Peavey Delta Blues

This is my first tube amp; I bought it seeking the "old Marshall" sound to play blues, blues-rock, southern rock, and classic rock (e.g. Allman Bros. Band). The Delta Blues is an all tube, 30-watt combo, with one 15" speaker. According to Peavey tech support, this amp is identical to Peavey's "Classic 30" amp, only the Delta Blues has a 15" speaker and the tremolo effect.
The amp has a fairly straightforward set of features: tremolo (speed and intensity knobs); bass, mid, and high EQ knobs (for both channels); reverb; "boost" switch (gives a bit more volume); post and pre volume knobs for the overdrive channel; volume knob for the clean channel; channel select button; effect loop; optional footswitch jack; external speaker out jack. The Delta Blues lacks an important feature for a tube amp: it has NO standby switch! The amp is also very heavy, and farily large; it is cumbersome to move around. I bought a set of four Peavey casters from a local store $15(US) for the set, and the Peavey tech told me it does not void my warranty to add these wheels. The warranty is a five year limited warranty.
I wanted a fairly simple, straightforward sound, and this amp's features are adequate for my needs. With experimentation and patience, it is possible to dial-in to a few really warm, singing sounds. It is definately not high-gain, though, this amp would probably not suit the hard, heavy, and metal crowd.
The lack of a standby switch really irks me, though, and I worry about decreased tube life. Also, the tubes are completely exposed in the back. Fortunately, I don't gig -- I would probably break quite a few tubes with lots of on the road time. It probably wouldn't be too hard, though, to hack up a makeshift cover for the tubes.

I plug in a Fender Standard Stratocaster (Mexican), with the following modifications: the bridge pickup has been replaced with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails; the neck pickup has been replaced with a Seymour Duncan JB Jr. The new pickup to not buzz or hum at all, on any amp setting or volume. The "middle" pickup is still the stock single coil, and it does hum and buzz with the Delta Blues (but also on every other amp it's been plugged into).
With the amp turned on, and no guitar or cable, there is a very slight hum, but barely audible.
The clean channel is very nice; it is warm, and fairly balanced. I run the amp with the EQ settings all cranked up to "12," and this gives me the almost the exact tone I like. Past "6" or "7," the amp starts to distort with natural tube overdrive sounds. I do not gig, but typically jam with friends and just practice. When the amp goes past "6" or "7" it is no longer at bearable practice volumes, because it is extremely loud. But, if I'm jamming with a friend, or put the amp in another room and crack it up to "10" or so, then I have an almost perfect, near-vintage Marshall sound, no cracking or undesirable noises, but a warm tone with some raunchy tube overdrive.
I don't use the distortion channel as often, and as others have said, it is rather cheesy. There are a few sweet spots, though. This amp is definately not a high-gain amp.
At the higher volumes, this amp is fairly responsive to pick dynamics. I can play softly, with just pure tone, or really dig in and hammer my strings (11 gauge Boomers), and get some real punch. At the higher volumes, you can feel that 15" move the air.
I think the secret to the Delta Blues's tone is the 15" speaker, because I played on a Classic 30, and it seemed to trebly, even with the bass cranked out and the treble turned down. The 15" speaker give the Delta Blues the extra bass kick it needs to be playable.
There is only one thing that really bothers me, sometimes, is tube rattle, which seems to come and go depending on my mood or the weather, or something I haven't placed. Initially there were some really bad rattles, caused by the "bent coat hangers" that hold the tubes in. I just bent them to be more rigid against the tubes.
The tremolo is goofy, I only use when I'm just screwing around, and not doing anything serious. If I turn the intensity and speed all the way up to "12," and play the highest not on my guitar, it makes this cool "sonar" type of sound. :)

So far this amp has been 100% reliable for me. As I said, I worry about the tubes not having any real form of protection. But I have moved this amp between my parents' house and school several times (apprx. 2 hour drive), and several trips between my place and my friends' place.
If I did gig, I feel I could rely on this amp to perform.
It came with a five year warranty, too.
One thing to note; I don't know enough about tube amps to tear them apart and critique their manufacturing quality, but I scanned for folks' opinions on DejaNews (www.dejanews.com) on the Delta Blues. The general consensus was that the amp has good sound, but I apparently, it's cheaply and cheesily manufactured. This hasn't been a problem for me, I really baby and take immaculate care of this amp, but the hard core amp folks seem to think it could benefit from better manufacturing.

