Peavey Windsor Head

[jacksmar]

Has anyone played the Peavey Windsor? The tube configuration is like an old Marshall with the 3 EL34s and the 4 12AX7s. I’ve not seen this in a store or seen this in a club.
Eddie’s amp was a Peavey and I was kind of curious.

My last 2 questions are: Can this amp take the JCM 900 4100 or the JTM 45Series mod?
Is the power supply reliable?

Thanks

[indeedido]

You should check out what this guy did. schematics too


Peavey Windsor Mods (http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/DougH/amp/windsor/)


Peavey Windsor Mods
Peavey Windsor Mods (100W Head)

Price paid: $400 new incl. 4x12 cabinet

It's a decent amp but needed a little work to tweak it to my tastes. It did not have enough headroom (and too much unusable gain), had an annoying "fizz" when it transitioned out of clipping, and the tone stack tuning was wacky. I decided I wanted it more "JCM800-ish" and am very happy how it turned out. It sounds fantastic, has a usable clean, responds to guitar volume dynamics, and really burns when it is cranked.

Note: I have updated this since it was first published in June 2009.

Doug Hammond 2009


Here's what I did, YMMV:

1. Increased 700 ohm screen resistors to 1k. 700 is kind of low for EL34 pentodes, and reliability-wise that was bothering me.

2. Converted 4th preamp stage to a buffer with 100k cathode resistor, and dc coupled that to the 3rd stage. This eliminates that ridiculous compression, which allows the amp to clean up and gives the preamp a much hotter output signal.

3. Removed cathode bypass cap from 3rd stage. This is a personal preference thing- for more gain, leave it in. Also reduced 3rd stage Rk to 820, similar to a JCM800. Gives it "just enough" gain for me.

4. Changed 68k slope R in tone stack to 33k. Changed 270p treble cap in tone stack to 470p. This is now pretty close to a JCM800 tone stack with a 20k instead of 25k mid pot. Now the amp sounds good and the frequencies are well balanced with the controls all set to 50%, instead of sounding fizzy and too scooped as in the stock circuit.

5. Now the amp was *very* loud and hard to manage with the master volume. So I reduced the gain of the driver stage that drives the cathodyne phase splitter. I changed the 220k plate resistor to 100k. It's still a little louder than it was stock, but this helps balance it out and helps you get control with the master volume again. With the buffer, the preamp puts out a much hotter signal (the stock 4th stage compressed the hell out of it) and you don't need so much drive from this stage.

6. Added .0033u LPF cap across plate resistor of the driver stage. This amp is kind of bright, not sure why, and the buffer makes it worse, but this takes care of that. This will also help even out the frequency response as the master volume is turned up.

7. I added a 1M grid resistor the cathodyne stage. This cleared up some ugly distortion that occurred when the master volume was turned up past 75%. Thanks to the Valve Wizard and his excellent article on making a cathodyne phase splitter "behave" in a guitar amp: cathodyne article

8. I added a 130p bright cap to the preamp volume control. With the preamp volume turned down to 4 or less, it gets a nice clean tone with a little sparkle, even with my PAFs. Yet the cap is a low enough value that fuzz pedals and the rangemaster still sound smooth, if you want to use pedals with the amp.

9. I subbed lower value coupling caps on the input of the power amp. This includes the two caps on the input/output of the texture control. This tightens up the bass nicely and cleared up a slight "mushiness" I was hearing.

For more "volume control" you can pull the 2 outside EL34 tubes, switch it to 8 ohms, and run it at 50W too. That lets you open it up a little more at a reasonable volume. However, I prefer running it at 100W and using an attenuator to regulate the speaker volume. Running at 100W adds slightly more lows, and the attenuator allows you to drive the power tubes at a reasonable volume.

This amp is real easy to work on- plenty of room in the chassis. The PCB's are well laid out- just watch the iron temp so you don't lift traces when you heat them up.

