Been playing guitar for over 40 years. Mom was a classical pianist and taught me piano till the age of 14. I then grasped the perception that girls liked guitarist, yes I did - been playing guitar ever since (Stones, Zep, blues, classic rock era, etc.). Done studio and Honkytonks in several states. In my recordings and live works, I have "ALWAYS" used Marshall amps. And in the last 13 years, the TSL100/122 "HAS" been my amp of choice. This amp, for some reason, seems to get a bad rap, but this amp using Mullard tubes dialed down 12 percent is perfection. Looking back now, the few Peavey Classics that I owned, and used occasionally in the late 70's/80;s seem to be calling - gonna revisit... These days there are many British boutique amps out there, but if u are looking for a sound other than the (Marshall) sound - for the price, I don't think there's anything out there better than the Peavey. With eyes covered, I challenge anyone to determine the difference in this amp and other amps designed to deliver the "American Sound". Just an old guitarist's opinion who usually doesn't do this sort of thing..
I have the same amp except it has 4-10's and was purchased for my by my grandparents in 1969... I need to get it tuned up... It is an absolute monster... I think that it is a hybrid solid state pre-amp with 2 6L6 power tubes... Loud loud loud baby... Great amps...
Just got a 71 Vintage Classic 4/10 that’s the stuff! Tube power amp And SS preamp action. The speakers and guts are in good shape, but the tweed has been bar room smoked. Thanks for the video! I really like the old Peavey’s! Rock solid machines that sound great!
I just got one back up and running.. approximately the same vintage as yours, except with a tweed cabinet. Has a pair of ancient, but still good Celestion G12Ms. Not thrilled with the overdrive on this amp, but it is amazing clean. I bought it off of my uncle some years ago. He used it for steel guitar, so clean was his thing.
I had the late 70's early 80's version, sounded really good, when we played our student talent show through the professionals sound system, he came up and said that amp sounds awesome, mine had the 2x12 Black Widow speakers, alot of people didn't know that it was a solid state preamp with a 2 6L6 tube power section, and it had a push/pull saturation knob for even more gain and a on-board push/pull Phase FX, controllable from FS along with reverb. I wish I still had it
I've got one of these bought in 1981 mine mid 70s not sure of year 4x 10s still sounds great took to peavey factory once ( not that far to go for me at that time) had them go thru they replaced couple small things at the time but hardly nothing wrong with it love it wouldn't part with it I was in band in 81 it did it's job well and still does today for me an old man now
I got that same amp with a 69 Strat in a trade for some drywall work i did in the mid eighties, I thought it was a good amp, very clean. They are a hybrid ,electronic preamp and tube power section. Mine had the original 6L6 RCA tubes ard worked great. Like a dummy I sold it for 250 bucks when I got my Princeton. Should have kept it but I didn't need fifty watts....
I bought one of these in the late 70's. I was playing in a southern rock band, and you had to have a Peavey to do it right. Started doing the acoustic, singer/songwriter thing in the nineties and traded it for a small PA. Dumbest move I ever made, gear-wise. I finally bought a replacement a couple of years ago, a 1981 model. I became friends with the guy I bought it from, now he's wishing he had never sold it, lol. I promised I would sell it back to him if I found something that I liked better. He looked at my wife and other friends and said, "I'm never getting it back, am I?"
I'm 57. Bought one of the from my buddy in 1981. It seemed old even then. The last time I tried to turn it on, it made a puff of smoke and quit. That was probably 15 years ago. On a lark, I replaced the tubes and the blown fuse, turned it on about ten minutes ago and the thing sounds like a million bucks!!! With two 12" speakers, it's a little larger than I'd like to lug to band practice, but that sound... Now I gotta look up what I can get for it... Decisions decisions
I have a 72. It's sweet as hell. It lives on top of a xxx 412 cab. That plain clean is killer, as is the bright channel with any decent dirty pedal. Buy good pedals, use the clean channel, play decent guitars. These amps can scream, and sound sweet doing it. No joke I've ran my 72 hard. It just keeps going.
