Peavey Delta Blues

All tube amp with 3 12Ax7s and 4 EL84s. Really cool looking amp that is built real solid to take some abuse. See other posts for all the features. I would rate it higher here if it had a stabdby and seperate EQ controls.

I just got this amp used off the internet and am amazed at the sounds this thing produces. I play a Les Paul Studio Light, mostly rock and blues, and used to have a Fender Ultra Chorus, this amp blows that Fender away! It has a crisp responsiveness to pick attack, good sounding crunch on the gain channel, great tone at bass, mid, and treble. It is a little dark sounding but I keep the treble up to 10 or so and it sounds great. When I first got it there was a bad tube so I replaced the preamp tubes with JJ's Euros and that thing sounds twice as good! I can dial in sounds ranging from clean surf all the way to (almost) grunge. This is a really good sounding amp for anything from slight over the top blues to Van Halen sounding heavy rock and roll.

I have not had it long enought to make this call but have noticed Peavey reps showing up on different internet sites (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/deltablues) to offer advice and assistance, which I think is pretty cool.

None needed

I have played on and off for more than 20 years and have played through a lot of different amps but this one is a keeper. I am not playing out right now so I cant comment on how well it will sound live and suspect I will have some trouble switching sounds without a box. But this is a great sounding amp straight in and would like to keep it no matter. Now that I know what Peavey can sound like I'll probably be looking at a 5150, never satisfied, you know how that is.

This is a 2-channel amp w/on-board tremolo and 30 LOUD watts pumped through (1) 15" speaker. It uses (2) 12AX7 preamp tubes and (4) EL84 power amp tubes. The controls include volume (for the clean channel), pre- and post gain (for the overdrive channel), shared bass, midrange, and treble controls, reverb level, and speed and depth for the tremolo. The only minor negatives here are that (1) it only has a single input jack, and (2) there is no standby switch -- it's either on or off. The vibe is definitely vintage. Mine is an older model with the gold tweed covering and brown grill cloth -- very '50s.

For my style of playing the tones are perfect -- the clean channel is sweet and round, and the overdrive channel provides a smoothe, warm, bluesy overdrive -- even at reasonable volume levels (important for me in an apartment). Definitely NOT for shredders. The reverb is amazing! It's not as rediculously deep as Fender reverb -- the range is much more practical. The tremolo is OK -- it's not quite smoothe and rounded as my old Ampeg but with the proper tweeking it suffices.

This amp is built like a tank!

I've owned about a dozen amps over the past 20 odd years. Some were too clean, some were too loud, some were too heavy to lug, etc... I'm glad to say that I've found my LAST amp! The Delta Blues has the perfect blend of features, vibe, power and tone for me. I would never part with it.

Pretty well described in other above reviews. I play original blues tinged rock and roll so generally need a bit of distortion. Mostly in small club settings. Use both Teles and a Dan Armstrong/Ampeg plexi with it. A stand by would be nice. Really has enough power for a club and could be miked and run through the monitors in larger venues. Took me 20 years of playin gto figure out that any wattage over 50 is pointless with my style. If you need clean tone I could see it. Gets a good lead tone (when not crapping out:see below) and nice old school Stonesy rhythm. I always have liked the sound of 15 inchers.The tremelo sounds cool buit is hard to use as the vopume drops a lot when you kick it in making it difficult to incorporate into a song unless you use it corner to corner.

The distortion can get noisy at some points. I rarely used the amp in clean mode. Generally set it up with the post at noon and the pre around one o'clock with the boost channel in. I also used an ancient Fender Blender boost pedal on most of the time and controlled levels from the guitar volume knob. Sounds pretty warm but can still get that solid stateish cheese going.

And here lie dragons. Had a good bit of trouble with chassis rattle, tube problems and began making a high feeback sound when the reverb was turned all the way up. You could turn it down and it would stop only to return moments after you went back up. The various noise problems ranged from this to a breathing type sound to a tube rattle to the chassis vibrations. I never died on the job but often had to be talked out of it.

