Peavey Classic 212

I bought this Peavey VT Series Classic 212 new in 1980 for 200.00. It came with a 4 button footswitch: Cannel, Combiner, Reverb, Phase Shifter. 2 channels: bright and normal, normal having pre and post gains. 2 6L6 tubes, solid state preamp. 2 Peavey cheapie speakers.
Used it onstage for 25 yrs with no problems ever, playing rock, blues and country with a few lounge type jobs too.

The sound is awsomely classic tube. I replaced the speakers in 1987 with 8 ohm Pyle drivers and wired them for 4 ohm load, then moved the speaker plug to the 4 ohm output. WOW!!! Super effortless long sustain and perfectly controlled feedback. A 50 watt tube amp running almost wide open is the stuff! I dont use my 120 watt Carvin all tube anymore. It was too loud for clubs when you turned it up to get the sound you needed. I use a '79 Bullet headstock Strat and a '67 Les Paul Custom.

Never broke down until I moved and stuffed too much stuff into the back. I didnt see that I knocked the wires off one of the speakers and they were touching. When I fired it up I cooked the output transformer due to the speaker wires shorting together. I WAS SICK!

Peavey wasnt any help. I found a local store that has a Transformer for 189.00. I would install it myself. Right now I dont have it and I dont play anymore due to arthritis in my hands and elbows. I would give anything to have this amp back up and running. I still do a guest performance and ocaisional benift now and then and I have to use my Carvin or Bandit. They're not the same.

Been Playing for 30 yrs. Id buy this amp again, but can you find one. Will I have the money? I hate nothing about this amp except I damaged it accidently.

Have no clue what year it was made. I know it is Black and HEAVY. 2 BW speakers, solid state pre-amp and 2 tube power amp. This amp was sweet when I bought it ($180 including tax at a pawn shop). I had always shied away from Peavey equipment because all of the guitar magazines had brainwashed me to believe that if it wasn't Marshall, Fender, Matchless, Vox< etc...it was crap. I now have a Peavey Rockmaster pre-amp and a rackmount Chandler Tube Driver I have wired up to be able to switch between (and add them together!!) and only use the poweramp section of this combo. Now, this thing can absolutely smoke any rig I have ever listened to in person. Taking the solid state pre-amp out of the equation was like taking ear plugs out of my ears....and the solid state preamp wasn't even that bad.

On it's own, I am giving it an eight simply because it is pretty typical of a good combo amp. Nothing spectacular about it, but nothing lacking as well.

I use a real American Standard Strat and a couple of Epiphones (les paul/dot). Sounds great with all three. I use a little compression at the front of my signal chain (well, Wah>compression>"custom" switch), I have 3 different rack effects units patched in (Alesis MidiVerb, Digitech DSP 5, and Peavey Profex II) for spatial effects like reverbs, choruses, flangers, etc. I currently have no need for additional distortions. I play a little of everything and this setup delivers. Again, going all glass has helped me tremendously, but it worked well for me even before.

Then 9 is based on the fact that nothing is perfect and my current "custom" (it's custom because i customized it an am probably the only one using it this way)setup. On it's own it is a 7 for me.

Built like a tank. I have purchased replacement tubes for the amp and for the tube preamps I use. Don't expect to ever have to use them, but seemingly they are the only vulnerable points on the amp. i don't recommend using any amp without a backup, but i do (do as i say do not as i do).

Awesome. Peavey owed me nothing! Only God knows how many have owned this amp and how many gigs, smokey bars, spilled beers and drug busts this amp had been through before I ever got it. It didn't come with a footswitch and I wanted one at first. Emailed them and was informed they didn't make a replacement for it anymore and that it used a special connector that i would probably never find. However thay sent me detailed schematics on how to modify the switch port and how to wire my own switch pedal with "off the shelf" parts. Worked nicely.

I have been playing for 20 years.

If it were lost/stolen i would cry...and then weigh my options. Can't swear I would definately buy another one...but anything else I consider would be compared heavily to it.

I love the sweet tone and I hate the weight.

Bought it cause it was in my price range at the time (cheap) and it sounded great.

I wish it had wheels (too lazy to add them....but I'll build switches all day long...go figure).

Oh, yeah...always carry extra fuses...haven't lost one yet but who knows.

