Transtube vs Tube..

[DetroitBlues]

In my opinion, the Peavy Bandit Redstripe series wins over a Fender Blues Deluxe and Swart...

 

 

 

While I don't regret selling mine, I would like to find another that is fully functional.

[tulk1]

The real test is what will it do in a LIVE situation. And nearly every time, a SS amp regardless of what emulation it uses will get lost a mix. Seen it, heard it WAY too many times. Even tho' I do not care for the FBD I'd take it over a PV TT if it came down to it. Don't care who "wins" in battle of.

[golferwave]

The real test is what will it do in a LIVE situation. And nearly every time, a SS amp regardless of what emulation it uses will get lost a mix. Seen it, heard it WAY too many times. Even tho' I do not care for the FBD I'd take it over a PV TT if it came down to it. Don't care who "wins" in battle of.

 

 

Right on the money.

[DetroitBlues]

The real test is what will it do in a LIVE situation. And nearly every time, a SS amp regardless of what emulation it uses will get lost a mix. Seen it, heard it WAY too many times. Even tho' I do not care for the FBD I'd take it over a PV TT if it came down to it. Don't care who "wins" in battle of.

I used my old one in a band situation; it cut through much better than the Peavey Valveking....

 

Also Sammy used mine at PSP last year and he sounded awesome....

[JeffB]

DB, while I was doing the last stock take at my last job I found some "NOS" peavey Studio112's and Bandits, about 3 of each!! I guess they mustve been hiding up in the warehouse for about 5-6yrs. As soon as I found them I thought of you, Brian and Joseph and others here at the HOC. I wish I took pics of them and posted them here.

I know they are still there and now Im not there Im pretty certain I could go back in 5yrs and they will still be there buried deep behind and under a mountain of newer stock..... I also found NOS Godin SD bass's that had been hidden away since at least 2000!!! Im guessing earlier but they only started using computers in 2000 so thats as far back as I could track

[kzoolou]

I wonder why that is? Is it because SS amps are designed to sound good by themselves and aren't designed to sit properly in the mix when other instruments are present?

[schundog]

"Harmonic Complexity" is a term thrown around by tube purists to explain the difference. I am not qualified to explain it, but there is definitely something to it.

 

That said, I think Digital modelling (Solid State just sounds like the AM transistor radio I had as a kid) has come a very long way towards narrowing the gap. The advances have been exponential as computer technology has improved. I have had the Trans tube stuff from Peavey, Boss GT, Digitech, Line 6 Multi-Effects pedals, Fender Cyber-Twin/Cyber Champ amps, and, finally, Fender Mustang amps. Even though the Mustang series is several years old now, I am still having a lot of fun with it. These same reviewers seem to really like the amp, and have videos of them playing them out in bars. There is a very long thread on the Fender Discussion Page devoted to them, and many former "tube snobs" have had to admit that they sound damn good, alone or in a mix.

 

I brought my Mustang III to PSP this year, wondering if I would even get it out of the car; the amp backline at previous PSPs has been some amazing, high end stuff. This year, there weren't nearly as many amps out, so I plugged the Mustang in, and I dare say it got the lion's share of use all weekend. Shout out to TalismanRich for his excellent job on the soundboard/mic-ing. I think that has as much to do with it as anything, to be honest, and I think these Master Volume modellers make getting a really good tone at non ear-splitting volumes more doable.

 

Tube or Digital modelling, it really doesn't matter; I'm not able to do either of them any justice!

[Kuz]

Too many variables to judge YouTube challenges.

 

I agree with Kenny, studio tricks & different mics can make almost anything sound acceptable. Live, face to face, is the only way to compare anything.

 

And I have said before, almost anything BY ITSELF will sound good in a vacuum. You have to directly audition one to one, live, to make any comparison.

[DetroitBlues]

Any objections to Sammy this past PSP sounding fantastic?

[Kuz]

Any objections to Sammy this past PSP sounding fantastic?

Honestly, i didn't like his tone. Not trying to be a hater, but to me it was bright, thin, and biting. But that is just my opinion

[davesultra]

IMO, debating which amp tone is "superior" is a big waste of time as it's all subjective. I gigged with a teal stripe Peavey Classic Chorus (75w per side & 2 Scorpion 12" speakers) from '91-'92. Never cared for the tone all that much, kind of sterile to me. I never heard anyone in the crowd complain about the tone, just the playing. FWIW, I agree at low volumes (and alone) just about anything can sound fairly good.

