The ValveKing 212 combines boutique features and hot-rodded tones with legendary Peavey reliability. Features a patent-pending control called Texture which allows sweepable selection between power structures, as well as any combination of the two.
Valve King 212
Reviewed by:
Alex The Red, on december 20, 2006 6 of 7 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 650
Purchased from: Guitar Center
Features: This is about the most versatile tube amp, tone wise, I've played. I play a little mix of everything From the acoustic numbers of Pink Floyd and Yes to the more distortion oriented metal bands like Finntroll and Maiden. The amp comes with two foot-switchable channels, a clean and a lead channel. Both fulfill their purpose rather well. The foot Switch though doesn't come boxed in and has to be ordered from their site. // 8
Sound: I have to say that this is one loud amp. Typically for practice I keep the volume knob on the lead channel at about 3/4 and the clean to about 2 (the volume knobs on this amp goes from 0-10). The tubes in it are able to make any guitar sound good regardless of the pickups. Lately I've been playing this on my cheapie strat-styled guitar, you know one of those you can buy at wall mart for like $100 bucks, and some of the tones I've gotten are amazing. Although it is versatile I do wish that the cleans were a bit brighter and the distortion was a bit more distorted. It is possible to get some really good brights and some absolutely brutal distortions with this amp, it just takes a lot of messing around with the knobs on your guitar and amp to do so. // 9
Reliability & Durability: I'd say this amp was built like a rock. I've only had it for a month but I can scarcely believe that anyone can break this beast accidentally. I can imagine this amp coming unscathed after being dropped down a staircase (even plowing through a wall or two). I don't recommend testing your Peavey amp in this way though (the amp can stand a beating like this but I can't guarantee the glass tubes on the inside can). // 10
Impression: I think this is a great amp for everyone looking to upgrade from their solid-state practice amps. For just $650 you get an amp that's more then loud/durable enough to play at small gigs and jam sessions. It's versatile enough to play most anything and it sounds awesome enough to make even your cheapie strat-styled or Epiphone sound like an American Strat or LP custom. // 10
Valve King 212
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on february 22, 2007 4 of 6 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: Ardens Music
Features: Well, I've had this amp for about a year now, and I love it. It can be used for probably any genre of music. I personally use it for Hardcore, Death Metal, and screamo stuff, but I have used it messing around playing some old ac/dc. This amp has some great reverb if you're into using it. I personally don't but it does have it. The clean channel tends to go a little distorted if you play a little hard or you have it up loud, but it is a tube amp so playing hard does do that. I love the clean sound, even with that little bit of grunge to it. The distortion channel is also great, you can get many great tones out of it, and it's not hard to find one you'll like. If you're really into Death Metal, this may not be the amp for you though. It doesn't quite get to that typical super heavy sound that bands like "The Black Daliah Murder", or "Elysia" but it can get some nice sounds out of it. This amp does have the effects loop, but I can't tell you how well that works as I don't use any effects at the moment. If I do in the future I will repost to let people know. This again is a great tube amp, but be careful not to break the tubes. // 9
Sound: Well, I use a Epiphone Les Paul 100 series with Zakk Wylde Emg pickups. This amp makes this guitar sound beautiful. In my 6 years of playing I can say that I personally haven't found any better sound for myself. Although my sound is not the same as everyone else's I can say that you can probly find a sound you like. This amp is VERY loud by the way. For practice I can barely use it. If you go past 1 or 2 on this amp for practice it is very loud, for concerts I tend to leave it around 5 or 6 (depending on stage and hall) and that's without a cabinet. // 9
Reliability & Durability: This amp is great. It is built like a tank. I've lugged it to shows for a while now, and other than the scratches from other gear, it works great. The only complaint I have is that the wire from the speakers to the amp runs right through the tubes, and on mine it melted the wire after a while, but this can be fixed easily, and if you know how to sodder, then just make your own speaker chord. But as I was saying. This amp can withstand alot. I Live in Canada and the winter is pretty cold. I've taken this from sitting in a cold van to using it at shows and it only gave me an ugly sound for about 2 mins, then it got back on track. This is more because the tubes were cold though. So far in the year I've had it, I haven't blown a single tube *knock on wood* and the amp is great. // 10
Impression: Well, although it's only my 6th year playing, and I'm still young, I think this amp is great. If someone stole this amp or broke it. Well, I would go nuts, and if I didn't get it back I would for sure buy another one. I've played Crate amps, Marshall, Krank, Orange, mesa, Fender, Vox, and Traynor amps, and so far this one is my favourite. There may yet be another amp out there for me, but this so far takes the cake. I work in a music store, so this is definately no bullshit for all you people Who might try to critisize this. I also realize I have some of the worst spelling on the planet, but that's not what this article is about. I suggest to anyone Who is looking for a giging amp to check this out, if you don't like it, then don't buy it and find what suits your sound. For all you Who read this and play guitar. Rock on, or whatever the saying is for whatever genre you play, happy playing people! // 10
Valve King 212
Reviewed by:
Monster Zero, on january 15, 2009 2 of 3 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 250
Purchased from: Private Sale
Features: Made in 2005 I believe. This amp is very versatile. I can go from country chickin pickin to all out death metal and lot's in between. Technically it's a two channel amp but with the volume boost/gain boost it's a 2/3 channel hybrid. I wish it had a master volume and I wish the reverb was better but it works well as is. I use this amp for practice and gigging in a cover band that does anything from Steppenwolf to Coal Chamber. Amp has plenty of power and gets way louder than I will ever need it for. Having that headroom is a good thing in my opinion. // 7
Sound: Upon my first few minutes of trying this amp at home I hated the gain channel. What I discovered though was turning the gain knob wayyy down to about 2 and adjusting the texture knob and eq's turned this into a killer gain channel. I added a BBE Boosta Grande into the mix and WOW! This thing woke up like a ravenous vampire that had been asleep for eons. A lot of folks I read say to change the speakers and tubes etc etc.. Not necessary in my opinion, you've got to turn that gain dial way down and use a guitar with a high output humbucker in it. Main main axe is a Fender Strat with a GFS Lil Killer in the bridge and stock pups in the middle and neck. On the clean channel I coulkd go anywhere from smooth jazz to old time country and western to blues growl when the volume hit about 80% on the dial. I preferred the texture (A/B knob) set to about 1 to 2 o'clock. // 9
Reliability & Durability: Can't speak for the reliability yet and though we all know Peavey's are the toughest amps ever made, this one is Chinese made so I'll leave that opinion for another day on this one. If it stands up like an American Made Peavey then it will be around with the cockroaches when the world ends.. // 6
Impression: I play stuff ranging from Johnny Cash to Cannibal Corpse and my own original stuff which is akin to Black Sabbath and Black Flag having a love child. I've been playing for about 20 years and have owned mucho gear. I'd rate this amp as good as most Mesa's out there and better than most Marshalls. It's that good with some tweaking.
