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Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo

Summary
Price New Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo @ Musician's Friend
Manufacturer URL http://www.peavey.com/
Features 8.7 (85 responses)
Sound Quality 7.8 (86 responses)
Reliability 8.2 (58 responses)
Customer Support 8.7 (32 responses)
Overall Rating 7.9 (85 responses)
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Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: USD 20,000
Submitted 10/14/2006 at 03:03am by Rick

Features : 10
I tried to do this review before but I must have failed the math test at the end. My valveking was made in 2006 I suppose. It's a very versatile amp and I play a lot of different music styles such as blues, blues rock, classic rock, country, hard rock, outlaw rock and southern rock. No sense in repeating all the features, they have been listed in many of the other reviews. I do like the saturation where you can go to Class A or Class B or in between. It makes it where you can get good tube tone at low volumes when you are playing at home. I use this amp in my music room at home and I don't have any complaints about the amp at all. Someone bitched because it doesn't have a footswitch but my God an all tube amp for $400? Give me a break man. I also get tired of hearing about Peavey just being a good amp for the money. Peaveys are damn good amps and if you blindfold people and have them listen to this amp and a Marshall DSL 401 side by side, chances are they aren't gonna be able to tell the difference. Excellent amp with tone that is equal to amps costing much much more. Features wise it has everything ya need.

Sound Quality : 10
Blues, Blues Rock, Country, Country Blues, Country Rock, Classic Rock, Hard Rock, Metal, Outlaw Rock, Southern Rock, Jazz, Punk, Grunge, Funk you name it, this amp can do it. Some thrash and death metal heads that are 15 years old might not be satisfied with it, but then again they will probably grow up someday. Clean channel is great and having the bright switch makes it a lot easier to go from chimey twangy stuff to warm clean. I haven't cranked it up all the way but it appears to have plenty of headroom. Distortion is great for me. You can have a little - which is one of the complaints I have about solid state amps or you can have a lot. With solid state amps, I could never find that slightly dirty blues tone ala Hendrix. This amp gets that perfectly. Turn the gain up, push the volume button and the boost and turn up the bass and the treble and cut the mid out and ya got good metal. I don't play metal but I've experimented with it. Now for me, the perfect setting is the gain on about 4 with lows at 7, mids at 4 and high at 5. This gives an awesome blues rock tone with just enough crunch to make things interesting. Keep those same settings and crank the gain to about 6 and you have good AC/DC or Jackyl type tones. It does everything I need it to do. I have a 61 fender strat with 3 single coils, a telecaster with 2 single coils, a tex mex fat strat with a humbucker at the bridge, an SG, hollow body Les Paul and Ibanez GAX70 all with two humbuckers. The amp sounds great with all of them but particularly shines on my tex mex strat. The only time there is any noise is with my single coil guitars. Awesome sounding amp.

Reliability : 10
It's a peavey. People talk shit, but they are reliable amps. I have been looking for a peavey valve amp ever since I moved to the Philippines and have had to settle for solid state amps until now. I have had marshalls, fenders, vox, washburn and Ibanez amps that all sucked and all broke. I had been using a laney LX65R solid state amp and it was ok - but still solid state and still not as good of quality as peavey. It's an american company and even though they are making amps in china, the quality is still there. Try one of those made in India marshalls out and you will see what I mean.

Customer Support : No Opinion
This is the 4th Peavey Amp I have owned. I have had a 5150, a Delta Blues and a Classic 30 in the past. Never had one break down so I have never needed customer support.

Overall Rating : 10
I've been playing for 40 years. I'm a guitar tech and I've played in several professional bands over the years. Aside from the stuff above, I've got several acoustic guitars. I'd get another one if it were lost or stolen and if it was stolen, they would have to give it to me in jail because I'd crack the guy who did it up side the head with my heavy old tele. I compared this to a Hartke Piggyback Rig (piece of crap) a Marshall AVT20 (not to bad for a hybrid) and a Hartke GT100C (another hybrid that was crappy) as well as a couple of Behringers. This one won heads over heels but of course, I was looking to buy this specific amp anyway because it is good for home practice and MORE than loud enough to gig with.


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 09/29/2006 at 03:30am by Josja Willems

Features : No Opinion
If you're looking for the features, go to the site. I think everyone knows about now. If you want an amp with all the imaginable pretty effects, get out. OR... buy this one along with a multi-board...

I won't rate a product on features. I mean, hey, if you don't like the features, get the heck out. Otherwise, stay tuned.

Sound Quality : 9
I must say that the sounds you can have this amp produce is (dare I say?) very versatile. And the distortion IS good. If you don't think so, why don't you try buying a guitar that is suitable for metal first, hm? I've got an Ibanez RG2570E, and I can make the amp do whatever I want.

I must agree with some person below, that the reverb isn't really exceptional. But, if you wan't to use effects, I suggest using a multi-effects board. Or you can allways go and buy a Vetta II.... And you may get yourself a Porsche while you're at it...

But seriously, the tone is good enough for me. Quite versatile. I haven't tried on real high volumes. The amp is not noisy.

Reliability : No Opinion
At first, I had some smaller problems with the amp. I had a lot of feedback (with high-gain, of course) and at some point, there was sometimes this high pitched whistling sound. I had to let the tubes cool off to...uhhh... remove the sound. When I took it back to the dealer to do something about it, the dude played for some time on it, with somewhat higher volume, and the problem was solved. Both of 'em. Guess the tubes needed some more warming, or something....

So. I hear the Peavey amps are usually very reliable. I'm not very certain about this one. However, it didn't actually break up on me.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never dealt with 'em.

Overall Rating : 10
I've been in the musical business (no, not professional) for about 12 years now. 2 of those I've spent with the guitar. After the spider II, this amp is a relief for my ears.
I think I would buy this amp again if it got stolen. For an amp with sounds like these, the price is rediculous.
I used to have an Ibanez SAS36FM. It produced an incredible lot of feedback. Now I have an Ibanez RG2570E. Nice sounds, no feedback (not anymore). So now you have a reason to go get yourself a serious guitar!

So, if you want an amp that has a gazillion type of effects, get out. If you're a no-fx player, like me, knock yourself out!


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: USD 550
Submitted 09/04/2006 at 03:29pm by robin

Features : 10
This is for a -06 peavey valveking 112 combo amp. It got my attention mostly because of the price wich was around $550, extremely cheap for an all-valve amp. the thing that struck me when i first tried it, was the extreme thickness in all the channels(2, +boost), it makes it sound lmost like a 5150 or at least close. I use it with a boss chorus ensemble in to the input, and it is definately the most impressive clean sound ever.(think 'nothing else matters'-intro). I play heavy/death metal, and the separations stringwise is awesome for an amp this cheap. with a 4*12 it sounds even better! best amp for the price!!! oh, dont care about the categories, all i'm writing is righ here!

