Of course, you being a great sound engineer helps bring out the best of the amp, but you can clearly hear that this is NOT a case of "polishing a turd". I'm surprised that a $200, high-power tube amp sounds so good. Please do more of these "hidden gem" videos. Thank you.
just to let everyone know the toothpick was not mafia related (although I wish it was). Someone in the comments nailed it… I used to smoke for 20 years. i found toothpicks helped. I'm going to hopefully get together with Glenn in the future and do another one of these vids on another amp that is TRULY a hidden gem like the Windsor.
Yeah Windsor a good Candidate, stuff from Bugera those old ultra's and old Carvin stuff etc man that x100b sounded killer but caught on fire burnt the board and socket I don't think it's fixable maybe... just arc again or what trying clean it and cut out the bad parts and wire man...dammit it all Lol
SpectreSoundStudios And the SG guitar really brings out that 'meaty' Black Sabbath sound, plus their good ol' drop tuning! Definitely an AMP that got my attention.
Thanks for featuring the Windsor, it's a great amp for absolutely no cash...I got mine in a trade, and I fell in love with it when I ran it through my 1974 Sunn 412 loaded with the original Sunn 60 watt Transducers. Awesome way to get that Marshall-ish sound without spending a mortgage payment or two!
Here's a question that I as a non guitar player are kinda interested in: Could you go over the different types of amps, and give guidelines to what metal genres they goes well with? I have Guitar Rig 4, and I would really like to get into it a bit.
It always irks me a little when people start a conversation about Peavey amps with :"for the money...", screw "for the money", the Windsor is the JCM800 you want :) I have never heard a JCM800 which didn't needed to be tweaked somehow to sound like THE JCM800 you know and love, I've had three of them, had two modded (hot rodded) and one I kept stock, which never got any use because at the end of the day a stock 800 is a pretty weak amp, especially for metal. That all changed when I first played the Windsor, a friend of mine had it, and from the get go this thing just sounded amazing! I asked the dude:"Yeah, but how much you spent modding this? Like 2k?" , dude was like :"Nope, this is stock!". These things are so God Damn cheap I have 4 of them with different output tubes, just because! And they all sound great! Peavey makes some amazing amps, their "Ultra" line (ultra 120, 5150, 6505, xxx, JSX, and the 3120) are insanely good, and not "for the money", they are good PERIOD. You really can't get any better, different, sure, better? NOPE
I have an XXX, changed tubes today and trust me, this beast sounds like hellish thunder. Tgat's the only amp you need and I really wish Glenn would get one of them to the studio and show what it's capable of.
V'yell Gohl yeah i agree that one is incredible, almost bought one a month ago. Would never look in the direction of a marshall though. But then i never liked the classic rock sound.
Marvio Botticelli that's why I buy Bugera and Peavey cuz for the price of JCM or God forbid a Mesa can buy three amps you love and still have change for whatever tweaks you wanna make, plus cuz they're way cheaper you won't feel guilty about modding a $5000 Triple Recrifier
Aren't some of the heaviest tones known to man done with a bone-stock jcm 800 and using pedals for the metal sound? Best pedal platform, doesn't matter how much gain the head can get Or am I wrong and a modded Marshall makes a different for metal when it's set to just a fat crunchy chimey sound? Asking cause ive never owned a jcm
Wow, it really cool to see a review of these great peavey amps on the cheap. If you really want to look at their inexpensive metal amps, you can pick up a used peavey TripleX for less than 400 dollars american. I think a lot more of your audiance would be interested in these as they are actually pretty awesome and well built for the price. Cheers!
The Windsor is a great amp. I used this for all my road work. But lately I have found an alternative. Inexpensive, well made, good sound, and reliable. The Bugera brand. They are really a good amp for the money, and like you said, if it blows up, throw it in storage to use a parts donor down the line and go buy another. And some of their newer stuff, like the BC30 212 combo is a very well made amp that sounds as good as any other amp for twice the money. Especially if you get most of your tone from pedals as I do. I use the Blackstar HT Series HT-DUAL Tube Dual distortion pedal, which cost as much as the amp, but it is such a killer tone. You can plug that into any amp and get what you want.
BMTH used Jcm 800's boosted with Fulltone Ocd's to record the guitars on Sempiternal. So theoretically these amps should be able to work well with fairly low tunings.
I just bought this head, I needed a powerful amp on a very tight budget. How lucky to have found a guy who was selling it for 200 bucks very close to my house.
i am indeed a doom, sludge, stoner rock kind of guy, and i love this tone. but i wonder what kind of amp i would want if i wanted to be able to pull off that kind of stuff, say on the neck pickup with the tone knob down, and then roll the tone all the way up and go to the bridge for a tight modern progressive metal extended range guitar type sound (see what i did there, instead of using the word djent? lol). i mean, i play a 6 string, but i use tunings like FFCFAD and GGCFAD sometimes so it gets pretty low. I also quite enjoy hardcore tones like code orange kids and nails, and botch, and also play that type of stuff. as well as stuff like russian circles and isis. i like my fender hot rod deville and my mesa electradyne head with a russian big muff + EQ into it, but there has to be something more suited for my style, eh?
Another great and cheap all tube amp head is the Peavey valveking, 3 tube 12AX7 preamp and a 4 tube 6L6. It is a strong 100W and has texture control to roll between Class A and class A/B, very versatile tone and used for $200-250...