So to summarize: A great amp especially for the money and especially if you take the time to actually learn it and tweak it to taste. No need to upgrade the speakers if you know what you are doing with an amp. I'm sure a set of Celestion G12T-75's would sound even better in this amp but all in all there's no need so why bother unless you are a tone chasing lunatic! // 8
Valve King 212
Reviewed by:
stickx n pickx, on november 10, 2008 1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: C$ 680
Purchased from: Academy Of Music
Features: This amp has 2 switchable Channels, lead and clean. I play pretty much everything and this amp covers it all, from heavy distorted to bright and clean. I use this amp to practice in my basement and absolutely love it. I don't use effects so they arn't really that important to me. Although, This tube amp is very very loud. I usally practice on just 1-2 and that's all I need to keep my parents yelling turn that thing down. I could just be full of it cause I just upgraded from my 5 watt starter amp I got with my Washburn OX but I love this amp. // 9
Sound: I'm using my Washburn OX with it's original pickups and it's great. it's not the greatest guitar but the amp makes it sound easily like any other better guitar. You can play anything on this amp. It has great clean sound and good distortion, I just soemtimes wish it had a slight bit more distortion. It has a very wide range of tones as well. Other than that you will be very pleased and impressed with this amp. The clean channel also stays clean even at high volumes too. Sounds the best when you flick on the power to the amp but not to the guitar 15-20 minutes before playing to get those tubes cooking. // 9
Reliability & Durability: This is quite a durable amp. I have never had a problem wiht this amp. The only thing is if you stand to close to it on any volume without playing you will get some annoying feedback so I recommend sitting or standing 2 or 3 metres away at least. It has never broken down or cut out on me. I'm not the kind pf person that would do anything without a back up but would I trust the amp? Yes, I would. // 10
Impression: Great amp for the money, buy it if you like to play everything and want great sound. it's gig worthy and practice worthy, at high and low volumes, with any tone. I have been palying a year now and I don't plan on upgrading this amp anytime soon, just my guitar. I did a lot of research and testing before I purchased this amp, and I got more than what I wanted. Let me save you the time, if you are like me and usally just practice but want to gig someday, get this amp. I would definatly replace this amp if it got stolen, which won't happen cause the idiot Who touched it would be dead before they got ten feet. To summerize it: Great amp - Fair Price - Impressive - Good Sounding - Very Heavy. // 9
Valve King 212
Reviewed by:
blackwaterpark9, on october 14, 2008 1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 600.00
Purchased from: Music Depot Jacksonville, Fl
Features: I bought this amp several months ago and have been extremely pleased with everything about it. It was a stroke of luck, as I had intended on purchasing a differen't amp, but that fell through and ended up playing through this one. I was impressed right away with the tones that came soaring out. This amp is LOUD for a combo and works well in my band practice's (we have not gigged out yet) and holds it's own next to my other guitarist's Peavey JSX. Granted it only has two channels, but with the gain boost it's almost like three. A master volume would be the only other feature that would be useful, and I would have liked the texture control on the front and the effects loop on the back, but these are very minor complaints to an overall excellent tube amp for the money. I play mostly metal/hard rock to whatever else sparks my interest. It seems to cover all the bases nicely. // 10
Sound: I am playing this through a PRS SE Singlecut, an Ibanez SZ, and Jackson custom. All three sound excellent and have differen't tonal qualities that bring out great sounds in this amp. One thing that really makes this amp Shine(or any amp for that matter)is putting a BBE Sonic Stomp in the effects loop. If you think the amp sounds good before, it is amazing with the BBE, thundering lows, and just more of everything. It's like taking a blanket off your amp. I highly recommend this as you will be amazed! Also, you will need a noise reduction pedal (I run the MXR smart gate) but whatever you choose, as you will get the usual hum/buzz from the high gain channel (typical tube amp problem). The distortion is great (not Peavey XXX overkill) but just right for most rock and metal (and the BBE really helps with that). The clean channel sparkles with crystal chimes, or can get that country spank if desired. Put a chorus pedal in the effects loop and it just shimmers. // 10
Reliability & Durability: So far I have had no problems and it seems to be built to last. I have not gigged out yet, but I would probably get some sort of back up for both myself and our other guitarist as you never know what can happen and it's always better to be prepared. Seems to be very reliable and durable. // 10
Impression: I have been playing for over 30 years and this is the second tube amp I have owned (the other being a Marshall JCM 800) and this amp is far more versatile than the Marshall. I think that this amp works very well for what I play and I would definitely replace it if it got stolen or something else happened to it. As I said earlier, the master volume feature, and having the a/b texture control on the front and effect's loop on the back would be nice, but for what you get for the money it's hard to beat! // 10
Valve King 212
Reviewed by:
Joel NZ, on october 13, 2008 1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 505
Purchased from: Private
Features: I had a 120w solid state Laney Head and cab which was just not cutting through the mix. It was drowned out by the drums and other guitarists Peavey Valveking 212 so I decided to upgrade. It just so happened the a second hand one came available at a good price so I snapped it up. I didnt know much about tube amps, but I would never go back to a solid state after owning this. This is a 2 channel amp. I use a Boss footswitch to Switch between channels as there is a slight delay when using the Peavey footswitch, so I recommed the Boss unit over the Peavey one.
The amp has an effects loop. If you are not using the loop connect a cable from the send to the return jacks otherwise it loses power slightly if nothing is connected.
This thing is powerful. As I mentioned earlier, the Laney half stack looked impressive but this thing blows it out of the water and its only half the size. I havent had it over level 4. You can hear it over the drums when its on level 3.5. The amp features seperate EQ for each channel as well as a AB/A texture and Reverb. // 8
Sound: I have a Karina Les Paul Copy with a Seymour dunce JB in the bridge and an Ibanez ART300 with active pickups, both sound sweet on this amp. I mostly play heavy stuff and this amp is perfectly suited to that. The clean channel is fine too. I run the guitars through a Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor but I think you should do that no matter what amp you are using really. // 8
Reliability & Durability: It is a soild, quality amp. I always worry about the tubes and how fragile they are but if you're careful they shouldn't be a problem. Haven't had any issues with it so far. One downside about this amp is that it is heavy as hell and bit of a hassle moving it from home to practice all thhe time. // 8
Impression: I am very happy with this amp, it has more than enough power and I am taking it along to our first gig soon. It is a good match for the kind of music I play. It is light years ahead of previous amps I have owned and I will only ever consider tube amps from now on. There is plenty of room to modify and enhance this amp if you desire.You can upgrade the speakers and tubes, but I think it is fine as is. Rather than modifying it I will eventually upgrade to a half stack like a Mesa but that is further down the track when I have saved up enough. Overall for the money this is the best combo amp you can get right now in my opinion. // 8
Valve King 212
Reviewed by:
Taint McGooch, on july 24, 2008 1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 595
Purchased from: Marshall Music
Features: First let me start out by saying I originally went to test Drive this and the Bugera 6260, both the 212 combo's, and I have to say, despite all the rave reviews for the Bugera, this thing blew it entirely out of the water. This thing is packed to the brim with features. It has 2 channels, Clean and Lead. The clean channel can crank out any kind of tone you want, from warm, rich bluesy tone, to the sharp twang of country, it also has a bright Switch for all those pickups with too many mids and not enough highs. I absolutely love the clean channel on this bad boy. The Lead channel is impressive, still not up to par with the XXX series or anything, but you can still get just about anything out of it. It also has a seperate Volume and Gain boost for the lead channel, the gain boost changes the overall gain from overdriven and crunchy to the sweetest metal tone you can get for 600 bones. The volume boost is not necessary. It also has resonance and presence knobs, which respectively give more apparent low and high end. The most amazing feature of this thing however, is the "patent pending" texture knob, located on the back of the amp (which is kind of annoying when you first begin tweaking with it), full tilt to the left, and you have a genuine class A power amp, made more for overdriven crunchy tones, full tilt to the right, and you have a max-power class A/B power amp, more like the modern metal type sound you hear from bands like Disturbed. You can roll this knob anywhere in between these 2 settings, making almost any tone ENTIRELY POSSIBLE. now the nifty thing about this knob, however, is that the closer you roll it to the class A side, the more power it cuts from the tubes, to maximum decrease of 60% of tube output, without disturbing tone. The only thing I don't like is that the footswitch is sold seperately, but the footswitch also has instant, channel Switch, bright Switch, volume/gain boost, so still very convenient to have. // 9
Sound: I play this through a 2001 Ibanez S470 (the discontinued version), with a DiMarzio F2A in the bridge and stock pickup in the neck position, in line with a Boss MetalCore and NS-2 noise supressor foot pedals. This amp is very quiet for a tube amp, all the while cranking the most brutal distortion I've ever heard from an amp this small. I play mostly progressive power metal, with black and death metal overtones, and this amp has yet to let me down tonally. This thing is only 100 watts, and our other guitar player (running a Yamaha Drop 6 through a 150 watt Line 6 Spider III) had to drop a 4x12 cab underneath to keep up, this thing is loud, absolutely beautiful distortion, and the clean tone, this is where this amp blew me away, it is just so warm and rich, you entirely forget your playing an amp made for heavy metal. Perfectly crisp, without that annoying treble ringing in your ears, keeps the Low knob at about 8, the mis at about 4, and the treb on 6 and this amp's clean channel will blow you away, clean or distorted. // 9