Sound Quality : 10

Reliability : 10

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: USD 399
Submitted 09/04/2006 at 11:09am by russ
Email: russstewart at sbcglobal<dot>net

Features : 9
got this thing 6 months ago. it is 50 watts all tub has 2 6l6 power tubs and 3 12ax7 preamp tubs and is supposedly class a to class a/b variable. i dont notice any diferancewhen going from one to the other.it has bass mid and treble 2 channles a gain boost and a volume boost as well as speaker dampining lots a features for a tub amp

Sound Quality : 8
the overall sound was good a bit muddy at times replaced the speaker with a celestion g12t-75 the factory speaker couldnt handle the power to much cone breakupthe new speaker is lots better makes it sound almost marshal like its more crisp more defined and less muddy. i am using an austin lespaul with humbuckers over all the sound now is great the factory speaker is kinda a peace of crap

Reliability : 2
mine died 45 minits after plugging it in.sinc it was the only on in stock the store checked it out and fixed? replaced 2 bad preamp tubs{came with electo-harmonix they put in crappy rubby tubs} made the amp sound overly bright,i replaced the rubbys with electro-harmonix. also the class a to a/b seams to have no efect at all to changing the sound seams usless. and the amp has good days and bad days never know how its going to sound some days it sounds sweet other days it sounds sick not vey happy with it traded in a peavy classic 30 wish i never did.

Customer Support : No Opinion
not at all happy with the support i got from henries music where i got this pile of junk

Overall Rating : 4
wish i would have not gotten .wish i kept my peavy classic 30 it may not have ben as punchy or had as much gain but never had any problems os any days that the amp sounded bad and my digitec df7 sounded better threw the classic as well will probably traid the valve junk in for a new classic 30 or even a 50 the vaveking i got is a $400 pile of junk


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: USD 399
Submitted 08/31/2006 at 11:14am by Dennis

Features : 7
My amp is a new 2006 model, I think, I just bought it a couple weeks ago. The amp has all the features I need plus some I don't. All I had for amps was 2 half stacks so I looked for a nice all tube combo so I didn't have to always haul a half stack everywhere. I found some good reviews on this amp and liked the price so I bought one. One thing I wish the amp had was sepperate reverb controls for each channel. I like lots of reverb on clean stuff, but very little on distortion. One feature I don't need that this amp has is the texture control. I find that it sounds best at full A/B mode, I would give up this feature to have sepperate reverb controls. The 112 doesn't have resonance and presence knobs like the 212 and head has, but the reason I bought this was to downsize and I didn't want 100 watts. One thing I like about the amp is it uses the same tubes as my Mesa F-50 head so I can use the same back up tubes in each. I read a couple reviews where people complained about the tubes that came stock in theirs, but mine came stock with Electro-Harmonix pre, and Ruby power tubes, no problem there. Oh I almost forgot the real big feature that's missing, YOU HAVE TO BUY THE $39 FOOTSWITCH SEPPERATE!

Sound Quality : 9
My main guitars are an Epiphone Les Paul custom, and an Epiphone G-400 korina. I have a Boss Me-50, but for this review I ran no effects.
First I messed around with the clean channel. It didn't take long to dial in a nice clean sound. I run the bass at 8, mids at 3, and treble at 7, reverb at 2, and it has a nice chimey clean. It has plenty of head room for bedroom, practice, or small gig volumes, or would be great mic'ed for larger gigs. As a matter of fact this clean sounds as good as my Mesa F-50, could be because my F-50 runs into a closed back 4x12 so cleans are dark on it.
The distortion channel took a little longer to get a sound I liked. At first it seemed a little boxey sounding, but I now seem to have it dialed in pretty good. It's hard to brighten the sound up without adding to much treble causing the buzzsaw effect. Right now I am running the gain at 6, bass at 7, mids at 4, treble at 6, and it has a pretty good "old" AC/DC sound. Now kick on the gain boost to play harder stuff. On gain boost it seems to pick up more on the highs and I have to turn the tone knob back a little on my guitar to tone it down a little, but there is lots of gain on this channel with the gain knob only at 5 or 6. One problem I have with the distortion channel is when I have the reverb where I like it for cleans it's to much with the distortion, which is why I like sepperate reverb controls per-channel.
Non boosted distortion is where I can really tell this is a tube amp. With the gain turned back to 4 or 5, I play single notes and it sings with very little distortion, then when I hit a chord the distortion picks up more, (kind of like the old Santana sound).
After messing around with the texture knob on the back, I don't even care that it's there. The amp sounds best in full A/B mode to me so I leave it there.

Reliability : 9
Seems pretty solid. Haven't had any problems with it yet. Nothing was loose or anything, except the reverb tank, but that's supposed to only have 2 screws in it from the factory. If it bothers you put the other 2 in yourself.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Haven't needed them yet. I do wish the owner's manual had a little more infortmation in it though. It doesn't even talk about different speaker options or anything. It comes with a 16ohm speaker, but the speaker output jack says 8ohm min, so am I to assume it's safe to put an 8ohm speaker in the amp? Right now the stock speaker sounds fine to me, but I might want to swap it out in the future.
I guess you could count that as customer support.

Overall Rating : 8
I have been playing around 20 years. My other stuff is a Mesa F-50 head with the matching 4x12 cab, one of those B-52 solid state half stacks, Boss Me-50, Epiphone Les Paul Custom and G-400 Korina, Morley Bad Horsie 2, SKB rack, Furman power conditioner, BBE sonic maximizer.
It it were lost I would replace it with the same thing again. I would love a Mesa combo but they are twice as much(used), but the cleans on this amp sound as nice as my Mesa head and the distortion isn't far behind. The tubes sound so good together I ordered the same kind as backups and I plan on using them in my Mesa when the time comes. Mesa power tubes are $42 a set, Rubys are $29 and got really good reviews and they have the same 6 month garentee as Mesas.


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 07/15/2006 at 05:55pm by Roy Choueri
Email: rchoueri at yahoo<dot>com

Features : 10
What do you want to do ... spend over a grand for a retubed JCM800 that is over 20 years old? Ok fine, knock yourself out -

For non-Nu-Metal rectumfication rock studio recording buy 2x 2-12 100w combos and substitute the speakers for Red Zone Tonespotters or whatever you flav is, then get two of JJ tube sets:

Set 1: https://ssl.eurotubes.com/cart/index.php? ($73.50)page=view_products&category_id=8&sub_category_id=93
Matched pair of the JJ 6L6GC's and four hand picked high gain ECC83S's with one balanced for the phase inverter in V4. Very punchy and full with great definition! If you're looking for an EVH, Malmsteen, Petrucci or Satrani type tone then this is the kit for you.

Set 2: https://ssl.eurotubes.com/cart/index.php?page=view_products&category_id=9&sub_category_id=45($92.00)
Description: Are you kidding? You need more GAIN!! ( Of course! ) This kit includes a matched quad of the JJ E34L's and four hand picked high gain ECC83S's with one balanced for the phase inverter in V4. Very punchy and full with great definition!

If you're really bold, get a third combo and do the outer KT88 or 6550T thangy at half power (50 watts). See eutotubes website for this.

Self-biasing holmz - sell all your other shit thats been collecting dust for the past 10 years in your mildew closet

Now you have the best of most tone worlds!
Happy douchebagging!