[Kuz]

Agreed about the tone and the audience not caring. Most of the acts here at Disney are using POD modeler pedals straight into the board. It sounds crappy but if the audience knows the song and wants to dance or sing along they could careless how the guitarists sound.

 

We, guitarists, are the only ones that care about our guitar tones.

[TalismanRich]

I finally got a chance to listen to the videos on decent monitors, not through the junkie computer speakers and for me, the second amp in the first video sounded like the first amp in the second video. Lots of peaky midrange, pretty hard and aggressive sounding. I'm guessing but they are probably the same amp (the Peavey?) The first two amps were in the same range, but the first one was a bit more bassy than the second.

 

The problem with the 2nd comparison is that the amps sounded SO different. The last amp, B in the second video, was dialed back quite a bit from the others, and a more relaxed sound. As for the better amp? "Whatcha looking for, buddy?" Its in your taste. I don't necessarily subscribe to the notion that solid state is bad, its just different, like Coke is different from Pepsi, and a Chevy is different from an Audi.

 

I've got a Peavey Transformer with the Transtube system. It has a simulation of the Peavey Classic series amps. I also have a Classic 30. Set at the same settings, the Transformer sounds nothing like the Classic 30 to me. Both have the same speaker (Blue Marvels) so that puts it back to the electronics.

 

 

To me, this is a much better way to do a comparison (not amps in the is case but two vintage 1954 Strats).

 

[ElNumero]

Have owned several PV Transtubes over the years, still have a 90's Bandit and an Express. IMO the transtube technology, while providing "some" compression of sound when you turn the power knob down to zero and the volume knob up all the way, does NOT exhibit the "tube sag" that can only be attained with a good tube amp. I use my transtube amps for practice and I can get clean tones as well as good dirty tones using the footswitch. If I was a "gigging" guitarist, which I am not, I would NEVER use a transtube on stage, for the same reasons Kenny pointed out. And as a real world example, I played in a country/classic rock band here with a guy who never used anything except a Bandit on stage, and I cringed at his tone in the mix, it was simply way too thin sounding. And this is a guy who "could have" used a tube amp but he thought his Bandit was the bees knees, which it certainly wasn't. Now for jazz, they might be ideal!

[rwinking]

I don't know about the Peavey Transtubes but I have a lot of experience with amp modelers. I had a POD Pro XT and then moved on to the Digitech GSP1101. I do studio stuff for people and I played on an album by a young-ish band around here about ten years ago using the POD. Honestly, if you hear the album you will find the tones amazing. I also used the DIgitech quite a bit and I can get it to where you can't tell the difference between it and a tube amp. The problem for me is feel....I can feel the difference and tubes are just more expressive. And when I feel better, I play better. I use the Digitech in an FX loop and one time my tube amp went down and I was able to use the models and it saved the day. However, live use of the modelers is not the same for me at all. There is nothing like a tube amp at a loud volume blowing my hair forward.

[zguitar71]

The problem with not hearing the solid state amp in the mix is shared by some master volume tube amps designs too. The problem lies in a square wave. The volume may be super loud but when the wave is overly clipped its volume is less apparent to the ears. I switched to low watt single channel amps that I crank and on stage, they cut beautifully. I still have my Carr Slant 6v but on master side it just does not perform like the clean side cranked, it is just so loud it can only be cranked in big rooms or outside. I used it for my last three gigs and have not been happy with the master side. I used it for 13 years but never realized how much better the cranked sound of a non master amp is. Personally a transtube just does not sound good in any situation even compared to the master side of a tube amp. The tubes still have a sonic quality that cannot be met by transistors. Just imagine Sean Costello (rip) through a transtube, he would still be great player but he would not have the clarity and warmth.

[RhoadsScholar]

I am blessed to have a lot of great tube amps, and later this year, might go the Kemper route (and model my collection then sell it), but everytime I think about getting a Kemper, I fire up my Mustang V ver.2 Head and WOW

 

The fender mustang series amps (III, IV and V) with the Version 2 mods are simply amazing. I am a FANBOY of the Marshall JCM 800 (have an 84) and this past summer, we put on a show. There were 3 guitarists at any given time. 2 of the amp heads were JCM series, and my Mustang V. It held its own and a couple other guitarists played through my JCM tweaked settings on the Mustang and they were impressed. My Marshall JCM head had died the night right before the show. It cost $270 to fix the Marshall. I bought the Mustang V head used for $199. About the only thing I hate about the Mustang series amps is they are made in China and are basically disposable if something goes wrong (But boy do they sound great).