TS808
August 29th, 2007, 04:54 PM
I was looking for an amp for home to just noodle around with. Something inexpensive that had a pretty good tone. I already have two Valvetronix amps but kept hearing about the Transtube Bandits. I found one on ebay at a great price (new) and thought why not?
My initial reaction after playing this for an hour. Wow!!
First, for a solid state 1 x 12, the cabinet is BIG, and the amp is LOUD even at the 25% power level. Also, for a 1 x 12 solid state, this is definitely the warmest solid state I've heard yet.
The Bandit 112 has 3 settings on the dirty channel...Vintage, Modern and High Gain and I have to say that the Vintage setting seems the best for me on both the clean and dirty channels. The clean channel actually has vintage, classic, and warm settings.
The reverb is very lush and even at "1" it really can be heard. The Vintage distrortion is pretty much like an overdriven Bassman sound, but the Modern and High Gain is a little too "fizzy", brittle, and hard to control for me. It might be good for heavier rock playing and humbuckers, but I play blues and mainly use strats. This amp does respond pretty well to pick attack too for a solid state and cleans up well with lowering your volume knob.
I'd recommend this amp if you're looking for a budget-priced amp that DOES give you a tube-like tone. I'd compare it to a modeling amp in that it has a good "tube like" tone, but just doesn't get the same dynamics as tubes. I think this would be a great amp for blues and classic rock. The amp sounded great too with a TS-9 Tubescreamer and a Boss OD-3 in front. I'm going to try it with a BBE Sonic Stomp in the effects loop too to see what that does to the dynamics of the amp.
With the larger cabinet (24" W x 21" H x 11" D) this really projects. I remember the old Bandits from the 80's and they sounded alot thinner than this amp.
My only gripe is the amp doesn't come with a footswitch!!
My initial reaction after playing this for an hour. Wow!!
First, for a solid state 1 x 12, the cabinet is BIG, and the amp is LOUD even at the 25% power level. Also, for a 1 x 12 solid state, this is definitely the warmest solid state I've heard yet.
The Bandit 112 has 3 settings on the dirty channel...Vintage, Modern and High Gain and I have to say that the Vintage setting seems the best for me on both the clean and dirty channels. The clean channel actually has vintage, classic, and warm settings.
The reverb is very lush and even at "1" it really can be heard. The Vintage distrortion is pretty much like an overdriven Bassman sound, but the Modern and High Gain is a little too "fizzy", brittle, and hard to control for me. It might be good for heavier rock playing and humbuckers, but I play blues and mainly use strats. This amp does respond pretty well to pick attack too for a solid state and cleans up well with lowering your volume knob.
I'd recommend this amp if you're looking for a budget-priced amp that DOES give you a tube-like tone. I'd compare it to a modeling amp in that it has a good "tube like" tone, but just doesn't get the same dynamics as tubes. I think this would be a great amp for blues and classic rock. The amp sounded great too with a TS-9 Tubescreamer and a Boss OD-3 in front. I'm going to try it with a BBE Sonic Stomp in the effects loop too to see what that does to the dynamics of the amp.
With the larger cabinet (24" W x 21" H x 11" D) this really projects. I remember the old Bandits from the 80's and they sounded alot thinner than this amp.
My only gripe is the amp doesn't come with a footswitch!!