I've never had a serious problem with this amp, only miscellaneous questions. Peavey has online "forums" (similar to Usenet newsgroups) where you can post your various tech questions, and they can be answered by other customers, but are also answered by official Peavey reps. All of my questions have been answered within a day.
As mentioned above, the amp came with a five year warranty. Note also, I added those Peavey casters to the bottom of this amp, and tech support said this modification does not void my warranty.
If you get this amp, do add wheels, it will save five years on your back!
I have seen folks posting messages to the Peavey support forums asking about the chasis rattle in their Classic 30s. The typical response seems to be "take it to your Peavey dealer and they can re-bend the chasis or send it back to the factory." I guess this is an acceptable response, but I have a feeling if there was any shipping involved, that the cost would fall on the customer! (note these posts were with respect to the Classic 30, not the Delta Blues).
Before you buy a Peavey product, or as part of your research for a Peavey product, it's probably a good idea to browse their online tech forums, so that you can get a feel for what problems and/or concerns people have voiced with their Peavy product(s). http://www.peavey.com
Manuals and schematics of all Peavey amps are also available on their web site and/or for ordering (also through their web site)

I'm a guitar player of about four years. I'm a college student, so I'm poor, and my equipment is limited to the Standard Strat, the Peavey Delta Blues, some cables, and a Vox Wah-Wah pedal. My first amp was a Crate GX15 15 watt beast.
I feel this is a decent amp for the money, especially because I can dial into the blues, blues-rock, classic rock, and southern rock sounds I really dig. I can get acceptably near the sounds of the artists I emmulate, Allman Bros. Band, Ted Nugent, (some) Pink Floyd, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Clapton, etc. And that is exactly what I love about it, I can get these smooth, bluesy tones.
I feel I paid too much for it, though, I think I could have talked the store owner down another $40(US) or so, i.e. if you find a good dealer, one of these could be had for around $400(US) or so.
If it were lost or stolen, I'd probably buy something else, just because I like to try new things... but I would go through a considerable period of mourning if this amp were stolen or lost!
As far as its comparison to other amps, I have to admit, I was comparing strictly to amps in this approximate price range. But, I really got the sound I can dig, and despite some folks saying it has cheap construction, I've never had any technical or breakdown troubles.
My only real concerns/wishes for this amp are as follows: standby switch, I'm learning more about tube amps daily, and it seems as though tubes are usually what craps out on tube amps (first), and a standby switch just logically seems as though it would add tube life; a protective grill or some type of enclosure around the tubes, they're simply too delicate to be fully exposed, with no real form of protection; better tube "mounts" or "holders," there is only the equivalent of bent coat hangers holding the tubes firmly in place (and actually, they're probably unneccessary), I think a better method for securing the tubes could be engineered, that was not subject to rattles, and looked a bit more elegant.
Also, I don't have the web address handy, but if you check the reviews on this Harmony Central database of the Classic 30, one individual lists his homepage where he has several modifications described for improving and bettering the Classic 30 -- several of these mods apply also to the Delta Blues, but many will void the warranty!

This is a follow-up and it has the same features as before; they're all the same, anyway. I found a new use for it, however. I have a Yamaha DX-7 keyboard, I've loaded the cartridges with Hammond sounds. I plugged it into the Delta Blues with a chorus pedal just because it was sitting there handy. Now I know what the overdrive on this amp is really for! The closest I can describe the sound is "Deep Purple". It really screams. I suspect (and will try when I can) that a Fulltone stereo Roto-vibe would really sound right. It's also a lot lighter than a Leslie. I think the great 15" speaker is what makes it sound so sweet. BTW, I've used this amp for recording bass guitar. It sounds great for that, also.

Still sounds great, excepting with heavy distortion, which I don't use anyway. It's especially cool as an organ amp (much to my suprise), and the distortion works for this use.

Except for the initial problem, caused by a broken tube, nothing has ever gone wrong. I still say it's not very well designed, but considering the price, it's better made than one might expect. I'm still planning on hand-wiring one when I can find a used one real cheap.

I haven't needed customer support except when buying it but they were certainly helpfull then.

If I had to compare this amp to another I'd say, think of a black face Fender Bandmaster, running 4 EL-84's class A, with reverb, through the sweetest 15" speaker I've ever heard. That's about as close as I can aome.

I mostly play in a church, so I need a great sound at low volumes. It gets miked through the sound system. Plenty, plenty, plenty of power! I leave the Normal knob on '2' and back off with my guitar volume. I thought I would never use a Lead channel, but this one is nice. My wife doesn't complain so much because the amp/guitar sound is not at all harsh. It is noisy at very low volumes, but the noise disappears into the background as you turn it up. I pull the amp's Treble down (4) and turn up the guitar's Treble and can reduce the noise quite a bit.