Sound Quality : No Opinion

Reliability : No Opinion

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : No Opinion


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: USD 399.99
Submitted 07/11/2006 at 06:45pm by Justin

Features : 8
All tube, 50 watt amp with clean and dirty with reverb. Two inputs for lower and higher output instruments. Seperate eq for each channel. The whole point of the amp though is the Texture knob on the back that lets you change from class A/B power(full) to A power(low). This lets you get more tube sag at lower volumes essentialy by lessining the output of one of the 2 power tubes. The tubes are 2 6L6GC power tubes(nice) and 3 12AX7 preamp tubes(nice). I myself play classic rock and require a great tube sag distortion to get my tone.

Sound Quality : 4
This amp doesn't produce many sounds. The reverb leaves much to be desired, any Marshall would beat it. Nowhere near Fender reverb. And yes, all reverb should be like Fender's. The Texture knob allowed for different amount of tube saturation on the clean channel, with full power being very clean all the way up, and low power being much dirtier. The distortion is a joke. It's hard to tell where the knob is at if your not looking at it, but suddenly jumps up on gain once you hit 10, which sounded good actually. To bad 1-9 sounded bad. The footswitch has a ridiculous delay and is made of plastic. The boost feature is nice, which can add more gain and volume, but not much. The clean channel sounds alright I suppose. Nothing like any amps know for their clean sounds aka Fender Twin. Now for the biggest problem of all. I own a Fender(who'd of guessed it) Blues Junior for practicing and recording. I absolutely love this amp to death. However, I wanted more power at home and a distortion channel, so the Valveking for 400 bucks looked like a good deal. Wrong. The Peavey is rated at 50 watts and my Fender is rated at 15. Clearcut winner volume wise right. The Valveking should blow this away, its got over 3 times as many watts. Well, not quite. The Valveking was QUIETER! Good lord thats a problem. I bought this thing for more power, not less!

Reliability : No Opinion

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 5
I've been playing for quite a while now and know my way around tube amps and what a good one sounds like. The reverb is pitifull, as is the distortion and clean channels. I got my money back for this one. So quiet. Hope this helped convince you not to buy this pathetic amp.


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: US $399
Submitted 06/29/2006 at 09:16am by hedzeppelin

Features : 10
Made in 2006. Same features that are previously listed. Great to have SEPERATE EQ for the clean and SEPERATE EQ for the dirty channel!
A lot of amps don't have this, and if they do, you're paying BIG bucks for it.

Sound Quality : 10
This is NOT a METAL amp, so if you want metal, get a Marshall and pay out your ass for it.

I think it sounds GREAT! Can't put the drive channel above 1 in the house, or it's TOO loud.

The clean channel is nice and warm, not high-endy and trebly, and actually has great presence. I bought this amp because of the gain
channel, but the clean channel is a plus! I have a Fender Blues DeVille that is a great clean amp, but no distortion channel to speak of.

I got this amp because of its size and gain channel. Great for blues,
70's-80's rock!
HINT: With ANY amp switching from clean to the dirty channel during
a song, is a pain, not just with this one. THEREFORE DO THIS:
Get a distortion pedal, and stomp on it if you have go from clean
to dirty during a song. If the song calls for distortion for the WHOLE song, then use the GAIN CHANNEL ON THE AMP! You should only
use the gain channel when you DON'T have to switch between clean
and dirty within a song.

This amp is PLENTY loud, kiddies....if you need more volume,
put a mic on it and pump it thru the PA system.

If you're dissin' this amp...you either got a lemon (it happens with
the best of products) OR you don't know dick about what you're doing....More than likely, the latter is the case.


Reliability : 10
Seem durable enough. Get a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp cover. This fits
it pretty well. Check it out on MF for about 18 bucks.

Customer Support : 10
Good

Overall Rating : 10
I've been playing for over 30 years. Have had numerous amps, and this
is one of the best for my purposes. I play classic rock, hard rock and early metal. Like I said, if you want a real heavy metal sound, you can use this amp, and put a distortion pedal on it. A RAT or a digitech hot rod works well with it. Otherwise, get a heavy metal
amp.
This is probably my second favorite amp of all time, next to my Fender, and it's even better than that on the gain channel.
I play a Les Paul and SG thru it. Sounds great. Get one.


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: US $400
Submitted 06/27/2006 at 05:09pm by Scott

Features : 9
PEAVEY VALVE KING/VK-112 amp.(Made in October 2005).
Tube amp (with two 6L6 tubes and three 12AX7 tubes).
50 watts/rms thru one 12" (Peavey Vintage)speaker.
Two channels: clean (with bright sitch) and overdrive (with boost & gain switches) on the O.D. channel.
Belton reverb unit with master control.
Buffered effects loop on face of amp.
Footswitchable channels (with optional footswitch).
Control for "tight or loose" speaker response.
And a control for class A or A/B power settings (full or 60% less power).
This 50-watt Peavey has a surprising amount of power and good tube tone for the money!
It's very portable and can hold it's own with amps of similar and greater power ratings.
All in all: a good valued amp with nice tube tones.


Sound Quality : 10
My current guitar is 2003 Fender 70s reissue Stratocaster (with stock pickups and stock hardware).I chose the Peavey VK-112 beacuse I was tired of my solid-state Marshall amp that was noisy and had no usable distortion channels. The Peavey excels at clean and natuarl tube distorted sounds...very "real" after the bland solid-state Marshall tones I was used to. The Peavey responds like a good tube amp should: with a reduced volume or easy attack it cleans up and on heavy attack it breaks up nicely!
I play a mixed bag of rock, country, blues and jazz textures and the Peavey seems to repsond well to anything I do.
As far as the distortion goes- think along the line of Cream's "Disraeli Gears" and you'll have a good idea of the amps "natural" tone. The clean channel (with the bright switch engaged) is capable of a wonderful Fender tube amp "shimmer" (like a Super Reverb or Deluxe Reverb models).
The VK-112 is quiet!! My solid-state Marshall was noisy at all levels that had to be harnassed with a noise supressor.

Reliability : 10
Peavey has a proven track record with reliability and value. The VK-112 follows that thinking. I will use it without a backup amp.
The stock Sovtek tubes will probably be replaced with Groovetubes when they expire sometime in the future. For now, I'm happy with it's performance.
The 6L6 tubes are sheilded by a steel cage that protects them from damage in transport...the cage is very sturdy! The 12AX7 tubes are also covered with metal covers to protect them as well.
Peavey seems to have their homework with this amp.

Customer Support : 8
I have never delt with Peavey personally but they have a reputation for fast & friendly service. I bought an extended two-year warranty from my dealer just to give me some "peace of mind" in the event something goes wrong.

