Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo

The features are published by the manufacturer. 50W Tube amp. Let me start by saying I only owned for about a week and took it back and got a Fender Frontman 212R, which purists might turn their noses up at cause it's not a tube amp, but the ears don't lie, it's better than this over-rated bottom line tube combo. But as for features they are ample, so I have to give it a 9.

This is by far the most important thing, and this baby isn't it. Sure there are tubes in there, but comparing this to some solid states, I disagree that it's better. Not much bass, too much treble, even with it at zero, breakup on the clean channel way too early, at about 4. The tone controls don't make that much difference on either channel. The drive channel isn't bad though, but again, not any better than a lot of cheaper solid states. And the famous texture knob is just a gimmick in my opinion. Maxed out either way (AB or A) makes very little difference.

The amp does provide variety to control your tone, but all the sounds are achieved better with another amp. Kinda jack of all trades but a champion in none.

I've read that if you replace the speaker and tubes it sounds really good. Well for that money I suggest buying the Laney VC30 and leave it stock. What's the point in hotrodding a mediocre amp? I suppose I got spoiled by an old Fender deville I had that when I returned to a tube amp years later I expected to hear that sound...not even close. Like I said before, my new Fender frontman 212 is much closer, tubes or not. Trust your ears above whether it's tube or not.

Don't know, I took it back. But the construction seemed cheap, plastic knobs and input jacks. The look of a cheap solid state. And since it's a tube amp you have to worry about the tubes breaking.

Don't know

This is a economy grade tube amp, which is worse in my opinion than a high-grade solid state. These days manufacturers do an excellent job at emulating tube sound. Companies like Fender and Laney do that well and in a natural sounding way, not artificial. So don't kid yourself, if you absolutely need a tube amp, bite the bullet and get an expensive one. But buying this is like getting a Porche with a Volkswagen engine. Sure you can swap out engines, but why would you want to?

Been playing to 15 years. Have several guitars and have owned tube and solid state marshall, fender, other peaveys, Randall. This won't go down as one of my highlights.

There are several amps in the same price range that are better, including the Laney LV300, Laney VC30, the Fender I got, or a Randall, although they are very metal oriented.

this is an update to my previous post.
1. i apologise for double posting
2. this amp definatly improves with time. previously i had an issue with a lacking low end. now the vk comes into its own and the bright switch is now a usefull tool making the clean channel very fendery.
thus earning the vk a 10 in sound quality. all my comments are of course relative bareing in mind that the amp cost under 300.

Well...There's plenty of people who have touched on the features, I'll just say it's got everything a combo amp should have plus a few surprises. Dual 3-band EQ (one per channel), gain, lead boost, A/AB knob and a presents button that acts like a bass response button.
I believe it's a '08 model but not sure...baught new this year in Feb from MF though.
I play a bit of everything, but mostly hard rock and metal, both modern and classic such as old Metallica, etc. All the way up to modern grindcore.

I'm using a cheap Epi with a humbucker in the bridge, no OD pedals, direct into the amp most of the time. It has awesome cleans especially if you turn the trebble down and shut off the bright switch, it really warms up the tone and gives it a nice mellow feel. The gain channel had a few issues with the stock tubes in it, it sounded classic rock-like with the slightest hint of trying to be metal with sloppy mud in it. Solution? Toss those Sovtek 12AX7WA decorations and put a few spare LPS's in it. Sure they're still Sovtek but it's the best they make until I stock up on good tubes. That change alone made the distortion tighter, more gainy (like the 6505's baby brother kind of sound), but still retaining that rock tone, which I like. Those tubes also made the clean channel louder and fuller as well. I got a good ACDC tone and some other artists without too much effort.
This amp's distortion can do metal fairly well without needing an OD pedal or actives driving it, however if you're playing modern death metal or something else like BLS where there's gobs of gain everywhere, you're going to want to run an OD pedal in front of it or turn off the gain altogether and use a true distortion pedal. Remember, EQ is everything. Before people start complaining about how crappy their amp sounds, experiment with EQ-ing both the amp, using the tone knobs on your axe, an EQ pedal, swap some tubes that have less mid or whatever, etc.
I was able to get a nice blues tone by turning off the boost lead and backing off the gain almost all the way and cranking that volume, flip over to class A and boost the bass and mid for a nice full sound. It's not a Fender and it never will be, but it's still pretty awesome.
The next thing was to test that effects loop conveniently on the front panel. If you have a good distortion like the Metal Monster, you can stick the amp on clean and EQ it and control how gainy it gets with the amp's volume. Very nice! This is probably the quietest FX loop I've used, no annoying humming or hissing. So overall this amp kills for the money if you're willing to put in some thought and work.

