Peavey ValveKing 100W Head

If your looking here you already know the features. 2 channel, 100w tube amp with some cool extras like the gain/volume boost. Made in china (what isn't anymore?) with 4 6L6 and 3 12AX tubes. Nice that they put Ruby power tubes and JJ preamp tubes in it stock. All you need and more from an amp IMHO.

I play in a rock cover band. We do everything from classic to metal and this amp more than covers the range. Great clean channel and everything from an AC/DC gain to saturated metal gain. with 100 watts it has more than enough power for the rooms we play. Effect loop works well and the Texture knob would be useful in a studio or at home. Live, I'll leave it turned all the way clockwise. Resonance and presence work as additional tone controls. Bright switch on the clean channel is a little too bright for me, but maybe a country guy playing a Tele might use it. Has volume and gain boost on the gain channel, and both work as described.

It would be nice if the gain/volume boost had knobs to adjust the amount added in. I get around it by using an EQ pedal with the volume turned up a bit for solos and use the gain boost from the amp for more metal type songs we do. I guess adding any extra features would defeat the price point that Peavey aimed for.

DOES NOT come with a foot switch though! I guess they did it to stay at their price point, but come on, no foot switch!? I recommend the Live Wire 2 button switch that Guitar Center sells over the Peavey one. It is all metal and has a smaller footprint than the plastic one from Peavey. I added a couple LED's to it and removed the wired in 10' cord and replaced it with a 1/4" jack and use a long stereo patch cable.

7 for no footswitch...

I traded in my Mesa Recto-verb head for this amp. I was never satisfied with the Mesa clean channel no matter what I tried. I retubed the preamp stages with 12AT's to give it more headroom, but the way Mesa designed its tone circuit, the amp would not play clean. Shame because I really liked the tone of the amp otherwise. I traded it for this amp and was happy right away that I did. This amp has a great clean channel. I also looked at a Fender SuperSonic, but wasn't going to pay $1400 for a basically featureless amp. Over the last year or so I tried every amp head I could get my hands on and only the ValveKing and a few others had the clean tone I was looking for. All the others were well into the $1000 plus range.

I have a ton of guitars that I play through this amp and they all sound good. The combo of the amp and my cab are a little bass heavy so the bass and resonance knobs are dialed back, but otherwise everything from a Les Paul to a Strat sound good through it. My bands mates have all mentioned that they like my tone better now then with the Mesa. The clean is brilliant and alive and they say my solos really stand out. Anyone who said they can't get a clean tone with this amp doesn't know what they are doing. You can't get a clean clean if you are using high output humbuckers through the high gain input without dialing back the guitars volume knob (DUH!). I bought this amp specifically for the clean and I am very happy with it. Its as spanky as any Fender I've played through.

The gain channel can get noisy in between songs if you have the gain turned way up or if the boost is on, but not as noisy as any Marshall or Mesa I've owned in the past. I know a lot of kids read and write these reviews and think if they spend more this problem goes away. Well kiddies, it doesn't. All high gain amps make noise on the gain channel in a quiet room. I've gotten rid of 2 Marshalls for that reason, even though they were great amps otherwise. It's just the nature of the beast. Just remember to click to clean between songs and your fine. Or use a noise gate in the effects loop if it really bothers you.

The gain channel is really smooth and can go from a Stones type overdrive to all out squeally mayhem. I've had a Peavey Bandit II for years as a practice amp at the house, and always liked the distortion on it. This amp sounds near identical, except because its a tube amp it responds much better to attack. The tubes compress enough to let the notes sing and there is more than ample power with the 4 6L6's.

The amp has a knob on the back for "texture". When set at minimum you can get a really cool Vox AC30 tone from the amp if you push the front end. Turning it towards class A/B cleans the amp up to normal. I guess in a studio, playing with the texture would be fun, but for me it will probably just stay turned all the way up like normal. The resonance loosens the bass up when turned clockwise. If you have a smaller cab this will over power it with bass. I have 100watt Eminence speakers and I have this knob turned all the way off. The low end output of these speakers easily dominates if you turn the bass up. Great for lesser speakers to add bass for that modern metal tone.

