Peavey Penta Amp

Mark Wein

Grand Poobah
Staff member
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I bought this because it was on clearance at AMS ($469 for an amp that listed originally at $1299) and we needed another amp for the studio for the students to play through without putting additional wear and tear on my personal and mostly vintage amp collection.

It is 140 watts with 4 EL34 power tubes in it. I put the master volume at about 25% and it is plenty loud for the room. Since you really aren't working the power section much at that level everything is a little stiff. I'm afraid to crank it more than half way to find out if things improve much in that department.

The "Penta" in the name comes from a 5 way rotary switch that changes the voicing of the amplifier. From the Peavey website:

Pentatone™ circuitry, this uniquely Peavey amplifier gives the guitar-playing world its take on five classic gain voicings on a single amp channel. These sounds are identified by corresponding icons and are accessible by a rotary knob. No fancy footswitches allowed, and no shimmering effects included—the Penta is for true plug & play guitar fanatics. The Penta's "Star" icon reveals a classic British plexi voicing, while the "Bull" icon produces a modified British voicing with tons of added gain and a tighter low end. The "Tree" setting is, simply put, fat and clean, while the "Mudflap Girl" setting is a super-high gain voicing with a more responsive EQ and power amp section. The "Cactus" icon lays on a thicker British voicing with a loose attack and slightly more gain.
Its a single channel amp, no reverb or effects. There is a footswitch that allows you to switch from the rotary knob voicing on the front to another identical knob on the back, so you can have two "sounds" you can switch between. I've got ours set with the back on the "Star" or clean sound and the front allows the payer to mess with the other more distored tones during a class.

The crunch tones are all pretty mediocre, but the "Bull" sound is probably the most useful rhythm crunch. I hate soloing through this amp as it it totaly stiff, fizzy and thuddy at the same time for single notes. The worst sound in the amp is "Mudflap Girl", which is thin and grainy as well as over saturated no matter where I put the gain.

I have the head running through my Silvertone cabinet with Celestion Vintage 30'as in it, which seemed to be the best match for this particular amp. 70 watt Celestions or something more modern would probably complement the tone better but I really don't feel like spending any more money on it.

The biggest "WTF" feature of this amp is the weight and the physical placement of the transformers, which are the heaviest parts of the amp. Both are on the left side of the chassis, and since the amp wieght 59 lbs when you pick it up by the handle that side of the amp dives right at the ground. Luckily this head won't be going anywhere....

Here is a shot of the back of the amp:

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I'm really not sure who they thought they were going to sell this amp to, to be honest. Its too loud and doesn't sound very good for the original price point in my opinion. At $469 it was perfect for my needs, though.

Luckily I don't have to play through it very often :embarrassed:





Features
  • 140 watts (rms) into 16, 8, or 4 ohms (switchable)
  • Four EL34 (matched) tubes and four 12AX7 tubes
  • Gain control
  • 3-band passive EQ
  • Master volume
  • Presence
  • 5 selectable EQ/gain voicings
  • Custom USA transformers
  • Ceramic tube sockets
  • Ultra high-quality components
  • Weight Packed: 63.00 lb(28.576 kg)
  • Width Packed: 13.5
  • Depth Packed: 28.87
  • Height Packed: 14
 
Your description of it makes it sound like a real turd of a deal even at $469. Can you pull 2 power tubes like in a Marshall and halve the power? If so, you'll have a new set for when it needs it without having to spring for a set. Better check though to see if you can do this with this amp or not.
 
Your description of it makes it sound like a real turd of a deal even at $469. Can you pull 2 power tubes like in a Marshall and halve the power? If so, you'll have a new set for when it needs it without having to spring for a set. Better check though to see if you can do this with this amp or not.

Its perfect for my (actually the studios) needs. Its still better than many of the students amps. Would I take it to a gig myself? Hell no.

I'll have to research pulling the power tubes, though.
 
I'm not sure I want to own a 20 year old Peavey amp.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rnpk-pKbC3g"]YouTube - PEAVEY VTM60 TUBE GUITAR AMPLIFIER[/ame]
 
Aw man, I wish I had 400 cash, I'd buy the 5150 immediately. Coming from a guy that owned one for years, that should say a lot. Im convinced now that the 5150 is the best amp ever produced for the price.
 
The craigslist post for the 5150 is gone. must have been sold.

I just bought the Valveking 212 and its good, but I'm eyeing that Peavey Classic 50 410. I like the VK because it can do more modern rock distortion, but its more power than I need. Wondering if the Classic 50 can do it all and more. Is the Classic 50 Class A or A/B
 
The craigslist post for the 5150 is gone. must have been sold.

I just bought the Valveking 212 and its good, but I'm eyeing that Peavey Classic 50 410. I like the VK because it can do more modern rock distortion, but its more power than I need. Wondering if the Classic 50 can do it all and more. Is the Classic 50 Class A or A/B

The Classic 50 will be fairly loud, too....eminence_front just sold his...to White Gold here on the forum, I think....I'm willing to bet its A/B....
 
Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's an A/B amp.

That said, I own both a Classic 30 and a Classic 50. You won't get as much gain out of a Classic as you will out of the Valveking, but it's got enough to cover up to a fairly gainy hard rock tone. Not much in the way of metal though. I've gigged both for years with no OD pedal, just using the amp's OD channel in my classic rock cover band and have never needed more gain than the amp delivers. In fact, I usually run the gain at about 3/4 of the way up, so there's more on tap than I really need.
 
I'm considering the next amp for the studio might be a Classic 30...that and maybe a Vox Night trane or Tiny Terror and I'll have everything the students need...
 
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