Members GAS Man Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 When it first arrived, I though, "eghad" I just wasted a Benjamin. Then I settled down, went back to re-reading the reviews that tempted me to pull the trigger. Then I went back, plugged into the low gain input, rolled the gain and volume down a bit on the amp, rolled off on the guitar volume a bit, and began to get a dose of what the Class A amp thing is all about. Now I'm enjoying it (occasionally). For the price of a pedal, I'd say it's worthwhile as long as you have the footprint space in your house. The OD is a bit harsh, but the touch dynamics of it makes it quite a bit of fun. Then you also get into enjoying the rudeness of the tone on this little piggy. But, yeah, you really got to watch all sources of gain, and then it's fun to play around with the dynamics of this amp. I think it's got more responsive dynamics in this respect than any other amp I own. A benefit of 5 watts no doubt. Anyone else go there? http://www.music123.com/Peavey-ValveKing-Royal-8--5W-1x8-Tube-Combo-Amp-481661-i1383113.Music123 Decent little YT demo here [YOUTUBE]qqDMX--Fw5Y[/YOUTUBE] or this one [YOUTUBE]Kj4s3RVmX0o[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shenaniganizer Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 Damn. Pretty great price for a tube practice amp. I'd mod it to my liking at that price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hellion_213 Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 HNAD! Looks/sounds Really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blingdogg Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I got it when it first came out, not any $99 deal. It's a good amp, I like mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GuitarMasterNot Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 You guys in North America are lucky. We never get deals like that down in Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members D Carroll Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 You guys in North America are lucky. We never get deals like that down in Australia If it makes you feel any better, we don't have little, microscopic jellyfish that can kill in 1 sting like you do down in Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shenaniganizer Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 That actually makes us feel better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members calclown Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I got one too. It's versatile, but not knock my socks off.A/Bing it with the bugera v5. Wish I had more time to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frets99 Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Love the demos. That's a lot of amp for $99!! Makes me want to demo my Crate VC508 with my Ibby Artcore semi hollow. I've always liked the Valveking series. I'm pretty sure if I didn't already have my Peavey Prowler, which I adore, I would probably have a Valveking because I love the rudeness of it's OD. That amp seems to have some decent clean headroom also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted October 21, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I got one too. It's versatile, but not knock my socks off.A/Bing it with the bugera v5. Wish I had more time to play. I'm thinking I will eventually put an upgrade speaker in it which may reduce some of the boxy sound. I'm tempted to put a Weber Alnico in it. But I really started enjoying the amp a bit more once I hooked a decent reverb pedal up to the front end. Obviously does a lot to make it sound more spatial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frets99 Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I'm thinking I will eventually put an upgrade speaker in it which may reduce some of the boxy sound. I'm tempted to put a Weber Alnico in it.But I really started enjoying the amp once I hooked a decent reverb pedal up to the front end. Obviously does a lot to make it sound more spatial. Yup it do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted October 21, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 Love the demos. That's a lot of amp for $99!! Makes me want to demo my Crate VC508 with my Ibby Artcore semi hollow. I've always liked the Valveking series. I'm pretty sure if I didn't already have my Peavey Prowler, which I adore, I would probably have a Valveking because I love the rudeness of it's OD. That amp seems to have some decent clean headroom also. Yeah, for 5W (as long as one has some realistic expectations) it does. You just have to dial down all the sources of gain and then the clean headroom is quite adequate for practice. And you've got it right about the "rudeness". At first it scared me then I decided it was kind of fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted October 21, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I didn't post this video in the beginning since so many of these factory demo vids can over promote the product, but I do think this video was quite helpful for learning how to get the versatility out of the amp. For example, he demos using the hi and lo gain input jacks. Now I've of course used those in the past, but I was accustomed to only using the gain reducing inputs for when I was using OD pedals or FX units. But with this amp, it really helps produce a lot of different tones. Unlike the demo, however, I still find the lower gain input to be real useful with single coil pickups as well as HBs. Because this amp does like to be rude, you've got to work on reducing the front end gain if you want to have the full range of dynamics at hand on the guitar. I guess to me, this -maybe it's also my style- but this amp comes across as a bluesy amp. Kind of like the Blues Junior in the way it has a gritty OD that works for that certain dischordal type of JL Hooker sort of way. [YOUTUBE]IEu0NzSZ7RE[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarman3001 Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 hrmm...I don't know...for 99 bucks it's tempting but I used to own a valveking 1x12 50 watt and it just didn't cut it for me. First, for being 50 watt all tube, it wasn't very loud. My classic 30 and palomino V32 are 30 watt and seem much louder than the VK was. Also, the distortion channel on the VK was very harsh and lacked any sort of smoothness. I suppose it would be ok if all you play is Ramone's and Sex Pistols covers but imo, that's about all it would be good for. based on the descriptions here of the VK8 sounding rude and harsh, I'm guessing it's the same tone as the 1x12. I'd rather keep the hundred bucks, save a few more $$$, and pray MF puts the fender SCXD on sale for 199.00 again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frets99 Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 A real guitarist tames the rudeness and makes it do his bidding.