Peavey Classic 50 or Peavey XXX?

[Hemisaurus]

So a buddy has offered me a trade of an XXX for my Classic 50 head.

I've kind of been digging playing bass on the 50 on the clean channel, but it does run out of steam, I also have the parts in to mod it to use EL34's or EL84's depending on what I feel like. Our guitar player has been getting good tones using the 50 and a SF300 Fuzz.

The XXX on the other hand has more watts, clean channel might do bass well, but 3 channels seems stupid.

So good deal, bad deal? Is one worth more than the other? I've seen Classic 50 heads going for $400-450 locally, when they appear atall, he wanted $300 for the amp or $500 with a 412 cab. Seems a bit of a cheek to ask him to throw in the cab on a deal where he ends up with less channels and less watts

[justinhedrick]

Can you use the xxx on a 50 watt setting? And can't you use el34s in it?

Does yr guitar player play the classic 50 clean?

Also, how is the band going for christsakes?

[everdrone]

r u usin it for guitar or bass?  for modern dual recto tone type numetal or???  its like going to ultimatemetal.com forum and asking them about matamp, they just might recommend u a 5150 in the end  

[bitter]

It's tough if you're talking about bass, but I remember trying a XXX and it was really sterile. At least the JSX and 5150 have some liveliness. From a personal standpoint, I'd say mod the classic series, mainly because it's warmer sounding, old school vibe kind of amp.

[liquidsmoke]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Traynor-YBA200-2-200w-All-Tube-Head-MSRP-1199-AUTHORIZED-DEALER-/270807745046?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f0d664216

[Hemisaurus]

Clean, the guitar is using the clean channel on the 50 and the SF300 in front of it. I don't know what settings the XXX has, maybe I could pop a couple of tubes out of it.

It's one of those dual purpose things, it's my amp, and I'm a bass player, so I would play bass through it BUT the guitarist doesn't have a decent amp of his own yet, and I don't use it as part of my live rig, so it has to sound good for the guitar AND eventually it will just be another bass amp. The EL34 mod wasn't a cure for anything, just an addition to give it a different sound.


I had a YBA200, hated it so much I sent it back to Traynor. It only sounds good on paper.

So far I'm leaning toward keeping the 50, under the 'if it ain't broke' principle.

[justinhedrick]

Clean, the guitar is using the clean channel on the 50 and the SF300 in front of it. I don't know what settings the XXX has, maybe I could pop a couple of tubes out of it.

It's one of those dual purpose things, it's my amp, and I'm a bass player, so I would play bass through it BUT the guitarist doesn't have a decent amp of his own yet, and I don't use it as part of my live rig, so it has to sound good for the guitar AND eventually it will just be another bass amp. The EL34 mod wasn't a cure for anything, just an addition to give it a different sound.


I had a YBA200, hated it so much I sent it back to Traynor. It only sounds good on paper.

So far I'm leaning toward keeping the 50, under the 'if it ain't broke' principle.

yeah, if you like it, leave it the way it is!!

now, more importantly: are you guys rockin' again?

[FullCustom]

The YBA200 is junk. Although I had a Mesa 400 output transformer lying around here and installed it in a blown up YBA200. I was amazing after that. It doubled the RMS power output. 

[Hemisaurus]

So is that where the weak link is? I think they used toroids to keep the weight down, did they underspec the output tranny. All I know if the HD130 I had at the time was way louder and fuller.

[liquidsmoke]

I had a YBA200, hated it so much I sent it back to Traynor. It only sounds good on paper.

The YBA200 is junk.

Huh, good to know.

[tombhex]

I really like the XXX heads, I don't think they're sterile at all. I've seen guys get some absolutely righteous post-metal tone out of them (although one guy ran it along with a v4/rat setup), but I've never heard anyone play bass out of it.

[FullCustom]

There are to places where the YBA200 really fails, PI and OT. The amp is an old Koch design. So with the right upgrades it can sound great. The big thing with the toroidal OT is it is very unmusical when the amp is distorted. The OT that Trayor uses will only produce 100 Watts RMS. As for the PI a 12BH7 is a great upgrade there but the power tubes still have to be biased in class-A for the amp to do full power.

[Hemisaurus]

Think I'm trading it for a Bugera instead.

[justinhedrick]

Think I'm trading it for a Bugera instead.

surely you jest

[neighbor664]

Think I'm trading it for a Bugera instead.

Smited for even considering or joking about that. Awful trade!
Keep the Classic 50, don't use it for bass though.

[Hemisaurus]

Nope, dead serious, Bugera 1960 and a Crate 412.

[tombhex]

Nope, dead serious, Bugera 1960 and a Crate 412.

I'd do it.

[bitter]

The 1960 model makes more sense for a trade. If you were talking bugera's XXX clone, I'd say pass.