Peavey ValveKing 112

I used the Peavey ValveKing 112 about 8 months ago. Was not real sure if this was the amp for me, but I read the other reviews both here and on other sites. Tone is a very personal thing as we all know. I tried it in the store, but in my setting and my ax it is always going to different. Got to say right out of the box with all the presets the ValveKing 112 will ROCK your socks off. Now down load the Peavey Edit program and your off. Anything you can think or feel is at your finger tips.

UTILIZATION

It does take a bit of learning to use the program to set your tone, but in the end it so worth it however the dials are easy to use and can do the same thing. All this is great till you get the chance. Get the break and take it on stage. Will it keep up with the tube amps? YES. I made it out of the garage and joined a classic rock cover band around Atlanta.."It's all Relative"..and let me tell everyone first hand this amp will easly keep up with a full band. VOX AC30 with a 4 x 10 cab, double bass stack and drums now throw in the keyboard.

SOUNDS

The Valve King 112 can lead it all and blast out there or mellow out and have a good time in the background. Your Choise all with a clean clear tone or as much grundge as you like. Got to have at least the MK II foot board even if you can only use 4 presets. I even use the ValveKing with my Acoustic/electric, just have to set one preset with a lower gain and your off. Sound is great once you get it dialed in. So here you have an amp that can hang with the big boys on the stage or at home.

OVERALL OPINION

Overall, very happy with the sound, i recommend this to anyone!

The Peavey ValveKing 1x12 is designed to be a "boutique" style combo amplifier on a budget, and it certainly does that. The features are as follows:

*Two channels - clean and drive
*Separate equalization controls for each channel (bass, middle, and treble)
*Onboard spring reverb
*Resonance switch (for a tighter or looser feel to the amp)
*Series effects loop
*50 watts of power, delivered by a pair of 6L6GC power tubes

The amp also features a "bright" mode on the clean channel, allowing more top end frequencies to come through. The drive channel features a gain boost as well as a volume boost. These controls are activated by push buttons on the front panel or you can buy the matching footswitch to control them. The last really cool feature that this amp has is a dial on the back that allows you to go from full Class A operation (warmer, more vintage tone) to full Class A/B (louder, more focused tone) or anywhere in between. It is nice because it gets one step closer to the true "boutique" feel of those high dollar channel switching amps used by the pros!

UTILIZATION

What is great about Peavey amplifiers I find is their ease of use. I purchased this amp brand new out of a box and took it right home. Right away I was able to dial in tones that were to my liking, and worked in both home jamming as well as band settings. I used the amp for many different styles in various rock, blues, jazz, and shred/metal projects all with great ease.

The channels are laid out very simply, and there is no guesswork to what the various controls and functions do. The clean channel is very clean, great for softer styles, but also versatile enough to go from country to jazz simply by using the guitar's volume/tone knobs or the EQ on the amp. The drive channel is the same way. I was able to go from AC/DC or Led Zeppelin style classic tones to Yngwie esque shred tones with ease and all the while the amp sounded great and performed flawlessly!

SOUNDS

When I had this amplifier, my main guitars were a Parker Fly Deluxe USA, an AllParts/WD Music Strat with DiMarzio HS-3 pickups, as well as various Yamaha electrics. When I bought the amp, I was using a Yamaha DG-60 combo and wanted a proper tube amplifier to get a step closer to the sounds I was hearing in my head. As I stated above, the channels are very versatile, and there are lots of sounds to be had within.

The clean channel is a great, almost Fenderlike clean. Using a darker setting with the EQ and the bright switch disengaged yielded a wonderful jazzy texture that worked very well for the Latin band I was playing with at the time. However, I was able to switch the bright mode on and dial in a bit more treble and, using a single coil, get a killer sound for chicken pickin'. This was especially effective on my Parker Fly, which has a coil tap function, so I was able to go from darker to brighter with great ease. I should also mention that this clean channel sounded great with the piezo (acoustic) pickup on the guitar... very natural and uncompressed.

The drive channel was easily my favourite feature of the amp. Even after purchasing a Mesa Boogie Mark III head and Basson Sound B212 cabinet a year later to upgrade, I kept the VK112 around for a few months to A/B the two. While the ValveKing did sound noticeably thinner (due to the single 12") I still was able to get very smooth, Boogie esque lead tones from this channel. I often used the amp in conjunction with various modified overdrive units and preamps custom built for me, but there were times that I would leave the pedalboard at home and plug straight in. I never was disappointed with the drive tones from this amp. Like the clean channel, I was able to dial in many different stylistic tones from vintage to modern. The onboard gain boost was very useful when I would venture into metal territory (though the amp is not designed to have endless amounts of saturation... the drive channel is more of a singing "vocal" tone.) and the volume boost was nice as well, though I didn't buy a footswitch for the amp so I couldn't use it effectively.

It is definitely a great sounding amp no matter how you slice it. It sounded equally decent with humbuckers or single coils I found. I found myself using 100% Class A mode for a more vocal esque tone unless I needed a bit more punch, in which case I would dial it over to Class A/B mode.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all I was extremely impressed with this amplifier. For the $450 I paid for it, it delivered a whole wealth of great tones and voices. Though some of the stock pieces (tubes and speaker) were obviously weak points to an extent, they didn't really detract from the tone, and I really enjoyed this amp for the year or so that I owned/used it. Peavey gear has been something I have used an abundance of over the years and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this amplifier to anyone looking for a great tube amplifier on a reasonable budget. It's not going to have enough chugging gain for modern metalists without a boost, but for those seeking something as a versatile, vocal sounding amplifier, look no further than the Peavey ValveKing!

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 112 Combo Features:

* 50 watts (rms) into 16 ohms
* Two 6L6GC and three 12AX7 tubes
* Two independent footswitchable channels
* Separate EQ for each channel
* Footswitchable gain/volume boost on lead channel
* External speaker capability
* 12-inch ValveKing speaker
* Reverb with level control
* Buffered effects loop
* Resonance switch for "tight or loose" cabinet response
* New TEXTURE™ variable Class A simulation control (patent pending)

UTILIZATION

Details
Type Tube
Number of Channels 2
Power 50W
Speakers 1 x 12" ValveKing
Effects No
Reverb Yes
EQ Bass, Middle, Treble
Amp Modeling No Amp Modeling
Number of Models 0
Number of Tubes 5
Preamp Tubes 3 x 12 AX7
Power Tubes 2 x 6L6GC
Inputs 2 x Instrument
Outputs 1 x Speaker
Footswitch I/O Yes
Effects Loop Yes

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 $400, 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.

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.

Oops, erreur.cet notice is for the 212 and not the 112 !!!!!

t said anything adj
missing perhaps a line output

USE

Super simple, I try the plug-and-play and is the cas.pour my zic style, 3 sound enough.

SONORITS

For rock is bon.le its clear aime.faut is hot as I say that I spend the hybrid to the all-lamps ...
the boost is a more apprciable for virtually have a 3rd channel.
the other guitarist plays on Hot-Rod with a Les Paul, and now I pierce the mix without pb, which n'tait not the case with my hybrid amp 100W ...
I play on a 93 std roxanne with mini-humbuckers Di-Marzio

NOTICE GLOBAL

Less than 600 euros in store, pedal offered, 5 year warranty: very good quality-price ratio.
has not perhaps not worth the 2000 amps but to do good large single rock, I was going very well.
on the other hand, it is heavy cow !!! I'll probably install grips on the side