Any Love for the Peavey XXX?

Has anyone every put 6550's into one of these bad boys? I remember reading some threads over on SS.org about people experimenting with tubes and the kt77/88 and 6550 seemed to be well liked.
 
Best thing to do with a XXX is to set the mids low, (not scooped) and then boost them with an eq in loop. Do that while using a mid heavy speaker like a V30 and the amp is ready to KILL.
 
D-Rock":3am8jufz said:
Best thing to do with a XXX is to set the mids low, (not scooped) and then boost them with an eq in loop. Do that while using a mid heavy speaker like a V30 and the amp ready to KILL.
I believe this is the exact method Gary Holt used, and it sounded vicious. This is actually a cool tactic in general, but it's very effective with the XXX.
 
I am now on the lookout for a Peavey XXX, I am going to cosmetic mod it and rock it out. I am getting in a band that needs a big OD sound like Hum/Failure and I have seen them DIRT cheap around here, so let's see what happens.
 
I bought it's little brother, the XXL back when they first came out. My best bud, who played in a band with me at the time, loved my XXL but wanted a tube amp, so he got the XXX. He kind of gifted me his XXX as he doesn't play much anymore and definitely can't use it in any apartment he's had in the last 10+ years, so it stays in my studio where he can come grab it anytime he wants.

I've been meaning for the last year or so now to make a comparison vid of both the heads but from memory, the biggest difference between the two is volume. I'm also getting ready to the KT77 thing and most definitely changing up the pre-amp tubes.

Also, the 2nd channel with a Tubescreamer in front....man, I just started dicking around with that last week and the first thing I thought was "The guys on Rig-Talk would dig this....this is full on 80's!!" I do wish more time was spent getting the clean channel to be a bit more versatile, it's quite sterile. That's my only complaint about the amp. It's been a great amp to record...normally I find myself using a bit more EQ in a mix with other amps, but all I've been doing with this is dropping some low-mids a tiny bit, no other EQ has been needed for what I'm doing.

Gear.jpg
 
RevDrucifer":3bocqe2c said:
I bought it's little brother, the XXL back when they first came out. My best bud, who played in a band with me at the time, loved my XXL but wanted a tube amp, so he got the XXX. He kind of gifted me his XXX as he doesn't play much anymore and definitely can't use it in any apartment he's had in the last 10+ years, so it stays in my studio where he can come grab it anytime he wants.

I've been meaning for the last year or so now to make a comparison vid of both the heads but from memory, the biggest difference between the two is volume. I'm also getting ready to the KT77 thing and most definitely changing up the pre-amp tubes.

Also, the 2nd channel with a Tubescreamer in front....man, I just started dicking around with that last week and the first thing I thought was "The guys on Rig-Talk would dig this....this is full on 80's!!" I do wish more time was spent getting the clean channel to be a bit more versatile, it's quite sterile. That's my only complaint about the amp. It's been a great amp to record...normally I find myself using a bit more EQ in a mix with other amps, but all I've been doing with this is dropping some low-mids a tiny bit, no other EQ has been needed for what I'm doing.

I also bought one of those when it first came out, but that was during my gear flipping days so away it went for no good reason.

A couple years ago I replaced it with it's little brother, the XL. From what I remember they sound about the same, but the XL doesn't have the ohm switch and the clean/crunch share a channel IIRC. Basically a stripped down version of the XXL.
 
slaveunit":8fv66fda said:
Bad.Seed...
What are the other preamp tubes that are currently running?

Tung sol 12ax7 in v1
JJ 5751 in v2
Ruby 12ax7hg in v3
Sovetek lps in pi
 
Tronald Dump":1xmu2w8v said:
RevDrucifer":1xmu2w8v said:
I bought it's little brother, the XXL back when they first came out. My best bud, who played in a band with me at the time, loved my XXL but wanted a tube amp, so he got the XXX. He kind of gifted me his XXX as he doesn't play much anymore and definitely can't use it in any apartment he's had in the last 10+ years, so it stays in my studio where he can come grab it anytime he wants.

I've been meaning for the last year or so now to make a comparison vid of both the heads but from memory, the biggest difference between the two is volume. I'm also getting ready to the KT77 thing and most definitely changing up the pre-amp tubes.

Also, the 2nd channel with a Tubescreamer in front....man, I just started dicking around with that last week and the first thing I thought was "The guys on Rig-Talk would dig this....this is full on 80's!!" I do wish more time was spent getting the clean channel to be a bit more versatile, it's quite sterile. That's my only complaint about the amp. It's been a great amp to record...normally I find myself using a bit more EQ in a mix with other amps, but all I've been doing with this is dropping some low-mids a tiny bit, no other EQ has been needed for what I'm doing.