It's a tank. Well, it's a wooden box... Anyways, very well built and there's a little guard holding the power tubes so you can't hit 'em easily which is good for protection and gigging. I've gigged with this for a few months, dropped it, had it in the back of a truck whilst it was raining, and she always fired right up afterwords. All the knobs and buttons are nice and tight and don't feel sloppy. Awesome. One point knocked though, two screws were missing from the reverb tank; I've seen this reported in other reviews other than on this site and it seems to be a common thing among this amp. But, hey that's what screwdrivers and brains are for...

Never needed them, but it's got a one year warranty and Peavey seems friendly enough.

These are the words of a metalhead who has a few tricks up his sleeve, been playing 11 years. I've tried several amps and pedals to get a beafy tone and a good box to put it through. The VK112 is a budgeter's amp and is well-made, and it's an easy amp to mod. I won't fall into that speaker replacement fad that most people get holes in their wallets from unless it's totally and utterly necessary, which for me it isn't. If you're unhappy with your tone, start simple and work up from that. EQ, volume, preamp tubes, power tubes, maybe close off the back of the cab, then if all else fails pop a new speaker in and then you will have tried everything. If you're so obsessed with that custom tone you really want and can't squeeze out of this amp, maybe you should consider buying a more expensive amp and try before you buy. But this amp has a lot to offer and if you're getting into tubes, it would be foolish not to check this out.
One thing I wish this amp had though, were the resonance controls and the speaker outs that didn't mute the combo and let both the combo and the external cab play at the same time, found in the 212 combo and the VK head. But I am after all in an apartment...

For all styles, but mostly for nice filthy rock and blues, and metal with a good OD in front of it.

Bought this amp 2008 used, for about $200. Before that I used a Fender G-DEC amp and a Korg AX1500G.

This amp has one high gain input (guitar signal) and one low gain input (line signal) denoted 1 and 2 respectively.

Channel switching from clean to lead, and vice versa, can be made with a pedal which can be bought separately. I do not own such a switch, I go with my Boss pedals instead. Fx loop exists.

Unfortunately there is no headphone jack for practicing those late nights.

The output power is rated at 50W, which is a somewhat high figure for a tube combo with only one 12" speaker, but the actual power in terms of sound in reality has much to do with the actual efficiency of the power tube and their matching with the speaker as well as speaker response. Nevertheless the VK112 is loud enough for my purposes.

I play mostly rock mainly as keyboardist and secondly as comp guitarist in band, and that's how I use the Peavey.

First of all I want to say that I am a guitarist on a learning curve right now. My main instrument is piano/keyboards (20+ years) and I'm only knowledgeable on guitar (a few years). My band needed an additional guitarist so I jumped the opportunity to fill in on some of our guitar based songs with simpler riffs/chords.

I tried out the Peavey Classic 30 in a music store and C30 amp had that wonderful sound, but I eventually bought the VK112 used, mainly because of its price and demos on the internet.

At first the VK112 was a disappointment. The sound was very harsh, or "middy", no bass punch, without any life. Cleans ok, but also annoyingly harsh. Especially the lead channel, sounded like a "bee in jar", fuzzy and undefined. In this stage the amp would have gotten a 2 or 3 for sound quality.

Then I read some of the forums and got some valuable info. Many recommended a speaker change and some recommended valve change. Do them both! The speaker improved things and cleared up the sound a great deal, but the VK112 still had that lifeless sound. Until I decided to change the valves.

The speaker change combined with new valves opened up the sound completely. The amp now really sings and rewards me with endless sustain on the lead channel. Defined crunch and cleans are back again, and convincing.

This mod consists of a Eminence Red Heat Governor 12" speaker (attention: 16 OHMS)and TAD 12AX7 RT010 7025 selected preamp valves and TAD 6L6GC-STR (selected/matched) power tubes.

Many people recommends speaker change as a first measure for VK112. But I say: also change the valves while you're at it. In particular if the amp is used. The preamp valves influences the sound most. If the power tubes are bad, it will not drive the speaker accordingly.