Overall Rating : 10
I've been playing for 35 years and I've ownwed a lot of great equipment in that time. My Strat, VK-112 and Boss ME-50 make up my "gig rig" at this time.
I auditioned two VK-112s before I bought this particular one. I found one model that had a "rogue-reverb" that just could not be controlled. That particular amp also didn't seem to have power in the clean settings either. The model I purchased really performs well with tone and power that satisfy my needs.
Peavey amps have provided the backline for performers like: Lyrnyrd Skynyrd, Journey, The Buckaroos and Ted Nugent (on the recent VH-1 "Super Group" TV series). Peavey's "been there and done that" with their amps, guitars, basses, PA systems and drums!
In today's "world market" Peavey has found a way to compete with this series of amps (made in China with Soviet tubes). If Fender can build amps in Mexico and Marshall can build them in Korea then anything is possible. Gone are the days when all American amps are made in California or Mississippi...times have changed...
Hartley Peavey is man (like Leo Fender or Orville Gibson) with a dream and a passion for helping musicains to play their hearts out!
I'm glad to be a Peavey user today...thanks.


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: 320 (#)
Submitted 06/22/2006 at 11:34am by OldManGloom

Features : 8
You've read the blurb elsewhere. The key features are the A/B texture blend and speaker attenuator. Very usefull.

Sound Quality : 9
I play with an 80'd ibanez RG550 with a moutherbucker in the bridge for thrash stuff and a stock dean Z79 tuned to B drop A for doom and stoner sillyness.

I find this amp works well for most metal tones and is great for doom. Metal wise it aint the highest gain amp so high gain freaks may do well to look elsewhere. Set the texture close to B with the speaker set to tight and you have a good fairly solid thrash tone.

For doom set the texture all the way to class A and get the speaker shaking on loose and up those mids to dirty things up. The result is a satisifying wall of filthy fuzz. Not for everyone but if you like to stray away from 5ths and arent shy of tuning to B or lower its great. With the dean I get a mastodonesque tone but just a little dirtier.

The clean is very clean. Fans of karate will like this channel.

Generally the amp is quiet and has lots of useable tones. My only complaints sre the lack of a master volume is a bit odd at first but you soon get used to it and the reverb. Ah yes. The reverb on this amp is shocking. Don't ever think of setting it above 2 or 3.

One major plus point is that you can get decent tones out of it at low volume. Good news for those of us with less than understanding neighbours.


Reliability : No Opinion
I bought this Christmas '05 and have had no trouble.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never dealt with them

Overall Rating : 9
I've been playing on and off for 15 years I have owned alot of gear. For the money you cannot go wrong with this amp and it out performs many similar combos that go for twice the price. If you're worried about power try the 2*12 which I think is 100W or buy the head and a 2*12 cab.

I love this amp and I'd buy it again if I had to. I'm happy with its performance. Its not often you can say that about your gear.


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: US $380
Submitted 06/16/2006 at 05:16pm by dan

Features : 9
2006 model amp, very versatile mainly due to good built in gain, and a good clean channel. The texture nob is somewhat usefull. helps dial in certain tones. In my oppinion its the not the loudest 50watts ive heard. But it certainly will be plenty. Wish it were operating at 8ohms. Running it into a mixmaxed cab will kill tube life.

Sound Quality : 8
Currently running humbuckers through it. Gets plenty of distortion, but does not do modern metal in my opinion. palm mutes leave a lot to be desired. I get really good Suicidal Tendencies type tone out of it. does old school punk-classic rock best in my opinion.

Reliability : No Opinion
would i gig without a backup? probably?? Really have not owned the amp long enough. A couple months is hardly enough to judge its reliability.

Customer Support : No Opinion
???

Overall Rating : 8
good amplifier. Receiving brand new unit for 380, that is unheard of. On top of that it is actually a pretty good amp. Buy used if you know exactly the type of tones you want. Be it a Mesa or whatever else you need. But if you need a little bit of versatility on a budget than I recommend this amp. Gets the job done, for a fraction of the price. Love this amp so much more than my old Solid state.


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: US $399
Submitted 06/10/2006 at 06:48am by Davor
Email: davor dot pavuna<at>urbanet dot ch

Features : 10
Tooooo many features for a blues player but I needed 30W in class A so I bought it anyway as it was DEAD CHEAP: US$400 for a brand new combo in Switzerland that's like paying $200 in the USA - a gift !

Usually I use Gibson GA15RV or even Epiphone Valve Jr 5W but with 2 conga players I need now more clean headroom for latino jazzy songs.

The only objection is that all is dark so you do not see what you've dialed once you are on stage ...

Sound Quality : 10
I give it 10 for sound to compensate for some ignorant non-objective people below, but in reality it is 9.

TOO MUCH bass in general - I have to keep it at zero all the time:
I guess they tweaked the bass for metal-kinds who love the bottom end.

So, the clean channel has too thick, artificial bass that was probably somehow tweeked in the preamp as this is not a natural bass sound of my Strat; still it is clean and with bright ON it is VERY CRYSTALLINE.

Not a Fender Twin clean, but more like Big Barnum circus pompy-clean. Usable but not as sexy and as classic as THE Fender Reverb ...

The distortion channel has more mids and overdrive and I can arrange some intermediate gain level and play the whole evening with just that setting ... when tubes warm up it is almost 10 for sound. I will change the tubes eventually and I guess I might change the speaker too if <i keep this combo - it has a potential and can satisfy a pro for any situation even though it is not my refernce clean tone.

Mind you I have THE best amp in the world THD Univalve and I used it as a pre-amp to Valve King and it makes Peavey cleaner and more articulate so I can gig with both: THD gives the fine pramp-sounds and OD while the Peavey does the amplification beyond my drummers :-)

Reliability : No Opinion
Too new

Customer Support : No Opinion
No idea

Overall Rating : 9
A bargain. If you buy an extra speaker of your choice and the best valves in the world you will spend say $250, in total $650 and end up with a stunningly versatile gig-combo.

Yes, you can get some other used tube amps for $650, but if you need the versatility then this is a very good alternative.

I might exchange this & Fender Cyber Champ for fender Deluxe Reverb eventually but that's because I pay mostly blues.

For contemporary players . verify this combo but TEST IT as the quality control may vary in these Asian made amps.


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: 3210 (Danish Kroner)
Submitted 06/04/2006 at 05:24am by Gary Madsen
Email: gary<at>privat dot dk

Features : 10
2005, All tube, 2 Channels, Effect loop, Class A/Class A/B adjustment, "Tight" and "Loose" switch. NO footswitch (has to be ordered seperately)
I have owned this amp for about 4 weeks. I bought it because I wanted a clean tube-sound. I play in a 5 man band: Drums, bass, keyboard, singer and guitar. We mostly play 60's pop/rock for about 100 to 300 people at our gigs.
For smaller gigs this amp is loud enough. For larger gigs I plug the effect send into our PA.
For me an amp is an amp. Wanna use effects? Buy them seperately!
This amp has all that I need.

Sound Quality : 7
I use a standard US Strat with 3 single coils. (2 stock pups and a DiMarzio Virtual Vintage Solo at the bridge)
This amp responds very well to different settings on the guitar. It suits my music very well. The stock speaker however is rather "sterile"
for me (great at low volumes, But when crancked up it does tend to get very loose and deliver "fart-sounds" when playing loud)
It is surpisingly quiet. No problem there.
I havn't really used the distortion live, but this amp does have lots of nice distortion. The reason I don't use the distortion at gigs is: THERE IS A VERY ANNOYING DELAY ON SWITCHING!.