Reliability & Durability: Well, I just bought it, so I can't say much about reliability, but a funny thing happened the other day. We were all jamming when one of our other guitar player's kids got hurt, keep in mind, we're broke, we have both of our amps are plugged into the same surge protector, and his amp is solid state, so he runs out of the room, switching the surge protector off on the way out, this is the second time he has done this to me, both times, I cringe and wait for that dreaded awful "pop, popopopopopopopopop" from the tubes powering down too quickly, waiting for the speakers to blow, and waiting to go spend $200 on brand new tubes, both times, nothing, no pop, nothing, it may as well have been in standby for a least a minute and you wouldn't have known the difference, so that's gotta be a good sign, by the way, do not attempt this immediate power down at home, I just got lucky, you will blow your amp up. // 9
Impression: This amp is perfect for anything you can throw at it, Peavey reputation and sound are both very apparent with this amp. If it were stolen, I would cry, take $600 out of the Mesa Boogie fund and buy another one. A major downside is that the footswitch is seperate, and that when you turn the texture knob, about midway, the volume level is a bit lower than full tilt to both sides, but in general, denfinitely one of the best amps I've heard in this price range in a long time. // 9
Valve King 212
Reviewed by:
Tyler.Allain, on january 20, 2011 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 250
Purchased from: Craigslist
Features: I believe this amp is a 2009 or 2010 model as the previous owner claimed he had owned it for around six months at the time I purchased it from him. It has two channels, a clean and an overdrive. The clean channel features a bright button and a volume boost, and the overdrive channel features a gain boost button and a volume boost. The clean channel is pretty impressive. The bright Switch changes the tone structure of the clean channel from a Jazzy sound to one more suited for Folk, Country, etc. The highs are a bit harsh ESP when the bright button is engaged but that can be solved by turning down the presence knob. The overdrive channel can handle just about anything thanks to the the gain boost. Without it on you can go from blues to classic rock to punk by turning the gain knob. Then with the gain knob engaged you have a metal/hard rock machine. Great overdrive channel. The only thing this amp lacks is a good reverb unit. The built in unit isn't really all that useful. Also I would have liked to see a master volume knob instead of just individual volume knobs for the channels. The amp gets an 8 here. // 8
Sound: You can reasonably play just about any style on this amplifier by playing it with the right guitar. I have a pretty diverse collection of guitars so I can do it all. Sure it won't stand up to a mesa rectifier for you metal addicts and it won't give you the glassy perfect clean of a Fender twin, but if you are willing to spend the time on dialing in your own town this amp is really quite good for just about anything. I play mostly punk and hard rock and thanks to the good overdrive channel I get a fantastic tone. The amp is just a tad noisy but if you have a noise suppressor like all gigging musicians should it's not an issue. As I previously stated the Distortion channel can go from mild to brutal depending on your preference. This is a great tube amp for it's price range (I practically stole it) so it gets an 8 here as well. If it were silent, had a good reverb unit, and could match a Twin or Rectifier on their respective grounds it would be a 10. Since it's not a specialty amp and it does everything moderately well it falls just a bit short of perfection. Still a FANTASTIC amp though. // 8
Reliability & Durability: The thing is really really heavy, but for the right tone you should be willing to lug weight no matter what amp it is. I've never had a problem with the amp but I have always followed tube amp operation guidelines to ensure there would be no issues. The thing about a tube amp is that if you aren't careful with it it will crap out on you. Don't let those tubes rattle and make sure you let em heat up before use. That being said I've never had a problem. I know others have but I can't base my assessment on that. I HAVE gigged with this amplifier. Perfect score here. // 10
Impression: For the styles I play this amp has suited me well. Nice distortion channel and definitely enough gain to play punk/hard rock/metal. I've been playing for 8 years and own an array of guitars and have had many different amplifiers. If it were stolen or lost and I could find another one in my price range I would buy it no problem. I love it's overall sound, but hate it's weight and awful reverb unit. Better than any Solid State you could get and a great first tube amplifier or a tube amp for an experienced musician with a budget. // 9
Valve King 212
Reviewed by:
s12k17, on september 09, 2010 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: kijiji
Features: This amp has loads of features, all the feature the average->above average guitar player would need. It could be used for basically every style of music. My only concern buying it was that there wouldn't be enough gain for me (I play a lot of metal). For me personally, it has all the gain I'll ever need but for those of you looking to play heavy death metal, or styles of music like that, you may want to look into a pedal. Having two inputs is great, lots of fun to be had, and being able to Switch from the clean to lead channel is great! The clean channel is beautiful and clicking the bright button makes it even more enjoyable. The lead channel has a lot of diversity and makes playing solos a lot more fun. I even use the dampening knobs ( resonance, presence) quite a bit.
The reverb is pretty good too. I personally use this amp in my bedroom and for the occasional gig. In my room, I can't go past 2 or 3 on the clean channel or 1->2 on the lead channel without my parents screaming at me to turn it down (Lots Of Power). Its a great tube amp. I also use it to play my ipod through with an adapter and it sounds great as long as you leave the ipod without moving it as you will get some fuzz. // 9
Sound: I use an Epiphone G-400 SG with stock hummbuckers to play on this amp. I typically play metal music. It is quite loud. The gain is plenty for most styles of music. Like I said earlier, if you're into the very heavy metal, you may want to get an extra boost but you could get by without buying a pedal. On clean, this is the best amp I've heard and for being on clean, I couldn't believe the amount of diversity in the tone you could achieve. I found that the only bit of static I got (barely any) was when I had the gain and treble both on 10. Again it was barely any static. // 9
Reliability & Durability: I haven't had this amp for long but I did buy it 3 years used. After these three years, the tubes have not been changed and they still sound great. The amp has no marks on it. After talking with the man I bought it from, he used it for 2 of the 3 years gigging with it with no backup and it never let him down. After 3 years, it has let nobody down. // 10
Impression: Overall this amp gives me goosebumps every time I play it. Whether I'm rippin' an A7X solo or playing some light chord progression, I am impressed. I think this amp could do me for a very long time. The only time I'd ever replace it was if I became a huge rockstar. If it was stolen, I would buy it again used. (not new because I have no money). I think this amp stands up to the rest in terms of tone, sound, and loudness. The only thing I wish it had was a Hellraiser Avenger. // 9
Valve King 212
Reviewed by:
paully812, on april 02, 2009 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 650
Features: I believe it is a 2008 model, check the Peavey website. I can get full blown English metal to smokey blues out of this baby. Has a clean and distortion channels, plus a lead gain for solos, and a texture knob (that is unfortunately on the back) that determines which tubes are getting power and how much. Yes this bad boy is totally tube driven. It also has built in reverb and two damping knobs to control presence and resonance. Loop connections are included and can power a speaker cabinet, various impedance Switch included. It has plenty of power for small gigs without a cabinet. The worst thing was that the two Switch pedal was sold separately. This baby creates some luscious sound. Sound examples also available on the Peavey website. // 10
Sound: I got a standard Mexican-made strat. For those of you that don't know, they are the better models, not made in America any more. No special additions, except I added an on/off Switch. I know, Gibson wanna-be! I can jam with a band at a volume setting of less than four without mics or added sound. I have never really pushed the power capacity, I haven't had to. I can get tons of quality sound out of this model. Without pedals I can pull off great sounds like those found in "Nutshell", "Die Die Die My Darling", "What's This Life For?", "The Sound of Madness", and "Second Chance". Generally, I keep all the clean tone control knobs at 5, and the distortion tones between 5+7. I Live in an apartment and having the volume of either channel above. 5 will bring the police. That's right point 5! // 10
Reliability & Durability: No problems here. I have loved their products ever since the 5150 line started. The company is really making great strides. I depend on it's quality and durability entirely. It has some miles on it and you can't tell. No problems, no funny noises. After a year of use it is absolutely perfect. // 10
Impression: For all the styles I play it's awesome. I also own a Peavey bass amp and love that. Many big names are starting to use Peavey cabinets, I just found some surprises in that area tonight doing some research. They are regaining a well deserved reputation. I no longer have as much interest in Marshall products other than the glory of a Legend. For my money, I liked it even better than the 5150 half stack I use to own. No need to sound like Eddie if you can't play like him. This is definitely a great product. // 10
Valve King 212
Reviewed by:
BadHorsie93, on january 06, 2009 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: € 370
Purchased from: Kapaza (2nd hand)
Features: I purchased this amp second hand for 370 euros when it was 2 years old with Brand New tubes. My main genre is thrash/heavy metal (and I'm a very big fan of Metallica) and this amps suits it perfectly. Very decent clean and a powerful gain which is great for thrash and heavy metal. The Valveking 212 combo has 2 channels, the clean and the gain channel with separate equalizers. The clean channel also has a bright Switch and the gain channel has a boost gain. Those 2 options make the Valveking extremely versatile and very easy to use (channel and bright/boost gain are footswitchable with a patented VK FS).