A newer one made in 2000 or later. Two channels, two imputs, normal and bright. Not 6l6 tubes like in the older models but el 84's.

The classic is musical at any volume, no headaches or earaches. It actually excells the more its pushed with a little compression and nice clipping. I like edge of overdrive sounds and use no distortion pedal, none is needed with the classic. I play as many amps as I could and for the less than a grand price its very hard to beat.

Owned the amp for three years with no problem

peavey is good to work with

I play all original music and the classic has its own voice so Im more than happy with it. Its hard to compare it with other products because it all depends what your looking for but if you want a amp that is responsive, has a great overdrive and the power to move at high volumes consider the classic.

I just got this amp used for $180 from a friend, I sent the serial number into Peavey customer support, so I hope to find out the year the amp was made. The amp has good sound for indie rock/hardcore music, which is what my band plays. I use a pedal board with a EH Big Muff, Boss PS-5, EH Pulsar, Dunlop Wah, MXR Phase 90, Rocktron Chorus and Boss DD-3 and the amp handles the pedals well. It has 2 channels (bright & normal), 4 inputs total. No channel switching, not EL or Headphone jack. I wish it had those features, like my Traynor YCV40WR, but the sound is unique and the price was right. I use this amp for small clubs and it has the power to handle it. The tube power is pretty good!

It sounds great to me. I use a vintage Epiphone Emperor with Gibson '57 Classic humbuckers and a Bigsby and it sounds great with that guitar and the pedals. it sounds great for indie rock/hardcore music. it is very quiet on all settings, no noise that you don't want. the amp sounds fantastic with my guitar. I have tried fender guitars with it (telecaster and strat) and i did NOT like the tone.... way to much treble. but with the epiphone hollow body it sounds think and i really dig it. like a tube amp the more you crank it the more the sound distorts, i think it breaks up nicely, its a very blues/country sounding distortion, which is why I use the big muff.

so far this amp is ver reliable and has been for many years

I sent Peavey an email about the year and a manual... i expect a reply within a few days.

I have been playing guitar and gigging for the past 10+ years. my other amp is a Traynor YCV40WR and I really like both amps, each has its own unique sound. if it was stolen i would collect my insurance on it and most likely not replace it, it was a good deal that i couldn't pass on, but i like my traynor so much i would just use that amp (which i would replace).
i really like how easy the amp is to use, the reverb sounds awesome, the tone is fantastic, i wish it had come with a footswitch (it has a jack) but for $180 you cant be picky. i really like the amp and would say if you come across one its worth the cash!! Peavey did a nice job on this amp.

well this tank was made in 1979 in meridian,Miss,its the classic 212 with the black widow speakers,4 channel footswitch,i play mainly classic rock,blues,folk,metal,its held up for 28 years,built in reverb,pahser,4 inputs,option of 4ohm or 8,this anchent amphas played many gigs ,very powefull,its overrode a marchall half stack,:}
but last night i blew the poewer tranformer and am unable to find another,if anyone could help me bring back a peice of art back into the music population would be great sherritt_526@hotmail.com

sound quality well depends on the style its a tube amp from 79,a cheaper one at the time i might add,its a very warm sounding amp with and old crunch,but i still am using the origional black widow 12's

well i cant blam its for getting smoked,litterally its been used hard for 28 years,and am trying to keep going for another 30

well i emailed peavey,trying to get athat new part,havnt been contacted yet,i amagine it will cost about 300 bucks

been playing for ever,i have a 72 les paul custom,86 jackson,03 epi SG vintage series,just the peavey amp,boss me-50 pedal,crybaby,and an hagged out el dagas acoustic,plays horid-sounds amazing

"The Classic", 50 watts, two 12" square magnet Eminence speakers, two 6L6 power tubes, solid state preamp, tweed. Bought used. Original everything except the tubes. According to the helpful folks at Peavey, who answered an e-mail in less than 24 hours, made in either 1973 or 1974.

As far as features go, it is what it is. Nothing fancy. Two "Bright" inputs, two "Normal" inputs, bass, mid, and treble knobs, a knob for reverb, and two knobs for tremolo. The bright inputs supposedly boost treble and bass a bit at higher volumes, the normals supposedly keep the response flat, but when it's cranked up there is no real difference between the two.