I have the very same model but from 76, haven't looked inside to check the date on the components, so I'm not positive on the date, but I have owned it since 1979. Bought it and an Ibanez Gibson les paul knock off in pawn shop for $50. Those were the days....
I had a Peavey Deuce with BW speakers about 25 years ago, bought it at a local music store used for $125.00. I sold it and have kicked myself ever since, that thing was crushing loud, switch on the phase...oh yea.
I have one in what looks like brand new condition, but even with the the pre volume turned down to 2, I have distortion. Could this be the tubes? I spoke to the only local amp repair guy around me, and he said he does not work on tube amps, I said it is a tube amp, but he disagreed becuase the preamp is S.S.
The trick is in your guitar's volume knob. Most guys leave their volume and tone pots wide open all the time. You really shouldn't do that with most tube amps. The volume knob on a guitar is really more of a "gain" control. When it's wide open it sends a very hot signal to the amp and a tube amp will distort quickly. You really don't see this on solid state amps. When I'm playing this amp I run the Master volume at ~7. I run the "Pre" at ~5. When I want clean tones I set my guitar volume knob at ~3 or 4. When it's time for a lead or crunchy rhythm I turn up until I get the tone I want. I RARELY ever turn the guitar wide open. Just no need for that. Try it and tell me what you think.
+Pete Haselden HI PETE DON'T KNOW IF OU GOT YOUR ANSWER. IVE GOT THE VTX SERIES BUT STILL THE SAME. MINE IS SS PRE AMP BUT THE 2 TUBES ARE 6L6GC. LAST YEAR I STARTED HAVING THAT SAME TROUBLE. I TALKED TO A PEAVEY TECH AND HE SAID FOR SURE MY MODEL THE VTX SERIES IF THE TUYBES GO BAD OFTEN RUIN THE TRANSISTOR DRIVER. AND THEN IF Y9OU REPLACE THE TRANSISTORS YOU MUST REP[LACE THE TUBES. ANYWAY, IF YOU CAN SOLDER ITS REALLY EASY TO FIX. REPLACE THE 2 DRIVER TRANSISTORS AND THEN THERE ARE 2 SMALLER ONES. THERE WAS ALSO A RESISTOR BURNED. OPPS DORRY I JUST NOTICED MU CAPS LOCK ON anyway, mark@markscustomguitars.com if you want ill open mine and take pictures. Ive decided its so easy im going to replace my caps etc. Its not like you se those cool hand wired amps, ours have a PCB which kinda makes it easy. Just follow along the schematic or l can send you a picture and ill mark the transistors. Then all you have to do is open the amp. Dont touch anything untilll it sits a while, after unplugged turn it on plug in a guitar cord etc drain off those caps. Not sure exactly how all i know is its enough voltage to kill you. Then you willl find the smaller power supply board. and the larger preamp board. They are plugged into each other. (youve already pulled the tubes. ) Then just unplug the boards, pull off all your knobs and unscrew and remove the nuts on the pots. Your pots are attached to the PCB. Then once everything is removed unscrew the PCB from the amp. You willl see all the components from the top but you will have to unsolder/resolder from the bottom. The actual components, Ill bet you wont have 10 bucks in it. Then forsure get a set of new tubes. Should sound like new. Hope that helps. I know this is much later but I just did the work and if it will benifit someone thats great.
I have one..sounds great...if you want it to have that in your face punch and fullness like a Fender amp of similar watts and 2 12s ...turn up the PRESENCE knob...
breeze3003 the newer VTX CLASSIC ....your older amplifier probably has good presence already. ..I just think my amplifier has a pot to either add or remove that frequency....nice amplifier you got there...
cool, i can get one for 300 bucks, think its worth it? i dont think ill do it lol! depends how it takes pedals! the speakers in it look good, its the aluminum dome ones, reminds me of the roland jazz chorus and those take pedals amazingly! Can you get it to where you are playing cleans but jus so they break up when you strum hard? how responsive is it?