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted October 21, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 hrmm...I don't know...for 99 bucks it's tempting but I used to own a valveking 1x12 50 watt and it just didn't cut it for me. First, for being 50 watt all tube, it wasn't very loud. My classic 30 and palomino V32 are 30 watt and seem much louder than the VK was. Also, the distortion channel on the VK was very harsh and lacked any sort of smoothness. I suppose it would be ok if all you play is Ramone's and Sex Pistols covers but imo, that's about all it would be good for. based on the descriptions here of the VK8 sounding rude and harsh, I'm guessing it's the same tone as the 1x12. I'd rather keep the hundred bucks, save a few more $$$, and pray MF puts the fender SCXD on sale for 199.00 again. I hear you. I think if I were going for that much amp and footprint, I go somewhere else than the Valvekings. But for a little 5W 8-incher, it provides some interesting alternative tones to my gear. But indeed, part of what made me pull the trigger on this amp was the curiosity of having a Class A amp, even if it is far from boutique. P.S. I have the SCXD. I replaced the speaker to a Ragin Cajun and it's growing on me these days, but it's certainly a different animal than this Peavey. I think if I were to buy an upgrade again for the SCXD, I might go with the Copperhead instead. I recently put one in a Fender G-Dec 30 and the improvement there was quite a bit more dramatic than putting the RC in the SCXD. Some day I'll have to pull the Copperhead and give it a try in the SCXD to test my theory. But yeah, $199 would be a great price on one of those. I bought mine through one of those MS dollar back deals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dangordan Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I'm thinking I will eventually put an upgrade speaker in it which may reduce some of the boxy sound. I'm tempted to put a Weber Alnico in it.But I really started enjoying the amp a bit more once I hooked a decent reverb pedal up to the front end. Obviously does a lot to make it sound more spatial. I happened to be in a store w/no intention of buying an amp. Spotted one used for $129, played for 10 minutes and bought. Tube +speaker change made noticeable improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members axis player Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I got one in the UK used for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members evh1984 Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I'm going to buy one to take to my next death metal gig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Doctor Morbius Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 Congrats! Sounds like a great deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I've owned a couple and have played through a few more and I've come to the conclusion that I'm just not a lower end 5W tube kinda guy. The Valve King, the recent Champ, the Crate V5... they just don't do much for me, mostly because they are the opposite of what I look for in an amp. They can't move much air without breaking up. I replaced the speaker in my Crate with a Weber Alnico and I tried swapping around the preamp tube. I was basically wanting something small and lightweight to bring into the living room when I wanted to play but something like a Vox AD30VT works a lot better for me. But for guys that love them, they are an outstanding value. I mean, maybe not the most versatile amp in the world, but hell... $100? Forgetaboutit. If crunchy goodness at reasonable volumes is what you are after, it's the cat's ass. They are VERY touch/pick responsive and I really dig that aspect. That's why I like AC15s so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted October 21, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I've owned a couple and have played through a few more and I've come to the conclusion that I'm just not a lower end 5W tube kinda guy. The tone of mine makes me think of it not so much as a "lower end 5W tube [amp]" but more so as an upper end pignose amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brian Krashpad Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I had a used one that was like new that I bought for $100, didn't know it had subsequently been blown out. When I got my Super Champ XD I put the Peavey on consignment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kroggio Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I used to own one. Got it in a trade with a Jensen Mod speaker and external speaker jack installed. It was a pretty sweet little amp. The speaker upgrade got rid of alot of the harshness in the gain I think, while I never played it with the original Peavey speaker, it was fairly smooth. I ran it almost exclusively thru my Marshall 4x12 and it had a pretty decent roar to it. Loud enough to do some jamming with my friends for sure. I also recorded it quite a bit, goosed with a TS808, and managed to get some mean fairly high-gain sounds out of it. The clean was okay, mostly for practicing, but I found it to be kinda lackluster for fitting into a mix. Traded it to my friend straight across for a couple nice humbuckers.Cool little amp:thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members snowaie Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 Love my vk for the price Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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