Reliability : 10
Well. Its a Peavey - They make good stuff.
Some have said that the fact that this amp is made in China, might be a problem. Why should it be a problem? Flip over your laptop, or look inside your PC! Made in USA??

Customer Support : 9
Peavey has a very good website. Try it!!

Overall Rating : 7
Ok! this is actually a very good amp in my opinion (remember I just wanted a clean tubesound) Just don't play it too loud!
But here's a tip: Take out the stock speaker and drop in an EMINENCE "THE TONKER" speaker. I did that and now I'm able to play very loud and very clean. This is a HUGE improvement!
In my opinion The Valveking 112 with an Eminence Tonker is the perfect match!
If Peavey sold this amp with a Tonker, I would give a 10. But the stock speaker is to weak for me.


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: 275 (UKP)
Submitted 05/27/2006 at 02:12pm by Joe Deller

Features : 5
A good price / performance feature set, however see the reliabilty issues which completely undermine this.

Sound Quality : 8
I run a recording studio, so had some of the regulars, who are largely Marshall fans, audition three different amps in the shop. After 30mins of rocking out, the declare, somewhat surprisingly to all concerned, the ValveKing to be the winner.

I have several line 6 amps, Flextone III and spider HDs, they are great amps, but the peavey did seem to have that mysterious tube magic that modelling amps come close to, but still just don't cut it.

Some clients are suspicious of modelling (others love it) so being able to offer both is very important.

Reliability : 1
Oh dear. 10 mins into a try out in the studio and there are crackles and buzzes and the speaker sounds like is has a tear. Notice that there are two missing screws in the reverb tank, I take it back to the shop and they call Peavey next day, who say that there are only supposed to be two screws. I go back to the shop and go to try out the amp again, only this time it doesn't any sound. Take another and brave a gig with it, no problems, so I think oh well, perhaps I just had a duff. One week later, in the studio, from a cleaned power source, the amp is cracking like a pot has gone,except all the pots are down, but the amp is poping and cracking again. Back to the shop again :-(

Customer Support : No Opinion
Waiting, but may get a refund and go for a marshall.

Overall Rating : 2
Clearly some corners have been cut to achieve the price and unfortunately it shows. I wouldn't feel comfortable relying on this amp at a gig, two separate amps have let me down in a very short period of time. Reading the reviews here it seems that there are problems with the footswitch too.

A pity as there is a lot of potential, but somewhere poor decisions have been made on quality control, which will make me think twice about buying or recommending more peavey kit to clients.


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: US $450
Submitted 05/25/2006 at 08:14am by Bill
Email: Silver_17<at>hotmail dot com

Features : 10
I won't go into the features as it has already been discussed. I will note that the 1x12 combo doesn't have the resonance dial like the 2x12 and heads do. But it does have all the features you could want.


Sound Quality : 5
I've had the amp now 6 months so I figured it's time for a review.

* What guitar and pickup styles are you using it with?

I don't play any high end gear: I have a Dillion PRS copy that I modded with DiMarzio's and a Washburn IDOL WI64.

* How does it suit your music style (and what is that style)?
I like to play a range of things, from Dream Theater-type metal to Pearl Jam to BB King, so I want versatility more than anything. When I bought it I was hoping for a cheapy bedroom amp I could practise with and get some decent variety in tones, with the understanding this wasn't me dream amp (Mesa Mark IV, Fender Twin Reverb). I liked it initially but 6 months from now I can honestly say i'm underwhelmed by it. It's not a HORRIBLE amp, and you likely won't hate the sound (for the price), but for me there's just something missing. I keep getting the, "it's ok" feeling when i'm playing through it.

* Is it noisy? On what settings, and in what environments?
I found this amp can get quite noisy when cranked, but I haven't experience much of the rattling or anything out of the ordinary. Stock this amp was not cutting it so I replaced the tubes with JJ tubes and the speaker with a Celestion Vintage 30. This improved the sound only marginally.

* What kind of sounds can the amp make? How much variety?
The amp doesn't seem to have much variety in it's tones, and I'm really not liking the distortion channel as it doesn't seem to pick a niche. I dunno, not metally enough but not bluesy enough? To me it seems best for Van Halen-type stuff which is ok...but a few non-musicians i've demoed the amp to don't like the distortion channel. The clean channel is fine for an amp in this range, it's clean.

One major annoyance of mine is that unless have the volume boost on the gain the distortion channel seems very muddy, so i've been finding I need to have it on at all times and back WAY off the gain to no more than 1/4. I've tried different settings, different guitars, but it's always muddy and not very smooth. Dunno why. Perhaps someone could e-mail me some better settings or something.


Reliability : 10
Have had no issues with it yet.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Haven't had the need yet.

Overall Rating : 5
I've been playing guitar for 10 years now and it's more a hobby then anything. I have yet to own any premier gear but have circled the bargain wagons a few times over. If it were lost or stolen I would definately not buy this amp again, I would look at a smaller practise amp or save some cash and move into a higher tier of amps.

This amp is good because it provides a feature-rich introduction into the world of tube amps. It is, however, very underwhelming in everything it does. In my oppinion Peavey needed to find a niche with this amp instead of trying to stick it in between practise amps and real tube amps. What happens is it's too expensive for beginners and underwhelms everyone else.

To be honest I didn't do a whole lot of comparing. I sat down with this amp and it sounded good in the store, but that's a mistake I won't make again. If I was reading this review I would take a hard look at what you REALLY want; if it's a practise amp spend less and get something smaller, if it's an entry-level tube amp i'd look to spend my money elsewhere (used). While I have a dream to one day own a Mesa Mark IV I just don't have 1500 to drop on a bedroom amp. But if you are looking at this Valveking, take a look at the Peavey Classic...it doesn't do metal, but at least it does the blues exceptionally and doesn't leave you as underwhelmed as the Valveking has left me.


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: US $379.00
Submitted 05/21/2006 at 11:24pm by Charles Reeder

Features : 10
2005/06 production. Features: As listed, 2-channel all tube amplifier with a clean and a gain/distortion channel. Control on back to fade from classA/B power to simulated class A ,(approx.50%power according to manual). A footswitchable volume/gain boost in addition to channel select. Effects loop....I eagerly awaited the arrival of this amplifier at local music store. If we are to judge features by 'claimed' features I have no choice but to give a high rating. It was the very features claimed for it that kept me in anticipation of it's arrival. The class A/B to class A fader control would seem to answer 2 of my desires for features in one offering; (the ability to switch to class A AND the ability to drop to about 20-25 watts) Also the volume OR gain boost feature(selectable) was just what I wanted as it would allow either a solo volume boost without gain or tone alteration OR a gain boost to thicken things up at my discretion. Nice idea. I do not use any effects either in effects loop OR in line to input. If an amp gives me the sound I want, I use it. This is not snobbery, I don't frown on those who successfully use pedals; I'm just a hopeless klutz and am more likely to hit the wrong button or fall off the stage than make a seamless switching successfully. So this amp had all I would DARE try and work without incident! So for me, if it lived up to hype, all the features I needed were there.