"worth it" is incredibly subjective. The amp will do everything from pristine clean to raging distortion or anything in between with just a twist of your guitar's volume knob. I think I said that in the video when I recorded it several years ago. People seem to either love or hate Peavey gear. Gear snobs seem to look down on the brand. Maybe it's because their stuff was made in Mississippi. I have always loved Peavey gear because their stuff was built like a tank and was a working man's answer for quality, reliable and dependable gear that sounds great at a decent price. I bought my first Peavey gear in the early 80's. A used T-60 and a used Classic. Still have them today. Still sounds great. Both are heavy as an anvil and could probably withstand blunt force trauma. I also have a Peavey Falcon from the 80s that sounds as good as any MIM strat I've played and cost 1/2 the price. Look carefully at live music videos from the 80s and you'll probably spot those familiar silver side rails on the stage. If not, the PA was probably Peavey. The reason they're not expensive today is because so many of them are still around and working fine. Good luck with your decision. If it were me, I'd grab it in a heartbeat.
Solid State pre-amp and 2 6L6 power tubes. Makes about 50 Watts. Plenty enough power for small to medium size clubs. Not as loud though as my 60 watt Fender Deville 2X12.
I've got the exact model, but it sure as hell doesn't sound as sweet as this one. Please..(as JB would say) ...Please...please..tell me just what tubes--brand name--and other replacements--condensers, etc.--you've applied. Thanks
Glad you like it. Nothing fancy or special. JJ Tubes (I think) The trick to getting good tone is in the preamp settings. 12 o'clock or more and use your guitar's volume pot to clean it up or get it dirty.
breeze3003 Thanks, but how can I check my preamp settings?...or know if the condenser tube (the one in the metal sheath, right?) is failing? I put in a new set of matched Mesa tubes, and it just sounds dead.
Also Fender Strats and Tele's tend to always sound best with these amps..not Les Pauls and SG's with Humbuckers..they always seem abit too muddy and swamped..however..the absolute best thing that will make all these Peavy's sound more Trebly & Tight Bass bottom end..is grabbing a BBE Sonic Stomp Maximizer pedal with the setting at= "Low Contour" @ 10 and the "Process" @ anywhere from 1oclock till 4oclock oh...don't forget to bring your input volume down considerably because the BBE brings in more SPL and Tonal Clarity great for esily cutting through the mix no matter what the Bassist or Drummer ring in!!
However just as long as you use a BBE Sonic Stomp maximizer or Stereo Rack BBE Sonic Maximizer..these amps sound amazing with good Jazz Blues guitars, too!
horrible distortion. but this is SS into a tube power section. I never got that. tube preamp into SS power section makes more sense for a hybrid to me.
Got a very Mark Farner sound when you use this amps distortion. I think it best to simply just use the clean channel and add an OutSide distortion pedal like Boss DS100 or TubeScreamer
This is a single channel amp. There is no "clean" channel. Using a distortion pedal with an amp like this is really a waste. The amp distorts quite nicely with just the volume knob on your guitar. Really tube amp distortion. That's the tone that all the pedals are trying to recreate. Why not just use the real thing?
Boy who ever said its all in the volume knob of a guitar and called the volume pot a gain control is way off no offense. Im a luthier. The volume pot (if its a single coil) is a 250k variable resistor. It CUTS the signal but has nothing to do with the gain on an amp. If its a humbucker its a 500k ohm variable resistor. Either A or B type. The tone control has a ton to do with the tone on a guitar. When you roll off the volume often you are cutting some mids lows and a lot of treble. Matter of fact a lot of guys (including me) make a volume pot kit. A resistor and a 102 cap which puts the highs back in when you roll off volume. But you tell a person to do that they will lose a ton of tone. The word distortion means a lot. Theres good and bad distortion. Good tube distortion sounds creamy and chunky. Bad distortion which comes often from a bad solid state rectifier which is found now a days even in modern full tube amos, if thats bad you will get a bad sounding distortion . If the person thats playing doesn't know the difference he probably hasn't been playing long. Sorry, I dont mean to but in and be a know it all, but this is what I do. So in this case, (I hate saying I know it all) But In know a hell of a lot!. This fellow has a 74 Peavey VT series good chance hes got a few bad transistors. Cheers.
