I have a classic 400 the first time I hooked it to my swr big bertha 2x 15 i punched one of the speakers so hard it perforated the circumference of the cone and ripped the wires off of it. so now i have to replace both of the 15s. I was gonna go with black widows they have three models im looking at. the 1502 and1505 both of witch handle 350 watts continuous and the 1508 witch handles 500 watts continuous. the cab runs at 4 ohms with two 8 ohm 15s. i Have been reasearching this and I was leaning towards the 1508 but have read that its not made for bass cabs the range is the same on all three 40hz to 2 khz> just wondering why the 1508 wouldnt work.
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Peavey Classic 400 - Mega Thread - Part II
- Thread starter WillPlay4Food
- Start date
I would look for full range drivers that work with your cab, and get the ones with the largest xmax.
Picked up the Classic 400 today...... WooHoo ! 
Was not to wild about the lime green grill.......... But after I got it home and got the logo on it it looks OK. The guy had it powder coated and did a good job but its still a little different.
OK, this thing had 4 original tubes (6550's) and 4 new JJ KT88's. Is that gonna work?
Was not to wild about the lime green grill.......... But after I got it home and got the logo on it it looks OK. The guy had it powder coated and did a good job but its still a little different.
OK, this thing had 4 original tubes (6550's) and 4 new JJ KT88's. Is that gonna work?
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The classic 400's are biased really cold from the factory so if they just put the 4 JJ's in, yeah it will work but for the best sound and to get the most out of the amp, a matched octet would be best but that isn't exactly cheap.
I have a completely stock classic 400 that bench tests clean @ about 370 watts with the stock tubes that aren't matched well at all and biased cold....
It is loud.....
I did modify my other classic to have dual bias adjustment and it has a octet of GE's in it but I actually never bench tested it yet....
I have a completely stock classic 400 that bench tests clean @ about 370 watts with the stock tubes that aren't matched well at all and biased cold....
It is loud.....
I did modify my other classic to have dual bias adjustment and it has a octet of GE's in it but I actually never bench tested it yet....
Its at the Dr now. I ordered another quad of JJ KT88's to replace the 4 originals. I understand that an octet would of been better but couldn't drop that cash right now. He is going to tighten up the sockets and bias with the new tubes. Cross your fingers......
I have an octet of the JJ KT-88s in my Classic and they are MUCH cleaner and bigger sounding than the Sovtek 6550s that were in it when I got it.
If big and clean is what you're after, the JJs deliver it. I love the sound of mine, but have actually been playing with the idea of putting the 6550s back in there to get some more grind.
If I do it; I'll try to post some before/after clips.
If big and clean is what you're after, the JJs deliver it. I love the sound of mine, but have actually been playing with the idea of putting the 6550s back in there to get some more grind.
If I do it; I'll try to post some before/after clips.
I vowed that I would buy a CL400 if I ever had the opportunity, and one popped up on eBay last night. 
Very eager to try 'er out - especially through my ugly beloved Aguilar DB810.
John, I may bug you for some bias pot installation help.
Very eager to try 'er out - especially through my ugly beloved Aguilar DB810.
John, I may bug you for some bias pot installation help.
I vowed that I would buy a CL400 if I ever had the opportunity, and one popped up on eBay last night.
Jealous! It will take one of these, an Ashdown 427, or a Hiwatt DR405 until I'm satisfied.
Ps - if anyone ends up wanting to sell your 400, hit me up. It's officially on my GAS list
The Classid 400 has a bias pot installed from the factory. Find the old Classic400 web site and it has the Peavey document to set bias.
I would not try to be cute and attempt to bias this with any other method, even if this means it's "cold". The transformers on this amp are no longer available from Peavey and I have heard of somebody frying a transformer thinking it needed to be biased differently. At 400 watts, there is some serious power going through the B+.
Great forum and fun thread!! I've had one of these monsters for some years now (bought used), and have a question for the members.
Is this stock? The difference between this one and the one pictured in the previous post should be immediately obvious. BTW, this is how it was when I got it -
Your Classic 400 is missing the black front panel that sits behind the steel grate. The benefit of removing the panel is that the air circulates much better around the tubes which in turn helps to dissipate the heat build up they create. When I had my Classic 400, I removed this same panel as well.
If my Classic 400 didn't weigh 93 lbs, I'd still have it today. It was one of the best sounding amps that I've ever owned.
TD
If my Classic 400 didn't weigh 93 lbs, I'd still have it today. It was one of the best sounding amps that I've ever owned.
TD
I have a Classic 400 I bought used from a friend. It sounds great but still has the coke bottles in it. Plan on replacing them soon when I have the thing gone through. One thing with this one is the crunch channel does not crunch. It is very smooth no grit at all. I don't need crazy pretube overdrive But a little grit would be nice. How do I get it back?
I have used Fender Cabronita (kind of gritty on it's own), Epiphone T-Bird Pro(active), Epiphone Jack Casady, And A Sub Ray 5 (very hot active). With the Sub Ray I can distort the pre(Sounds like crap) But no Tube Grind.
If you are looking for "tube grind" then you need to push the amp to the point of break up. Either that comes from the pre, and maybe you would prefer different tubes there. Or it comes from the power section, good luck with that.
I guess Maybe I asked things the wrong way. If you were going to retube the Classic 400 what tubes would you use in the Pre With KT88's in the output to get the Crunch Channel to do as it was intended. There is no realistic way to push the power section hard enough to get it to grind and not rearrange every molecule in your body from the pounding it will endure never mind your poor speaker cabs that will have to deal with that. As an aside what would you think of a TVX 412 with the classic 400?
If I was you, I wouldnt use KT88's. I would use 6550's. Pre tubes are going to make subtle differences in the way the pre amp behaves, but not huge. I push the amp to get my break up. If you dont want to be that loud, maybe you need a smaller amp. The 412 is fine, but stupid heavy. I would rather tote a 810tx for that weight.
This is how I run mine.
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