The amp also has a master reverb (not footswitchable), FX loop, presence and resonance controls. If I could make a few adjustments, I would make the master reverb footswitchable as well but apart from that, the amp is perfect! I use this amp for rehearsal with my band (heavy/thrash metalband with metalcore influences) and I'm pretty sure it can handle gigs as I easily outplay the drummer with volume on 4.5:-P (well, what do you expect from a 100 watt all tube?). // 10
Sound: I am a very big Metallica fan so I play a LOT of Metallica and I love it! With gain on 10, you can handle heavier types of metal (EG Amon Amarth) but for playing Metallica, I usually have my gain on 5-7. Gives a great distortion and with some resonance and reverb, it gives such a warm solo-distortion and without the reverb, you can really play some heavy stuff which are is pleasure to listen to. However the amp can hum a little when you start playing but after a few minutes, the humming goes away. In clean, the bright Switch makes it very versatile but I don't use that a lot. I love the Boost gain on the gain channel. It is awesome to play solo's with it as well as heavy metal riffs.
I have heard from a lot of people and read in a lot of other reviews that the Valveking can't handle metal but if this gain isn't enough, then I don't know what you are looking for! This amp f--king rules! // 10
Reliability & Durability: This amp isn't mine for a long time but I would definitely use it for all my gigs without backup. The amp never let me down so far (except for a little ticking at the end of a rehearsal but I was told that the tubes got too warm and that I should take more breaks when I play long rehearsals at high volume and it was away a day later). // 9
Impression: As I told above, I'm a die-hard Metallica fan and I simply love this amp! I have been playing for more than 2 years now and this is my first big amp and I don't really think I could have made a better choice. If it was stolen, I would hunt down the thief until I've found my precious amp! I think that I love the warm gain the most... If you combine power chords with palm mutes (EG the intro of leper messiah by Metallica), the amp gives such an orgasmic tone and of course I like the boost gain and resonance a lot! The resonance makes your sound so warm and a bit lower and the boost gain makes it warmer as well. I love it! // 10
Valve King 212
Reviewed by:
SOADriff, on november 26, 2008 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: A$ 999
Purchased from: Joondalup Music Centre
Features: This amp is the best value you can get for a cheaper range tube amp. Two channels, Overdrive and clean, are strong enough to give you the diverse tone of a 3 channel amp. I don't play much in clean, but honestly, it provides a top notch, beautiful clear tone. The clean channel also features a bright Switch, which makes your tone less muddy. The reason I bought this amp, however, is it's Overdrive. This thing kicks the living sh! t out of the Bugera 333, Randal rg150tc, and Line 6 spider 212 by a long mile. The gain channel is best used for Very high gain metal tones, in full class a power, and provides an edgy, screaming pinch harmonic tone. The amp comes with an effects loop, but I prefer to just use the input. My favourite feature is that it has resonance and presence knobs, which improve your bass and harmonics. All tube 100 watt power. // 10
Sound: I plug into this with an Ibanez GRG170DX, which is a great beginner to intermediate guitar. The Ibanez doesn't have the greatest Humbuckers - but honestly it does not matter what'soever. My main style is Metal such as Lamb Of God, Trivium, Disturbed, SOAD etc. The Gain channel is perfect for those tones (especially Trivium), and creates that crisp, edgy tone that I was looking for. The gain is not messy when you do sixth string power chords at all, which a lot of other amps are. It is absolutely brutal. Even though it is a combo amp, it is extremely loud. I practise with the volume at about 0.5, and it as loud as my other amp on 6. The clean tone does NOT fuzz on higher volumes. It is as loud as you will ever need to go. // 10
Reliability & Durability: Reliabilty, unfortunately, is where this amp fails. fails miserably. I am not sure if anyone caught my "Peavey Valveking - The Horror Story" threads, but if you didn't, heres a little insight. I have gone through 4 of these things. 3 of them had dodgy tubes, wiring, or footswitches, and have broken down, creating a lot of stress. However I haven't given up on it, as I love the tone too much, and I finally have a fully working amp. The only thing is, there is a box with two wires in it that is missing 3 of it's four screws... -.- It also makes a crackling noise for about 3 seconds when you turn it on, which makes me shat my pants. // 3
Impression: This amp suits my style of music perfectly, which is metal. If you are playing softer rock, I would probably reccomend the Vox AD100VT. I have been playing for one and a half years, and this is my second amp after a Marshall MG10CD (sucks ass). I have been searching for my next amp for around 6 months, and I have played almost all of the amps in various stores. This thing comes on top, buy it now. // 9
Valve King 212
Reviewed by:
aeliustehman, on may 28, 2008 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 620
Purchased from: Guitar Center
Features: I play thrash metal, some classic rock, alternative rock and so forth, and I have to say, this tube amp is damn versatile. The amp has 2 channels, clean and overdrive, but sort of two "bonus channels", as the amp comes with a clean boost button which puts you on the "bright" channel, as well as another pair of two buttons on the overdrive panel which switches from boosting gain to boosting volume. No effects built in to this amp, I don't really mind spending a few more money for some pedals though. No headphone jack on this one. Features I wish it had? Some built in effects maybe, but like I said it doesn't bother me much. I use this amp either in my room or in my drummer's garage with our band, and it is purely 100 watts of all-tube power. // 9
Sound: I currently run an Ibanez ICT700 with DiMarzio D-Activator pick ups through this amp. This amp is seriously Versatile. It fits ANY style of music I want to play. From slow songs to death metal this thing can pack a damn punch. And yes, oh yes, this thing is noisy. I mostly use it in my room, and to make sure not to blow the roof off, I keep the volume low. But it can be loud if you want it to be. The clean channel. Oh, oh the clean channel. A dream, a dream this channel is. Nothing. Nothing is wrong with this amp's clean channel, turn it up to the max setting and you still get that crisp, bright clean beautiful sound. The distortion. Yea, it's pretty brutal. As I mentioned earlier, it has a gain boost and a volume boost button on the overdrive panel. So yea, it can get pretty brutal and still give you tone out the ass. // 10
Reliability & Durability: I can depend on it. Amp never broken, as of yet, may need some maintenance on the tubes in the near future, hell I dunno. I have a 3 year warranty though, I'm pretty paranoid. I would definitely gig this thing, but, never go into a battle with only one weapon, so always take a back up, just incase. But 110% of the time, you won't need one if you're using this. // 10
Impression: Thrash, classic, alternative. My main styles, and this amp matches it. But, it can play anything and get a good guitar, plug it in this amp, you can do anything you can imagine. I've been playing a year and currently own a Line 6 Spider III 50 Watt Amp, and I have to say this blows it out of the water. And no way, the guy at the guitar center was as helpful as he could be, there's not one thing he left out for me. If it was stolen, first I would go into a deep depression, then sell some things on ebay, then, buy it again. I LOVE the clean channel on this thing. Even if clean isn't your style, you will still be mesmerized by it. I don't hate anything about it. My favorite feature are the boost buttons on both panels. I compared it to a Marshall MG100DFX, a Line 6 spider III 100 watt, and a Vox ADT50VT, it blows em all away. Blows. Them. Away. I'm pretty sure that explains it. // 10
Valve King 212
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on july 20, 2007 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: Yancey's
Features: I bought this amp Brand New from a local, family owned, music shop so the price was great. I must have tried 30 or 40 different amps in my search for a new tube amp. This one had an amazing sound and amazing price. It's not a super high gain amp but the distortion it has is really smooth and sounds great for all the different kinds of music I play. It has 2 channels, clean and lead, and mine came with the Peavey footswitch which is pretty cheap feeling but serves it's purpose without any annoying pop. the effects loop sounds better than running the effects before the amp. This amp is REALLY loud, I love it. 100 tube watts with 2 12s is awesome. The neighbors come out to see what's going on at 3 and get angry at 5. I play in my house and the next house is about 150-200 feet away. There are some things I would have liked to see on this amp: a master volume knob since it only has a volume knob for each channel, a headphone jack, and a metal grille because I would hate to see the screen rip. // 8