Mark Schuster he has the amp cranked so that it breaks up with the guitar volume on full but it cleans up when he cuts the volume. his demo starts with the volume rolled back resulting in clean tones and goes into overdrive when he raises the guitar volume.
I grew up with amp. I was born in '79, and my dad sold, traded, and pawned gear regularly. This is the one amp that stuck around.
B😂because it wasn't worth pawning but it sounds good so it didn't get sold 😅
Been playing guitar for over 40 years. Mom was a classical pianist and taught me piano till the age of 14. I then grasped the perception that girls liked guitarist, yes I did - been playing guitar ever since (Stones, Zep, blues, classic rock era, etc.).
Done studio and Honkytonks in several states.
In my recordings and live works, I have "ALWAYS" used Marshall amps. And in the last 13 years, the TSL100/122 "HAS" been my amp of choice. This amp, for some reason, seems to get a bad rap, but this amp using Mullard tubes dialed down 12 percent is perfection.
Looking back now, the few Peavey Classics that I owned, and used occasionally in the late 70's/80;s seem to be calling - gonna revisit...
These days there are many British boutique amps out there, but if u are looking for a sound other than the (Marshall) sound - for the price, I don't think there's anything out there better than the Peavey. With eyes covered, I challenge anyone to determine the difference in this amp and other amps designed to deliver the "American Sound".
Just an old guitarist's opinion who usually doesn't do this sort of thing..
I have the same amp except it has 4-10's and was purchased for my by my grandparents in 1969...
I need to get it tuned up...
It is an absolute monster...
I think that it is a hybrid solid state pre-amp with 2 6L6 power tubes...
Loud loud loud baby...
Great amps...
If it's a '69 year than it's probably all tube. That one's a keeper!
Just got a 71 Vintage Classic 4/10 that’s the stuff! Tube power amp And SS preamp action. The speakers and guts are in good shape, but the tweed has been bar room smoked. Thanks for the video! I really like the old Peavey’s! Rock solid machines that sound great!
I have a 1973 tweed with 4x10s since new. All original and still works great. Had to clean the potentiometers a time or two but that's it.
I just got one back up and running.. approximately the same vintage as yours, except with a tweed cabinet. Has a pair of ancient, but still good Celestion G12Ms. Not thrilled with the overdrive on this amp, but it is amazing clean. I bought it off of my uncle some years ago. He used it for steel guitar, so clean was his thing.
I had the late 70's early 80's version, sounded really good, when we played our student talent show through the professionals sound system, he came up and said that amp sounds awesome, mine had the 2x12 Black Widow speakers, alot of people didn't know that it was a solid state preamp with a 2 6L6 tube power section, and it had a push/pull saturation knob for even more gain and a on-board push/pull Phase FX, controllable from FS along with reverb. I wish I still had it
trey tolbert oh sorry, mine was the Classic VT series
I had a 78 that was SS head and came with a 1by15 cabinet. 2 channels and a blend button. It rocked with an ibanez l.p. from 77!!!
Poor man's Music Man. Killer pedal platform. Probably the most underrated amp tremolo in the business.
