Peavey Classic 30

It's got what it's got. Don't we tend to buy the gear with the features we want, not necessarily the gear with the most features? Therefore I'm not offering a judgement on features.

Why did I buy this thing? I guess I read reviews that said it gives a pretty good sound...and it sounded okay in the music store (where it's often pretty hard to get a good handle on how a piece of gear really sounds). And because I'd read so many favorable reviews, I didn't bother to compare it side by side with another amp in the store. I have to say after having it a couple years as my play at home amp, the tone stinks rather badly. Clean or dirty. Also, mine, like many others, has a real problem with the tubes being very microphonic. That's really not excusable (all that growling and snorting when you hit certain notes...sounds haunted!). I just got a Vox ac15 today, brought it home, and sat it next to my Classic 30 for a fair comparison (happen to be using a stock American Stratocaster). The difference between the Classic 30 and the Vox at $600 is night and day. I'm not the guy with the golden ears...I'm amazed by the guys that can pick up on tiny differences in pickups, tubes, woods and so on. Lemme tell you, ANYONE can hear this difference. The Vox sound is so chimey, snappy and lively. The Classic 30 sounds like I took the Vox and laid it forward on its speaker. The sound from the Vox has sparkle and is articulate, while the Peavy sounds like it has blankets on it. The difference between the single pickup setting on a strat and the "in-between" setting on a strat is noticeable on the Peavey, but it's holy cow noticeable on the Vox. I had my wife listen from the other room, and she could easily pick out the Vox over the Peavey, and she's not amp savvy. Okay, so there's just about a 200 dollar diff between the amps, but after doing a living room side by side with these 2 amps, I'm kicking myself for listening to the Peavey for the last couple years. I though about upgrading the speaker, tube, and doing some mods on the circuit board of the Peavey, but I'd wrap a lot of money up in that, and the Vox already has the SOUND. Please don't get me wrong, it's not my intent to talk up the Vox, it's just what I happen to have here for a comparison. My advice: DON'T get the Peavey without putting next to the Vox or similar amp in a room where you can really hear what's going on.

I had no problem with mine other than the nasty microphonic tubes.

I did not have to deal with Peavey. If anyone knows about Peavey correcting the microphonic tube problem, I'd sure like to hear about that, though.

My overall rating on this amp's pretty low. It should either cost a lot less or be a lot better.

Features covered previously. it "works" but could use standby/presence control yadyadayada

Did a review awhile back on the C30....didn't do any of the mods I mused about but I DID put in a Toms Tube Tameer & made a tube guard for the amp Also bought a used Classic 112 E cab equpipped w/a celestion Heritage......WOW! whada difference!....still rely on pedals for distortion, tho I do play around w/the dirty channel @ home sometimes


The extra cab has made an amazing difference for my sound...full w/lottsa headroom.Have been playing a Gibson Blueshawk thru the setup.....hearing tone(s) I never dreamed of....when I wanna crunch & rock out w/an edge I pull out my Fender Tele equipped w/Dimarzio humbuckers.....boss chorus/Ibanez TS9/Ibanez sound tank trem

GREAT tone....figure only other mod I will make is maybe trade out the blue marvel in the amp for a vintage 30

HJad some issues w/tube noise/crackle when I first purchased & re-tubed the amp.....gotta bad bacth of JJ pre-amp tubes......they/my tube amp guy made it right w/fresh set, no probs since

Haven't used them, am really pissed off that Peavey doesn't manufacture the Classic 112E anymore....you gotta hustle to get one on e-bay & they ususally go for @ least $300 including shipping...have seen pristine units go for far more.


No waranty on my stuff, bought ALL used...why buy new when you have to change out the tubes & speaker right @ the get go

Have been playing longer than most people have been breathing (tho "intetmediate" would best descibe my performance abilities)...Switch off between a Gibson Blueshawk & a Dinario equipped Humbucker Tele

Features? what features? we don't need no stinkin features...
Not with tone like this. decided i had to chime in and pledge my alegiance after owning this for a year now. Like a nut I picked up a used 1996 classic 30 for $300 bucks at the local music store. add to the other five amps I have. but something about the tone hooked me. got it home set it up on a short dresser and it didnt have the same tone, till I put it on the ground. It came alive just like in the store. I think the JJ tubes (7 of those little bastards) made this amp. Great clean channel and good reverb is all I need. Pedal board does the rest. Very versatile. ac/dc to eagles, and johnny cash. Probable not for metal heads. you know the type they have the "cookie monster" style singers.