Sound: I have a Les Paul, Schecter 7-string, Squier Strat, and Epi Strat (with a humbucker instead of the SSS setup). Each guitar has a very different sound but they all come out amazing. I play anywhere from classic rock to metal and all kinds of other stuff and I can get it to work for anything. The amp has great bass response (even in drop A). the clean sounds really good but does start to distort as the volume goes up but I like that dirty clean sound for the mellow parts. there's always a little hum but you can hear it when playing. The bright switch works but I don't usually use it. The reverb it has is great, even better than some pedals I have used. The distortion is sweet and smooth, it's nothing crazy like the XXX or JSX ultra channel, but it is great and can be set to play any style of music. the gain boost button is really useful too. After playing it for a while I noticed that I wouldn't mind if it had a bit more tonal versatility since it's a bit tricky to get the ammount of highs out of it that I like to use (however this is only a problem on the lead channel. // 8
Reliability & Durability: I haven't had it for very long but it always turns on and warms up quickly. The tubes haven't gone out yet (not like I'd expect them to this soon). It feels sturdy and weighs a ton so it feels solid. I've had a few peaveys that have always been good quality outlasting other amps. I don't really gig but I'm sure that tis amp will work perfectly for years. // 10
Impression: This is definately a great amp, especially for the low price tag. It sounds great for all the music I play especially metal and hardcore, but also classic rock and blues, you just have to play with the settings. Hopefully I can get a little more distortion out of it when I retube it in a few months. I am very happy with this amp but if it broke or was stolen I would probably buy a more expensive amp like a Krank or mesa (unless the warranty would replace it). there's nothing I hate about the amp but I don't really like the lack of a master volume knob. I love how this amp has a very unique sound (especially how it doesnt't sound like a Marshall or Fender). This would be a great first tube amp because of the price but it would also be great for an experienced player because of it's great sound. // 10
Valve King 212
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on april 20, 2011 0 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 550.00
Purchased from: local shop
Features: I bought this amp when they first came out in 2005 it was my first tube amp and what a good choice I made for my first.this amp covers alot of ground and can stand up to Marshall's and Mesa's in a practice mind you it's not a 6505 plus but it gets a lot of gain but you'll need a good pedal to get that metal crunch. this is a 2 channel amp with rever bright Switch on the clean channel and footswichable gain boost and a volume boost on the od channel. It also has a cool class a / ab knob on the back that makes this model stand out and resonance and presence knob. I wish it came with a footswitch and a multi watt switch. And it would be cool to have a 6l6 el34 Switch // 7
Sound: I have a large guitar collection but any decent pickup will sound great through this amp. Its great for jazz, country, hard rock, and classic metal but can't quite hang with the other shred machines Peavey makes but good news if you have a good distortion box your there. Bottom line use this amp as a good introduction to the tube world if you have a good multi effect pedal use the clean channel and your favorite settings to make this one last a long time. I've had it 5 years and I'm only now thinking of upgrading to a Marshall JVM but this amp will always be a reliable backup. // 7
Reliability & Durability: I have giged without a backup for years with this thing I don't recommend that but I never had a back up luckly never needed one. It also needs to be said that the stock tubes lack I upgraded to Groove tubes 6L6GE and it was my best upgrade I did look into a fargon transformer may be a good Idea if you want to keep this one. Built like a tank and as heavy as one too but you get that with 212's. // 9
Impression: If you love tube tone but lack serious funds this is your amp but as you start playing up against Mesa's and Marshall's you'll notice your lacking something but you'll never get rid of this it will serve as a backup if you upgrade or you'll upgrade it for the money you can't go wrong with a valve king and even your buddies with big name gear will give it respect. For a first tube amp this is great but be warned your next amp will be much more expensive it sets the bar high. Overall it gets a 9 even though I rated alot of this at 7 that is only because I think its a honest rating but for overall price has to come into consideration. // 9
Valve King 212
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on january 27, 2009 0 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 500
Purchased from: Alvis Music
Features: Probably one of the best amps I have ever played.. I think it rates up there with the Mesa's for a helluva lot cheeper. The only Mesa amp I've played is the Roadking series (I think that's right) and this amp can compete with it no problem. it's 2 channels and as everyone else has stated the volume boost on the distortion channel makes it feel like a three channel amp. I'm really quite please with every thing this amp has to offer, of course I'm not much on integrated effects, I would rather have the individual stompboxes, to me they give a better sound. // 9
Sound: I have two main guitars, one is a Paul Reed Smith Custom 22, the other a 1981 Gibson ES-335 (my personal favorite). As far as the versatility of the styles of music this amp can do it can do whatever you want, some styles just take a little more tweaking than the others do. I've heard a lot of people say if you play blues or southern rock to stay away from this amp.. I think this amp is probably best suited for those styles (and many others, don't get me wrong) but with the texture knob and the ability to tweak your sound almost endlessly you can literally play any style of music with this. The amp is more than powerful enough for probably any application you go to use it in, and if it's not mic it up and still keep that amazing Peavey tube sound. I really haven't had a problem with the volume cutting out at loud volumes, but I haven't had the amp turned up over halfway (I really don't need to). I think the distortion is perfect for blues, southern rock, hard rock, etc. And the clean is amazing as well.. Kinda has a fenderish sound but remains true to Peavey // 10
Reliability & Durability: I've not had a problem with this amp yet and I'm not sure I ever will. It's build like a tank and seems like it could handle a ton of abuse. Just keep replacing the tubes as needed and be sure to let it warm up for a minute or two before playing and you're good to go. // 10
Impression: As I've stated before I play a mix of blues, hard rock, and southern rock. This is amp suites all my needs perfectly and really goes beyond my expectations. I've been playing for four years now (sounds like a short amount of time I know). My gear includes a Paul Reed Smith Custom 22, Gibson ES-335, DigiTech RPx400, Daddy O distortion pedal, Hod Rod (pedal), tube overdrive (pedal), Marshall MG100HDFX (wasn't pleased with it) and my Peavey valveking. I love everything about it, would recommend it to anyone.. With the right set up you can achieve a perfect skynyrd or Marshall tucker band sound, and it's awesome for hendrix and srv stuff to.. very versatile // 10
Valve King 212
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on october 13, 2007 0 of 1 people found this review helpful
Price paid: $ 600
Features: The clean channel on this amp is amazing, I've owned it for a while now and I'm still impressed when I hear it turned on. This is one loud amp, I turned it about 1/4th of the way up and it rattled my window fixture loose and rattled my clock off onto the floor. I haven't messed with the dirty channel I did and the music store but I don't really like it so I just use my pedals on the clean channel. I really don't use all the faetures on it just the clean channel which is really all you need if you got a few pedals. // 7
Sound: I play heavy metal and rock, this amp with my DigiTech RP80 processor and Ibanez Distortion pedal sounds amazing. You don't need to turn the volume up much for practice, as a matter of fact I hardly ever get to #1 (it goes from 0-10). The clean channel is amazing I use it for a lot of chord changes and it's melt-in-your-pants goodness. But with the click of a Switch I can unleash all hell on my household lol. // 9
Reliability & Durability: This amp weighs a ton and feels extremely sturdy, I would definately use it for a gig without a backup. I've hauled it around quite a bit and have had no problems to speak of. The only thing that I've noticed is you get a little scratchy sound when you first turn it on but that goes away in a minute because the tubes are warming up. // 10
Impression: This amp is one loud loud amp, all tube for a great price, I would get another one is this one ever messed up, either another valve king or a Marshall 100 watt combo. The only thing I would like more than this amp is another one just like it sittin on top of it to be loud enough for the whole town to hear it! // 9
Believe me, they may seem stable, but those tubes will shatter very easily, especially if they're freshly played and still warm (makes the glass a little softer)
I recently purchased the Valve King 100 Watt head to play through a Marshall MG412 cabinet (Marshalls entry level slant cab). So far I'm pretty satisfied. I've gigged it twice and it's plenty loud. I haven't taken it past five at any point on either channel. It's got a real wet reverb to it (which I like) and the distortion seems very tunable to dirty blues, rock, punk and the like.