Dealer was most helpful and candid about the chassis vibrations, etc. Never dealt with Peavey but my experiences on other products ahs been excellent.

I am selling the amp and continuing the search for the Holy Grail (tone). I just bought a Boogie Nomad 45 and am trying to decipher it. I originally bought the Delta Blues as a back up for a 1955 Fender Pro Amp that could be touchy at gigs due to age (not unlike me) and wound up using the Peavey and leaving the old timer at home. the Fender has killer tone but no reverb and sometime shad to be cranked a bit loud to get what you needed. Tone was good when it was good. What can I say? I hated the noise and various demons that seemed to inhabit it though basically for the money I think it is one of the best amps I have ever had...I've been through Twins, Boogie SOB, Ampeg Reverborocket and now the new Boogie which, by the way, is not exactly noiseless and over twice the price.

2 channels. all tube. Clean and Overdrive. Reverb, Tremlo, 1X15 30 watts. 1997 model. I don't have the footswitch, but it has one avaible and I wish I had it. Has effects loop and speaker out. EQ is shared on channels. I wish is was a seperate EQ.

The amp is very good for all tube blues amp. I love the clean sound. Very warm. The overdrive is cool. But don't expect Metal sounds out of this amp. Its pretty loud amp for 30watts. I like the the bigger speaker. The reverb is ok. The tremlo is fun to play with. This amp was a good deal cheaper than a Fender but able to get similar sounds

Never had a problem with the amp, but it has an open back with the tubes exposed.Seems fragile. I wouldn't gig with it. Its a cool homebound amp

never delt with them

Cool all tube blues amp to jam at home with

This is an update to a previous, very enthusiastic review. I loved the hell out of this amp till i started gigging with it. At gig volumes the clean sound seemed harsh and very hard to dial in. I play a strat and like Steve Cropper soul tones which this think delivers at low volumes in spades. cranked, it stays clean but there's something crackly and unpleasant about it. maybe the speaker just isn't for me?

Traded it in on a Fender Custom Vibrolux Reverb which i'm VERY happy with. I also bought a used Peavey Classic 30 which to me does everything the Delta Blues did but sounds better loud with the 12" speaker. The classic 30's drive channel is awesome, but for clean i prefer the fender.

so i'm fickle. but aren't most people around here?

seemed solid as hell.

Two things: before you buy play at all volumes, stand back and listen. Also, consider the classic 30. almost as loud, and the 12" may work better for you. Lot's of people love the 15", but it wasn't for me and I also found it a bit hard to mic well for recording.

Features have been listed umpteen times, why waste the space?

I love the Clean Channel cranked! I bought the amp because it sounded just like a BF Vibroverb. I AB'd them with a Morley box and it was all good! So I had to get the DB! It has 10 less watts but you really can't tell when they are cranked up! I dime everything and control tone and volume from the guitar. I use a Strat with Texas specials, and this amp just sings. The 15 really gives you a killer bottom end, and the amp is just soo expresive, why blow all the cash on a boutique or vintage amp? If I want one that bad, I'll save up for awhile, while playing this. The drive channel can be brittle, but I just twiddle the knobs until I find a sweet spot and leave it there.
I don't use that channel much because it is a preamp kind of drive, I prefer power tube overdrive, sounds warmer to me

Well, I guess I have to be realistic, it is a PCB amp. I do expect some problems down the line, with the tube sockets being directly attached to the board, and the little wire jumpers that they used to connect and support the boards. If it ever just goes kaput, I'll just do a point to point job on it!
Oe problem everyone has with this amp is the exposed tubes. If you are not careful, you'll break them! They are exposed to help hem cool, this is a supposed "Class A' amp, meaning that the power tubes never idle (Another reason that there should be a standby switch) always run full out, so they get real hot!
The other is no standby switch, this tends to shorten tube life, because the tubes are slammed with alot of power before they are warm.
Other than that I can't see to many problems

