I find that building stuff (sometimes) gives me a sense of great accomplishment and satisfaction.  Other times, it makes me want to go and buy the dang thing and just be done with it.

I’ve built a few guitar cabs in my time.  All of them I’ve tolexed except for one that I covered in canvas and then painted orange.  Not one of my greatest accomplishments.

So I had recently purchased an Egnater Rebel-20 amplifier from a friend of mine in Texas and had tried to decide what kind of cab I wanted to go with it.  Egnater makes a killer amp and a really nice 12″ cab (which I will end up getting eventually) but I wanted to see what I could do on my own.  So I had a 10″ Eminence Ragin’ Cajun speaker that I recently purchased for another project and decided to build a cab around it.

The cabinet had to somehow complement the blonde/black design of the Rebel-20 so I thought what better than a nice knotty pine look.  I picked up some 3/4″ pine from the local HD and got to work.  Used blind screws throughout the interior and also hurricane nuts for the baffle and even for the jack plate.  (Reason being is that the cabinet is sealed tighter than a drum and at high sound pressure levels, standard wood screws might eventually pull).

Anyway, here’s my creation.  Not perfect by any means but after a few worship services, a few gigs, it’s gonna build some road wear and mojo.  (Still need to put a handle on it and the grill cloth, both of which will be black.)

When you find YOUR amp, things just seem right.  Thankfully I found the Laney VC30 212.

My VC30 212 was manufactured in 2006 in the UK (where I believe they are all made).

This is a very versatile amp in that you can really do a ton of different things with both the clean and drive channels.  It can serve well as both an acoustic and electric gtr amp.  I’m using mine with a Fender Stratocaster, single coils.  As well, I’m using a Line 6 M13 stomp in the front end input (non effects loop). This setup works well and the amp handles the M13 signal beautifully.

The power of this amp is more than anyone would ever need, including those who play arenas.  It’s 30 watts of class A power (meaning, there’s absolutely no tube sag… the power section is always “hot” or “on” so what you play automatically comes through as signal).  Many amps are A/B or “push pull” design which is simply a property of their specific architecture and they have a different “feel” than class A.  I particularly enjoy class A architecture because I tend to use a lot of time based effects.

Preamp section is as follows:  Valve 1 is you main input signal (and your clean channel).  Valve 2 is your drive channel and Valve 3 is the phase inverter.  All three of these valves are 12AX7’s.

Power stage is made up of EL84’s (four of them).  There’s so much power on tap that you’re going to stay clean for a long time on that normal channel.

One issue I’ve had with other valve amps in the 30 watt range has been their incredibly touchy volume control.  The Peavey Classic 30 and the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe would go from silent to loud, all within the first notch on the volume knob.  This amp has a more gradual volume control so it’s well managed.

The only issue I have with the amp is the effects loop.  It’s a parallel loop which basically means that not all of the signal is hitting the loop.  Rather, it’s taking some of the signal and applying it to the loop and the balance of the signal is directed to the speakers.  The result is that when using the 4 cable method, coupled with delay effects, there’s a phasing issue with the signal.  It’s enough to where I won’t use it.  Tus, going straight to the input (which isn’t bad at all but IMO, a parallel effects loop is a design flaw).

The VC30 212 has quite possibly the perfect tone for my needs.  There have been may who say that this amp is a “knockoff” of the Vox AC30 but I disagree.  True, it’s very similar in design and in some ways, tone, but the VC30 stands on its own.  Such a beautiful, clear full clean tone and a wonderful, gritty but not harsh drive tone.  Everywhere in between, the amp gives me a lot of variables and, coupled with headroom, there’s not a lot more I could ask for.

Standard Accutronics spring reverb that has a great range and is never mushy.  Again, useful on all counts.

I’ve been through a lot of amps recently and without question, there is nothing better than the VC30.  Again, I like a lot of clean headroom and clarity and this amp provides it but with a warmth than you can only get from a quality tube amp. 

The drivers are Celestion Seventy 80’s and are well voiced for this amp. 

After taking a look inside the chassis, I found that there is a combination of PCB and point-to-point wiring, which was a nice surprise.  The most inportant aspect of the wiring IMO, which is the valve sockets, were entirely point to point hand wired. 

The cabinet is very solid, not too heavy for a 2×12 tube combo.  Overall, I’m extremely confident that this amp is durable.  The back panel has a thick cage to protect the tubes and speakers.

