutely the best bargain on a used amp I have ever made. Most of the Peavey amps I have played thru in the past always seemed to have a really artificial, raspy and buzzy sounding distortion, not this one. In my opinion it is/was the best guitar amp that Peavey has ever made, and that includes the 5150, the Ultra Plus, the Windsor, etc. I recently was told that they have discontinues making just the head and now this amp is available in only combo form. Pity. I would buy two more at that price right now if I could find them.

The cooling fan is a little loud but, I will put up with it for the benefit of keeping the unit cooled down and operationally sound for that many more years. I honestly can't really say anything else negative about it. Peavey kept it simple and got it right this time!

Looks good to me, I have of course seen amps that are built like tanks by comparison but, I don't think I would have a problem taking it to gigs or out on the road at all. I'd probably put it in a roadcase to to be on the safe side.

Best bang for the buck of ANY tube guitar head I have ever purchased and that's no lie. You could easily spend 4 or 5 times what I gave for this head and not have an amp that sounds near this good. Trust me!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Jay's Music Augusta, Georgia $500


I now have 2 Peavey Classic 50s, the head and the 212
combo. I have compared this amp to many others and it is simply better! You
can't beat it for the money. The controls are very straight forward. Dialing
in a desired tone only takes seconds.


There's very little I don't like. I wish it had a
seperate EQ for both channels. That would give more flexability.


All tube 3-12AX7 4-EL84, spring reverb,
two channels, one EQ, master volume,
presence, series effects loop, 3/4" cabinet
very sturday


I bought the head later and a 5150 4x12 cabinet to go
with it! Enough said.
Best amp out there for the money.



This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I got this amp about 10 years ago in Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada for $1200 Canadian.


This amp has tremendous flexibility. It can do honking and wailing rock and roll with the best of them, and it has the headroom and power to blast out clean country licks into a large room. The footswitch selectable channel control gives instant control over drive and clarity.

As with any all tube circuit, the player can modulate the sensitivity of the overdrive with touch control or with the guitar volume. This adds to the control of the overdrive.

Tone controls are useable and simple with a realistic and wide range of sounds available. The unit even looks cool. By removing the "Peavey" logo (2 screws) it cannot be distinguished from a vintage tweed twin reverb from 10 feet.

On top of all this, the long spring reverb tank is wonderful and not "springy" like the
shorter spring units usually found on smaller amps.


The 75 pound weight make it a chore to lug about I recommend adding swivel casters if you are going to be using it on the road. The Ernie Ball units fit well.


Solid and trouble free. I have yet to have a single problem in 10 years of use.


An excellent value. The price has since come down on these, and there is an effects loop built in. I would buy another in a heartbeat if mine ever was stolen.

An excellent all round "do everything" amp. It has all the power I need and the flexibility I could not do without. I plan eventually to get a smaller version of the same series (25 watts or so) for when I don't want to haul the big box, but still need good sound.


This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com