Peavey Classic 50 scooby mystery

[SmokingJoe]

Gidday, this is my first post here (I lurked around here some years ago but can't find my old account) so hello. I need some help with a problem I've never come across in 20 years of owning amps. I recently got asked to join another band so decided I needed an amp after playing mostly acoustic for awhile. I picked up a Peavey classic 50 dirt, dirt cheap (like the price of a boss pedal cheap) because it had some issues. I took it to Guy Benfield and he replaces a few tubes/components and gives it a general full service. I get it home plug it in and low and behold I'm kind of disappointed. It sounds harsh and anemic; it also takes pedals horribly. I'm a bit confused and just to be sure take it over to my dad's house. At his house it actually sounds quite good. My house was built in 1935 but I had the whole thing rewired a couple of years ago. I'm thinking it must be the power though because it's too big of a difference to be down to things like how the room sounds. I've tried it on different outlets with the same result I'm just wondering if anyone has come across this problem and is there a cheap fix. Cheers

[GrantB]

Just play gigs at your Dads house?


If you’re comfy with a multi meter, check the wall voltage. How did it sound at the amp fixer guys place?

[SmokingJoe]

Ha. I didn't hear it there but he said it sounded good. Ok i'll check the outlet. The wiring job I got was a couple of grand cheaper than all the other quotes I got. Maybe it was too cheap. I do notice the switches get tripped on the mains board really easy sometimes...

[calling card]

Turn up volume until harsh/anemic goes away?

[HackSaw]

Ignoramus question here, how do power conditioners work? Do they fix these types of gremlins?

[MikeC]

Just play gigs at your Dads house?


If you’re comfy with a multi meter, check the wall voltage. How did it sound at the amp fixer guys place?

What Grant said. Higher or lower mains voltage than that at your dad's (or amp fixer's) place could cause an audible issue especially if the amp is biased at one end or t'other of the bias range. You could also use a VARIAC to adjust the mains voltage to see what effect it has on the amp's tone. Or maybe the rooms are different. I'd be gob smacked if the house wiring was the cause. PS, I have a variac that I could lend you.

[sirvill]

Ha. I didn't hear it there but he said it sounded good.

Hol' up... I think you need to hear it yourself in both places before you make the call that its the power! Your Dad might just have a different opinion on what good tone is... or he used humbuckers and you have single coils, etc etc

[Zaulkin]

Ignoramus question here, how do power conditioners work? Do they fix these types of gremlins?

It depends what the issue is I think. I have heard of power conditioners fixing these sorts of issues at old bars overseas. I'd be very interested to know if a power conditioner fixes it. Saying that, for the price of a good power conditioner you could get an electrician in to fix it...

[Zaulkin]

Ha. I didn't hear it there but he said it sounded good.

Hol' up... I think you need to hear it yourself in both places before you make the call that its the power! Your Dad might just have a different opinion on what good tone is... or he used humbuckers and you have single coils, etc etc

I think he meant at the repair place?

[Reg18]

I found when I moved my amps from one side of my room
To the other it changing the sound a fair bit, i instantly didn’t like the sound as much, same mains supply just different location.

[Zaulkin]

I found when I moved my amps from one side of my room
To the other it changing the sound a fair bit, i instantly didn’t like the sound as much, same mains supply just different location.

Weird room reflections?

[Reg18]

I found when I moved my amps from one side of my room
To the other it changing the sound a fair bit, i instantly didn’t like the sound as much, same mains supply just different location.

Weird room reflections?

It’s a square room so the only difference might have been furniture locations? Not sure why, the recorded sound doesn’t seem any different though, just what my ears perceive perhaps.

[Kris]

just what my ears perceive perhaps.

To be fair, i get that simply from handing my guitar to someone else and have them play!

[Zaulkin]

just what my ears perceive perhaps.

To be fair, i get that simply from handing my guitar to someone else and have them play!

There is a horrible sound whenever my guitar is plugged in and it only goes away when I stop playing...

[sty]

Ignoramus question here, how do power conditioners work? Do they fix these types of gremlins?

It depends what the issue is I think. I have heard of power conditioners fixing these sorts of issues at old bars overseas. I'd be very interested to know if a power conditioner fixes it. Saying that, for the price of a good power conditioner you could get an electrician in to fix it...

Watching rig rundowns for the likes of Nita Strauss and AC/DC I think, they all talk about the power conditioners all getting the voltages and cycles all set to the perfect conditions for the amps, apparently if the voltage is low then the cycles (freq.) of the power can vary to try and compensate (from the power lines and line transformers or some such nonsense). In the case of AC/DC or Brian May, I think they set them very specifically to a tiny bit lower than normal voltage to get the exact sound they are used to and the best life for the valves/amps etc.

Remember that the mains voltage and 50Hz is a bit of a typical rather than guaranteed value so it could vary a fair bit depending on how far you are from your substation, the load on the substation and probably even the high voltage lines coming in. I notice I lose loads of light bulbs here in NZ compared to the UK, but LEDs seem much better than old filament lights.

So the upshot of all that is that the power problem is likely to be within tolerances but outside the control of your house, so there's a chance an Electrician could do bugger all about your power within the house. Personally if you're wiring is causing you so much shit in the actual house then you've probably got a serious problem (but I would have expected you to have discovered that by now).

BTW - I think Furman is the make of power conditioners I hear about and I suspect they're bloody expensive...