I use a Jackson Stealth with 3 HB's. I bought the guitar 5+ years ago for the neck, not the tone. It sounded very crappy through my old silverface Deluxe Reverb (thin and harsh), but now sounds quite good through the Delta Blues. I was really looking for a new guitar, but now I can stick with what I have for a long time. You definitely have to tweak the knobs a bit, but I can get a great "2" and "4" position sounds. It can be bouncy, percussive, and mellow, depending how you fiddle with it.

I bought it used, and one of the tube holder thingies had fallen off into the bottom of the amp. Before I discovered that, I had trouble with "crashing noises" after 1.) moving the amp in/out of the car, or 2.) playing extremely loud - testing purposes only. Fiddling with one preamp tube always fixed the problem. Now that I've put the tube holder back on the preamp tube, I don't have that problem, knock-on-wood. It appears to be well-built, but I've only had it a couple of months.

I don't expect any support, and probably wouldn't use it if they did provide it. I know enough about electronics and tubes to figure most things out.

I've been playing electric guitar for 8 years or so. Acoustic adds another 10 to that. If lost or stolen, I would definitely buy it again. I've looked at, played, borrowed, owned lots of different amplifiers. When I was looking for this one, I was really looking for a Fender Pro Junior (12", 15W), but it couldn't hold a candle to this amp, which cost only a few dollars more. I also looked at the Trace Elliott Velocette series. Nice sound, if that's the sound you like (Class A mode). Epiphone has a ~20W 12" all-tube amp which was actually a close second. I was very surprised. I played that amplifier for an hour or more at the store. I have a Zoom effects rack, but it will now be sold or ignored. I was also hopeful of the Line 6 amplifiers. Though they cost about $250 more than this one, I hoped their versatility and sounds would be worth it. I was sorely disappointed. While they have more of a tube sound than most solid-states, they do not have what I like in an amplifier. After playing one, I received a demo CD in the mail. It showed exactly why that amp is not for me - too much oriented towards Van Halen wannabe's and other pseudo musicians. If you can't play very well, at least you can play loud.
After the trouble with my old Fender Deluxe Reverb, I thought I was going to have to compromise my personal values and buy a solid-state amp. No solid state amp exists to fill the void. I hope and pray that by talking nice to this amp, it will not let me down for 20 years or so. We've come a long way in tube amp design since the early tubes. The transformer's are much better than they used to be, so say my educated sources. You don't have to play so dang loud to get a good sound.
I didn't rate it a 10 because you do have to tweak the knobs quite a bit to get good sounds. This may have as much to do with my guitar as the amplifier.

Normal and lead channels, tremolo,eq, effects loop, reverb. Cute tweed finish. Channel switching is done via push-button or an optional footswitch. It sould be handy to have a second input jack. I don't use the trem because the sound doesn't suit the blues and classic rock that I'm into. I use this amp mainly at home for practice. I can get nice sounds out of it at low volumes, but this amp is loud if you want it to be!

I use this amp with a PRS McCarty Model (check out my review in the guitar database). The amp provides lovely warm sounds that complement the PRS in humbucking mode but has plenty of bite when switching to single coils. It produces very little noise - just a gentle hum which is more pronounced while warming up (this only takes about 30 seconds). The distortion channel *can* be used, but I suspect an overdrive pedal is probably a better way to go. This amp is plenty loud enough for me - that 15" speaker really is good for a rich, bluesy sounds with plenty of power when it's needed.

I haven't had it long enough to have problems (touch wood). I suppose, like any tube amp, I have to expect to have the occasional breakdown.

Never dealt directly with Peavey. I did like the way they provide a PDF copy of the user's guide at the Peavey web site: www.peavey.com so I'll give them half marks.

I compared this with the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, but decided at GBP100 cheaper, I'd go for the Peavey. I don't regret it. I still think it represents great tone for the money.

2 channels,trem,eq,fx loop,reverb

I use a Fender American Standard Strat , all stock for blues and blues rock. It suits the style well. I like the sound when it is doing its thing rightly. It is noisy in all settings and all environments, but i have learned to live with it being a single coil user. I like the clean channel but the drive channel sucks. I also dont use the tremolo, it robs to much tone. The best distortion comes from this thing if you just get the clean channel up high, although this amp has had its moments, i can never get it to do the same thing twice.