I took back my Lonestar, this amp is much easier to dial in a tone. Lighter and meaner. I use some good pedals. to get classic crunch. tonebone + tubescreamer, I can out "chunk" my dsl marshall, want the blues? go to clean channel throw the neck pickup on the tele and you can get real bluesy, or switch to bridge channel for country twang. instead of boost switch use an eq pedal for a lead boost. Probable the only knock on this amp. i would suggest a danoelectric fish and chips, only $25. Another MUST have.. I bought a tubetamer to stop the tube rattle. best $20 you will ever spend. find the extra money and replace tubes with jj tubes if you dont already have them. No need to replace speaker its fine. If you want extension speaker cab. email or call avatar speakers. One 16 ohm 12in.cabinet.and you'll blow out any drummer only with sweet ass tone. I must confess I am not ashamed of Peavey but I did remove the logo. I know, how shallow of me.

Super reliable. Proud to say I like my things "Made in USA" Oh yea. "F" the B-52Amps and all the other Chinese crap. although I must admit b52amps do sound real good. they just heat up and fall apart. I know.

No need to even call them..

25 years of playing. I had a serious case of gear syndrome before I found the Classic 30. I've stopped the crazyness. If stolen, I wouldn't wait a day till I got on Craigslist, eurotubes,and toms tubetame. I'd have the whole system before the weekend. Overall.
$300 amp,$120 tubes, $20 tubetamer. Small price to pay for happiness. and you'll have enough money left over to get a Boss loop station so you can plug in a rythym and play 30 min leads.I swear i want to spoogie in my pants when i hear this amp.

Mine is an old Classic 30, obviously fairly early in production. Bought it 2nd hand. Looks like it's been to hell and back. Scratches and rust all over but that's fine by me. FX loop, 2 channel, reverb, ext footswitch and ext cab jack. Great to see an amp with a bare minimum of features. Nothing I wish it had and the 30W is plenty of power. Not too heavy. This is a weird question: if it doesn't have many features BUT it's not meant to, does it get a high or a low mark??

Well, as has been covered below, the clean sound is solid gold. I never use the od channel- just pedals through the clean channel. I use it with Fender single coil guitars (strat, tele, Cyclone II and Lead 1 (modded with a single in the neck posn)) and the single coils really shine. We play indie pop but I'd say whatever style of music you play, it's got such a nice clean tone that you just put whatever pedals you want in front of it and it will sound great. I use a bunch of Boss, MXR and Electro-Harmonix pedals and my tone is great. No discernible noise, above what is expected.

I've had it for about 6 months now with no problems. As above, it looks like it's been around the world a couple of hundred times but is still going just fine. I love the beat up look of it. It was re-tubed before I bought it so I can't comment on tube life. No tube rattle. One thing: the other guitarist in my band has one as well and the chrome guard with the knobs on both is really rusty. This may be a design flaw. Also, they get incredibly hot. I've got other tube amps and they don't get anywhere near the temperature this does.

Can't say. Never needed it.

I've been playing for 15 years and have owned a bunch of gear. My other tube amps at the moment are a Fender Super 210 and an old Vase Trendsetter 60 head. As someone else has said, this is a 'go to' amp. it's light, cheap and reliable. You don't worry about it as much as the Vase and won't do your back in like the Fender has. We have band members without cars, so I have to transport them and their gear to rehearsals/gigs, so it just makes sense to take the smaller, lighter amp, especially when it sounds just as good anyway.

Bought brand new in 2007.

You know the features already mentioned. I run it at about volume 3-4 for clean channel. 4-5 pre amp and 4-5 power amp for drive channel. reverb at about 3, bass 6-8, mid 4-7, treble 6-9.

I wish it had a stand by switch. The Peavey 2 button pedal for channel switching and reverb is a joke. Must cost peavey about $2.50 to make it in China and they try to sell it for $100 AUD. There is no light to let you know which channel its on and it feels weak. Also there is an extra boost/lead channel with no foot switch so I never use it. I mean who has time to stroll back to there amp, stop playing and flick the switch by hand. Dumb Peavey Dumb.

