Peavey Classic 20 Combo

I had one and I loved it. I only replaced it with the 30 because the 30 had enough power to gig and had reverb
I think they are overpriced now though, because they were only $220 when new

 

Hi @frettchen,

I had some of them for service / repair in the past. AFAIK, nothing major than routine operation, except for 2 points :

1 - EL84 tubes tend to vibrate and make some distinctive noise. This is due to their mounting. The Classic 30 and Blues Classic had the same issue (same kind of mounting / chassis). The partial solution is to try to damp the tubes against vibration as best (Peavey did this also), but the noise always remains more or less. This can be sometimes a problem at home loudness...

2 - Some Classic 20 tend to behave like oscillators when pushed. This is due to the feedback loop level and placement. The solution is to reduce the amount of FB, even disconnect the FB loop. Many people found that their Classic 20 sounded better with NFB disconnected...

About tone, Classic 20 and 30 are in the same ballpark.

-tbln.

 

Yes, it's an awesome little amp, but it doesn't really do high gain hard rock sounds. It's great though for blues and classic rock type tones.

 

FWIW, I never had a problem with tube rattle or oscillation with my 20 or 30.

 

I don't have any experience with the 20..but I absolutely love my 30. It's my main rig and I pair it with the 2x12 can when I need more. I run my EQ pedal through the effects loop and drop the level any time it's too much for a smaller room.
Tube rattle/noise comes and goes but is only really a consideration when recording....which this isn't the amp to use to record anyhow.
I'd say that you could likely find a 30 for the same price you're looking at that 20 for, if you did a little more looking. It's more versatile in my opinion.

 

I’ve got one. The price on them seems to be going up, so 320 euro is not too bad.

Not a lot of clean headroom, but enough for home use. Breakup sounds very good to my ear (I’m a hack, though). A reverb pedal is needed, but there’s plenty of dirt just in the amp.

As a bonus you can cook burritos under the hood - they run super hot.

 

Yup yup yup!!!!!

 

One cool thing about the classic 20 is when you plug an extention cab it shuts off the 10 inch internal speaker so you can run thru a 4x12 or what ever

 

The Classic 20 is a loud little beast. I got the deal of a lifetime on one back in the early 2000s in the used pile at a GC. It had new JJs and a Celestion Gold 10" in it.

If you want killer tones from it, try setting it just at the edge of breakup, and push the preamp with a boost, rather that maxing out the amp's master volume. I find this makes the sound less fizzy, improves amp response, and gives the tone a lot more character.

 

This is interesting to read;

I wonder if this is why there’s always a been an odd little thing that drove me away from EL84 amps...there’s been a few of them that I like, but there’s always been something in the sound of some of those amps I couldn’t quite put my finger on that prevented me from loving any of them...

 

I had one for a while - I bought it to play at home, but it was just way too loud for that situation.
I eventually put it on eBay, and got a better price than I had expected - there was a lot of interest in it. Wrong amp for me but perfect for that buyer..

 

The USA made Classic 20 is a great little amp, even better connected to a bigger speaker. The 10" is just a little boxy sounding, but hooked up to a 12" extension cab it's a beast. Great tone for days and days.

 

No.

It's the price of a used classic 30 if you go in south of France.

Wow they got an inflation on second hand market here.

So it's still a good deal.

 

I used to gig one with a pro jr sharing a 4x10 stereo cab- really nice amp. Sold it and kept pro jr-because I have the magic one! But the classic 20 I actually liked more than the classic 30.

 

I owned a C30.
I tried a 20 once.
It was interesting.
No reverb, they do run hot, older Classic series may need tube dampener and guard, cranked all the way was not for me...but,
I think it could be an awesome bedroom amp.
If you want it, get it.

 

I had one once. I thought it was a real cool amp. Sounded nice.