So I was out on building inspections yesterday, and driving around always gives me the opportunity to check out the usual places for local collection only stuff as I have a boot in which to hide it
I've not had an amp for about a year, instead using my modelling setup at home through monitors and failing repeatedly to get my spare laptop set up with vst plugins set up to do the same. I don't get to play electric in public so it's not really been a problem. I've considered getting an FRFR speaker just in case (may still get one as an extension) and have kept my eyes open for a cheap but decent normal amp, eg Laney Cub, Laney VC15, Superchamp XD, etc. But nothing quite worked out.
Saw on eBay there was a Peavey Studio Pro 112 (red stripe) listed in Nottingham, I've heard good things from ICBM and others about these previously, and considered them a decent option for a loud clean channel with some ridiculous sounds on the gain channel. A few messages exchanged, seller was hoping for £50 so I made the offer and picked it up yesterday.
Photos to follow, as it's a bit dirty at present. Needs a dust and a bit of buffing I think. It's a bit bigger than I had anticipated, but that's my fault for not checking the dimensions against my list of known dimensions of stuff. Not that heavy though.
Had a quick go last night before the better half came home. Sounds alright, prefer the Vintage clean to the Modern clean but not tried with a drive pedal yet which may change that. The drive channel was hilariously 80s sounding to me, but actually on the "Modern" setting with the mids cut and gain fully up it seemed to do a decent big muff impression which could be interesting with a bit of tweaking. This was as the very minimum volume though to be fair, sounded good though at that volume (kind of less than TV volume).
FX looop on board so I could bypass the preamp if i want. I'm not sure what the valvestate power knob is supposed to offer - I'd assumed it was an output attentuator of sorts but all it seemed to do was dull the tone at lower values so I just left it on full.
It looks hilariously brutalist, and is slightly too big for my spare room storage spot (ie it can't really be hidden), but I think it will be decent and should stop me wanting to spend big bucks on an amp. What could be interesting is if it's big enough to house my modelling preamp thing as well...
I might still get an Alto FRFR speaker at some point, to either use as an extension or whack my vocals through it, but for now it's all good, can justify £50.
Image from the Internetweb
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You've already discovered that the best setting on the T-Dynamics control is up full . I don't actually find it very useful - as you say, if you turn it down it just makes the sound progressively 'smaller' and duller as well as a bit quieter. It's actually a complex power amp negative feedback control.
I actually find the low-gain settings on the overdrive channel really good - Vintage mode, with the gain a little lower than you have there - but the Modern mode is certainly hilariously scooped and 1980s. High-Gain is meant to be more of a modern Soldano type of tone I think.
Now what you need is to find someone getting rid of a (preferably not working, it will keep the price down really low) Line 6 Flextone or similar with the Custom G12P-80 speaker - that's what I put in mine and it sounds fantastic. I wasn't expecting it to, but I happened to have a spare one and it did!
I love the slightly brutalist look - the moulded end pieces remind me of an Art Deco cinema or something.
What I really want now is a Revolution - that's the Bandit's even bigger brother, with three channels as well as the Bandit's presence control and resonance switch. And maybe a Line 6 Custom G12H-90 speaker, the bigger version of the G12P-80...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I may, at some point once I've established that it's a keeper, see if there are any visual changes I can make to it to make it a little less brutalist. Changing grill cloths looks interesting, but also see if there's any way for it to accomodate some other stuff like a DI box and a modelling preamp etc.
But basically I just want to get back to playing it, I've got a couple of albums I want to learn through at present so should be all set now.
The photo isn't mine, just generic internet picture. I need to run through the drive settings a bit more, because basically I just put it on full gain and went from there with the eq as it was quite amusingly OTT.
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I've never owned one but having plugged into various Bandits,etc, over the years they've not been disappointing used that way.
Certainly can't knock that for £50.
I have to say I really like the look of them as they are.
It's interesting that nearly everyone seems to just turn the T-Dynamics up full then .
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
Hopefully be able to give it a buff this evening to clean it and play through it done more with pedals
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They're also among the best-sounding modern amps I know of, and it's ridiculous that they're so undervalued compared to a lot of old crap that seems to be worth far more just because it has valves in and these don't.
That said I have no particular desire to see them go up in price, I'm not selling mine.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
But my modelling preamp (Digitech gsp1101) into the FX return....boom! Once I'd adjusted the output levels (as the front panel controls are seemingly completely disabled) it sounded great.
I stupidly wondered if the modelling preamp might fit inside the amp cabinet but whilst it's plenty wide enough even though the internet told me otherwise, it's obviously not deep enough with the speaker in it so that was a bit dumb on my part
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
It certainly didn't do it any other time and I could provoke easily by putting it in there.