This amp sounds great. The clean is almost up with the Fender clean and the distorted is really flexible. I tried Laney (not bad), Fender Hot Rods (clean beautiful and as one reviewer put it the distorted sounds like finger nails down a balckboard.) Marshall (great distortion but ok clean - Having said that I gigged with a Marshal AVT 100 the other day and the clean was quite nice), Vox Valve / Transistor things (clean ok distortions sucks) and few others.

I play some blues, classic rock, and some poppy stuff. I run it with a Roland/Boss ME50 so can dial up sounds from clean fat beautiful tones through to killer distorted metal.

Currently own an Applause Fender (clone) with a Dimarzio Super Distortion S in the bridge (with Single/humbucker switch), a cloney middle pickup and a SD STK-S2 in the neck. And man, on the dimarzio this amp rocks. With the SD its a different sound, fatter and muddier but sound great. I also have a Special Edition KOA strat with SD single coil pickups and the strat sound from the amp is beautiful.

Simply put the peavey sound is really quite good for both Clean and distorted. And this is without any mods.

Now dont get me started. Had it for about 3-4 months. Took me 3-4 months to find it and try it. It started to create cracking sonds when playing about 4 weeks ago. Put it into the shop and just got it back today. They replaced the power supply and some other stuff and the same problem is still there. BOO HOO HOO.. Not fair. I am now getting sick of this.

Seems that when you play it.. and I dont play really loud.. Im to old now. it just starts cracking up producing big pops and bangs like a valve is about to fall out. Not happy Jan.

Dont know but local music store Davis Music is great.

I have been playing off and on for 10 years.. spread over a 30 year period.

Overall it sounds great. Reliability to date. SUCKS !!!! Bang for buck I think this is one of the good amps out there (when it works) but if it comes back still cracking and popping it will end up as a boat anchor. And I will be trying another model or brand.

This is the older tweed model of the classic 30. Features have already ben covered mostly, it's got two channels, 3 band eq, spring reverb, and an effects loop. No standby, no lights on the pedal, it does have a mid boost button( whoop-de-frickin-doo). Not totally all tube, the rectifier is solid state, but sounds great. Plenty loud, why anybody would need more volume is beyond me, I never ever turn it past about 3, even with a post-heavy-metal-deaf-drummer. If you need more, throw a mic in front of it. All in all, a very straight ahead little amp, I'm giving it an 10 cause it covers the bases for me. Does it have all the bells and whistles of some line 6 pos, no. Does it have the features it needs to do exactly what it was intended to do....yes.

For what I do this amp is perfect. I play blues/country/rock/jazz and it sounds sweet. It just sings and I honestly couldn't ask for more. I've wanted to justify buying a Mesa Lonestar Special, but couldn't...(no, the peavey doesn't sound as good, but it only cost $350 used, and the difference is not worth $1000....). It's quiet (once you get the friggin tubes well connected...check on ebay, there's a tube holder that makes a night and day difference, without it there's a rattling crappy sound, with it you get the butta I'm otherwise describing). The distortion is not "brutal", but that's not a word I would ever hope anyone would use to describe my playing either....I'm using it with a custom built tele, a 1951 epiphone archtop, a custom built lap steel, and a custom electric mando. I put a tremolo through the effects loop (Voodoo labs) and run delay and wah/volume in front...it sounds great. Clean is very smooth with nice depth and warmth. The overdrive can be thick sustain leads (not it's high point, but do-able) but has a really nice warm break up that I love

It's a tube amp, so all it takes is one knucklehead to put it out of service. But, if you carry back up tubes I think this thing is amazing. Never a problem (again, once I solved the tubes staying in ). I play it 5-10 hours a week and no issues....it's built like the proverbial brick outhouse, but without bricks and without the hole to crap in....... I would use it without a backup, who has money, time, and space to haul extra amps around?

no idea. This amp is "self-biasing" (not that I couldn't find an amp shop that would have chraged me $50 to slot the tubes in) so as long as you buy matched sets of tubes you should be fine. The nice thing about tube amps is they are a classic design, so people know how to work on them.

