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Strengths: Exterior design and layout, range of sounds, features, switchable channels, warranty, power, build quality
Weaknesses: No switch pedal
Summary: I decided to write a review to summerize all the reasons that influenced my decision on this exceptional ALL TUBE amp. Since sound preference is personal, I will leave that opinion to the individual. Before buying any amp, you should compare the sounds yourself!
BUDGET: $400. At this price, there aren't many choices in a "combo", and I didn't want to take a chance on a used amp. The 5 year warranty for the Valveking was important to me. I'm not a professional musician, but I didn't want the cheapest tube amp. Tube amps are not as reliable as solid state ones, so I'm hoping that the newer generation amps will require less maintenance.
QUALITY: Peavey is a brand name I'm comfortable with. They seem to be very involved with musicians in the past and present - from Eddie Van Halen's 5150 to Joe Satriani's signature amps. From what I've read, Peavey is a solid company for innovative products. The Valveking 112 looks and feels like a high quality amp. It doesn't have the best speaker or the the most rugged cabinet,
but that's acceptable for what I need. I only transport it on occasion and its 45 lbs. weight is very manageable.
FEATURES: The overall look is classy and modern. It's all black with silver mesh fabric front. The "chicken head" style knobs is a nice touch. The 2 chromed lever power/standby switches, red jewel light, modern fonts all add to a clean design - blending both classic and modern detailing. The structure itself is as good as I could expect from this class of amps. I have full confidence that this amp will last forever! The single 12" speaker and 50 watts is much more than I really need, but one day I may need to turn it up pass 3.
MUSIC STYLE: I play anything from Santana to Satriani. I needed an amp that could produce a warmer natural tone than a solid state. I like to use the clean channel for acoustic sounds as well as the overdive channel for heavy
distortion. Both of which had to still give me a rich texture of TONE! The "TEXTURE" knob in unique to the Valveking. You can dial in a tighter class A or looser class A/B sound. I found this to be very useful when switching music styles. Both the clean and overdrive channels have independent EQ's and is switchable with a footswitch - a must have feature! As far as I'm concerned, both the clean and overdrive channels sound better than I ever imagined. I am able to dial in my sound, or any I could ever want. This wide range of sounds was exactly what I wanted!
CONCLUSION: The Peavey Valvking 112 far exceeds my expectations at this price range! Congratulations to Peavey for creating such a quality amp with so many features. After comparing Crate's V series and Fender offerings, it became very clear that the Valvking 112 had everything I wanted (and more) in an affortable tube combo amp. Although I don't need any pedal effects, I'm looking
forward to Vox's Satchurator pedal in summer '08. The only thing Peavey dropped the ball on was not including the foot switch...
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