Each channel has its own "Volume" knob that is really more like a gain/overdrive control. The overall loudness is controlled via a "Master" volume knob. No effects loop, no headphone jack. Has inputs on the back for a footswitch and an external speaker.

Is the amp versatile enough for the music I play? Yes. I play in a 60s-80s rock n roll cover band. We play small-medium sized clubs and occasional outdoor venues. No problem so far. I use the gain sparingly. I've found it's best loud and clean, and add just and little drips and drops of distortion as needed with pedals. This amp handles it all.

Does it have enough power? So far yes. The only place I needed more was at outdoor gig in the middle of nowhere. We mic'd it through the PA and it worked fine.

It's just a good, loud, clear amp, that doesn't have a lot of frills, so I'll give it a 7 in the feature category.

What kind of sounds can this amp make? How much variety? Is it noisy?
This amp is 30+ years old and DEAD QUIET. No hiss, no hum, no pops, no crackle, nothing. Unbelievable. I do not know if this is typical of old Peavey amps, but... sweet. As mentioned above, it is at its best loud and clean. With the gain turned down the amp stays clean until about 7 or 8 on the Master volume setting (this is EXTREMELY loud). With just a touch of gain it gets a nice gritty little edge to it - perfect early 70's tone. The distortion at full gain is not brutal, in fact, it's a little thin. Clean is what this amp is all about.

I use this amp with a American Deluxe Strat. This amp seems more sensitive to the guitar's tone and pickup settings than my Fender Hot Rod Deville. It really does an amazing job at bringing out nuances between the various pickup combinations. Tone setting "4" on the bridge pickup actually sounds different that tone setting "6" played through this amp. Very articulate. The amp seems to open the guitar up, let it breathe, if that makes sense. Maybe it's those old Eminence speakers. The Fender sound is a little denser. The amp is sensitive to pick attack too. I love this thing.

Can I depend on it? Yes, I can and I do. It is solid and dependable. But I would never gig with an amp this old without a backup. You just never know.

When I first bought the amp I wrote to Peavey, gave them the serial number and asked if they could tell me when it was made, and maybe get me a manual. They got back to me instantly. That rates a 10 easy.

Been playing 20+ years. Own lots of other stuff. If it were lost or stolen I would be sad. I would try to find another one like it, but old ones like this in good condition are not that easy to find. I appreciate it for its simplicity. Two 6L6 power tubes, that it, but so sweet. Less is more sometimes.

Well, let's see how to start this. I'm an old rock & roller from the late 60s, since then got into country, blues, etc.. Stopped playing in clubs except on rare occasions in the mid 70's. Since then, I've played mainly in churches and jamming with friends. In '83 I bought my Classic from the brother of a guy that used to play in my band. He was young at the time and they were into Ozzie, etc. He pushed the amp to the limits often. Anyway, I bought it from him. When I got it, the vinyl had been removed from the cabinet and the aluminum strips on the grill were missing. They had sanded the cabinet and varnished it so it was woodgrain finished. I gave it a good cleaning and used it like that well into the 90's. At some point, the speakers gave it up. I had a Bassman cabinet, so I took the Classic apart, cut the cabinet down and made a head out of it and used it with the Bassman cabinet. I changed cabinets a couple times with it, lately had it running into a couple small PA columns (two 12's in each column). Up until last fall, I had a '69 Fender Telecaster I bought used in '72. We have some other guitars in the household, so I've played several different instruments through the Classic. I just bought a Gretsch Duo Jet a couple weeks ago which is my main guitar now.

I know this part is supposed to be about features, so I'll do that now. This one is the model with tremolo, which I rarely use. I do use the reverb and love the old school sound of it. Not that canned, manufactured with bits and bytes, artificial reverb like you get from pedals or in more modern amps. The term "presence" comes to mind when I hear it, it's just there, full and alluring. For an amp this age, the features are as expected, even more with the channel combination routines. I love the distortion I can get from this amp without a single pedal involved except the amp's footswitch.

As already stated, I love the reverb. The tremolo is great, although, as I said, I rarely use it. I also compare this amp to the old blackface Fenders and find it to be even a better sound for my tastes. The range of tones you can get from this amp takes me anywhere I want to go. I haven't played a place yet where it wasn't loud enough, but I'm sure there are plenty of venues where you'd need some assistance. The older I get, the less loud I want it anyway. I remember a drummer years ago (after me telling him to play louder) saying "when you're good, you don't have to play loud". For the record, I turned around and cranked my amp down a notch or two and meekly went back to playing.

