Opinions on the Peavey Ultra plus vs Triple xxx

[crankyrayhanky]

oh dag
I never used mine live with a band, just studio work. Never noticed either way

 

[Pentatonic Wanker]

I gigged a XXX through the early 2000's. Had both the head and the 60 watt combo. Loved them both.

XXX's have a weird upper mid range thing going on......especially on the ultra channel. Players either love or hate it.

Listen to some early 3 Doors Down ("Loser", for example) and you'll hear it very prominently.

 

[guitarbilly74]

IAlso, might get flamed for this but there was also a very slight amount of latency when changing channels on the amp via the footswitch --- yes I am serious. I used it in a band where we went from high gain to clean throughout songs and there was a delay. Enough that it was annoying. Maybe mine had a gremlin but those were my main problems with it. Ended up selling it

Yes, I've had 2 Ultra Plus. The first one didn't have the latency but the second one did.

 

[chunktone]

I used a XXX for many years, and prefer them to virtually all other Peaveys. Used it until I picked up my Framus Dragon.

 

[ultimatemetalguitartones]

So, which do you think I should go for? The 120w head or the 60w combo? I don't care about combos to be honest and the difference in price is about 30 euros - the head being more expensive.

 

[sleewell2]

i really want to try a xxx.

 

[ultimatemetalguitartones]

i really want to try a xxx.

A guy I've been chatting with has tried all of em and he swears by the ultra plus and the ultra 60/ 120. He told me that the xxx has some weird fizzy frequencies going on and that the ultra channel is too much.

 

[Rex Rocker]

Back when I had one, to me, it sounded like the Crunch channel had the same amount of gain than the Ultra channel, it was just the EQ that was voiced different in them?

And yeah, the XXX has a certain rasp in the upper-mids/treble. I think it's an amp that records beautifully, though.

 

[jabps]

Don't forget that the XXX was supposed to be Lynch's signature head. Was basically George's variant of the Ultra+ he had been working on with James Brown. Still too bad Peavey and George couldn't come to an agreement - the summer NAMM that year before launch had all kinds of promotional posters of George advertising the amp that never saw the light of day. Of course around this same period George had gotten into the Recto as well and probably some of the XXX's leanings. As always kudo's to James Brown - VTM, Ultra+, Rockmaster, Classic line of amps, 5150, 5150II, JSX etc... that's a hell of an amp lineage he developed.

 

[Kordoba]

Back when I had one, to me, it sounded like the Crunch channel had the same amount of gain than the Ultra channel, it was just the EQ that was voiced different in them?

And yeah, the XXX has a certain rasp in the upper-mids/treble. I think it's an amp that records beautifully, though.

That's how it sounds to me. I prefer the eq voicing on the crunch channel.

 

[ultimatemetalguitartones]

Several people claim that the Ultra + sounds a lot like a mark III / IV ... If I decide to get the head version, it would be interesting to AB - my blue stripe...

 

[2prog4u]

The secret to losing the "fizz" and making the tone woodier is to change the V2 slot to a 12AT7 lower gain tube. There's a very long thread on Harmony Central on all the secrets to making the XXX sound great. I did the above and it really changed the tone for the better. I have the 60 watt combo, but I run it into a VHT 4x12. I also installed KT77s in, and that also made a nice change. Plus Peavey's are notoriously biased very cold. Set the bias correctly for increased tonezzzzz

 

[Kordoba]

I also run my XXX on the EL34 setting regardless of what tubes are in it.

 

[ultimatemetalguitartones]

Gary Holt used a presonus parametric eq in front of the XXX if I am not mistaken..