Never have, hope I never do

I have been playing longer than I like to admit! I really hope I can find another if anything happens to it!
I wish it had,1. A standby switch. pretty obvious. 2. A tube rectifier, this would really make the amp breath, especially on a class A amp! 3. Seperate EQ for each channel, that way you could really work with the drive channel, and maintain a killer clean tone!
Problem is, with these mods the amp would cost alot more than it does! and for what I paid, this is a steal! I also played Fender hot rods and some others against it, it was for me hands down, and the least expensive. The only amp that I would love to other than this? A Fender Vibroking, Killer Amp, Killer price! The thing I love the most? The tone! I put a slide on the strat, crank the volume, and just enjoy the tone to the bone! I am giving it a 10 overall for the price and sound, I don't think you can do any better!

This is a depressed update. My DB 115 died. I went looking for a replacement, since I wasn't sure that I was happy with it. I've played everything, from the crappy Flextone amp modeler series, the Tech21 solid state amps, even looked into a Fender Twin or a Super Reverb.

I miss my Delta. What a great amp. When it worked, I was always thinking about that awesome TWIN tone, wishing for it. After actually playing through a TWIN, I've discovered that the awesome TWIN tone will work only if you set up your amp outside of the bar, otherwise, the volume will HURT everyone.

From there, I looked into the Vibrolux. Smaller than a TWIN, not as loud, but tone is as good. Sounds just like the Delta Blues.

Now, I'm not saying it sounds EXACTLY like it, but, put me in a bar with 50 dancing drunks, let me A/B the two amps, and stop the song, and ask these folks "which tone do you like better? can you tell?". HELL NO. This amp HONKS. If it hadn't died, I guess I wouldn't appreciate this.

Screams. Wails. Farts. Screams. Sours.

So, the problem originally was that I couldn't boost the amp during solos. But alas, I've solved the problem (well, 'til the fucker DIED) by using a Tube Screamer through the clean channel, then the distorted channel had just a little more bite added. WHOOOOO!

Doesn't COLOR the guitar sound like a Marshall or them crappy Line 6 modelers. This is a GREAT sound. My one beef was that there wasn't much of the sound cutting through the crowd -but, after comparing it to a TWIN, which cut the crowd in half via sound waves, I'm believing that this amp does the job fine. A presence knob woulda been good - I looked into a MOD for the DB, only to recently discover that I just need to change to MONSTER CABLES.

Well - like I said, Bessie's DEAD, so, I'd have to go 50/50 on the reliability. Them crappy tube holders are the problem (I think). And at the volumes I had it at, I'm guessing I must've overheated the puppy. Dunno. Gotta wait until the amp man tells me what killed it.

Their website's pretty thorough. Haven't actually CONTACTED anybody at Peavey, since I bought this thing used, but there's a damn CULT behind this amp.
http://www.egroups.com/group/deltablues

I WILL buy another one if this thing won't come back to me. Unless of course I find a SUPER REVERB for $200. I don't see that happening. This amp has been fantastic, from the looks to the versatility.

I purchased this amp new and believe it's a 1999 unit, with blonde tweed and a single 15" Blue Marvel 16ohm speaker. It looks fantastic, a very retro 50's kind of boxiness. I was searching for a smaller tube amp without the boutique pricetag that was capable of a good clean sound and a moderately overdriven blues sound for classic rock stylings or blues stuff. On all accounts I am absolutely knocked out by this amp. I've owned a bunch of amps of many varieties over the past 30+ years in bar bands and like everyone else, have been searching for the "holy grail" of tone. I've gotten great clean sounds with this amp that make my '71 Strat sing, and terrific dirty sounds with the Boost engaged (it's a one channel amp, with the Boost basically adding another gain stage). I love getting solid sustain without sacrificing all the tone at low and moderate volumes. The amp has decent spring reverb (although not as "surfey" as a Fender Twin or Fender Vibrolux) and tremelo. The tremelo is only marginally useful and not as buttery as I'd like. The amp has plenty of power at 30watts and would probably cut it easily in a small club setting.