I've got one of these bought in 1981 mine mid 70s not sure of year 4x 10s still sounds great took to peavey factory once ( not that far to go for me at that time) had them go thru they replaced couple small things at the time but hardly nothing wrong with it love it wouldn't part with it I was in band in 81 it did it's job well and still does today for me an old man now
I got that same amp with a 69 Strat in a trade for some drywall work i did in the mid eighties, I thought it was a good amp, very clean. They are a hybrid ,electronic preamp and tube power section. Mine had the original 6L6 RCA tubes ard worked great. Like a dummy I sold it for 250 bucks when I got my Princeton. Should have kept it but I didn't need fifty watts....
Awesome, great sounding amp.
I bought one of these in the late 70's. I was playing in a southern rock band, and you had to have a Peavey to do it right. Started doing the acoustic, singer/songwriter thing in the nineties and traded it for a small PA. Dumbest move I ever made, gear-wise. I finally bought a replacement a couple of years ago, a 1981 model. I became friends with the guy I bought it from, now he's wishing he had never sold it, lol. I promised I would sell it back to him if I found something that I liked better. He looked at my wife and other friends and said, "I'm never getting it back, am I?"
Peaveys are the most reliable amps around.I still have mine since 1983
Cut the top off my Renown and boxed in the bottom and use it piggy back with a 4x12 cab now.
I'm 57. Bought one of the from my buddy in 1981. It seemed old even then. The last time I tried to turn it on, it made a puff of smoke and quit. That was probably 15 years ago. On a lark, I replaced the tubes and the blown fuse, turned it on about ten minutes ago and the thing sounds like a million bucks!!! With two 12" speakers, it's a little larger than I'd like to lug to band practice, but that sound... Now I gotta look up what I can get for it... Decisions decisions
Man! Why in the world would you even think about getting rid of a great amp that you have owned for 40 years?!?!
I have a 72. It's sweet as hell. It lives on top of a xxx 412 cab. That plain clean is killer, as is the bright channel with any decent dirty pedal. Buy good pedals, use the clean channel, play decent guitars. These amps can scream, and sound sweet doing it. No joke I've ran my 72 hard. It just keeps going.
Played one of these once. Fucking loved it.
I have the very same model but from 76, haven't looked inside to check the date on the components, so I'm not positive on the date, but I have owned it since 1979. Bought it and an Ibanez Gibson les paul knock off in pawn shop for $50. Those were the days....
I had a Peavey Deuce with BW speakers about 25 years ago, bought it at a local music store used for $125.00. I sold it and have kicked myself ever since, that thing was crushing loud, switch on the phase...oh yea.
Me too. I miss mine. With a good tube pedal distortion that thing killed!!
Looks brand new.
I got a 75', sounds great- Anyone experiment w speaker swaps ?
I want one!
Mine was the old reliable P v duce tubes
I have one in what looks like brand new condition, but even with the the pre volume turned down to 2, I have distortion. Could this be the tubes? I spoke to the only local amp repair guy around me, and he said he does not work on tube amps, I said it is a tube amp, but he disagreed becuase the preamp is S.S.
The trick is in your guitar's volume knob. Most guys leave their volume and tone pots wide open all the time. You really shouldn't do that with most tube amps. The volume knob on a guitar is really more of a "gain" control. When it's wide open it sends a very hot signal to the amp and a tube amp will distort quickly. You really don't see this on solid state amps.
When I'm playing this amp I run the Master volume at ~7. I run the "Pre" at ~5. When I want clean tones I set my guitar volume knob at ~3 or 4. When it's time for a lead or crunchy rhythm I turn up until I get the tone I want. I RARELY ever turn the guitar wide open. Just no need for that.
Try it and tell me what you think.
Thank you, I will give it a try.
