Just got a used peavey classic 30 for a bargain price in excellent condition.Well pleased with it, but i should be as I've owned a 20,30 and 50 previously.
The previous owner had tthe same valves in the 2yrs he owned it and I get the impression he bought it used so the valves are probably an unknown time older than that, anyway for now they sound good. Used it for 1 rehearsal and last Saturday's gig in place of my JVM410C as the venue had 3 flights of stairs to go up n down..I got the 1x12 amp for rehearsals and venues like this...anyway on the valve front just priced up a quad of EL84's and that's £85 cheapest I can find (JJ's) add another £40 or thereabouts for the preamp valves aand that's £125 to revalve it...ouch! I'd like to think this Ukraine thing isn't going to remain a reason or excuse to keep valves prices high..but I suspect sellers will try and maintain their new high-price?
Comments
Ebay mark7777_1
It's another of the long list of reasons why I am happy moving to solid state power with guitar cabs and a modelling front end. Valve amps are just feeling more and more archaic to me, as much as I love them. Especially since venues, audiences etc seem to be more sensitive about volume and space/logistics etc nowadays.
I kinda feel that the time is now about right to gradually make the switch over. I can't really see it going any other way forwards. I love valve amps, but I honestly feel like I'm missing nothing with a Fractal rig with decent power and monitoring etc.
I don’t think valve amps will die out anytime soon as look at how popular the Marshall Studio range has been for example, and there’s room for both digital and valve in the world, so keep enjoying what you enjoy!
With so many comparison web sites out there, how do I choose the best one?
Remember that you don't need to completely re-valve an amp - it's best to change power valves in sets, and they do wear out relatively fast (partly because modern ones are fairly poor quality and amp designers often insist on running them too hot, particularly EL84s) but preamp valves only need replacing one at a time if they fail.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Bandcamp
Spotify, Apple et al
Pretty Much what Cirrus said above.
Reduced demand is not due to the price of the valves, it is due to the market moving to digital amps. so lowering the price of valves alone will not likely re-boot the valve amp industry and not increase demand sustainably.
If factories want to stay open they have to cover the costs of running those factories, A reduced demand means the valve prices have to stay high otherwise those factories will shut.
Glad to be wrong on this BTW, you might just find the market ends up flooded with cheap Chinese made amps again.
I can't imagine it going away completely. In the context of studio equipment and pro audio it's still very reasonably priced
These are really the only uses for audio-type valves now. The only other uses for valves at all - for completely different types not even remotely similar to the ones we use - are things like high-power radio transmitters.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
That’s probably the main reason production continued as long as it did, at least in the West - some of the most common NOS valves are now military-spec 12AT7s, it was a standard type and they stockpiled millions of them.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein