Peavey Classic 50-212

For the features, see the other reviews, Peavey's website, or "google" the amp.

I am not an owner, but I did test this amplifier. Even at high volumes the clean channel hardly distorts. On that channel the high frequencies are a bit sharp. I mainly write this review, because I want to warn you for the lead channel: it completely lacks bottom, i.e. bass response!

In view of the other reviews, it seems very reliable.

I have no experience with it.

I am not a good guitar player, but my ears are reasonably well developed (I'm a singer). I tested the Fender Hot rod Deluxe, and that amp does have bottom on the drive (and the more drive) channel.

Simpler is better for me these days, and this amp has pretty much all of the features I need (2 footswitchable channels...reverb) Reality, however, is that this amp does not have a rich feature set compared to other amps. It's an old school rocker. So while there are enough features for many folks (such as myself), there are not for many others. Therefore, I find it misleading to give an amp with only 9 knobs a 9/10 just because it works for me. A footswitchable boost is the only thing I find myself wanting.

This is where this amp shines. I use an American deluxe Strat outfitted with Fralin pickups and a Gibson Standard Les Paul with the Classic 50. One of my favorite things about the C50 is that different guitars sound stunningly different, as they should. The clean line sparkles even at high volumes, with a very nice natural compression. This is especially obvious with the Strat. The overdrive is wonderfully transparent, yet aggressive enough to bring on the heat. You really hear every note. I use this setup to play in a top 40 cover band, with music ranging from U2 to GnR. I have every tone I need from the amp itself, although I push the overdrive channel with a Boss SD1 for lead tones on occasion. Very buttery balanced sound comes from both channels, and the shared 3-band EQ is surprisingly effective. I would not recommend this amp for really heavy material, but for standard rock I can't say enough good things. I've played in many bands with several other amps including Marshall and Mesa. I loved certain things about those amps as well. However, those amps were sold long ago, and the C50 has been used for hundreds of gigs now. I guess that means something. Lastly, this amp is an absolute steal for the money, but my rating is based solely on its tone. The bang for buck is just a fringe benefit.

I gig with this amp at least once a week without a backup if I'm playing locally. For out of town shows, I usually take a Classic 30 as a backup. The Classic 30 sounds almost exactly the same, although the added presence knob on the C50 rounds out the sound a little more in my opinion. My only criticism is not about the amp itself, but rather, the footswitch. As with so many amps, the cable connecting to the footswitch is not removable and not durable enough. After a lot of use, the connection will get a little loose such that when you shake the wire the signal goes in and out. I'm on my 3rd now after about 8 years. The amp itself, however, is built like a tank. I haven't had a single problem.

N/A

I've been playing for about 15 years now, and this review is long overdue. At least this way I have a rather large sample size from which to base my opinions. Other than my guitars and C50, I own a C30 and pedalboard comprising the usual suspects (tuner, Crybaby wah, Boss Chorus, Delay, and OD). If it were lost or stolen, I'd almost certainly replace it, but I would use my C30 in the meantime (wonderful little amp in its own right). What I love about this amp is the tone, reliability, and simplicity. My only minor criticisms are the somewhat fragile footswitch and lack of a footswitchable lead boost (this feature would put an already great amplifier over-the-top in my opinion). Compared to other amps in the same category, the C50 has its own sound and character. What stands out is the high quality of both the clean and OD channels. Most of the competitors excel in one or the other. It must be said that you simply will not come close to this quality amp for the price with any other brand. If you're sick of turning knobs and just want to worry about playing, this is the amp for you.

Features are listed before me so I wont get into it. Its enough for mew and does exactly what I need it to so it gets a 10.

I have greenbacks in mine so my sound is a little different. People if you can get a amp in TWEED its NOT MEANT FOR METAL! With the Blue Marvels (speakers) the amp had this peircing high end that through much tube swapping and reading online I narrowed it down to the speakers. Well I ploped the greenbacks in and ran some gangster crap music (bass exercises the cones) my g/f listens to through it for about 60 hours over a couple days and HOLY CRAP! The speaker with a JJ 12ax7 in V1 and V2, Sovtek LPS in V3 and a quad of early break up JJ EL-84 rated for 25 MA is the cats meow. It growls and snarls and just plain old rocks. For some reason the amp has this awesome sag to it but the rectifier is solid state(?) Whatever though its there and I love it. I don't want to say its early Marshally because its kind of a generic response but that really how I would describe it. The bottom end isn't flubby but its not overly compressed like these Mesa Rectos. The mid range is a little finicky but anywhere from 4 to about 8 is useable mid range. The treble is not supposed to be interactive with the bass like a Fender 57 tweed but it is. What you do the bass effects the treble and vice versa. The clean channel does not get bright and shimmery like a Fender or anything but it also doesan't sound like muffled dark garbage like a Splawn or Mesa or Solando or anything. Reverb on this amp goes a LOOOOOOOONG way. Mine is set at 3 or 4ish and its perfect. I'm only giving it an eight because I had to swap the speakers and tubes to make it magical.

