Retubing Peavey Classic 30 (Nos & new)

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prsman88

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So I picked up an older peavey classic 30 that needed a little repair so I went ahead and got a few tone stack mods, replacement caps, etc.... It also has a vintage celestion 75 speaker in it the guy had replaced the blue marvel with.

Now I need to retube it.

Suggestions?

I am looking for a nice clean channel and a "Marshally" type overdrive. When I mean Marshally, obviously its a peavey, but i mean BIG Chords like AC/DC stuff with lots of gain/saturation and articulate. Ring out every note in the chord, cut the mud... u get the idea..

I called Doug Preston he suggested this.

Tung Sol Reissue 12ax7
Penta 12ax7
Sovtek LPS

Mullard Reissue EL84's


Now I personally don't mind trying NOS tubes 4 the preamp if u have those suggestions also. I was thinking of trying (used of course)

Raytheon 12ax7 or Tesla 12ax7
Mullard Ecc83 (or something cheaper)
GE Long Plate 12ax7


thoughts?
 
When I had a Classic 30 I changed the preamp tubes out with GT-ECC83-S's and the speaker out with a Celestion Vintage 30.

The biggest difference was the speaker, but the tubes added gain to the pre knob. I loved and lived with that sound for a couple of years until a deal came along.

Nos tubes in that amp seem like throwing your pearls among swine. There are plenty of cheaper tubes that will get the job done. Save the nos for an amp of higher caliber.
 
I agree 100% with the previous poster about sticking spendy New Old Stock tubes in that amp, but once I turned a Classic 30 owner buddy of mine on to a well used Matsushita 12ax7 with the 45 degree getter flashing in top of the bottle...the so called Japanese Mullard. That tube has the Marshall-y tonal tendencies in spades. Those tubes were made on Mullard tooling in Japan, VERY well made and durable, they are brighter on top than their Mullard forbears, but have the Mullard mids and bottom. Sound is more like like an Amperex bugle boy, those tubes sound better if well used. New, the top end is a bit bright. It greatly improved the tone for that amp. They can be gotten on ebay for little if any more than a modern production tube. The Raytheon will sound great, and as long as it is not too microphonic, a longplate GE will sound great also. The Ray and particularly the GE can be had cheaply, usually less than 25 bucks apiece if shopped carefully and patiently. I'd get the GE in unused NOS condition only for that amp. Still fairly inexpensive to get those, also the CBS 7025 longplate, it is basically the GE tube with a spiral wound heater filament to reduce hum...

The Tesla worth having is the e83cc or ecc803s, same tube and going for close to a c-note apiece nowadays...I'd use that tube in a point to point boutique amp, not the Peavey.
 
We retubed my brothers Classic 30 with a GE 12ax7 in V1, a Jan Phillips 12ax7 in V2. New JJ 12ax7s for the rest including a balanced for the PI.
And new JJ EL84s for power. The amp came alive. It sounds much more expensive than it is. It sounds closer, but not exactly like a DR Z or an old Fender Deluxe.

The JJ EL84s were FAR better than the sovteks that we pulled. The tube changes (about $100) made a $250 used amp sound far more expensive.
At gigs, other guitarists are really suprised when my brother tells them what amp he is running.

IMHO a Classic 30 is a really underrated amp for guitarists.
Must be the "P" word Peavey?
 
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