Peavey Classic 30

Twin channel 30 x watt class B valve amp, 1 x 12. The specs are well documented by previous posters.
Mine dates from 2002 and comes in a very rugged tweed covering.
Very loud 30 x watts, more than enough for a small gig.

Very glassy quality clean sounds and very Marshall like on the O/D.
Sounds great with humbuckers and single coil and covers all types of music apart from metal.One of the best value small amps out there.
My only mod was to swap the stock speaker for a Celestion G12 although the standard one is not bad.

Has been thrashed and gigged for 4 x years and never complained once.

Peavey always answer emails promptly.

The Classic 30 is a genuine bargain and a far better amp it's competetors ( Marshall DSL401 etc).Use with an extention cabinet and it's all you will ever need.

My amp was made in '95. Had it for nearly three years. Play lots of styles, R&R, Rockabilly, Country, Blues, Soul, R&B, Classic Rock, Indie, Jazz, Bluegrass

It only has one channel but it is switchable between clean and overdriven - so it is commonly mistakenly advertised as two channels, but that's not a big minus. I bought it mainly for hobby playing - After 2 years of trying it out in various jams, and gigs with my US series Strat, the tone started to sound a bit trebly- then all sorts of weird hissing noises started appearing and I eventually figured out from the Peavey Forum that the output tubes had started to go, so I got a new set of unmatched sovtek EL84s and swapped them around till I found the lineup that had the least hum, (hey - what's a teeny bit of hum on stage?) - the great thing about the amp is there's no finicky tube biasing required - its just a pure and simple swap. I changed all the pre-amp tubes to a GEJAN-5751 in V1 any old WA 12AX7 in V2 and a Sheldon re-issue 12AT7 in V3 (Phase splitter), and I've got a very fenderly sounding machine for my Fender so I don't think I'll be buying any more amps for a long time (I've tried a few other valve amps - Vox AC30 Fender Hot Rods, and boutiquey tube amps - Sheldon, Victoria and they all sound good but) this can't be beat for tone-price. Now to try a few speaker combos - I think some cheap Alnico (Red Fang, Jensen) might be interesting

Once I had re-tubed it with a few different combinations, I found my tone mojo without having to do any internal mods. Withe tube combo mentioned above I get great tone throughout the amp on both 'channels' and the pick-up selector on my Strat actually gives me different voices. So aging tone for $$ is good

Its never done me wrong so far - and I inadvertently ran the internal 8 Ohm (Carvin 100W BR12) speaker off the 16 Ohm tap from the OT for 2 & 1/2 years without doing any damage (that I am aware of) and used it for several loud gigs in that time. (I stuck a disconnected 1/4" Jack Plug into the extn speaker jack to activate the 8 Ohm OT coil tap when I found out that this switches the impedance - just to be on teh safe side). Any problems have turned out to be bad-tube related (so far). So reliability is pretty good

I never had to take it to Peavey for any reason - but the bloogers on teh Peavey website guitar amp forum (including some Peavey Staff and old experience techies) have been very helpful with troubleshooting. Soryy guys, I'd feel disingenuous giving out a perfect score for customer service - to anyone

been playing for 30 years - gave up trying to be 'pro' in 1986, took up amateur gigging again three years with other has-beens as mid-life crisis loomed, now just tryin to make the crisis pan-out for all its worth... so back to the amp - I'd give it 99/100 for value for money, reliability and versatility and (after tube tweaks) tone mojo

already well documented.

good clean sound. can't fault it. dirty channel has a nice broken up chimey sound to it. i also like the dirty channel on low gain at the point where it just about starts to break up. i play a jaguar and it seems to get on quite well with this amp. it even sounds ok on the "boost" setting, which virtually everyone has derided here. it's good for that really thin trebley single coil 60's vox sound. but if you turn the bass all the way up, and have the middle and treble on medium, it can do rock or metal or whatever. well, maybe not metal. but i don't really go there much.

bought it second hand. first off, the power tubes needed replacing. they had started to make this eerie breathing noise. this was fine, and to be expected.

