Is a Peavey "Red Stripe" Bandit good enough

Charley Bond · From: Inola, OK, USA

for playing around the house 30x 30 x 9 room.

Plenty of volume, but not a great Steel Guitar sounding amp... Got any ideas how to setup...
_________________
Steel Guitar players are members of a Special Family

Stephen Williams · From: from Wales now in Berkeley,Ca, USA

put a 15" speaker in it

Charley Bond · From: Inola, OK, USA

how will a 15 inch amp help the sound..? I'd like to keep the Bandit, it's a good size & I'm not going to be playing it out, but would like a better sound.

I'm playing through a BOSS EQ now...
_________________
Steel Guitar players are members of a Special Family

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

If you are satisfied with the sound, then yes, it's good enough. Nobody else s' opinion matters.
_________________
Please visit my web site and Soundcloud page and listen to the music posted there.
http://www.mikeperlowin.com http://soundcloud.com/mike-perlowin

Charley Bond · From: Inola, OK, USA

The Peavey bandit is only OKay, it is light enough to move, but I never move it. It is loud enough for the room, but I don't need loud. But I do like some county sound with some good mids. Even the EQ didn't work well enough to calm the bright sound.

It has the 12 Sheffield 1230 speaker, it is the 2000-2004 Peavey Red Stripe Guitar, made & designed in the USA.

If I had to, I could live with the guitar sound, but I really want a Steel Guitar Sound.

I just need some help from my Steel Guitar Family...
_________________
Steel Guitar players are members of a Special Family

David Nugent · From: Gum Spring, Va.

I would replace the speaker. There seems to be a difference of opinion regarding the Eminence 'Cannabis Rex', but I find it to be an inexpensive replacement that provides a definite improvement in tone (for steel guitar applications) in most low wattage amps.

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

Well, if you're not satisfied, then it's not good enough. It's your decision, and apparently, you've decided.

There are a lot of amps you might find more to your liking. Are you near a store where you can try some of them out?
_________________
Please visit my web site and Soundcloud page and listen to the music posted there.
http://www.mikeperlowin.com http://soundcloud.com/mike-perlowin

Tony Oresteen · From: Georgia, USA

The 1230 speaker is a weak link in the Bandit for any style music. I replaced mine with Weber Blue Dogs for rock. For country try a Weber Silver Bell.

Only use the clean channel.

Sounds like your best bet would be to sell the Bandit and buy Peavey Nashville 112.
_________________
Tony
Newnan, GA

Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster T8 black
PedalMaster D8

Steven Paris · From: Los Angeles

Another PV with the old RC4558s......
If you're handy with electronics, an upgrade would surely be replacing those 4558s with OPA2134s and replacing all the signal path caps with polypropylene ones.
_________________
Emmons & Peavey

Dan Kimpel · From: Pewaukee, Wisconsin, USA

I think this gentleman is looking for help getting this amp to sound better on the steel, like maybe EQ settings or something.

Stephen Williams · From: from Wales now in Berkeley,Ca, USA

I put a 15" in mine and it improved the sound a lot

Jay Friedrich · From: Dallas, TX

Interesting that this thread just came up. I just started getting back into steel after taking ten years off.

I have an older Session 500, but didn't feel like digging it out, and I already had a silver stripe Transtube Bandit set up in my practice area.

The silver stripe is the model before the red stripe, but the sounds are comparable.

I also have a Roland Cube 60 which I was expecting to use as a practice amp for pedal steel, but I was able to get satisfactory sounds from my Bandit.

I am also using the matching 112 extension cab, so it pushes more bass than a stand-alone Bandit.

I run a Boss compressor first in the chain, and then into a strobe tuner and then a Hilton volume pedal then to the amp.

I will probably eventually hook up a digital reverb, but for now the spring reverb in the Bandit is fine.

Rather than chop up your Bandit to accommodate a bigger speaker, try running it with an extension cab.

The red stripe 112 extension cabs are rarer than the silver stripe ones, but they are out there, and for less money than you'd spend on a good 15" speaker.

https://reverb.com/item/654914-peavey-model-112sx-extension-cab

If I was gigging, the Session 500 would be my first choice, but I could count on the Bandit mini-stack as a backup.

The setting I'm using for now is: High Gain Input, Bright OFF, Lows 3 o'clock, Mids, 12 noon, Highs 10 o'clock... Definitely a thicker sound than I'd use for a Tele.

Hope this helps!

