Peavey Classic 30

I have used my classic 30 on stage many times.
It is a basic amp with very good tone.
I wish it had dual reverb and dual eq.
I play the dirty channel with the mid up(6 or7) treble down(3 or 4) and bass 5 , and gain about 6,

The clean channel with this eq is not as clear as I would like it to be. But I have received many compliments on my tone.

I use a les paul and a telecaster, both with seymore duncan pickups in them. I am really happy with the dirty tone. I play Alt rock not heavy metal, think of Goo Goo Dolls or Tonic.

I also use boss pedals:
super overdrive to boost the dirty channel for leads,
compressor for a snappy clean lead sound, ( You country guys listen up!)
Delay for whatever.

I have had a fuse blow before a gig, 10 minutes before the gig. I had to use a peavey backstage amp for that gig, Horror story
I also have had the tube knocked out on numerous occasions.

They really need to put a valve guard on the back of these things.

never delt with them.

I am a pro. I have had a Marshall JCM 800, Fender stage 100 (Horrable sounding thing) ADA rack gear, Sans Amp PSA Preamp (Sounds Awesome) I wanted a small yet loud and great sounding amp. The peavey Classic 30 fit this bill very well, even though I don't trust it without a back up. I wish I had better control over the eq (dual eq)
All said I really love the amp. and I didn't think I would ever say that about a Peavey!

Classic rock and blues guys this is your Amp.

Read below or visit Peaveys website for specifications. For what I was after, this amp is nearly perfect. The last thing I wanted was a "50 Amps-In-One" programmable monstrosity. I love the simplicity of the Classic 30. The chicken-head knobs can't be beat when you want to take a glance and see where everything is. My only complaint is that my unit is one the older ones where the controls read from the back of the amp. Peavey figured out this was a corny thing to do and has fixed it in the newer models.

I was after a 60s-70s classic rock sound and this amp hits the nail on the head. I mainly play humbucker-equipted guitars, and I can get really get singing leads that cut through without getting muddy. My typical settings are to set the treble and bass at 10, and drop the middle down to about 3. I usually set the Pre-gain at about 7-8 for a nice rhythm crunch, and stomp on a Tubescreamer for leads. I also own a Peavey Delta Blues, which is basically the same amp with a 15" speaker. The Classic 30 has much more midrange than the Delta. The boost switch boosts the mids even more. I don't use the boost switch unless I'm just tinkering around at very low volume and want to get a lot of sustain.

I bought it used and the handle was kind of falling apart, but I won't hold that against them. I haven't had any problems other than that. The same goes for the Delta Blues.

I haven't had to deal with them, but I hear that they treat their customer well.

Its just a plain and simple, great sounding amp. Tube groove all the way! It's more than loud enough, yet small enough that I don't break my back carting it around. The only real design flaw is that the tubes are hanging out there just waiting to be broken. There is a tube guard available "http://www.geocities.com/c30guard" which I purchased and installed. It does a great job of protecting the tubes.

Features:
All the features just like everyone else has said. The boost button is quite useless without a foot switch and it changes the tone a bit so I don't use it.

Sounds:
This amp is LOUD.
Clean channel has GREAT sound and tone, but the post/distortion channel sounds like crap unless I turn it up pretty loud. Since I don't want a divorce ;) I went out and bought a DOD fuzz pedal and through the clean channel I now have the sweetest overdrive sound.
Depending on the pedal setting, I can get great blues to heavy rock. I am VERY happy w/ the sound this amp provides w/ my Les Paul.

The tubes rattle a bit, but that is common on tube combos so no deductions there.
I've only had the amp 3 months, but it has worked like a dog for those short 3 months.
Peavey has a great name so I would rely on this amp.

There is a 'POP' when I turn off the amp. I emailed Peavey and they emailed back within an hour or so telling me that it was normal.
With today's customer service standards, I would give this kind of response an A+ from Peavey.

Bottom line...This is a great amp for under 400 bucks. I would buy it again if lost / stolen

2001 C30. 2 channels. I play in a cover band that does a lot of classic rock, country (especially Pat Green) and some modern rock (U2 Smashing Pumpkins).
This amp has footswitchable channels and reverb. It has a boost switch that is useless because it isn't on the footswitch. Peavey should fix this and I would score this one a 9.
At 30 tube watts the amp is plenty loud; and if you get your power tubes scored right you can dial in as much saturation as you want.
The speaker is ok, it doesn't have much bass response especially at higher volumes. The eq is allright, but a fish and chips makes a world of difference for the better.

I use a left handed mexi start with a little 59 bridge. The amp can be noisy around certain light fixtures and other electronics (TV, computer screen). Turn off those things to reduce noise.
The amp has a fairly wide variety of sounds thanks to the 2 channels and the ok eq. I use only two effects, big muff and small stone phaser, so my plate is full as far as getting the sounds I want. I'm not a wah guy but they do sound very good through this thing. The amps distortion is enough to do 70's rock but not much harder than that. If you need more gain and you don't want fuzz I recommend the revered drivetrain for a great 808 type drive.
IMPORTANT- HERE IS HOW TO FIX THE REVERB- When I first got this amp I left the reverb on zero because it caused this weird bass feedback if you turned it up past 2, sort of like a "whoooooomp" noise that grew and grew until it was unbearable. To fix this I switched out the V1 pre amp tube. I replaced the stock 12ax7 sovtek with a lower gain 5751 from sovtek and the reverb works great now. The overall amp sound is much cleaner and I highly recommend this simple mod. much better. Check tubestore.com to read about lower gain tubes.

Had it for 18 months, gig about twice a month and practice weekly. I changed the tubes once. Not because they broke just because I wanted something different. I switch the V1 to a sovtek 5751 and put in JJ tubes everywhere else (from eurotubes.com, a great site for JJ tubes). This dramatically improved the sound. I gig without a backup because I am broke. I plan on buying a tech21 sansamp so I can go direct if this baby dies.

My first tube amp and I love it. It's a great value and much better than the solid state crap I have been playing for years (valestate, kustom, peavey). So whenever you want a good cheap tube amp this is a great place to start.
If it died I will probably next go for the reverend goblin or a tech trademark (I know tech is SS but I like their stuff).

I bought the amp in 2000. I was looking to spend not more than 700 canadian dollars for an new amp. I wanted tubes, it has it. I wanted a nice clean sound with warm reverb, it has it. I needed an output for recording, it has it. I wanted something that looked like a vantage so I got the beige one. I payed $550 (can.)

I use a Godin LGT with this amp and it sounds just amazing. When you get the right tone you stick to it for a while and it sounds so right. The distorsion channel is really good as well if you are looking for a rock sound. When I add my Metal Zone Pedal to the clean sound of the amp I can make it sound amazing.

I carry the amp every sunday for jams and once the handle just broke on me. Not very convenient to carry this amp without the handle. I fixed it a month later! Other than this little problem, it is reliable.

never had any problems to report to Peavy. I can't tell

I've been playing this amp for 2 years and for the price I paid I am very satisfied. I would recommend it to anyone who wants an awesome sound and don't want to pay 1000 (canadian) bucks for an amp. It lasts, it always sounds great!

Standard features for a C30. The amp I used wasn't mine but was in the studio we were recording in - as it wasn't mine I'm not sure how old it was or if it was standard. Didn't have the footswitch but I don't think I can really blame Peavey for this!!! Nice variation in the channels but seperate equalisers would be nice. Reverb okay - not too special.

Used with my ES and Tele (both standard). I mostly used the clean channel (as I mainly play rhythm) and it sounded really nice - it gave a real deep, warm, valve-like sound which I was really impressed with - it sounded really rich and full as well, properly miked this gave one of the best recorded sounds I've heard. After a few minutes with it I decided to drop my other amps and just record through this one - it was that good!!

For comparison the amps I was to use were my Marshall DSL (which I regret buying as I bought it more for the label but am not very impressed by it - not as good as the C30 clean), and my Fender Reverb (didn't sound as rich or record as well as the C30) - as I said I dropped both for the C30, and both are considerably more expensive!!

As I was short on time I didn't get much of a chance to play around with the gain channel - what I did do sounded good, it seemed a touch fizzy to me but I'm very picky about overdrive/distortion and tend to keep it all turned down a bit - I'm sure a lot of heavier players would love it (My music's very jangly/stone roses-ie)

One final note - I've scored this down a touch as I'm not sure how stock the amp is, if it was stock then this should read 9.

Unsure as it wasn't mine - it seemed battered but worked okay and has clearly seen a lot of studio use, the tech there said it got used all the time and everybody loved it so I'm presuming some pretty heavy usage - have rated it on my presumptions!!

Have dealt with Peavey before and found them very friendly & helpful.

As I said, this amp really impressed right from the start and gave me the sound I wanted, a really nice airy jangly tone but it seemed versatile and I'm sure it could be tuned into almost any sound. It seemed to want to give a lot more all the time and I could imagine it being good for a lot of different situations and styles.

It could probably cut it at smaller gigs and came out really well in recording, a great practice amp as well.

It instantly made me drop my other amps (which made me wish I hadn't just lugged them all the way from my flat!!) and I will be buying one as soon as funds allow - very impressive, just wish I knew if it had been modified and if so what had been done to it.

This amp is brand new. I bought it off the show room floor after trying it out. This amp is plenty versatile for my modest needs. I don't gig just play for pleasure and to entertain my wife in our home.
The features have been extensively explained in previous reviews. My only beef is the lack of a standard footswitch. It has plenty of oomph
for my usage. I sure I'll be hearing from the neighbors.

My present guitar is a PRS Santana SE with their stock humbuckers at the bridge and neck. On the bridge pickup with all the knobs at 6 to 7 it produccs a crystaline screaming bite that I love! With the pickup switch in mid posistion it renders a beautiful, full sound that I also love! The clean channel is very clean. Not overly bright. It's a very rich sounding amp. The onlt noise is a modest tube hiss that I would expect. I'm not one to use any pedals or boxes. A traditional blues musician. It produces all the sounds I want or need. This amp could easily do gigs in small venues.

I've only had it for a week but Peaveys have a good rep for durability and the amp is very well made.

I bought it at Dave Phillips Music In Allentown, Pa. They are very easy to deal with. I've never dealt with Peavey.

I've resumed playing guitar six months ago after a hiatus of many years. As I only need 1 amp I wanted it to be one that I'd be satisfied with for years. I did a lot of research before I bought this amp and feel that, price aside, it's one hell of a good amplifier. I chose it over a new Blues Jr., a used Hotrod Deluxe and used Mesa Subway.

I have no idea of the year. I got it from a guy named Randy Volin...a really good guy...he only said it was a "90's Classic 30." That's good enough for me, as long as it works...and it does.
I play alot of metal, sometimes really super heavy, sometimes more mellow. I've been using a Crate Blue Voodoo 120 half stack for both grindcore/death metal and some mellower doom/stoner stuff. I've been wanting to do a more blues based thing, so I decided to go for the Classic 30. My god...it's great. Possibly the best bluesy rock amp ever, save maybe a Plexi. It's got amazing mids, some tasty reverb, and great control over the gain.
I was also very surprised at how heavy it can get. When you crank up the pre gain (with the mid boost off), it smooths out and gets really beefy...sorta like a Mesa/Boogie type tone...not really but that's the best analogy I can make. Surprising and exciting.

I'm currently using a Dean Caddilac X with a Dimarzio Distortion in the bridge. That's my standard rock/blues guitar. Stuff like Clutch, Kyuss, 60 Watt Shaman, Sleep, Clearlight, Primus, and even a little heavier like Down or EyeHateGod. The Classic 30 does wonders. It gets a really thick and crispy glassy tone without gobs of gain. For bluesy stuff I keep the settings like this:
bass: 3 or 4
mids: 7 or 8
treble: 4-6
pre-gain: 6 (when playing at low bedroom levels)
Mid boost on
It sounds amazing. Really clear and crisp...that glassiness is just what I was looking for. You can really hear those tubes.
I'm also using a DeArmond S73 tuned to B for stuff more like EyeHateGod, Soilent Green, Crowbar, Acid Bath, Warhorse, Coalesce, etc. Really heavy doom stuff. I was surprised to find that the Classic 30 does this very well. I haven't experimented much with this yet, but here's what I got so far:
Bass: 7 or 8
Mids: 6
Treble: 4-6
Pre gain: 8 or 9 (when at low bedroom levels)
Mid Boost off.
As I said earlier it's got a nice smooth tone, as opposed to the crispness of the blues settings. Very heavy and bassy, while maintaining clarity. Just what I like in my heavy sound.

