Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo

Features have been covered in other reviews. This is a 112, 50 watt combo with a specially voiced speaker made specifically for the VK. I really like the volume/gain boost feature. Effects loop jacks are in the front, which is very convenient.

There is no presence knob, which might be nice. A rear cross-panel would be nice for protection although the tubes are amply protected with a metal cage so they cannot accidentally be bumped and broken. It???s a good looking amp. I could do without the wings on the front but it???s not that big of a deal.

I???m using this amp weekly to play for as many as 200 people in a medium sized room. The amp is mic???d and run through the P.A. I play a Nashville Tele, Wolfgang Hardtail and an LP through it and each has their own personality. In the loop I use delay, chorus, tremolo & phase as needed. Some open backed amps sound noticeably different when changing rooms, this does not. My VK is amazingly quiet.

The voicing of this amp, to my ears, is very Marshall-like. It isn???t fuzzzzzzzy like a lot of high-gain amps, which is good. I hate fuzzzzzz. It also does not have scooped mids. I do not consider this a high gain amp. It has enough gain to easily hit pinch harmonics and it sustains very well. It???s got a well balanced tonal range. If you???re looking for a lot of low end thump, you???ll be disappointed. But it is very balanced. Not too bright. Not too dark. Using the gain/volume boost is great for solos and it does nudge it towards high gain territory, but the tone becomes too messy for my rhythm work.

The effects loop may be the clearest, quietest loop I???ve ever heard, certainly in this price range, which really gives the delay some dimension. Reverb is fine. I can see where people who rely on Reverb more than I do might be disappointed. I don???t use a lot of reverb so this doesn???t matter as much to me.

The clean channel is very nice. Fenderish I guess. I can???t believe anyone would hate the clean channel. As stated earlier, the lead channel is a Marshall type of tone. It can be a little grainy but with reasonable and prudent adjustment of the eq, it is not harsh. It???s got a bit of a throaty growl with some teeth make the tone sound bigger than the box it comes out of. I???m not saying that it???s big boomy because it is not. The basic tone though has shades of that deep growl made by a 412 cab. It doesn???t ooze a lot of harmonic overtones but it cuts through the mix well without being harsh

The lead channel responds really well to volume pot changes from the guitar. Probably better than any other amp I???ve played. At every increment the gain dials down to a different, usable level.

Without pedals,it is a Rock/Blues amp. Again, think of the different situations you could use a classic Marshall tone, and that???s the kind of music you???d use the VK112 with. In addition to Classic Rock and guitar Rock in general, it???ll do 80???s Hard Rock (Judas Priest, Ozzy, some pre-5150 VH) No Metalica or other Metal without the right pedal or eq pedal. It won???t do 5150/6505 or Saldano high gain tones. The clean channel takes pedals well so that???s where you might find more tones.

One critique could be that it is not a very loud 50 watt amp. This is fine because I don???t use it live without micing it to the P.A. And it is loud enough to jam with or to play small venues. But in the world of 50 watt amps, it isn???t one of the loudest. It does seem to cut through the mix o.k. though.

The resonance and texture controls are neat. They are subtle but you can hear a difference depending on what volume you play. I recommend setting the texture control while playing the clean channel at at least half volume. This allows you to actually hear how much power tube breakup you???re getting. It can be hard to hear a difference on the lead channel. The Class A setting tends to sound more restricted with less headroom in both clean and lead. The lead channel can sound pretty spongy with more gain in the Class A mode. At full volume on the clean channel, the Class A setting is quite distorted. And it should be pointed out that the owners manual states that it is Class A Simulation, so my guess is that the texture is basically a variable half power knob that does indeed change the texture.

Peavey tends to be very reliable. The front baffle board is plywood, not particleboard. I think the actual cab is particleboard though. It wasn???t made for world stadium tours so knocking it because it wouldn???t handle that seems a bit silly to me. I got mine used and it works like new.

Peavey has a very user friendly website and forums with friendly moderators ready to help in any way they can.

I???m with others here who do not understand the 1 ratings. I also laugh when I read that a reasonable person couldn???t possibly like the lead channel. Whatever. I???ve been playing for 35 years. A Peavey Classic 100 has been my main amp for 7 years and I???ve owned several other amps though the years

Anyone worth their salt who has been playing for a while knows that you can get usable tones out of about any piece of gear if you know how to set it up and play it. -within reason of course.

