Peavey amps have carved out a solid name for themselves in recent years, especially in the high gain/metal arena with products like the very popular 5150 (a metal stand-by) and the more modern Triple XXX, Joe Satriani JSX, and the Penta head (see my reviews of the last two if you’re curious). One thing about the brand is that it delivers a lot of price value because, for whatever reason, it is not perceived as a “first-rank” amp manufacturer like Fender, Marshall and Mesa (kind of like Carvin guitars, which deliver great value because you’re not paying for the Gibson, PRS or Fender names).

An alternative to Peavey’s high gain amps is the Classic line, the 30 under review here and the 50. This Classic 30 provides vintage clean and lead tones with a good amount of volume and tube-driven overtone complexity; I’ve seen it compared to a Vox 30 and that’s a pretty good idea of what you get. Blues and rock/hard rockers will find a lot to admire here.

The Classic 30 screams vintage 1960 looks, with its tweed covered cabinet and relative simplicity in its channels and controls. (It’s also available in black and a head.) The preamp is driven by two 12AX7’s and the power amp by four 6BQ5/EL34s with a 12AX7 driver. (There’s been a lot of complaining about the Sovtek EL34’s that were packaged with early versions of this amp as well as some reliability issues. Check the tubes carefully if you’re buying an older version, you may want to upgrade the EL34’s, or else look for the redesigned more recent version.) Be forewarned: four EL34s through the 12 inch Blue Marvel speaker produces a comfortable amount of volume for practice and small club work. (Some guys also recommend replacing the speaker with a 12” Eminence.) Peavey says this can easily drive a 4x12 cabinet and I believe them.

The chicken-head controls are straightforward. You get an on/off switch with LED (no standby switch—too bad!), input jack, effects in and effects send jacks on the front. Another switch controls selection of the Normal or Lead channels (which can also be done with a footswitch). There is one set of EQ controls for bass, mids and treble (no presence!). One gain control selects volume for the Normal channel. The Lead (high gain) channel has one volume control for the preamp and another for the power amp; you’re supposed to select the preamp volume first to shape your tone, then the other control effectively serves as master volume.

The reverse of the amp is simplicity itself: one plug for an external cabinet at 16 ohms, one plug for the optional footswitch (buy it!), that’s it. None of that space-age stuff that you get on the reverse of a Mesa, Marshall or Line 6 amp.

The two channels (one switchable channel, actually) are Normal for rhthym and clean leads and Lead for gritty, higher gain sounds. You can up the gain on the Lead channel by pushing the Boost switch, a very nice feature for when you really want to drown out the singer.

Here’s the most important part of the review: how does the thing sound. Well, it gives you some really nice, tight vintage tones that are hard to beat at this price. The Normal is great for blues, country and rock rhythm. The included spring reverb gives some nice oomph to the package. Very clean and precise. The Lead channel provides some nice mid-level gain that breaks up nicely when the boost is engaged—there are some very nice Hendrix-like tones here. An obvious advantage is that, given the relatively low rating, you can crank it all the way and overdrive the tubes without completely blowing the place up. Adding a Tube Screamer and some delay here could produce some really nice blues and hard rock tones.

As you can see, I like this amp but I’m not raving about it. What it this is, is a very value-driven amp that will give a blues/rock player just what he needs at a good price. I like what I hear but, maybe, there’s not quite enough headroom and not the total complexity one might get from a Vox or a cranked Fender. BUT: new you can get this for $570 at Musicians Friend or Sam Ash and in the $400-$450 range on ebay. That’s pretty cheap for what you get.

So who should look at this amp? First, blues/rock guys who insist on tube tones and like the price range and are willing to listen seriously to this product. Second, intermediate players who are looking to step up from their starter amp but can’t afford the grand plus that a really hard hitting amp costs. Conversely, who shouldn’t buy it: Metal heads, clearly. Guys who can afford more that Peavey’s asking for this and really want Vox or Fender tones. Guys who need more headroom or just need an amp that has more switches.

Try this out. It’s got a cool retro look and delivers cool retro tones. At this price, you gotta give it a serious listen if you’re a blues/rock player. But make sure you know what you’re buying because of the recent redesigns.

30 watts (rms) into 16 or 8 ohms
Four EL84s and three 12AX7s
12 inch Blue Marvel® speaker
2-channel preamp
Pre- and post-gain controls on lead channel
Normal volume control on clean channel
3-band passive EQ (bass, middle, treble)
Boost switch
Reverb level control
Effects loop
Footswitch selectable channel switching and reverb
External speaker capability
Chrome-plated chassis
Classic tweed covering

Specifications
Dimensions 20" W x 17.625" H x 11.625" D
Weight 39.5 lbs. (Unpacked)


Recommended: Yes