Haven't had it very long, can't comment.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing guitar for 4 or 5 years now, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's what I want tone-wise. This amp has it. It's super phenomenal. I'm finally happy with what I have. If it were stolen, I would cry little a little Sally Nancy boy wearing a skirt and then buy another.
I compared it to every other combo like it, and it's by far the best. Better than all the Fenders, Marshalls, or whatever you want to compare it to.

As I have stated in my review of the vtm-60, I rate features on what is realistic about this particular amp and amps of similiar design.
By this I mean that I do not compare the features of a classic 30 to those of a line 6. That is known as comparing apples to oranges. I have a standardized system that I use when looking at an amp to buy which helps me narrow down to a specific amp, so once again, here's my little lesson. I rate the features by how many features the amp has compared to what other amps of similiar design have or should have in my opinion.
1. Does the amp have more than one channel? Yes, 1 point.
2. Does it have reverb? Yes, 1 point.
3. External speaker capability? Yes, 1 point.
4. Standby switch? No.
5. Separate eq per channel? No.
6. Selectable ohms? No.
7. Presence knob? No.
8. Footswitchable channel/reverb? Yes and yes, 2 points.
9. Effects loop? Yes. 1 point.
10. Does this amp have something unique that similiar amps don't have? Yes, a boost switch. 1 point.
The points total 7. I think that is totally realistic.

Sounds are obviously different from ear to ear and I grow extremely tired of listening to peavey owners talk about their amps as having a "Fenderish" or "Marshallesque" type of sound. Do you read reviews of Fenders that are remarkable in the way they sound like a Peavey?
Of course not, it doesn't work that way.
My Marshall sounds like a Marshall, my Fender sounds like a Fender.
My peaveys have always sounded like peavey's interestingly enough.
I prefer to think in terms of what kinds of music I play and does it work in those given circumstances.
I used a stock '77 Gibson Les Paul Standard, Fender Strat, Fender Tele, and a locally made custom SG with Dimarzio pickups and mahogany body.
I play classic rock, blues, country, and metal. Does the amp have the capability to do all? Let me explain something first.
I listen to classic rock and hear power tube distortion and a speaker heaving back and forth working like a living organism. Yes, the classic 30 has loads of this particular characteristic. In fact, I would say that it excels in this area.
Does it break up smoothly and respond to the player's attack when playing blues? It totally does. Also a winner in this category.
Country? For recording purposes, yes, not enough headroom for what most country players like when playing live though.
Metal? Certainly not nu-metal due to the midrange quality or lackoff that are characteristic in this genre, but yes it will do old school metal given the right volume.
I personally don't like reviews that encourage readers to change the speaker right away or get jj tubes or both. Don't get me wrong, it is very helpful advice but when purchasing the amp initially, the amp should be able to sell itself. In other words, this amp in it's stock form can do different genres of music and quite well. That should be the primary focus. Speaker and tube upgrades do just that, they increase the already good characteristics about the amp, they do not make the amp a different beast than what it already was.
Here in Canada where I live, if I was to buy a new classic 30 and immediately feel that I had to change the speaker (vintage 30) plus tubes (jj's), it would cost more than a comparable Marshall tube amp (dsl 201 - I know 'cause I bought one as well.)
I believe my point has been made.
This database has way too many 10s, given to a lot of crap out there which is certainly not cool. I will never give 10's in sound until I see one amp that can do it all and that is not realistic.
In a standardized setting I give 2 points for each style of music that I play. One for being able to do it, two points for doing it well.
Classic Rock/Rock 2 points.
Blues/Jazz 2 points.
Country 1 point.
Metal/Nu-metal 1 point.
Total being 6 points. Totally fair.
Don't get my wrong, I love what this amp has to offer in sound quality.
I realize that nobody who loves their amp as much as I do would consider giving that low of a mark in this database but it's completely honest and fair.

No problems and it's been through alot.
I truly believe that Peavey are the most reliable amps out there.

Love the amp forum, friendly people and good advice.
The website has all the amp manuals that you'll ever need.
Great company.

The overall rating only makes sense to me if you average out the total scores that you've already given.

I bought my C30 about 6 years ago; everyone's covered the features, pro's & cons here. I traded in a 2x12 Lab series and about $150 for it. The Lab was 100 watts... this seems about as loud! I give it an 8 for including 2 channels and an effects loop for the dirt-cheap (even without a trade-in) price.

I play American Strats, stock. I use this amp primarily for recording original music that's sorta like "U2 on Acid"... kind of spacey trip-hoppy stuff with a driving beat and funk-ish bass. I was seeking a really unique, but articulated & "heavy" sound. Yes, I re-tubed it and was very pleased.

But the best mod for my money (and the sound I was looking for) was to add an output jack for the MAIN speaker (just wired the leads into a project box with a 1/4" connector, screwed this into the inside of the cabinet) and plug into an extension cab loaded with ElectroVoice EVM 12L's. (This was WAY easier than disassembling the amp to swap speakers, and the amp itself is still very lightweight... those 12L's are HEAVY).

The 12L doesn't seem to be considered a "guitar" speaker (seem to be used in high-end floor monitors a lot). They're way-efficient (I figure a 20-30% volume boost over the stock 12"). They won't give you that Celestion "grunge". But there's something incredibly punchy about a Strat cranking through the 12L. Just a smack-ya-in-the-face edge, with plenty of low end.

I tend to use the following effects: Roland SDE1000 delay (love the tap tempo), and for solos will sometimes kick in a compressor or distortion pedal. However, with the 12L/C30/Strat combo, the gentle use of an exciter/enhancer is just magic (especially with chorus). I've used an Aphex C2, the (surprisingly tasty) Boss stompbox, but actually the exciter in my old ART SGE MachII is really sweet with this setup.

OK, guess this is a little fringe-ey for you blues players, but it's a surprisingly nice tone... all the Strat character, but some strange kind of edge to it. It's the C30/12L/Exciter mix I believe. Wierd sort of traditional rock sound, but amazing articulation... I swear you can hear the tremolo springs!

Had it for years, cranked it for hours. No probs. If I were traveling with it (and may start gigging again before long) I'd do the following: add some sort of firm metal mesh to protect the tubes... add a reinforcement/bracket for the power cord, down low, to keep it clear of the tubes... and use some sort of fan. it does get HOT...

I've played piano for 36 years (started at age 6, now I'm 40) and guitar for 30 years. Yeah, I'm pretty good, but struggled with "tone" forever. This little thang was too good to pass up.

Well, I think the others got this pretty much coverd. What I miss is a standby-switch and foot-switchable boost. It would be nice of Peavey to include a footswitch.

This amp covers most styles except for very high-gain metal. The drive channel sounded *a lot* better after I replaced the stock tubes with some JJ's. Overall I think it has a tweedish-basmann-old marshall kind of character. It sounds nice when you crank it. Very good amp for blues/classic rock kind of styles IMO. I replaced the stock speaker with a Celestion Vintage 30 and that altered the sound a bit, I like it this way but I guess it's what you prefer. I use this amp with a strat w. single coils and I think it's a very good combination. Think David Gilmour, Buddy Guy, Big Head Todd, SRV etc. I'm not saying that you will get their exact sound, but I think that's the kind of tonal character this amp/guitar combo has got.

Hmm, I haven't had any problems with it, have had it for a year or so. I don't like how the tubes are not protected by anything, I'm always afraid I'm accidentally going to knock out a tube or something when I move it. The circuits are pcb, I opened it up one time and it didn't look very solid. Having said all those things I must say that it has held out very well so I guess that that speaks for it. Oh yeah, it gets very, very hot and that worries me sometimes. I know that the classic 50 has fan-cooled tubes and I wouldn't mind that in this amp.

I've never dealt with Peavey directly but I live in Holland and I think the closest official Peavey dealer is in the UK or something. In any case, when I ordered this amps it took months to arrive.

For the money this an awesome amp. And even if you don't consider the price it has got some killer sounds in it. I reccommend changing the stock tubes, it will benefit both channels but the gain channel in particular. I got some JJ tubes from Eurotubes (www.eurotubes.com) and am very happy with them. I also like the sound of the Celestion Vintage 30 I put in it, it alters the tonal character a bit and it is a *lot* more efficient (louder). I use this amp mic'ed in a band situation with a p/a, it is plenty loud for that. And unless you are going to play with a very loud band and don't have your own monitor it is probably loud enough. Although I think 50W (tube) is safer to have in an amp just because you never know what the situation is going to be like.

I've been playing for almost 10 years now. I play all kinds of stuff but I mainly use this amp for a contemporary praise-type-band and for some other band-stuff.

The Peavey Classic 30 (C30)is a standard 30 watt (RMS) combo all tube guitar amp with reverb and two channels (clean and gain). I bought my C30 in early 2001. It has a boost option that gives a 25 db boost however I have found that this boost is only useful while playing through the clean channel at a high volume (6 or more). The boost provides added mid-range to the tone through the clean channel at high volumes however once the boost is on it is on for both channels. In other words the boost is not controlled by the footswitch (footswitch not included what's up Peavey???). So I use the boost only when I want straight up classic blues tones through the clean channel at a high volume otherwise the boost is always off. Unlike other reviews I have read here I do think the boost has value on the clean side of the amps personality expecially if you want to play a straight-ahead blues lead. Some other things I do like: the reverb is solid classic tube reverb that is controlled by the footswitch, the pre & post gain controls, the bass, middle and treble tone controls allow for incredible dirty blues tones, classic rock and a decent attempt at a nu-metal, all-middle-tone-scooped type tone. However the nu-metal tone attempt is missing something and since I do not play any styles like that I am not concerned. The size and weight of this amp is just right. It weights 40lbs however unlike other wider tube amps with a single 12" it is easily handled and transported through tight spaces etc... My back thanks you Peavey! I do not play out at all except the occasional gathering of fellow guitar-hero-wanna-be's however I am into my 15th year of playing guitar and I have learned that an easy-to-handle tube amp has many long-term health benefits built-in. Back to the amp.

I played through this C30 for almost 18 months with the original speaker and was really satisfied with this amps tone in comparsion with my previous amp a vintage Fender Deluxe Reverb (post-abc). What brought me to the C30 was the gain channel. I wanted to be able to go straight into a tube amp and get sweet clean blues tones with reverb and stomp on a switch to move to a classic rock distortion tone. The deluxe reverb required a distortion pedal and just was not cutting it for the distortion tones. I am tired of pedals. At high volumes through the gain channel (pre-gain set 7 or higher and post-gain set 6 or higher) the C30 produces some harsh gain with my Gibson Les Paul 1960 Classic. When I say harsh I mean unuseable setting. However I can get the C30 rocking pretty good at the same setting with either of my american strats (one with standard american pickups and one with vintage noiseless). For my Les Paul I usually have to peel back the volumes two notches. For dirty, classic rock and blues tones I usually never have the post-gain set past 3 or 4 with the pre-gain set any where from 6 to 10. I prefer to control the level of distortion with my guitar's volume and tone options. In my opinion the beauty of a real tube amp is the tone and volume response to pick attack, fingering attack and guitar settings. Overall the C30 tones were all full and fun until I changed the speaker from the Blue Marvel to a Celestion Classic G12H (heavier magnet). After that upgrade this amp's tone went from solid and fun to down right righteous in all settings. The G12H gave this amp a low-end and mid-range of proprtions that can only be compared to when a guitar's strings are changed from super lights to SRV 13's! I used to play 10's and went back to 9's and lost a noticeable amount of bass and mid-range. I gained all of the mid-range and bass lost and a lot more! The tubes that came with my amp were all sovtek of russian decent. After further research into the sovtek's I discovered that my C30 came with some of the sovtek's best pre-amps and el84's. When looking at the amp from the back I have the following pre-amp tubes from left to right: 12AX7EH and two 12AXLPS'. I am extremely happy with the current tubes with the new speaker however I am going to experiment with sovtek 5751 pre-amp tubes. It is my understanding that the 5751's will calm down an overdriven pre & post gain stages to allow for more volume before the distortion gets out of control (i.e. loose bass and screachy treble).
If your interested in a tube amp that can be used to develop high-quality blues and classic rocks tones with no pre-amp pedals then you have to give the C30 a run through. I highly recommend the speaker upgrade. I give the pre-speaker change rating for tone an 8 however the post-speaker change is a 9.