The boost buttons are a nice feature. I haven't decided if I want to use it for volume boost or gain boost yet, but its a nice option. My Mesa had a "solo" knob that worked as a second volume for solo boost which was a great feature and this works along the same lines. The problem is the gain and volume boost of the Valveking is not adjustable. So if you aren't careful, using the volume boost in certain situations may get you more volume than you are looking for. I may wind up using it as a gain boost for metal songs, and leave the normal gain dialed back for a more classic distortion.

Otherwise it is a straight forward, all tube amp that sounds great at any price.

I've owned many Peavey products and they have all been tanks. The few problems I have had were taken care of quickly by their customer service department.

I never gig without a backup. I carry a Crate Powerblock just in case.

Have always had good results from calling into Peavey.

I used to have an old Peavey stereo chorus 212 and both speakers stopped working. They didn't blow from cranking the amp or anything, just stopped working. They set me 2 new speakers free of charge with a prepaid packing slip for the old ones so I could send them back so they could look at them. Thats customer service.

I have been playing since 1973. I am a certified gear junkie and I am always searching for something to improve my tone. I have more guitars than I can play and 5 different amps, both solidstate and tube. I have effects of all kinds and they get switched around fairly often.

I had my Mesa Recto-Verb for about 7 years and was never completely satisfied with the clean channel. I tried putting EL34 power tubes in it and swapped out the first 2 preamp tubes for 12AT's to give it more headroom, and it was still a compromise. I even changed the Celestions in my cab for 100watt Eminence to get rid of any distortion in the cab. Nothing worked. About a year ago I went on a mission to find a new head. I tried everything available, and most amps today, I found, are geared to the gain channel and most have crappy cleans. I found a couple that had nice cleans, the Fender Super sonic in particular, but then the distortion channel is a compromise. I kinda overlooked the ValveKing because of the price, but then sat down one day at GC and played through it for about an hour. I knew it was what I was looking for. Good gain channel and great clean. I traded the Mesa in and got this head.

I have used it at a couple practices so far and it will play its first gig this weekend. I hope it sounds as good at the club as it does in our practice room, and I will be happy (for now lol).

I think this amp is real hidden treasure. For the price, there is nothing that comes close. All tube at a $549 price point! and they use good tubes from the factory?! It will stand up to amps costing twice as much in both tone and features. So if you put away your tone snob hat and want a good amp at a great price, go ValveKing! Just because it doesn't cost as much as your car, doesn't mean it doesn't sound good.

i dont know what year this was made im guessing 2007 2008
this amp is very versatile, i play in two bands, a rock alternative pop band and a metal band, and it does the job!
2 channels, clean and dirty, plus a boost. the only thing is with the boost is it is noisy, which is understandable coz its adding more gain, but it can be fixed with a noise suppressor.
the only beef i have is the effects loop, it sounds real good, but its infront of the amp which can be tricky sometimes coz theres patch cables in front of ur amp but thats about it
i use it for practices and gigs, and it does have the power i never go past 3 its so loud. im using a behringer 4X12 cab, its not the best, but it is loud, works well with the valveking, im saving up for a marshall cab or a mesa cab to play through, im sure its gonna sound even better.
this is all tube head, and sounds good and built solid, its a steal for the price

i mainly use my epiphone les paul standard with stock pick ups and it sings when i solo, but its got beefyness when i need it.

its noisy when the gain boost is on, but then again noise suppressor is the key.

this amp can do from pop to metal it is very tight sounding specially with that resonance dial, it really helps

the clean is alright sounding nothing special, but its decent.

distortion is brutal, it has all the distortion u need.
it takes pedals well too, i have boss dd3 boss ce3 and boss phaser and it sounds good.

yea i can def gig without a back up, coz this is well built. and i never play past 4 so im confident itll hold up
never broke down on me

never contacted them

overall its pretty good amp!
its def not a marshall or a mesa, but it does the job

2 channel tube amp ( clean and lead channels). Gain boost and Volume boost on lead channel. 100 watts but can be lower with Texture knob. And has a effects loop. It comes with Reverb ( spring).