I play a '71 Strat and a 1996 Yamaha AEX1500 primarily (mini-humbucker, jazz archtype). The Strat sounds very good in the neck and middle pickup position, with a great roundness clean. The neck pickup also sounds great with a little dirt from the amp's boost button. I'm also impressed with amp's clarity with the Yamaha, which I use for jazz instrumentals and occasionally with the piezo pickup for simulated acoustic guitar type material. The 15" blue Marvel could be brighter with the Strat but I really haven't experimented with my stomp boxes (a SansAmp with the brightness up might do the trick). I tried my Zoom 3030 foot pedal in the effects loop and it was ridiculously noisey, so for the time being I'm playing straight (or with effects in line and not in the loop). I've pushed the amp hard in the clean setting and was unable to detect any breakup up to about 6 (anything louder than that and you're a candidate for serious tinnitus anyway as this amp has plenty of balls). The pre/post controls on the boost setting enable you to completely saturate. Not to my taste, and probably too muddy for any serious metal wankers, but I really don't believe this is what Peavey had in mind for this amp. To my ears, this is great, great little club amp.

Also, I plugged my bass in just for laughs. The 15" speaker does a very nice job at a low rehersal volume. No thunderous lows, but certainly adequate for an acoustic jam or low volume band practice. An additional surprise!

Haven't owned the amp long enough to know. I also am pretty careful about my equipment. The exposed tubes in the amp is a serious design flaw that Peavey should have recognized. I plan on manufacturing a wood or metal bar to protect the tubes. However, my experience in the past says that most tubes get broken through sloppy handling and storing junk in the amp that subsequently bounces around and breaks the tubes. Also, the tube hangers on my amp are cheesy metal straps that don't do the job. I'd be interested in hearing from other users that have come up with alternatives. My amp came through with Sovtek tubes, which I plan to replace with JJ Electronics in the near future to improve headroom and overall tone.

No repairs to date. Two year warranty on amp (90 days on tubes), extended to five years by Peavey when they get customer info survey back.

I've been playing over 30 years. I own a bunch of guitars (an old Guild D35, '71 Strat, '96 Yamaha AEX1500, '65 Fender P-bass, '71 Fender P-bass fretless, generic Yamaha cheapo Bass, etc.), keyboards, and a mountain of recording and PA gear (Roland 880vsEx, Mackie 1604 VLZ,PA cab's, power amp's etc. etc. etc.)Although I haven't owned the amp very long, I am surprised at some of the other reviewers' negative comments about durability. This amp is an incredible value relative to the other Fender Hot Rod's-Crates-baby Marshalls-Line 6's of the world. I think the Fenders are over-priced and harsh sounding, the Crates are cheesy, Marshall's are one-dimensional (and expensive), and the Line 6's are tube-amp wannabe's (or a little of everything equals master of nothing). I would definitely buy another of these amp's and my guitar playing partner is currently looking to buy one (and he's played through every amp in the world, and owned about half of them). I'd like to get my hands on the 1 x 15" extension cab in matching blonde tweed, or a 2 x 10" extension cab to match this amp. I hope Peavey takes its users' comments regarding the exposed tubes, tube hangers, and tube sockets seriously and makes these simple design mod's on future versions.

This is an update to my previous review. I've been playing the DB for about a month now and I have a pretty good feel for its sounds. So I went back to the guitar store and played through every amp I'd compared it with when shopping and I few I hadn't. Fact is, I like the DB MORE now in comparison with the others. The only amps that had the kind of tone the DB does were the Fender '65 Twin reissue (very different tone, but very nice amp) and a Groove Tubes Soul-O 75. But let's face it: the Twin is too heavy, too loud, to expensive for what it is and it only does one thing. The GT is a phenomenal amp, very versatile, beautiful tone (your guitar's personality comes through no matter what) but do you have $2000 to spend on an amp? As for the other Fenders, (including the deluxe reissue, the hotrods,and the vibrolux) Crates, etc. FAGGEDABOUTIT! The peavey sounded good when I bought it and it sounds better now.