Kyle Price Definitely agree. really good gain structure and clean tone. the texture knob is a god send. I use mine with a Marshall 4x12. I boost it with a Maxon for tightness but super solid amp.
bretheren of search of the song from the intro of gypsy cheif goliath i have found it, it's called: St. Covens Tavern, dont care if this is too late and other longer down in the comments have said it
I just got one of these and was just checking out what others think about it. I need a blank canvas for my pedals, which is where my "tone" comes from. I can tell you this for certain: My Wampler Sovereign sounds so good with this amp. It has that Molly Hatchet Flirtin' With Disaster huge powerful guitar sound that I love. I also have used the Bugera amps with success. They are along the same vein as the Windsor
As an SG guy with a somewhat similar sound of choice, this made me consider getting me a Windsor. Definitely gonna try it out instead of overlooking the next time I'm at my local guitar store. I'm a bit reserved when it comes to the "American sound".
Cool. I'm curious what you think about using a sansamp for guitar. I have a GT2 and I love it. Very inexpensive and very durable. I can plug it in direct and it gets me all the sounds I need. Just curious to hear your opinion. Thanks.
and still you can find used tube amps (heads) at even lower prices that that. Obviously not speaking of great brands. But if you seek well, you can find easily find something around 150 $ that still works, or maybe if you want to risk a little bit, go for bugera, the non infinium ones. They will present in most cases problems, that with a bit of tweaking, cable management and some effort can be not too difficult to solve. (in most cases they are overheating problems/bad connections). The risk is that some times, they are much more difficult, because all circuitry is printed, with a density similar to mesa amps, and it WILL be a pain to track down these type of problems. So, if you wanna risk or have some challenge or in general you think you're good at repairing tube amps, buy a non-infinium bugera, just for the sake of it.
Yeah I can't say much as I haven't owned one but I was looking into them because they go for so cheap on Craigslist and I played a VK100 head through some random marshall cab in GC and holy fucking shit...the high gain tone was literally 100% what I want in an amp. Like the tone I've been trying to get out of my heads at home it's so good. Wasn't super impressed by the cleans but absolutely nothing wrong with them either.
I would say in short, the VK100 head sounds much like the 5150 but without all that nasty fizz in the high gain sound. Very good amp especially for the price if you like metal. I'd recommend it for like a cheap touring amp. However it's a 100 watt tube amp so don't get it to just play quietly in your bed room (reasons I didn't buy it. Already have an HT5r and CR120 head and they cover my bases decently) . Just find one and try it out. You'll love it.
You can't find a better amp for the price, period. I feel like these were released at a weird time, when everyone just wanted modern high gain amps (myself included), so they just didn't catch on. I bought mine back in November for $160 as more of a backup, but it became my favorite amp. I ended up selling my '69 Bassman because I just didn't use it anymore. Definitely check this amp out if you get a change. It does the JMP/JCM800 2203 sound really well. Not an exact copy, but in the same vein.
WhistlerPL i have one, the 50w head, and i like it quite a lot! That being said, i got it because it was a great deal (300€ for the head i think, and that was new). But i think JC amps are cheap in europe, and way more expensive in the US and Canada, so they probably don't seem as awesome there.
w0mbatina 300 ? Mine is from 2009 right when they were first launched on the market the Jet City JCA 50 and it was 600€ new then. I have a mod on mine which adds low bottom to the amp.
Derek7Universe yep, they are extremely cheap nowdays. Thomann has them for 350€ a piece: www.thomann.de/ie/jet_city_amplification_jca50h.htm Its so ridicolusly cheap, that i contemplated just getting another one instead of retubing this one when my tubes died.
They do use the same platform of the more high end Soldano amps... of course a Soldano is probably going to cost three times the price of a jet city, and maybe will have a little better quality.
Glenn, fucking thank you man. I requested a couple weeks ago for such a video. Awesome thing, that you really read every fucking comment / Private Message. Trusting you blindly, going to purchase one of this :)
drotalion Highly recommended! As stated in the video, I owned three of them, (now only 2) but honestly.... The real key to this amp is NOT the price. It really is its tone. ---The price just helps justify the purchase.
Anyone intrested in these should get one. They set the bias very low on these from factory and when biased correctly they scream and are easily able to be modded in other ways.
Any opinion of the Peavey Valveking 100? I recently picked one up locally (one of the first generation ones) and I absolutely love it. A bit buzzy and easy to get feedback, but I think mine just needs to be looked at by somebody who knows what they're doing with the inside bits. Cheers from Upstate New York!
What an amazing amp ! Really tight tone for a low budget! Peavey seems to know how to make good sounding cheap amps! Here in my country i bought a used but well preserved Peavey VK100 head with matching cabinet for about 350 euros and it's also an incredible reliable and good sounding amp, with lot's of versatility. Its a pity that i only have a low budget guitar that doesn't show how good this amp can sound. Do you know this amp model ? What's your opinion on it if so.
Hey Glenn, I know you mainly record metal, but surely you have experience in other styles of music? Could you recommend a cheap alternative for lighter rock bands to take with them on tour? My band is about to go on tour and would like advice on what to take on the road. We're like indie/rock ish. Thanks!
***** TBH i have never used it or tried to get it to bedroom levels so I can't really comment on that Like you said I also have a 5 watt and a 20 watt amp that I use when playing alone so I never have had the need to try playing the windsor at low level. I will say that the Windsor has a high gain and a low gain input, and all that means is that the low gain input has a 10 db pad on it. So if you were gonna try and make the amp as quiet as possible you would definitely want to use the low gain input. " As for your cab, you have 100 watts of power handling there (and impedance of 4 ohms, so make sure you set the amp to 4 ohms as well), so I think yes if you use the low gain input and keep the volume low you should be fine. But again, I can't comment as to how good it will sound. This is a 100 watt head here, you're meant to be plugged into a 300 watt cabinet going balls out.