This head is very Soldano like. Imagine an SLO-100 with a reverb. I play all types of music and no complaints. But if you play hard rock/metal use Seymour Duncan pick-ups. Almost of my guitars has Duncans and they make that amp sing ( JB's are the best).

No problems yet

Peavey is easy to call or email. They are very nice and helpful.

I bought my first one a year ago and well bought another with better and gainer tubes. So that should tell you how much I like the amp. I've been playing 20+ yrs. Its one the best amps for the money. I've owned just about every Marshall,Soldano,VHT,and others. Its better then alot of them one of my top pics.

This head is amazing! You can control the pwer setting from A/B to A class.

The fixed bias switch is a keeper, i can replace the tubes myself without worry of screwing it up.

I use this head with a Gibson Les Pual Studio and a Sonic Maximizer and this head keeps up with Mesa, Marshall, Krank and Bogner. It has a great clean and a BRUTAL distortion. I play hardcore rock and the distortion is perfect.

I have never had a problem with this head, I would recommend this to anyone.

Never had to use them.

I love this head, Ive convinced friends to switch from 5150s and they concur that this head is better.

Save your money, this is all the head youll need.

In typical Peavey fashion, this amp has a lot of features...What do they all do? Who knows! The resonance control is especially alusive.

The amp also has a control on the back to adjust between class A and class A/B power. I believe this to be a glorified texture knob, like on Peavey's Transtube series. This amp just does not sound like Class A. I don't belive it is class A at all.

The Sound quality is fair. It has a modern sound. I like a more vintage sound so I've never been truley happy with the tone.

The amp gets the best results switched over to the class A/B power. Once again I don't think this amp is really class A. When class A is selected it sounds thin and fuzzy (not in a good way). It also makes an audible crackling noise when on (reminds me of radio static...but it's not...I believe it to be the power supply or transformer). Also, do yourself a favor...DO NOT BUY THE STOCK SPEAKER CAB FOR THIS AMP. Peavey speakers tend to reproduce a tight sound, which is good for metal. But if you're thinking Hendrix and Greenbacks...they're not it.

I've had it for years and I've never had it fail on me. Peavey stuff is built well. I also hve a Peavey Series 400 bass head from 1969. It is still stock, has never been repaired, and it sounds as good as 200 watts will get you with bass.

Never had to deal with them.

It is a good amp. I wouldn't buy another one if it was stolen. I've come to the conclusion that the tone a hear in my head has a price tag...no more budjet amps!

I also wish the made the head in the 50 watt version, like the combo.

Have no idea when this amp was made but I bought it Jan '09. I play progressive/alternative and is great as a first valve amp. I play a lot of Muse and you can get fantastic tones from the OD channel. 2 channels (Clean/OD), fx loop, 2 speaker output (4, 8 & 16 ohms). The Valveking is a beast for volume when cranked and well worth ??300.

I use a Washburn WI18Q with stock pickups and it sounds as good as it can (I need to change my pickups). The clean channel has a real bluesey sound with nice low-end punch whereas the OD channel has a distinctive sound which blends in well with other guitarists (Bandmate plays a Marshall DSL 50). On OD, turn the gain to almost 0 and the volume up and you can get a fantastic clean which sounds as good as an amp that costs twice as much. The sound breaks at a fairly low volume (not quiet) but this is one of the reasons I bough a valve amp.
(Rating is based on what you get for what you pay)

I would entirely rely on this amp however I do plan on getting a Boss FS6 footswitch as the Peavey is a flimsy plastic box with a removable base.

