Boss Katana or Peavey 30 Classic?

[VanEpsInDeChirico]

Hi All,

I play mostly clean tones but like a bit of crunchy break up now and then. Also a good reverb.

I'm a simple guy. I don't need all the effects on the Katana. The Peavey Classic 30 would work fine for my style. My main concern is the idling noise that tube amps make. I record a lot so I need an amp that is pretty quiet.

As tube amps go, is the Classic 30 noisy or no? I'd like a tube amp but if its going to be a lot more hiss and buzz than a Katana the nicer tube sound is probably not worth it for me as I feel the Katana sounds pretty good. Unfortunately there's nowhere near where I live I can test a Classic 30.





Thanks!

[Jimmy Mack]

Where are you located? Classic 30's for sale in all locales, one even right here in my place.

It's not a noisey amp until you turn it way up, or use the "boost" feature. In my apartment, solid state amps are very noisey!

[Gitterbug]

Used Classic 30s can be anything depending on the state of tubes, capacitors etc. The one I had eons ago was quite noisy iirc and shut down with a loud bang every time.

[Doctor Jeff]

How much do you work out? The Classic 30 is HEAVY and LOUD. Too loud for home use, in my experience and definitely not giggable without hauling it around on a cart, but YMMV.

As I recall mine had a great tone and was fairly quiet when not being played. The reverb is very good.

Too bad they don’t make a Classic 20 with reverb. That would be killer IMO.

I have a Super Champ XD which is light enough and has a lot of great tube tones. OTOH, lately I’ve been jonesing for a Tonemaster—tube sound in a lightweight package.

[VanEpsInDeChirico]

The Classic 30 is HEAVY and LOUD. Too loud for home use

Thanks for the feedback! I've heard other people say this about amplifies as well, but I'm confused as to what it means. I understand I won't be able to get any distortion on the clean channel without cranking it far too loud for at home, but if I just want to use the clean tone, can't I just keep the volume at 2 or 3 and play it just fine at home? The weight doesn't bother me at all.

[VanEpsInDeChirico]

Where are you located? Classic 30's for sale in all locales, one even right here in my place.

Unfortunately like a lot of guitar gear, supply chain issues have made it so that a lot of common guitars and amps are out of stock everywhere. There are no music stores nearby that have any in stock. The closest ones to me, I'd have to buy used from reverb.com or some place like that without getting to test it sadly.

[st.bede]

Thanks for the feedback! I've heard other people say this about amplifies as well, but I'm confused as to what it means. I understand I won't be able to get any distortion on the clean channel without cranking it far too loud for at home, but if I just want to use the clean tone, can't I just keep the volume at 2 or 3 and play it just fine at home? The weight doesn't bother me at all.

yes and no... to get a rich clean sound you have to push the tubes. That what creates more harmonic content. There are way to get more out of a lower volume but there is always a sacrifice. I have yet to use some of the new attenuators, so maybe things are better.

I assume that those two choices are about cost. If the recording is going to be mic’ed in a nice room and critical to the mix. Then I would think about the while picture: amp, mic, room, pre-amp w/ D/A conversation, DAW, and plug ins/VST, monitors or cans. I built up slowly. Buying one pice of good gear at a time.

Another way to think about it is just staying “in the box”. Now days recording direct and using high quality VSTs can work really well.

[TedBPhx]

Had a Katana 100w and a PC.30. Sold the Boss kept the Peavey. Put a 5751 in the 30s V1 slot and an Eminence Cannabis Rex. Really quieted down the amp and gave more headroom. The reverb has failed. Probably the Op-amp. Waiting for a more normal world to get it fixed. Mine is ‘98 or ‘99 and was made in St. Louis the new ones are made in China if that matters to you. Mine weighs 40lbs not too much for me but I’m not trying to travel on subways or anything like that.

Full disclosure. I also have a Fender ToneMaster Twin and that is what gets played. Only fire up the Peavey for true tube nostalgia.

[John A.]

Thanks for the feedback! I've heard other people say this about amplifies as well, but I'm confused as to what it means. I understand I won't be able to get any distortion on the clean channel without cranking it far too loud for at home, but if I just want to use the clean tone, can't I just keep the volume at 2 or 3 and play it just fine at home? The weight doesn't bother me at all.

Depends on the amp, the sound you prefer, and what "too loud for home" means in your home. Very generally, most tube amps will sound good at low volume settings, but to many people's taste sound their best turned up closer to the point of overdrive. So, more like 3-4 (or a bit more) than 2-3 on many amps.

My Princeton Reverb on 4 sounds amazing, but is loud enough for a band with drums and horns. At 2, it still sounds really nice, but not nnnnnniiiicccceee. TBH, that's still pretty darn loud, (as in my neighbors can hear it), but not wall-shaking, obnoxiously so.

The Classic 30 has a master volume, so you can maybe dial in a nnnnnniiiicccceee tone a bit quieter, but that's a ymmv kind of thing.

TL;DR: you'll likely be happy with it at a neighbor friendly volume, but not as happy as you'd be if you pissed off the neighbors off a little. If you don't have neighbors, crank it up.

[citizenk74]

No experience of the Katana, but a first-run Classic 50 and a bit later a Classic 30 were mainstays for me back in the day. Heavy (dollies are made every day for this reason), great clean channel and groove-a-licious boost feature, along with an excellent reverb, were just the ticket for me. For best clean tone, use the boost feature to get the signal to just under the onset of what many call distortion but I prefer to refer to as "harmonic enrichment" and adjust the master volume to recordable levels.

My recording software had a noise reduction feature I used a good deal on the album cited in my signature below. "Groovy Little Boogie" is an example of my idea of clean tones and jazz chords, if you've got five minutes to spare.

[Christian Miller]

Neither -Peavey Bandit 112 obviously!

The Peavey Classic 30 is a great sounding amp but lacks in head room. The Katana I wouldn’t trust on a gig.

[VanEpsInDeChirico]

Full disclosure. I also have a Fender ToneMaster Twin and that is what gets played. Only fire up the Peavey for true tube nostalgia.

Whenever I hear people say things like this it makes me just want to wait a year or so until the technology in the new tonemasters has filtered down to every manufacturer and I can get the same sound in a 300 dollar amp from Line6 or something. If what people say about this amp is true, its only a matter of a little time before everyone can produce this sound easily.

[Jimmy Mack]

But...... pulling the C30 from storage , after a long time, and firing it up....... WOW

I ran it side by side with my Princeton R II, and Wow.

The PRII is a killer tone machine, but, the C30, well, just different, but makes my guitars sound biggEr and a bit fattER. Then there is the subtle (the way I like it) OD channel, if you take the the time to tune it in.

I can't part with it now.