No problems so far. The speaker upgrade/change was a little more work than anticipated. The exposed tubes could prove to be a difficult thing to deal with if you travel and gig a lot. It is not a problem for me however I am thinking about installing my own tube guard.

Went I purchased this amp March 2001 Peavey required that you mail in the warranty info to get the 5 year warranty otherwise if you forgot you would only get the 3 year warranty. I did no care for that policy and thanks to the music store I was able to get my 5 year warranty.

The C30 hits the ground running after it has been warmed up for 15 to 20 minutes and you have specific needs for great blues and classic rock tones. The reverb is a just the right amount of classic Fender without the hiss and the gain channel has enough to rival any classic rock distortion pedal. I find these amps new for $420 ($445 with the footswitch)and the value for the dollar is untouchable. The used prices range from $150 to $300. Put $150 into a new celestion speaker and better tubes (mine came with the sovtek instead of china crap)and this amp jumps of the porch and starts to play with the big dogs! Again I wil rate the amp out of the box with an 8 and after the speaker upgrade it is a solid 9 with the potential to be a 10 with the right pre-amp tubes. This amp has gig worthy power, tremendous tone, fun and useful gain straight out of the box. Can't go wrong with that.

Check other reviews. Why does it need 4 el84s whene other amps of it's size only need 2?

I had it for a year and it served me well. It has the kind of sound that some may love while others like me will get frustrated with in time. The good points are that the lead tone is the one of the best I have ever used period. The clean stays clean untill you want it to overdrive. Now for the bad, Not very versitle in clean or overdrive, not enough distortion {for my taste anyway}, no head room for pedals in front. I really did like this amp untill I got an amp with more wattage {50 watt mashall 900} and notice how the head room brought the rest of my gear to life. This amp sounds best pluged straight in. My advice would be to try it and others in the price range first. If you do go with the Peavey replace the speaker!!!!!

Mine was a couple of years old with the stock tubes still in. I toke it apart changed tubes a couple of times and never had a problem. I don't think a back up would be neccisary.

The only thing I can say here is that if you have one of the ugly yellow ones andwant a black casket for it be prepared to spend over $200 on it. A new yellow one is only about $80. What?????? They were happy to help though if I wanted to spend enough money to get a new used one.

I lookedat a Blues jr and a Laney LC15R and picked them up and noticed how light they were compared to the peavey and thought of how dumb it is to carry the Peavey that does not sound as good and is heavier around. Try it out first with others in the price range. If you can not get what you want out of it at first you never will with out spending an arm and a leg.

Has two channels, nice spring reverb, external speaker jack which are useful features. Mine did not come with a footswich, no big deal. it has all the features i need for the studio and small gigs. Tubes could use a strip of aluminum or something to protect them as on Mesa's small tube combos.

I use a strat with Duncans H/H/H, so I have a very hot guitar going straight into this little guy, no effects, although it does have a loop. I changed the preamp tubes and it sounds a lot better. Without the preamp tubes I would only give it 7 or 8, but now it sounds less sterile and OD sounds better. Stock speaker sounds good to me, I don't turn it loud enuf to distort on clean so I don't get breakup in clean. OD produces a wide variety of classic rock/crunch/blues u name it. reverb is quiet too.

I use it without a backup, but i have the original tubes just in case.
It has never failed.

I made a few calls about the tubes and they told me what I could do with them (in the amp).

Been playing 25 years. This is a great deal. Sounds better than cold Fenders to me, I have many amps. This has the best combination of clean/classic sounds and reliability. Wish it had stanby switch.

Same features as all the other reviews. Mine came with a footswitch. Bought it new for a little over $400. I play rock, blues and contemporary worship through it, primarily in a rhythym role, and it suits those styles fine for me. Never used the effects loop--don't play with effects. The power is surprising for a 30 watter--I've never played in a venue that made me wish I had more. I never use the boost switch--doesn't sould like it adds anything of value to me. I like its portability--I never hessitate to take it anywhere, and it probably gets used more because I hate hauling my other amps around--for practice and gigs. My demands are not that sophisticated, so the features meet my needs. I have to take points off for the worthless boost and the exposed tubes. I always feel like the tubes are going to burn the power cord and wish they ran the power supply differently. I also wish I could EQ each channel seperately.

I play an Epiphone Les Paul, a Kramer Striker, a Fender Squire Strat and a custom built guitar through it. I had a hard time getting the humbuckers on the Epi to cut through the band when I used any distortion. I don't notice a lot of response from the pre and post knobs. I can change them two or three numbers before I notice any tonal differece, even at high volumes. The clean channel is clear and warmly crisp with any pickup. I don't notice distortion on the clean channel until right about the level that seems too loud to me anyway. The amp seems to be tonally suited for a strat style guitar, even though the humbuckers in the Kramer sound sweet with it (the Epi hummers are muddy). I like the distortion sound with the post knob burried, but when I want less distortion and try to back it off, I don't like the quality of tone I get. I can't seem to find that "slightly overdriven" sound I want.

I don't play in high expectation venues, so I don't play with a backup. The amp has never let me down, though, even though I've moved it around a lot. Never had it serviced, but I can tell its about time to replace some tubes. I've had it for three years. In light of some of the other reviews here, I might be able to get the finer response and slightly distorted sound I'm looking for with different tubes. I wish the knobs had more resistance to them, so they didn't spin so freely. Looking at them seems to make them move.

I think the warranty was five years, except on tubes.

I've been playing guitar for over 20 years, and even though I've always wanted to be a rock star, I'm fairly new to the electric guitar (less than 5 years), so I may not be as discriminating as you need to be. I am a value shopper and more of a purist, so this amp represented a great value to me and offered me the classic tube tone. I've been pleased with the amp, but disappointed that my favorite guitar doesn't sound that great through it (my Epi LP). I like the amp so much that I will not buy another guitar until I hear how it sounds through this amp. I chose it over Fender Blues Jrs. and Hotrods because the tone was at least on par and the cost was much better. Even though I think it can be improved, it is perfect for me.

Made in 2001 I assume, I can't find a date stamp anywhere. Mine the BT (Black Tweed) model with dark grey grill cloth. You know the rest.
I'm taking points off for the following lack of features:
1. No footswitch. Even cheap amps ususlly have them.
2. No presence control or bright switch.
3. No protection at all for the tubes. Cord gets tangled easily in tubes. It should plug into the chassis.
4. No Cover.
5. No standby switch.

Clean channel sounds better than Fender tube amps to me. OD channel blows away fender. I'm comparing this to a Hot Rod Deluxe, which I also own. Blows away the Blues Jr. Reverb is good enuf, sounds sweet to me. Mine came with three 12AX7EH made in Russia by Sovtek, but Electro Harmonix put thier name on them. They will sonn be replaced for lower gain tubes to let the EL84s get a little more saturated. The speaker is good at low volume, sounds harsh when cranked. A new one is on the way (Eminence 50 watt). Later i may put a V30 in it. Amp is super quiet and reverb does not hiss like Fender. OD can get brutal with gain at 12, I will try to get better upper-lever harmonix by using 5751 tubes like SRV. I play Worship and praise through clean,
Blues, rock through OD. Boost switch should be removed.

It's new so we'll see. It's built like a tank. The reason I didn't but a Marshall is because they are built like crap. I went to try a few out and none worked. Peavey looks and feels solid, reviews are very good.

Nice web site.

I paid a lot for this, but it sounds beautiful so far. Very clean. I went to buy the Marshall DSL 401 but none worked. I tried the Fender tube amps and they sounded sterile. Next I tried the Line 6 lineup and they all sucked rat's ass. Last in line was Peavey. (think Jim Mora post game interview ("PLAYoffs. PLAYoffs?!") That was me, "PEAvey,PEAvey?!" I tried all the modeling amps (Transtube, TransFex) they just don't sound like tube amps!
Well, I was sold the minute I heard the classic 30. It sure could use a make over (see features section) but the only other amp that came close was Fender's Cyber Deluxe ($700.00).

not sure what the year is. bought it 9/01. the C30 has basic features; 2 channels (kinda one channel with extra gain stages for channel 2). basic treble, mid, bass, reverb, effects loop, external speaker out, boost switch (more on this later), etc. i didn't but it for the features, i did for the organic like-sound, at least thats what i thought.

run a LoneStar strat with virtual vintage neck and mid pu's into this beast. when i first picked it up i thought it sounded pretty good. with in the next week, i found a website (blueguitar.org) which went into detail of several easy mods, along with some more advanced ones. i decided to try it since the auther of the site seemed to be very pleased with the results. basically you let more bass response though to the OD channel, change the value of the boost (VERY helpful, as the boost completely sucked balls before), and switched out alot of capacitors for ones of the same value but better quality. also, i switched out the stock speaker for a Reverend Alltone 12" and changed 12AX7's for a variety of different ones.

after doing these mods, i totally dig this amp. it now has alot of charecter and smoothness esspecially in the lower gain range. it starts getting a little rough around the edges (a bit too buzzy and trebley) when too much gain is dailed in. some might like this, but to me, it is undesirable. My C30 is very responsive to pick dynamics, so much that i find myself really digging in the strings and breaking alot of them. (i think this is a good thing because the versitility at one setting is quite a bit.)

the clean channel is alot of fun as well. while not having the massive headroom and sparkle of a fender, it can be coaxed into a light grind with the volume up.

all and all the amp is great for blues / rock, not much for the death metal, but if it was, it would not have the sounds i really like. and for $300, i don't think i could have got a better amp.

seems good so far and even after i've taken the thing completely apart twice.

i e-mailed a question once about pre-amp tubes and got a reply the next day (a faily helpfull one at that). seems as good as can be expected.

if it were lost or stolen, i would be super bummed. i think i would go get a new one (or another used one) and start the project all over again. (i put many a hour into working on this thing). i plan on holding onto this amp for a long time. i love the warm "just clipping" sounds of this amp, it makes me want to play it. i joy.

there are other amps out there i have my eye on like the Reverend Hellhound, but it's about twice as much and the C30 w/ mods definately gives it a run for it's money. i only wish it had (at least) a separate treble control for each channel, if not a complete EQ. great amp, if you like the vintage kinda sound (smooth, rich overdrives and pick dynamics), go get one of these.

No use going into the details. Everyone else has described these quite thoroughly. A good amp, solid controls, no frills to speak of. The BOOST switch is pointless. The effects loop has some use, but the REVERB unit has some quirks when used. Meaning, don't run distortion through the loop and be careful with delays; both have a tendency to make the REVERB hyperactive. Or just don't use the REVERB when using the loop (or maintain a low setting)

First off see comments in Reliability. This is my second Classic 30. This one, after becoming frustrated with the bland sound, decided to do what many others have done. I upgraded to a Celestion Vintage 30 (8 Ohms). It creates an enormous difference in clarity. The stock speaker wasn't bad, but eventually you'll notice that it doesn't quite cut it. Second thing I've done is put some brand new tubes in to compliment the speaker. A matched Quad of Sovtek EL84's in the power stage, and (from r-l in the preamp), Sovtek 12AX7WA - Electro Harmonix 12AT7 - Sovtek 12AX7WA. I initially had the 12AT7 in the first stage (far right) and liked it alot, because it cut the "ambient" noise down considerably. However, soon after reaching a steady state, it started giving microphonics. Really ticked me off. Still don't know why exactly, it may just be a bad tube. It still acts up a little in the second slot, but not nearly as bad. I'm still experimenting, shall we say.

I've been running stuff through the Effects Loop recently, cause I noticed some of my effects becoming lost or garbbled in the mix when ran straight in. This has created some issues with the Reverb. I don't use the reverb much because of that. With this new speaker, I'm going to be attempting some new routings, so maybe I'll find the "perfect" routings for everything

I play an Epiphone Les Paul and a Dean EVO Special (coil taps), so mostly it is used for humbuckers, but with the coil taps in the EVO, I've experienced a bit of both worlds. The amp handles fine under both. In fact I think there is a bit of a tone improvement when using the EVO. Either way, it is a versatile little amp.

