Tried out a Peavey XXL on Saturday...

[Inazone]

I hadn't tried one of these in at least a couple of years, and only then for a couple of minutes at low volumes. The last Peavey TransTube amp I owned was a Special 212, which I sold after many faithful years of use, so I was basically expecting the same amp in a head format. I know that not everyone cares for the "signature" Peavey solid state tone, but I was pretty impressed to find that the different channel voicings offer a lot of tones out of one box. I was also pleased to find that the effects loop works the way I would want, letting me get a subtle volume boost while running a delay pedal for leads. If the Valve King had a switchable loop, I'd have bought one by now, but no such luck.

I'm waiting for my replacement ART Eighty/Eighty head to arrive, but that will be going into a rack this time around. I can't justify a "dream amp" purchase this year (Koch), so I might have to go back to the shop once my tax refund arrives and snag the XXL. Not too shabby!

[Thor Von Clemson]

where did you play it?

[Sinistas]

Glad you dug it man! I wasn't much for the tone out of it, but I'm pretty particular with what I want. haha

[Racerx2k]

Yeah, those are funny: The firsttime I played one, I really liked it. NExt time, same head, and I wasn't so thrilled about it. Maybe third time's a charm. hehe.

[Inazone]

where did you play it?

The Music Go Round in Maple Grove. I was the only customer in the place, so I got to play it for quite a while. They had several cool amps in there, including a Framus (Cobra?) and one of the newer Tech 21 heads. Then I went to the new GC up the road, and was totally unimpressed with the selection. The "best" part of that trip was that it lived up to the classic GC experience everyone talks about: young kids playing Metallica songs, strategically placed so that no matter where you were in the store, you couldn't escape it!

I've been using a Peavey Dirty Dog pedal at practice lately, which is basically the TransTube Lead and Crunch channels, and it's pretty cool, but the XXL voicings are suitable for just about any style of rock or metal I would be inclined to play. If a Triple XXX would come along for the right price, I'd go for that instead, but I've already invested enough in new tubes in the past six months that I'd like to go without for a while.

[sevser]

I liked Steves ols XXL when I first heard it but it was one of those amps that only sounded good when we played in a small room at lower volume...

I got my XXX and we started jamming with a full band and Steve had to get rid of it...He got a V-Ampire and soon got rid of that! teehee...Finally did this rack set up with the 160 watt Mosvalve and Pod Pro...Just wait and see...haha...

[lerxstcat]

Ryan, what's the price if I might ask? There's a guy with 2 Bandit 112's for sale in the classifieds right now at $150 each, plus $40 for shipping. The Bandit 112 does 100 watts at 4 ohms with extension cab and has a footswitchable loop as well. Just throwing it out there...

[tommykrash]

xxl Head

For low practice volume this is pretty good. I tried playing out with this head and it always got buried in the overall volume of the band. For hard rock it just couldn't cut....My 2 cents...

[Inazone]

Ryan, what's the price if I might ask? There's a guy with 2 Bandit 112's for sale in the classifieds right now at $150 each, plus $40 for shipping. The Bandit 112 does 100 watts at 4 ohms with extension cab and has a footswitchable loop as well. Just throwing it out there...

$350, which is pretty standard it seems. Being that I would have to pay sales tax but not shipping, it all works out to a decent deal. I'm waiting for pricing on some other amps, but being able to try-and-buy locally is a plus.

[Thor Von Clemson]

They have a Cobra at MGR in Maple Grove? I'll have to check it out.

I hear ya about the GC that just opened. Its nice that they have some Peavey amps but I doubt I'll ever go there for anything but strings.

[Inazone]

I never thought buying a cheap amp would be so difficult. There have been some really good Peavey deals on eBay lately, and the local MGR stores have been getting some cool stuff in. On the other hand, I could 1) get a discount on a new one because our drummer works at the Edina GC, 2) get a discount through our entry-level Peavey endorsement if I order from the required dealer (not local) or 3) wait for Matt's Music to start carrying Peavey.

Or, being the wishy-washy bastard I am, I could flake out and get a Rocktron VH160R as mentioned in another thread, just for something totally different. All this while knowing that my replacement ART head will arrive next week.