I cannot depend on this amp. I have gigged without back up and gotten lucky, but I am searching daily for something better. When I first brought it home I got a wicked low freq hum out of it that wouldnt die. I blocked the reverb tank off the bottom and that seemed to help. One thing I can do is touch it when its truned on, the thing sounds like a truck running into a pack of shopping carts. I have changed tubes to all sovteks and that helped the tone, but the crashing noises are there every now and then.

I have not dealt with the company. I know the runaround I will get and it aint worth it. I will have the local Frankenstien take it to his lab before I give it to the factory boys, I hav heard 6 month horror stories and refuse to live one of them. Warranty Shmarranty. I know the game.

I have used it for two years out of sheer lack of cash to replace it. I would not buy another one. I like the tone when it is in the mood. I hate the unrealibility. Searching for a Supro

I own 19 amps, Marshall, Fender, Gibson, etc, but, except for the smallest clubs, I always use the Delta Blues. Any venue where this amp isn't loud enough, you should be miking it, anyway. I play blues and this one does it for me. I get a lot of sneering because it isn't "politically correct", according to the blues snobs, but when I'm performing, I go for the sound, not for the label and date of manufacture.

I use this amp with a Strat with Texas Special pickups., a Yamaha SBG2000, a '65 Gibson Firebird, and a Gibson Trini Lopez. It sounds fine with all of them. The distortion channel sucks, but I never use it, anyway. The mid boost is nice, and adds just a little distortion. Perfect for my style. The 15" speaker in this thing is the best I've ever heard.

As far as I can tell, mine was the first Delta Blues sold. I called the factory and sweet talked a lady in sales into selling me one before they were released. The first time I turned it on, a tube shorted out and took a couple caps with it. I got it fixed, and I've never had any trouble since. I use it without backup but one of these days, I'll be sorry. I've pulled it apart and looked at the inerds. It's actually pretty cheesily made. Very little point-to-point wiring, everything is on circuit boards, even (gasp) the tubes! To be fair, nothing in this price range is made any better, in fact this is probably a little better than average. I'm looking for a used on I can pick up cheap. I've ordered the schematics and I'll remount the tubes on the chassis and hand wire one for myself. It's the labor that costs so much, anyway. I rate this a 7, not because it hasn't been reliable, but because of it's build quality. I've been spoiled by vintage amps, I guess.

They were VERY helpful, when ever I've called. Their web site has the owners manual, if you need it. The nearest sevice center is under 2 miles from my house.

I've been playing guitar for 35 years and have used a lot of different amps. I wouldn't say it's the best, but it's great for the music I play and the clubs I play it in. Peavey could lose the distortion and tremolo (not that it's bad, I just never use it), and add a presence control. When I make my own, I'll do that. For the price, it's hard to beat, especially with that great speaker.

This is an update of my previous entry, a lot of people have been saying bad things about the distortion channel and most are quite valid, this is deffinately not a high gain amp (it isn't intended to be) but this amp can make a few great distotion sounds. This amp sounds great for that old Marshall sound (tight with sharp powerful mids) when you first use the mid boost button and then use the preamp gain as the volume and crank the post to 12 (I use the pre at 6-7). I think it also helps that I use a Les Paul with emg 81's and they can really drive that amp. Another great sound requires that you turn off the mid boost, add bass (about 9 or 10), scoop the mid (about 3), add some treble and I use a Big Muff and it gives a great driving fuzz with plently of power; the secret to greatly increased and fabulous tone is that I use a Marshall JCM 900 4x12 cab. I couldn't believe that this is a 30-watter, definetly loud enough for most any occassion. I recently e-mailed Sovtek and asked them about some tubes and they said that their 12ax7wb's will add some gain to the amp but I haven't tried it yet.

Still going strong with no problemas.

A great amp for classic blues and clean sounds but is quite versatile with a little creative thinking. They have a new 50W version (or so I think) which should be loud as hell since the 30W seems louder than most of the 50-watters I've played and was quite a bit louder than an old solid-state 80W Peavey. A great overall amp, not for the thrash and gridcore guys but that is what the 5150,dual-rectifer and JCM 2000 are for. enjoy!

The other guys have described the amp pretty well. I justed wanted to add my voice to the others praising this thing. I have had it for about 6 months No problems. Sound is versatile, great clean, nice distortion tones, though a little one dimensional. I play with a guy that uses a Hot Rod deluxe and side by side its hard to like the fender better. It must be that big speaker...

What blew me away was how well it worked as a an acoutic amp. I play a tele and a strat, also washburn and taylor acoustics Distortion nice, Tremelo is very cool if you are into that thing this one is good. Clean is very nice. The reverb is not as good as fender, but only matters if you really soak it.

