Classic 30 guys - you might want to try this -

[ProToneThinline]

I really like my C-30. It's a good, reliable, reasonably-priced amp. But the tone always seemed to me liek it was missing a small bit of something, and clean headroom was suspect.

I had played around with some tube swaps before, but nothing really grabbed be. I had concentracted mostly on V1, since I was trying to get more headroom. I tried a 5751, 12AT7 and 12AU7. All were blah.

After some head-scratching, I decided to play with the PI tube (V3). First, the AT7 (like a vintage Fender). Still blah. Then the magic happens - a 5751 in V3. Gives just a bit more headroom on the clean channel, without killing the amp's tone like the AT7. So far, so good.

Now for the gain channel. This always sounded a bit too overdriven to me. More pedal-like than amp-like. I look in my parts box and dig out an old US-made Mesa 7025. The construction is a lot different than a conventional 12AX7 - more robust. I pop that in V2, and WHAM. Beautiful singing tones. Plenty of drive without the buzzy harshness. Now I'm a happy guy.

I kept the stock 12AX7 in V1, since I was happy with the result and didn't want to push my luck........

My C-30 is a new model which came with JJ's all around. The JJ's are nice tubes, just now exactly what I was looking for.

[kinggabbo]

Cool! Thanks for the tips. I'm getting ready to start playing around with the tubes on my Classic 30. I'll give your suggestions a shot.

[boneyguy]

This is funny because I just went through a similar thing with my vintage Traynor head. It sounded okay but it just didn't have any magic to the tone. When I bought it it had 6 no name 12ax7's in it. I had a couple of Electro Harmonix pre amp tubes that I had forgotten about. One was a 12ay7. I put it in V1 and didn't notice much of anything. I put it in V2 and didn't hear any real difference. Then I put it in V3 and holy cow!!!.....the amp just came alive!. What a difference. The tone was sparkly, musical, 3 dimensional. The difference was like night and day.

I'm absolutely loving my 'new' amp now. I took the EH 12ay7 out of the PI slot and replaced it with a Tungsol 12ax7. It sounds even better. I now have a JJ 12aty that I'm going to try in that slot.

Here's an interesting article that I came across just yesterday that you might find interesting.

The title of this article is "The most important tube in your amp? The Phase inverter!"

http://www.guitaramplifierblueprinti...seinverter.pdf

[Faraldi]

I was looking at 5751's today actually because of your suggestion.

I saw a Jan Phillips?? a GT and I believe a Sovtek al within the same price range. Am I cork sniffing or does it not matter that much in the PI?

Thanks for the tip!!

[ProToneThinline]

Originally Posted by Faraldi

I was looking at 5751's today actually because of your suggestion.

I saw a Jan Phillips?? a GT and I believe a Sovtek al within the same price range. Am I cork sniffing or does it not matter that much in the PI?

Thanks for the tip!!

Personally, I'd go with the JAN Phillips. The 5751 I used was a NOS RCA. A friend of mine gave me 6 of these a number of years ago, and I still have a couple. I believe the GT and Sovtek 5751's are just re-badged AX7's. A NOS 5751 has more stout construction, since it was originally designed for military applications.

Also, in case you didn't know, "JAN" stands for Joint Army Navy.

[vic108]

Cool insight = TY!.
I bought a C-30 on-line (ear unheard) after a friend swore by them.
Not real impressed with the sound at all - lacks soul.
Maybe I'll try out your idea!

[bigben55]

I might try that. I want to retube it, but have some questions. From left to right when looking at the back of the amp, you got 4 EL84s and 3 12AX7s. Which position is V1, V2 and V3, and what does each one "do"? Mine has Sovtek power tubes and JJ preamp tubes, stock.

[Trout]

Originally Posted by bigben55

I might try that. I want to retube it, but have some questions. From left to right when looking at the back of the amp, you got 4 EL84s and 3 12AX7s. Which position is V1, V2 and V3, and what does each one "do"? Mine has Sovtek power tubes and JJ preamp tubes, stock.

From right to left looking at the back, the tubes are V1 V2 V3 then the 4 EL84's.

Page 6 of the owners manual shows a high-level schematic that shows where the pre-amp tubes sort of fit into the circuit.

It looks like V1 comes straight off the input as the first pre-amp, V2 is between the pre and post volumes on channel 2, and V3 is the final pre-amp before the power amp stage.

You can get the manual here:
http://www.peavey.com/support/search...ved.cfm?page=C

[e-merlin]

Originally Posted by vic108

Cool insight = TY!.
I bought a C-30 on-line (ear unheard) after a friend swore by them.
Not real impressed with the sound at all - lacks soul.
Maybe I'll try out your idea!

That complaint is usually due to trying to play it at bedroom level. All of Peavey's Classic series amps benefit from cranking 'em up.

[ray]

I just recently got a Classic 30 in a trade. At first I thought it sounded pretty good, but after playing with it for a while I thought I might take a look at the tubes. Mine has JJEL84’s and a mix of pre amp tubes, a JJ, and two no name 12ax7’s. I changed the pre amp tubes to Tung Sol 12ax7’s that I had, and they sounded better, but still not great. The next thing I tried was a speaker replacement. I swapped out the Blue Marvel with a Celestion Greenback I had, and now it sounds even better. I may try out a Vintage 30 to see how that sounds. I think the speaker swap is the best thing you can do for this amp. But it is a pain to get at the speaker, but I think it’s worth the effort.
Ray

[vic108]

Originally Posted by e-merlin

That complaint is usually due to trying to play it at bedroom level. All of Peavey's Classic series amps benefit from cranking 'em up.

True, I haven't gigged or jammed with it yet.
Only played it around the house here...
TY!~ I'll give it a shot!

[hooch1]

I just tried a Tung Sol in the V1 and I liked the stock JJ better so I swapped it back out. Plus the Tung Sol was microphonic but I don't think I'll be ordering another.

The best improvement I got was swapping in a Solvtek LPS in V3. That really quieted down the noise in the amp.

[DenisS]

The right P.I. tube takes this amp out of the one-trick-pony category.

I had good luck with a '70s RCA full grey plate 12AT7.

The 5751 sounds interesting.

DenisS

[Chito]

I know this is about changing tubes, etc... And I have done that too but the best 'mod' that I made on my C30 is the speaker change. Going to a Weber Blue Dog ceramic changed it from a good amp to an excellent amp. YMMV

[DenisS]

Originally Posted by Chito

I know this is about changing tubes, etc... And I have done that too but the best 'mod' that I made on my C30 is the speaker change. Going to a Weber Blue Dog ceramic changed it from a good amp to an excellent amp. YMMV

OK, but that stock speaker is not bad either. What happened when you put in the Weber?

[xStonr]

I am very happy with my current tube compliment in my Classic 30. They are all vintage tubes, V1 – Brimar 12AX7, V2 –DuMont 12AX7(re-labled GE), and V3 – RCA 5751. Power tubes are some Russian military EL84's. The tone is great. Don't forget about your speakers. I also have a ceramic Blue Dog in the amp and a vintage Jensen alnico and a vintage alnico that is nameless in a 2x12. That nameless speaker has a silver dust cap on in and it resembles a JBL. Everything sounds great. As eMerlin said, the classic 30 benefits from being cranked up a bit.

[jspartz]

Thanks for the tip. I had been running JJ's in the first two slots and an Ei in V3. I switched it out for a JAN Phillips 5751 and it helped pull out some mud in the lower mids that I did not really realize was there until the swap. I it has a little more life (detail) now and is clearer (in a good way). I will drive it this way for a while and see how it holds on. So far I like it!