Peavey Transtube SS - I'm a convert!

[Dobronaut]

I've seen a lot of praise here for Peavey Transtube amps, and when I saw a Teal stripe Envoy 110 for a silly price at my local Cash Converter I just couldn't resist. You folks were right as usual. What an amp! Rich, articulate, loud, responsive etc. and they are so solidly built. What superb value. Even Bandits can still be had for crazy prices in the UK. That was a couple of weeks ago, I'm now officially addicted. I don't need another amp, but a Silver stripe Studio pro 112 came up on ebay last week, and I picked it up yesterday. The 12 inch speaker adds a bit more depth to the sound, and the effects loop will be useful, but really the Envoy has everything I need, but I've got the Studio pro for those bigger gigs. Total cost for 2 gig and recording ready amps £73. Less than a decent night out!

I'm an experienced player, and I've been through the valves / SS thing, and bought a fair few of each over the years. This amp makes that debate irrelevant - it's just a very good amp. It makes me play better. One thing that surprised me, well two things, is that it seems to respond very quickly. Don't know the physics of this, but I can play fast lead passages better. The other is that I can hear more detail in delay and modulation tails and repeats. I found this very surprising.

I can't make any sense of the gain channel on either amp though. It's no big deal I'm mainly a 'clean' player anyway, and use pedals for more gain.

Does anyone know what the 'pull through' switch on the Envoy is supposed to do?

 

[stormin1155]

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a Bandit for $40. I really haven't played on it much, but it has great cleans, the reverb is pretty good, and there are some good tones in the drive channel that just need a bit of tweaking to release. ...and yes, loud! Amazing that you can get a perfectly capable gigging amp for mere pocket change! Enjoy yours!

 

[DADGAD]

The TransTube Peavey amps are great. My favorite solid state amp. Congratulations on the Envoy score! Post a pic when you can.

Mine....

 

[allesz]

Another new owner of a backstage 110 65 Watts amp. 90 Euros in mint conditions, except for scratchy pots, easily cured with some contact cleaner.

Next week I will try It at rehearsals, but now I am quite impressed by his full sound and volume.
In the past, before going to tube amps, I used Fender and Randall ss amps and remember them a little thinner sounding.

The drive channel.... I still hope It to be usefull with really low pre and high post volume, but only a proper "road" test will tell. Of course the high gain sounds can get laughable (transtube peavey seems better in this department), but crunch in the '90s was really a completely different sound from the crunch of today.

Can't wait to open it up.

 

[ecoast]

I had picked up a few bandits, then a studio pro or two, and just very recently an envoy for 65 bucks...
It's now the one I'm dragging around to rehearsal and smaller gigs...

I plug it into a 2x12 vertical cab if necessary, and it more than keeps up with a loud drummer. Works fine in my 4 piece as long as the drummer is not going crazy.

smaller, and lighter than both a bandit or studio pro, and in this instance cheaper as well... Mine is a silver stripe.

 

[LGOberean]

Congrats on scoring two nice amps! I've owned both, FWIW. You may have seen something I wrote when reading the praise for Peavey amps here on TDPRI. I've owned quite a few Peavey amps over the years, specifically: Bandit 65, Bandit 75, Studio Pro 110 teal stripe, Studio Pro 112 silver stripe TransTube, Envoy 110 red stripe TT, Envoy 110 silver stripe TT, and the very model/iteration you just scored, the Envoy 110 teal stripe.

FYI, the older iterations of the Bandit, Studio Pro and Envoy models weren't badged "TransTube" until the mid-1990s, when Peavey released them with that series name. Those first TT models were the silver stripes. So your Envoy 110 teal stripe was not called "TransTube" back in the day, although from what I've read the TransTube circuitry was largely there in the teal stripe models.

In the first pic below, my old teal stripe Envoy 110 is in front. The Studio Pro 110 I had is not in the picture (I gave it to my son). The Envoy 110 red stripe is likewise not pictured (I bought it after the pic was taken in 2010, my brother has it now).

Here's a closer look at my old teal strip Envoy 110.

You're right, the amp is loud (35 watts RMS into 8 ohms), and sturdily built, two things Peavey SS amps are known for. If you wanted to, you could line out from from the Preamp Out on the back to a mixer, and use the amp like a monitor.

Oh, and I think you mis-read the "Pull Thrash" pot as "pull through." The Post Gain knob is a push/pull pot for a "Thrash" voicing. Pulling this knob out notches the mids about 20 dB.

 

[brookdalebill]

Great stuff for cheap!

 

[tidalcast]

Peavey SS amps are great. I got through so many gigs with an older Bandit, and they were one of my favorite types of amps to tour with when I was in a band that did a lot of road dates; always reliable and never something I had to worry about breaking. Congrats on your score!

 

[jvin248]

.

Here's the secret trick for running the Bandits...

 

[GoldieLocks]

Here's the secret trick for running the Bandits...

I thought that sounded HORRIBLE> ... this is a thread i never thought I'd see. (back when all I could afford was a Peavey Bandit). There are some cheap SS Marshalls and Randalls that I didn't mind.

But enjoy!! Peavey did make a few great amps over the years. a few.

 

[mkdaws32]

I’ve had the same Peavey Bandit for 35 years - used when I got it! Never needed a day of maintenance. In that same time I’ve had an all tube half stack (digitech preamp and peavey classic power amp) a Super Reverb and a Jazz Chorus. All of them came an went except the peavey. It’s the pre-Bandit 65 50 water (before trans tube). The weak point in those old ones was the scorpion speaker. Swapped it out for an EV SRO and it was an 80s glam rock/metal monster! Took dirt boxes super well and had a pleasing mid-range bump that cut through the band well. 10 years ago I swapped the speaker out again for an eminence private jack - smooth and great classic rock sounds. I’m running it clean now with either a Zoom digital model of a plexi or an analog EXH tortion preamp in a box. I go back and forth and the Bandit sounds better than other. Hopefully it’ll give me another 35 years! Lol!