To be sure, THIS IS NOT THE HOLY GRAIL OF AMPS, nor do I expect it to be. I expect it to be a good value for what I paid. I expect it to work well within the context that I bought it for. It is a punchy little workhorse of an amp and I have zero regrets.

Some people hate Peavey (for some reason). Some people hate gear made in China. (Fair enough). For these people, the VK would not be a good choice. For those who just want a pretty simple plug, play, good sounding Rock/Blues amp that is easy to carry around. I can whole-heartedly recommend considering the ValveKing 112. If it were stolen, I would absolutely replace it.

Highly tweakable for the price. Clean channel high boost really works magic. variable amounts of gain with gain knob and gain boost. almost too much gain. spring reverb is ok a larger one would have sounded better. texture knob allows for more crunch at low volumes for lead (my usual application, live I use full ab setting) power tube cage solid as a rock and gives a sense of security. pre-amp tubes impossible to get to. (I removed the hardware for easy removal) Loud amp but good at low volumes to. I play metal, blues, funk, praise and worship (ballad type stuff) It pulls them off with ease.

I am playing a HSS Standard Strat. I play pretty much anything but primarity blues, shred, funk. I have to be honest after about two months I was sorry I bought it but was going to make do (not rich). It sounded ok for the bedroom but lacked in tube warmth and responsiveness. Kind of harsh sounding and not too musical. I know Peavey biases their really amps cold to get minumum warranty claims/returns etc. so I took it to my tech and he put a bias adjustment pot and re-biased it (only -5ma from stock is where it's set) Now I am in tube heaven. It really opened up the amp, warmed it up and removed all the harshness and the muddiness. It also improved the resposiveness (it FEELS like a tube amp) (those have played really good tube amps know what I'm talking about) It sounds like an amp costing four times the price.

Before modding the amp it was pretty good but very little mojo factor. Now, I smile when I hit certain sweet spots. This amp modded has a lot of them.

So I will review the modified amp..

Clean is very warm, chimy, and responsive, almost el34 glassy sounding with the high boost in. It is a real joy to play RHCP or Hendrix/blues on clean.

Lead channel all settings sound clear and responsive, all the notes can be heard when chording, not muddy like it used to be. leads are soulful and sing beautifully. my favorite tone is with both boosts in and gain at 11:00. If I back off a bit on my guitar volume I can get a perfect semi-dirty blues tone. If i want shred I just put a bad monkey on or turn up the gain a bit (pedal works better live) there is NO crossover distortion when cranked. ( I used to crank it and think to myself "This is a tube amp?" Now it responds like a tube amp, It loves to be loud. I still have the stock speaker in and it sounds fantastic. due to the bias re-adjustment, it sounds a little thinner at the lowest volumes, but thick and creamy when power tubes kick in. I am not too concerned about brutal distortion ( I can get a pedal to do that) the distortion with the mods is very musical and can sound anywhere from blues to eighties metal or early metallica.

I also shorted r100 to fix the gain boost nasty crossover distortion problem (simple mod)

This amp is loud and almost can simulate a half stack tone. I have no problem keeping up with a drummer. In fact my drummer plays louder to keep up :-) sounds good.

I will stick with this amp now till I get rich and can afford a Cornford Hell Cat or Marshall JVM.

no problems yet. Peaveys are very reliable. I would have no problem gigging without a back up. I always bring extra tubes/strings just in case.

I probably voided the warranty with the mods. Oh well, it was worth it.

5 year warranty

I have been playing for about 25 years. I have always liked peavey gear (bandit 112, classic 50 head, 5150 head) but have owned a laney and a couple other half stacks. This amp is great with the mods. Ok stock. I don't know why peavey sacrifices tone for cost. I compared it to a B-52, marshall tube 112 (not sure what model) line 6. This seemed most versatile and had best tone. I highly recommend a bias adjustment mod to anyone who owns this amp. peavey biased much too cold for 6l6 tubes. If it were lost or stolen I would get another one and do the mods again or save up and get a marshall jvm 212.