+MKRocker94 You're totally on mark with all your comments here. The best way to get that classic Marshall-esque tone from this amp is to keep the preamp volume at around 4, jack the master volume up to around 7 or above, and peel the paint off the walls! To properly address nibrok's question, as a quiet practice type amp, there's no way you'll get the power tubes cookin' hot enough to sound good at low volume levels, so it's going to lack some in the tone department and the gain is going to be all preamp grit, not that killer EL34 grindage this style of amp is famous for. So yes, you *can* play it somewhat quietly, but it's never going to give you that balls out, full on, killer brutal hard rock/NWOBHM tone you'll get when you crank it up! And, please, for what it's worth...CRANK THIS BEAST UP AS LOUD AS YOU CAN STAND!!! Oh, as for your cab, it should be ok but I wouldn't crank it to 100%...you just might have to dig the voice coils out of the opposing wall from blowing them clean across the room! I heartily recommend either a 2x12 loaded with seriously high wattage speakers (like the massive EVs that Zakk Wylde swears by, or something in a similar wattage rating) or a 4x12, (I *love* the way this amp sounds through my old 4 ohm 250 watt Sunn cab) and with a power capacity of at least 200 watts, 300 would be better...but for what it's worth, when I got my Windsor it came with a Marshall 1922 2x12 loaded with 75 watt Celestions, giving it a 150 watt peak power handling capacity at 8 ohms mono (it's also wired to work stereo, but I've never had a need for a stereo cab especially with this amp) , and it worked just fine...not as big and ballsy as the super huge Sunn 4x12, but loud, proud and definitely handled this amp at serious club volume levels like a pro! Enjoy your el cheapo powerhouse guys, I certainly dig mine!
Good choice...100 searing, fire breathing, uncontrollable watts *is* a bit much for a bedroom amp! The HT5 is a sweet little amp, it'll give you a badass sound at the levels you need!
This comment will tie into your video on high priced gear. I have a Peavey Bandit 112 ( red stripe model) and For the money I have had tons of comments on it's sound. I wanted to ask if you have ever used one, what do you think of the transtube technology and would you recomend this amp for guitar players on a budget? Maybe do a little review on amps like this to add to your expensive gear segment. Love the channel.
Checked it out online. These things are now about $450+ CAD used. I guess someone took advantage of the sudden popularity of decent, low-priced amps and marked them up. What a bummer....
Valveking's are also great budget tube amps, Fender-esque cleans and a high gain lead channel in one cheap package. There are better amps out there, but they are usually much more expensive.
Bitchin' tone! Holy shit! And I think the SG really helps. I wish I could see more SGs being used today. They have a tone that I really like and to my ears is just as distinctive and unmistakable as a strat, and I know there are A LOT of two humbucker guitars out there. Maybe Glenn could do an SG on one of the gear reviews...
I got a used Valveking 2x12 combo for around $325, good ass deal for 100 watts and high gain. Not the best amp in the world, but the other high gain tube combos (backstars, 6505 combos and lanes) were all waaaaay out of my price range.
Hi Glenn, Big fan of the show, just wondering what budget amp head you would recommend to get that sludgy prog tone used on early Mastodon and Baroness albums?
I just picked one up about 30 minutes ago. My question is, what speakers do you recommend with this guy. I currently have a 2x12 with green backs and a 2x12 bassbreaker stock. I have yet to plug it in and check it out.
Do you still have that red Warlock? The ones with the acrylic headstock have a habit of separating from the neck. I wouldn't be hanging it and I do hope you still have it. She is getting to be a rare and (for the type of instrument) expensive.
The sound in playthrough is really nice for the long sustaining chords. However, the palm mutes would sound better (tighter) when some kind of TS-type OD (with drive set to 0) would be put into the signal chain. That's what I would try (at least when I would need some of 'modern' type distortion).
Played a basement show were the crowd got rowdy and a full beer got spilled in the top of a JCM 900!!! People may have died as a result! I can't remember. It was in '95 and I was hella drunk...and the drummer. I woke up with bloody hands & shirt and plead the 5th to this day! The repair was massive and the amp prob was never the same....and got sold cheap.
And a used old Laney AOR Pro-Tube is a great choice to, yeah it's a bit rare but if you you find one you should get it for ca. 400bugs and the generation 2 of this one got also an awesome clean channel with a lot of headroom and both generations got some pull/push knobs. (mid boost, bass - pull deep, gain boost, ...) . If you can get a bit more money, than 200bugs, then try to get a one of theses Laneys! or a Jet-City if you can't find one, they're great too! ;-)
I had the combo version and it definitely did not sound anywhere near a marshall jcm800. My marshall vintage modern 100 watt full stack I bought brand new well got for Christmas same year they came out and wow best sounding stack you could ever ask for it has the real 60s-90s rock and blues tones and heavy 80s hair band type sound as well and it only cost 700 brand new know the full stack is worth a few grand so I made money on it if I ever sell it
Hey man! What are your impressions on bugera amps, like the bugera 6262 for example, are this amps worth the low price, your opinion is truly important.
A fellow lefty! Awesome! WHERE DID HE GET THAT *SWEET* LEFTY SG??? Does Canada have some secret stock of lefties somewhere?? I seriously have to hunt for MONTHS to find a decent electric at a decent price. Really sick of spending THOUSANDS on Custom Shop models.
