Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo

2008 mfg. date
No need to review features as there are several reviews out there that do that.
Clean and lead channels separate eq's.
I play at home which means I never turn it past 3. Does everything I need it to do.

I use 01 Epi LP w/EMG p'ups and 08 Epi LP with stock p'ups, and a Fat Strat copy w/ stock p'ups. I play mostly Zep, Sabbath, Metallica, Judas Priest, SRV.

OK, here are the two reasons I am reviewing:

1. I depend on user reviews heavily to make most purchase decieions, as they are usually helpful.

2. I see, especially with musical equipment, very unrealistic comparisons. This amp is a low cost tube amp that performs very nicely in that regard. I get good tone, good distortion, sustain and, with my effects, a very good, inexpensive setup. It's not a Mesa triple rec. or a Marshall whatever. If you want that sound, man up and pay for it. A Ford mustang is a very capable $30K sports car. It will never be a Porche 911 no matter how much you want it to be. Yoiu get what you pay for. It's unbelievable the bad reviewf trying to compare one product to something 3 or 4 times more expensive. The valveking is a superior choice to a solid state amp and nothing more. If you are like me and love to play guitar, live on a budget and want something capable this is your amp. As stated above I use copy guitars because $2500 is too much for a Gibson. Do I expect my Epi's to sound like a Gibson? No, but when I am cranking out some killer tunes from a band I worshipped growing up, I couldn't give a damn. Joe 18 year old or 35 year old dude wanting a decent, affordable rig, this fits that need. Mr. self-proclaimed "tone freak" keep looking.

Has never let me down.

Never needed it.

I love this amp. I would have had to settle for a solid state at this price range. I would buy it again if it were stolen. I love the decent performance and the paltry price you have to pay for that performance. I comparison shopped for months and couldn't find anything comparable without paying hundreds more. Fender Hot Rod Deville was better but almost 2x price. Marshall MG50DFX was more expensive but solid state. Probably my second choice. Line 6 Spider III 120W is a kids toy. I just kept coming back to this amp and eventually bought it.

Amp was bought new in 2008. You can set the amp from class A to class A/B. Also has a damping button. Plus the usual bass/treble/middle/gain, increase volume and increase gain buttons.
Clean and dirty channels

I only really use the overdrive channel. Gives a great classic rock sound with lots of middle. Not so good at doing cystal clear overdrive like Marshall. The gain boost makes everything really noisy - but as I say i only do classic rock. The reverb sounds poor - maybe best to ignore it for professional use. I try to get the scooped metal sounds from it but its a very very thick sound compared to marshall. I've never had the anp above 2 yet in my bedroon and then my ears were ringing afterwards !
The class A - ClassA/B dial didn't seem to make much audible difference - I think it's supposed to mean that with Class A you can fully crank up the amp to give a sound only obtainable usually with high volumme gain. It also has a damping button but I can;t really hear the difference.
Overall I'm happy with it - great for classic rock - not so sure about metal as it doesn;t give a clear sound at all.

n/a

One year warranty

Been playing now for 6 years - if it was between a Marshall AVT and this I probably couldn't decide. The AVT gives a clear sound but this gives a thick sound - verging on muddy. So that is what the option would come down to.
However try buying a valve amp at this price !

2008 made, it's not the "versatiliest" amp in the clean channel, well, in some way, it sucks for everything but ska, I find the OD channel pretty "versatile", although it's high gain.
it has a lot of gain, you can play punk, hardcore, rock, and with the gain at 2-3, you can also play perfectly well led zeppelin-style with it.

it has a silly, useless thing on the back called "a-a/b" switch; ok, it does almost nothing to the sound....in my opinion, of course

ok, 2 channels, the clean one with "bright"-switch, the OD with footswitchable "more gain"- and "volume"-switch.
It does have an effects loop, but there's any headphone jack(just because it's an ALL-VALVE AMPLIFIER)

I wish it had an DI-out, because you have to have a microphone when you play live.

