The Steel Guitar Forum

I just purchased a Peavey Classic 30 amp to play lead guitar with and thought I'd try it out with my lapsteel just for kicks. As it turns out the thing is a killer amp for a lapsteel. I have an old forties vintage Regal (Made in Chicago) six string and I'll have to say it was very easy to get the vintage steel sounds with this amp. They're only 30 watts, all tube, with a 12" Blue Marvel speaker. If you're looking for a nice lapsteel amp you might look into one of these, plus, they're very affordable........JH in Va.

I've been praising the 30s for a while now. The post gain knob (correction made, see below) is possibly the most important feature on these amps and if used right can allow Bakelite players a chance to get the stunning sounds Jerry Byrd did in the early day's when he was blowing minds, before becoming an A Team ace.
But that's only 1 part of the many 'secrets' of his trade.

I too picked up one of these recently to play the model 59 through. I don't have a presence knob though. Treble, middle, bass,reverb, post gain, pre gain, normal volume. Sounds really good using the send out to a stereo wet rig and the lap steel. Sounds amazing with six string strat. The previous owner installed JJ tubes and a jensen neo speaker to keep the weight down. I'm an Alnico guy though, so I'll probably switch out the neo for something else.

There was a guy on Ebay selling tube retainers and tube guards for these amps that looked like an important, simple, and cheap upgrade.
Do a search in Sw/oP for these amps and the link will be there.

I also have a Classic 30, which sounds fabulous with my bakelite.I do not, however, have a presence knob... am I missing something, Ron??

In checking things out, I'm in error here. It's NOT a presence knob, but rather the POST GAIN knob that is the particular function which is key. Turning this to 8 or 9 brings forth a very nice change to the usual tone from these amps. Experiment with it to find what you like best.
There is no presence function, sorry for the mis-info/confusion!

I was turned onto all this from a fellow forumite and very good friend/devotee of JB's, someone who has intimate knowledge of Jerry's old sound and one of the very few to ever replicate it at all. After getting his 30 and recording with it using a B6, he sent a tape to 2 other well known forum members and fellow JB devotee's whom immediately raved about it and needing to know 'how?'.

I tried it, I like it! This amp sounds so good, it's embarrassing how much I've paid for some other boutiques that have moved on.

For playing in my music room at home, I use a Epi Valve Jr head with a Celestion 12" Greenback and a Holy Grail and a compressor. With my fake Les Paul and raised nut. Love the tone.

Delvin, I've been interested in these lil amps for a long time but felt they would break up to much & too soon, and not be suited for clean steel sounds, even at lower volumes, tho I love a touch of 'hair' at times.
What do you find possitive about this amp?
Sounds like you prefer a tad more distortion than I'd prefer with steel.

Ron, surprisingly with it at half throttle there is very little distorsion, but like you say a little isn't bad, with lap steel. As far as pure tone, it is better than my VK100 Peavey head, just not nearly as much volume. And it isn't to bad for Tele either. Just not for pedal steel.

First off, I am amp challenged
I have a late 80's Peavey Chorus 30 watt amp, will this do the same thing as the Classic?
Thanks,
Janet

I'm aware when one gets to be my age, others much younger tend to look at your comments and choices with a jaundiced eye, however..........

I think anyone that is truly interested in getting the MOST out of their olde time lap steel......
not the ones interested only in the SCREAMING ABILITY of the g'tar.........

should definitely considering taking their g'tar down to the local old music store. They should forget the great BIG MUSCLE AMPS and head directly to the old guitar bins, in back and plug into some of that top o'the line equipment that was specifically designed for their guitars back in the hey-days of real steel guitar music.

Those old amps and these lap steels that are again surfacing today, were made for each other. The sound they put out is really quite invigorating. Those little 8-10 inch Rola speakers or others of similar design, might just surprise YOU! It costs nothing to look into the topic. If you need more power, mike it into the pa system.

That's a completely different animal, Janet, but you never know what 'magic' it can produce until you dig into it.

Here's a page for P-30 mods - www.blueshawk.info/pdfs/peavey%20classic30%20mods.pdf

Many say that a tube swap does wonders to improve the sound on these amps, as well as a speaker up-grade.

On Ebay, seller - mondojoey - has the 'suck knob' to allow retaining your favorite tone settings at lower volume levels. This is made specifically for the P-30.

I also have a Peavey 30 and recently picked up a "20" mainly because its lighter, but it is no where near the amp the 30 is.I have looked into the mods, but have not bought the tubes to try it out. I have found some of the lap steels I have built seem to overdrive the smaller peavey 20.

If you have a variety, of say five different lap steels, and five different amps, you will find that certain guitars sound best with certain amps. Don't know why, but maybe pickup impedance matches the the amp input section (pre-amp)

Derrick Mau has tried all the combinations with the guitars and amps he has, and sez some combos just don't sound too good.

I've brought this matter up with Derrick a number of times over the years.
The whole 'magical' aspect of combining a player's style/approach/attack, with a guitar set up intimately/properly and then with an amp in top running order with tubes/electronics/speakers tailored exactly to match up with both is what it's all about. It also has to do with each individual's style of playing/approach/attack on the guitar. What might work perfectly for one person may not be the optimum set up for another. You have to take this combination and search for the componant that emphisizes it all together to the extreme and then it's up to the player to make it all work. When it does, that's 'magic'!

I've not heard many steelers talk about this without me bringing it up and don't know how many focus on it instead of just going for merely an 'acceptable' sound. It came into my mind long ago from hearing rockers like style/tone monsters such as Jimi & SRV mention the art of finding exactly the set up that worked best for them.