So far so good, but how can anybody rate a tube amp as more than a 6 or 7 here? I seriously question the objectiveness or intelligence of anyone who does. Tubes just don't last without at least changing the tone. And they can blow at any time, leaving you in the lurch. But as tube amps go this has been good so far. I can't say I'm overly impressed with the fit and finish, but its as good as the others in this price range (fenders, crates, etc).

Compared to the other amps I've used, I really think this is great combination of good price, sound, versatility, and VOLUME (this thing is pretty loud!) But I play in the house alot and it realy sounds better than most at lower volumes.

This is a very versatile amp ( versatile enough for me, that is). I only use the clean channel, usually, or I switch channels for subtle tonal changes, so I don't mind the fact that the two channels share the same 3-band EQ and reverb controls. I play blues and rock, and I get all the sounds I need or want out of this amp. I use it with a Boss BD-2 Blues Driver and a Jim Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Wah.

This amp sounds great! I use an Epiphone SG and I get really great tone out of this thing. I've played a Classic for about a year now, and this amp sounds way better. I think it's because of the 15" speaker. On the Classic 30, I always rolled off the treble and the bass, or else my tone would get muddy or piercingly thin. Now, I just put all the passive EQ knobs at the max and it sounds incredible! I get loads of clear bass and smooth, balanced highs. The distortion is sort of cheesy, but I rarely use it. If I want real nice distortion from this amp, I just play fucking loud, but I can never really make it go that loud. That's why I have a Blues Driver. The reverb is OK. It's not real cheesy, twangy or anything. I set it around 4-5, depending on where I'm playing. The mid-boost takes your signal and turns it into a fart-it's a really crappy feature. I never use the tremolo, so I can't really tell you about it.

I've played a Classic 30 for about a year now and I haven't had any problems with it. I would guess that all of Peavey's classic series amps are equally reliable.

The day I bought this amp, I tried out three other amps with the same guitar: a Crate VC3112, an Ampeg Superjet and the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe- all in the same price range. The Delta Blues was less expensive any of them and sounded better than all of them; the Crate was good, but didn't have the bass clarity or high-end sparkle of the Delta, the Ampeg's reverb was a bit cheesy and all of the above can be said of the Hot Rod. This amp was a great value. I would definitely buy another one if mine was stolen.

This amp is pretty basic (in terms of features) except for that big badassed 15" that everyone talks about. It's 30 all tube watts, has two channels, reverb and tremelo. The reverb has a great classic Fender-y spring-y kind of sound. The tremelo which unfortunately doesn't seem to popular among other players is very trippy sounding, especially with high intensity. My only gripe with the trem is that it sucks up a lot volume. The gain channel is certainly no 5150 but can do quite nicely if you like a Jon Spencer raucous blues sound or a East Bay Ray(Dead Kennedy's) early eighties punk sound, but it is much to thin for any hardcore or thrash tones. The Delta Blues also has a mid boost switch, the amp kind of thin when this is off unless your at high volumes.

If you want big fat phat and more fat tone a la SRV then this is a killer amp. Crank this amp past 6 (of 12) and you get magical tube distortion. I use a strat w/texas specials and 11-50's and this seems to complement this amp quite nicely. The 15" speaker is the real special selling point for this amp and boy does it speak volumes. I also a Ibanez re-issue ts-9 and a big muff re-issue for extra distortion and they both sound great. I get great feedback even form the tube screamer that is very smooth and quite controllable...even with single coils. My Les Paul has a tone so fat and smooth that it should carry an American Heart Association warning on it. With a healthy amount of reverb mixed with the tube screamer and strat you can get some very cool Man of Astro Man? sounds. With the gain channel being a little on the weak side (remember this a blues amp and not a thrash monster) the big muff sounds quite nice a cuts well even on the 15"... however you get maximum volume at around 8. This amp is very loud for being only 30-watts, definately loud enough for club work. With some work I can get blues, jazz, punk and surf sounds that are all very tone-full.

I've had no problems after about six months and have known others who have had this amp longer and have had no problemas. But I'm a little concearned about the reputation of the chinese tubes.

I have not dealt with them yet(knock on tweed).

This amp is one great sounding amp and if it died I would buy it again. The price compares quite nicely to a Vibro-King or a Bassman re-issue. It has a definite vintage flavor, it has very vintage yet unique look to it. I would really like to run a 4-10 cab off it to get a nice blend of tone. It would also be nice to a/b it with a high gain amp a la a 5150 to the best of both worlds. This is not a do all amp, but is one of the best sounding amps I've ever heard.