Its a Peavey. It will outlive ANY and EVERY other amp out there hands down. No other company builds them like Peavey. When you buy a Peavey you are truely buying a product you will use for the rest of your life.

The company is awesome to deal with. Very reliable service. The Peavey forum really shine. Enzo, Classic30inCincy, MetalMuff, CharlieP and all the rest on the Peavey forum are extremely helpful in customization. Enzo is actually a Peavey tech so that resource is just awesome. The whole community is great.

I will never sell this. This amp will be with me until the day I die. I'll end up giving it to which ever kid I have that plays and it will probably be them until they die. Just a great timeless amp.

Classical...

does not mean minimalist. You have bright i normal inputs to choose from ...lots of tone adjustment possibilities. It has all you need if "analogue" electric sound is what you want.
During my combo-lookout my I opted for creamy "clean" to work out my own 'eclectic' style of playing ...
I have never gone much for distorted, heavy-metal, shrieky and gluey sound - this amp has the transparent sheen I need.

I didn't condsider a Peavey before my buy. I told the dealer what my preferences were and he recommended the Classic. (It was available in very good [near-mint] condition, which was very important for me.)

I play jazz guitars - Starfire Special semi-hollow (good de Armond pickups) and a Cort copy of ES-175.
I have not tried turning on the volume very high - these guitars are likely to produce feedback with any amp.
But playing jazzy, funky, avant-whatever styles is not about churning up loads of decibels.
Yes ...the sound... makes you want to play music and forget about equipment matters.

Too early to give an opinion on this one. I got it used and it looks neat and clean.
Well it IS heavy but once you go for any 212 valve-amp, you will have to buy a pair dumbbells and work out a bit. (Just not to look stupid while you are carrying your combo to your car.)

Got it used .. all the repairs, should they prove to be necessary in the future ... will have to be sorted out by local specs.

Rating ... OK OK OK with a big smile of somebody who is happy with his fresh (though second-hand) buy.

Ii is recommended for the way it supports the pick-ups, and gives sweet punchiness to every tone. The Peavey helped me realise that my technique is better than I thought ... tried some tapping ... sounds good too.

Very much a no-frills amp, though there are some nice features to it.

Mine is a newer model, probably from 2006 or so.

A good amp for everything but metal, though I never play metal so it works for me. For my purposes (classic rock/alternative) it suits me perfectly.

Two channels, normal and bright input. Shared EQ between the two channels, which might be bothersome but I get a good sound from both channels with the same settings. The footswitch is for the two channels, and the reverb on/off button on it is actually nice for when we play more echo-ey venues. The effects loop is nice to have, and my wah actually sounds quite a bit better through it than between guitar and amp. Go figure.

Two separate EQ's for the lead and normal channels would be nice, but it works fine for me as is.

50 tube watts is loud as hell, which is perfect. At shows I've never put it above halfway up, so volume has never been an issue. If it's too loud, just get the 30 watt version. You might want to get the 30 watt as well if you're concerned about weight, as this amp is incredibly heavy. Luckily I'm young enough to haul it around.

I use an Epiphone Les Paul with this amp. With the stock pickups it sounded very good, but when I upgraded to a classic 57/burstbucker II combo the amp really came to life. Sounds as good as anything other amp out there with my Les Paul. I've lent it out at shows to other guitar players and a Strat sounds amazing as well through it.

It suits my style perfectly. Ballsy, organic amp overdrive - the best kind there is. More American-sounding than other amps, but I'm sure greenbacks would swing it the other way. It has an ideal classic rock tone, and takes pedals well if you want to go alternative or anything like that. Both my MXR Classic 108 fuzz and Wattson Superfuzz sound great through it.

It has a bit of noise at higher levels, but nothing to worry much about. No more unwanted hissing than any other amp, I suppose.

This amp does a nice vintage rock sound, but can go anywhere from country to indie to blues. The only kind of tone that you can't get with it would be metal, but not many metal guitar players are in the market for a tweed 2x12. If you wanted, you could probably get a metal tone with a pedal, though I have no need for it.

The clean channel stays clean even at max volume, no matter what settings. Very useful if you use pedals for all your tonal changes.

The distortion is warm, organic and gritty. A very nice tone for everything up to metal.

Solid as a rock. I gig with it without a backup, there's no need to bring one. It's been used as a backline amp for day and weekend-long concerts without a hitch. I don't think that I could break it if I tried.

