Peavey Transtube fans

I just found a new love for my same old amp. My USA red stripe 112 EFX is such an incredibly versatile amp. Between the 2 clean modes, 3 dirt modes and every effect you could want...all controlled via "programmable" footswitch...there's not much it can't do.

It was feeling stale, but after some more toying I found new love for this thing and remember why I bought it in the first place.

This model is basically the Studio Pro with effects. It has the stock Blue Marvel, but I'm wondering if it may be even better with a speaker upgrade. Ant suggestions or experience with such a change on this or a similar Peavey?

I have a red stripe Studio Pro and agree that these need better speakers. I'm using a Celestion G12H30 in mine and it sounds great. The amp has enough power to blow the speaker. So, I just don't crank it up all the way.

I have a '94 teal stripe Bandit (model just before they called it "Transtube") Solo Series. It has the original Scorpion speaker that still sounds good. I think those were underated speakers.

I don't have any experience with the Blue Marvel, but the Scorpion wouldn't be a bad replacement. I've thought if the speaker ever went, I might look at an Eminence Tonker. They say it's very compatible for the Tele sound plus rated for 150 watts. Who knows, and it's under $100, or at least they were around $90. There's going to be a breakpoint where you could have more into the speaker than you do the amp. So save your old speaker if you ever sell the amp.

I have other amps, but anytime I've taken it to a gig it's always worked. Never let me down. There's just times I don't want to lug around the Twin.

I have two transtube Bandits ('86 Bandit 65, and one of the newer Chinese Bandit 112's). I like both of them.

I kept the '86 Bandit stock, with it's original Scorpion speaker. It sounded good so I left it alone. I may get around to upgrading the OP amp chips at some point, but it's on loan to a friend right now.

The newer Chinese Bandit is probably an '08 or '09. I am not the original owner. It sounded ok with the Blue Marvel speaker, but I came across a CL deal on some Eminence Legend V128's. I put one in the Bandit and I really like it! This speaker sounds smooth and full, but the notes are still well defined. I haven't cranked it up, but it should be able to take whatever the Bandit can dish out. I can definitely recommend the Eminence V128. I believe it would suit almost any musical style.

MusicMan amps were SS preamp and tube power and were/are great amps...

I have 4 very expensive amps and they are all great. That said I play through my Peavey US made red stripe 258 EFX 70% percent of the time. It's in my computer room and that's where I play the most. I did put a 8 inch Jensen in it and that warmed it up a bit. I bought it used for $49 used and gave my girlfriend my Micro cube. Then I bought the foot pedal for $35 at M.F. and this is a fun little amp.

I just picked up a 212 Special in a trade. What a beast. It will peal paint off the walls. I believe it is rated at 130 watts at 8 ohms 200 watts at 4 ohms. Great amp.

I have a '94 teal stripe Bandit (model just before they called it "Transtube") Solo Series. It has the original Scorpion speaker that still sounds good. I think those were underated speakers.

I don't have any experience with the Blue Marvel, but the Scorpion wouldn't be a bad replacement. I've thought if the speaker ever went, I might look at an Eminence Tonker. They say it's very compatible for the Tele sound plus rated for 150 watts. Who knows, and it's under $100, or at least they were around $90. There's going to be a breakpoint where you could have more into the speaker than you do the amp. So save your old speaker if you ever sell the amp.

I have other amps, but anytime I've taken it to a gig it's always worked. Never let me down. There's just times I don't want to lug around the Twin.

+1 on the Scorpions. My teal 1991 Peavey Stereo Chorus 212 has the original Scorpions and this combo is two 135 watt amps for a total 270 watts in stereo. I've cranked it up on occasion and the clean channel stays clean while the house is shaking. I haven't come across another guitar speaker that could do that, that I'm aware of.

I've wondered too what the newer PV transtube amps would sound like with Scorpions instead of the Blue Marvels. I've heard that the Marvels sound better with the Classic tube series and the Shefields that replaced the Scorpions sound better with the transtube amps. Just hearsay. I'm thinking that the Scorpions would give you better cleans with the newer amps and might be better all the way around, if you don't mind the extra weight of the older speakers.

The newer transtubes sound absolutely killer with Eminence Tonkers.

