acoustic control corp 160 or 1986 Peavey Butcher?

[JMR]

have the chance to get one or the other in trade for my Classic 30.

I need something fairly loud, both have that covered. I play a lot of different stuff, from older punk/hardcore. Mostly riff-oriented stuff, but some math rock tappy crap, too.

 

My dirt section: big muff with tonewicker, DOD 250, and an OCD. My geetar is a mexi Fender Toronado with a GFS mean 90 in the bridge and a Surf 90s in the neck.

 

Which one should I go for and why?

 

thanks!

[Poltergeist]

if you can get both andrun stereo, but if i could pick only one i'd go for the Acoustic.

[claytonjohn18]

I just got rid of an Acoustic amp because it was too loud. So, there's that.

[live-I-evil]

I'd go for the acoustic nice and loud, got some good crunch, and can double for bass. Pretty sure humancertainty is a pretty big Butcher fan though, maybe he'll chime in.

[Phil O'Keefe]

I'd go for the Butcher, and maybe do some mods to it to drop the brightness a bit and so I could run EL34's instead of the stock 6L6's. IIRC, the Butcher circuit is very similar to (for all intents and purposes, a clone of) the Marshall 2203 JCM 800's.

[misterstomach]

I'd go with the acoustic. I don't think the butchers are near as cool as the vtm series that followed them, although they're similar. Those acoustics sound real good and take pedals really well too.

[hangwire]

Acoustic 150 line is better, the brown line is OK, but i like the 150 and associated combos [like my 137]

[HeartfeltDawn]

I'd hit the Acoustic. Lots of headroom and they are fab with pedals.

[JMR]

thanks guys! Keep it coming! I knew this wasn't going to be an easy decision

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...so of course I went to the boards to make it even harder.

[conky]

My buddy has a Butcher and it takes pedals like a champ and sounds awesome.

[Moustache_Bash]

 

I'd go with the acoustic. I don't think the butchers are near as cool as the vtm series that followed them, although they're similar. Those acoustics sound real good and take pedals really well too.

 

 

What's the difference really between the two Peaveys?

[Operator]

 

I'd go for the Butcher, and maybe do some mods to it to drop the brightness a bit and so I could run EL34's instead of the stock 6L6's. IIRC, the Butcher circuit is very similar to (for all intents and purposes, a clone of) the Marshall 2203 JCM 800's.

 

 

I have one, and it is indeed very bright and extremely loud at 120 watts. I used to run it with two tubes instead the four, and I would keep the treble and presence knob really low. I think a good EQ would probably do wonders before modding, though. The brightness actually makes for a very nice clean tone. But let's be serious, that's not why you'd be getting it.

 

Spectacular amp.

[delay dude]

I would keep the treble and presence knob really low.

 

 

With the acoustic 160 it

[tsunamijesus]

The Butcher can get you the quintessential punk/hardcore tone. I can't speak for the cleans but the dirt will make you very happy and it's plenty loud

[Phil O'Keefe]

 

I have one, and it is indeed very bright and extremely loud at 120 watts. I used to run it with two tubes instead the four, and I would keep the treble and presence knob really low. I think a good EQ would probably do wonders before modding, though. The brightness actually makes for a very nice clean tone. But let's be serious, that's not why you'd be getting it. Spectacular amp.

 

 

Good point - a $30 Dano Fish & Chips EQ could be all the "mod" that amp really needs. It would still be nice to do the tube swap though, and that's not all that difficult to convert over to EL34's.

[THAT4301]

I'd go for the ACC it looks cool

[Operator]

 

Good point - a $30 Dano Fish & Chips EQ could be all the "mod" that amp really needs. It would still be nice to do the tube swap though, and that's not all that difficult to convert over to EL34's.

 

 

Agreed. I always wondered how it would sound with EL34s, but never took the time. I've never changed tube types on anything other than a Mesa that had a little 6L6/EL34 switch... what needs to be done? Biasing?

[JMR]

The only thing I'm worried about with the butcher is sounding too typical. A lot of jmc 800-ish amps around, but then again, there's a good reason for that. The ACC 160 is less common and has a more distinct tone. Both amps are reasonably flexible.

 

Can you get any grit on the ACC, though? If I ran my DOD 250 through it, could I pull off some scratchy, sharp late-70s hardcore punk tones? Can it do sludge with a big muff in front?

[Moustache_Bash]

I don't know about the 160, but I had a 150 which was a few generations before what you're looking at.

But, the 150 could definitely get gritty when you pushed it. I don't really think you can get sharp '70s punk tones, though. For me, the amp was just {censored}in' fat city. Also, that could be due in part to the fact I was running through a 2x15.

[JMR]

how does I add a poll?

[humancertainty]

I owned one of the Acoustic G100Ts, which is the post-lawsuit version of the 160 with a few minor differences. It was great for sludgy stuff, but I didn't like it so much when I started playing fast. I would probably go with the Butcher out of those two choices. The Butcher takes pedals better and is a little more diverse. Then again, you could get the Acoustic and the pick up a Butcher or VTM later down the road as they are much more common than those Acoustic heads.

I would do the tube mod, too, although I would go with 6550s or KT-88s, if they would fit. That's a personal preference thing, though.