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Which is a Better EL84 Amp? Peavey Classic 30 ; 50 or Crate V30; V33?


goldenhose

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Or is there another alternative in the same price range? I guess I prefer heads over combos for lighter weight but will consider combos if they have external speaker jack and price is right.

 

lemme know watcha yall think. :wave: I appreciate any input and suggestions

 

tia

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I can't comment on the Crate amps, but I do love my Classic 50...I had a Marshall DSL100 before owning my Classic 50 that I absolutely loved! I had to sell it to fund college books, since financial aid was taking forever. I replaced it with the Classic 50 and haven't had one bit of despair for selling my DSL, it filled in the gap that I was missing. Great crunch, distortion and beautiful cleans. The only draw back, from my research, is the speakers need to be replaced. I can't say how much that affects the amp (I will be able to in a few days, as I have some WGS ET65 speakers on order), but it seems to be the week point of the amp.

 

I highly recommend the Classic series amps :thu:

 

Cole

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I've had AC30/15 Gas for about 6 months now. Been looking for cheaper alternatives, and saw this. Check out the date on the photo. Has it been sitting there almost 6 years? :lol:

 

http://used.guitarcenter.com/usedgear/index.cfm

 

Link doesn't bring you strait to the amp. Just search palamino. Maybe if they could spell, it would sell quicker.

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The v33 is a steaming pile of crap, run screaming from it unless you like modding to polish a turd.

 

 

The clean channel on a stock V33 is actually quite nice. It's quite a gig-able amp running some pedals into the clean channel.

 

The gain channel, OTOH, is really muddy and close to unusable - especially in a situation where you are switching channels as they share the tone stack and need to be eq'd completely differently.

 

The good news is there's a lot of doc on the mods and, once modded, it's a killer amp for cheap. You can get rid of the gain channel muddiness by switching 2 parts [resistors IIRC] around - I suspect they were reversed somewhere between the designers table and the production run.

 

After that you can turn it into a high-gain monster and there's even a set of mods to turn it into a reasonably good facsimile if a Soldano SLO. Replacement parts are caps and resistors, so the costs to making the mods, if you can do them yourself, are low.

 

Here's the V33 mod thread if interested in looking a bit deeper:

 

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?2118282-V33-Mods

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The clean channel on a stock V33 is actually quite nice.

 

 

Yes it is, but all the goodness of the clean channel is offset by the uncontrollable fart that is the gain channel. I dont know what the hell Crate was thinking, its like it has so little headroom that the bass totally farts out the power amp at any volume.

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Ive heard about modding the V33. I wouldnt mind doing it, if worth the trouble in the end.

 

I already have two crate amps (Blue Voodoo 50, and VFX5212) so I would like to try a different brand. The voodoo has 6L6 tubes and the VFX has EL34's.

 

Thats why I am looking for a EL84 amp. Something different.

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The price is not right, but you do get what you pay for. Mesa Express 5:25 1x12 w/V30. Five 12AX7 and 2 EL-84. Class A 5 watt. Class AB 25 watt. Two Channels with 2 modes each, tank reverb and effects loop.

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You could also find a Crate Vintage Club 30 or 50. Damn nice amps, and cheap anymore. Clean channel like a blackface Bassman and gain channel like a Marshall. The designer is a regular poster at The Gear Page Amps and Cabs forum, there is a monster thread dedicated to them and even some mods as well. I have the 50 watt 2x12 combo and can say its a serious machine. Takes pedals well.

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You could also find a Crate Vintage Club 30 or 50. Damn nice amps, and cheap anymore. Clean channel like a blackface Bassman and gain channel like a Marshall. The designer is a regular poster at The Gear Page Amps and Cabs forum, there is a monster thread dedicated to them and even some mods as well. I have the 50 watt 2x12 combo and can say its a serious machine. Takes pedals well.

Obeid posts there?

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I can't comment on the others, but I love my Classic 50. To me, it has the perfect amount of head room and versatility for the typical bar gigs my band plays. My only complaint is that it's a back breaker; some day I'll get around to adding casters. Also, the thing is built like a tank. Very reliable.

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