Peavey Classic 50/212 (Discontinued)

This is basically the same amp as the 30 watt version only in a higher wattage which is 50 watts and an extra 12 inch speaker. All the same features and tone are there. However, you will get a slightly different change in the headroom since there are 20 extra watts and another speaker which will drive more air.


Peavey Classic 50/212 Combo Amp Features:

50 watts (rms) into 16 or 8 ohms
Fan cooled
Four EL84s and three 12AX7s
2-channel preamp
Normal and bright inputs
Pre- and post-gain controls on lead channel
Active presence control
3-band passive EQ (bass, middle, treble)
Master volume control
Standby switch
Reverb level control
Effects loop
External speaker capability
Footswitch selectable channel switching and reverb
Classic tweed covering material
Chrome-plated chassis

UTILIZATION

Details
Type Tube
Number of Channels 2
Power 50W
Speakers 2 x 12" Blue Marvel
No Effects
Reverb
EQ Bass, Middle, Treble
No Amp Modeling
Preamp Tubes 3 x 12AX7
Power Tubes 4 x EL84
Inputs 1 x Instrument
No Outputs
Footswitch I/O
Effects Loop
Height 21.5" (packed)
Width 27.62" (packed)
Depth 12.62" (packed)
Weight 59.6 lbs.

SOUNDS

The tone from this amp is not really my cup of tea. The is geared toward the classic rock player who needs a good Fender tweed style amp, but wants more versatility. The amp is versatile for that kid of player. Having the boost switch is stretching in terms of classic Fender style EQing. Also having another channel is going to be a bit much for some old guys who this amp is marketed towards. However, if you need that versatility and the price is an issue then this would be a good amp.

The clean tone is a pretty decent clean tone. You can crank the volume up more and it will get a mild overdrive tone. When you engage channel two there you will get some good distortion much like a tubescreamer would get in front of an already overdriven Fender classic amp.

OVERALL OPINION

For me this isn't my favorite amp from Peavey, but it is a decent amp. At new these amps come in at around $880. Not a bad price for two channel tweed deluxe style amplifier. You will get a very usable clean tone and a solid distortion tone fit for classic rock, country, and pop music.

I would recommend this amp to anyone who needs a good two channel tweed amp and doesn't want to spend too much to get it. This is a good amp that will give you solid creamy rich classic rock tones all day long.

The Peavey Classic 50 is one of the flagship models of Peavey's venerable Classic line of amps. The 50w model is a 2 channel amplifier that is powered by EL84 power tubes. It has two Peavey Blue Marvel speakers as stock and as the name implies, it delivers 50 watts of tube power.

The amp itself has two channels, a clean and a drive channel. The layout is set up like many Peavey amps. The clean channel has a "Normal" volume control, whereas the drive channel has "Pre" (gain) and "Post" (volume) controls. Basically, in simple terms, your clean channel has a volume control, and your drive channel has separate gain and volume controls. There is a single set of bass, middle, treble, and presence controls for your equalization, and to top it off, the amp has a reverb and a master volume to control the overall level being produced by the amp.

The amp also has a decent series effects loop which works well for running delays or other time based effects that may be used. All in all, the features of this amp are fairly typical for an amp such as this, but they just work, simply, and effectively.

UTILIZATION

Because of the fairly simple control layout, I had very little trouble with dialing in a tone that I could use and was happy with (especially compared to my previous amplifier). The amp's nature is supposed to be that of a "workhorse" or "catch all" sort of amp that can play most styles fairly well, and it certainly does live up to the name. The clean channel reacted very well for more country or blues tinged stuff, and it would get a bit of that throaty blues tone when I hit that channel with an overdrive unit. The drive channel reacted much the same way, going from clean to mean with use of the gain and volume controls, as well as the volume and tone controls on my guitar. I had especially good results with my Gibson Les Paul Junior USA straight into the CL-50 for a very straight up, seventies/early eighties hard rock tone that fit my band at the time very well.

The biggest issue I had with the amp was that the tubes were old and it was grimy and dirty, so I partly have to wonder if it could have sounded BETTER, but such is life. I didn't have it long enough to invest in new preamp or power tubes, but as it was it had a great tone, just much quieter than I expected for a 50w amp.