It has bass, mid, and treb for both lean and distortion seperate. Also has Texture knob and resonance switch. Decent for a combo amp, if you want all the little effects go buy an effects pedal :)

Im using the ESP Alexi 600 with Blackout pick up bridge, I play mostly metal(Children of Bodom style). And this amp provides as a good recording amp for now. The distortion on this thing is decent but who cares? Most people that play metal or rock have thier own effect pedal. Run it through clean channel and it has a good sound to it, the effects loop sorta sucks *** though, takes away from the tone. If your looking for an amp thats cheap but sounds good this is it.

The only ive had to do to this amp is change the tubes, and that was because I just 'wanted' different ones. Ive had it for 3 years and its still kicking. If it can survive 12 hours a day of hardcore playing for me while on my ship in the Navy and being tossed around in rough water it can survive you.

Never delt with them, never had to. Besides I take it to my local shop I bought it from and they do the stuff to it.

Ive been playing for about 13 years and this is my main recording amp for on the road and when im in my friends apartment. Has good sound but doesnt have to be cranked. I also own Laney VH100R head and 2 4x12 cabs, a matamp GT1 head and the white retro 4x12 cab, and a marshall MF350 head with 1960a and B cabs. While all the gear I have is very good, Its not practical for me to record with while on the road or in my house or friends apartment. I love how it CAN crank out some volume for its size, but doesnt need to be turned up to get good sound. I chose this amp as a "Hey look tube amp." and bought it just because i needed one when my marshall combo went to ****. I recomend it, its served me well and can for you too.

You know em by now. 50 watts, all tube, gain boost, volume boost, resonance switch, the texture knob, and a built in masterbator.

Some features not mentioned much: speaker is 16 ohms, and sounds quite good I think. I think lots of people are trying to justify the low price and immediately target the speaker or tubes because their easy replacements. I would think an EQ pedal would be a quicker, cheaper, and less permanent fix, but then again, I LIKE this amp. It's got a front-mounted effects loop, master reverb, 2 inputs (high and low, low if both used).

Sound is so subjective, so this is just my opinion, but I love everything sound this makes. Distortion cranks, the clean is super clean, tone controls are super sensitive, so you can really shape YOUR tone. There's no presence knob, but I rarely take the treble over half way, so it's not needed. I'm a shredder, my other amp is a Marshall JCM900, so I just dime the gain and rip. The VK does NOT disappoint. The clean channel is very full, very dark but has a bright switch that actually works. Takes to pedals EXTREMELY well. Even with my brittle DS-1, I actually had to back the bass off on the amp.

I just don't get the "1" ratings. The only think I can think of is that the got lemons, or bad tubes or something. Or maybe they are all foreign, and think "treble" means bass, so they have their settings all boogered or something. Like they're plugging the guitars into the Effect's Send jack. Or that built in masterbator.

The reverb tank was barely on when I got it. But lucky for me, I own a Phillips screwdriver. Actually, I own several, so I'm really lucky. A couple of twists and it was nice and tight. I just attribute it to some little Chineese dude who prolly wasn't strong enough to tighten that sucker down. But the fact that I had to screw in a REVERB TANK and not tighen up a reverb chip should say something about the thought process with this amp.

Emailed them today about replacing the speaker with a different impedance. We'll see how long it takes for a reply...

I gotta give this a 10. For me, my playing style, and where I am now with my playing career (studio recording, session gigging), this is perfect for me. I've been playing 20 years BTW. If you are even thinking of checking this amp out, just go take it for a test drive, and try to ignore those "1", "this amp sucks" mindless drabble. ALL things aside, this is a really good amp.

I bought this amp new last month from my local dealer. 2 channel 50 watt 6L6 powered all tube combo, reverb, seperate eq for clean and lead channels, presence button and texture control on back face of chassis. I play mostly classic rock and blues and was hoping this amp could cover a lot of ground for me.

I play a Parker Fly and a Mexi Strat so I cover a lot or variations of single coil, humbucker, and piezo pickup sounds. Now here is the bad news, this is the first amp I have ever taken back for refund. Clean channel does not stay clean past 6, and when it does break up it sounds like solid state as opposed to warm tube breakup. Lead channel overdrive too sounds too solid state and dry, and man there is way too much gain for my tastes. Maybe good for nu-metal, but not what I am looking for.