this particular amp cuts out. it only cuts out for a few seconds though. then it comes back to normal. this happens usually when it has warmed up. maybe after 10 mins. maybe after 20. sometimes it doesn't do it at all. sometimes it will do it several times within the course of half an hour. it's very annoying. i've checked the effects loop. you can even plug a loop in, and it will cut out regardless of this. i suppose it could be the speaker connection? i don't know, i'm not an electrician. i've also replaced the preamp tubes, and it still happens.

it's also possible this cutting out has something to do with the reverb. the reverb doesn't work (properly) in my opinion. first of all, it has a hum. the hum could be normal to these amps, i don't know. and it doesn't increase with volume, and isn't really that loud. if you turn the reverb down, the hum goes. what i do know is that you can turn the reverb up full, and it's as if it is only on a very low setting. the other day, it kicked in full and there was lots of reverb. today, i've turned the amp on, and it's back to being really weak. i could live without reverb, but this is also quite annoying.

i'm really dreading taking this to a tech. because the problems aren't that apparent or obvious.

please contact me if you can shed any light on it. thanks

been playing a long time. if this suddenly dissapeared, yeah, i might buy another one. A NEW ONE, that is! not one that's developed faults and been passed onto me as 'perfect' by somebody who i now bear resentment towards.

the fact remains, you can get these for much less than orange, vox, fender etc etc

Made in the mid 90's this class a all tube amp has foot switchable clean & dirty channels, killer reverb and is perfect for the classic rock I play. The 30 watts is loud enough for small to medium venues and mic it if I neeed it louder.

My Classic 30 can go from fender glassy cleans to Marshall crunch to mesa over the top singing overdrive. I use Epiphone Elitist les Paul & Casino, Fender japan strat & tele, Agile gold top w/ P 90's and they all sound just killer with the Peavey.

so far so good

don;t know?

I've been thrashing away at the guitar for over 40 years and I've owned Buddas, Marshalls,Mesas,Dr Z's, Bogner, Fenders....and I've got to say...THIS IS THE BEST SOUNDING PH**KING AMP I"VE EVER OWNED and I only paid $300.00 FREAKING dollars for this tone machine and I'm BLOWN AWAY!!!!!!! FINE ONE! THROW IN JJ TUBES & A VINTAGE 30 and you'll be one happy camper! My search for "MY" perfect tone has ended with a measley 10 year old Peavey Classic 30 tweed in mint condition. Get one, you won't regret it!

This amp was made in 2006. 30 watt head version powered by four EL84's and 3 12AX7's. Effects loop, 2 channels, boost switch, two button footswitch compatable ( Channels & Reverb), and plenty of tube power. I have only had it for about three weeks now, but it seems very versatile. Guitars: Telecaster Standard, Gibson SG Standard, Epiphone DOT, and a modified Epiphone Strat with a Semour Duncan JB Jr. in the Bridge. I play it through 4x12 Sonic with Celestion 12M70's and a 2x12 Closed back Birch cab with Cerwin Vega ER123's ('77 vintage). I play most rock, but have really been into the clean channel on this amp, using the reverb, and boost....it really starts to chime. Channel 2 ( Lead ) runs pretty much the whole field, unless you are into extreme metal. Although in the lead channel with boost kicked in, the mids seems to get a little muddy, so I usually only use the boost on the Clean channel. The amps EQ controls are really interactive. The reverb is as good as any fender deluxe that I have played. I think the amp sounds really good for the price(I paid $400 Brand new), only wish the controls were on the front of the amp instead of the top like combo.

I think it sounds great. I mean it is not a handmade botique amp, so for the money I don't think you can beat it. It seems to have some hum on the lead channel when you crank it, especially with single coils, but the tone more than compensates. Suits my music style for rock and pop-rock just fine, but could do just about anything from funk to blues as well.

Seems to be really well built. Never owned peavey, btu have always heard good things. I would gig with out a back-up unless I was playing a really large venue, you may want something with a little more power then.

5 year warranty if you register it with peavey...you can't beat that.