1996.
See other reviews for features.
Wish it had reverb and boost selection on the footswitch.
Came stock with cheap Chinese tubes... swapped out for cheap Peavey Sovteks with a pretty big difference in tone (I followed Steve Ahola's suggestions for preamp 12ax7's... much warmer sound).

Using primarily a 96 G&L Legacy Strat (tone pots control treble and bass for all 5 positions) with a Little '59 single coil sized humbucker in the Bridge.

Occasionally use a DeArmond Starfire (without the Bigsby Trem) with stock DeArmond pickups.

Optional Settings for warm, clear, chimey tone:
BOTH CHANNELS PUSHED...
* Normal Volume at 12 }
* Post Volume at 12 }> Control Volume and rumble with Legacy Volume.
* Pre Volume at 6 }
*Bass, Mid, Treble EQ's all at 1
(This dramatically reduces hiss at peak volume... Control EQ for 5 positions mostly with the Treble pot on the Legacy... Between 5 and 8.)
*Reverb at 5 (More sounds robotic... less sharpens the treble EQ.)
*Boost Button pushed in or ENGAGED (Actually gives more clarity to highs)
*Tremolo Speed - set to liking
*Tremolo Intensity - set to 3 (just enough to get movement without losing volume)

BOTH CHANNELS WARM AND BRIGHT:
* Normal Volume at 4-5}
* Post Volume at 12 }> Legacy Volume 7 for Distortions and 9 for
* Pre Volume at 4 } Clean
*Bass, Mid, Treble EQ's all at 12
(This seems to balance out the highs and lows VERY WELL... warm, round, chimey tone without shrill highs or muddy lows.) Legacy treble pot on 5-6 for Little '59 humbucker and on 7-8 for strat chime.
*Reverb at 4-5 (More sounds robotic... less sharpens the treble EQ.)
*Boost Button DISENGAGED
*Tremolo Speed - set to liking
*Tremolo Intensity - set to liking ( Can use Dirty channel as second clean channel with gain in volume for solo's or to compensate for lost volume with Tremolo.)

Tremolo Circuit pooped out after about a year, but was fixed by local Dealer for no cost.

I use it twice weekly for youth group times of worship and it has sounded sweetly for almost 4 years now.

Had to replace tubes, but that was more an issue of tone than reliability.

Peavey is an enigma... Suped up web site, but hard to find what a person is looking for... They emailed me promptly, but I still was unable to get the answers I was looking for at the time... (have forgotten them by now).

Before buying this amp I demo'd a bunch of Fenders (not too impressed with their reissues), Mesa Boogies (a bit too nasally for my liking, not to mention the $$), Marshalls (mostly valvestate, but a couple of tube as well - not the half stack earbangers though),and others (Laney's, Crate's, Epiphones, etc.) and decided that I liked the G&L Legacy Strat + Delta Blues combo together best. Now, I must admit that I was looking for a sweet vintage vibe rather than any head-banging stuff, so my review is obviously biased.

I use a couple of pedals that have made the amp pretty versatile sounding... they are:
Guitar
V
Visual Sound Route 66 (Compression + fat, deep, overdrive)
V
Purple Bud Wah (Round, warm, wow - wow, very vintage sounding, but not shrill at the top)
V
Boss DS-1 (More midrangy, fuzzy, than Rt. 66)
V
DOD FX 90 Analog Delay (Bouncy, smooth, slap-back mostly)
V
Boss TU-2 Tuner

Overall, this amp/guitar/pedal combination gives me all that I need for the styles I play (mostly Alternative/Rock/Mellow worship music)

IF ANYONE HAS ANY OTHER IDEAS FOR SWEET TONE WITH THIS AMP, PLEASE LET ME KNOW... IT IS A BIT LIMITED IN USE, BUT I'VE BEEN VERY PLEASED WITH IT SO FAR! Blessings!