Re: Peavey Transtube Bandit II
It is a solid state amp. The circuitry is designed to mimic tube compression. This amp does a decent job of it for the money. I don't think you can do better in this price range. And it has 80W of power output. The new Bandit has some really cool features that are not on my 112S, but I use an amp so seldom that I cannot justify the upgrade. However, when I do hook up the Bandit, I am amazed at what the little fellow can do.
You'll likely get some responses from the "tube snob" crowd. I'll concede some points to them; but the Bandit is a great bang for the buck. The real question is "what do you want from an amplifier?" If you are determined to get a good tube amp sound, then get a tube amp. If you need a workhorse amp that can give you good sounds without breaking the bank, go for the Bandit.
Aside: My brother in law is a self-proclaimed tube snob. But his XXX is on the blink, and he wanted something to play through until he got the XXX back from Peavey (it's a long story). He found a used Bandit 112S for a ridiculously cheap price, and he was really amazed at what it could do.
