Peavey Classic 30 or Fender Hot Rod Deluxe?

Both amps should be plenty loud enough. The Hot Rod is probably louder than the Classic 30 as it is 40 Watts versus 30 Watts for the Peavey. I own a Hot Rod Deluxe, and believe me, it is one of the loudest amps there is, period.

For some people this is a problem, as you can only turn the HRD up to about 1 1/2 before the neighbors call the cops.

But the Classic 30 is plenty loud and used by thousands of gigging musicians.

As for tone, the Hot Rod Deluxe is known for having an excellent clean tone, one of the very best.

However, the Classic 30 is known to have a very good clean tone as well. Maybe not as good as the HRD, but close.

But the Classic 30 has a better overdrive in most people's opinion. So if you are going to use overdrive a lot, the Classic 30 is probably better.

But.... :D Neither of these amps will produce a modern grunge or metal type distortion. They will give you a Blues or Classic Rock type overdrive like you will hear on recordings of the late 60's or early 70's. This is a great tone, but you will not be able to sound like Metallica, or even Puddle of Mudd.

So, to get the modern high gain distortions, you will probably need a good distortion pedal played through the clean channel of either amp. So the Hot Rod Deluxe might have the advantage here. Because it is such a clean amp, it works very well with pedals.

You are probably more mixed up than ever. You cannot go wrong with either amp. They are both very popular.

Thank you for your kind reply.

I might get a distortion pedal but if I do, which would you recommend? Im not too knowledgeable on this so any input is welcome and helpful. Also, cost is an issue and Im not sure how much a good pedal would cost, maybe 100$?

You can get many nice distortion pedals for under $100. You can even get multi-effects pedals for under $100. That way you would get many different distortions and other effects as well like chorus, phase, flange, delay, etc....

Maybe some others will come on here and name their favorite distortion pedal.

Let us know which amp you decide on.

You know there are some other good amps in this price range as well. Traynor, Carvin, Randall, Reverend, Ampeg, and Gibson all offer tube amps around the 30-40 watt range at around this price. I would just read as many reviews as possible on each amp. Harmony Central has many amp reviews.

Check out these sound samples from the Reverend Kingsnake amp (20-60 watts, variable with a switch.) This amp has an amazing versatility of tones due to the voicing switch, from fender cleans to brit grit. The owners seem to love them like Wes loves his HRD. $700.

The Traynor YCV40 (40Watt) is a very loud amp that has Fenderesque cleans and some rocking preamp overdrive. About $550, these are much cheaper at the dealers than by mail order, by the way.

Both of these are viable options for what you're playing.

The Traynor YCV40 sounds awesome and it's right in my price range. I think that I am leaning over to that one the most right now.

The Fender HRD and the Reverend seem to be a tad bit expensive but is barely above my budget so I still might consider them.

I also heard that the Peavey Classic30 does not have a tube guard? That bothers me because the tubes seem so vulnerable without one...also I've read some reviews on it and some people were not happy with the quality of the tubes which were made in China. Definetely leaning over to the Traynor right now...I'll continue researching about these and hopefully tell you which I'll decide on :)

A tube guard may be added to the Classic 30. Here's one link for such a device Tube Guard.

I have a hotrod deluxe. THe guy in the store showed me a peavy tube amp and i think that was the one ur talking about cause i told him about the hot rod and he recommned that one. I played it. I thought to myslef this peavy is nice but i have a crate (i think like gx15). IT WASN'T SO MUCH BETTER THAT I WOIULD PAY THAT MUCH MONEY. I PLAY THAT HOT ROD. DANG IT IS SWEET. I CAN PLAY WITH THE DRUMMER WITH MASTER 1 AND 1/2 THEN NORMAL VOLUME SWITCH 1 AND 1/2 IT IS OVER DRUMS. I JOKE AROUND AND LEAVE THE MASTER 1 ADN 1/2 AND THE VOLUME ON THE AMP FORM 1 UP TO 4. PLAY AN A CHORD AND MY FRIENDS COVER THEIR EARS. THIS IS SO LOUD AND SO GOOD. I LOVE TH E CLEAN SOUND, JUST BUY A DISTORTION PEDAL

If you use your hotrod like that you might just as well have bought a solid state amp. I myself would judge an amp by its tonal qualities insetad of it's volume, and to be honest, the HRdlx ain't all that special until you start to seriously drive it. Same with the Peavey. Judging a tube amp by putting the volume near it's minimum is absolutely pointless.

Ajen im sorry i though i had mentioned the part abotu how clean it sounds im sorry. TH EHOT ROD HAS THE CLEANEST SOUND THAT IS THE REASON I BOUGHT IT AND CAUSE OF ITS WARM TONE!! I THOUGHT IU HAD MENTIOINED THAT IM SORRY!!!!!!it is sooooooo clean!!!!!!!!!so u can run pedals through it or whatever but when u want clean it is the cleanest amp i ahve ever heard