I have a stock Mex Strat and Boss Pedals like SD-1, DS-1, DS-2, CH-1, CS-3.

No trouble yet.

No support needed.

I am still evaluating it...

features have been listed many times by other reviewers.
less common ones:
volume boost
gain boost
bright switch

no headphone jack but I dont need one. effects loop is brilliant really made my pedal chain sound natural and organic.
wish the reverb was better it sound like a bit of a nasty after effect rather than a lush spacey sound.
I only got it recently so havent used it live yet but definatley plan on it, it's plenty loud enough for band practice as i dont need it past 3 or 4 and we play quite loud. i bought it as a more portable option than my half stack and was suprised by how wieghty it is.

I use a mexican tele with a seymour duncan stl-2 in the bridge and a lonestar strat. the bridge p/u on the strat sounds quite harsh and i immediatley noticed the amp has a very week low end. after hours of tweeking i love it. it sounds great with my tele with both pickups selected. but on the clean channel i have to max the bass and cut the treble back to 2 or 3 to get the warm clean i really like.

the lead channel is fantastic i use it maxed out and with the gain boost on it gives a great thick distortion perfect for hard rock bridging on metal tones. my band plays alt rock mixed with metal and sometime a bit of bluesy stuff so i need a very versitile gain channel.

it can get noisy but thats because of the unsheildable beast known as the telecaster. so once i stand away from it it's all fine and dandy.

i think it would definatley benifit from being driven through a extention cab possibly even a 1x15 to boost the low end. loads of other reviewers have said it needs a speaker change and this would probably be a huge help in getting the low end tone im looking for but i bought this amp because of the price tag for an all tube amp and my budget isn't very big so i dont have any cash lying around to tweek my purchase.but i found that a good free alternative is to back of the tone controls on all of my pedals. and as I am now using the amp gain it frees up my blues driver as a lead boost and my eq to add the low end i need so for me the sound is perfect.

peavey generally are reliable i have been using one of their PA systems with my band and have never had problems with it. the valveking is heavey as hell and feels realy sturdy but when it first arrived it had this really anoying ticking sound and i sent it back and had it rplaced and there have been no problems thus far with the new one. would gig without a spare but would feel reluctant to take it on the road without a backup

when the first one was faulty i sent it back to the shop so i've never had to deal with peavey

i've been playing for about 7 years and have been through more than my fair share of gear. i've owned plenty of ridiculous shaped guitars to truly appriciat the classics like the tele and the strat. i've been on a hunt for a valve combo for some time and due to being in fulltime education my budget never stretches much past the 500 quid mark. this amp is worth every penny I paid for it. if it were lost or stolen i would either replace it buy the 212 version or depending on my bank balance buy a fender hot rod. when on my hunt for an amp i tried the hot rod and the windsor. the hot rod was to expensive but definatly worth the extra cash (the other guitarist in my band has one and we both love it) and the windsor wasn't versitile enough. i would definatly say it would hold its groung against the fender with its supperior lead channel but would be shoved out of the way with the fenders sparkling clean and shear power.

features have been listed many times by other reviewers.
less common ones:
volume boost
gain boost
bright switch

no headphone jack but I dont need one. effects loop is brilliant really made my pedal chain sound natural and organic.
wish the reverb was better it sound like a bit of a nasty after effect rather than a lush spacey sound.
I only got it recently so havent used it live yet but definatley plan on it, it's plenty loud enough for band practice as i dont need it past 3 or 4 and we play quite loud. i bought it as a more portable option than my half stack and was suprised by how wieghty it is.

I use a mexican tele with a seymour duncan stl-2 in the bridge and a lonestar strat. the bridge p/u on the strat sounds quite harsh and i immediatley noticed the amp has a very week low end. after hours of tweeking i love it. it sounds great with my tele with both pickups selected. but on the clean channel i have to max the bass and cut the treble back to 2 or 3 to get the warm clean i really like.

the lead channel is fantastic i use it maxed out and with the gain boost on it gives a great thick distortion perfect for hard rock bridging on metal tones. my band plays alt rock mixed with metal and sometime a bit of bluesy stuff so i need a very versitile gain channel.

it can get noisy but thats because of the unsheildable beast known as the telecaster. so once i stand away from it it's all fine and dandy.