+Pete Haselden HI PETE DON'T KNOW IF OU GOT YOUR ANSWER. IVE GOT THE VTX SERIES BUT STILL THE SAME. MINE IS SS PRE AMP BUT THE 2 TUBES ARE 6L6GC. LAST YEAR I STARTED HAVING THAT SAME TROUBLE. I TALKED TO A PEAVEY TECH AND HE SAID FOR SURE MY MODEL THE VTX SERIES IF THE TUYBES GO BAD OFTEN RUIN THE TRANSISTOR DRIVER. AND THEN IF Y9OU REPLACE THE TRANSISTORS YOU MUST REP[LACE THE TUBES. ANYWAY, IF YOU CAN SOLDER ITS REALLY EASY TO FIX. REPLACE THE 2 DRIVER TRANSISTORS AND THEN THERE ARE 2 SMALLER ONES. THERE WAS ALSO A RESISTOR BURNED. OPPS DORRY I JUST NOTICED MU CAPS LOCK ON anyway, mark@markscustomguitars.com if you want ill open mine and take pictures. Ive decided its so easy im going to replace my caps etc. Its not like you se those cool hand wired amps, ours have a PCB which kinda makes it easy. Just follow along the schematic or l can send you a picture and ill mark the transistors. Then all you have to do is open the amp. Dont touch anything untilll it sits a while, after unplugged turn it on plug in a guitar cord etc drain off those caps. Not sure exactly how all i know is its enough voltage to kill you. Then you willl find the smaller power supply board. and the larger preamp board. They are plugged into each other. (youve already pulled the tubes. ) Then just unplug the boards, pull off all your knobs and unscrew and remove the nuts on the pots. Your pots are attached to the PCB. Then once everything is removed unscrew the PCB from the amp. You willl see all the components from the top but you will have to unsolder/resolder from the bottom. The actual components, Ill bet you wont have 10 bucks in it. Then forsure get a set of new tubes. Should sound like new. Hope that helps. I know this is much later but I just did the work and if it will benifit someone thats great.
hook it up to a boss me 50 pedal and turn on overdrive 2 switch and you will will hear massive power like a 5150 amp
I have one..sounds great...if you want it to have that in your face punch and fullness like a Fender amp of similar watts and 2 12s ...turn up the PRESENCE knob...
No presence control on this amp. You must have something different.
breeze3003 the newer VTX CLASSIC ....your older amplifier probably has good presence already. ..I just think my amplifier has a pot to either add or remove that frequency....nice amplifier you got there...
i'm looking at one of these, do they get very bright? I like to use a really trebly jangly sort of tone
The bright input and your bridge pickup should do the trick
alright man, thanks!
cool, i can get one for 300 bucks, think its worth it? i dont think ill do it lol! depends how it takes pedals! the speakers in it look good, its the aluminum dome ones, reminds me of the roland jazz chorus and those take pedals amazingly! Can you get it to where you are playing cleans but jus so they break up when you strum hard? how responsive is it?
"worth it" is incredibly subjective. The amp will do everything from pristine clean to raging distortion or anything in between with just a twist of your guitar's volume knob. I think I said that in the video when I recorded it several years ago. People seem to either love or hate Peavey gear. Gear snobs seem to look down on the brand. Maybe it's because their stuff was made in Mississippi. I have always loved Peavey gear because their stuff was built like a tank and was a working man's answer for quality, reliable and dependable gear that sounds great at a decent price.
I bought my first Peavey gear in the early 80's. A used T-60 and a used Classic. Still have them today. Still sounds great. Both are heavy as an anvil and could probably withstand blunt force trauma. I also have a Peavey Falcon from the 80s that sounds as good as any MIM strat I've played and cost 1/2 the price.
Look carefully at live music videos from the 80s and you'll probably spot those familiar silver side rails on the stage. If not, the PA was probably Peavey. The reason they're not expensive today is because so many of them are still around and working fine.
Good luck with your decision. If it were me, I'd grab it in a heartbeat.
I wouldnt call it raging distortion lol! but thanks for the feedback!
So, it's been three months, did you buy it?
I got this amp for $20. It just needs speakers, any recommendations?
WGS ET65
Thanks, I'll give them a look.
@@breeze3003
how many tubes are in this thing?