I've had it for over a half a year and it's never had a problem. My guitar teacher has the 4x10 version, it survived a flooded basement and still works.

I've never had to contact Peavey, but it is under warranty. As the owner of my local guitar shop said, "I sell Peaveys because they get sold and we never see them back here."

I've been playing for eight years now. I run this amp with a fuzz, delay, wah, volume pedal and tuner. I gig and record with it, and it is my main amp.

If this amp got stolen or lost, I would certainly buy it over anything else in its price range. Fender clean without the awful Fender overdrive.

I love this amp for its sound and reliability. It can't picture myself playing with another amp in this price range. The only thing I hate is the terrible Peavey logo and the overall appearance of the front cabinet. Peavey likely has the worst logo out there. Luckily, though, it's an amp - so it doesn't matter what the hell it looks like.

A lot of people compare this to the Fender Deville, and I've heard and played both. In my opinion, the Peavey is much, much better. It has the Fender's clean tone without Fender's temperamental distortion. This Peavey is much easier - you don't have to spend hours making millimeter adjustments to the EQ to make it sound nice, just plug in and go!

2008 Peavey Classic 30 same specs as all the other reviewers
have listed so wont bore you with the details
of course I wish it had a stand by switch as well also I wish the footswitch had LEDs so you can see what channel your on

I play Rockabilly/Jazz & Surf and wanted a small tube amp basic but powerful enough to gig and rehearse with also the tweed look fits in with the old 50's vibe,
I use a Reverend Club King 290 or a Gretsch 6120 with Boss Delay and Tremolo pedals
its go that classic Peavey tube rattle but has a great sound when it works The clean channel is great very organic the crunch channel is more modern sounding but still gives a classic rock over drive
I dont think the reverb is so great but if you turn it off you know its missing
I got a leather Peavey cover for it and a footswitch but not with the amp

I always take a back up amp as this Peavey is so unreliable that it would just be asking for trouble,I dont push my amps at all with the music I play I just need it to work for weekly rehearsals and gigs in fact the amp I use as a back up a Fender deluxe 112 has become my main due to the fact it sounds great and always works

This is number 2 as the original one I brought popped the day I got it home, luckily Peavey are just down the road but I was pissed off that Id just brought a new amp and had to wait two weeks later to get it back. Then it started to emit a low hum every now and again-so I took it back and demanded a new one or my money back
so number two arrived two weeks later Ive used this amp weekly for rehearsals and small gigs for the past year and again it was back at Peavey because it went down at a gig four weeks later I get it back and it had the same problem the original one had with the tubes I wondered if Id just got a bad unit as I know a few people that swear by their classics and have never had them serviced or break down but to have two go down for the same reason cant be good ok number two lasted 9 months but that???s not good enough luckily all these repairs are done under the 2 year warranty so it hasn???t cost me a penny to get it fixed but it shouldnt need fixing

Ive been playing for many years I have a lot of guitars/basses but mainly use a Reverend Club King 290 and a Gretsch 6120 also a Washburn J12S acoustic
Amps I have are a Fender Deluxe 112, Hughes & Kettner blue 30, Triggerman 100 rig with 4x12 cab, Hartke HA500 head and XL 4x10 cab
I love the sound of the classic 30 but hate the unreliability I am holding off selling it because the financial climate is so bad at the moment or I will trade it in against a Fender Hotrod Deluxe

I got this amp in the early 90's. It was probably the 1st or 2nd year they put the effects loop on it. In my opinion its one of the best years of this amp bacause it has the efx loop but doesn't have the (in my opinion) big peavey logo on the front that looks kinda bad.

I use a fender telecaster, it sounds great through this amp. I can get any sound I want, particularly when I run my multi-effects pedal through the effects loop. I have not played any other amps to speak of. The only amps I've ever played were cheap crate's or old no name practice amps. So I have little basis for comparison, but this amp sounds fantastic.

My dad bought me this amp 15 years ago (yes they made them back then) and I have never had to have it serviced. That says a lot. However, it was a floor model and had been on the sales floor for three or four months and when I got it home after I bought it I noticed some crackling and popping and was having problems with my input jack's volume going in and out. I went back to where I bought it and they talked me into replacing all the tubes with mesa boogie tubes. After that all the sound issues were "fixed" and the amp has performed marvelously since. I've taken it from east coast to west coast and back a few times and its still in fantastic shape. Only recently i have retubed the amp with groove tubes which are wonderful. I can't believe those mesa boogie tubes lasted so long.

Dunno. Haven't needed any technical assistance in fifteen years.

