David Rothon
From:
London, England
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Posted 25 Jul 2002 1:55 pm |
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| Because a heavy amp isn't an option for me (due to having to carry it up several flights of stairs to my flat), I'm thinking of taking the plunge and buying a Peavey Bandit this weekend. Can I expect to get a reasonable sound for an E9 steel out of this (bearing in mind that when I play gigs the amp is invariably miked up through the PA)? Or does anyone have any better options, similar size/weight? |
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Mike Brown
From:
Meridian, Mississippi USA
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Posted 26 Jul 2002 6:52 am
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Here are some suggestions for alternative Peavey amps;Mike Brown
Member
From: Meridian, Mississippi USA
posted 08 December 2000 04:24 PM profile send email edit
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I've been asked for several years if various non steel Peavey amps would sound good for steel guitar applications. Without having "tried them out" using a steel guitar, I am rather hesitant to recommend any amp other than a "bonified" Peavey steel for steel guitar, until I try it out myself.
I know that many players do not perform on a bandstand with a band, but rehearse using a CD or tape deck and a set of headphones. This past Saturday I took my steel guitar to what we call our demo room(actually,we call it "The Fishbowl" as it looks like a fishbowl storefront) here at Peavey that has just about every amplifier that we manufacture in it. Surprisingly, I found that there are a few low wattage Peavey amps that work very well for steel guitar at "less than stagelevel volumes". I have listed my preferences below. Feel free to check out the features of these amp on the Peavey website at "www.peavey.com"
Blazer 158-This amp surprised me as it had pretty good tone with a 8" speaker and all of the features(headphone out, CD/tape input, reverb) and 15 watts that steel players have been asking for. This one works well within reason. Here are the settings that I finally landed on for the clean channel;
Vol-5
Low-10
Mid-5
Hi-4
Rev-4
The distortion channel could be used for lap steel with no problem.
Transtube Envoy II-This amp is rated at 40 watts with a 10" speaker, external speaker jack, reverb and 3 band equalization.
Vol-5 1/2
Low-7 1/2
Mid-3
High-5
Rev-3
Note;Both MODERN and HIGH GAIN switches can be used for different EQ settings.
Same for the lead/distortion channel here; can be set for use with lap steel.
Transtube Studio Pro 112 II-I didn't like this one as much as the Envoy II, basically because of the voicing that I got from it, but it "worked", just not as good(in my opinion). Here are the settings that I came up with;
CLEAN CHANNEL
Switch at VINTAGE setting
Vol-6 at the maximum
Low-6
Mid-3
High-6
LEAD CHANNEL
Switch to MODERM setting appealed to me on this amp.
Vol-6 at the max
Pre Gain-6 1/2
Low-8 1/2
Mid-3
High-6
Post Gain-4
Note; High gain input distorted with these settings, use low gain input for steel guitar.
For tube enthusiasts, I tried the Prowler, which is a 45 watt, dual channel all tube amp. This amp has spring reverb, an external speaker jack and resonance control which helps control the floppiness of the low frequencies.
As I said, I was real excited about this "discovery" after I tried these amps out, and I don't mind recommending them for small rehearsal amps after I've tried them.
I know that this may come off sounding like as a "sales pitch", but it is not intended to be. I'm just trying to give players an idea of what amp will work for steel guitar. I have basically "blown off" this question in the past unless I had happened to try certain amps, but now I don't have a problem with this after verifying my suspiciousions.
Please understand that each steel guitar varies a bit in output level, so you may have to use the LOW GAIN input instead of the HIGH GAIN input in your situation.
I did try our KB series of keyboard amps(closed back) and a couple of our small bass amps(closed back) and they didn't appeal to me at all.
I hope that this helps players out.
Earnest Bovine
Member
From: Los Angeles CA USA
posted 08 December 2000 04:55 PM profile send email edit
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Do those Transtube amps have all the amp modeling capabilities of the Transformer amp that you had at Scotty's show in St Louis 3 months ago? I was impressed with the variety of sounds that I could get out of the Transformer 112
Hope this helps. If you would like to discuss, please contact me toll free at 1-877-732-8291. By the way, the Bandit will work fine, but the tone is not suitable for my tastes.
Mike Brown
Customer Services
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