I have a TT Studio Pro 112 (silver stripe) that is Blue Marvel equipped. To me, the tone compares very favorably to my Scorpion equipped Bandits (65 & 75). The tone is very close in warmth, a little brighter and a little less fulness than my Bandits, but it's almost 10 lbs lighter than a Bandit.

The Studio Pro I had before this was a teal stripe SP 110. I don't remember offhand which speaker it had in it, but the tone was really sweet. I gave it to my son a few years back; I gave him his choice of my amps at the time, and he chose the SP 110. Hurt a bit to give it up, but at least I still get to play through it every now and then.

I also have a teal stripe Envoy 110, and I've had two TT Envoy 110s. One was a silver stripe that I recently gave away. It had issues, and I gave it to someone who planned on fixing it up and putting it to good use. I’m not sure what the speaker was; see second pic below.

http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/1995_Peavey_Envoy_110_-_sm.jpg
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/1995_Peavey_Envoy_110_back_-_sm.jpg

The other TT Envoy 110 I actually still have, after a fashion. It’s a red stripe with the “pointy” logo, but says “Designed and Made in US.A.” on the silver strip below the front control panel. I haven’t taken pics of it (I have an old cell phone and I take lousy pictures anyway :oops:), but it has the Blue Marvel also. I bought it a little over a week ago, and gave it to my kid brother. Well, the actual deal was that I bought the amp and keep it on our family farm, so that when I travel there (370+ miles) I don’t have to bring an amp with me. But in reality, my kid brother will get the most use out of it. I basically get “visitation rights.” :wink:

As far as replacing stock speakers, I haven’t done that. Always been pretty happy with what they came with.

I love the old Scorpion speakers. I had an 80's VTX Classic 65 with 2 Scorps and a Special 150 with a Scorpion Plus. both were killer.

I might go with a Warehouse something or other for the EFX.

I have 4 very expensive amps and they are all great. That said I play through my Peavey US made red stripe 258 EFX 70% percent of the time. It's in my computer room and that's where I play the most. I did put a 8 inch Jensen in it and that warmed it up a bit. I bought it used for $49 used and gave my girlfriend my Micro cube. Then I bought the foot pedal for $35 at M.F. and this is a fun little amp.

Don't the effects sound great? For my tastes, they are all more than useable.

http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/1248/medium/Bandit_112_Teal_Sheffield.jpg
Any love for Sheffield? I like it...

I have two transtube Bandits ('86 Bandit 65, and one of the newer Chinese Bandit 112's). I like both of them.

I kept the '86 Bandit stock, with it's original Scorpion speaker. It sounded good so I left it alone. I may get around to upgrading the OP amp chips at some point, but it's on loan to a friend right now.

The newer Chinese Bandit is probably an '08 or '09. I am not the original owner. It sounded ok with the Blue Marvel speaker, but I came across a CL deal on some Eminence Legend V128's. I put one in the Bandit and I really like it! This speaker sounds smooth and full, but the notes are still well defined. I haven't cranked it up, but it should be able to take whatever the Bandit can dish out. I can definitely recommend the Eminence V128. I believe it would suit almost any musical style.

I do not think you can call that 65 Bandit a transtube The Teal Stripe Bandits which was right before the first transtube amps had some circuitry in them they claim was transtube which I think is why they sound so good but I really do not consider them a full blown transtube amp either since they do not have the controls on them the transtube amps do.

Don't the effects sound great? For my tastes, they are all more than useable.

I actually have a Xotic EP boost running through mine at all times. Makes it very Tooooobie sounding. The effects are great.

I do not think you can call that 65 Bandit a transtube The Teal Stripe Bandits which was right before the first transtube amps had some circuitry in them they claim was transtube which I think is why they sound so good but I really do not consider them a full blown transtube amp either since they do not have the controls on them the transtube amps do.

Yeah, sorry. They weren't labeled as transtube. I guess it took Peavey a few more years to come up with that label/marketing ploy/whatever. It has the gain channel and drive control that lets you dial in distortion to mimic a tube amp like the transtube models. Since they all work basically the same and do pretty much the same thing, I tend to lump them all together. My bad.

I too like the Scorpions. Trying to find one on the cheap is difficult. Can almost buy an old Bandit with the Scorpion for about the same money.

I have a Teal stripe Express 112 (stripped down 65w version of the Bandit) that had a blown speaker when I bought it. Installed the original from my Bravo. Not very good. Installed an Eminence Red White & Blues and this amp was very impressive! Had my neighbor plug in without telling him of the speaker change. He immediately wanted to know what I had done and if it was the same amp.

That speaker was slated for my Deluxe Reverb build so I installed a Fender Special Design by Eminence. It is good but not as good as the RW&B. It is a bit brighter but still very usable.

Hope this helps!

The newer transtubes sound absolutely killer with Eminence Tonkers.

You see the Red Fang and Swamp Thing always getting more press than the Tonker. With the way Eminence markets the Tonker it seems we would hear of more people using it.

If the Scorpion wasn't hanging in there, it would be my first "try". Good power rating for the Bandit, and aren't the new Bandits 100 watts.

Were the Mace and Deuce considered transtubes? I'm definitely a Deuce fan.

Were the Mace and Deuce considered transtubes? I'm definitely a Deuce fan.



1970's - The Mace and Deuce have power amp tubes, 6L6's. Hybrids with SS
preamps. Tons of headroom.

Mid 90's, Peavey came out with their SS amps that mimick tubes, called transtube technology. The teal stripped Peaveys' of early 90's had "Supersat"
as in tube saturation that was the 1st version of transtubes before calling it transtube.

1970's - The Mace and Deuce have power amp tubes, 6L6's. Hybrids with SS
preamps. Tons of headroom.

Mid 90's, Peavey came out with their SS amps that mimick tubes, called transtube technology. The teal stripped Peaveys' of early 90's had "Supersat"
as in tube saturation that was the 1st version of transtubes before calling it transtube.

I didn't realize the teal was actually "transtube technology" without stating it on the amp. I had a teal Express 112...nice enough amp...didn't dig the dirt too much though.

what is the stripe color? I have a Studio pro 112 transtube,,,,,not a clue of color stripe? how do i find this out?

The stripe color is a reference to a colored strip underneath the front control panel, and later across the bottom of the amp as well. It started with the teal stripe, as with the Studio Pro 110 below...

http://images03.olx.com.ar/ui/11/48/49/1306198869_201153949_8-Amplificador-de-guitarra-STUDIO-PRO-110-origen-USA-65-W-Reales-.jpg

...then went to a silver strip below the control panel, hence the silver stripe, as in my Envoy 110 TransTube below...

http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/500/1995_Peavey_Envoy_110_-_sm.jpg

...then to red stripe, as with the Studio Pro 112 (c. 2000) below...

http://images.craigslist.org/5Ka5F75J63M33J93Ncc497f4c52b6f3811600.jpg

i see. thanks. mine is a silver stripe studio pro 112 then. Always wondered this.

Thanks again. learned something new today!

I didn't realize the teal was actually "transtube technology" without stating it on the amp. I had a teal Express 112...nice enough amp...didn't dig the dirt too much though.


Yeah, the "supersat" OD was improved upon over a couple years before officially called "transtube".

My 91 Stereo Chorus has the supersat for the overdrive channels, and the next and final version of the Stereo Chorus also had supersat, but the distortion on the final version sounds better than the 91's, plus they added a master volume. What improved the distortion channels on mine was adding an eq pedal. Adding bottom, cutting the mids and tweaking the highs made a huge difference, making it sound close to the improved supersat found on the final version.

Among my amps I own a great Bandit 65 w/Scorpion 12", a Vypyr 15 and a couple of TT 158's: a Blazer and a Rage. The 2 little TT's sound great cranked past halfway - they deliver a great Princeton type of overdriven tone. I use them for church so that there is a good guitar tone without excessive volume to assault the congregation!

In my post above (#23), I had posted a picture of a Peavey Studio Pro 110 as an example of a teal stripe era amp. I no longer have my SP110 amp (gave it to my son) and I don't seem to have taken any pictures back when it was mine, so for that post illustrating the different color stripe Peavey amp configurations, I borrowed a pic off of the Internet. Now it's not showing up, and I don't know why. So for reference purposes, I'm going to try again with another borrowed pic.

http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/profile_mojo_data/1/3/0/4/130448/pics/_c27802_image_0.jpg

Of course, I could also illustrate the teal stripe amp configuration with a pic of a teal stripe Bandit, like this one:

http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac73/flag72/DSC06947.jpg