Terry Barnett · From: Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada

Good advice Jay...the key in your settings is to keep that bright switch off. The bottom is up, the highs are down, and with the mids flat you can sweep it up or down to find a sweet spot.
I very much agree with Mike though. If the above settings don't work for you...maybe you should start looking at a different amp. Doesn't sound like you're heading out on the road anytime soon, and there are so many terrific options when it comes to smaller amps.
Wouldn't it be great if it was as simple as adjusting the tone controls.

Josh Braun · From: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

As has already been said, if _you're_ dissatisfied, then you probably want something other than the Bandit.

That being said, I played through one of those Shetfield(?) Peavey Bandits at a practice space recently and it was pleasant to use. I can't say it was "great" - but it was adequate and I could've gotten through a gig just fine.

Mind you, I wouldn't go out and actually purchase a Bandit for steel use. It wasn't exactly inspiring to play. But it wasn't like playing through a Fender solid state practice amp - it held its own (kinda). And sure, that's a lukewarm review for me, but it's not a negative review. And if I were playing along to radio tracks it might sit just fine in the room mix (like at that practice space) and I'd have no motivation to drop money to improve it.

I'll note that the "response" of the amp to my picking was much more "immediate" than I'm used to. There was something about the amp's interaction with my steel that made playing through it quite different than the Quilter or Music Man I normally use.

Jay Friedrich · From: Dallas, TX

Charley Bond · From: Inola, OK, USA

One of us is from another planet, it must be me...

The reference to different amps &/or descriptors is pure jibberish to me. I'm sorry.

I think the best amp I ever had was a Twin, then I had a 100 watt amp, with a profeX & EQ in a side cabinet, with twin 15 inch remote JBLs.... but they are long gone.

This is all I know.... & that was 15 years ago. I just couldn't stand it without a guitar (10 string Sierra) to pick on, so I did it & got this Bandit, so I could hear it. It sounds alright, but it don't sound like real Steel Guitar.
_________________
Steel Guitar players are members of a Special Family

Charley Bond · From: Inola, OK, USA

There is not a Bright switch on the amp... any other ideas... as Mr Barnett stated.
_________________
Steel Guitar players are members of a Special Family

Jay Friedrich · From: Dallas, TX

I also have a Red Stripe Bandit, but I'm using the Silver Stripe as my practice amp for steel.

The names of things are slightly different on the Red Striple, but they're basically the same...

I would use the Clean channel set to "Modern". Set the Resonance to "Tight" and the TDynamics to 30-50%.

Keep the Reverb low, or use a reverb pedal in the effects loop. Remember to dial back the Highs and dial up the Lows, and use the Mids to thicken out the tone.

Last but not least, put a good clean compressor in front of the input, preferably in between the guitar and the volume pedal.

It's not gonna win any beauty contests, but definitely usable, IMHO.

Charley Bond · From: Inola, OK, USA

May I ask what a compressor pedal is & how it works & how it adds to the tone..?

BOSS CS-3..?
_________________
Steel Guitar players are members of a Special Family

Jay Friedrich · From: Dallas, TX

I use the boss CS-3. It's cheap enough, and good enough. Again, just my opinion.

A compressor places a limit on the amplitude of the signal, so even when you hit the strings hard, it still rings at the same volume.

It simultaneously acts as a mild boost, bringing up the amplitude of the quiet notes, to even out the sound, eliminating peaks and valleys, and making the guitar sound smoother.

Tube amps tend to do this very same thing, so many people who like the sound of tube amps actually like the sound of mild compression, although it's a little more complicated than that.

I find 6v6 amps like the Deluxe Reverb and EL84 amps like the Vox AC15 and AC30 tend to compress more than 6L6 amps like the Twin and Super Reverb.

Quentin Hickey · From: Nova Scotia, Canada

Yes the red stripe bandit can sound good if you know how to get a good tone out of your guitar to start with. You could.drop a speaker voiced for steel guitar in it like a blue marvel or an eminence eps-12

I have a red stripe and I like it alot its my main guitar amp and if my quilter or nv112 konked out I wouldnt hesitate to gig it.

Charley Bond · From: Inola, OK, USA

After making some adjustments, as suggested, me & my Sierra are happier. I'm never gonna do any gigging, those days are gone. I might try out a couple more amps, but I don't know what will happen, maybe nothing.

Thanks for the replies...
_________________
Steel Guitar players are members of a Special Family

Forum Index > Electronics		Next oldest topic :: Next newest topic