I use it for practicing and live, and it's rough enough not to break when bringing it up late at night after a gig, with a couple of beers of more

i have an aria guitar with an SD invader at the bridge, i play mostly punk, hardcore punk, ska and a sometimes, metal(but only sometimes)

it fits perfectly well, but before I installed the invader, i have to say that i did not really like my amp.

but now i'm the happiest person in the world

it sounds it's best when it has been warmed up for 2/3 hours, what can be sometimes a problem live, butwhat the hell, it's a tube-amp, it's normal


of course, i have to say the clean channel sucks, HIgH tones are always there......ska......that's the only thing for what can be used this channel..and sometimes, with a lot of tweeking of the knobs, you can make an OD-pedal sound really good(my jackhammer fits well after half an hour of tweeking....but then it's really ok)

hell yeah!!!

it's ROUGH, very rough, better look it for yourself, you won't be dissapointed

keine annung, but i don't think they would be very useful...

i have been playing punkrock for 6 years, i am not a pedalist-man, i like to keep it simple, so i have only the jackhammer(which i do not usually switch because i find better the OD of the amp) and an MXR-microamp in the effects loop, that i switch in the solos


FOR THE MONEY, GREAT VALUE, i really mean it when i say that you WON'T find anything better for 389???(new)

Good solid features to this amp. 2 channels each with seperate EQ-awesome. Passive Effects Loop works great with my setup. I like the texture control, although it just feels and responds more like a volume boost? I wish it had a line in/out or preamp in/out, something like that. No worries, I just mike it or plug into an external cab. This amp is loud, loud, loud! Don't be afraid to turn it up and let those tubes do their job! An excellent amp for an excellent price!

The amp is miles warmer than the old Peavey Bandit 112 amps I was using for small clubs and church. It suits my style well, which is a fusion of blues/country/classic rock. I play alot of small and medium clubs and this thing handles them well. I am used to keeping my bass turned up but on this map I have to roll it back a little cuz it tends to get overpowering and muddy. The mids and treble or nice, but I really love this amp for it's overdrive. I can get a great, clean crunch, chunky rhythm, or smoothe, milky sustain drive, perfect for leads when the boost is kicked in. This amp really convinced me to take all but 1 of my overdrive pedals off my board...which I now use to boost the 2nd channel.

I've only had this for a short time and gigged twice with it. So far, it's been a tank. I have never had a bad experience with Peavey products..so I don't expect that this will be any different.

Peavey is a great company and I love their products. I would trust them with any and all of my musical needs.

I've been playing for going on 13 years now. I've been through many amps and to date, this has been my favorite, next to my old Delta Blues. I may purchase another Delta Blues in the future, then A/B it with the Valve King. That would make for a sweet sweet setup. I use my own custom modified "strat style" electrics, as well as a Reverend Club King. This rig changed the way I approach the electric guitar forever. I'm really grateful that I stumbled across this deal. Got is used for $299.00. Can't beat that for a great Tube Amp.

2008 made Peavey ValveKing 112. This is an amp I'm using for home use, and its plenty loud and versatile enough for my style(s) of play, primarily classic rock, jazz, and finger picking electric guitars. The features are covered in other reviews, so I won't repeat. A feature I don't like is that when you use the line out to add a speaker, it turns off the speaker in the cabinet, as opposed to just adding it, so you cannot achieve a stereo effect (I suppose this can be used as a headphone jack).

I'm using it with a very well made custom Telecaster with Rio Grande pickups in a strat configuration. This guitar is very sensitive, and I wanted an amp that would be equally versatile. Out of the box, this amp was not that -- though I should say that I did not find my Marshall 401 to be that great off the shelf either, and neither are the Fender Hot Rods. Pretty much all of the entry level tube amps are a bit chilly and narrow, and only a small step above well made solid state amps. Stock tubes and stock speakers in all of these amps are really nothing special, despite all the talk about "warmth" and "presence". This one had a problem with the speaker, and the previous owner upgraded to an Eminence speaker and Ruby tubes ( I did a similar upgrade to my Marshall 401 before I enjoyed playing it). With these upgrades this amp is very satisfactory.
On the back, the RESONANCE switch works essentially as a bass boost. In the clean channel, I found this to be an excellent tone, when accompanied by using the Bright button on the front, and then turning down the treble a bit. I found this maxed the bass tones, when playing clean, using the neck pickup on my tele. The TEXTURE button on the back, though subtle, does allow you to get a bit of very natural breakup while playing clean (rotate the TEXTURE button all the way to the left). This is true distortion without using any of the gain boosts. Basically, if you're playing clean, you can play softly with no distortion at all, then hit it a bit harder and get just a bit of crunch. Very nice.
The Gain controls are adequate. I never find that gain controls on amps are as good as pedals, but these aren't bad. I use a Fulltone OCD for distortion. If you don't have a good distortion pedal, you'll get one eventually. But in the meantime, you can get by with what's on this amp (not if you want to play metal, but then, this probably isn't the amp for that to begin with). I rate this as an 8 including the upgrades, but I think it would be a 6 out of the box -- as would a Marshall 401 or a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.