I cannot comment on reliability, I did not keep this amp long enough to give a good opinion. I can say that I did knock around in my trunk during transit with no ill affects.

My dealer refunded no questions asked, so that is as close to customer support as I came to Peavey

Seems to be a tough little amp, not very loud for 50 tube watts though. I traded for a Kustom Defender that is also rated at 50 watts and is MUCH louder than the peavey. I have a VK royal 8 also which is a sweet little tube practice amp, but its bigger brother seems soulless in comparison.

Please read the other reviews that list all the features, no sense repeating all the other posts

I was really looking forward to this amp having read all the reviews and all I can say is I've NEVER been more dissapointed. This is the worst sounding tube amp I've evr had, Icouldn't send it back fast enough. What an overrated overhyped pice of garbage. This was the most overpriced tube amp you coul buy. Wouldn't be a good buy at half the price. Does the stratocaster no justice, shrill and useless. Hasn't a good tube amap sound in it, lacks any kind of tube warmth

Don't know, tried it for 30 days and was totally discusted with it's lack of tube depth and warmth.

don't know or care. Would never own another peavy amp.

After this experience you couldn't give me a Peavy tube amp. The most overhyped, overrated amp in the market. Except for the legion of Hi-gain teenagers that know 3 chords and call themselves musicians. I can't see why anyone would every buy anything peavy. These tube amps lack warmth, deffinition, depth and any type of characteristic that all tube amps are known for. If your looking for a good tube amp...pass on this one and keep shopping. You'll save yourself a ton of dissapointment.What a hunk of JUNK!!

2 channels,reverb, texture class a to a/b control, speaker outs, etc. I got this amp after trying it at guitar center and watching a boatload of youtube vids of it. Features I never use are the resonance ( i leave it on tight),reverb (i have a reverb pedal) and the texture control ( i leave it on full power class a/b. I don't know what year it was made 07 probably,made in china. I use this amp in my music room. It has too much power for me-i never turn it up past like 1.

Ok, I bought this amp to play metal,I have faded sg with a super distortion in the bridge and a epi les paul with a seymour duncan distortion pup in the bridge. It is not "voiced" for metal. It will not sound like a dimed mesa or marshall. It kind of doesn't really do any one thing very well, rather a couple of things ok. With the gain cranked and the volume low it sounds like a cheap marshall plexi-you get that cheesy van halen type of tone that I just have come to associate cheap 2 channel tube amps with. It can do some blues, butnot that well,won't sound like a fender. It is just ok. I realize that tube amps are made to be cranked but I don't due to a baby in the house so my opinion is for amp response at low volume. But,a really good amp like a mesa or a marshall sounds good at low volume too,keep that in mind. bOTTOM LINE, I bought htis amp hoping for a near to mesa sound and am disappointed. I swapped all the tubes out and talked to amp tech and he told me I was wasting my time. Tube swaps don't matter he claims-after doing it-gotta admit thast i agree with him. He says all I did was make the amp less noisy. The clean channel is warm and basic sounding-bright switch is unuseable.

This amp has never broken down,but it is a made in china peavey and a guitar amp tech told me that they put the cheapest transformers they can find in them. If one of those goes you are goingto be buying another amp. It happened to my peavey windsor.

Never dealt with peavey,hope never to have to, good thing baout them is there stuff is cheap enough you can probably just go buy another one if something happens to it.

I've been playing over 13 years and have owned alot of cheap tube amps-this is not the best or the worst. The problem is it's sound doesn't really fit into any category. Lots of guys-like myself bought this amp for metal and are disappointed. It is after you get over the worthless textture control and reverb-a basic run of the mill-cheap 2 channel tube amp. Nothing special-nothing terrible. A very telling thing about this amp and what peavey really thinks about it is that for a long time-the peavey bandit was priced higher. Think about it- a solid-state amp costing more than a same wattage tube amp. That should never happen.

Amp has man features on it. Resonance class A&A/B tube switch. Clean channel and overdrive channel. Headphone Jack. Two Inputs. 50 watts. Alot of cool neat stuff.