[indeedido]

Also, check out this discussion

The Whammy Bar & Grille (http://forums.peavey.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=7824)

[Nitro Express]

I have a Peavey Windsor and have had zero problems. I've opened it up and it's well built. The EQ is very different from a Marshall you have to dial your sound in and if you want classic rock, use the low input instead of the high gain input. Unlike a Marshall this amp is capable of getting Vox type tones. It sounds great with every guitar I have. It's both humbucker and single coil friendly and sounds great with classic stomp boxes.

Most people use the high input and have too much pre gain. Then they have the EQ dialed in wrong for their sound. PLAY WITH THE KNOBS! They actually do something. The people who don't like this amp don't dial in the EQ or they overdrive the preamp too much. I like mine stock.

[Nitro Express]

For practice I use more preamp gain and EQ it differently and for stage volume I hit the power section more with less preamp gain but you have to EQ it differently. Also with the high gain input your guitar won't clean up with the volume know but it with on the low gain input. The Marshall tone is in there but you have to find it by doing some experimenting.

The guy was right when he said there is lot's of room in the chassis. You could install a secret compartment to hide contraband no problem.

[kentuckyklira]

DON`T get it!

I had one, got it cheap for shits and giggles!

It sounds OK but no matter what you do, it does not clean up!

So, if you´re sure crunchy or high gain sounds are all you´ll ever need, go ahead, if not, don´t!

[jacksmar]

Thanks guys, this will be a backup amp due to tough money times. The Marshall I have now has been worked on once and in the back of my mind it may need future work. I was actually worried at my last show so this will do fine. The links were excellent.
Thanks very much.
Jay

[Nitro Express]

DON`T get it!

I had one, got it cheap for shits and giggles!

It sounds OK but no matter what you do, it does not clean up!

So, if you´re sure crunchy or high gain sounds are all you´ll ever need, go ahead, if not, don´t!

It won't clean up on the high gain channel but will on the low gain input. I never use the high gain input. You also have to use the right cab. They sound like shit through the Windsor cab but really good through a Marshall 1960. Low gain input, a good cab, and drive the power amp full class A/B. Like most Peaveys it tends to sound like shit if not EQ'ed properly.

[Nitro Express]

Thanks guys, this will be a backup amp due to tough money times. The Marshall I have now has been worked on once and in the back of my mind it may need future work. I was actually worried at my last show so this will do fine. The links were excellent.
Thanks very much.
Jay

I've tried to blow mine up and it hasn't fried yet. I even switched out the original transformers and ended up putting them back in because they sounded better than the Mercury's I put in.

[jacksmar]

Well, the amp head arrived. I played it until it gave up the 80's Marshall sound. It's really easier to dial in than I thought. This is a classic tube amp and warm sounding right out of the box. This will be a perfect backup amp.

This past weekend I used a Carvin V3 head and let me tell you........

it roared. I was so surprised. In the catalog the V3 looks like a boutique amp. It is but it can pull up the classic Marshall sound too.

My ear is trained to reference Van Halen's Marshall sound, AC\DC, Judas Priest, and of course KISS. If an amp can't capture that raw, dry gain, it isn't worth using.

By the way to knock down any noise, use and/or buy and/or steal a DECIMATOR™ NOISE REDUCTION SYSTEM. Never in my career has a pedal been so precise and exacting.

It was a very learning weekend!!!:biggrin:

[ELVIS]

It won't clean up on the high gain channel but will on the low gain input.

Why would you want a Marshall type amp to clean up ??

Get a Fender Twin or any old solid state Peavey and play clean all your life...

A Windsor does just what Peavey claims it does...and at a great price...


:elvis:

[jacksmar]

Just a quick followup: I added an old midi verb to the fx loop. It really came alive. The loop in this doesn't ruin the tone. That really surprised me.

I'm not using the BBE 462 because it works well without the BBE.

Thanks again guys.

Jay