I've had a Peavey Penta for a few years now. It get's the job done for me (nothing serious) but I'm curious if you've ever come across a Penta and seen how it stacks up with the Windsor?
Great review - and I'm not minding the sound of this amp at all. I'd think that also having an API pre in the gain-chain didn't hurt any, either. ;)Thoughts on an alternate cab to the Mesa?
Hey Glenn, what do you think about Jet City amplification, they're designed by Soldano, made in china tube amps. I never played one, but I heard a lot good things about them. Would be cool if you make a review about one of them and they cost around the same, as a Line6 Spider V . ^^
I actually have a question: I'm a bass player and I have inspirations like Primus, Tool, and Cliff Burton. what pedals would you recommend for getting Claypool's tone and what effects board would you recommend for getting something like 46 & 2 or The Pot?
It depends what era of Primus, but I can easily get a similar tone from frizzle Fry, seas of cheese and pork soda with my Ampeg SVT3 pro. Turn on the Bright switch, Hi and Lo boost, crank the gain, mids and treb, mess with the EQ band and you'll have his tone. Les Claypool has used many different SVT models over the years but I know for sure he endorsed the SVT3 at one point. They can go as low as $400 used, I got mine for $500. If you want that Green Naugahyde sound, you want to get a bass envelope pedal.
The SVT3 is a great all around bass head though. You can get just about any bassists tone out of it so long as it isn't super distorted, obviously you need some effects for some super fuzzy stuff. I have my head paired with the Ampeg SVT 410. Cost me less than $1000 for a used $2200 rig.
Of course, you being a great sound engineer helps bring out the best of the amp, but you can clearly hear that this is NOT a case of "polishing a turd". I'm surprised that a $200, high-power tube amp sounds so good. Please do more of these "hidden gem" videos. Thank you.
Will do!
i bet you that when you say "if you are looking for a djent sound ,this is not the amp for you" half of the people went out of the video
Lol. Sad!
Lmao
And nobody will miss them ;)
This amp with a good overdrive will djent all day
Now there's 100,000 people looking for Peavey Windsor's on used sites.
I know I am....
they were everywhere you looked before this video. a hell of a lot harder to find now.
+Kreed Moins Give it two weeks
Going to pick mine up on the weekend
There are enough to go around. They made millions
just to let everyone know the toothpick was not mafia related (although I wish it was). Someone in the comments nailed it… I used to smoke for 20 years. i found toothpicks helped. I'm going to hopefully get together with Glenn in the future and do another one of these vids on another amp that is TRULY a hidden gem like the Windsor.
You wouldn’t have been smoking during this interview anyways...
Hey buddy!!!! Looking good!
do you still like / use this amp?
what other amp are you referring to that's a hidden gem?
HOLY FUCKING SHIT. That tone is awesome and sounds so clean yet sludgy. Great video as always Glenn and SMG \m/
Glad you liked it!
SG and eyehategod sticker, you know it's gonna be doom time yeah !
*MojoPenguin* FUCK YEA!
Nothing like some NOLA sludge.
Yeah Windsor a good Candidate, stuff from Bugera those old ultra's and old Carvin stuff etc man that x100b sounded killer but caught on fire burnt the board and socket I don't think it's fixable maybe... just arc again or what trying clean it and cut out the bad parts and wire man...dammit it all Lol
Is it just me or did the section where he was playing sound absolutely slamtastic?
quite possibly! :)
SpectreSoundStudios And the SG guitar really brings out that 'meaty' Black Sabbath sound, plus their good ol' drop tuning!
Definitely an AMP that got my attention.
Thanks for featuring the Windsor, it's a great amp for absolutely no cash...I got mine in a trade, and I fell in love with it when I ran it through my 1974 Sunn 412 loaded with the original Sunn 60 watt Transducers. Awesome way to get that Marshall-ish sound without spending a mortgage payment or two!
Watching this again
Is the toothpick really necessary?
He thinks it looks cool
Idan Shchori its an essential part of his look.
Some people use them to replace the oral fixation of smoking. I have no idea if that's what he's using it for though.
desulv I'm gunna to go with Italian Mafia.
desulv good guess, none the less
When Al was playing in the demo, was that an actual song or just a demo? That demo was fuckin' awesome.
just a demo
Here's a question that I as a non guitar player are kinda interested in: Could you go over the different types of amps, and give guidelines to what metal genres they goes well with? I have Guitar Rig 4, and I would really like to get into it a bit.
I saw people play Death Metal with 1959 SLP's and guys with Dual Rectifiers play Blues. It's really whatever you like honnestly.
Nice Nikola Tesla tattoo! Greets from Serbia ;)
Jackson4687
Hey jackson, the other tattoo if you noticed, was Njegos!
Jackson4687 Thank you! I was really struggling to figure out who that was haha.
At first it looked like Njegos, then I thought it might be Karadjordje :)
Nikola tesla is God.
Best video of the Windsor in action I've come across yet
It always irks me a little when people start a conversation about Peavey amps with :"for the money...", screw "for the money", the Windsor is the JCM800 you want :) I have never heard a JCM800 which didn't needed to be tweaked somehow to sound like THE JCM800 you know and love, I've had three of them, had two modded (hot rodded) and one I kept stock, which never got any use because at the end of the day a stock 800 is a pretty weak amp, especially for metal. That all changed when I first played the Windsor, a friend of mine had it, and from the get go this thing just sounded amazing! I asked the dude:"Yeah, but how much you spent modding this? Like 2k?" , dude was like :"Nope, this is stock!". These things are so God Damn cheap I have 4 of them with different output tubes, just because! And they all sound great!