i think it would definatley benifit from being driven through a extention cab possibly even a 1x15 to boost the low end. loads of other reviewers have said it needs a speaker change and this would probably be a huge help in getting the low end tone im looking for but i bought this amp because of the price tag for an all tube amp and my budget isn't very big so i dont have any cash lying around to tweek my purchase.but i found that a good free alternative is to back of the tone controls on all of my pedals. and as I am now using the amp gain it frees up my blues driver as a lead boost and my eq to add the low end i need so for me the sound is perfect.

peavey generally are reliable i have been using one of their PA systems with my band and have never had problems with it. the valveking is heavey as hell and feels realy sturdy but when it first arrived it had this really anoying ticking sound and i sent it back and had it rplaced and there have been no problems thus far with the new one. would gig without a spare but would feel reluctant to take it on the road without a backup

when the first one was faulty i sent it back to the shop so i've never had to deal with peavey

i've been playing for about 7 years and have been through more than my fair share of gear. i've owned plenty of ridiculous shaped guitars to truly appriciat the classics like the tele and the strat. i've been on a hunt for a valve combo for some time and due to being in fulltime education my budget never stretches much past the 500 quid mark. this amp is worth every penny I paid for it. if it were lost or stolen i would either replace it buy the 212 version or depending on my bank balance buy a fender hot rod. when on my hunt for an amp i tried the hot rod and the windsor. the hot rod was to expensive but definatly worth the extra cash (the other guitarist in my band has one and we both love it) and the windsor wasn't versitile enough. i would definatly say it would hold its groung against the fender with its supperior lead channel but would be shoved out of the way with the fenders sparkling clean and shear power.

This is another amendment to my review below. I ran into a problem. I contacted Peavey before installing the Gold Lion KT66s I bought for my ValveKing 112. I have to confess I wrote that part of my review based on how I envisioned it would sound. I guess it pays to do your homework. Peavey responded to my query within two days with detailed information; GREAT customer sevice. KT66s cannot be used in the ValveKing because, A) They won't fit, and B) They have WAY too much current draw for the amp's architecture. It has nothing to do with the output transformer; the tubes are wired in series. The ValveKing is biased hotter than most of Peavey's other amps, so the adjustment mentioned below probably isn't necessary. ValveKings have a fixed idle plate current draw of ~30-35ma. The amp should not be biased hotter than about 35ma/tube depending on the tube. My solution is to search for a 6L6GC tube that has characteristics close to what I'm looking for. Hope this helps and sorry for the misinformation.

This is a minor correction to my post below. The fellow further down the page recommended adjusting the bias * -5ma *. I typoed.

I might as well also add that the overdrive box I drive the amp with to get my high gain sound is a Nady TD-1 tube distortion pedal. I just don't drive it into full distortion, just a small amount of boost and some soft overdrive. It's got a lot of tone-shaping controls to make it transparent or, at the flip of one of two switches, supply a treble boost for my slightly bottom-heavy Ibanez AR200 and/or a mid hump for a fat, Boston-like tone. I switched the tube in the TD-1 (predictable, am I?) with a Sovtek 5751. This is a bit cooler still than the Jan-Phillips and gives me another *slight* gain reduction and keeps the amp tight at high-gain.

After the TD-1, there's a Dunlop MXR M-109 graphic EQ. I cut it at 1.6K for my "mid-scoop", which is really more of a "slice" than a "scoop". "Flying V"-style guitars all produce a lot of nasty low-frequency treble because of the body shape, so when I get that Reverend Volcano, I'll use the MXR EQ to cut at 3.2K to tame the treble.

Real happy with the amp, though.

The 'ValveKing' 112's features have been covered adequately below so I'll only mention them when I need to. It has basically the same controls as any combo amp, plus the "Texture" (Class-A sim) and "Resonance" controls. The manufacturer claims the speaker is "voiced" for the 'ValveKing' series.

Out of the box, the 'ValveKing' 112 sounded "just okay". I knew what to expect since this isn't my first Peavey tube amp. I used to have a Classic 50 410, which actually sounded better stock than this one, probably due to the speakers, but that was a different animal for a different job. This is a $400 amp, not a $1400 Genz-Benz 'El Diablo' or $2000 Rivera 'Quiana'. It ships with stock Sovtek tubes ("eh") but frankly the weakest point of Peavey amps are the speakers. They aren't stellar and I've blown a couple, "specially voiced" or not. All that said, there's a lot of tweaking that can be done to drastically improve the sound and performance of the 'ValveKing' 112.

