Interesting history of the Solid State Amps: Peavey Transtube amplifier technology

GuyBoden

 Interesting history of the Solid State Amps: Not only Peavey Transtube amplifier technology

http://peavey.com/support/technotes/hartley/chapter_3.pdf

ICBM

Very interesting, and as far as I know 100% correct… apart from one little detail which to be fair is not about one of his own products - he describes the Tube Screamer as using asymmetrical clipping - it doesn't, it's symmetrical. It's the Boss OD-1 (and later SD-1) which use asymmetrical clipping and which Maxon/Ibanez didn't copy when they copied the OD-1, in order to get around Roland's patent on it.

Obviously there is a *little* bit of bias towards the Transtube amps at the end too, but it's understandable and I think mostly justifiable.

I've never really understood the reputation Peavey has for "cheap" gear, and not really being taken seriously by a lot of musicians - almost all their stuff is very well-made (much better than a lot of higher-market gear in fact), extremely reliable and usually pretty good-sounding, as well as being great value for money.

JayGee

My first memory of Peavey gear is of walls of it behind Lynyrd Skynyrd in the mid '70s and subsequently, (and not co-incidentally) the Classic 2x12"[1] combo owned by the other guitarist in the band I was I at the time - also my first eposure to footswitch controlled multi-channel guitar amps. As such I've never had any difficulty at all taking Peavey kit seriously as proper grown-up, professional standard stuff...

[1] He really wanted a Mace but fortunately for the rest of us couldn't afford it. :-)

martinw

He certainly doesn't skimp on the "QUOTATION MARKS".

GuyBoden

Yeah, the old 1990's bandits/transtube models are great amps, I don't know about the newer made in China stuff, who knows the China stuff might be better.

ICBM

GuyBoden said:

Yeah, the old 1990's bandits/transtube models are great amps, I don't know about the newer made in China stuff, who knows the China stuff might be better.

No, its not quite as well-made, although I think it sounds pretty much the same. I've seen a couple with overheated/unsoldered power resistors.

GuyBoden

Do you happen to know the loudest older model transtube amp Peavey made, because the Bandit can be a bit underpowered in some band situations.

ICBM

GuyBoden said:

Do you happen to know the loudest older model transtube amp Peavey made, because the Bandit can be a bit underpowered in some band situations.

Special 212.

Sadly they stopped making the really high-power models for this series though… theres nothing quite like the Renown or the Stereo Chorus.

GuyBoden

ICBM said:

GuyBoden said:

Do you happen to know the loudest older model transtube amp Peavey made, because the Bandit can be a bit underpowered in some band situations.

Special 212.

Sadly they stopped making the really high-power models for this series though… theres nothing quite like the Renown or the Stereo Chorus.

Thanks for the good info, I don't think I've ever seen a 2x12 Peavey special, maybe a 1x12.

BigMonka

Thanks for posting that, it's an interesting read (I'm only half way through but apparently I'm supposed to do some work when at work!).

One thing I noted was him saying that it's a myth that transistors have a harder/straighter clip than tubes - I was under the impression that there is a softer clipping on tubes which is much more aurally pleasing. If it is just the output transformer that causes the rounding o the distorted waveform then why aren't they used in more solid state amps?

ICBM

GuyBoden said:

Thanks for the good info, I don't think I've ever seen a 2x12 Peavey special, maybe a 1x12.

The pre-Transtube ones were all 1x12"s as far as I know, and were essentially a higher-power Bandit - 120W or 130W depending on which version. They seem to have re-launched it as a 2x12" to replace the Renown (210W by that point!), then it became essentially a twin-speaker Bandit, although I think it develops all the power (100W) into the two speakers, whereas the Bandit doesn't unless it's running an extension cab.

How much practical difference it makes to the volume, I'm not sure. You'd probably be as well to get a really efficient speaker for the Bandit - a Black Widow, EVM or Celestion Sidewinder most likely, all those are over 100dB and will take the power. A 4-ohm Black Widow would be the most effective (I don't think they made the other two in 4-ohm) although for safety you would need to disconnect the extension cab socket.

My old 120W Special with a 4-ohm BW is astoundingly loud, it beats my Marshall Mosfet 100 with an 8-ohm Sidewinder by about 1dB .

GuyBoden

ICBM said:

GuyBoden said:

Thanks for the good info, I don't think I've ever seen a 2x12 Peavey special, maybe a 1x12.

The pre-Transtube ones were all 1x12"s as far as I know, and were essentially a higher-power Bandit - 120W or 130W depending on which version. They seem to have re-launched it as a 2x12" to replace the Renown (210W by that point!), then it became essentially a twin-speaker Bandit, although I think it develops all the power (100W) into the two speakers, whereas the Bandit doesn't unless it's running an extension cab.

How much practical difference it makes to the volume, I'm not sure. You'd probably be as well to get a really efficient speaker for the Bandit - a Black Widow, EVM or Celestion Sidewinder most likely, all those are over 100dB and will take the power. A 4-ohm Black Widow would be the most effective (I don't think they made the other two in 4-ohm) although for safety you would need to disconnect the extension cab socket.

My old 120W Special with a 4-ohm BW is astoundingly loud, it beats my Marshall Mosfet 100 with an 8-ohm Sidewinder by about 1dB .

Thanks, that's good to know.

ICBM

Since I forgot to mention it, beware of Eminence's quote dB figures - they're all over-optimistic by about 3dB compared to the three speakers I mentioned. The "103dB" ones are no louder than a 100dB Celestion.

The Sidewinder is the loudest speaker I know of at a genuine 102 or 103dB, depending on the model - make sure you get the guitar one (T3771). They're not that rare or expensive, and they're lighter than the other two so probably your best choice.

Grumpyrocker

I had a Peavey Vypyr modelling amp a few years ago. It sounded really good - and I think that was mostly down to it not being entirely digital. It had analogue transtube circuity in too and it seems a really good hybrid of two none-valve technologies working together. I'd be tempted to buy into this technology again if Peavey didn't package it into such silly Batman style amps.