Peavey makes some amazing amps, their "Ultra" line (ultra 120, 5150, 6505, xxx, JSX, and the 3120) are insanely good, and not "for the money", they are good PERIOD. You really can't get any better, different, sure, better? NOPE
Marvio Botticelli anything is better than marshall though, and mesa, revv and engl is probably a bit better than peavey in most cases
I have an XXX, changed tubes today and trust me, this beast sounds like hellish thunder. Tgat's the only amp you need and I really wish Glenn would get one of them to the studio and show what it's capable of.
V'yell Gohl yeah i agree that one is incredible, almost bought one a month ago. Would never look in the direction of a marshall though. But then i never liked the classic rock sound.
Marvio Botticelli that's why I buy Bugera and Peavey cuz for the price of JCM or God forbid a Mesa can buy three amps you love and still have change for whatever tweaks you wanna make, plus cuz they're way cheaper you won't feel guilty about modding a $5000 Triple Recrifier
Aren't some of the heaviest tones known to man done with a bone-stock jcm 800 and using pedals for the metal sound? Best pedal platform, doesn't matter how much gain the head can get
Or am I wrong and a modded Marshall makes a different for metal when it's set to just a fat crunchy chimey sound?
Asking cause ive never owned a jcm
No overdrive, but lots of delay. O HELL YES! The Eagle Has Landed! SUCH a great outro!
great Sabbath style sound, even without overdrive!
Wow, it really cool to see a review of these great peavey amps on the cheap. If you really want to look at their inexpensive metal amps, you can pick up a used peavey TripleX for less than 400 dollars american. I think a lot more of your audiance would be interested in these as they are actually pretty awesome and well built for the price. Cheers!
Agree. I own one and this thing is a beast!
The Windsor is a great amp. I used this for all my road work. But lately I have found an alternative. Inexpensive, well made, good sound, and reliable. The Bugera brand. They are really a good amp for the money, and like you said, if it blows up, throw it in storage to use a parts donor down the line and go buy another. And some of their newer stuff, like the BC30 212 combo is a very well made amp that sounds as good as any other amp for twice the money. Especially if you get most of your tone from pedals as I do. I use the Blackstar HT Series HT-DUAL Tube Dual distortion pedal, which cost as much as the amp, but it is such a killer tone. You can plug that into any amp and get what you want.
BMTH used Jcm 800's boosted with Fulltone Ocd's to record the guitars on Sempiternal. So theoretically these amps should be able to work well with fairly low tunings.
They used the Klon technically
Thanks for the review! And for introducing me to this awesome band Gypsy Chief Goliath!
I just bought this head, I needed a powerful amp on a very tight budget. How lucky to have found a guy who was selling it for 200 bucks very close to my house.
i am indeed a doom, sludge, stoner rock kind of guy, and i love this tone. but i wonder what kind of amp i would want if i wanted to be able to pull off that kind of stuff, say on the neck pickup with the tone knob down, and then roll the tone all the way up and go to the bridge for a tight modern progressive metal extended range guitar type sound (see what i did there, instead of using the word djent? lol). i mean, i play a 6 string, but i use tunings like FFCFAD and GGCFAD sometimes so it gets pretty low. I also quite enjoy hardcore tones like code orange kids and nails, and botch, and also play that type of stuff. as well as stuff like russian circles and isis. i like my fender hot rod deville and my mesa electradyne head with a russian big muff + EQ into it, but there has to be something more suited for my style, eh?
Another great and cheap all tube amp head is the Peavey valveking, 3 tube 12AX7 preamp and a 4 tube 6L6. It is a strong 100W and has texture control to roll between Class A and class A/B, very versatile tone and used for $200-250...
Kyle Price Definitely agree. really good gain structure and clean tone. the texture knob is a god send. I use mine with a Marshall 4x12. I boost it with a Maxon for tightness but super solid amp.
Hey just wanted to say thank you. I really enjoy your videos and I'm grateful for the knowledge your giving out. Take care. Your amazing man!
Gotta love Al's playing style. Dude rips!
bretheren of search of the song from the intro of gypsy cheif goliath i have found it, it's called: St. Covens Tavern, dont care if this is too late and other longer down in the comments have said it
I just got one of these and was just checking out what others think about it. I need a blank canvas for my pedals, which is where my "tone" comes from. I can tell you this for certain: My Wampler Sovereign sounds so good with this amp. It has that Molly Hatchet Flirtin' With Disaster huge powerful guitar sound that I love. I also have used the Bugera amps with success. They are along the same vein as the Windsor
It sounds pretty close to The Sword; at least to their album Warp Riders. Cool stuff!
Love The Sword! Killer band!
My high school used this head for the Jazz band, not a bad head and it can definitely take some heavy usage from constant movement.
As an SG guy with a somewhat similar sound of choice, this made me consider getting me a Windsor. Definitely gonna try it out instead of overlooking the next time I'm at my local guitar store. I'm a bit reserved when it comes to the "American sound".
I've been touring a '77 JMP for 27 years. Never had a problem but i take care of my stuff.
Cool. I'm curious what you think about using a sansamp for guitar. I have a GT2 and I love it. Very inexpensive and very durable. I can plug it in direct and it gets me all the sounds I need. Just curious to hear your opinion. Thanks.