My one gripe is that the clean channel isn't always as clean as I like it. The brightness switch helps with this, but the lower frequencies tend to distort some. This could be due to the low end cabinet and might be remedied with a Groove Tube retubing. I'll repost if I do that any time soon.
For the money, the amp is great. Highly recommended for a solid first rig.
Sorry for the double post but I forgot to talk about the amp itself.
I haven't tryed this amp out but mutiple local bands use them, they have a decent tone, similar to the 5150. I haven't heard the dirty channel alone as for all the people that have used this use a distortion pedal but then again they aren't very good at guitar either and don't know how to get a good tone. I would like to try this amp out just to get a good feel for it.
i own this amp and the thing ive noticed that when i switch from clean to distortion and vise versa using the foot swicth that you get seperately, the sound cuts out for a second or so and then kicks in, i dont know if anyone else has gotten this problem
I got this amp, its great. The sound is so good(compared to my old one its such an amazing upgrade), cheapest valve amp I could find, but still amazing.
For those with the channel switching delay problems, head over to the Peavey forum on their website. There is a resistor that you can cut out of the circuit that helps take care of it a bit. Still not perfect but better.
You wish. Marshall is all about the name now. The only Marshalls that are decent are the handwired series and the old ones reissues, and I can tell by playing them. They aren't worth the money.
Marshall's better. You wish. Marshall is all about the name now. The only Marshalls that are decent are the handwired series and the old ones reissues, and I can tell by playing them. They aren't worth the money.
You can tell by playing them. That makes sense sings Marshall is to be called the best amp in this world. Everyone uses them and wow I wonder why.Maybe because
the Peavey isn't the quality of a good amp. that would die out you.For more money Marshall is worth it. I have one that I got 5 years ago it never has died out.Or my
mini it works perfectly. It fell once when someone dropped it and it still worked fine and its almost 2 years old. Marshall's better then this knock off.
I have the 112 model. It's enough to cover anything unless your holding huge gigs. Distortion channel is weak. I have a Boss DS-1 pedal and it sounds sensational.
-Rock-N'-Roll-, we dont ****ing care about your damn marshalls, incase you havnt noticed, this thread is about the Valve king, not about marshalls being better than valve kings, i can see you as one of those simple-minded ****s who thinks just because something is more expensive its better.
-Rock-N'-Roll- i had two Marshalls they BOTH DIED on me and i was just practicing with them back stage. I have a FireFly DSP 30 for backstage practice now and it has made a single cracking peep.Valve Kings and 6505+ and the 5150 ROCK ok? END OF DISCUSSION.
-Rock-N'-Roll- wrote:
Everyone uses them and wow I wonder why
hmm yes, everyone used marshalls, especially:
foo fighters (vox and mesa)
metallica (mesa)
van halen (peavey)
radiohead (vox and fender)
steve vai (carvin)
pantera (randall)
incubus (mesa)
queen (vox)
very few bands with extensive knowledge on amps use marshalls - bands that have been going since the 70s or 80s maybe, marshall still made good amps at a reasonable price then. these days, theyre some of the worst value-for-money amps around.
should i get the 212 or the valveking stack i really cant decide, im gonna need a new amp for practice and small shows
the 212 is loud enough to do small shows with but if you have the money you might as well go ahead and get the stack. or get the combo and the cab... 6x12 baby
Marshalls have now gone to the gutters with their bullshit mg's. for god's sake this peavey is damn amazing. definitely gig-worthy hands down. The old hand-wired tube marshalls ARE pretty badass, mind you, but now they arent worth even plugging in to. Personally, im a vox kinda guy, to each his own.
It took me a half year to decide which amp to buy, since I am quite demanding. After listening to all the appropriate amps in the local shops, I have purchased this Valve King 212 this weekend. As far as I can say within this amount of time: I do believe this is the right amp for me. It seems really good value for money to me!
Although, I do have one small complaint. I have quite some white noise when the reverb is set at a quarter or higher. Could anyone else confirm this for me?
I'm buying a peavey valve king this christmas.
I've been looking for a new amp for 6 months now and The peavey is absolutly the best choice!
No marshall in that price range can compete with the 212!
i must say ive had this amp since around late November 2007 and its amazing, its absolutely off the charts loud, i havnt put mine past 1 yet its so damn loud. and the tones that you can achieve from it are amazing, i used to be a marshall lover but without a doubt now i would totally choose Peavey over Marshall.....Marshall have totally declined in quality and rapidly rose in price, i guess all you pay for is all the gold trimming. anyways i would seriously recommend this amp, for value for money, loudness and tones! i havnt a bad word to say about this amp honestly.
plus it can more than hold its own for gigs and events, i could easily see this amp being able to play the side stage at reading or download.
im looking at getting this amp, and i really love the peavey tones.. whats all this about a pedal being ordered seperatley???
alos-
Saofan12 wrote:
should i get the 212 or the valveking stack i really cant decide, im gonna need a new amp for practice and small shows
well the only thing i would say about a stack is that, unless youve got a big car or van its a pain in the arse to lug around. I do music at college and local gigs (mainly) and when i do need to do gigs far enough away i get friends or parents to help me there. stacks look AWSOME but can really sometimes be inconvenient, you know.. my dad says i should get a combo for me to take it to college and gigs by myself and band practice, etc.. our form of transport is wheel barrows also lol.. BAD TIMES haha! x
ive been thinking of getting a valveking 212 amp as a practice amp in my basement, i am convinced it is a great amp but my only concern is that it might be to loud of an amp to play in the house. Would this amp be to loud or am i mistaken
"The only thing that I've noticed is you get a little scratchy sound when you first turn it on but that goes away in a minute because the tubes are warming up."
Don;t just turn it on and start playing. It has a standy switch for a reason. let the tubes warm up before you start playing in it. I've never had the problem you encountered because i let my tubes warm up first. Turn the amp on, leave it on standby for a few minutes and away you go. Problem solved.
100w all-tube is gonna be pretty loud if you crank it. I like this amp. Im getting the 112 version, and its only 50w. Didnt really get too fool around with it a whole lot, but the reviews on here and elswhere are extremely positive. And Jeowy, you can add Saosin to that list, as they use H&K amps. Even a young, somewhat uneperianced band like them doesnt use new Marshall all-tube amps. Coheed and Cambrai, for being as new as they are, use Bogners and Mesas as well. Its true, Marshall amps were amaaazing during the '60s and '70s, maybe some of the best amps in history. But, thanks to overseas cheapness, and business sense, Marshalls arent as good as they used to be. And the "70s JCM heads are very, very expensive and are.
Should I buy the 50 watt amp or the 100 watt amp? I was thinking of this cause I figure the louder you put the amp the more strain you put on the amp (specificly the valves). Anyone that can explain this to me in terms of watts, resistance (whatever).
Linkin park uses marshalls and they are absolute crap at guitar. As for the actual topic i love my valveking and believe it is the best amp in the price range.