Part I: Okay...here's where things get messy. I mentioned above that this is my second amp. I've bought both used (both on Ebay actually). The first one came kind of jacked up. Major Reverb issues. Found out the reverb unit was screwed in too close to the magnet on the speaker. As far as i can tell the springs were getting caught up in the magnetic field of the magnet, and were getting some "Reverberation" going that wasn't intended. It would feedback real bad anywhere above 2. After i moved it back a little, the amp was my best friend for about 1.5 years. At which point, in the middle of a gig, started cutting out. By the end of the night it was hissing and squealing at me. This would happen regardless of whether anything was plugged in or not. In fact the volumes could all be on zero and it would still sound like the volume was cranked to "eleven". After some analysis, thought it might be a bad tube socket. Ordered four new tube sockets direct from Peavey. Didn't solve it. Found out there were about 6 wide open resistors in the circuit board (not supposed to be that way). Replaced those. Still doesn't work. Same sound. Have no idea. So I think instead of paying an arm and a leg to have Peavey repair it, I'm going to gut it and build my own amp.

Part II: I loved that amp for the time i had it so much, that I almost immediately went out and bought another. Used again. This one seems to be fine. I've had it for about 6 months now with no problems. The tubes were the original stock, which of course by this time were getting old, hence the replacements i mentioned. All in all, a good amp. Not entirely reliable, though. I'm not sure what my recommendation si on using it. I've gigged and still gig without a back up. Call me stupid or risky. I dunno. I give it a 5, cause I guess at this point there's a 50/50 chance I got a lemon the first time. Time will tell.

Well never dealt with them, since both of mine were used. I did call them directly to order the tube sockets. They were fine that way. No problems. Had the parts to me in no time. Sure they were probably a little overpriced, but I wanted to make sure i got exactly what I needed.

I've been playing for over 6 years. I play mostly classic rock and blues, 90's alternative, and hard rock. This amp isn't made to be a metal grinder or anything. It's a good amp that suites my needs very well. Great for Blues and Classic rock tones. Reasonably light and compact. There are of course things you have to do with this amp as you would with an tube amp. They all require a little "love & care". If you want a maintenance free amp, go buy a solid state, but kick yourself later when you realize for every tube amp problem, the vibes that you can get with them is well worth it.

If it were stolen, I'd be ticked. If it broke again, I don't know. I think depending on what went wrong I might be forced to consider another brand. Two of the exact same amp going bad would just seem real suspicious to me. So far, the one I have now has treated me well. With the new speaker and fresh new tubes, I'm looking forward to a long and healthy life.

Great tube amp with just the features I need... only wish it had a standby switch.

I play blues, rock, hard rock, jazz and this amp is close for all of these but it has a few limitations but for the price I haven't found anything that comes close. I have yet to try any new tubes, mods, or speakers but I bet there are all kinds of cool sounds waiting to come out.

I had lots of peavey gear through the years and the products seem bullet proof. This amp won't leave my house except for small practice jams so I think it last as long as any other peavey product (long long time)

I delt with them many years ago and they were great. I hear it's the same today but I haven't need to call...

I have a few other amps a fender bronco ss, and a mesa mkII C+. This amp is whatr I play the most but I play them all as each amp does give great although very different sounds. I bought this to try my hand at some mods but the sound has me waiting... it sounds very good so I'll leave it alone or get another one to play with. I don't think there is a better value in tube amps. The only suggestion to peavey would be to make a limited edition version with maybe ptp, premium parts and an option of speakers in 10",12",15" sizes. This would have an impact on the high-end market like the 5150 has had in the rock world. Thanks Mr. Peavey for some great amps at real world prices.

I bought this amp before Xmas caus emy guitar teacher told me about it. I think the 2 channels are good and there's is no 200000 effects like the Line 6 or others. IT'S A TRULY AMP.

First, when I play, I hear a little noise that comes from ... well I don't really know. But when I play louder, I do not hear it. The clean channel is good. The ''distortion channel'' is alson good cause you can create good sounds by playing with the PRE and the POST buttons. Maybe I'd liked more heavy distortion as the Marshall. I had a problem with this amp : the tubes did some noise when I played the 6 string (the bigger). I went to the store to fix it and they gave it to me with the same problem. Next week end, I gonna change it for another Classic 30. SO THE SOUND IS GOOD. I PLAY BLUES, ROCK, PUNK, A BIT OF MEATL AND JAZZ AND I NEED ONLY ONE AMP : THE PEAVEY CLASSIC 30 !!!

As I said, I had a problem with the tubes but I think it's a problem in the amp. Also, I command the foot-switch that comes in option three months ago and I didn't receive it. So...

The warranty is 2 years but you give to PEAVEY a copy of your proof of your purshase and you'll get 3 additionnal years. The foot-switch didn't arrived yet. But for the warranty it's good

GOOD AMP. SOUNDS GOOD. VERY VERSATILE. WARRANTY OF 5 YEARS. NOT PAID A LOT FOR IT. I CAN PLAY VERY LOUD WITH IT EVEN IF IT'S A 30 WATTS. PERFECT FOR STUDY AT HOME, FOR A BAND AND FOR SHOWS.

Bought it new. 2001 model. I won't redundantly name the specs here. Plenty of features for the price.

The Clean and Lead channels are very meaty and deep. Lots of bass. Very loud. The reverb is awesome, although if you have reverb and boost on and play hard, an increasingly loud moan will be produced. Result- you can't use reverb and boost together =(. VERY VERSATILE!!! You can produce just about any sound out of this amp, especially clean sounds. It cranks out the distortion and gain, too, but it can't do heavy metal, which is okay, the amp wasn't designed for it. Many different tones. I play through a Mexican Strat and it sounds great, whatever tone I play. Wonderful amp!

I've only had it a few weeks, but it's holding up great. The handle is starting to loosen, however, and I suspect it might be a problem later on. Peavey is rock solid.

N/A

I've been playing for 2 years and this is the best amp - price combo I've ever found. Sure, there are better sounding amps, but not for this price. If you want a cheap, killer sounding little tube amp, get this. It's great for practice and plenty loud enough for gigs. I'd mourn it's passing if the day ever arose.

I'm guessing this amp was made around 1997. That around the time I bought it. Can't really remember though. It suits my needs fine. I think it would be great for most Blues, Classic Rock, Country, etc... It's not a thrasher's amp though. So if you're a thrash or metal head, you might wanna try a Marshal or something like that. It's an all tube amp. It has two preamp channels that share the same EQ (trebble, mid, and base). Has a nice sounding reverb. It has a mid boost button??? I hardly ever use that. When engaged it doesn't sound very good to me. It has an effects loop which I use alot! It has a foot controller for channel and reverb switching. And it has a 30 watt 16 ohm power output for and external cab. I have the external cab that was originally designed for the Classic 30 (the 112E). The cabnet provides a deffinate improvement over the already great sound of the classic 30 itself. The cab kinda cleans up the sloppy areas of the 30. Not that it has a lot of sloppy areas anyway. Another strange thing, it does not have a stand by switch. But it seems to work fine without one. You can remove or insert the guitar's 1/4" without making a peep of noise.

I've had this thing for a few years now. So I've tried a few guitars through it. Here's a list (American Strat, Epiphone LP100, PRS, Samick PRS copy, Mexican Strat w/Rio Grande PUs, Samick Strat copy (Best strat yet!), and a Parker P38. Oh yeah and I've tried my Seagull accoustic through it. Don't bother with an accoustic. It doesn't sound very good at all. Anyway, the strat style guitars seem to sound the best. I use to run my Toneworks AX1G through the effects loop. The AX1G is a great processor as long as you don't use it's built in distortions. With this set up I could get some really cool sounds. However, the out put of the amp is a little too much for the venues I do. I play for my church and they like to hear themselve sing. So now I have a new set up. Ok sit down! Grab your pencil! Are you ready for this??? OK starting from my Parker P38, I send it's magnetic output to the input of my Classic 30. From the effects loop send of the Classic 30, I send a signal to a Johnson Jstation. The Jstations Amp emulation is turned off. However it's speaker cabnet is set to the 4 Celestion Greenbacks. It's output goes to the AX1G where I do just a little more EQing. Then from there I send the final product to a Rolls ABY32 A/B box. On the other side... From the accoustic output from the Parker I send a signal to a Boss AD-5 Accoustic Processor. Then to the other input of the A/B box. The A/B box has two ins and two outs. I have it set up so that the inputs can be switched with the pressing of the buttons. The outputs are static. One of the outputs goes to my own personal monitor (Galaxy PA8X). The other output goes directly to the mixing board. Now there is one other thing that is a must for this all to work. The Classic 30 will not use the effects loop unless there is a 1/4" inserted into the return of the effects loop. So what I ultamately had to do was this... And don't ask me how I figured it out. It was just a case of trial and error. I got a sterio to mono converter (female sterio input to male mono output) from Radio Shack. I then insert a 1/4" mono male into that. And insert those two items into the effects loop return. I know it sounds complicated. But, it works great. I can get all kinds of really cool tones and I have an accoustic at the click of the A/B box without a peep from the Classic 30's main speaker. This really works well for what I am doing. I can send that saturated tube sound right to the mixing board. But I will admit that the amp by itself really does sound better. :-) BTW, if your not careful you can get some noise from it. In fact I can even pick up radio stations if i don't set it up right.

Everyonce in a while the amp seems to not work. I think this happens when I don't give it an adequate power source. Other than that, It seems bullet proof. I've been using it several times every week for almost five years now. Pretty solid. Just make sure you have a good power sorce.

Never had a need. :-)

I am very pleased with this amp. If you are looking for a nice all tube amp. It's really hard to beat this one. Especially for the money. It seems very sturdy and versitile. And you can get some really classic tones out of this baby! :-)

My Particular amp is a '99 model, but the Classic 30 has been a part of Peavey's line up for years. This is a pretty good, versatile amp for the blues, rock, etc. that I play electric. Two channels, but EQ settings are used for both, so I guess it not a "true" 2-channel amp. Enough power, really- if you need more, have the sound man mike it. Giant stacks are just phalic symbols for guitarist who don't have the equipment they REALLY want, know what I mean? Has all the features you are likly to want- channel switching, either at amp or via foot switch (uses standard foot switch circutry, so you don't have to use a Peavey foot switch), even an effects loop. I can't see any real use for the brightness switch, and I don't like the sound it adds- no one else seems to, either. I would like to see a second ext. speaker out, but that's just because I aquired two 15" EV speakers in cabs that are the same width and depth as the Classic 30's cab- makes for a cool-looking mid-sized stack. I'd also like to see active, not passive, EQ, to be able to boost bass (see below for more ranting about this amp's lack of bass.)

I play single and humbucker pu's into this amp. A bit of noise creeps in when I turn up the reverb. Distortion is fine- tube-warm, breaks up nicely. But, this amp NEEDS MORE BASS- those 15" speakers I have can't reproduce what isn't there in the first place. Other players have said re-tubing with Groove Tubes helps, but this is such a glaring deficiency of the amp, I can't imagine why Peavey does not address it, and I don't think a buyer should have to shell out another $40 in the HOPES of getting what he wanted in the first place. Clean channel is fine for electric, but this is no acoustic-guitar amp. Your acoustic will sound like an electric guitar thru this amp- all the acoustic warmth is lost. If 3-way EQ was active, that might help, but for some reason, you never seem to see active EQ on tube amps. Wonder why...

Seems reliable, no problems in the year or so I've had it. Would have given it a 9, except those tubes hanging down in the cab, with nothing to protect them scare me.

Pretty good, but I am not too happy that Peavey wouldn't allow me to tour their facilities when I was planning a trip to New Orleans, and wanted to detour by the factory. Yeah, I'm being petty- so sue me.

Good little amp. Seems like it does have the tube vibe I, and most other guitarist, seem to be seeking. I would replace it with something with tremolo if I was gonna replace it at all.

2 Channels, Clean and an Awesome Dirty channel - Not suited for metal though! Wish it had different eq for each channel. With its' stock tubes and speaker - it is well worth the money!

I use a Ibanez Talman with lipstick pickups and it sounds incredible! This is the first amp where i can actually hear myself above the rest of my band without causing blood to spew from my ears. It cuts through the loudest of band practices and retains it's tonal excellence. I used a Boss Metal distortion pedal...FORGET IT!! I think you are better off using the built in distortion, or using an overdrive distortion pedal. I have not heard any metal/grunge petals that sound good through this amp. The built in distortion is to die for. There is an extra boost button, and it sucks dog ass! it makes the amp sound like green jello farts. DONT USE IT!. I bought this amp to play at a show here in downtown Salt Lake during the 2002 winter games, and am looking forward to it kicking butt! Only 30 watts, but seems to be louder than my LINE 6 Flextone Plus 65 watts as far as cutting into the mix. Plus you don't need air freshners/incense as the warm tubes will fill your house with warm ambienetic smell!!