A few things to mention. I think the speakers are fine and there is nothing wrong with them after a decade and a half. But I have heard that putting a set of greenbacks does wonders for this amp. I think I'm going to do that because I'm a real guitar, cable, and amp guy. I rarely use my effects processor. I haven't even gotten into the whole price/value discussion because its all been said already. If you have a budget of $2000-5000, then buy a boutique amp and have a great time. But other than that, this is a great sounding and looking amp that will last forever. Um, what else do you want? And to those cats that say the lead channel isn't "hardcore" enough or that this amp sucks for metal.............why did you buy this amp?? No amp I know of can do everything, nor should it. Anyway, a good distortion pedal will do wonders. I play mostly everything but metal so 'sall good here.

simple two channel combo, made in -95, speakers original. ORIGINAL TUBES!!

i'm playing a les paul with seymour duncan alnico pro II pickups. and occasionally a fender baja telecaster with stock pickups. no pedals. I owned a marshall tube combo, but sold it after trying this one.
I really like the sound i can get with les paul both clean and dirty.
With Tele i'm not that happy. Clean is very Fender-like and dirty is much better than my old marshall. Of course the dirty channel is not british sounding at all so i can't compare it straight to marshalls. it's more towards to mesa but not for metal. Only mispoint is that the clean channel stays clean even full volume.

original tubes original speakers well i guess i can give a full 10

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i've been playing 15+ years, owned a lot of different amps from fender to orange. I think this one is the best by far. if i could change one thing i would like to be able to crank clean channel a little bit. maybe it's just a case of different tubes??

Straight forward tube 2x12 combo features. Two channels (clean/overdrive), but only one set of tone controls. So what you set for clean has to work for overdrive. I find this to be somewhat of a drawback if you use the amp distortion, but if not, then its not an issue. Nothing extraordinary about the actual features this amp offers. When you look at the list of features, there are a ton of amps that have the same. The amp has normal and bright inputs. Depending on what type of guitar you use, I guess the bright can be handy. I find myself using the Normal input with my guitars. It has an effects loop, I don't use it. Channel switching, I don't use it. =)

Let me begin by saying the amp by itself is nothing unique, but what it does it does VERY well.

My setup is Standard Telecaster --> Ibanez TS9DX --> Boss MT-2 --> MXR Carbon Copy Delay --> Normal channel.

With this setup the amp comes alive! The clean tone is full and clear. If you are looking for an amp that will "tube-fy" you sound after you go through a bunch of pedals, then this is it. Plug into all your pedals to shape your sound the way you want it and then plug into the amp and turn it up. It will add pure tube girth to your sound. It holds up very well with any amp I've had in the past. I used to play through an original '66 fender deluxe reverb. After I got rid of that amp, I regretted it and thought I could never get that tone again without dishing out a ton of cash. Well its back! The Classic 50 212 has it and more, believe it or not.

Ok now about how the amp sounds with a distortion pedal... Just perfect for my taste. Now the amp distortion stinks. Its very muddy and since the normal channel shares the tone controls, its just not possible to get a good compromise between the two channels. But get a nice solid normal channel tone and then plug your favorite distortion pedal in and what an amazing roar. Play a powerchord and its awesome tone, and as the chord sustains...the overtones that feedback are just so soulful.

Solo on this thing and notes come alive. Let a note ring out and it starts to feedback with some overtones and just leads into other beautiful notes.

I would gig without a backup. Its never let me down.

Of all the brands of things I've had...I've always found Peavey to put out some of the most reliable and useful equipment. I am sure they would support it as well as they develop it.

I've been playing for 20 years and I have had some good amps over the years. Mesa Boogie, Fender, Peavey and Line6. This is my favorite. I was so upset after getting rid of my Fender Deluxe Reverb and just went on a rampage trying to get that tone again, well I found it in the Classic 50. I'm very happy with this amp and I will keep it for a while. If it was stolen, I would probably get one again...or maybe get a Fender Supersonic or Vibroking. =)

features already covered.

American Standard Strat with Texas Specials. Primarily blues.
Has good rock tones/ distortion. Screams quite happily. Designed for Rock. Lacks depth for blues.
Overall reasonable tube sound but zero bottom end to speak of, marginal mid-range power. Have heard other players using it in gigs and the same thing: have heard players way better than me play it and they still sounded like something was missing. Reverb is only OK- loses definition and 'disappears' as volumes go up. Ended up moving back to fender for the warm blues feel.

Peavey are built to be played/ abused. No problems.

Have been playing 20 years. 18+ of it in bars.
Have Fender Quad Reverb(don't need to go to the gym if I'm hauling that around), Fender Hotrod Deluxe (my main amp now)and somewhere in Jamaica Plain is my Fender Super 60 (she still hasn't paid for it yet.....).
Have a Squire tele somewhere in Cambridge......My stuff tends to wander when I start neglecting it.....

If I was into playing Rock, I would love this amp, but I tend to stick to blues, so it is gathering dust.