thoughts and opinions on the Peavey Windsor

[Djinn Guitars]

Here's the deal: My boy saved up and bought a line6 spyderIII half stack (against my advice) and it blew within 3 months. It took 8 more months to get anything done about it. We finally got okeydokey to ship it out to Line 6 and within 3 days of their reciept of the old one we got a brand new one. We're not even opening the box, it is to be traded in this week end.

He's kindof got his eye on the Windsor. I've read lots of reviews panning it pretty much for not being a JMC800. I don't expect it to be so for the price.

What I do expect is a usable amp for stage work that is relatively reliable.
plenty of gain
plenty of volume

He's in kindof a redneck metal band ala old Pantera/BLS doing bar gigs in Dallas. So, warm subtle overdrive and vintage tones aren't the goal. Fully driven tube amp front loaded with an overdrive pedal blaring distortion is the goal.

Any thoughts on this amp or suggestions within the price range or +$200 would be apreciated, thanks.

[Steve Conner]

Err, the Windsor is probably a little too boutique for redneck metal. How about a 2nd hand Peavey 5150?

[Enzo]

I think a used 5150 is a good idea. Newer ones are now called 6505, but the amp inside is absolutely identical. Tons of gain, tons of volume, very heavy and sturdy.

Ask the kid what about the Windsor appeals to him. Ask him if there is any reason NOT to want a 5150. If the answers involve what is trendy or hot or anything about being cool or getting peer approval, or because so and so from band XYZ has one, whack him upside the head. If he has actual thoughts about the tone and performance, then consider his view.

[defaced]

I'll be the third to recommend the 5150. It's really hard to find a tube amp with that much power and gain for the price.

[Djinn Guitars]

Enzo, your second paragraph outlines the thaught prosess that led to the line6 purchase.
He says he's looking at the windsor because "it's probably built better" , it's a more simple amp (less bells and whistles to go out), and it has a el34/ 12ax7 tube layout whitch lends itself to "hot rodding" and easy "un hot rodding". I'm thinking he's wanting to load it with KT88s ala Kerry King. The biggest selling point he presented to me was "it just seems like a real amp" as apposed to one built like a portable stereo in an amp suit.
My thinking is that it's a basic enough lay out (in my estimation) that I can do a lot of the maintainance and stuff, and it's within my wheel house of experiance.

[Steve Conner]

Yeah, my only misgiving would be that the Windsor is made in China, similar to the Epiphone Valve line of amps, which is the reason for the low cost. At least the 5150 was American made.

If he wants to mod it, though, the 5150 may be a poor choice as it's fairly complex inside. Especially tube changes. I remember one flaming abortion on this forum caused by someone trying to put KT88s into a 5150. If I remember right, they're too big to fit the stock amp, and this guy cremated his amp trying to make an adaptor board.

If you don't mind Chinese, you might also want to check out Behringer's new Bugera brand of tube amps.

[BackwardsBoB]

I bought a Windsor at a 20% discount, played it for 5 minutes, and sent it back.

There's a lot of noise, and everything is cheap. Light enclosure, cheap knobs, even the speaker sounds pretty bad. It only puts out maybe 20W max, and it's single-ended and cathode biased, so it has its own sound, and it's not what your son probably expects to hear coming off a stage. It'll take most any octal tube, but tube changes are a pain.

This is coming from a Carvin X-series fanatic, but he'd be much better off with an old Carvin X100B head he can score for $350 most days on eBay. With an overhaul and his pedal of choice, he can make the sound of rock.

[Enzo]

Bob, the PV windsor has four 6L6 or EL34 output tubes and they are not single ended nor cathode biased. PV does make a few small low power SE amps, maybe even one under the Wundsor series name, but I don't think that is what metal kid is looking at.

It is not just PVs, a whole lot of amps don't have room for KT88s.

Steve, I would think twice about the Behringer amps. If he buys a PV, he can get it serviced locally almost anywhere. Behringer? Good luck, and I AM a Behringer service center.

[Steve Conner]

Oh, will Peavey support the Chinese amps the same as they support their American stuff? If they do, that would be a major vote for the Peavey, we all know that if Behringer breaks, you have to throw it away and get another one

[Enzo]

I can't speak to warranty service in the EU, I know terms there are different at least, but over here, PV warranty service ignores country of origin, as is the case with most every maker. We service centers repair whatever it is, wherever it came from. Most manufacturers have a list of low end models that are "replace only" that we cannot service. They don't want to pay us $50 to fix something they can replace for $20. Those are almost always from China, but it is the low cost that means we don't service them, not the country of origin. A $500 amp from China that would have been a $1200 amp if made in the USA still gets warranty service at the repair stations. The $80 practice amp does not.

After warranty, service is service. Up to the customer if he wants to spend $75 on a repair to a $300 amp. I would.

[Djinn Guitars]

Controversy over, We walked into Zoo music and there were 3 Laney heads stacked up right at eye level by the door. His name being Laine and loving Sabbath and seeing how they were used Dave was all for it... Yah, that's about as far as we got. The Pro Tube was a little muddy when driven hard, the Hard Core said "Hard Core" on it (if you have to tell folks you're hard you probably ain't), so it was a Linebacker he took a shine to solid state but not built like a portable stereo. When Dave said "go ahead Crank It" I thought he'd pee him self. How often does the owner of a guitar shop tell a 21 year old kid to crank it? That was about all it took, that and about a 20 minute test drive.

He looked at and oohed and ahhed over the JMCs, XXX, JSX, and Oranges but knew better than to even plug into 'em. Didn't get to test drive the Windsor, and the used XXL sold a few days earlier.

I think he's happy with the Linebacker for now it'll probably be that one he luggs around even after it's been replaced for stage duty, at least 'till he gets a better Laney.

[BackwardsBoB]

Sorry. Thought he was talking about the Windsor studio, which really is a piece of cheese.

[Steve A.]

... Ask the kid what about the Windsor appeals to him. Ask him if there is any reason NOT to want a 5150. If the answers involve what is trendy or hot or anything about being cool or getting peer approval, or because so and so from band XYZ has one, whack him upside the head. If he has actual thoughts about the tone and performance, then consider his view.

Ummm... you don't think that a 21 year old is smart enough to give his father the politically correct answer? Like when he says he is attracted to his girlfriend because he respects her opinions...

Steve

[Enzo]

Well sure, if all he wants to do is "get away with something." But I don't see this as pulling the wool over dad's eyes. If he already has dad willing to pitch in for the amp, what difference does it make the brand? And if he is looking at the PV Windsor, he is not looking at the more expensive PVs anyways.

And isn't dad smart enough by now to know when the kid is trying to snow him versus being more or less real?