I have had it for a month and it still works. Holy hell!

I have played in many bands with many amps - Sovtek, Line 6, Crate (i mean Crap), and other peavey's, and this has sounded better than the top line of the fore mentioned!

Bought new in Nov 2001. Not a true two-channel amp ? EQ is shared by clean and lead configurations, but it has a wide range of sounds and
is very versatile.

I play mainly blues using a Gibson LP studio, so I?m not looking for tonnes of overdrive dirt.
I?m pretty happy with the sound. I wanted the valve amp sound, and it certainly delivers this. Some other reviewers have commented adversely on the valves as supplied new. The valves that came fitted to my amp (bought new) were: one 12AX7EH by Eletro-Harmonix (probably made by Sovtek), and the rest are Sovteks. Two 12AX7LPSs and four EL84s. The 12AX7LPS is a revised Sovtek design, which is supposed to have a better sound than previous Sovtek 12AX7 types, except that a reviewer on a valve webstore (http://www.thetubestore.com/sovtek12ax7lps.html) doesn?t recommend it for high-powered compos, as it can be bit microphonic. I have experienced no problems with this so far.
The clean channel doesn?t stay clean for that long, but has a great crunch sound, switch the boost option to get even more. I don?t think the clean channel sounds much like a Fender valve amp - well, the one Fender I?ve actually played that was built in the 60s, as others here have claimed. But I guess if people will change the valves for boutique amp quality, they might get different results. The amp doesn?t have the headroom clean of a Fender, but it does sound nice at low levels.
The lead channel is very versatile, and you can dial in quite high levels of pre-amp gain at low volumes. But like most valve amps, it really only delivers its best tones when cranked a bit, then you get the power amp going into overdrive.
When buying the amp, I compared it to the Fender Blues Junior but found the Fender far less impressive on tone, even if I prefered the Fender name. But it is the tone that counts.

Too soon to say but Peavey has listened to criticism it seems (at least that which has appeared in UK Guitar mags) about the exposed valves, and this one came fitted with a solid steel cage to protect the valves during transport etc. The cabinet is really solid.

Trying to get a cover for it aint so easy. Been waiting months for the UK distributor to send one to my dealer.

For the money, it?s a very good amp. You?d have to spend a lot more money to buy something significantly better sounding. If you want nice valve tones for not much money, this amp does it.

I like the feature it comes with. Normal channel volume, Gain channel volume and gain it self <post and pre>, reverb, bass, mid, treble. It also has and effects loop which i think is crap, it gives off way too much feedback. It has an etension speaker jack whish i like because i am planing on getting the classic 112E. And the footswitch is great for letting me switch between clean and the drive channels. My reverb is either broken or just really sucxks but hey i dont care since i never use it anyways.

Im playing an Epiphone Bully modified sg and it sounds great. Frankly i wont play anything else but twin humbuckers. And this is my first real amp and i love how it sounds. But it has a little bit too much feedback sometimes. i I play punk/ska and the drive and clean channels are perfect for how i play i just wish it wasnt such a low sounding amp. the distortion isnt too muddy and its not too soft its great for punk. i am currently practicing in the basement at my drummers haouse and it sound good there and in my basement too. Just one recomondation do not use effects pedals on this amp, exspecialy DOD.

I kick this SOB around all the time and i end up hurting funiture more then the amp. I also kick the amp to get a cool unnatural sound from the spring reverb. I have had no trouble from the amlp but the footswitch was being gay so thats why i bought a pedal and then i fixed it so now i dont need a pedal anymore.

never had to deal with them but i beat its good like the amps they make

I give it a ( because it could be better but for how much i paided for it i got more then what i expected. i love this amp and i recomend it to the upcoming. classic rock, blues,or punk/ska guitarist. dont try to use this amp for metal. if you wanna play metal then be a pussy and go buy a mashall and use that piece of crap. but if you want something dependable and crunchy then get this.

Decent features: Channel switching between "normal" and drive channel. Drive channel has post and pre knobs. Treb, middle, bass knobs (eq is even in both channels), reverb knob (reverb on this amp is not the best but ok), "boost" button which I normally don't use but does add more drive.

I'm using this amp with a hot custom made tele (Seymour Duncan stacked humbucker on neck, custom wound Harmonic Design SC on bridge, internal Black Ice module) and a stock 77 Gibson Les Paul Custom. The amp is a little noisy on drive channel with the Tele (expected) but near dead quiet with the LP.
Here's what I've found to drastically improve the sound of this amp: First get rid of that stock speaker..sounds flat and lifeless. Use any good 50 to 70 watt speaker, Vintage 30, Jensen C12N etc. I'm using a reissue 8 ohm C12n and an extension cabinet housing an 8 ohm black frame Kendrick 12". I connect both speakers through a small box I concocted that runs them at 16 ohm total load (what peavey recommends). Second: Replace all the tubes. In this particular amp I'm using (from right to left looking from the back) Raytheon 12AT7, JJ EC83, JJ EC83, Ei EL84, Ei EL84, Ei EL84,Ei EL84(Tesla yugoslavia). These simple and reasonble $ changes totally transfomed this amp from a "5 or 6" in sound to a 9+, bottom end is fantastic. It's astounding. Has very good headroom for a 30W amp. Clear tones are very Fender like, easily reaches that SRV tone by pushing the clean channel if you want it. I play a somewhat odd mixture of blues/Pink Floyd and the Vintage 30, setup in this manner, is more than capable of handling it. In front of the amp I'm using a modified TS-9, Boss DM-2 delay and Boss CE-2 chorus. Incedible sound. Power is sufficient for most situations and mics very well if necessary. Distortion can go over the top with drive channel cranked and post/pre knobs maxed.
Isn't a Dumble..only 10 I've ever heard..

This is an early tweed Vintage 30 that I bought from a bass player who bought it used. Not one single problem so far..except for having to change speaker and tubes. Can't imagine it breaking down. No backup necessary.

Never had to deal with them

Value would desrve a 10
Been playing for over 30 years..quite a bit over..and have owned many vintage Fender, Boogie, Traynor etc etc etc..blah blah blah..they were all excellent to great amps. They could all do one or two things well or awesome, this amp does several things extremely well. Incredible amp for the price. Don't hate anything about it..50W would be nice but not essential, better reverb would be really nice. I think I might have done a review of this amp here in the past..not sure and too lazy to look through them all, so this might be an update. If it was lost, stolen or destroyed I would buy another immediately. I see Daddy's Junkie Music has one in their used catalog right now for an unbelievable $170..hmmmm..

This amp offers a lot of bang for the buck. Channel switching, reverb, tone controls that work well and a boost button that is not my cup of tea but does offer another tonal variation.
The effects loop works well also. It may not have all the bells ina whistles that the new modeling amps have but the features it does have are all very usefull.

The clean channel is enough to make any strat or tele player smile. All of the nuances of these guitars come through. Granted the complexity is not what you might hear with some outrageously expensive boutque amps but hey for the working musician it's hard to beat.
The amp also loves humbucker equipped guitars. The lead tone are more suited to roots rock and blues than metal but they are very musical.

It appears to be well made. I have owned a couple of other Peavey amps over the years and have never had a problem with them. Great reliable gear that is resonably priced for the working musician.
I would gig without a backup but would have extra tubes on hand as you should with any tube amp.

Never had to use Peavey support.

I've been playing guitar for over 30 years and have been through many amps during that time. This little classic 30 is light, easy to transport, powerfull enough to gig with, reliable and has great tone.
What more can you ask for in an amp for the working guitarist.
I'm looking for a second used classic 30 so I can run them in stereo.
You can't beat this amp for the money whether you buy it used or new.
I give it a 10 rating because of the fantastic value this amp represents. You can spend a lot more cash, get slightly better tone with some amps but for what this amp represents it is very tough to beat.

Brand new C30. 1x12, All tube, 2 channels + reverb. Mine didn't come with a footswitch. It has an FX loop, and a boost switch. No standby switch or headphone jack though. I play blues/alternative. Great amp.

Using it with a stock Mexican strat, it suits my style, but it can't handle metal at all. It's pretty noisy....one problem mine has is that when you turn the reverb up, you get a hissing sound. The Distortion is actually more of an overdrive.

The tubes in the back are exposed, no problems so far

never dealt with em

if it was stolen, i probably would get an amp for more high gain type stuff. i like how it handles effects nicely, and i hate how much feedback i get though. I wish the tubes were caged in the back. All in all, a good amp.

Purchased this amp new in June of 2001. I'll spare you the details and try to get to you the information that I think you should know!

This is highly subjective, but here it goes.

First thing that I did was change the speaker to a Celestion Greenback just for fun. The difference was interesting. Smoother and more gradual distortion in the overdrive mode, and a smoother, blusier breakup in the clean mode. Fairly good for starters, but that's just the beginning.

Next, I purchased a Celestion vintage 30, and there was an even greater difference. More punch and volume now came from the amp. The overdrive channel now had a little more agression, and with more wattage being rated in the speaker, I could crank the volume up on the amp a little more and not worry about blowing the speaker. Buy this speaker if you want more punch and volume out of the amp, buy the Greenback if you want a stronger vintage sound and earlier breakup. I love the Vintage 30 in this thing!

A huge tonal difference was noted when changing the horrible factory suckteck tubes to higher quality Groove Tubes. I first changed the power amp tubes and noticed an immediate change in power. A little more power was noticed as well as a slightly more dynamic sonic range. TUBES ARE THE KEY IN THIS AMP!

Now for the greatest difference! I swapped out the preamp tubes for nice Groove Tubes. What I found is that at first, after placing a 12AU7 in the first stage of the preamp, trying to clean up the clean sound of the amp, the tone controls seemed to have lost a lot of their dynamic range. The overdrive channel became a little more agressive from the better quality tube, but a lot of the bite was taken out of the amp. The highs were not quite as dynamic, and once again, the entire sweep of the tone controls became a little mutted, but the amp was a little cleaner on the clean channel.

Then, I placed a new 12AX7 in the first gain stage, and the amp and the tone controls became much more dynamic. A great deal of life was returned to the amp simply by making this change. I don't know how the gain stages of this amp operate, but after placing a new tube in the first position, I put a new one in the second position, and the second channel gave me one of the best overdrive sounds that I've heard from a small amp. It sounded good with the first tube replaced, but after puting the second tube in, the highs gained a lot more sparkle and definition, as if it were operating as a presence control. I haven't the time or inclination to take some of my NOS tubes out of my Matchless and place in this amp, but I'm certain that this amp would sound that much better. I just can't justify puting in those expensive tubes into this thing. That just leads to more tube adiction.

So, if you're trying to hotrod this thing, tubes should be your first and least expensive step, unless you get crazy with some new old stock stuff. Then change the speaker.

I'm using several different PRS's with this thing, as well as a few different Strats. The clean channel is much louder than the overdriven channel when cranked, so if you feel that volume may be a problem, just run the clean channel and a good overdrive pedal in front of it. For the money, you will not beat it.

Watch the tubes, as they are not protected very well! I play the amp very loud and very hard, so I keep a close eye on tube life. So far, so good!

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing for 18 years, with the last 12 years being full time professional. I would replace it if it were stolen. It's one of the best bangs for the buck out there.

$360 for the amp w/ footswitch
$89 for the Vintage 30. Get it from Carvin!
$60 for power and preamp tubes. You do the math!

Wish it had just a little more volume on the overdrive channel.

Probably a couple of years old. Play the blues. Perfect for that. One channel,has also a lead channel switch, and a boost switch. Has a preamp and post amp knob so you can dial in as much distortion as you want. Has plenty of power for a small club setting. All tube amp.

Use it with Fenders and others with single coils and humbuckers. Sounds really good. You can get as much distortion as you want. Can be a little bit noisy.

Have only had it a few weeks. But generally Peavey's are long lasting.

Haven't used them yet, probably won't.

For the money you can't beat this amp. Almosta s good as my Deluxe reverb, but not quite. Bought it at E-bay. Worth looking into if you want a bargain amp that can kick. Stay away from solid-state!!

