Solid State Amp vs Tube Amp Settings- -What Am I Doing Wrong ?

[Dennis D]

I had a '60's tube amp - -'living room only', and I had no problem with dialing in the sound I wanted. ' Set it and forget it'. But I recently bought a new Peavey w/ a ten in. speaker, and I have about given up on it. What am I missing ? I use the clean channel, w/ no option expect reverb. The amp does come with instructions for recommended jazz settings, but from what I can tell, these SS amps aren't linear like the tubes one are. A pro told me reducing treble means manually increasing bass response, for some reason. Where should the guitar's tone setting be placed ? I have a Gibson L-4 with dual humbuckers, and bottom line, I don't get that big a kick out of constantly experimenting. Any ideas appreciated. Dennis

[backliner]

A Peavey with a 10" speaker may be oriented more towards Rock guitar tones as a practice amp, especially if it has gain/distortion capabilities.

SS amps can be fine. Among my tube amps, I also keep a Roland "Street Cube" around for woodshedding with a CD player plugged into as well as my guitar. I've even gigged it in quiet restaurant settings.

I have noticed that with simple tube amp I rarely have to adjust anything except the guitar's controls. With a SS amp, many times I noticed I was adjusting the amp all night.

[kawa]

Just setting and Picking

Treble ; 0 ～ 1

Middle (if has) ; 6 ～ 8

Bass ; 3 ～ 4


Guitar Volumes ;7～8, Tones 10～

Picking Position ; Neck end

Incase of Blue marvel speaker(Eminence made for Peavey), good for jazz tone with fat sounds.

[mr. beaumont]

Start dead flat. if you cut highs, boost mids. Don't run the volume at 10 on the guitar.

I know folks like Peavey, but I find their solid state amps very bright and brittle for jazz. Not a fan at all.

[cjm]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

I know folks like Peavey, but I find their solid state amps very bright and brittle for jazz. Not a fan at all.

Agree 100%. Owned a solid state Peavey for about 3 days during the early 1980s.

A friend runs a music store and has urged me from time to time to try some of his Peavey solid state amps over the past few years. Haven't found one yet that represents any real improvement over the one I owned for three days.

Recommend looking into buying a solid state amp specifically designed for jazz rather than a generic amp claimed to do everything from Johnny Smith to Dimebag Darrell. Buy it on the used market at a cost not much higher than you pay for a new Peavey.

[jorgemg1984]

I have a Peavey Bandit 65 from the 80s that I like a lot. To tell you the truth it works better with my 335 than with my archtop but I can get a good jazz sound out of it.

In the case of the Bandit 65 it has a lot of mids, really a lot. For home playing I never use the mids above 1. Outise the house I obviosuly boost them a little but usually I don't go over 3. Oh and my amp has the Scorpion in there which is very good underated speaker (I had a Jensen Tornado in there for a while, worked fine but took it to make a 2x12 and the Scorpion is probably a better match for the amp).

Lots of people like Peavey 80s solid state amps for jazz - cheap, loud, clean and reliable. They may not sound brilliant but they can sound good. I have heard new Peaveys can't be compared with the old ones (I think Jack Zucker used a Bandit for a while and liked it, use the search function).

[jmstritt]

Peavey SS amps are definitely designed to have a lot of sparkle. That means shimmer and clarity if you play southern rock like a lot a Peavey owners, but if you play Jazz it means sharp and brittle. I have a massive Peavey Session 500 pedal steel amp that I use for country gigs with a Telecaster, but I don't think I'd be in a hurry to use it for jazz...

[Dennis D]

Thanks for the help. I'll try them all. I do believe there's a low watt tube amp in my future !

[backliner]

Originally Posted by Dennis D

Thanks for the help. I'll try them all. I do believe there's a low watt tube amp in my future !

I play dinner-jazz jobs with a 1 X 12 Champ clone all the time.

[kawa]

Today's Sound Test / Peavey Envoy 110
V3

Mode / Vintage

L3～4

M3

H1

Very nice fat sound. (Compaired "67 BFVR and Polytone and etc)

Compact and light weight (21 lbs) and low prices

[kawa]

Bandit112 YouTube - jazz blues , gibson les paul vos 59

YouTube - This Masquerade - George Benson - Solo

Envoy110YouTube - Gustavo Moraes - Blue Bossa (Pat Martino Style)

YouTube - Gustavo Moraes - Vera Cruz (Milton Nascimeto)

YouTube - Epiphone Broadway & Peavey Classic Demo by Mario Capitanio at bassline Bern Switzerland
__________________

[Dennis D]

That's the exact model....it sounds good hearing you play it too !! These are usable, and a decent value in a solid state amp - -I was just so used to a tube amp, I didn't know the reasoning behind thess settings...
Thanks for all the help !!! Dennis

[kawa]

Originally Posted by Dennis D

That's the exact model....it sounds good hearing you play it too !! These are usable, and a decent value in a solid state amp - -I was just so used to a tube amp, I didn't know the reasoning behind thess settings...
Thanks for all the help !!! Dennis

Yes, any amps are just setting by ears with own sence.

Regards.

[Dennis D]

Are most SS amps' reverbs independent of tone settings - or ?? Thanks again - this was helpful. Dennis

[kawa]

Originally Posted by Dennis D

Are most SS amps' reverbs independent of tone settings - or ?? Thanks again - this was helpful. Dennis

Settings about the reverb ;

Non or a touch (Envoy110 = 1 ～ 1.5)

Important for guitar self sound shapes.