Solid State pre-amp and 2 6L6 power tubes. Makes about 50 Watts. Plenty enough power for small to medium size clubs. Not as loud though as my 60 watt Fender Deville 2X12.
I've got the exact model, but it sure as hell doesn't sound as sweet as this one. Please..(as JB would say) ...Please...please..tell me just what tubes--brand name--and other replacements--condensers, etc.--you've applied. Thanks
Glad you like it.
Nothing fancy or special. JJ Tubes (I think)
The trick to getting good tone is in the preamp settings. 12 o'clock or more and use your guitar's volume pot to clean it up or get it dirty.
breeze3003 Thanks, but how can I check my preamp settings?...or know if the condenser tube (the one in the metal sheath, right?) is failing? I put in a new set of matched Mesa tubes, and it just sounds dead.
Also Fender Strats and Tele's tend to always sound best with these amps..not Les Pauls and SG's with Humbuckers..they always seem abit too muddy and swamped..however..the absolute best thing that will make all these Peavy's sound more Trebly & Tight Bass bottom end..is grabbing a BBE Sonic Stomp Maximizer pedal with the setting at= "Low Contour" @ 10 and the "Process" @ anywhere from 1oclock till 4oclock oh...don't forget to bring your input volume down considerably because the BBE brings in more SPL and Tonal Clarity great for esily cutting through the mix no matter what the Bassist or Drummer ring in!!
However just as long as you use a BBE Sonic Stomp maximizer or Stereo Rack BBE Sonic Maximizer..these amps sound amazing with good Jazz Blues guitars, too!
horrible distortion. but this is SS into a tube power section. I never got that. tube preamp into SS power section makes more sense for a hybrid to me.
That's the Legend amp.
Got a very Mark Farner sound when you use this amps distortion. I think it best to simply just use the clean channel and add an OutSide distortion pedal like Boss DS100 or TubeScreamer
This is a single channel amp. There is no "clean" channel. Using a distortion pedal with an amp like this is really a waste. The amp distorts quite nicely with just the volume knob on your guitar. Really tube amp distortion. That's the tone that all the pedals are trying to recreate. Why not just use the real thing?
The amp in this picture has only 1 12" speaker..
Eddie Wixson Sorry Sir, you’re mistaken. It’s a 2 x 12 amp.
I did not know a guitar amplifier could have its condensers replaced
you can reverse wire a speaker to act like a bigass condenser microphone. is your mind blown yey?
steve mitchell Some people refer to them as “filter caps”. Same thing.
Raging distortion? No. Buzzy distortion? Why, yes!
Boy who ever said its all in the volume knob of a guitar and called the volume pot a gain control is way off no offense. Im a luthier. The volume pot (if its a single coil) is a 250k variable resistor. It CUTS the signal but has nothing to do with the gain on an amp. If its a humbucker its a 500k ohm variable resistor. Either A or B type. The tone control has a ton to do with the tone on a guitar. When you roll off the volume often you are cutting some mids lows and a lot of treble. Matter of fact a lot of guys (including me) make a volume pot kit. A resistor and a 102 cap which puts the highs back in when you roll off volume. But you tell a person to do that they will lose a ton of tone. The word distortion means a lot. Theres good and bad distortion. Good tube distortion sounds creamy and chunky. Bad distortion which comes often from a bad solid state rectifier which is found now a days even in modern full tube amos, if thats bad you will get a bad sounding distortion . If the person thats playing doesn't know the difference he probably hasn't been playing long. Sorry, I dont mean to but in and be a know it all, but this is what I do. So in this case, (I hate saying I know it all) But In know a hell of a lot!. This fellow has a 74 Peavey VT series good chance hes got a few bad transistors. Cheers.
Mark Schuster he has the amp cranked so that it breaks up with the guitar volume on full but it cleans up when he cuts the volume. his demo starts with the volume rolled back resulting in clean tones and goes into overdrive
when he raises the guitar volume.
It's not class A but that is ok.
Your guitar is to low amplitude....