As for support, I’ve found that the value of a product also sits with the support from the manufacturer.  I’ve asked questions and Laney reps in the UK have always answered within 24 hours.

These are not inexpensive amps and they’re not exactly easy to find on the used market.  However, if you can get your hands on one, it’s a worthy purchase.

If anything ever happened to it, I’d replace it with the exact same amp.  Not something I can say about a lot of other pieces of gear I’ve owned.

Joe Faraldi
http://joe.faraldi.com

As the proud owner of the new Apogee ONE converter, I got a little inspired and recorded “14th Street”.

Quick story behind the vibe here…

Growing up in the shadow of NYC, we would try to get over there as much as we could in order to simply “do the New York thing”.  So, when my friend Dave got his license at 17, we started making fairly regular trips across the bridge… just to try to get in clubs that always kicked us out, or to simply hang with the natives.

Because of the fact we didn’t really have believable I.D.’s we spent more time outside than inside.  Somehow on one of these nights we migrated downtown to the west side, over by the meat packing district and quickly found out that pretty much all of the small bodegas didn’t really give a damn about selling us beer.  So we’d ret our regular buzz going with Grolsch (with those cool ceramic bottle caps).  Two for each of us in brown paper bags and we’re golden.

Some nights, we’d hang with the prostitutes, admittedly in the hopes of… well, hey we were teenagers with beer.  It got to be that some of these girls were really cool and a couple of them would give a big smile when we’d visit.  (oh, and now we realize that some of them just HAD to be dudes.  All I can say is thank God we never found out for sure.  May have never recovered from that.)  I look back now and think we probably dodged a few bullets back then, but the experience, the environment, the sounds and the people stuck in my mind.  ”14th Street” lays down those days in music.  Enjoy.

This is an instrumental track that I recorded using my Epiphone AJ200SCE acoustic through a condenser mic into GarageBand.  The only added effect is a bit of reverb on the second guitar track.

Kind of a Latin feel.  If you’re wondering, Il Sangue means “The Blood”  Enjoy and let me know your thoughts.

Peavey Classic 30

There are a lot of things to consider when searching for a quality guitar amplifier.  Now, understand I’ve never been a so called “tube snob” but I do realize and appreciate the differences associated with solid state and tube circuits.  Even so, a manufacturer’s ability to stick a tube somewhere in the schematic doesn’t automatically result in a world-class tone.

Now, I’ve owned a couple of pretty awesome solid state amps in my time and have had great results.  Some noteworthy mentions are the Fender Frontman 212R, Peavey Bandit 65 (1984 model), Kustom Quad 200HD (head), Peavey Bandit 112 TransTube and Fender Deluxe 112 Plus (1995) model.  Each of these amps have beautiful clean tones and marginal drive tones.  In fact, I think the latter is where the solid state amps really suffer when compared to a quality tube amp.  It was at this point I decided that a tube combo was in my future.

How to choose… The Criteria

As my knowledge increased from a ton of reading, watching online and discussions with friends, I came to the realization that I needed very specific properties in order to achieve a stage and studio amp.

• Wattage:  From my experience, I needed a minimum of 15 watts.  Anything below that would force me to push the volume levels to the point of perhaps too much breakup, thus effectively taking away the clean headroom I desired.
• Speaker Size:  Absolute minimum was 10″ but even that would be a stretch.  Could I move enough air with a 10″ speaker?
• Channels:  It wasn’t a make or break but having two channels would be really nice.  It would just add to the utility of the amp.
• Effects Loop:  Again, not a make or break but with my Line 6 M13, it would be great to have that functionality.
• Budget:  $600 max.  Yep, THAT is the challenge.

So I created a short list of amps that fit those (some or all) criteria.  Here’s what I found…

• Fender Hot Rod Blues Jr.:  $599
• Fender Hot Rod Blues Jr. NOS: $649
• Fender Super Champ XD:  $299
• Peavey Classic 30:  $599
• Bugera V22: $349

So I was fortunate enough to have the store manager at Guitar Center in Independence, MO set me up with a side by side of all these amps.  I spent time with each one and each has it’s own strengths.  Here’s a brief on them…

