Amp Showdown Clip: Peavey Valve King vs Mesa F-50

[musicdog400]

I recorded five different modes: clean, blues, classic rock, metal, and nu-metal. For each mode I recorded a Valve King clip, followed by the F-50 for easy comparison.

 

Comparison clip

 

A couple of notes:

-the clean on the Valve King is better than it sounds on the recording, it is not so muffled

-these were recorded using an SM57 diagonal to the speaker edge, and using the Weber Mass

-on the F-50 nu-metal clip, contour mode was used and the bass was dialed way back to 9:00 (pacific time) but you can still hear it being a little loose on the low end

-I used my chambered guitar with a Bill Lawrence L-500 in the neck and a Carvin M22SD in the bridge

 

Also here is a clip of me messing around with the Class A / AB control and resonance switch on the back of the Valve King. The difference is kind of subtle but class A sounds brighter.

 

Class AB control clip

 

While I like the F-50 better, I think the Valve King holds its own for one third the price, and has a little tighter low end. My complaint with the VK is that there was just a slight amount of high freq buzz that I kept trying to dial out. That is something I am picky about. Also the VK started to smell a little hot while running it wide open on the attenuator, so I pulled the volume back a bit. I'm not sure I would trust this amp running wide open for a long time. But I think for the price it is great.

[UberXTC]

I like the F-50 clean better, but the gain clips of the Valve King better.

[markmann]

Great clips Musicdog, I like the way you intermingled chords with lead which is perfect for an A-B test.

I actually liked the VK clean and was surprised at how good it is. The way I set my f50 is somewhere between your two clips.

I'm obviously biased but I didn't like any of the VK gain tones, not that they are bad but I liked all of the f50 gain clips considerably more... but that's just me and just confirms my choice of amp. The VK IMO comes across too muffled and buzzy for my liking. I should add though that in a mix it could be a different story because I've heard tones that I've absolutely hated that sounded great in a mix.

Your f50 rock clip sounds very Alex Lifeson-ish at the beginning... very cool.

Thanks man.

[JPOM]

first of all there is no metal or nu metal parts in the compression clip.
I F50 sounds a bit brighter and crystal-ish than the VK which is muffeled in those clips.
The F50 winns by far!

[aero90]

Great comparison! I liked both, but I think I prefer the VK for all but the last metal bit.

What model VK is this? What speakers were you running for each amp?

[ThunderKyss]

The cleans on the F-50, are definitely better. More crystaline. Like you mentioned, the bass on the F-50 are too loose on the rhythm parts. The VK does well, in comparison.

did you just set the eq up and then increase gain as you went?? are are they cranked, and the volume knob on the guitar rolled back?? Have you tried to get that more crystaline sound on the VK?? Roll back the bass, sounds like more presence on the F-50.


Good job.

That last metal part...... again, sounds like more presence on the Mesa, and the mic sounds closer.......... The VK is tighter, but the Mesa has more air. If I could get that presence on the VK, I'd pick it, hands down.

[Dann'sTheMan]

Hi musicdog400,

Great project, and thank you for sharing. I can't make up my mind whether I think this is a fair comparison, because I often compare the F-50 with much more "expensive" amps, and have no problems highlighting that I prefer the F-series.

In your comparison, to my ears, the F-50 sounds far more expensive - there's a clarity to the sound and the note fundamentals that imho separates the pro amps from the rest.

Obviously, the F-50 also has that big 6L6 colouring and has much less of that mid-range squash and compression that the Valve King demonstrates - so I can understand people who favour a more British tone liking the VK. Of course it may be down to just miking experience with the VK, but if I were after a British sounding combo I'd be looking for some more clarity in the tone.

What did impress me about the VK was that it was so versatile. I take it for granted sometimes that my F-50 delivers so many great tones from clean to mean, but there are often limitations in the range of tube amp. From these clips it seems that the Valve King is a good sounding and versatile amp, however the F-50 was in a different league to my ears.

Big smiles,

Andy.

[aero90]

Originally posted by JPOM I F50 sounds a bit brighter and crystal-ish than the VK which is muffeled in those clips. The F50 winns by far!

Just goes to show you how subjective this is. I thought that while the F50 had more clarity, it was also more muffled. I guess one man's fizz is another man's cut. I like the Marshall-like sound of the ValveKing.

[morganboy]

First off i cant help but thinking its a little unfair comparing these two amps. The F-50 is def the nicest sounding amp. Having said that, the VK isnt put in the shade by no means. I tried both these amps recently (ended up with an Engl Thunder) and the VK impressed me with its Brit orientated sound. However, i was looking for a 6l6 based amp hence the thunder.

Good clips too. It really goes to show how versatile the VK is and for the price is really quite special i think. I'm amazed how Peavey Managed to do it tbh.

[ThunderKyss]

musicdog400, another question.... did you set the knobs on the amps to get an "apples to apples" type of comparison, or did you try to get the same tones out of the two amps??

[musicdog400]

Thanks for all the input. Please note that I normally run a couple of EQs and a compressor on my amps, which really do wonders, but for this recording I felt I should do them dry to give a better picture of the sound. So my F-50 normally sounds much better than this.

This was a bit of an unfair comparison price wise, but tonally I think the VK is a little tighter. And when you consider the price, I think the amp is a great deal.