N/A

I love the look of this amp, the grill at the front lets you see the valves heat. If this amp was stolen I would replace it indefinately. Before I tried this I tried the Line 6 Spider II HD75 which wasn't worth asking about. I am happy I bought this amp and give it a proud 9.

First off... This is an amazing amp for the price. the best deal on the market today! I get my tube heads from another company for free and I still bought this head! This amp has more knobs than the average tube amp and you can really dial in any tone! Most of the negative comments left about this amp have been left by people switching from a solid state head to a tube head that have no idea how to use a a tube head.

I play metal, and yes it has enough gain! Like any other tube head you have to let the head warm up properly and get it LOUD to get the proper gain and tone. You cant crank the gain to 10 and think its not going to feed back at higher volumes. Like i said, learn how a tube amp works before you leave ignorant comments about feed back. I keep my gain at 6-7 at stage level volumes and this thing KILLS!
I use a zoom g2 through the effects loop, just for chorus and reverb on my clean channel and delay on my lead channel. I use the gain off the amp. This amp is very picky when it comes to what guitar and pickups you use. it doesnt have a generic tone, so you will get the best tone using a nice guitar with great pickups. I use a les Paul with a duncan customs.

Its a peavey...nuff said.

great!

This is the best sounding tube head you can but for under $2000. It smokes a 6505. i cant say enough about how pleased and happy I am to own this amp. i have never like peavey, i always thought they were a cheap company for beginers. But I am a proud peavey owner now!

2 channels, gain boost, volume boost, brightness, reverb, channel select, presence adjustment, effects loop, and texture knob. Pretty solid, basic amp. My only real beef with the features is that the reverb is not footswitchable and/or it isn't independent for each channel. The other thing that is a big problem for me is that there is a very slight delay when switching channels. It is frustrating when playing songs that switch from clean to distortion quickly.

I primarily play my Ibanez RGA121 through this amp. I play in a hardcore punk band. The tone is pretty awesome overall. The amp has a lot of gain. The gain is a little bit too "buzzy" for back of a letter term, for my liking. I prefer a creamier distortion, but this amp does the job. My tubes needed replaced badly...The amp didnt seem to have the balls that it once had, and my tone was a little lacking. I replaced the Sovteks I had with JJ's and the thing rips. The clean is decent, but it breaks up when its cranked, which could be a good or bad thing depending on your taste. The amp provides a ton of tonal variety.

If you run a BBE Sonic Stomp through the effects loop, this amp sounds soooo amazing. Just try it, I promise you'll be in love.

This amp has never died on me, and I beat the hell out of it. I gig with this thing all the time, and have never needed a backup.

I e-mailed Peavey with a question and they got back to me the same day.

I've been playing for 9 years. I've played through a ton of different amps. I think this thing sounds better than my friends JCM 2000. For the money, you can't beat it. The Sonic Stomp seriously makes a huge difference. This is a great amp if you're on a budget, and it can definitely hold its own against amps three times its price. If it had reverb controls for each channel, and the channel switching had zero delay, I'd give it a 9 out of 10.

All the features have been pretty well covered, but I do have to point out my favorie.. Texture variable Class A/B simulation control.
This to me is worth the price of admission. I can achieve the sound I want, no matter what I'm playing.

Ok, here's what I mean. The distortion out of the box on class A is beefy and mean, but I wasn't satisfied with the clean tone. On the A/B class setting the cleans were fluid and smooth sounding at higher levels. So, what I do is keep it on the A/B setting and run a Metalmuff pedal. That way I get devestating crunch and stinging leads when I want it, and crystal clear cleans when I desire that. My Les paul Classic rips as does my Flying V. For blues, I turn the muff down and enjoy a sweeter tone with my strat and tele.

No problems so far

Haven't had to deal with them yet.