I have been playing for ten years with and have owned marshall, Sovtek, and Line6. I liked all of them, but this peavey really is the most versatile tube head that I have owned. Not as versatile as Line6 but then again it is all tube. I love the power tube saturation you get from this amp since it is only 30 watts. You can crank it without blowing your ears. Plenty of headroom in the clean and lead channels...unless you are playing 5,000+ person venues. You can't go wrong here for great tube head that has all the versatility you need.

No exactly sure.I borrowed it and liked it then heard it played live in ahorn band and thought I'd give a tonal review.

For the money these amps rock.Have sort of a tweed Fender kinna sound to um.I borrowed a freinds and plugged it into a Marshall cab with G12M-25s and Wow sounded great almost Marshally but still this tweed thing goin on.Very easy to dial up I remember took me about 3 minutes to get a useable tone.
I highly doubt it would do a Heavy rock/mteal tone.And I can vouch for its Fender Twin clean tones.But for a Blues lead amp this sucker rocks and for its price bracket it really rocks.The amp in question was all stock tubes.Only "MOD" was my freind installed one of those tube brace things on the powertubes for rattleing tubes.I give it a 7 as I'm pretty sure(from what I've done with it)its only gonna do the Blues-70 rock thing.

Well I dunno again but I do know my freind has the 30 and 50 and both have a problem with power tubes rattleing at higher volumes.

Nice amp just thought I'd share my thoughts.Its a nice amp for Blues and Blues rock lead work.

You should know the features by now. Bought my with a standby switch fitted and a Celestion Vintage 30. Would give it a 10 if it had a second channel eq. More than enough power. Play bluesy classic rock to thrash metal. Metal needs the use my of metal monster...which is all good.

Play a Standard Tokai Les Paul. Sounds warm as all tube amps should. Parametric EQ for mids boosts or scoops depending on songs. Sounds nice for what i play. Low noise. Volume for clean is 2.5, Pre 7, post 3 for distortion. Clean channel breaks at 5 or 6. A low gain amp that needs a pedal to get brutal distortion.

My first tube amp/proper amp. I'm poor and can't afford much gear. If stolen I would try and get another or save for a mesa f30 or something different just for exploration purposes. Still playing around with pedals and knobs to get the perfect tone. I feel i need an overdrive pedal first tho. I never give 10 so 9 is vveryy veryyy high.

Lots of reviews here on features, very basic EL84 Voxish style with a nice cab. Boost does little but muds up the signal and no standby switch or presence.

If you look back far enough you may find my honeymoon review of this amp when I thought it was all that. After two years, three sets of tubes and five different speakers I will tell you what I know about this amp and why I sold it. This amp has a nice warm tube tone and decent but buzzy overdrive channel. Thats it. There is no sparkle or chime in the clean channel unless you don't know what chime means. The C30 has a nice flat warm tone with no tight bottom and is great for jazz. Any decent Fender or the new V30 from Crate sends the C30 packing its bags quickly. No tight bottom , no chime, just not there. Try the V30 from Crate as I did and hear what a clean channel should sound like. The Overdrive side of the C30 is dead until 5-6 then turns to mud at 9. That gives a pretty limited range to work with and no sustain at lower gain levels. Tried JJ's, EH's and the harsh Sovteks it comes with and all pretty close just slight changes. The Greenback made it a decent R&R amp but again nothing special and stay away from the Vintage 30 in this amp, all mids. I own the Crate V30 now and it just sings like a bird on both channels and side by side it was no contest on either channel. With a presence switch, standby switch, boost for both channels on footswitch and a real glass jewell power light not the plastic crap on the Peavey and the Crate comes with a Celestion stock and made in USA. I love the V30 so much I just bought the V50 also just read the reviews on these two amps before you get stuck with the Peavey.

Peaveys are very reliable, no issues here.

Good support and a great forum of sadly tone challenged people.

Good dependable mediocre sounding amp that got me with its cool tweed cab and listening to the many people lie to each other about how good it sounds.