OK now I will take some questions. Yes, you in the red dress:

What model VK is this?
The 1x12 combo.

What speakers were you running for each amp?
Whatever comes with the VK, and the Black Shadow that comes with the F-50 1x12.

did you just set the eq up and then increase gain as you went??
Basically yes. I pulled back the bass on the F-50 as I increased the gain to try to help it not be so loose.

are are they cranked,
The VK vol was around 12:00 and the F-50 around 10:00

volume knob on the guitar rolled back??
No I never do that, I hate the way it sounds. I do roll back the tone on my bridge pickup sometimes, as the Carvin M22SD can be a bit bright. That may partly be my fault as I have it mounted too close to the bridge.

Have you tried to get that more crystaline sound on the VK??
Yes, and like I pointed out, the clean of the VK sounds much better than the recording.

The VK has a little more presence than you hear because of the mic, and the attenuator. I used a higher attenuator setting (brighter) on the F-50 so it did not suffer as much.



did you set the knobs on the amps to get an "apples to apples" type of comparison,
or did you try to get the same tones out of the two amps??
I tried to match the amps tonally the best I could. Keep in mind the VK tone controls are effective at any gain level, but the F-50 tone controls do next to nothing at high gain levels. You can roll the bass back to tighen things up, but that's about it.

I travel around inside a homo sapien.

[aero90]

Originally posted by musicdog400 OK now I will take some questions. Yes, you in the red dress:

I figured it was a stock VK 112 speaker because mine sounds just like this. I like the "flavor" of the valveking gain a little better than what I heard from the F50, and I think the clarity might could be helped a little by a speaker swap or by playing through an ext cab.

[Lucius]

I don't know the VK sounds muffled pretty much all the way through. Especially prevailent in the clean and modern clips. Cheers Lucius

[tlniec]

I've got a VK112 at home, and in my experience it doesn't sound muffled. It doesn't have as much presence as the F50 seems to, but it's still reasonably clear. Also, though the stock speaker in the VK isn't bad, I prefer to run mine through an external 2x12 cabinet. For me, that really helps wake up the sound, with an even tighter bottom end and better clarity through all frequencies.

 

In fact, I really only have two gripes about my ValveKing...

1. When using input #1 (as opposed to the attenuated #2) and a guitar with just moderately hot P90s, I get more preamp distortion out of the clean channel than I would really like. I suspect this can be corrected by putting a 12AT7 in V1, but I haven't tested that yet. If I plug into input #2, it stays clean, but I'm not sure if I like the Lead channel as well when playing through input #2.

2. Sometimes I get this odd static sound after the amp has been on for a while. It sounds a lot like the static you would hear when scanning between stations on an FM radio. It does this even with the cable unplugged from the guitar, or unplugged from the amp! This is just a minor annoyance, though, not a huge deal.

[Lucius]

I would love to get a hold of the schematics for this thing. Sounds like a great base for modes. Cheers Lucius

[Rock_Borg]

I have to say I liked the VK much better. I might have to check one of those out

[Pwn3d]

Originally posted by Rock_Borg I have to say I liked the VK much better. I might have to check one of those out

+1

[Zappa74]

Originally posted by tlniec 2. Sometimes I get this odd static sound after the amp has been on for a while. It sounds a lot like the static you would hear when scanning between stations on an FM radio. It does this even with the cable unplugged from the guitar, or unplugged from the amp! This is just a minor annoyance, though, not a huge deal.

 

 

I get that too

 

ANY idea as to what that is?

[tlniec]

Not a clue. I should try moving it around the room to see if that helps. I have another amp that occasionally picked up a radio station when set up in the same room. Maybe it's something as simple as that?

[musicdog400]

When you hear that static sound, you might try tapping the various tubes with a pencil to see if any are marginal.

[cobrahead1030]

book marking this cuz i wanna check it out later

did you have the stock speaker in the valveking? i'd be curious how the two would compare if you ran the combo thru the mesa's speaker (if that's possible?)

[musicdog400]

did you have the stock speaker in the valveking? i'd be curious how the two would compare if you ran the combo thru the mesa's speaker (if that's possible?)

 

 

Yes it was the stock speaker. I was borrowing the amp and I no longer have it, so sorry I can't do another clip right now.

 

Regarding the static sound: In the past I have troubleshot these types of problems by heating up the circuitry, and once the noise starts, spray each component or IC with a can of freeze spray until you find the failing component. I wouldn't spray the tubes though. Often failing components become very thermally sensitive.

[tlniec]

I'll have to try tapping on the tubes. The amp is only about 4 months old, but I suspect at this price point, Peavey can't be picky about what they put in for tubes. Maybe if I'm lucky it'll be V1 (which I was thinking about changing anyway).

[Maxx61]

The fact that the Peavey has been favored by a handful of folks is a testament to how competitive the competition is getting. You often have to pay a lot more to get a lot more but in this case, you might find yourself paying a lot less to get a lot more. That doesn't happen often.
I favor British-tones and found the VK's high gain tone more to my liking. Then again, I'm partial to Peavey.

[crwnedblasphemy]

i like both. For each has its own sound. The F-50 is way better at cleans...but I think the third clip is awesome....sounds like "Fly by Night" tone all the way.