Peavey Vypyr tube 60 for $249: Good deal?

[axeman1]

After trading my Peavey Classic 30 for a Line6 2X12 last year.  I have intended to get another tube amp when I could justifiably afford it.  I mean justifiably because I already have way too much gear for someone with my admittedly limited ability.    

I have a Schecter Diamond Series with Seymore Duncan pick-ups that I came very comfortable playing, however I just could not smooth out the sound for the life of me with either of the Line6 amps that I have.  A guy I started playing with had the exact same Line6 amp but had an inexpensive Ibanez guitar that sounded loads better with the Line6's so I bought a cheap very similar Ibanez which does sound a lot better but I still missed playing the Schecter and missed the tube sound.

Finally decided to check around for a reasonable tube amp and found a used Vypyr on line that had just come into a local GC selling for $249.  Listened to youtube demos then ran out and picked it up.  I'm really loving the sound in my basement but can't wait to try it at the churches I play at.

How do you guys like the amp and not that it matters because $249 is not a huge amount but do you think this was a good deal?

[funkStrat_97]

I don't have any personal experience with the Vypr series, but they seem to do at least as well as any other modeling amp out there (plus the newer ones can be used for electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and even bass).  I'm curious to k now how much of a difference the tubes would make, especially on a higher wattage combo.  If it were say 20 watts or so, I could see where you could really crank it up and possibly get some power tube overdrive.

[funkStrat_97]

I don't have any personal experience with the Vypr series, but they seem to do at least as well as any other modeling amp out there (plus the newer ones can be used for electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and even bass).  I'm curious to k now how much of a difference the tubes would make, especially on a higher wattage combo.  If it were say 20 watts or so, I could see where you could really crank it up and possibly get some power tube overdrive.

Just found out that Peavey's new V.I.P. (Variable Instrument Performance) Vypyrs are designed to work for electric guitar, bass guitar, and acoustic guitar and features specific models for each type of amplifier.  Looks like a good option for those of us who play multiple instruments, but I don't know that it would serve as more than a monitor for bass because the largest model is only 100 watts.  That's a lot for most guitar applications but not enough clean headroom for bass.  You'd need PA support unless it's a small venue.  Still pretty cool though.

Vypyr V.I.P. Series

[gtrdave]

Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, will properly replicate the sound of a tube amp like a genuine tube amp will.
That said, I don't consider the Vypyr or the Line 6-Bogner amp or anything like them genuine tube amps.
They are amps with tubes, yes, but they still have a host of solid state/digital nonsense in the pre-amp section and too much modeling manipulation (heads, cabs, efx, etc...) that hinders whatever genuine tube amp tone they might have...but if you like the sounds that the amp is making, that's all that really matters.

And it's not the wattage that makes the difference in the tone of a tube amp, it's the amp design and components used....and the speaker, to a large degree. A low-watt Class A tube amp will generally be perceived as having a richer, more sensitive, 'louder' tone than a higher wattage Class A/B amp because of the amp's electronic circuit design.
It's for this reason that as I've gotten older I've moved from high-watt A/B amps to low-watt A combos.

btw: I used a Line 6 Spider II for about 10 years and I fooled a lot of people into thinking that it was another kind of amp, but I did a lot of tweaking to it and always kept the treble control down as Line 6 amps tend to err on the bright/brittle side of tone.