I've been playing for 13 years or so, I'm primarily acoustic guy, but this amp got me going on electric. I have a Taylor 414ce, Collings OM3, Yamaha 512, Custom Tele, 1951 Epi arch top, breedlove mando, GD Armstrong custom Mando, etc etc, etc (yes I'm a degenerative addict and there are starving children who die because of my misuse of resources.....)If it were lost or stolen I would pry look for another one, I do really like it. I don't think there's anything close to the price range that gives this kind of tone and portability....if I had more money I would look at the Mesa Lonestar Classic (special? whatever, the lower wattage one). I love the vibe and the sound (the tweed just looks cool) and I pulled the Peavey logo off the front as soon as I got it home (unfortuately Peavey will always be synonymous with butt rock to me). I am a professional musician (by which I mean, I make my livelihood by playing music, not that I am rich and famous). A standby switch would be really nice, and lights on the footpedal (sucks to not know what channel you're on, but I spose that one could use their brain just that little bit to remember....) Friends, use your ears....so much of the industry is about posturing and brand name, but there's a lot of branded gear that sounds like crap, and a lot of gear people don't think twice about that sounds really good.

The features on this amp are acceptable and is easily adaptable to rock, country, even metal. It's got plenty of punch for any small club gig. I've used it at 200 square feet and have had no problems.

The reason I've rated sound quality so low is because this amp is so noisy. The actual sounds that this amp generate are great - good versatility. It plays great for almost any style. But the noise factor is just plain unforgiveable. I've played my custom-shop Strat, Gibson 61 reissue SG, Gibson VOS '59 Les Paul through this amp, with and without stomp boxes. It does not matter what guitar you use, the amp is so noisy (especially when you kick in the "boost channel") that the hum/hiss is so distracting to other members of my band and especially annoying to me that I will not gig with it any longer and I am in the process of trading it in for a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.

Haven't owned it long enough to give an intelligent assessment. But what I can say is that the Classic 30 is solid and built like a brickhouse. I've been playing guitar for over 30 years and have owned an amp this noisy! What a shame, because it's a really nice amp, otherwise.

Never had to deal with customer support

Like i said, I've only played through this amp for a couple of months. I own a Dr. Z Route 66 (best amplifier in the world); a Fender Custom-Shop Vibroverb, and a Marshall combo JCM2000/TSL122. I would not replace the Peavey Classic 30 if it were lost or stolen. As a means of comparison I can only say that it's the smallest amp I own, yet it's the noisiest. It's a shame that Peavey has built an amp that produces such great sounds (great for howling leads, lots of crunch, and great clean sound for rhythm) but will drive you to distraction (it makes me crazy) because of it's noisiness. You have been warned.

This particular amp was purchased in March 2007. This model seems to have undergone many manufacturer changes in recent years. They appear to be listening to user comments. Many of the user mods you read about on the net have been incorporated. I make note of this since older/newer models may be different from the one I own.

This is a popular amp and the features are described elsewhere. The biggest cons are:

1) There is no standby switch which is generally unheard of on tube amps.
2) The foot pedal is cheap plastic and has no lights.
3) The foot pedal switches the drive channel and the reverb. Who ever switches reverb on/off? It should switch the MID Boost.
4) The cabinet is particle board instead of plywood. My only complaint here is that it adds to the weight, all just so the manufacturer can save $1 on each unit.

Since I paid $525 for this new, the CONS are minor. It's not like we're talking a $2000 amp here. It's also a very attractive box.

Sounds quality is where the amp rules. The clean channel is wonderful--especially after you break the speaker in. I play mine for several hours daily and after 3 months, the box took on a sweet sound. Very nice breakup when the volume is turned up to 5 or 6. The drive channel is not bad, but the dirty/distorted sound is quickly lost in the mix. I have had much better results using a good TS808-based overdrive pedal on the clean channel. I also like the tone better after I changed out the SOVTEK EL84 tubes with JJs. Some people suggest changing the speaker, but I think they are nuts. This is a great sounding $500 amp. Change the tubes and break-in the speaker. Plenty of volume. I play with 6 to 7 guys and this amp can cut thru easily. The amp also includes an effects loop which is great for chorus and echo. I occasionally plug it into my 72 Marshall 4x12 cabinet and this amp takes on a whole new and unbelievable tone!