Well, the guy that had it before me had almost worn it out, so I thought when I bought it. And 23 years later, I finally had my first electronic problem with it, other than replacing the speakers in it. I'd say it was mildly reliable. :-) (for the record, it's in the shop being fixed. no way I'm going to be without that amp.) I should mention that the two 6L6 tubes in my amp are the same two that were in it when I bought it in '83. The tech checked those first thing and found them to be in excellent condition. I do believe at least one of the tubes was changed before I bought it, though, since they aren't matching tubes. Regardless, they have worked flawlessly for at least 23 years.

I've heard they have a phone number, but have never needed to call them. Their site did have the user manual on it, which I grabbed, just to have. After having this thing for 23 years, I pretty much figured any warranty would be pretty well used up, so I took the unit to a local tech for rejuvination. He should have it back up and running in a few days. We were unable to find a schematic for it anywhere online. I found one place that said they had one, but couldn't determine whether it was the one for this amp or not. There are so many other "Classic" models from Peavey, I didn't want to buy a schematic that I wouldn't have any use for if it was the wrong one, so the tech is going to just shotgun it to get it back going. I have never called Peavey, but their rep amongst musicians is excellent. I would expect to receive prompt, friendly and effective attention from them if I did call.

As I said earlier, I just bought a Gretsch Duo Jet. I love the sounds I can get from the Classic with it. If it were stolen, I'd be pissed. If I could get my hands on the guy that did it, well, it just wouldn't be a pretty sight. If I couldn't find the guy or my amp, I would definitely be in the market for another one. Considering you can pick one of these units up on ebay or in a pawn shop for $200 or less and you can't touch a black faced fender, which doesn't sound as good in the first place in my opinion, this is a steal.

this is for the classic 212 about 1977. this amp has reverb tremolo and ss preamp w/ a pair of 6L6 output tubes. this one has jj tubes.4 inputs @50 watts.
Does it have enough power for you? who really needs a 100 watt amp?

I got this amp off ebay for 175 dollars and has no footswitch to turn off reverb and trem but of course they can be turned off with the standard knobs.when I got this amp two years ago I was using a couple of class a amps and aquired a rivera r-5512 so this amp just set as I did not care for its sound. but got the time in the last few months to change out the speakers and fiddle with it. It now has 1 eminence legend and 1 eminence cannabis rex in it. I have played this amp at all levels in the past few months and it does sound just superb after the speaker change. it now has somewhat of a darker sound to it "much like a darker sounding fender twin" and can get very loud. really brings out the best in my tele and strat which both have
texas special pickups in them. the strat texas specials sound so much better when you lower the pickups btw. this amp has become my go to amp as I just love its sounds with or without reverb. I have always been a fan of tube reverb but now I don't even feel like I need it. peavey did a great job putting this one together and eminence has done a great job of bring out its best.

on a tele or strat for a good overdrive or crunch for chords set the preamp gain on a 1.0clock for a les paul go about 10.00 and set the master at the sound level you are comfortable with.

its a 1977!

you can still get a manual from the prevey website.

I wish I had found one of these a long time ago and saved a bunch of money. I have taken off the ugly siver panels and it just has the black grill and then I painted the classic sign red wite and blue. looks very classy.anyway been playing a long time and have went through a lot of gear. g-a-s I guess but trying to just get down to a few guitars and amps. Clapton and hendrix and other great players found thier sound with a lot less. sometimes we get to chasing gear so much we lose out on the important part of playing guitar because it looks to me like most players are not very sastified with what they have and keep changing until they are lost in what they started out looking for in the first place. I can remember back when I played a guild acoustic for eight years and never even thought about getting another guitar.
then I got into electric music and bought an old gretsch solidbody and a peavey renown amp and they sounded so bad that I started looking and have never stopped to this very day "after having went through" some very fine amps and guitars. if I can't make it with what I have now then I am at a loss to know what will make it better for me. I have been playing for 25 years.