I have been playing for 25 years and have owned a slew of amps. I just sold my Mesa Boogie single Rectifier, because the cleans weren't where I wanted them to be. I've also owned A Marshall DLS 401, Fender Hot Rod Delux and Deville and a Crate Palomino (another surprisingly good sounding amp) to name a few. I gotta say, for the price this is a no brainer. I played a plethora of amps before I settled on this one. I am very happy with the result. It's hard to say what I'd do if it were stolen though. I love trying new things. I'm a gear head. All I can say is if you're looking for a versatile tube amp, and doesn't cost as much as a mortgage payment, you can't go wrong here.

Two channels: Clean (ultra-clean) and crunch, but the crunch channel has a gain boost button that can be controlled by a footswitch to give it an Ultra-crunch mode. This amp is very similar to the sound of a Marshall TSL-100 head, due to the extra gain mode. The reverb is spring reverb, and is actually pretty good. It also has an effects loop that I tried out, and it was very quiet. It has 2 outs, with 4, 8, or 16 ohm output switch (which is nice). I have been using this head with a Marshall 2x12 cabinet and have not been able to turn it up past 5 on the gain channel due to it being so loud. But amazingly, it does not get muddy or overly-distorted when cranked loud. It retains its great tone.

I have only played this amp with a Gibson les paul standard. The clean channel is very clean and has a bright switch which is very subtle but very effective. I would probably leave the bright switch off if I was using a single-coil guitar, since the clean channel is already bright. I must say that I have replaced the power tubes with Tung-sols (the stocks were Ruby), and that I replaced the phase converter to a Mullard 12Ax7. I have also replaced the 1st preamp tube to a 5751 tube, which brings me to describing the gain channel. A 5751 tube is basically a 12AX7 tube that has %30 less gain. This Valveking is a high gain amp, and has a lot of distortion. I replaced the 1st preamp tube (the second is still a stock JJ) to the 5751 and now I have a much wider range of subtle overdrive that turns to heavy distortion if I click the extra gain button/footswitch. Don't get me wrong, this amp sounds awesome stock, but is better suited for hard rock/heavy distortion/metal sound if you are using the stock JJ tubes with the gain channel. I wanted something a little more versitile and a better range of distortion so I changed the tubes. The amp otherwise is super loud, the clean channel is very clean, the effects loop is quiet and very good, and the footswitchable gain boost gives it that virtual 3rd channel (honestly, I think this amp sounds better than the 2 Marshall TSL's I played a month ago, but you be the judge). The only (yes only) gripe I have about this amp, is that the bright switch does not apply to the gain channel, just the clean. So far, I have had to crank the treble knob on the gain channel to 10, but I did notice that it is brighter with more gain added (which I have experienced with other amps in the past), so maybe it was designed that way so that you can crank up the gain.

Have only owned for a couple of weeks, but has been very reliable so far. I do have to mention that there is no bias adjustment outside or inside the amp (instead there is a resistor). I wrote an email to peavey and they told me that it was ok to swap the power tubes with any brand without adjustment/biasing. I imagine that since it is fixed bias, any replacement tubes will not last as long as the stock ones, unless they are professionally biased (by someone with a soldering iron and extra resistor). But then again, the stock ones (Ruby 6l6GCM-STR) sound decent.

I wrote Peavey and email about power tube swapping and they wrote me back in about 3 days. They told me what I wanted to hear, but I am not entirely sure it was 100% accurate.

I traded a Marshall JCM 800 combo amp for this Valveking Head. And yes, the Peavey is much more versitile and sounds better than the 25 year old Marshall. I am very happy with this Peavey and am glad I traded, even though the Marshall is considered a "vintage amp". A few tube adjustments with this Valveking, and I have an amp that can play just about any type of music. The gain channel is not quite as bright as I would like it to be, but I had the same problem with the Marshall, and seems to be a common problem with amps, unless you crank the gain up a lot.