In a tube amp, the tubes are everything. Yank the stock tubes and swap them out. Your requirements will probably require different choices than mine. My sound is prog rock/fusion and I need a smooth, sweet, sustaining, singing tone like Santana or Larry Carlton. But I also need the versatility of an occasional hi-gain sound. I used a pair of Tung-Sol 12ax7's with a Jan-Phillips 5751 at the front end. This accomplished two things: It smoothed out the distortion and gave it a little extra edgy articulation (like what the 12at7 in a Hi-Watt does, but not as much so) AND it cut down the front end gain in the clean channel making it cleaner and more more dynamic while improving the soft breakup when I use the "Boost" function. I need a crystal-clear clean sound too.

Then I changed the power tubes. This is where you might want something different. I installed a pair of Golden Lion KT66's. A KT66 is an even bias swap for a 6L6 but has a rounder, warmer sound without the gravelly mids. They're just as bright and have just as much headroom. Most rock players *like* gravelly, so use Ruby Tubes or Groove Tubes or something.

Next I got the amp a new speaker. I looked at Guitar Player's taste test and opted for the Weber VST P12B "Blue Dog". It's half the price of a Celestian Blue and was reported to sound almost the same, if even a little "creamier", which sounded good to me.

At this point, the amp sounded absolutely fabulous.

A reviewer below recommended a slight rebiasing of -.5 which sounded reasonable to try. I tried it and it did just what he said it would. The 'ValveKing' got much more open and lively.

Now, the amp sounded absolutely *boutique* fabulous.

About those boutique amps. Go to the websites of the ones I mentioned and listen to their audio samples with your ears instead of your wallet. Then go to Peavey's site and listen to samples of the 'ValveKing" when it's set up properly. The Peavey actually has more character and nails the classic rock tone better. It's looser and sloppier at high-gain and there's a good reason why: only three preamp tubes.

High-gain amps typically have four or five preamp tubes instead of three like a Peavey Classic, 'ValveKing' or old Marshall has. With three tubes in the preamp you HAVE to drive the power tubes to get that extra layer of distortion. The newer Marshall Super Leads and all the Boogies have four or five. The effect is different than just cranking up the Pre Gain. If you try to get that much distortion with three preamp tubes, the voltage will bottle-neck and it'll go "over the top". Your pick attack will get flappy, the noise floor will come up and sound like frying bacon, and your tone will turn to crap. Gain is like paint. Four or five thin coats give a better result than three thick ones.

Set your Pre Gain so the amp sounds solid. If you need more gain, put an overdrive box in front of it but DON'T crank it up. Just add a little extra kick and enough drive that it fades to clean. Set the tone on the box so it's transparent, no difference on or off. It'll act like an extra tube. Your amp will scream and the feedback will sing instead of howl. Without the mods...7. With the mods, 10. Average and round up.

I've used Peavey P.A. gear as a soundman and now use it to power my other guitar rig, which consists of a modeling preamp/processor, a graphic EQ (to correct the speakers), a Peavey PV900 power amp and a pair of small TSL112H P.A. cabs. Ten years and no problems. My grandparents got me a Peavey Pacer 112 solid-state amp when I was in H.S. in 1977. I blew the original speaker and output transformer and now, just lately, blew the transformer again. Not too bad for 32 years. I didn't have the Classic long enough to comment but if this 'ValveKing' proves as reliable as my other Peavey gear it will outlive me.

I needed parts for that Pacer so I called Peavey's Meridian, Mississippi plant. A very nice lady with a southern accent answered the phone, I told her what I needed, she connected me with the factory and a guy told me no problem, took my order, the price was cheaper than I expected and they were delivered tute suite.

I didn't mention earlier that the "Texture" control does give you *some* of that Class-A goodness. It cuts the apparent wattage, makes the overdrive more gritty and compresses the sound. Set it up right and you can do AC30 things with it. The "Resonance" control expands the low end nicely and makes a little amp sound bigger. Balance it with the BASS tone knob. I've been playing over 35 years. My main electrics are a '97 Fender Deluxe Strat Plus and a Godin xtSA. I'm still using my BOSS GX-700 for the effects but would like to get some pedals. They're fun.

Not only is this a great entry-level tube amp but at present I see no need to get a more expensive one. In fact, I might buy another one of these so I can run them in stereo.

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.