1974 Peavey "Classic". Two channel, 50W combo amplifier with a normal and bright input. Transistor preamp, two 6L6 tubes for the power stage. There is a pre-volume for each input and a master volume. Nice spring reverb tank and a good sounding tremelo circuit that gets very little use cause I have not bothered to figure out how to wire the footswitch, and two 12 inch speakers (Replaced the original speakers with a pair of electrovoice Force 12's). The #1 input is biased hotter than the #2 input. No channel switching, no effects loop. Was a little light on volume before the speaker replacement.

I play blues and rock using either a '76 Stratocaster or a '66 Guild T-100D hollowbody with single coil pickups and I find this amp does just fine, especially for a clean sound with the strat. Sounds really great with the neck pickup on the Guild and the pre and master volumes set for a little more dirt say 6 and 4. with the pre volume at ~8 or 9 the crunch sound gets a bit tinny sounding, probably the transistor preamp dominating the input to the tube power stage.

The eq circuits - bass, mid, treble give plenty of room for adjusting tone, though the bass doesn't really change much above ~3. When the eq is set flat (bass ~5, mid ~5, treble ~5) the middle range is not very pronounced. I usually do not use effects so I will keep the bass and treble flat and boost the mid, then adjust the tone using the guitar tone knobs and volume.

It has a fabulous clean sound, works very well for the full brown sounds I like to hear when playing blues and has decent crunch for rock though it isn't baaad enough for metal with a single coil guitar. I recently got an old 80's era Ibanez les paul type with humbuckers and found a nice full distorted sound with plenty of sustain, plenty for me though again probably not enough for metal

Not a noisy amp, though if I am standing near a television or computer I will certainly hear it.

My only complaint with this amp is that with the original speakers it was not very loud relative to similary powered tube rigs - this failing was much improved by the much more efficient replacement speakers which have increased the usable headroom such that I can put the master volume at 9-10 with the pre at 7 before starting to get any nasty complaints from the amp - the Guild hollowbody will exhibit massive feedback honks long before this level of volume anyway so now volume is not an issue for my playing style and favored guitar.

Very dependable I have had the amp since 1983 and have only needed one major repair due to user abuse - blew the output transformer by inadvertently running the amp with no speaker load. A relatively inexpensive fix accomplished by a local repair shop, I have also replaced the tubes when they begin to become microphonic.

I have no basis for evaluating this having never dealt with Peavey directly. Reputedly very good customer service.

Been a garage rocker and weekend enthusiast for 20 years, have had a few other amps too: Roland cube30, an old 10W RCA radio amplifier inherited from my grandfather's HAM set which actually was a nice sounding rig run through a 10" JBL speaker cab - it had only volume control and pot for biasing the tube.

If it were stolen I am sure I could not find another as this is the only one I have ever seen, probably I would buy one of the new generation Peavey classics - classic30 or classic50

I like the clean sound and the full brown tones, not too happy with the natural distortion at more crunchy settings but then there is always a tube screamer to make that sound. I used to like the relatively light weight, but after the speaker replacement it gained a few pounds, still easy enough to carry around - keeps me fit as the years pass.

I chose this amp as an affordable alternative to the blackface fender twin I was lusting after at the time - over time I found it to have a mellower sound that I actually grew to prefer. Probably not loud enough for a professional but a real nice sounding amp for practice and playing in lower volume group settings

Wishes? tube preamp stage and channel switching would make it perfect.

1978 peavey, 50 watts two 6l6s and two original square back speakers. Two channels, tremolo and overdirve. No headphone jack!It has more than enopugh power to gig and does not need to be ful out to break up. It is very clean, in a warm tubey way.

I use a telecaster deluxe and a les paul. It excels at clean sound and I use a tubescreamer for anything else. i love the tremolo, it is the best I've ever heard. this sat in a closet for 20 years. Excellent tonal response and the speakers are great. They are much more efficient than celestions. I know, I used a 1960 cabinet and the apparent sound pressure level decreased dramatically. So, you may think you prefer celestions, but the stock speakers handle it all and are more efficient.

Original tubes. 37 years old. Nuff said.Oh had to replace on of the feet on the bottom of the cabinet. $1.24.

They are excellent and their gear rocks.

Been playing since this was made. Odd to think I could have bought one and saved $$$$ instead of buying a Marshall JCM 2205, a traynor bassmastrer, a fender chorus, a princeton, a heathkit, a roland jazz chorus, a marshall 2000 etc. This does it alll with a tubescreamer. I'll keep the 1960 marshall cab for old times sake, but never again will lug it around.