30 watt, 1 X 12 two-channel tube amp (though not a true two-channel amp - the overdrive channel merely adds the gain stages of the second preamp tube). Four EL84 power tubes and three 12AX7 preamp tubes. Mine still has the stock Blue Marvel speaker; I've been satisfied enough with the sound that my feeling is any advantage in replacing the speaker would be minimal at best. I've got matched Groove Tube Gold Series EL-84s (rating of 7) power tubes, two Groove Tube 12AX7 preamp tubes and a Groove Tube 12AT7 in the driver slot (V3). Conspicious is the absence of a standby switch. Features also include an effects loop (which I've never used) and a "boost" switch, which I also never use because the extreme midrange boost isn't very practicle for my usage. I bought this used about five years ago, so I'm not sure when it was manufactured. The bottom line is that this amp does not have very many bells and whistles, which is fine for me. I'm of the belief that one doesn't need much more than good pickups and a good tube amp to achieve good tone. If you can't get a good sound with just guitar and amp, then you're just wasting your time and money adding effect pedals and the like. I've given the amp features a rating of "7" based on the fact that there aren't many features, but I don't consider this a drawback.

I use this amp with the following guitars:

1976 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe with a Seymour Duncan Phat Cat (bridge) and Seymour '59 (neck).
Epiphone Sheraton II semi-hollowbody with Jason Lollar Imperial humbuckers.
Fender Telecaster with Harmonic Design Super-90 (bridge) and Vintage Plus (neck).

I operate using the clean channel at a volume as loud as the club p.a. or situation will allow (usually 6 or 7), using a modified Ibanez Tube Screamer TS9-DX to help the power tubes along. I crank the level up all the way and keep the drive around 9 o'clock or lower, using the TS-9 mode. I also use a Boss EQ pedal for volume boost when I solo.

I use this amp for playing in rock groups. I don't use a whole lot of overdrive; I tend to be on the cleanish end. My style is influenced largely by the likes of Keith Richards, Ron Wood (Faces Ron, that is), Robbie Robertson, George Harrison and Pete Townshend. I prefer the sound of power tube overdrive to that of skronky preamp tube distortion. The Classic 30 accomodates my style of music quite well. I've even played around with more hard rock influenced tones when no one is looking, and it seems to handle that sound quite well, too, when utilizing the overdrive channel. The sound of this amp, due largely to the El-84 power tubes, tends to be somewhere between a classic Marshall sound and an AC-30. I ocassionally use a clean tone (without the overdrive pedal), and the Classic 30 handles that tone with ease, tending to be a bit "chimey." I usually crank up the amp about an hour before a gig and let the tubes get nice and toasty, and when it's cranking it will sometimes surprise you with interesting harmonic overtones. The amp's tone has inspired my playing on a number of occasions.

I would note, however, that be it my tube choices or other unknown variables, the clean channel doesn't have much headroom. It's nearly impossible to get a compeletly "clean" sound when you're relying solely on your amp (i.e. not miked), but that's fine with me. I like the grit, so I'd view this as a plus. I like the ability to overdrive the power tubes without peeling the paint off the walls. The amp is plenty loud, though. I mostly play in clubs where my amp is miked, but on those occasions where it isn't (such a rehearsal and clubs with inadequate p.a. systems), it has proven to be sufficiently loud. I've played several dates this year where for whatever reason the guitars weren't miked, and it had no problem competing with the other two guitar players' amps (Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and Fender Vibrolux).

I've had the amp in the shop once because of a blown fuse, but that was inadvertantly the fault of the poorly-designed handle. The bolt that held one side of the handle on came loose, and the washer on the backside had fallen inside of the amplifier section and caused a short (during a gig, I might add. I had to sit out the rest of the first set while I searched for a backup). I had the handle completely removed at this point, since it was a matter of time before the other side came loose and caused this problem again.

Another complaint is the fact that the tubes sometimes rattle, which can cause difficulties in the studio. The design is faulty in this model, as the tubes are exposed and held in place by small wire holders (the culprits that rattle). The exposed tubes make me nervous, as it would be easy to snag one with the power cord. I've taken this on the road with me, and numerous times I've had remove the tubes and straighten the prongs because they came loose and got bent. The newer models, I've noticed, have rectified this problem by adding a protective panel, but the design on my model is just plain ill-conceived.

