MusicRadar

• Review

With players such as Soulfly's Max Cavalera ensconced in ads for this new head, you can bet a decent jazz tone isn't top of the agenda here. It's hardly Peavey's first attempt at a 120-watt three-channel head either. But where the 6505, for example, squeezes additional gain (courtesy of a switchable crunch option) into a pair of channels, the 3120 follows the JSX series by providing three independent channels across a feature-packed yet logically laid-out front panel.

Each channel possesses separate bass, middle, treble and volume controls, with the dirtier rhythm and lead channels additionally loaded with their own gain controls. There's no reverb, which isn't much of a concern considering the target audience, while the overall output is controlled by a master volume.

If you're too impatient in your pursuit of rock to connect the included three-way footswitch, you can flick between channels via the front-loaded three-way toggle. The remote three-way, as well as giving access to the channels, also allows you to switch the mono effects loop in and out – the rear-placed send and return jacks have their own level controls, potentially a very useful feature indeed.

Also on the rear panel, and keeping traditional features such as the speaker outs and associated impedance selector company, is a three-way slider switch. This enables you to alter the way in which the amp interacts with the speakers themselves.

Called 'damping' by Peavey, this is a more intuitive evaluation of the resonance and presence control combination of the 6505 range. Though the results are simpler to notice when hearing the amp, the three settings – tight, medium and loose – denote varying degrees of speaker coil control. There's a line output with level control too.

This is a head that's focused solely on the matter at hand – providing top quality metal tones. No-frills can sometimes be assumed – wrongly in this case – to be a derogatory phrase, but it describes the 3120 to a tee – the lack of push/pull notches, gain filters, tea-makers and so on makes a refreshing change; they often get in the way of the actual playing.

Sounds

Hear it in action in the following clips. First, here's the clean channel, with the volume at 4.5:

Now the clean channel, volume at 9:

Now the rhythm channel, gain at 7:

Finally the lead channel, with the gain at 7:

These days it seems that the division of channels into rhythm and lead is becoming unnecessary. Clean channels have obvious voicings, but the level of gain provided by the other two is very similar. You could easily play lead through the rhythm channel and vice versa, and be adequately served.