I also bought one of those when it first came out, but that was during my gear flipping days so away it went for no good reason.

A couple years ago I replaced it with it's little brother, the XL. From what I remember they sound about the same, but the XL doesn't have the ohm switch and the clean/crunch share a channel IIRC. Basically a stripped down version of the XXL.

Nope, it's got all 3 channels. There's an XXL right under the XXX in the giant pic (sorry, figured it'd re-size) I posted. It does indeed have an OHM switch, as well as the Tight, Medium and Loose switch. Actually, it's got reverb too, which the XXX doesn't.
th
 
RevDrucifer":kccoc5j3 said:
Tronald Dump":kccoc5j3 said:
RevDrucifer":kccoc5j3 said:
I bought it's little brother, the XXL back when they first came out. My best bud, who played in a band with me at the time, loved my XXL but wanted a tube amp, so he got the XXX. He kind of gifted me his XXX as he doesn't play much anymore and definitely can't use it in any apartment he's had in the last 10+ years, so it stays in my studio where he can come grab it anytime he wants.

I've been meaning for the last year or so now to make a comparison vid of both the heads but from memory, the biggest difference between the two is volume. I'm also getting ready to the KT77 thing and most definitely changing up the pre-amp tubes.

Also, the 2nd channel with a Tubescreamer in front....man, I just started dicking around with that last week and the first thing I thought was "The guys on Rig-Talk would dig this....this is full on 80's!!" I do wish more time was spent getting the clean channel to be a bit more versatile, it's quite sterile. That's my only complaint about the amp. It's been a great amp to record...normally I find myself using a bit more EQ in a mix with other amps, but all I've been doing with this is dropping some low-mids a tiny bit, no other EQ has been needed for what I'm doing.

I also bought one of those when it first came out, but that was during my gear flipping days so away it went for no good reason.

A couple years ago I replaced it with it's little brother, the XL. From what I remember they sound about the same, but the XL doesn't have the ohm switch and the clean/crunch share a channel IIRC. Basically a stripped down version of the XXL.

Nope, it's got all 3 channels. There's an XXL right under the XXX in the giant pic (sorry, figured it'd re-size) I posted. It does indeed have an OHM switch, as well as the Tight, Medium and Loose switch. Actually, it's got reverb too, which the XXX doesn't.
th

I was referring to this little angel, the XL Supreme:



It has a rhythm and lead channel, each with 3 modes. It has reverb and the 3 way damping switch, but no ohm switch. Two speaker outs and can be run at 8ohms minimum. The 3 way switch next to the damping switch is to reduce power.
 
Yeah I remember the XL Supreme. It had a reversible front plate. One side has that cheesey 90s tribal graphic on it lol!
 
Ι ve been offered the combo 40 watts - reverb version for 300 euros and the head version 120 watts, retubed two weeks ago with JJ kt77 premium matched and 12ax7 gold pin electro harmonix - 450 euros. Which one should I go for? Does the combo sound similar to the head? Ive read mixed reviews
 
JimmyBlind":45btqzmo said:
I had one back in the day. I had the resistors upgraded & installed JJ E34L tubes. Completely change the amp for the better.
My old one came loaded with E34L's when I bought it. I thought it sounded better with Tung Sol 6L6GC-STR's, personally. Each to his own.
 
Gary Holt used one of these in SHKM with a presonus eq in front

"Lee and I both run the JJ brand tubes. Best in the world. We each have a head with EL34's and with 6L6's. On the new record we used the el34 head with a Presonus parametric EQ. Other than that I use a gate to shut up the EQ, which I run in front of the input, not in "the loop. Crunch channel for everything but clean stuff, I don't use the ultra. One thing you may not know about the XXX is when you plug in the footswitch ther loop acts as a boost even with nothing connected to it. That's how I boost my shit, you just set the send and return where you want them, activate the loop and instant boost. Without the footswitch , the send and returns are still active, you can get more volume by turning them up. But the more you crank them, the tone gets a bit brighter, so don't go crazy. Set 'em at about two o'clock and it's all good."

They Recorded Shovel Headed Kill Machine W the XXX's and The Atrocity Exhibition A with the Engl's. they had a couple songs left over from Shovel that they used on Atrocity and the engineer couldn't tell the two tones apart playing them side by side in the studio, they sound Identical.
 
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