Too new to know.

I've dealt with Peavey in the past and found them very responsive with information, but I have no experience with getting them to replace a part.

I've been playing on and off for 35 years. I've gone through Marshalls and Fender twins, a Peavey Classic 410, Les Paul Custom, 82 Fender Strat, Jackson USA Sl2, G & L Strat, Epiphone Sheraton, Eastman 335 s, uhh, and so on, and my current custom Tele. If it were stolen, I would replace it, or get another Peavey Classic and upgrade it (I might prefer a 2 x 12 cabinet). With the upgrades, this is a solid entry level performing tube amp.

Made in 2008.
Very versatile as is. I play a Boss ME-50 through the clean channel and it sounds really good too.

I paid $290 for a used one and it is a great deal for this 50 watt tube amp.

Replaced the stock Sovtek tubes with Matched Groove Tubes. Not much difference in tone to my ears.
For kicks I connected my MESA 2x12 rectifier cab to the speaker jack. WOW!!!!! Straight into the amp with no effects is awesome. I riff out some slash and old AC/DC and it sounds like a marshall stack!!. Even without using the boogie 2x12..it's a great buy. I recommend this one.

Been playing 30 years now.

a lot already said
Texturing feature is useless, no real effect noticable. Who sais it gives it??s great and gives you lot of variaty is a peavy promoter or just repeats peavy advertising without own opinion.
2 channels, bright only for clean channel, EQ for both but low effect range.
Gain Boost and volume boost switchable by foot pedal, must be preselected on the amp. That means you can??t switch them individually by foot, only both if they??re booth preselected.
Volume boost works only noticable from 5 on (12 o??clock), at lower level it??s useless - you need to use gain for an increase, as long as you use low gain settings for standard. But this changes sound dramatically.
No foot pedal delivered, but a simple stereo 6.35mm cable connected to 2 on/off switches will do the job. Same system is for my old Peaveay Backstage 50, seems to be Peavey standard.
16 Ohm external Speaker possible.

Playing Les Pauls copy with SD humbucker, and Kramer with SD humbucker at bridge and single coli at neck. No effects except compression for the clean.

Was impressed in store by the sound, but at home i became more and more dissapointed. Sound felt not very precise. Clean is ok but no highlight. Distortion comes early but seems to come partly from the speaker. A friend played a Engle Screamer 50, for classic rock much better, much clearer sound. With the 112, i had the impression to come close to the sound of "money for nothing" however. It lacks brilliance, hard to describe.
I had an external box with a Celestion, sounds much more precise with less distortion ( i need higher gain settings). Changed the speaker now. The valveking speaker in the box sounds horrible now, especially with overdrive, the combo sound nicer now. So i think the speaker is a problem in the combo.
Reverb is not the best.

It??s a cheap amp. Wall thicknesses are low. It??ll not break up for me, but it??s not as tough as others for sure.

Played it half a year now in a band with standard rock songs and found it not very useful after all. It may have a lot of distortion, but for guys loving the heavy side: who is going on stage with such a small amp? For kids starting playing and who search a cheap startup equipment, searching distortion more than any other, it??s probably ok.

2008 valveking 1x12
versatile amp
2/3 channels
used from practice to gigs of 500+ - plenty loud

i use a prs se semi-hollow, gibson les paul special sl, and a tele with semour duncan lil' 59er and vintage tele pickup. Each has its own unique sound (this is expected because they are all different guitars and this is a tube amp). I have had no problems with noise, though i have a hard time getting just slight breakup on the gain channel. I am about to retube that channel with a 12dw7, that should solve that problem. Though plenty of gain - no longer use any distortion/overdrive pedals except my boss metal zone.

I have not had any problems with it. I haul it around everywhere in my truck - rides VERY rough. Not a single problem. There is a delay in switcing channels - going to the boost stage. Not a problem, most people would never notice it. To all of those who complain about the footswitch - there are schematics online to build one. I ordered all the parts for about $20-25 and built it in an afternoon. Only 6 total solders - easy project. The volume boost DOES work. Very versitile amp. For those who complain, most of them just can't set it up right.

I have not had to have ANY involvement with customer support

I own two fender amps and this one trumps both! My dad has been using the same peavey bass amp for his acoustic guitar for almost 18 years and the only problem is a dirty pot. Peavey makes VERY reliable products

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.