Peavey Valveking 112 - Pleasantly Surprised

[KraftyBob]

I bought a non-working Peavey Valveking 112 (original series) to fix and resell. Got it working but it had a bad hum. Turns out there was a batch of these that had a hum problem due to the signal running too close to the power supply in the PCB. Did the mod to break that connection and run a grounded wire away from the power supply. The amp is very quiet now - much quieter than my DSL40C in fact.

Even though this is a fixed bias amp, Peavey did not install a trim pot and used a resistor to bias it on the cold side. This one was at 15ma so I added a trim pot and biased it to 35ma.

I played it at low to moderate volume to test it and thought not bad, could maybe use a speaker upgrade. Then yesterday I was home alone and decided to put some volume to it. That is where this thing shines! It was super tight, great low end which vibrated the floor and the speaker really came to life. If I wasn’t trying to downsize I would seriously consider keeping it. That and I recently bought a Hot Rod DeVille IV to fix and sell and ended up keeping that (not a good business model when you’re trying to make a few bucks on the side lol).

 

[end user]

I put a V30 in the one I had and used it for gigging for a couple years. The surprised look on the faces of sound people and fellow players alike was always pretty satisfying. One sound guy asked me WTF I did to it to make it sound so good. I simply replaced the speaker and jumped the FX loop.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

Peavey has alweays had its surprises.

 

[Adieu]

Valvekings were always cool amp designs with a few too many costs cut (like the speaker)

 

[KraftyBob]

I put a V30 in the one I had and used it for gigging for a couple years. The surprised look on the faces of sound people and fellow players alike was always pretty satisfying. One sound guy asked me WTF I did to it to make it sound so good. I simply replaced the speaker and jumped the FX loop.

I heard something about jumping the fx loop but wasn’t exactly sure what it does. Can you shed some light on that?

 

[KraftyBob]

Valvekings were always cool amp designs with a few too many costs cut (like the speaker)

If I was going to keep it I would swap out the speaker. Physically this thing is built like a tank. PCB design and lack of trim didn’t make sense to me. Still, I ended up really liking it.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

If I was going to keep it I would swap out the speaker. Physically this thing is built like a tank. PCB design and lack of trim didn’t make sense to me. Still, I ended up really liking it.

the old ones were tanks thats why there are so many still around.

 

[end user]

I heard something about jumping the fx loop but wasn’t exactly sure what it does. Can you shed some light on that?

It activates the fx loop buffer which gives the amp more clarity and punch.

 

[end user]

The Valveking first series were some of the most underrated amps ever made. Beautiful clean channel and chunk to brutal on the gain channel. This thread is making me want to procure a VK head. LOL

 

[KraftyBob]

The Valveking first series were some of the most underrated amps ever made. Beautiful clean channel and chunk to brutal on the gain channel. This thread is making me want to procure a VK head. LOL

Lol. I was really surprised how tight this amp is.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

I had an original with a V30. Nice little amp! Sold it for a DSL40C.
Then I finally found one of the new versions. As soon as I took it home, issues. It was quiet and had a break up sorta farty sound as you played hard. Figured tubes. Changed the entire set, tried speaker, looked for leaky caps etc to no avail. Sadly as a non tech, I had to take itto a local service dept. They cannot get parts for Peavey here, period. Tried loop, inpit, etc.
The previous local Peavey dealer even stopped carrying the line because even they could not get parts, period. I sent an email to Peavey head tech at head office to no response.
So I returned it to the seller. The service after means I will never look at another Peavey again. Sadly.
I instead bought a new Mesa Mark V 35 combo. Very compact, awesome little amp.
Sorry Peavey. I liked the product when it worked.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

I had an original with a V30. Nice little amp! Sold it for a DSL40C.
Then I finally found one of the new versions. As soon as I took it home, issues. It was quiet and had a break up sorta farty sound as you played hard. Figured tubes. Changed the entire set, tried speaker, looked for leaky caps etc to no avail. Sadly as a non tech, I had to take itto a local service dept. They cannot get parts for Peavey here, period. Tried loop, inpit, etc.
The previous local Peavey dealer even stopped carrying the line because even they could not get parts, period. I sent an email to Peavey head tech at head office to no response.
So I returned it to the seller. The service after means I will never look at another Peavey again. Sadly.
I instead bought a new Mesa Mark V 35 combo. Very compact, awesome little amp.
Sorry Peavey. I liked the product when it worked.

damn fine trade off though.

 

[KraftyBob]

damn fine trade off though.

My thoughts exactly! That is one bad ass Mesa.

 

[end user]

My thoughts exactly! That is one bad ass Mesa.

Yeah I mean comparing a 200 dollar amp to a 2500 dollar amp is gonna turn out that way. I have a Mark V 90 combo and it's one of the best amps I have ever had but it also weighs as much as a house and has a finicky FX loop.

 

[JacksonCharvelAddict]

After the apocalypse the Cockroaches will all be driving Ford Aerostars and eating twinkies while rocking out with some Peaveys.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

i bet Peavey is responsible helping for more kids getting started than any other amp.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

Yeah I mean comparing a 200 dollar amp to a 2500 dollar amp is gonna turn out that way. I have a Mark V 90 combo and it's one of the best amps I have ever had but it also weighs as much as a house and has a finicky FX loop.

I intially just wanted a cheap little grab n go. The Peavey showed up amd I rememner liking my old one.
But in retrospect, just buy what you really want instead.
The Mark V 35 is the best little grab n go.

 

[KraftyBob]

i bet Peavey is responsible helping for more kids getting started than any other amp.

So true! My first amp was a Peavey backstage 30. Though I never understood why they called it that when it was an 18 watt amp lol. Great little starter amp.

 

[JacksonCharvelAddict]

i bet Peavey is responsible helping for more kids getting started than any other amp.

I started with a little Peavey Rage. Not a bad little amp unless you want to jam with a drummer.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

i bet Peavey is responsible helping for more kids getting started than any other amp.

My buddy in the Whiplash band still has his original Bandit from 80s used it at a practice last week.