SOUNDS

When I owned/used this amp, my rig was a pair of USA Gibson LPs (Traditional Plus and a Junior), and a USA Peavey Wolfgang archtop. I was using it primarily for rock based stuff at the time, though I did put it through its paces in cleaner settings for jazz, blues and country type things.

The clean channel is a very typical sounding clean to my ears. Fairly bright and responsive to fast passages. It was obviously designed to excel at country (not surprising given Hartley Peavey's musical interests) and it does a bang up job there. Jazzier tones were also easy to get by using the neck pickup on the guitar and rolling the treble back on the amp (or tone on the guitar, whichever works). Also like I stated earlier on in the review, you can get a nice Texas sort of raunch by hitting the front end of the clean channel with a boost (I had great results with a modified BOSS Super Overdrive as well as a BOSS FDR1).

The drive channel is more British voiced than you might expect from a Peavey amp that looks and feels so American. The amp is powered by EL84 power tubes and this channel is where you really start to hear their voice come through. Though the amp doesn't have a whole lot of gain on tap (I found myself maximizing the gain control for the majority of music I'd play), when you turn it up there's a wonderful British raunch. Hitting the front with a boost such as the aforementioned BOSS SD1 kicked it into that snarling tone used by the heavy hitters of the eighties and beyond.

The only caveat I really had with the tones (other than the lack of gain on tap) was the fact that the Blue Marvel speakers sounded fairly closed and one dimensional at lower volumes. I prefer a more open sounding speaker and the Blue Marvels just did not hit the mark for me enough to enjoy the amp fully.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all I think Peavey's got a really underrated gem in their crown with the Classic line. Most people seem to scoff at these as being very basic and simple amps and pass them up. This may be true but in reality, they are easy to dial in, very versatile, and sound great. A killer thing about Peavey as well is their reliability, so you know you'll get a good amp that will last a while when you grab one of these. Mine had lived a hard life before I got it and was a bit rough around the edges, but despite this (and the old, probably stock power tubes) it continued to work and sound great. I'm sure if I had put more $$$ into it to replace the tubes and speaker it would have sounded much better, but as it was I enjoyed it. The main reason I traded it was because I needed something with more gain on tap for the hard rock project I was in at the time, so it and my archtop Wolfgang went in separate trades and I went with the prerequisite "eighties" rig of a pair of older Ibanez 540R and RG550 guitars and a Mesa Boogie rackmount rig.

Specification Detail
Type Tube
Number of Channels 2
Power 50W
Speakers 2 x 12" Blue Marvel
Effects No Effects
Reverb Yes
EQ Bass, Middle, Treble
Amp Modeling No Amp Modeling
Number of Models 0
Number of Tubes 7
Preamp Tubes 3 x 12AX7
Power Tubes 4 x EL84
Inputs 1 x Instrument
Outputs No Outputs
Footswitch I/O Yes
Effects Loop Yes
Manufacturer Part Number 583170

UTILIZATION

Pretty simple amp, although it does have some cool features, really works like an old vox or marshall still, good and simple, yet enough control to make it versatile.

SOUNDS

I mainly use a les paul and a strat with this.
Clean:

The clean on this amp, is. well, passable. nothing amazing, but you can coax some marshall round clean tones out of it. It also does an okay voxy thing if you tweak it right (treble super high and the mids scooped slightly)

Overdrive: great crunch sounds here, very marshally. tons of clarity in the mids and if you push it hard it has great early AC/DC sounds. it gets pretty heavy (Hair Metal tones) like ratt and Bon jovi. if you want anything super heavy you may want to look elsewhere though, it can do it with a boost, but its not ideal by any means. if you want great crunch and medium high gain though this is hard to beat, it really sounds great and if you change the speaker it gets even better, this thing LOVES greenbacks and V30s and I highly recommend changing the speaker out, it helps with the clarity issues that are there and can really make this amp shine.

OVERALL OPINION

For a smallish gigging amp I highly recommend it, although I think it is a little bit overpriced if you buy it new, I do highly suggest it used and if you have the money a tube and speaker change can really help it out.

overall I say go for it for pretty much any vintage rock tone.