I use one of theses with a tube screamer and a Bogner 4x12 with green backs i'm happy with the tone
and still you can find used tube amps (heads) at even lower prices that that. Obviously not speaking of great brands. But if you seek well, you can find easily find something around 150 $ that still works, or maybe if you want to risk a little bit, go for bugera, the non infinium ones. They will present in most cases problems, that with a bit of tweaking, cable management and some effort can be not too difficult to solve. (in most cases they are overheating problems/bad connections). The risk is that some times, they are much more difficult, because all circuitry is printed, with a density similar to mesa amps, and it WILL be a pain to track down these type of problems. So, if you wanna risk or have some challenge or in general you think you're good at repairing tube amps, buy a non-infinium bugera, just for the sake of it.
That Windsor actually sounded like Black Sabbath. Awesome!
6505 MH is the same price used. Definitely should demo it!
Hi Glenn. Now that you are talking about cheap amps, Did you ever checked the peavey valveking..??.. Can you give us an opinion about it..??..
sagitta lyrae He might not, but I will say it's an AMAZING amp. Better suited for metal than this one! The cleans are actually quite good on them too
I have one and i love it! gonna record with it next year so if you want some tones look out for my channel next year!
Yeah I can't say much as I haven't owned one but I was looking into them because they go for so cheap on Craigslist and I played a VK100 head through some random marshall cab in GC and holy fucking shit...the high gain tone was literally 100% what I want in an amp. Like the tone I've been trying to get out of my heads at home it's so good. Wasn't super impressed by the cleans but absolutely nothing wrong with them either.
I would say in short, the VK100 head sounds much like the 5150 but without all that nasty fizz in the high gain sound. Very good amp especially for the price if you like metal. I'd recommend it for like a cheap touring amp.
However it's a 100 watt tube amp so don't get it to just play quietly in your bed room (reasons I didn't buy it. Already have an HT5r and CR120 head and they cover my bases decently) . Just find one and try it out. You'll love it.
Thank you guys for all the answers. Now that the VK 100 sounds like a good amp, can you tell me something about its cabinet VK412..??..
I think it sounds good! But it tends to mud up a bit on high volumes! But just be careful with the resonance and bass control and it's great!
You know it's a good amp when spectresoundstudios gives it a positive review
You can't find a better amp for the price, period. I feel like these were released at a weird time, when everyone just wanted modern high gain amps (myself included), so they just didn't catch on. I bought mine back in November for $160 as more of a backup, but it became my favorite amp. I ended up selling my '69 Bassman because I just didn't use it anymore. Definitely check this amp out if you get a change. It does the JMP/JCM800 2203 sound really well. Not an exact copy, but in the same vein.
Glenn, have you tried one of the Jet City amps? Seem to be pretty cool :D
WhistlerPL i have one, the 50w head, and i like it quite a lot! That being said, i got it because it was a great deal (300€ for the head i think, and that was new). But i think JC amps are cheap in europe, and way more expensive in the US and Canada, so they probably don't seem as awesome there.
w0mbatina 300 ? Mine is from 2009 right when they were first launched on the market the Jet City JCA 50 and it was 600€ new then. I have a mod on mine which adds low bottom to the amp.
Derek7Universe yep, they are extremely cheap nowdays. Thomann has them for 350€ a piece:
www.thomann.de/ie/jet_city_amplification_jca50h.htm
Its so ridicolusly cheap, that i contemplated just getting another one instead of retubing this one when my tubes died.
Good to know if it breaks down just by another haha and it's an easy platform to work on it for mods.
They do use the same platform of the more high end Soldano amps... of course a Soldano is probably going to cost three times the price of a jet city, and maybe will have a little better quality.
Glenn, fucking thank you man. I requested a couple weeks ago for such a video. Awesome thing, that you really read every fucking comment / Private Message. Trusting you blindly, going to purchase one of this :)
You're very welcome! Glad you liked it.
drotalion If you can remember tell me how you like it when you get it!
drotalion
Highly recommended! As stated in the video, I owned three of them, (now only 2) but honestly.... The real key to this amp is NOT the price. It really is its tone. ---The price just helps justify the purchase.
Anyone intrested in these should get one. They set the bias very low on these from factory and when biased correctly they scream and are easily able to be modded in other ways.
It almost carries a fuzzy vibe on the low end. I’m kinda digging it.
I love the "800s on the cheap" sorts of amps. Windsor, Butcher, VTM, Laney AOR and GH/VH series. I love my Laney VH100R for the money.
Any opinion of the Peavey Valveking 100? I recently picked one up locally (one of the first generation ones) and I absolutely love it. A bit buzzy and easy to get feedback, but I think mine just needs to be looked at by somebody who knows what they're doing with the inside bits. Cheers from Upstate New York!
I love the SG. My absolute favorite guitar. Gorgeous design great tones and some of my idols play it so a win all around.
You can totally get a Djent tone out of this amp. I'm a prog. guy and am picking this bad boy up next week!
What an amazing amp ! Really tight tone for a low budget! Peavey seems to know how to make good sounding cheap amps! Here in my country i bought a used but well preserved Peavey VK100 head with matching cabinet for about 350 euros and it's also an incredible reliable and good sounding amp, with lot's of versatility. Its a pity that i only have a low budget guitar that doesn't show how good this amp can sound.
Do you know this amp model ? What's your opinion on it if so.
Hey Glenn,
I know you mainly record metal, but surely you have experience in other styles of music? Could you recommend a cheap alternative for lighter rock bands to take with them on tour? My band is about to go on tour and would like advice on what to take on the road. We're like indie/rock ish. Thanks!