Born 2001. This brand new C30 tube amp has two channels, 3 channel equalizer, effects loop in/out, footswitch, speaker out, and a really horrible "boost" button (ruins the overall sound IMHO). The knob labels are readable from the front (I've heard they were reversed in earlier models -- and the useless manual still is). This amp has more power than I really need, however, I only use this amp for practicing, jamming with friends, and very amatuer home recording. All the features that I really need are here, however, I suppose if I made a wish list, I would wish that (1) there was some way to save settings and make them switchable (I've only seen this feature on digital/modeling amps, but wouldn't it be nice to see some knobs "magically" turning to my desired settings!) (2) that the effects switch on the footswitch would bypass the effects rather than just turning off the reverb (what a useless switch!).

I have an Ibanez Artist and this guitar interacts beautifully with the C30. I play blues, classic rock, alternative, folk, and country. The C30 accomodates all styles extremely well. With the occassional help from some effect pedals, this amp shines. Most times, I can dial in the right sound without any effects (I lean toward a cleaner sound). The amp's clean and dirty sounds are perfect for me. The distortion is limited, but adequate for most things except metal. Now, the really important thing about this amp is that it just plain sounds awesome! This amp, even with the standard tubes and speaker, provides a nice fat, warm, and rich sound. Not too high, not too low, goldilocks would have picked this one because it's just right!

I've only had this for a couple of weeks, but it seems to be built solid and I have not had any problems with it. The only complaint I have is that the tubes are exposed. At the store, one of the tubes was bent and broken before I even played it. Without much effort or money, I put a wire cage around the tubes.

I hope I never find out.

For the money this is definitely the best tube amp available. It is a shame that I was almost hesitant to buy this amp because it was a Peavey. I've been so conditioned by my other guitarist friends that I initially had a bias against the amp just because of the manufacturer. Listen, Peavey did a fine job with this one and I have gained respect for them solely because of the C30. If someone put a Fender logo on this amp, I have no doubt that someone out there would be saying how "Fenderish" the amp sounded. The Peavey name might hurt me in the resale market, but I don't think I will ever sell this amp.

When I was amp shopping I was very interested in a Line 6 Flextone II, Fender Ultimate Chorus w/ DSP, Fender Cyber-Twin, Fender Twin Reverb, and a Fender '65 Reverb (re-issue). If you know amps, you know that all of these are much more expensive amps. All I can say is that the "little" C30 kept purring to me and my wallet.
Modeling amps are fun, but to my ears, they don't truly match a real tube sound and that is really what I want the most (The Cyber-Twin came closest IMHO. The Flextone II doesn't come close IMHO). If I didn't have kids, a mortgage, a car payment, and still want to buy more "toys", I'd probably get one of the tubed Twin's, but all things considered the C30 rocks my world perfectly and is much more portable. Besides, now I can spend more money on other things (can't wait to get that Roland GR-33 guitar synth).

New C30 wtih 1 1/2 channels, not a real 2 channel amp and an effects loop. I changed the pre amp tubes to Sovtek 12AX7LTS and the power tubes to Sotvek EL84's.
This amp is plenty loud for small to medium gigs and jamming with a rhythm section.
My only complaint here is that the "Boost" switch is useless and even if it had a use the Peavey pedal doesn't have a button for it, just a useless reverb button. Who the hell turns reverb on and off in a song.

I play old rock covers in small venues, we also play some newer rock but mostly stick with CCR, Stones etc.
This amp is perfect for my style. It has the best distortion I've heard for the music I do. If you want nu-metal get a big muff and a mesa. If you want to rock, get this.
The distortion isn't brutal and that's fine with me. The distortion is smooth and really just brings out your pickups and guitars own sounds. I switched my fender single coil bridge out for a Little 59 and it smokes.
This amp can be noisy, if I jam with MP3s on my computer I have to turn off the monitor or it will buzz. Also some stage lights will make it buzz. Not enough to hear once you are playing but it is always there.

Had the amp for 4 months and no problems. Just be careful because the tubes are naked in the back of this thing and just beggining to be destroyed.

This amp is great, if you want a classic rock sound it is perfect. Sometimes when we play 80's hair metal or alternative it still finds that perfect sound. Unless you are about to join Drowning Pool or Rammstein get this amp. I DON"T USE ANY PEDALS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS. I just switch channels. It's great. A BARGAIN YOU SHOULD OWN.
Screw marshall. Get this amp.

this one's a 99-er.I play a very wide range of music styles so I needed an amp which can do anything..but most important must be clean unlike any other while overdrive can be worked on with external pedals and stuff.

I play a gibson es135 limited ed. with classic 57 hummies...yummie!!!
It's got an unique sound fitting perfectly with my G...very warm...very sweet but yet ..super screaming and very sharp nagging, delicious!
The distortion is way too fuzzy , I don't like it!!!So I added a marshall jackhammer to it and I am satisfied, although I usually think marshall in general sucks I found this to be a very unmarshall-like pedal!!!
When you drive this baby's clean channel up to 7 or 8 or more...whoosh!!! a nasty screaming amp that is, I love it!! it really responds to your guitar and you feel you are very present, even when you're playing with more guitarplayers.

had no problems this far , but I am really concerned about the tube-placement...now this is fragile.I think I will build a little cage around them which I can remove easily.
And.. shouldn't a valve amp have a standby switch???Well this one hasn't!

nope

I have been playing for over 13 years now and I own a godin acousticaster, a normal es 135 wine red with p100's, a yamaha FG450 folk guitar and a crate tube driven 35 ampy.I've owned lots of guitars like Gibson les paul, strats, teles, gretsch, ibanez but my es135 natural maple with 57 hums is the greatest yet.
One big disadvantage of gibson ... the laquer of the neck really sucks!!!When i'm playing it for 5 minutes it gets really sticky...I've had that phenomenon with each gibson I owned... but all that vanishes when it's plugged into my peavey and sings along!!!

2 channels clean & dirty, boost switch, reverb the bare necessities.
Installed Sovtek tubes and a Celestion V30

I use a 91 customized Strat with a humbucker in the neck position and a 91 Les Paul stock.
I play mostly classic rock style but I have been known to play anything from Allman Brothers to Zappa.
I have owned so many different amps looking for the "killer tone" I can't even remember half of them.
EVERY time I play through this amp somebody comments on how fucking killer the sound is and how do I get it? That's the best part...I didn't do anything!! Sure I replaced the tubes ( I didn't pick Sovtek for any particular reason they were just getting old) and the speaker I added for more punch and let me tell you what a difference ( just crank it at least half way on the lead channel and at least 8 on the gain)this thing sings! I use a Boss compressor and a Tube Screamer and that's more than enough to get the gain I need for ANY kind of music. More gain would just kill the tone (pay attention kids). I used to have (2) Classic 50's and a Mesa Boogie MarkIV for playing live but now in small clubs I would use this amp.
Currently I have a Fender Twin that I put V30's in but I think I might try using the C30 as a preamp and just use my volume knob for leads. I very rarely use the clean channel. I would rather cut down the gain to 5 and drop my volume on my axe. It gives me just a little edge and I can turn up for fills or a leads and theres always the tube screamer. Sorry for the lengthy message but this is the second time I wrote about this amazing amp, that's how much I love it!

Plenty of people (including myself before I discovered the classic amp line) rank on Peavey, but they have some of the most dependable amps made and the best bang for your buck by far!
I used to play in a southern rock band and we beat the shit out of our amps. Some of us were even known to kick one over on occasion when it didn't "work". Turn out it was almost always a bad cord. (oops)

never needed it.

Playing for 24 years (ouch I'm getting old!)
I would buy another one in a heardt beat. In fact before a shelled out a grand for my Twin I was going to buy two more and run stereo with a mono amp in the middle, but I was afraid it might not be load enough for bigger clubs.
YOU WILL NOT FIND A BETTER AMP FOR THE MONEY!!!!

See below for good review of all the features. I understand that this is Peavey's budget tube amp and I would say it offers great value for money. Lots of good features and some versatility. That said, I would have liked to have a bright switch or presence knob added.

I offer this review because I thought there might be others in my position. I am primarily an acoustic player and have developed a keen ear for good acoustic tone. My quest has turned to great electric tone in the last three or four years. I think great electric tone is harder to come by! So many variables contribute.

Anyway, I started with a japanese fender tele and a SS ampeg amp with a digitech RP6 mutlifx. They all were stolen and I replaced the amp/effects rig with a Flexton 112. This was a step up for me - I grew tired of the digitech which was fun to toy with, but difficult to get a great live tone from. The flextone ended up being similar. It was a blast to play through at home and offered a wide tonal variety. I wasn't a fan of its modulation effects (chorus/flanger), but liked the concept and package. Playing out at a gig was a whole other matter. I couldn't get a tone I liked - it seemed muddy and
distant. Maybe it was time to try a tube amp?

I read all kinds of reviews, but couldn't find many here that compared the C30 to a modelling amp. (In the meantime, searching for decent tone and just for fun, I sold the tele for an Ibanez AS80 semi hollow. basically a 335 clone.) I bought a used C30 and ab'd the flextone and C30 for a couple of weeks. Hands down, the flextone offered much more variety and even sounded cleaner or tidier on some settings. The C30, however, had a extra dimension to it - the tone sounded present and full. I especially noticed this when playing out. Finally I had tone that cut through and sounded good to me. Now the C30 has some flaws that have been well documented here and I agree with them.

I think the boost is useless as a boost, but can be used as a "channel" if you adjust the settings. I think the clean channel is decent. The OD channel is so-so to poor. The amp responds well to pedals and has the capacity to produce great tones with pedals and/or internal mods. The amp needs a presence or bright feature to push its clean more toward fender land and away from nasal midrange land. (The C30's clean tone is actually quite nice, but is not fenderish IMHO.) I think the reverb is surprisingly good and that overall, peavey has offered a GREAT package for the money!

So I offer this review to say that in my opinion, the C30 beats out the flextone for basic tonal quality. I miss the variety that the flextone offered, but love the two or three good tones I now get with the C30. In short, I have converted to tube amps and cannot agree that the flextone models a tube amp accurately. The flextone is still a great tool, but to my ears, definitely lack the tube character and dimension.

I will likely sell the C30 for a higher grade tube amp - I have played some Riveras that I like. Meanwhile, I would happily recommend the C30 for high value for money

My amp is at least 5 years old and showed no sign of slowing down

no need yet

see above for details. I'd like to hear from people who have found a low priced tube amp (under $600) that offers great clean tone AND great distortion/overdrive

The amp is a '95 classic 30 in "tweed". It has all the features you'd expect from a "classic" tube amp and one that's quite useless. The "Boost" button just sucks the tone out while increasing volume. It comes with a footswitch to switch from the "normal" to "lead" channel. I've been able to eliminate all distortion effects using the "lead" channel.

A Strat sounds a little thin (probably due more to the single 12" speaker than the amp),but plug in a guitar with humbuckers and this baby shines. My Hamer sunburst archtop with Seymour Duncans sounds like it was made to mate with this amp. The clean sounds are very "Fendery" while the lead sounds cover everything from blues to rock (maybe not extreme metal). You wil need to mic this amp on stage though if you want to keep any clean sounds because the "clean" channel breaks up (quite beautifully though) as you move up past halfway. In fact the "clean" channel at 3/4 is a dead ringer for my old blackface Bandmaster. Quite a bargain considering the price of this amp.

No problems yet!

I've only had it a short time but I expect to have to maintain it (it is a real tube amp).

I've been playing 31 years now and consider this one of my best values considering tone/vs/dollars spent. If stolen I would immediately look for a used "Classic 50" to replace it (the extra power is all that's needed). Don't spend the big bucks for a "modeling" amp that only emulates this "REAL" tube tone!

Y'all know the deal. All-tube, 2 channels. Wish it had a headphone jack and footswitchable boost. Footswitchable boost alone would boost the 7 to 8 or 9. The 30 watts is enough to play lead against my malicious drummer and my rhythm guitarist with a 90 watt fender 2x12.

I play my Yamaha Pacifica (s-s-h) through this thing. I used to think the clean sound didn't have enough sparkle, but after doing some recording with it I've realized that it's got just enough highs and that it's just oozing with thick mids. And in spite of what other people have had to say about the dirty channel, I think it's smokin'. Very thick, very full. I can get everything from smokey blues (a la Hendrix, Clapton, B.B. King) to in-your-face punk and hard rock (a la AC/DC, Rancid, Zeppelin, and Crowes, holy cow, does it do Crowes). My only complaints are the reverb--gets muddy at high volumes--and the rattling that comes from this thing, much more so than my old Fender Princeton 112. And don't ignore the boost: use it to get killer blues tones. Still, I wish it were footswitchable. So in sum, this thing sounds killer for blues and almost any kind of rock.