Sound Quality : 1
I use Stratocaster(s), all single coil with series wiring switches for boosts. Flying V, with my custom wiring. Showmaster sss. More, but this gives the general idea. Now..How does it suit my musical style AND what is that style? I find it a bit difficult to nail down my style. I was born in Memphis,Tenn. and Lived in New Orleans most of my musically formative years. I play Rockabilly,Country,Blues,Zydeco,50's,60's,70's and 80's Rock. Well, here lies the problem. The particular amplifier I took home was incapable of giving me a sound I could like for ANY of these! I must digress for a minute though to state that unlike some people who give revues..just because I don't care for something it is not automatically junk! In pouring over other revues of this same amplifier, I repeatedly read how loud it was! Well loudness is a somewhat subjective matter, but it is not nearly as open to individual interpretation as tone is. I can tell you that the particular specimen I had (briefly) had never even been introduced to loud, much less possessed it! This leads me to think that a bit of a quality-control issue lies at the bottom of the wide discrepancy in the tone of the revues posted on this amplifier.Having said what I just did about loudness you might possibly think that I was holding out unreasonable expectations for the amplifier which it just could not meet,but this is FAR from the case. I was actually looking for an amplifier that was NOT TOO LOUD, to use at practice. I had(and now still do use a Fender Blues Jr.) I was looking for something in that volume range (or ever so slightly louder), but with more features,channel switching etc. I figured with the Valveking set all the way over to class A, at about 20-25 watts it would be perfect. WRONG! Set to A/B at it's (so-called) 50-watts, my Blues Jr. would beat up on it something fierce! The Jr. was noticably louder! And I haven't even begun to mention TONE yet!The 'clean' channel had far less volume than the distortion channel, even with the distortion channel used very sparingly. The cleans were not pristine nor did they breakup smoothly. The distortion channel's voicing was ragged and uneven. Some notes blended into an indistinguishable mush while others stood out cold and toneless!WELL! I've got a ton of tubes, so I decided to see if some swapping would help! I KEEP ON HAND different grades of the most used tubes so I can find which bias range works best with any particular amp. I started with 'soft' power tubes that break up quickly. waemed the clean a little but sent distortion channel over the top!Went all the way up the scale..finally found some that made the distortion channel sound acceptable(JUST acceptable),but then the clean channel had crossover distortion and was as 'cold as ice'!By the way the stock power tubes are in my opinion pretty decent. They are Sovtek 6L6wxt+ 's. I use them in some amps and like them. They are protected in a little cage on the back assessable by 2 screws. Convenient, logical.NOT SO the preamp tubes. They are circuit board mounted deep beneath the surface of the chassis. As if this moronic design flaw were not bad enough, standard 12AX7 TUBE CAP SPRING RETAINERS ARE USED! These are mounted to the surface of the chassis, which leaves you about a half-inch of sloping slippery glass to grasp if you wish to remove the tube for ANY reason. The bayonet-catch base lock prevents a proper grasp. So what do you do to change, or check preamp tubes? Well that's simple, you just remove the entire amplifier chassis from the cabinet! TO CHANGE PREAMP TUBES! The tubes were Electro-Harmonix 12AX7's. No complaint there!But having been forced to this extreme to find out what they were I went ahead and did 2-different speaker swaps to see if that would improve sound. First I tried a Peavey Scorpion 12-incher(personally I have always REALLY liked these). Some improvement. Next tried Celestion Vintage 30, also an improvement. But no combination of ANY of these changes could raise the volume to adequate or significantly improve the tone. Having read all the other revues I noticed (and if you check them you will to) a reaaly big disagreement in people's opinion of this amp. Occasionally you see this, but I think it points to a quality or standards control issue, either that or half the revuers are idiots, the other half geniuses! YOU PICK WHICH HALF!I think some folks got genuinely good amps (at least I hope so) and the other s (like me) got the raw ingredients for a lemonade stand.Yhis is only the second 'new purchase' amplifier I've ever returned in all my 30+ years of playing. After playing a blackface Twin Reverb, I bought a new 1972 silverface..(without hearing it). I took it back too. I must rate the sound. For me it was NOT satisfactory, but some may have liked it..but it definitely lacked comparable volume to others in it's class. I restate this MAY JUST BE THE ONE I TRIED AND A FEW OTHERS..but I must judge what I heard.

Reliability : No Opinion
I CANNOT JUDGE THE RLIABILITY ISSUE!I did not have but a weekend, A very dissapointed weekend. It looks rugged enough, BUT, If as I have theorized quality control issues are at play here then, reliability is going to be another victim of this shortcoming. IF,IF, this line survives and I hear some admission of 'guilt' from Peavey, and a sign that they are taking responsibility for the erratic behavior and shortcomongs than I will give it another try. I really DID LIKE THE CONCEPT! A point to ponder;You decide what it means to you: China Has embraced capitalism but with a fuedal twist.Large corporations make more money when labor is cheap. There is no cheaper labor than 'slave labor'.So the Chinese have made many things illegal so as to be able to arrest and imprison folks in 'work factories', Being an Evangeical Christian is a crime that can find you soon assembling circuit boards. If you or I were so treated might we not (just perhaps) engage in a little sabotage as protest?

Customer Support : No Opinion
I had always heard how helpful and friendly Peavey was so I was somewhat surprised by the reaction I got when I called about the volume isssue. When I suggested that if perhaps all amps were no louder than the one I was trying out, perhaps they should change their marketing approach to avoid creating irate 'Heavey Metalers' and cater more to the practice amp slot..and perhaps check the power rating as well. ..I must have struck a nerve! I was asked if I was suggesting that they were liars and had misrepresented their producr?! I was NOT asked this in a friendly OR helpful manner. There was no good natured chuckling to suggest he was just kidding either. I merely replied that I knew what I knew and no more. I didn't know squat about wattage ratings or measurements. I just knew that my Blues Jr' rated at 15 watts would eat their 50-watter for breakfast.

Overall Rating : 3
Been playing since 60's.Can't lose it I don't have it. I did love the claimed features, I didn't love the sound (or lack thereof)I wish it had the ability to sound like I thought it would.


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: 500 (Canadian)
Submitted 05/18/2006 at 08:30am by Steve Brown

Features : 10
2005 Peavey Valve King 112. All Tube.
I've been playing Classic Rock/Blues for 20 years and presently play in a 4 piece social band. My main guitars are a '91 modified USA Stratocaster and a Yamaha AES420 with a Bigsby. I've played through a hell of alot of different rigs (started playing in the early 80's so you can imagine!)and in the the past 5 years I have reverted back to 100% analog. The only effects I ever use is an old Crybaby wah on a few leads. Hell, I won't even use reverb if we're playing in a hall.
Anyways, just previous to this my main amp was a 100 watt HIWATT custom with a Force 212 cabinet. Don't get me wrong I absolutely love the Tone of this rig, absolutely nothing beats it when playing at master volume of 40% - except for the fact that at this setting the billion dbs it puts out completely drowns everyone else, I am forced to play at @ 15% and the HIWATT just isn't working hard enough to produce the edge I want.
So I chose to check out the 112 Valve king. I thought that playing a smaller amp a little harder would give me what I was looking for. I'm happy to say that I was right! What this amp really reminds me of is a Fender Hotrod Deville my buddy had back in the eighties. The 2 channels featured along with the class A/B texture control gives me a plethera of sound choices (Took a long time to come up with the 2 I presently use). Since I'm not a huge reverb fan I find the pan in this unit at @ 15% is perfect. I run master at 50% and achieve the tone/ring and dbs that makes everyone happy.