• Fender Hot Rod Blues Jr.:  Excellent tone but a little too “boxy” for my ears.  Also, the highs were almost too high (my No.1 is a Telecaster) with single coils.  I was looking for more clean headroom out of this amp and the single channel told me that this might break up too early.  Wonderful tone… but not for me.
• Fender Hot Rod Blues Jr. NOS:  Better than the standard series but still didn’t astound me.  The Jensen driver warmed things up quite a bit but the differences were not enought to make me a buyer.
• Fender Super Champ XD:  Love the idea of this amp and I really wanted to like it.  Problem was that it’s a 10″ driver and that also made it too strong in the mid and high ranges.  Great modeling but I was looking for a straight amp.  Great price for a bedroom or studio.  Not for stage unless mic’d always.
• Bugera V22:  Excellent full tone from this amp but you really needed to crank it in order to get that driver moving.  It sounded more like a 10 watt than a 22 watt.  By itself, it would be sure to please but next to these others you could hear it’s weaknesses.  However, at $349 it’s a great deal and if that’s your budget, buy that amp.
• Peavey Classic 30 : This amp wasn’t at all expected.  In fact, I added this to the list of contenders by chance.  I was walking around the store and saw it out of the corner of my eye and figured I’d give it a shot.  (Funny how things work that way).  Well, as the story goes, it came home with me.  Here’s the details…
  • Wattage – 30TUBE watts was plenty for me and actually fit my needs even more because I like a lot of clean headroom out of an amp.  As stated before, the Fenders didn’t really give me enough clean at higher volumes.
  • Looks – Tweed is beautiful.  The grille is distinctive and classy.  Chrome chassis.  Real chicken head knobs.  Real (non-LED) jewel light and this awesome looking “cage” that protects the tubes.  (Apparently, earlier models didn’t have the cage and were subject to tube rattle.  Nice fix, Peavey)
  • Weight – This amp weighs about the same as my solid state Fender Deluxe 112 Plus which was a nice surprise.  It’s manageable and is easy to put in the back seat of my little Mazda.
  • Speaker – Blue Marvel (made by Eminence) 16ohms great frequency response
  • In’s and Out’s – Effects loop (HUGE benefit for me.  I use the Line 6 M13 effects system and I’m able to assign specific effects to either the front end of the amp or to the effects loop.  Great function.  Also, the amp has an extension speaker out which allows me to add on another 16ohm cabinet.
  • Dual Channel – Normal channel for cleans and a gain channel for dirt.  The gain channel has a pre and post gain control so I can dial in the gain I want without blasting the amp.  Also has a sweet spring reverb and a boost button.
  • Sound – Of course, this is the biggest item in the decision making process.  The Fenders sounded great in my opinion after some tweaking.  The Classic 30 made the Fenders sound thin in comparison.  If I had to illustrate it in words, it’s like the difference between shotgun gauges.  The Blues Jr. was a .410 gauge.  Effective, but pretty narrow.  The Classic 30 was a 12 gauge, sawed off.  Wide, powerful and it does the job.  The breadth of tone coming from this amp made me immediately feel confident in knowing that I can play anything through the C30, knowing it will sound great and still be the right amp for that particular job.  Wonderful bass response from that Blue Marvel.  Lovely compression from those tubes.  Confident mids that I was almost able to control through pick attack and shimmering, sparkling highs that were comfortably at home with the other frequencies.  No glass coming from this amp.  All sweet sounds, on all three pickup positions on the Telecaster I used for these tests.The gain channel was equally impressive.  From my experience with other Peavey amps, they seem to have the tradition of “if you’re gonna include a gain channel, then INCLUDE a GAIN channel”.  Meaning, there is plenty of gain if you want it.  At about 11:00 I was really crunching, pinching at 1:00.  Backed off on the gain and I got some nice clipping tones.  Also the amp responded well with rolling back the guitar volume.The boost button is interesting as well.  Like I mentioned earlier, there’s a ton of clean headroom in this amp.  If I want clean with just a hint of breakup, I hit the boost.  It’s similar to playing the clean channel with a Tubescreamer 808 in front of it, with just a little bit of drive engaged.  Real useful and sounds fantastic with my Tele’s and Strat.

So there you have it.  The Classic 30 is the hands-down winner of this comparison by a wide margin.  Plus, the fact that it’s made in Mississippi by people who not only answer the phone when you call, but also spend time with you on whatever question you have, it’s a no brainer.  The bottom line question is this:  Would you rather your amp manufacturer put their funds into marketing, or manufacturing.

God bless.
Joe Faraldi
www.faraldi.com
jfaraldi@faraldi.com