Im wondering on buying this. I like really heavy distortion. Like Pantera. Now, i have a Jackson DXMG Dinky or whatever and a Boss MT-2 metal zone. Im wondering that with this setup(Valveking, Dinky, Mt-2) with be good for heavy distortion. Maybe sounding like Bullet For My Valentine. Is this the right amp?
could any one tell me how to record straight to computer with this amp? there is no line out or headphone socket, but here is a second speaker socket....if any one knows ne tricks or anything, please let me know, im desperate to record onto my mac!
can some one tell me how to record straight to my mac through this amp, there isnt a lineout or headphone socket which totally sucks, but there is an external speaker socket for an extra cab, but it sounds shite when recorded...any help or suggestions would be awsome..any extra CHEAP gear i might need too, let me know!
how much would this cost to make, and is it easy enough? just got a peavey valve king 212 combo and it doesn't have a line out socket.... would this work, so i can plug it straight to my mac to record in logic/garageband?
Linkin park uses marshalls and they are absolute crap at guitar. As for the actual topic i love my valveking and believe it is the best amp in the price range.
They use Mesa Boogie heads I believe. And I disagree, I think Brad Delson is a pretty good guitar player with his style and all, and he's said himself that he isn't one to show off his talent like some shredders.
I played several guitars through a Valve King 212 at Sam Ash recently and I'm seriously jonesing for one now. The floor model had some bad crackling in the clean channel but I suspect that there's just a bad tube in there somewhere. But swapping tubes is one of the joys of tube amp ownership, innit?
Speaking of which, has anyone got any hands-on suggestions for good aftermarket tubes for the Valve King? I checked the reviews for 12AX7 and 6L6 types at The Tube Store so I have a general idea what different brands and such sound like, but any info specific to the VK would be great. Oh yes, what brand does the amp ship with from the factory?
this or the vox ad100vt? i was leaning towords the vox but im not too sure can you help me please.
What type of music do you play? If you play heavier stuff this, or you play more light rock or classic, Vox.
Not always, though, it also depends on what kind of effects your using...this amp is badass, but Vox has always made some setiously killer equipment...I use their instrument cables and it's cut down almost all of the tube noise leftover after my supressor, plus they have retained a majority of the tone after about 40 ft of cable between guitar & amp
this or the vox ad100vt? i was leaning towords the vox but im not too sure can you help me please.
My mate has the ad30vt (practice/very small gigs), I played it and immediately ordered one. So without playing the valve king, I can just say that the vox is awesome, so whichever you pick I don't think you'll be disappointed. The vox is really versatile that's why I got it.
how much would this cost to make, and is it easy enough? just got a peavey valve king 212 combo and it doesn't have a line out socket.... would this work, so i can plug it straight to my mac to record in logic/garageband?
any help greatly appreciated
ant
It would work but it wouldn't sound as good as a mic'ed amp. The speaker colours the sound and you're missing that with a direct box. A Shure SM57 is a good instrument mic and could go nicely into your computer. It's capture the speakers affect on your sound as well. The shure sound be well under $100.00 and will work if you play live and want to mic your amp as well.
i was happy with mine the first two weeks i got it, then after really pushing it, it sounded like crap. it has a horrible 1 dimensional tone, and thats it. the footswitch didnt work right seeing as the boost ended up being hte swtich to distortion. if you get one, really really test it out and make sure you love it before you jump in. one of my biggest disappointments in a long time.
it sounds great...my pedal board consist of a dunlop wah, nobel OD, Boss Fuzz, Boss compressor, Boss Chorus, and Boss Digital Delay 6..i get some noise from it but i think thats from my OD pedal cuz its crap. I bought the separate foot switch and it sounds gret for everything cept new age metal because its too wet sounding.
I have had this amp for almost a year, and it is amazing. The clean channel is crystal clear, and still warm. The lead channel can hang w/just about anything out there, especially when boosted w/an OD pedal. I played side by side with a Marshall DSL 2000 2x12 combo, and my VK blew it away in all aspects. Loud amp! It comes from the factory with EH preamp tubes, and Ruby power tubes. It took some tweaking to get the tone I like on the lead channel, and for my high gain set up (bright sounding guitar and high output pickups) I ended up backing down the presence to 3 and high down to 4. Mid on 5.5, Low on 8, Resonance on 7. This is with the OD pedal engaged.
You can tell by playing them. That makes sense sings Marshall is to be called the best amp in this world. Everyone uses them and wow I wonder why.Maybe because
the Peavey isn't the quality of a good amp. that would die out you.For more money Marshall is worth it. I have one that I got 5 years ago it never has died out.Or my
mini it works perfectly. It fell once when someone dropped it and it still worked fine and its almost 2 years old. Marshall's better then this knock off.
rock n roll, your thoughts and grammar disgust me.
I wanted to jump in on the Marshall comments. First off, I owned a JCM2000 212 combo several years back and loved it but I ended up selling it. I recently bought my son a guitar for Christams and wanted to get him a small practice amp to play. So I run up to GC and check out a Marshall MG250DFX Combo. It had some digital effects like delay and chorus so I thought this would be a good little amp for him. I got it home and played on it for a while and was stunned by how badly it sounded. Also, none of the effects worked. Real nice. Now this amp runs around $550 list and is all solid state. I took that POS back and asked the sales guy to help me out. I told him I was looking for tubes for under $700. Well, I knew Marshall was out of the question. They have nothing in that price range that is acceptable to anyone who has ever played on all tubes before. We checked out the Valveking and I was blown away.
So if you are going to make outlandish digs on the reviews by saying stupid things like "Marshall is better", remember, not all of us have parents that will go out and drop $1,400 on an amp so that they can post pictures of the Marshall logo on the internets.
But if you are all grown up and have a job where you pay for things yourself like a big boy, this is a great value.
i ordered this amp over a month ago. after weeks of no contact i come to find out they would have stolen my money and not shipped anything to me if i did not contact them. they also cancelled my order. worst service ever. never again will i order from guitar center.
i am still getting this amp however, kick ass tube combo
I wanted to jump in on the Marshall comments. First off, I owned a JCM2000 212 combo several years back and loved it but I ended up selling it. I recently bought my son a guitar for Christams and wanted to get him a small practice amp to play. So I run up to GC and check out a Marshall MG250DFX Combo. It had some digital effects like delay and chorus so I thought this would be a good little amp for him. I got it home and played on it for a while and was stunned by how badly it sounded. Also, none of the effects worked. Real nice. Now this amp runs around $550 list and is all solid state. I took that POS back and asked the sales guy to help me out. I told him I was looking for tubes for under $700. Well, I knew Marshall was out of the question. They have nothing in that price range that is acceptable to anyone who has ever played on all tubes before. We checked out the Valveking and I was blown away.
So if you are going to make outlandish digs on the reviews by saying stupid things like "Marshall is better", remember, not all of us have parents that will go out and drop $1,400 on an amp so that they can post pictures of the Marshall logo on the internets.
But if you are all grown up and have a job where you pay for things yourself like a big boy, this is a great value.
ive been thinking of getting a valveking 212 amp as a practice amp in my basement, i am convinced it is a great amp but my only concern is that it might be to loud of an amp to play in the house. Would this amp be to loud or am i mistaken
The Volume can be dropped back. I think this thing has a master volume too so you can still get a good hot sound out of it at lower volumes. Please correct me if I am wrong, I have looked at so many amp reviews I'm starting to blend them!!!
I think you could get a good metal tone with a decent tube amp and a good metal pedal, just find one you like!
unholy_love wrote:
Im wondering on buying this. I like really heavy distortion. Like Pantera. Now, i have a Jackson DXMG Dinky or whatever and a Boss MT-2 metal zone. Im wondering that with this setup(Valveking, Dinky, Mt-2) with be good for heavy distortion. Maybe sounding like Bullet For My Valentine. Is this the right amp?
i ordered this amp over a month ago. after weeks of no contact i come to find out they would have stolen my money and not shipped anything to me if i did not contact them. they also cancelled my order. worst service ever. never again will i order from guitar center.
i am still getting this amp however, kick ass tube combo
I'm going to get this amp. I need zomething I can gig with and this one seems loud enough (well, we play over a PA most of the time anyway). Since I have no money to buy anything more expensive, this is the only amp in it's price range that look okay to me. I find it very reashuring to read a comment in which they do tell you to change the speakers!