Only had it for a few weeks, so I obviously haven't had any problems with it yet. As others have said, it's kinda scary having the tubes so exposed in the back, but it doesn't worry that much.

Dunno. Got it used, without any warranty that I know of.

Overall, this is a great amp for the money. If you're looking for a tube amp that's loud enough to play with a band, go for the Classic 30. It won't do metal, but, hey, who the hell does metal anyway? This has been such a huge step up from my solid state Fender Princeton 112 klunker. I'm never going back to solid state.

This is a fairly new amp, 2000 I think. Due to $$ problems, I had sold all my amps and needed a "cheap" tube amp. I had a buddy with this one and I got it for $100 !! How could I pass it up? You know the features, 2 channel, tube powered w/ PCB board. I will talk about the sound quality in a minute. The tweed covering is great looking and the weight of it is even better. I think the amp would fit in my daughter's car seat !! 1 12" "Blue Marvel" (what the heck is a Blue Marvel?) speaker. This amp fits my needs just fine. Of course I wish I had 3 other amps to choose from, but if I needed one small amp to help me out in a crunch, this is the one.

I play an Epi Les Paul w/ SD Screamin' Deamons. This amp is easy,... I just plug in the amp and turn it all the way up. If not all the way, at least half. This amp is loud but not near overpowering. Example,.... I played in the bedroom with the volume to where I could not stand it anymore. That was on 3 1/2. I played at an outside gig last Sunday and had the amp all the way up,... it just needed more punch. I plug in my 2x12 extention cab in and that solves a lot of problems. I play mostly blues, classic rock and this amp is perfect for a poor man's Deluxe Reverb. It breaks up very early in the volume stage, but you can back off the volume on your axe to clean it up. This amp is in love with my pedals !!! I have a "Real Tube" 12ax7 overdrive, a Danelectro Daddy-o, a Crybaby, and a Danelectro Dan-Echo. (Love the Dan-Echo, get one if you can) It all adds up to a very good sound and I'm actually impressed with how it sounds. I will replace the Sovtek's and 12ax7's and the speaker. But it does sound ok with those in it.

So far so good.

Don't know

I love the amp. I was in a bind with limited cash and no amp and this little dude is helping me out. If anyone needs an inexpensive amp, but wants tube sound, get this amp! You will need to replace the tubes and speaker, but that's no biggie. Also, if you plan to play outside, get an extention cab, you'll need it.

A newer model Classic 30, probably around 2000. Tweed covering, very similar in styling to an old Fender Bassman combo. 2 channels, pre and post on the overdrive channel, reverb, 3 band eq. 1 12" Peavey Blue Marvel Speaker, 30 watts RMS. Four EL84 power tubes (Sovteks) and 3 12AX7's (stock Chinese) in the pre-amp. A really loud amp, perfect for recording or small club gigs. Nigel - mine goes to 12 - one louder than yours!

I'm a rock player, some of my favorite players are Jimmy Page, Sterling Morrison (Velvet Underground), Syd Barrett, Peter Green and Bob Stinson (Replacements) and Nigel Tufnel. I play a Fender Tele with a Harmonic Design Super 90 in the Bridge and a H.D. Vintage plus in the neck. I also play an Epiphone Sheration with stock pu's (soon to be upgraded to HD's) and a 74' Les Paul with a really shitty Seymour Duncan Alnico II in the bridge and a pretty nice SD '59 in the neck. This amp really digs the single coils. I can get some really nice clean sounds out of the clean channel, more akin to an AC-30 than a Fender. The boost switch that most people deem useless adds to the AC-30 mid-rangey sound in the clean channel. The real beauty is when I get a chance to crank the clean channel, hitting about 8 or 9 makes for some really nice power tube breakup. The Sovteks do a decent job, but some Tesla J.J's would really do wonders. The overdrive channel is quite a suprise! The sound is pretty Marshall-like, with oodles of overdrive. Why anyone would want anymore overdrive than this amp can produce is beyond me, but it is definitely not suited for metal. I bought a modded TS9-DX in anticipation of needing a little boost, but it's really not necessary. The stock humbuckers on my Epiphone now sound nice and fat, as where previously I was eager to replace them. This is the real suprise for me. Still, adding some Harmonic Design buckers would be an improvement. The Classic 30 really accentuates the natural tone of your guitar pickups with little colorization. Likewise, the shortcomings of the Alnico II in my Paul are painfully obvious.

I've had this amp for three weeks, so I don't know yet. Peavey's are known for reliablity, if anything.

I dunno.

Peavey products really have an image problem with rock musicians. I pretty much hate them myself, based on past experience in my easily impressionable teen years. I've been playing for almost twenty years, and the mere mention of Peavey usually resulted in nausea. I recently began looking for a reasonably priced used tube amp, and after pouring through user reviews I settled on the Classic 30. This is a remarkable product that is worthy of a name other than Peavey. I'm going to retube it and replace the Blue Marvel with a Celestion Vintage 30. This should make this really good amp a great one, and for $280 + tubes and speakers the sound will be second to none in this price range and on par with combo costing two or three times as much. My complaint is that this thing rattles, which is typical for a combo. I record on a regular basis and this issue will have to be worked out. The tweed look is a bonus, too. You can easily remove the Peavey logo to save embarrsement.

1x12 peavey blue marvel speaker 30 watts,2 channels,boost button,extension speaker jack,line out jacks,reverb,sovtek tubes.
sexy black tweed :)

Ill keep it simple.
The clean channel is good,though not near as good as ANY Fender Twin,deluxe,bassman,deville.
This amp has a compressed character to it,doesnt have the openess ,multidemsional sound that Fenders have,
otherwise its not bad in the clean department.
The dirty channel is way more pleasing for a amp in this price range.
Thicker,chunky distortion,more musical/less harsh than say a Fender Hotrod deville.It can almost reach marshall territory as far as gain goes.Nice, but I still would use OD,dist pedals none the less.
YES this is a very loud,powerfull 30 watter!
The spring reverb is very nice, not a nice as a fender,though way more richer than any marshall.3 dial eq works well also,accurate in dailing in your tone.

Had it almost a year,used for reheasals mainly,no problems so far.
TUBE PLACEMENT SUCKS,bent a few back into place so far,handwith care transporting it to gigs.

For the money I am very satisfied.
Sure I would like a more "complex" deeper,clean channel ,but for under $500 you cant beat it.
Small size makes it great for small gigs,rehearsals.Though I wish it had a mesh grill to protect the tubes(hello homedepot).

Nothing Is a 10.Never
only in gear heaven

This is a very simple amp, which I love about it. Clean and overdrive channels, reverb and thats about it. The controls are easy to use and the one I got has the labels readable from the front. I've noticed other people have complained about how when you're standing in front of the amp, the labels are upside-down. Well, I got on that's rightside-up.

Wow. I play a Gibson '66 ES-300 (two P90 pickups) through this amp, and the sound is so sweet. This amp came to me with the Celestion speaker/sovtek tubes upgrade. It has a lot more punch than I expected from a tube amp, even at low volumes. I never play it much above 4, and it is loud enough for my needs. I use it mostly at home as a practice amp, but I plan to take it around with me. I play in church, and there I have a Marshall VS265r 2x12. I love the Marshall sound, and the Classic 30 emulates that sound very well. Overall, this amp is smoother than the vs265 and a lot more quiet. In fact, its dead silent. Even when I play a single-coil guitar, there is almost no extra noise. This alone makes the amp a winner.

I think I'll buy a cab to run off this amp, just to add some extra volume. I like the disortion in the amp, it's perfect for blues and light rock. For anything heavier, it lacks the harshness of a diode distortion pedal. But hey, this amp isn't made for metal guitar anyway.

My other amp is a Fender Pro Reverb. The 90lb. beast is too big to drag around, so I use it at home and for recording. I love the soft sound sometimes, and other times wish for more punch. The Classic 30 gives me both, and comes in a nice lite box.

Just got it, so I don't know. I have a smaller Peavey that I never play (Rage 158) and it has held up pretty well. I guess we'll see.

Never dealt with them.

This amp is exactly what I was looking for. So far I've played my Gibson ES-300, Epiphone SG-310, Jackson AT-1, Yamaha Pacifica, and a borrowed Gibson ES-335. This amp sounds great with any of them. I still like the sound of the P90s in my Gibson the best, with the humbuckers in my Jackson coming in second.

If I lost it, I'd get another. No other amp comes close, for the price. I looked at smaller Fenders and they were all too much for the size. I can't justify $500 or $600 for a single 12". The Vox amps were all solidstate (in my price range), and I wanted tube. The Marshall I have at church is nice, but its a solid/tube hybrid, which I am not crazy about. This amp rocks, and you can't beat the price. (Did I say that already?)

As it has been noted by more than a few others, the best feature of the Classic 30 is its lack of "features." In fact, my only feature-related beef with my little tweed is the "Boost" switch. I generally think of myself as a pretty creative guy, sound-wise, and I'll be damned if I've ever found any use for it.

My guitar is an '81-or-so Ibanez Blazer with a maple neck and an ash body, two humbuckers, phase switch, and single volume and tone pots. I run a Digitech RDS 8000 Delay in the loop, plus a DOD 680 analog delay pedal and a Morley PVW volume/wah out front. If you ever see a DOD 680, by the way, grab it. I got mine for $25, and although it's rather noisy, it's really musical and beautifully fuzzy-sounding. I tried a couple of different overdrive and distortion boxes with the amp, and always ended up liking the dirty channel on the amp better. The clean channel is really cool; as a small amp, the 30 breaks up in the clean mode when cranked. The break-up is just fantastic and very usable, I've found. Again, since this is a relatively low-juice amp, it can be pushed harder and its dynamics exploited more fully than a bigger amp. This is also true with the dirty channel, where I could back the gain down to about 7 or 8, and got all the raunch I needed, plus some fine, fine power-stage compression. I really dig EL84s. For the volume needs of better than 85% of players, 6L6s never get pushed hard enough to add significantly to the sound of one's playing. I speak from experience. I owned a Yamaha T50(the Soldano-designed tube unit Yamaha made in the early 90's. If you need a big-balls rock rig, find one of these. They're louder than hell, and if you like Marshalls, they out-Marshall any Marshall I've ever heard). I did a recording with the band I was in at the time. It was mostly live, and to keep from killing everone else in the room, I never got to crank it enough to really work the tubes, especially the 6L6s in the power section. I wish I'd had my Peavey then. When I was amp-shopping, before I found the 30, I was struck by how much tweaking of knobs is required on most amps to get even an acceptable, much less a desirable, tone. Not so with the Classic. Plug in, turn on, and rock out. Just for shits and grins, I cranked all of the tone controls all the way up. Sounded great. Backed the middle off. That was pretty good, too. Jerked the top and bottom around, too. I really had to work to make the thing sound bad, which is really to Peavey's credit. The reverb is really fab. I like the fact that it's a little looser-sounding than a Fender. I think Fenders are too sterile. The drummer in a band I was in heard the 30 with the reverb on and a little delay, and pronounced it "pretty." Pretty, indeed.

No problems. I've only ever had to replace the tubes.

Only had to deal with them once, and they were friendly and knowledgeable.

I think that the 30 is a keeper. Simplicity and good sound are becoming rarer and rarer in this age of "modeling." I don't want an amp to sound like every other amp under the sun; I want an amp that sounds like a guitar amp. A little rude; nice and warm...I think I'll go play it right now.

I HAVE A 1999 CLASSIC 30 AND AS OTHERS HAVE POSTED MOST OF THE INFO ABOUT IT, I WON'T GO INTO DETAIL. THIS IS A GREAT LITTLE AMP! I PLAY SRV,WES, STEELY DAN, AND MOSTLY BLUES AND JAZZ. I USE BOTH CHANNELS AS NEEDED.I USE MAXON CP 101,A LINE 6 MODULATION MODELER,AND MAXON OD808 WITH THIS AMP..ALSO, A PEAVEY 112 EXTENSION SPEAKER . GRAET SOUNDS!