Sound Quality : 9
This unit is as hissless as any of the good tube amps I've ever played. There is the infamous 1/2 second delay when jumping on the overdrive channel when using the footswitch (I've read other users say it 1+ seconds, and I'd like to see them hold their breath for 2 minutes), but I've adpated to it with a little anticipation and it doesn't bother me.
I found with a little patience I obtained the exact sound I was looking for and can't tell you how much I appreciate that I can walk up to a gig with this amp in one hand and a Strat in the other and be pretty well evenly balanced.

Reliability : 9
I've had the unit for about a year now without so much as a crackle, as I do carry spare tubes, I don't need a backup.
As I'm not a big tube swapper (usually wait till a 12AX7 starts crackling) I haven't replaced any of the tubes. When I do, they will be matched NOS tubes which I'm sure the little amp will give huge justice to.
I do run the 212 (8ohm 75watts)Force cabinet at 16ohms (I put a 4/16 ohm switch in it) with this amp and have to admit that the sound of the amp improves signifficantly. If ever anything (even trivial) happens to the 16ohm speaker the unit came with, I'm sure I'll replace it with a TT Ceramic "40/40" - 12".

Customer Support : No Opinion
I've never dealt with Peavey and since the studio 112 I own has fallen down stairs and never had to go in, I probably will never have to.
It does have a 1 year warranty on it - here's hoping that's useless.

Overall Rating : 9
Said it all before this!


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: US $400
Submitted 05/06/2006 at 10:57pm by Joseph
Email: jazzinguitar at yahoo<dot>com

Features : 8
50 watts tube (3 x 12AX7 + 2 x 6L6), 12" speaker, knob to switch from class A to class A/B.

Sound Quality : 9
I like the tone and it's quiet, no static. If you're having a static problem with this amp, it's probobly not the amp, it's probobly your source of power. Get a power conditioner. It really surprised me for $400 out the door. I worked at a music store for a long time and I've tried just about every Marshall, Kustom, Roland, Ibanez, Traynor, and Fender amp that's been made in the last five years. Nobody makes a tude combo amp (or a modeling amp) that sounds as good or is as reliable as this amp in this price range. It's not out there. There are other combo amps out there that are better that the valveking, but get ready to drop about two grand for a marshall tsl and the tsl has a lot more tube noise than the peavey. This amp has a really smooth tone. The overdrive channel has the ability to get a lot of fuzz without losing tone. It does have some bite to it, but it's not as much bite as something like a Marshall. That's not really a problem though, just get a tubescreamer or a dod 250 or something if you need more bite. A lot of people on here have really put down the tone of this amp (probobly because it's not really for metal), but that's why we have overdrive and distortion pedals. If it dosen't have the exact sound you want plug in your poison of choice. FOR GOD'S SAKE IT'S ONLY $400!!

Reliability : 10
it's sturdy (like all peavey amps) and I've had no problems. all the tubes are covered and protected. some have said they've had problems with the reverb unit, mine is screwed down just fine. it's not loose or anything and it works great. if you're really worried about the reverb unit you can do one of three things: not treat your equipement like crap which is what you're suppossed to do anyways; drill in a couple more screws to hold it down more securely; or check your equipement every now and then and see if anything is loose. any peavey amp i've ever owned or had any dealings with has lasted forever. i expect the same out of this amp.

Customer Support : No Opinion
haven't had to deal with them at all. never had a problem with a peavey product i've owned.

Overall Rating : 10
You're not going to find a better tube amp for $400.


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: US $399.99
Submitted 05/01/2006 at 12:38pm by RBmoomoo

Features : 9
This amp is extremely versatile. With tweaking you can go from a Jazz Clean to Blues or Pop on Channel 1. Channel 2 will expand the "grit" from heavier Blues to Classic Jimmy Page. With the "Boost" pushed in you can get Van Halen. The amp also has a knob on the back that when turned in one direction gives Class A features and when turned in the other direction gives Class A/B. It can also be turned anywhere in between and does alter your sound. The effects loop is located on the front panel which IMHO is easier than the back. The only feature I wish it had was a Master Volume to conttrol the overall volume of the amp.

Sound Quality : 10
When I brought this amp home for the first time and started playing with my Strat, I thought " this one's going back". I'm very choosy about amps and the ValveKing sounded like a "glorified inexpensive solid state amp" with tubes thrown in. I was very dissapointed. However, the next morning before returning the amp, I thought I would give it another try. I decided on trying my Strat again along with my PRS to get the humbucker sound and single coil. I wanted to test the clean on channel 1 first, then channel 2 with slight gain, then channel 2 with heavier, Van Halen type sound. To my surprise, the ValveKing sparkled in each area of testing. What I discovered was this amp is very versatile if you play around with the EQ as well as the gain and volume. Just as important was the many variations by going from 10 on my guitar's volume to 8 or 6 and the same tweaking on the guitar's tone knob. Suddenly, I was liking this amp and was learning how to "tame the wild beast". What I really wanted when buying this amp was a lightweight, versatile amp that I could just plug into (no effects) and get all the sounds from clean to Metal and everything in between. I admit, a lot to ask of any amp in any price range. I got it!

Reliability : 7
Can't say about reliability. Peavey has confused me. They go the extra step to put a metal guard arount the power tubes and metal tube sleaves around the 12AX/7's but use only 2 screws for the reverb tank. Also, the amp does not come with a channel switching foot pedal (has to be ordered seperately), they took the time to give this amp many usefull features like the Texture Control, but then use knobs for the controls that seem flimsy. Time will tell but I really believe Peavey couldhave elevated this amp by some simple and inexpensive things like adding 2 more screws to the reverb tank and using sturdier control knobs.

Customer Support : 8
Never had do deal with Peavey but based on others they sound as though they will support this product. I have had other Peavey's (Classic 30 and Classic 50) and never had a single issue. I believe the ValveKing comes with a 2 year warranty.

Overall Rating : 9
I've been playing 30+ years. Played Fender, Mesa Boogie, Marshall, Soldano, Carr, Crate and Peavey. I play a wide variety of music ranging from Jazz to Blues to Classic Rock and Metal. I am very picky about amplifiers. Some of the "big name boutique" amps do not justify their cost while sometimes lower cost amps like this Peavey deliver everything at a fraction of the cost. This amp cost me $399.99 but will go head to head with other amps costing 2 or 3 times this. I admit, I did swap out the pre-amp tubes for Phillups NOS 12AX/7's and I replaced the Russian 6L6's with a set of Groove Tube "white" 6L6's and this improved the sound quality a couple points. If you are looking for an affordable tube amp and are willing to "get to know it", this is worth serious consideration.