I bought it used, so I've never had to deal with customer support.

I've been playing guitar for almost 25 years now; over 20 of those years have been spent playing in rock groups. This is the only amp that I currently own and it suits my needs perfectly. Of course I'm biased, but I think between the Classic 30 and the killer pickups my guitars have, my tone is always the best in the house. I've played many gigs where the club provided the backline, and I never feel as comfortable on other amps as I do with mine. I played a gig a couple of months ago through an AC-30, and though it sounded fantastic, I'd of rather had my Classic 30. The only time I've used another amp that I preferred to this one was a gig last weekend where I used a Peavey Classic 50 (50 watt, 2X12 version of the C30). It was an outdoor gig (Bonnaroo, to be exact!) and the p.a. was loud and clean and I was able to play on 3/4 volume. I was so impressed that I'm longing to upgrade to the Classic 50, now.

Bottom line - you can't beat the sound of this amp for the price. In fact, you can't beat the sound for twice the price. I can't think of any other way to get a quality rock tone for this price. Just beware of the design flaws.

Features have been covered in their entirety already. This particular review is on an early 2000's model. Points taken for no standby switch and highly exposed tubes (which I've knocked out of place just by removing the power cord twice). Has all the features I need outside of those two areas, and performs brilliantly as an amp for all scenarios.

I purchased this amp used, and the Sovteks were nearly at the end of their life. Even so, I bought the amp based on the sound it made at that time. I have since upgraded to full JJ 12AX7s and EL84s from Eurotubes and I am now very, very pleased at the sound and ability of this amp. The JJ tubes break up a little later in the game than the previous tubes did, which gives me a tremendous amount of room to play with. The distortion is very smooth and not buzzsaw-crackle infected, which is exactly what I was looking for. It also savors things like pick noise and minute vibrato with a very classy air.

There's virtually no noise at all with this particular amp and it records incredibly well. I've used an SM-57 which captures a spectacular lead guitar, and have used two ADK matched condensors for an awesome stereo rhythm spread.

I currently play an Ibanez GRX20Z through it and am upgrading to either a nice Fender or a PRS Custom 22 soon. I have played a 70's Gibson Les Paul through it (not sure on the model/pickups) and would have found a 70's LP for myself if I could spend the cash. Even with a low-model humbucking Ibanez plugged in, this amp has the ability to make it sound like much more of a guitar. I've even run my Taylor 714CE through this amp and it has the coolest, warm distorted acoustic sound!

I would like a little more bass available, but the speaker does have it's limitations. I've given the recorded tracks a little EQ love and achieved an awesome tight bass feel with little effort, though.

I've driven it around town a few times and it seems ok. Judging by the tube conditions when I bought it, the previous owner put it to the test and it succeeded. Can't really rate this though.

I wouldn't gig without a backup, especially when the tubes are hanging precariously and exposed from the chassis.

N/A on the support - haven't talked to Peavey.

I bought this amp because a friend saw it come through his pawn shop and it looked pretty decent. After playing with it for a good ten minutes and having a stellar time getting it to feed back, crunch and sing I was sold. Especially when the price is less than $200.

This is the first decent electric amp I've purchased - my first was a Rogue practice amp that did little more than teach me how to play electric. I'm primarily an acoustic player and own quite a bit in that department, but I am a total addict when it comes to a great Gilmour or Clapton solo. This amp can deliver something very similar in the right hands.

I've played a LOT of what's in the standard guitar shop's offerings - the Vox Valvestate line, a couple of Marshall TSLs and their late 90's Valve combos, some Crate amps, etc. This is still my favorite in terms of tone, versatility and ease of use. I even feel like I could peice this amp, replace a speaker, upgrade the reverb and such while I would be hesitant to do so on one of the modern digitally-infused boxes they sell nowadays.

If it were lost/stolen, I'd find another unless I could afford a Rivera or an Anderson...and I would probably still buy one for a backup anyway!

I may upgrade the speaker in the near future with something from Celestion's lineup, as I would really like a little more bass to come out of the box. Overall, though...an unbeatable purchase. And man, is this thing LOUD when it wants to be!