I have recently started to experience annoying tube rattle at low freqs. This is confirmed by grabbing the tubes (with an oven mitt on) to see if the rattle stops. I have a Tom's Tube Tamer on order to solve the problem ($20 on ebay or build your own).

I called Peavey once and reached a real technician on pickup.

This is my daily go-to amp. Also great for hauling to jams since it is small. It is inexpensive, so if it is lost or stolen, it can be replaced easily. Always receive complements on the tone.

Features are basic but good. Too many amps have features, features, features but sound sh*t. This sounds great!!!!! I'm giving it a 9 for guitar sound without effects or 5 channels for nothing.....it is what it is!!!!!

I have 3 amps now...... a Marshall AVT100x (poo!) lots of features all sound crap, Ashdown FA-40 great amp for rock but not metal as the company advertises, and this wild Peavey animal!!! This thing beats them all, it's truly fantastic. Great clean that beats any Fender and i know..... i just sold my fender bassman! I use a BC Rich (USA) Warlock with seymour duncan humbuckers and an ESP Custom Mirage with Gibson Explorer humbucker. This may sound like a strange combination but it really sounds great, i play metal and classic rock and this amp is great with a metal pedal (i use Electro-Harmonix Metal Muff). The overdrive channel is great for things like AC/DC etc, smooth tone etc. but don't expect anything heavy without a pedal it's classic after all. Loud enough to gig? hell yeah unless you're plying in a stadium!!! great for small bars, parties etc. (Beats my marshall on volume and that's 100W)

No opinion

No opinion

I've been playing for 12 years and have owned lots of amps over the years (unfortunately!) Marshall TSL:- Marshalls do what marshalls do....great for classic brit rock but no good for anything else (by this i mean versatility for a good price), Fender Bassman :- Thought it was great until i bought this Peavey..now sold. Mesa Boogie (can't remember the model) maybe more depth in tone than this but look at the price and for the clean i would honestly say the classic 30 is better. This is the best amp i've ever heard ....basic features which sound great and in my opinion that's the most important thing......want features buy a multi-effects pedal and sound digital! want tone buy this!!!!!!!!!

Features have been mentioned plenty. No need to rehash. Could use a standby switch. Plus, it should have come stock with a tube guard. Slackers! I do like that it has an Extension Speaker out.

Great clean side. Stays clean fairly loud without the boost on. Actually, I don't use the boost at all. It does boost the volume, but it adds too much noise. Plus, it's loud enough without it. The dirty side is great! You can zero in on a small amount of grit or full out distortion. Excellent for blues and even rock, but not so much for metal. However, I'm a bluesman and this amp is perfect for the blues.
The guitars I play thru it- 1983 Squier Bullet. This is not the $99 Bullet you find today. In 83, they were made in Japan, with a beautiful maple neck, a truly sweet guitar. This amp and guitar are a perfect match for my ears. I also play a 1979 Fender Stratocaster (autographed by Buddy Guy) and a 68 re-issue pink paisly Fender Telecaster that I bought new in 1985. As of yet, I've really only played the Bullet thru this amp. It sounds that good!

I wouldn't gig with any tube amp without a backup, but this amp does seem reliable. I've had no troubles and have yet to re-tube it. I've read a lot of reviews where users upgrade the speaker and tubes, but honestly, I think it sounds just fine stock.
This past weekend I had an outdoor gig and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to see exactly how well 30 watts and one 12 inch speaker would perform. For outdoors, would it have the power to cut thru the rest of the band? If not, I had my Fender Twin 2/12 100watt waiting in the wings. Wow! I knew this amp would be plenty for any indoor gig, but outdoors it held it's own just fine! I was pleasantly surprised. It had plenty of power, volume, and the tone was still there. Nice.

n/a

I've been playing for 30 years. I play Blues, Rock, Country and Jazz.
My main love is the blues. My other amps are- Fender Twin 2/12, Fender 85 (solid state), Fender Blues Jr. I run a variety of Boss effects pedals- compressor, overdrive, Octave, Delay, Chorus, tuner, Earnie Ball Volume Pedal.
Pair this amp with your favorite Fender guitar and revel in the blues!