I USE A 1999 HAMER 25th ANNIVERSARY LIMITED EDITION, A HAND BUILT TELECASTER WITH SEYMOUR DUNCAN MINI HUMBUCKER IN THE NECK POSITION,AND A QUARTER POUNDER IN THE BRIDGE POSITION (WHAT A SWEET CLEAN TONE), AND A HB30. I'M LOOKING FOR AN SRV TONE,WHICH THE TELE COMES CLOSE TO.ALSO, I'M LOOKING FOR A NICE JAZZ TONE TO PLAY WITH WES AND JOEY DEFRANCESCO,JIMMY SMITH,ETC. I FIND A VERY NICE CLEAN TONE, AND NICE DISTORTION WITH THIS AMP.I DON'T FIND ANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS AMP ALTHOUGH I'M VERY INTERESTED IN ANY HELP TO IMPROVE THE SOUND, SUCH AS BETTER TUBES OR EFFECTS TO HELP ME GET CLOSER TO SRV,ETC.

IT SEEMS VERY DEPENDABLE WITH NO PROBLEMS IN 1 1/2 YEARS. I NEVER NEGLECT ANYTHING I OWN.

I HAVEN'T NEEDED IT TO DATE.

I STARTED PLAYING IN 1959 ON A $38 SILVERTONE FROM MY PAPER ROUTE.HOWEVER,I PROBABLY HAVE BEEN PLAYING IN REALISTIC TIME,ABOUT 6 OR 7 YEARS, WHAT WITH MARRIAGE,KIDS, DIVORCE, VIETNAM,ETC. I CAN'T SAY I WOULD BUY THE SAME AMP WITH SO MANY NEW PRODUCTS EVERY DAY.IF YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS, PLEASE SHARE THEM WITH ME. THANK YOU.

This is an update of a review I posted in June of 98...I have just upgraded the amp with a Celestion Vintage 30 and new tubes...a matched pair of Electro Harmonics 12AX7s in the pre-amp and a matched quad of Tesla JJ EL-84s in the output section...I have a high end Audio Glassics 12AX7 in the driver spot...The tubes came from Triode in Chicago and the Speaker came from Carvin, who had the lowest price I have ever seen on a Celestion Vintage 30...WARNING...If you are replacing the stock speaker, be aware that you will have to drop both the chassis and the reverb tank to get it out and the get the new one in...I learned this the hard way by poking a hole in the stock speaker with one of the baffle board screws...duh huh...After that, though, things went smoothly, about one hour for everything...

Wow!!!What a difference!!!The overdrive is thick, thick, thick!!! The Vintage 12 is so smooth and the JJs add a lot more punch...I try hard to be an amp snob, but I swear that you will not be able to buy anything that sounds better for less than $1,000...If you are considering a Valvestate or something like that, forget it...Find a used Classic 30 or even a new one, spend the $150 or so for the tubes and the speaker and you will have a great TUBE amp for relative peanuts...One other thing...I have a 112E cab which I run closed back...It adds a lot of bottom end to the sound and I never use the amp without it...It has the Peavey Sheffield 12 in it, which is the Peavey version of a Celestion that they also use in the 5150 cabs...I am now tempted to buy another Celestion Vintage 30 for it...With an overdrive mode, reverb, and an effects loop, anybody who can't gig or record with this amp just ain't trying...I use strats and an Ernie Ball Axis Super Sport with it and it sounds great...I can also carry the whole setup in one trip from the car...

Never a problem...

Never needed it...

Love it...Use it instead of my 1967 Super Reverb, so it won'y get lost or damaged...My only bitch is the internal fuse and no standby switch...For what it costs, though I am not displeased...Any other manufacturer would add these features along with a Celestion and charge $1000 for the amp...I will never sell it, but being afflicted with G.A.S., I might buy something else someday...

I got it 4 years ago, it has to channe, overdrive is gread reverb is bad ( In my opinion Fender has bets reverb sound). I play it at home on low volumes.

I have Stratocaster with kinman avn Blues pickups, Parker Fluy deluxe, Parker Fly Concert and D'angelico NYL-2. I play blues rock and jazz

Never had any problems with it, didn't even change the tubes at all still has a good sound.

they have a web site but I never need their help.

I've been playing a guitar since 1975 I had Feneder Deluxe Reverb II. Currently I have POD and J-Station but they do not come close to classic 30. If I loose it I would get THD Univalve if I loose it and go broke I will get Peavey Classic 30 again.
For that price range Classic 30 is the best.

Two footswitchable channels(clean and overdrive), effects loop and reverb

I use a 1996 Les Paul, a 2001 and 1992 Fender Strats. Play mostly classic rock, southern rock and blues. The clean side sound good and starts to break-up after about 6 but just roll off the guitar volume and she cleans right up. The gain channel sounds great for me up till about 7, anything past that is a little too muddy for my taste.

I have two of these amps (got one new in 1995 and one new in late 2000) and both of them had to be re-tubed within two weeks. The dealer took care of this in less than a couple hours at no cost to me. Other than that they have been rock solid.

Never dealt directly with them

If you aint got a lot of bucks to spend on a tube combo try this one-you will probably be satisified. I have really enjoyed mine. If stolen or lost I probably would get another one. The 1995 model has been great. The 2000 one is still a little noisy even after the dealer worked on it but when playing with the band you dont notice it.

I've looked far and wide for a small combo amp with an effects loop. It would've gotten a 10, except the Boost channel is not footswitchable (who needs switchable reverb?). I bought this small amp to use in my studio, so I can find the sweetspot without my wife divorcing me.

I retubed the amp the second day I got it with JJ ECC83S's and EL84's. WOW! What a difference! The OD channel is AWESOME. It sounds like a half-stack but at much lower volumes (Yes, Dear!). My Heritage 535 loves the gain set at about 4-5. The clean channel is nice, but not as smooth as my Fender HotRod Deluxe (too much midrange). I prefer 6L6's for clean tones.

N/A - I've had the amp only a week.

Even though I just bought this amp, I called Peavey to find out info about the stock tubes. They were very help and friendly.

I've playing for 23+ years and play all styles except death metal and rap. I would definitely replace this amp because it's going on my next CD. I really like having a club amp that is switchable AND has an effects loop. As I said, I wish the boost channel was swictchable instead of the reverb. I would give it a 10 if the clean tone was just a little more creamy. But it's worth buying for the OD alone, but only AFTER the retube with JJ's.

I have had this combo for about 6 years, so I assume it was made around or before that time period. I have found this thing to be extremely versatile for various music styles. I enjoy and try to play different styles of music, including hard rock, country, funk, and reggae. The combo has two channels, is all tube (3-12AX7's and 4-EL84's), 30 watts, has a three-way passive EQ., a 12" speaker, spring reverb, one input, an effects loop, a footswitch for channel and reverb, a boost function button (not footswitchable), and a jack for an external speaker.
Improvements could include seperate EQ's for clean and overdrive channels, ability to bypass the effects loop and activate the boost using a footswitch, and an extra input jack.
I have used this combo in a group in New Orleans for two years. We played a variety of music, including blues, rock, calypso, and country-like tunes. We played every Saturday and some Sundays with practice once a week, so I dragged this thing around alot.We played in a large older church that was obviously built before the concept of amplified music. It always retained clarity, even with multiple effects with distortion. The volume in this setting was great. Smaller combos allow you to crank the sucker up in small to medium size venues without causing blood to spurt from the ears of your listeners!
I also do not like the tweed covering. The exposed tubes on the back make it a risk to shatter or bend the connections. In practice, I broke one tube carelessly yanking a chord out the back. I also bent two of the powertube post after it fell on something (they bent back easily and still worked!).

I use three guitars with this combo. I have an old Pro-Line Series Ibanez with heavily wound, coil-tapped, passive humbuckers and a Floyd-rose tremelo; a Carvin AE185 with a maple top, fixed bridge, and two humbuckers that are coil-tapped and have a phase switch; and an Alvarez acoustic that I use a Lawrence sound hole pickup (I play slide on this as well). I currently run several analog effects in front of this (no models!).
I find this combo to work well with all instruments I play. The clean sounds stay clean at high volume levels and are very warm. I find the reverb to create a thinner sound, so I do not use this much. One of my favorite things on this combo is the EQ. I tried several different tube combos before deciding. On even higher end Mesa-Boogies, I could hear no signifigant changes when turning the knobs. With this one, the high, mid, and low all did something to the sound! (These were useful differences). The overdrive channel is also excellent. The gain levels, in my opinion, go way beyond what is useful, but this is usually a good sign. If the preamp is turned to around 3, an excellent rockabilly-surf sound can be obtained (great for smacking open chords). Around 5-6, the distortion gets more aggresive. Around 7-9, an aggressive harder rock/metal sound grabs you (AND IT GOES UP TO 12, NOT 11! Those smart-butt southern boys...). I find the attack less thumpy (one of the dwarves?) as say a combo with 6L6's in the power section, but I play with 10-11 gage strings and beat the devil out of the strings when I play, so this works for me. I find the distortion pulverizing without being harsh.
This said, it can be noisy depending on effects, single coil use, lights, and volume. You will not get a CD quality, pristine, Ricky Martin "shaking-my-little-tooshie" processed sound, but the tones make people take notice.
In regards to the boost function: this is a bizzare switch. It signifigantly boost the volume, but also seems to change the entire character of the Classsic. There seems to be less available overdrive but a ton of midrange boost. This causes the sounds to feedback at higher volumes, but it it controllable. It sounds great for thick, singing solos but not so hot for chords. Also from a practical view, the volume boost and need to tweek the EQ after it is engaged would be troublesome if this was used in a live setting. I don't use it much.
I really enjoy the sounds in the Classic, and many others have remarked on how nice it sounds. However, it is probably not for everyone (see below).
I think Peavey uses Sovtec tubes, and I replaced them with Groove Tubes. This gave a clearer and more powerful sound.

I have never had trouble with this product. I cannot say that I babied it, because I am rough on everything I own. The sounds were consistant every week, and this was nice. In the hot, humid environments I experienced in New Orleans, it never once farted on me.

I have dealt with Peavey in the past with a used combo I bought (a Triumph, an oxymoron if I ever played one..bad sound!). They provided me with a users manual and a tech spent time with me explaining the different tube functions. They seemed knowledgeable and were very friendly and professional.
I also heard they have a computer link with all their service centers that can help track solen equipment (take that, you thief).
Most places I have lived have a service center at least within driving distance. I never needed service on the Classic, so I cannot make comments in regard to this. My rating is based on the above listed limited experience.

Overall, I really enjoy this thing. It is portable, offers alot for the money, and is extremely versatile. It is not for a large venue, but its smaller size is closer to what most of us will play (keep your dreams, though). I also feel that equipment performance is heavily related to playing style, other interacting pieces of your sound chain, and personel preferance. I enjoy Metallica, but I do not like active pickups for myself. I have not found anything I like as much for the price. I wish it had three channels, as these could be set up with the various sound. I would buy this product again, and I am thinking of using two to have the sound combinations described.
I really like it, but again, YOU have to try it with YOUR OWN EQUIPMENT! Other guitars in the store are not yours, and it important to play it clean, loud, overdriven, etc, before buying. If the store personel have a problem with this, we live in a market economy; go elsewhere!
I have been playing for about 10 years seriously. I do music as a hobby but play whenever I can. I am a Physician and I write songs frequently. I enjoy all forms of music, although I tend to play rock the most. I just moved to south Georgia, and am working on getting another band together.
This is my first review, since I have only had a computer for a few months. Hope it is helpful!

The amp is loud!!!!!
I was looking for a fender deluxe one day and I stumbled onto this little guy. Fortunately his bark is bigger than his bite. I have some mesa boogie tubes in it. pleasantly surprised. Only wish for a little more versatility.

This thing plays creedence like a dream. GReat for southern muddy blues as well as a little texas sizzle. it is a little noisy with the three gold lace sensors in my strat, but not so much with a humbucker like an active EMG. A nice subtle distortion, nothing like a marshall dsl. Beautiful natural distortion. I would suggest a fatter single coil. I have a set of fender fat fifties that i am going to try.

I am still unsure of the open back that exposes the tubes. so far so good.

never needed them

been playing six years. I am not sure if i had it stolen if I would by it. With my available funds I definitely would. I have my heart set on a Mesa Dual rectifier though. awesome amp for the money. Very sweet looking.