Peavey Classic 30 mods?

[21stcenturykid]

So i know this is probably a long shot with all you guys using boutique amps and what not but have any of you got a classic 30 and modded it?

I've been reading up on the "blue guitar" mods as they seem to get called.

I'm specifically thinking of changing the speaker over first. Possible a Celestion Heritage G12M or a Celestion Gold but the gold is twice the price of the g12m

Basically has any one modded their classic 30 and how successful was it and what does it sound like compared to how it did as standard?

Steven.

[TweeDLX]

Go here http://www.blueguitar.org/ and search for Classic 30 mods.

[edwarddavis]

I have a classic thirty head going into a 4-10 classic cab stock speakers. Got the head used but it was stock all but one pre amp tube. The amp sounded ok but it seemed to be missing something to make a long story short . Well all I did was change all the pre amp tubes to usa RCA 12ax7s and it made a incredible difference in tone . This is one of the nest amps I have heard . Made the mid boost better and gave the amp much more tone.
Sounds full with highs ,mids , lows and cranked up sounds amazing with a good OD on the clean channel or even with no pedals . Great thing to do to all amps if you ask me .

Good pre amp tubes are a easy mod that make a big difference if you get good tubes . its cheap , fast and most anybody can do it yourself , you just pop them in no biasing on pre amp tubes makes all the difference in the world

[TweeDLX]

Good tubes and speakers are at the top of my list for mods. Easy to do, and make a huge difference.

[teefus]

def check out blue guitar.org. some great mods. most are pretty easy to do. the hardest part is getting the c30 boards out without damaging the jumpers.

[rdamato]

I did many of the mods and they really improved the amp. Cost about 30.00 in parts and 2 hours time.

[Canon]

The Eminence GB12 sounds great in that amp, 8 ohm version, insert 1/4" inch plug into the ext speaker jack to utilize the 8 ohm tap, (sounds better than the 16-ohm tap, too!)

[21stcenturykid]

Brilliant thanks very much all. Will go for a speaker change first as i've already had different valves put in but it might be worth it to try some different makes. I've got all JJ's apart from a sovtek. not sure which position that's in though. Those RCA's mentioned are really hard to get hold of in the UK and very expensive.

[freaktone]

I modded one a few years ago. Changed some caps for the bass, mid & treble etc.... Changed the tubes & speaker also. Made a very nice difference but now I own one that was modded a little deeper and use a nicely broken in Eminence Red Fang Alnico speaker and it sounds like a 1k amp. Very sweet tone & the over is way more usable now.

[wizard333]

There are a lot of things you 'can' do to them, but if you open it up you'll see why its a pain in the butt to work on .......the board is folded into 3 sections to make a box....for no apparent reason since there is plenty of room in that chasis. The sections are connected with jumpers that have a tendency to break/come loose when you fold the board out to work on it. If you want to do some modding, there are better designed amps out there to do it on.

[21stcenturykid]

it's not that i want to do some modding it's that i can't buy a new amp without selling this one and even that can only afford around £600 and that doesn't get me a notably better amp for the price. So i thought i'd try modding the peavey before i gave up all hope. If i can get it to do what i want for a year or so i'll be able to afford the higher end amps by then.

[21stcenturykid]

Well I've now got a Celestion Alnico Gold 8Ohm version coming either tomorrow or the day after so I'm looking forward to hearing the results! Will hopefully post some of my findings if i get the time.

[paul14470]

My personal recipe for a gourmet Classic 30:

Ingredients:
6 feet of weatherstripping, 1/4" self stick kind
1/4" Right angle Switchcraft Plug
1 EH12ax7
2 JJECC83s tubes
1 8ohm Eminence Lil Texas Speaker
2' Lamp cord

1. Remove the chassis, remove the original Peavey "Blew Marvin" speaker
2. Tape off speaker leads individually, so they do not touch each other or anything in the amp.
3. Install 8 Ohm 'Lil Texas Eminence speaker.
4. Solder it to 1/4" right angle jack with some lamp cord.
5. While the chassis is out, remove the 2 thin rubber strips from the inside of the amp and from the chassis, and replace with 1/4" self stick foam weatherstripping, one strip right across the panel behind the controls, and the other across the rear top of the chassis. This insulates the chassis from the cabinet, and stops the tube rattle problem.
6. Put it all back together, and plug the speaker into the EXT speaker jack. You're now running at 8 ohms.
7. Use a EH 12ax7 in V1, and JJECC83s in V2 & V3. You can keep the EL84s, or change them to your taste, the preamps make the biggest difference.

No need to mod it internally IMHO. No need for a Tube Tamer either.
Start cookin'...about as good as it gets!



notice the seal between chassis & cab:



Speaker plug...much thicker gauge wire than stock


Another shot of the foam seal: