roburado
Well-known member
It's a bad reputation that is not deserved.
- Thread starter luke33139
- Start date
It's a bad reputation that is not deserved.
ScoobySteve
Well-known member
I've had nothing but fabulous experiences with the Peavey JSX head.
Even with the supposed "sterile" clean, and the supposed minimal discrepencies between the Crunch/Ultra channels. I guess people are casting expectations based off of other premium all tube head units, but you're not going to get the quality of a head like this, at it's price.
It's a great head, not exactly sure why Peavey has such a bum rap.
Even with the supposed "sterile" clean, and the supposed minimal discrepencies between the Crunch/Ultra channels. I guess people are casting expectations based off of other premium all tube head units, but you're not going to get the quality of a head like this, at it's price.
It's a great head, not exactly sure why Peavey has such a bum rap.
ShaneV
Well-known member
I watched an episode of Penn and Teller's Bull**** tonight where they prepared 'bruschetta' using a 25 cent, day old sandwich roll, canned tomatoes and olive oil from a gas station by the airport, then served it to amateur 'gourmet food experts' (along with the restaurants most expensive wine, aka a $1.99 bottle from New Jersey) at a very high end restaurant. Of course, the people pretty much all raved about how great everything was. It was one of the mst hilarious things I've seen in a long time, and it summed up so many guitar cork sniffers so very, very well.
Nemesys
Active member
Yeah, a lot of Peavey amps are quite nice. I think the Classic 30 sounds fantastic even with the supposedly terrible stock speakers (especially when you crank the clean channel 
). The first amp I ever owned was a Peavey 'Backstage' solid-state practice amp that I got for like $100. My father still has it, I played it the last time I was there, and it sounded quite nice. It has a single 10" speaker, so it's a little boxy, and the distortion is kind of buzzy at higher levels, but it's still plenty workable, especially for $100.
Just the other day, I tried out a Peavey Windsor Studio in the music store. It sounded great for a $400 amp. The switchable power tube and attenuator are nice touches, too. I'm planning on getting one someday.
Just because something costs a lot doesn't mean it's better than the stuff that doesn't -- the most awful-sounding amp I have ever heard was one of those Dumble amps that cost more than my house. It wasn't just uninspiring, it was unlistenable -- thin, piercing sound and out-of-tune ghost notes everywhere. There are great amps and terrible amps at all price points.
To the OP, if you like the sound of the Mesa Express 5:25, go for it. Ultimately, your ears are the best judge of what works for you. I tried one out a while ago, and though I liked the 50-watt version better (I prefer the American tube sound), it seemed like a nice amp to me. The 5-watt mode sounds sweet, too. I didn't notice an unusual amount of noise from it, either, so I would guess that whoever experienced that had a noisy tube in theirs (it happens, but it's easy to fix).
). The first amp I ever owned was a Peavey 'Backstage' solid-state practice amp that I got for like $100. My father still has it, I played it the last time I was there, and it sounded quite nice. It has a single 10" speaker, so it's a little boxy, and the distortion is kind of buzzy at higher levels, but it's still plenty workable, especially for $100.Just the other day, I tried out a Peavey Windsor Studio in the music store. It sounded great for a $400 amp. The switchable power tube and attenuator are nice touches, too. I'm planning on getting one someday.
Just because something costs a lot doesn't mean it's better than the stuff that doesn't -- the most awful-sounding amp I have ever heard was one of those Dumble amps that cost more than my house. It wasn't just uninspiring, it was unlistenable -- thin, piercing sound and out-of-tune ghost notes everywhere. There are great amps and terrible amps at all price points.
To the OP, if you like the sound of the Mesa Express 5:25, go for it. Ultimately, your ears are the best judge of what works for you. I tried one out a while ago, and though I liked the 50-watt version better (I prefer the American tube sound), it seemed like a nice amp to me. The 5-watt mode sounds sweet, too. I didn't notice an unusual amount of noise from it, either, so I would guess that whoever experienced that had a noisy tube in theirs (it happens, but it's easy to fix).
MusicManJP6
Well-known member
My Peavey XXX was a fabulous amp that served me well for several years. I took a huge hit when I sold it because apparently 'Peavey' is a bad word these days. I don't get it. It was a phenomenal amp! Not a lick of trouble out of it and I got all the tones I wanted out of it. I got bit by the Mesa bug though. I should have kept the Peavey, but i love Mesa these days...
Nemesys
Active member
The dirty channel on the F-Series amps has a LOT of gain (they toned it down somewhat when they went to the Express), and the EQ stage is before the distortion, so EQ settings have very little effect at higher gain settings. Higher-output pickups tend to exacerbate this, it's pretty workable with lower-output pickups, especially if you keep the gain on the low side (below 12:00 or so). I love the sound of mine, but then I like the sound of a Rat pedal, too.
MusicManJP6
Well-known member
The dirty channel on the F-Series amps has a LOT of gain (they toned it down somewhat when they went to the Express), and the EQ stage is before the distortion, so EQ settings have very little effect at higher gain settings. Higher-output pickups tend to exacerbate this, it's pretty workable with lower-output pickups, especially if you keep the gain on the low side (below 12:00 or so). I love the sound of mine, but then I like the sound of a Rat pedal, too.
I actually noticed that as well with my F-30 when I had it. Makes sense now...
John C
Well-known member
Obviously this is just my $0.02, but I had an Express 5/25 for about a day and found I liked my Rivera Clubster 25 better with my Silo Special (all singles). Of course, I did the stupid thing when I bought the Mesa and tried it out with both a '62RI Strat and an American Series Strat and it sounded good in the store. At home the Mesa sounded pretty good with the Silo Special, just not as good as the Rivera side-by-side. It might be worth checking the Rivera out as well.
candid_x
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2006
- Messages
- 3,272
Crap, I'm doomed.
ShaneV
Well-known member
Your only salvation is to go and buy an overdrive pedal that is hand crafted by a 97 year old blind man in the swiss alps, with each cap and resistor made by hand from special alloys recovered from the Roswell flying saucer crash site, and the housing built from wood found at the supposed final resting site of Noah's ark. Only one is made per decade and the cost is $45,000 (but it's really just a Tubescreamer clone...)
ScoobySteve
Well-known member
It's ok, I still have my '86 Randall RG100ES SS Head, and I wont part with it!
I don't care what the amp nazi's say about solid states!
Although its nice to have an all tube head as a primary too.