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: US $324.99
Submitted 04/25/2006 at 12:08am by kg335

Features : No Opinion
You should know the features.

Sound Quality : No Opinion
I have been playing a long time (over 20 yrs). I've accumulated a lot of gear. My latest is a rack system (16-space) it includes a Boogie Mark IV, Marshall JMP-1, T.C. Electronics G-Major, various pedals and controlled by Digital Music Loop Selector and the Ground Control. Needless to say it's a pain in the ass to transport when I don't take my trailer. Now, having said that, this is where the search for a small combo comes in. I wanted a tube amp that wasn't expensive, 2-channels, small and wouldn't care if I spilled something on it. I ordered the Valveking 112 thinking it would fit the bill. I auditioned with my strat (texas specials) and my Les Paul (Burstbucker Pro's). The clean sounded pretty good, a little thin, not much punch or headroom. The distortion sounded the best. Since I didn't have the footswitch, I pushed the extra gain button, very cool, more sustain and usable. The volume boost is a good feature as well (wish there was a control for that). I thought it was OK but not what I was hoping for. Out of curiosity, I plugged my 1-12" extension speaker (w/Celestion c90,8-Ohm) into the speaker jack and what a surprise. The cleans took on a new dimension - better than those Fender Hot-Rod amps, the distortion was taken to the next level as well. Now I had a gig-usable amp. I was lucky and had an extra Vintage-30 speaker (8-Ohm) and put it in. I verified with Peavey about the 8-Ohm speaker, they said that would be fine. I must say, the 8-Ohm speaker is the way to go. I have more headroom in the clean channel. I play with a loud drummer and i haven't had to take it past 6 (no breakup). The next thing i needed was a footswitch - Peavey was out of the Valveking but they said the Rockmaster was the same wiring, so I ordered it -$43, I was not happy about the price. If it was a heavy duty switch w/LED's I'd be OK with it - but it's shit materials w/LED's. So I get the footswitch and when i switch channels there is this 1-second delay. After many days of playing phone tag, they suggest taking a resistor out of the circuit board on the amp. Well, I tried playing live with the delay - it was miserable. So I decided to play doctor and cut that mother out. (Peavey did send a schematic to help me) After cutting it out (wire cutters), that did the trick. It is now a contender. I was dissapointed that Peavey would distribute an amp with this glitch and also over-charge on a crappy footswitch. Never the less, I was determined to make this thing work. If i didn't have an extra speaker, I probably would have sent it back. But with the speaker upgrade (8-Ohm) it is much more enjoyable to play through. I play in clubs and auditoriums (miked) with it. A couple pedals in one hand and the valveking in the other - very simple and easy.

Reliability : No Opinion
Peavey should be ashamed of themselves for having their customers play amp tech to fix their screw ups.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Peavey has been responsive.

Overall Rating : No Opinion


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: 4000 (Rand)
Submitted 04/22/2006 at 11:36am by DJ

Features : 7
2005 model I believe. Play mostly Punk,Metal,some rock and blues suits my needs just fine, its got a sweet tone to it, not your commercial sound like a Marshall(although similar), which is what I was looking for. 2 channels - clean channel has a footswitchable bright switch, overdrive has footswitable volume boost or gain boost or both. Effects loop located on front of amp, no headphone jack. Has 2 inputs 1 for high gain and another for low gain. Has a knob on the back that changes the amp from a class A to a class A/B or somewhere inbetween. I wish it had a master volume and a parallel speaker output(if you hook it up to another cab it disables the internal 12" speaker), I use this amp in band practise with a drummer, bassist with half stack and another guitarist with a Marshall AVT275 - it handles itself pretty well alongside the Marshall(its not as loud as the AVT obviously) and can definately keep up with a drumset. I used to use an AVT275 but kept hating to lug it around to gigs to only turn the volume up a quarter way, I needed an amp that could cut it in band practice as well as a medium gig(larger ones are just mic'ed up anyway) and something that doesn't break your back

Sound Quality : 8
I currently play a Gibson SG Standard with stock pickups and a Custom Fender Strat with a single EMG-HZ alnico pickup(no use for active system just yet). The amp does feedback at high volumes a little, but I use a noise gate to solve that...no problems. The sound of this amp is similar to something you may have heard but just can't place your finger on... Its not a Marshall sound, not a Mesa sound, Not a Vox sound but a different tone on its own, cause really if you want a Marshall sound-buy a Marshall. The 3 band EQ per channel is very nice, you can dial some good tone out of it. The Texture dial on the back is great and varies the tone ever so slightly but with a notible difference. The clean channel can be described as a dark-clean sound, not sparkling but settles right for rock music. Distortion is great, it can't do the whole mid-cut nu-metal crap, but does a solid rock tone, if you're looking for other sounds put a pedal in front...its not a brutal distortion but more a smooth flowing sound(depending on your texture knob)
Its an open back cabinet so doesn't have a huge bottem end but its still manageable, this will be killer if plugged out into a closed back 2x12 cab. but of course sound is purely subjective.

Reliability : No Opinion
I would use it in a gig without a backup, hasn't broken yet(but I just got it) so only time will tell.

Its not a USA make but a Chinese make, but that doesn't bother me at all.

The reverb tank was loose when I got it but I just tightened the screws and all is well.

Customer Support : No Opinion
never dealt with them

Overall Rating : 8
I've been playing for 9 years, had almost every brand of guitar amp out there. If you're looking for value for money, you can't go wrong with the Valveking.

If it was lost/stolen I would probably get the 2x12 version or the head version.

I compared this to a Marshall DSL401 and a Fender Hot Rod deluxe, and the dsl was nice but it was a sound thats been heard before and you can't justify the price of Marshall amps nowadays. The fender HRD has a nice clean channel but the overdrive isn't the greatest(subjective of course)...

I will be hooking this up to a 2x12 1922 Marshall cab as this will just broaden the sound and give more of a punch.

I'd highly recommend this amp to someone who is looking for there first tube amp or even a higher end solid state. This blows solid states out the water, but don't expect it to be entertaining stadiums...


Product: Peavey ValveKing 112 Combo
Price Paid: US $399.00
Submitted 04/21/2006 at 07:16pm by Gary T

Features : 5
Brand-New 06 112 VK. Feature its LACKING that needs to be mentioned. The Ext. Speaker jack when in use, MUTES the internal speaker! Also the ext jack alone doesn't seem to put out adequate power? Amlifier is Single-Coil friendly but reacts negatively to GOOD Humbuckers. Gibson BB-Pro's, Dimarzio, Seymour Duncan. Texture control works OK to the left Class-A but the A/B to the far right tends to sound full of static.

Sound Quality : 6
The amp is a disappointment. After owning a Classic 30 I was expecting a much better tone from this VK. My Fault! OD leaves much to be desired and the clean is mediocre at best. Reverb is eh! iF YOUR LOOKING FOR BEDROOM LEVEL Volume, then this will work OK. But for something to play out with this amp leave's much to be desired! I'm sure it could be tweaked and upgraded with better tubes/speaker's but even that is only going to to do so-much. With SC's as I said it is not a bad amp. But Humbuckers ..... forget it!