This amp is good, but if you want a real power house amp, go for a Bugera! This amp does have a great sound and is well built for the price, but for the same price range a Bugera gives you so much more tone, sound, and power! and so no one brings this up, Behringer is the distributer for Bugera in North America.
guys when i turn my texture knob onto full power, the volume of the amp goes sooo quiet you can hardly it, whats up do you recon? i replaced the big power tubes but it still did the sam thing...could it be a pre amp tube problem?
I played this amp at Guitar Center just for the heck of it with a Schecter Damien it sounds absolutely amazing.
I play it with a Diamond series as well in Memphis Guitar Center, was really nice. And that guy that said to change the texture knob and keep the gain low to get a great gain sound, I think he's probably right. Because I kick up the gain and treble to max, lol and bass and middle to about 1, and it was like really dunno fuzzy gainy. Not fuzz as in like distortion fuzz. It was distorted alright, but like on palm muting it just sounded like there was sweep echo on it. Definately planning on getting this after researching some decently priced tube amps. I looked at Kustom The Defender, it hissed at high volumes and people couldn't seem to make it go away ever after fixing, the peavey windsor had almost no clean tone to it. Awesome reviews thanks guys.
This amp is good, but if you want a real power house amp, go for a Bugera! This amp does have a great sound and is well built for the price, but for the same price range a Bugera gives you so much more tone, sound, and power! and so no one brings this up, Behringer is the distributer for Bugera in North America.
Bugeras also have some problems, notably the fact that many stop working after 4 to 6 months of owning the amp
This amp is incredibly versatile. The only problem is that in order to get a nice Marshall-like tone out of it you have to crank it to the moon to get the power amp to distort.
I bought this amp about two months ago and have blown two valves already. Still, after getting some good advice from the Peavey forum it seems you may as well replace the Ruby tubes with something else a bit more reliable/expensive or more to your specific liking. I have ordered 4 TAD 6L6GCs and will see how that goes. It's a pain to have to buy new valves already just as a back up but I've been told thats just the way it is with tubes/valves. Otherwise very happy with this amp. The sound is nice and chunky and my God it's LOUD. I have a cheap and cheerful Les Paul Studio (worn brown with Humbucker Pros) and used to play it through a Vox Pathfinder 15W ss amp and it was OK. Through the Valve King 212 it sounds COMPLETELY different - it really gets that Led Zep Black Dog/Heartbreaker sound. Crank up the gain a bit more and go in for palm muting and you can cover Disturbed, Dream Theater etc. easily (well, you know what I mean).
Quite honestly for the money and the power it gives you, it's a great buy. Just be prepared to learn a bit about what's inside and how to maintain it.
Apolitical wrote:
Crank up the gain a bit more and go in for palm muting and you can cover Disturbed, Dream Theater etc. easily (well, you know what I mean).
It gets a good Dream Theater and Disturbed tone? Sounds nice to me. How's the Megadeth, old Metallic tone?
this sounds like a pretty good amp to somehow magically make your cheap guitar sound like an LP custom. peavey must know magic
Crap guitar + great amp = Good tone
Good guitar + crap amp = Bad tone
Good guitar + great amp = Amazing, mind-blowing tone
Crap guitar + crap amp = Strong desire to commit suicide
i kinda disliked them after owning one for a while but you gatta lean to use it then you'll get some solid tones.
barden1069 wrote:
the.eliminator wrote:
this sounds like a pretty good amp to somehow magically make your cheap guitar sound like an LP custom. peavey must know magic
Crap guitar + great amp = Good tone
Good guitar + crap amp = Bad tone
Good guitar + great amp = Amazing, mind-blowing tone Crap guitar + crap amp = Strong desire to commit suicide
should i get the 212 or the valveking stack i really cant decide, im gonna need a new amp for practice and small shows
the 212 is loud enough to do small shows with but if you have the money you might as well go ahead and get the stack. or get the combo and the cab... 6x12 baby
If you go with the stack, dump the stock speakers ASAP. I don't know about the 2x12, but I played a VK stack and it sounded like garbage with the matching cab. Then I took the head and put it into a mesa cab and it was a whole different beast.
First off, all these ratings are way too high for an amp with such mediocre stock components. The speakers are the downfall of this amp. I'd say the most versatile/best priced valve amp for its wattage (50/100 watt) but an amp like a Blackstar HT 5 puts this amp to shame.
Sorry for the double post but I forgot to talk about the amp itself.
I haven't tryed this amp out but mutiple local bands use them, they have a decent tone, similar to the 5150. I haven't heard the dirty channel alone as for all the people that have used this use a distortion pedal but then again they aren't very good at guitar either and don't know how to get a good tone. I would like to try this amp out just to get a good feel for it.
So all you've heard from this amp has been played by shitty guitar players using distortion boxes, and who can't dial in a decent tone, and you compare the sound of it to a 5150? Somehow I don't understand how that adds up.
Anyways, the other guitar player in my band uses this amp and it's actually surprisingly decent, especially considering the price of it.
We used the Valve King head and cab (on the right) when we were recording this:
Sounded awesome on the recording, had a much punchier mid than the Mode 4 half stack that I used on it (on the left I think)
Saying that, we had to take the first VK head back to the shop because it blew up terrifyingly after less than a month. This new one hasn't had any problems...
OK, I need help here. I own a VK 212 combo amp, and I just bought a foot switch for it (although, it's not a Peavey pedal...it's a generic one so perhaps that's the problem, but it shouldn't be). The volume boost doesn't do much at all, if anything. My understanding is that if you have the boost button pushed in, then the pedal switch will bounce you back and forth from regular volume to boosted volume (for solos). How much boost should I be getting? Is there a way to adjust how loud the boost is? I can't imagine that they would make an amp where I can't set the boost volume level. You need to be able to set your solo level. Please help. Thanks.
I think for the price its a great amp, it is good if you recognize the price.
I don't understand the whole craze of marshall and mesa and everything else. If you are paying for a high quality tube amp, in the $2000-$3000 or even more, for most respected brands they will all be amazing in their own way.
I feel for the most part when you are spending large quantities of money on gear you are paying for the style of that piece of equipment over the quality which is assumably great already
I have a VK212. If I have the gain boost turned on and the gain more than half way up I get feedback after I stop playing the amp screams at louder volumoes, even if I go far away from it. If I turn of the gain boost I don't have this problem. Is this normal?
I have a VK212. If I have the gain boost turned on and the gain more than half way up I get feedback after I stop playing the amp screams at louder volumoes, even if I go far away from it. If I turn of the gain boost I don't have this problem. Is this normal?
I also have a VK212 and it does the same thing. The feedback is impressive with the gain boost on and the gain knob cranked all the way up. I think I just have to keep playing around with all the settings on the amp and my guitar to keep it under control.
The Peavey 2X12 100W Valve King,is Big Band for your Bucks! Considering any other brand 100W 2X12 amp,you will be putting out double if not tripple for what you paid for the Peavey! Bottom line-Good TUBE Amp.
For $500 New,its a keeper!
Peavey American made magic. Just got one used for dirt cheap and the tone is amazing. If you cant get a decent tone out of a tube amplifier you might just need to let your ears age a bit. I don't understand the complaints about feedback at high volumes or squealing when you have the gain all the way up or a combo of both. I recommend you do a bit of research on the net or in a book about how the technology works. Most groups who you listen to don't actually crank the volume or gain to ten anyways but it sounds heavy in the mix of things. A little understanding on the workings of the tone stack and basic electronics circuitry as it applies to amplifiers can go a long way. Poor tone and fuzz, crackling, noise in general can happen anywhere along your signal path starting at the guts of your guitar all the way to the physical speaker cone. A deep exploration of your instruments of sound creation is a worthy pursuit that will continually make your tone evolve for the better and you will discover new and usable tones and techniques along the way to help make you a better more knowledgeable player. This amp rocks as well as any. The right tool in the wrong hands is always useless.
212=2 12 inch speakers. 112= 1 12 inch speaker
Believe me, they may seem stable, but those tubes will shatter very easily, especially if they're freshly played and still warm (makes the glass a little softer)