One of these came into the local pawn shop for $150…
Really thinking of getting it and building a different enclosure.
We need more budget good stuff glenn, this is fuckin gold.
I would like to know your opinion on the Cheap Bugera 6262.
Thanks for all the great videos! I Really like your channel, full of interesting stuff.
Got one of those as house amp at the rehearsal rooms we use. It's so big we put it on it's side and use it as a wardrobe ;-)
Oh my God! I love the sound of this amp!
I was lucky enough to find one of these on Reverb.com for $225 or so. Thing was brand new out of the box. Best fucking purchase ever.
*****
TBH i have never used it or tried to get it to bedroom levels so I can't really comment on that Like you said I also have a 5 watt and a 20 watt amp that I use when playing alone so I never have had the need to try playing the windsor at low level. I will say that the Windsor has a high gain and a low gain input, and all that means is that the low gain input has a 10 db pad on it. So if you were gonna try and make the amp as quiet as possible you would definitely want to use the low gain input. "
As for your cab, you have 100 watts of power handling there (and impedance of 4 ohms, so make sure you set the amp to 4 ohms as well), so I think yes if you use the low gain input and keep the volume low you should be fine. But again, I can't comment as to how good it will sound. This is a 100 watt head here, you're meant to be plugged into a 300 watt cabinet going balls out.
+MKRocker94 You're totally on mark with all your comments here. The best way to get that classic Marshall-esque tone from this amp is to keep the preamp volume at around 4, jack the master volume up to around 7 or above, and peel the paint off the walls! To properly address nibrok's question, as a quiet practice type amp, there's no way you'll get the power tubes cookin' hot enough to sound good at low volume levels, so it's going to lack some in the tone department and the gain is going to be all preamp grit, not that killer EL34 grindage this style of amp is famous for. So yes, you *can* play it somewhat quietly, but it's never going to give you that balls out, full on, killer brutal hard rock/NWOBHM tone you'll get when you crank it up! And, please, for what it's worth...CRANK THIS BEAST UP AS LOUD AS YOU CAN STAND!!! Oh, as for your cab, it should be ok but I wouldn't crank it to 100%...you just might have to dig the voice coils out of the opposing wall from blowing them clean across the room! I heartily recommend either a 2x12 loaded with seriously high wattage speakers (like the massive EVs that Zakk Wylde swears by, or something in a similar wattage rating) or a 4x12, (I *love* the way this amp sounds through my old 4 ohm 250 watt Sunn cab) and with a power capacity of at least 200 watts, 300 would be better...but for what it's worth, when I got my Windsor it came with a Marshall 1922 2x12 loaded with 75 watt Celestions, giving it a 150 watt peak power handling capacity at 8 ohms mono (it's also wired to work stereo, but I've never had a need for a stereo cab especially with this amp) , and it worked just fine...not as big and ballsy as the super huge Sunn 4x12, but loud, proud and definitely handled this amp at serious club volume levels like a pro! Enjoy your el cheapo powerhouse guys, I certainly dig mine!
Good choice...100 searing, fire breathing, uncontrollable watts *is* a bit much for a bedroom amp! The HT5 is a sweet little amp, it'll give you a badass sound at the levels you need!
This comment will tie into your video on high priced gear. I have a Peavey Bandit 112 ( red stripe model) and For the money I have had tons of comments on it's sound. I wanted to ask if you have ever used one, what do you think of the transtube technology and would you recomend this amp for guitar players on a budget? Maybe do a little review on amps like this to add to your expensive gear segment. Love the channel.
Checked it out online. These things are now about $450+ CAD used. I guess someone took advantage of the sudden popularity of decent, low-priced amps and marked them up. What a bummer....
Damn, I kind of love how this thing sounds.
Valveking's are also great budget tube amps, Fender-esque cleans and a high gain lead channel in one cheap package. There are better amps out there, but they are usually much more expensive.
What do you think of the marshal valvestate 100? You can find them for about 150 and IMO they sound pretty good. Im curious as to your opinion though.
I seen a Friedman modded Windsor on Reverb a while back. Really, really wanted to hear what it sounded like
Bitchin' tone! Holy shit! And I think the SG really helps. I wish I could see more SGs being used today. They have a tone that I really like and to my ears is just as distinctive and unmistakable as a strat, and I know there are A LOT of two humbucker guitars out there. Maybe Glenn could do an SG on one of the gear reviews...
I'm not into the doom and sludgy sound... But that was awesome! In addition, the guys vibrato in the solo was fantastic!!!
You can also get the original Triple x by peavey for 300-450 dollars and its an amazing sounding tube head!
Love my Windsor. Did the mods and it's killer. Second one I've had.
Glenn, any experience with the Laney Ironheart tube heads (60w or 120w version)? Thoughts?
I got a used Valveking 2x12 combo for around $325, good ass deal for 100 watts and high gain. Not the best amp in the world, but the other high gain tube combos (backstars, 6505 combos and lanes) were all waaaaay out of my price range.
Hi Glenn, I found a Peavey Windsor 412 cab for roughly £75 ($150 Canadian). Are they worth the investment as a first cab?
Nice review, have one Windsor, my first Tube amp, love it (and more when cranked up)
Glad to meet a fellow fan of the lesser recognized Peaveys! Have you ever played one of the old Transtube Supreme heads?
Justin Brackett
No I haven't. Any good? Which one do you recommend?
the transparent BC Rich hanging in the back gave me a chub.