Sound quality is good. It could cover lots of types of stuff. The distortion on it is a little weak to do metal. But you can always crank it up with a Overdrive pedal along with it or metal pedal on clean channel. Clean Channel is awesome killer. The amp could do many things to cover other peoples music.

Never gigged with it. Sometimes if you switch the amp off to fast it makes a exploding sound to the amp. Gotta do it pretty slow. Pretty solid and tough for anything

Never used customer support

Well this was a very big amp I ever owned and can do many things and its very cool. I wished the distortion was more tougher and thicker and stuff. But its cool.

Two channel, each with it's own E.Q. Clean channel has a bright switch. Lead channel has a gain boost switch and a volume boost switch. If one of these are depressed when using the footswitch, it will be controlled by the footswitch. The F/S also controlls the channel select. Master reverb. Loose/Tight switch on the back. Also class A/B to class A adjustment knob on the back. External speaker jack which when used bypasses the internal speaker. It comes loaded with Ruby Tubes 6L6's.

Clean channel has a nice pushed sound at performance volume. The bright switch is a little too much. The lead channel can get quite hairy but I prefer to set the gain at no more than 9 o-clock and bring the volume up to 1-3 o-clock. If that still isn't enough to keep up with the band the volume boost is really helpful. I dont use the gain boost. You can tell im going for a decent classic rock/blues sound. I use my efx spairingly. I don't even use the footswitch. My favorite tools are the knobs on my guitars and pick attack. The class AB/A control can only be some type of tone/wattage control. In case you don't know it's not really class A. I just leave it at full AB. I have a couple of real class A amps for that job. This amp runs at 16 ohms, nothing less. The speaker sucks! When I realized that it is a 16 ohm amp I had the answer. I have a Laney 212 slant front cab for another project with an Eminence Wizard and a Texas Heat that is wired for 16 ohm. The small size of this combo seemed perfect for making a little pocket sized head out of. Man did that ever work out good. This amp with good speaker(s) actually has a great sound. It has become my favorite giging rig. It's light, inexpensive, unusual, and I don't care if it gets bar spooge on it.

So far so good.

I have had some problems with Peavey lately but they say it was because they were changing to a new computer system. (for three months ).

It is a tube amp.PLUS. Made overseas.MINUS. inexpensive.PLUS. Terrible speaker.MINUS. For a beginner or for adding to the collection it's a good deal. Has some good features and has a straight forward tone, nothing fancy, just straight up.

This amp has enough features, nothing crazy. But features arent what i buy amps for. the class a-ab knob is this amps best feature. youll want to stay away from the bright switch, this thingll make your ears bleed. the volume boost on the lead channel isnt noticeable until you get into the higher volume levels.

If you're buying this amp, you're buying it for the clean channel. At the 50 watt setting, this amp is very clean, you cant really get any grit on it until about 11:00, really digging in. It's basically a copy of a super reverb. nice clean tones, very bright. however, when you bump it down to 30, this thing gets very bluesy. at 9:00, digging in you can get some good grit, and then when you bump it up to 12:00, it gets nice and bluesy. full tilt this thing's not half bad, lots of distortion. I tend to stay between 12:00 and 3:00 for a nice dynamic tone, but still getting full gain when i dig in. Also, there's a bit more treble response at the 50 watt setting. I basically use the a-a/b knob to controll headroom, i'll usually get a nice clean tone, and then use the a-a/b knob to tune in breakup, or just go A and get some nice dirt.Reverb sounds good, not great, but for my uses it works out just fine.
Lets face it, the lead channel sucks. sounds very solid state, it cant dial in "breakup" at all. You get no bass. Theres also a lack of direction - it seems to be voiced for extremely high gain sounds, yet there's not enough gain for that, or bass for metal players. the dirty channel is only good for leads high up on the neck where the lack of bass is less noticeable and with the reverb cranked.

But this amp isnt meant to be a dirty amp. to be honest, they should have left off the lead channel and given more parameter control over the clean channel. A presence, and master volume would have been much more useful.

there was one scare where it got quiet and distorted, and i looked at the tubes and they were a vibrant orange. came back a half an hour later, and they were fine. no problems for the last few months, so i dunno.

great clean and american bluesy tones, crappy distortion. good reverb.