What are peavey transtube amps supposed to sound like?

[astrozombie]

Re: What are peavey transtube amps supposed to sound like?

Yours is a red cosmetic amp. It's not bad, the cleans are nice and bouncy, but the drive channel got noticeably buzzier. I don't know if they changed the voicing, or if Peavey upped the gain, but I liked the old version's gain channel better for crunch.

They all took pedals very well, BTW.

yeah it is kind of buzzy... they used to be smooth sounding? D'OH!

that sounds like it kicks A**

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: What are peavey transtube amps supposed to sound like?

Well, not Mk IV smooth, but they were noticeably smoother.

That old gain channel kicked so much butt, in fact, that my favorite way of running those old amps was by setting up the crunch channel to be almost perfectly clean, then EQ to have good sparkle, with a nice tight bottom. The pre and post controls were set up so that if I turned up a 'bucker equipped axe up to 10, I'd get a nice, Malcolm Young-ish dirty rythm. Drive it with a pegged out TS-9, and the leads were smooth, thick, and complex.

All with a rig that you can get used for under $200. Add a nice extension cab, and you're in bid-ness yo!

 

[JeffB]

Re: What are peavey transtube amps supposed to sound like?

Yeah, as far as SS amps, go these are pretty dang good. I also agree the original Black & Silvers sound better on the gain channels. The Red were a little buzzier, and the newest (boack & silver again) are even buzzier.

Its funny, Peavey and Randall both had some really good solid state gear, and progressively over the years it's become worse than it used to be instead of better. Most likely cheaper components and tolerances.

That said, I still like the red cosmetic ones. I used to go to a shop that had the little 40W with the 10" speaker and I always ended up plugging into that if there wasn't a tube amp around I'd rather play through. I really liked that little amp, really chunky and fun to play- and I HATE 10" speakers normally.

the XXL wasn't too shabby either, but a bit more buzzy than the cheaper TT amps for some reason.

 

[Kosh Naranek]

Re: What are peavey transtube amps supposed to sound like?

I used to go see a local band whose guitarist had a Transtube combo amp. It was one of the old black & silver ones. This was in like '98. I was real impressed with that amp. The high gain tones didn't have that typical solid state grit and harshness. It really did a great impersonation of a smooth, crunchy tube distortion.

It did not sound like any classic or vintage amp. In fact, it kinda had a voice all its own. This band I used to see recorded their own CD. I don't know if the studio they recrded at didn't have any vintage guitar amps to use or they just wanted to use their own gear, but when I heard the CD, I immediately recognized the voicing of that Transtube combo on it.

If you can't afford a great tube amp, or if like even some pro guitarists you don't want to hassle with replacing tubes and rebiasing, etc, you would not be going wrong with a Peavey Trans Tube.