I'll have to look into one of these. I'm trying to get a good sludge metal tone. Big Fan of the Tesla Tattoo.
I play one with a distortion pedal in front in a rehearsal room in a not very secure part of town. Tone's quite good for trad metal.
Hi Glenn,
Big fan of the show, just wondering what budget amp head you would recommend to get that sludgy prog tone used on early Mastodon and Baroness albums?
I just picked one up about 30 minutes ago. My question is, what speakers do you recommend with this guy. I currently have a 2x12 with green backs and a 2x12 bassbreaker stock. I have yet to plug it in and check it out.
Do you still have that red Warlock? The ones with the acrylic headstock have a habit of separating from the neck. I wouldn't be hanging it and I do hope you still have it. She is getting to be a rare and (for the type of instrument) expensive.
The sound in playthrough is really nice for the long sustaining chords. However, the palm mutes would sound better (tighter) when some kind of TS-type OD (with drive set to 0) would be put into the signal chain. That's what I would try (at least when I would need some of 'modern' type distortion).
Mick TheShaggy i used to use one of these with a boss super overdrive and was able to get an aggressive almost 5150 kind of tone out of it
Hi Glennnn!
Have you ever tried Bugera amps?
What do you think about them?
Thanks!
Nice Amp that. Is it Metal specific or good for more universal ? Looks nice too.
Played a basement show were the crowd got rowdy and a full beer got spilled in the top of a JCM 900!!! People may have died as a result! I can't remember. It was in '95 and I was hella drunk...and the drummer. I woke up with bloody hands & shirt and plead the 5th to this day! The repair was massive and the amp prob was never the same....and got sold cheap.
The Peavey Valveking is a good cheap amp as well! Great for Metal!
i picked me up one yesterday and holy sheep shit this thing has some killer ass eyehategod type tones, this thing is perfect for sludge metal
Peavey is always good bang for the buck - LITERALLY!
It sounds great. I wonder how it plays mixed with some overdrive pedal.
"cheap tube amp", here in brazil it costs around 1000 dollars /= love your chanel, Glenn
And a used old Laney AOR Pro-Tube is a great choice to, yeah it's a bit rare but if you you find one you should get it for ca. 400bugs and the generation 2 of this one got also an awesome clean channel with a lot of headroom and both generations got some pull/push knobs. (mid boost, bass - pull deep, gain boost, ...) . If you can get a bit more money, than 200bugs, then try to get a one of theses Laneys! or a Jet-City if you can't find one, they're great too! ;-)
I had the combo version and it definitely did not sound anywhere near a marshall jcm800. My marshall vintage modern 100 watt full stack I bought brand new well got for Christmas same year they came out and wow best sounding stack you could ever ask for it has the real 60s-90s rock and blues tones and heavy 80s hair band type sound as well and it only cost 700 brand new know the full stack is worth a few grand so I made money on it if I ever sell it
Hey man! What are your impressions on bugera amps, like the bugera 6262 for example, are this amps worth the low price, your opinion is truly important.
damn nice sound! the tone is great on that thing!
Is that Nikola Tesla on his forearm? I play bass so I don't know who that is.
LOL
Budget Batman yes
Do you think you could do another demo of this amp, but with an overdrive pedal in front?
Sounds a hell of alot better then a Line 6 Amp!
how would it do on things like super joint ritual or slayer type tones? or in standard tuning?
A fellow lefty! Awesome! WHERE DID HE GET THAT *SWEET* LEFTY SG??? Does Canada have some secret stock of lefties somewhere?? I seriously have to hunt for MONTHS to find a decent electric at a decent price. Really sick of spending THOUSANDS on Custom Shop models.
That Nikola Tesla tattoo is awesome :D
Just noticed that. Damn straight! :D
I've had a Peavey Penta for a few years now. It get's the job done for me (nothing serious) but I'm curious if you've ever come across a Penta and seen how it stacks up with the Windsor?
Great review - and I'm not minding the sound of this amp at all. I'd think that also having an API pre in the gain-chain didn't hurt any, either. ;)Thoughts on an alternate cab to the Mesa?
Hellyeah Alex's on the show!!! Still waiting a new Mister Bones album ;)
Hey Glenn, what do you think about Jet City amplification, they're designed by Soldano, made in china tube amps. I never played one, but I heard a lot good things about them. Would be cool if you make a review about one of them and they cost around the same, as a Line6 Spider V . ^^
I actually have a question: I'm a bass player and I have inspirations like Primus, Tool, and Cliff Burton. what pedals would you recommend for getting Claypool's tone and what effects board would you recommend for getting something like 46 & 2 or The Pot?
It depends what era of Primus, but I can easily get a similar tone from frizzle Fry, seas of cheese and pork soda with my Ampeg SVT3 pro. Turn on the Bright switch, Hi and Lo boost, crank the gain, mids and treb, mess with the EQ band and you'll have his tone. Les Claypool has used many different SVT models over the years but I know for sure he endorsed the SVT3 at one point. They can go as low as $400 used, I got mine for $500. If you want that Green Naugahyde sound, you want to get a bass envelope pedal.
The SVT3 is a great all around bass head though. You can get just about any bassists tone out of it so long as it isn't super distorted, obviously you need some effects for some super fuzzy stuff. I have my head paired with the Ampeg SVT 410. Cost me less than $1000 for a used $2200 rig.
Great video, as always! Any thoughts on doing a "Sansamp vs. Darkglass B7k"?