Transformer 212

This is a follow up to my previous post.  Still love the amp but those trying one be aware that this amp loves humbuckers and tolerates single coil pickups.  It does not have an exceptional sparkle to it.  I've called Peavey and asked about the lack of sparkle and treble and they commented that in their opinion the 1 x 12 Transformer has a more balanced sound.

Still a great amp with lots of options if you need them.  I feel that my Transtube EFX 212 has a better clean sound, but that be more a testament to the Transtube; especially if you read the reviews.

The Peavey 212 has 12 amp models, Reverb/Delay, 5-types of modulation, chorus/flanger/phaser/tremolo/rotary. Footswitchable preset select, effects on/off, boost and tap tempo. 2-x50 W power amp, 32 pre-sets, 16 factory/16-user, with primary and secondary settings. Guitar/chromatic strobe style tuner and efefcts loop. I purchased mine in 2000.

I play a Fender Strat, and a Alvarez Acoustic. Easy and hard rock, or the heavy grind like ZZ top, ect...The amp can be tweaked to simulate most all Peavey's used in Rock. My reason for giving my opinion is because with most amps, sounds, mixers, it's mostly about the users tweaks. We all know Hendrix could make a pig nose scream. Let me share a setting and you see what you think. To get a ZZ Top grind I set up as follows. Amp-High Gain, Pre-7, Low-9/10, Mid-4, High 6/7, Post 6/7, nodulation-flanger, rate-depth 0, bring this in to tweak sound, Feedback 5/6, Level 0, Dynamics 6, Tempo slow. To sharpen the sound take Pre to 7 and Post to 6. As you raise the sound either step back or tweak the post accordingly. Best advise is to pratice your settings, then compress it. The one thing I was not pleased with is no clean or low sustain. It's like you have to go all up in pre-gain to get sustain. Then you have the fuzz where you don't need it. The amp need a sustain control. The old Hi-Gain I played on in the 70's would hold a tone until you got out of school. I am sure it isn't the best amp in the world, but for all of our glory reading this it surpasses very many amps in the market for what we're trying to do. I'm very pleased with mine.

I do not play gigs, but this amp is dependable. My advise, I would never play any gig without a back-up.

I have not had one problem with the amp. I did read the faulty install job on the handles. I guess that dude was mad at his boss that month? Sound like an "I'll show you?"

I have been playing 35 years. Remembering 30 years ago playing on a High-Gain model was one of the reasons I bought it. It duplicates it exactly. I've ran mics through this amp and that is a weak point. My Shure's will work in the amp but it really wasn't made to handle mics. However being a Rocken amp that has the possibility of using acoustic and mics is a plus for what it's worth.

Excellent features give you the ability to add any kind of effect you would want.  Like the built in tuner, the footswitch which is included, very useful for changing amp models AND providing a solo boost. There's also a direct line out. To be picky - The power dynamics could be a little versatile as it is harder to get a cranked sound at super low apartment levels then like the Vox valvetronix.  As far as a wish list - a jack for external speaker, a stereo headphone jack.

I really love this amp, am not a tube only or vintage snob, but am a hard and realistic grader - very seldom is there no room for improvement hence a "10".  I also have a Vox valvetronix and compared many amps.  What people don't often comment is - the 4 Peavey models that are included as part of the 16 - are very, very good.  I am a big Marshall fan, and the crunchy sounds and dirtier channel on the Peavey amp models are very, very good and shouldn't be discounted when evaluating this amp.  For instance, the Line 6 insane amp model is unique to Line 6 and very good, but more limited for heavy metal while for classic and crunchy rock Peavey settings are very good to excellent. I would say the Marshall amp models, while good, are not necessarily dead one, especially the Crunch which can sound a little nasal-y.  However, if you fiddle with swapping the cabinets, you can get a more open, throaty sound to me is more of a useful Marhsall-esque sound and close enough for the typical beer drinking audience wanting to hear an encore of Free Bird.  Tweaking the cabinets can make a given amp model sound almost completely different, which to me is a huge positive.  The key here is I am not sure if you do a blind A/B test the Transformer is dead on - but the most the sounds you can get out of this amp are very useful.  You would know what I mean if you ever bought a digitech multi effects unit.  You wind up using 2 or maybe 3 sounds and the rest are not useful unless as a kid you sat way too close to the TV. The Transformer does not appear to my ears to get as good a Fender clean or SRV gritty or Vox sound as the Valvetronix, nor be as crisp as the valvetronix with single coil pickups.  However, with humbuckers and the distorted settings the pendulum swings back to the Transformer.  I haven't tweaked the amp yet through the MIDI PC interface though.

Extremely reliable except for the fact the handle was under-engineered for the weight of the amp and it came off.

Peavey is the best in the business. No one else compares.  They don't nickel and dime you and they obviously get it.

I have been playing off and on guitar and bass since the 70's.  I was never in a position to buy the best when I was young, but can buy the best now.  Who really wants to take a $3,000 PRS guitar and a $3,000 hand wired amp to a gig unless you are being sponsored or are a traveling band and have several backups? This is a great amp if you want versatility.  The sound is much better to my ears than most other modeling amps (Line 6) with the possible exception for cleaner sounds - the valvetronix series I think does a better job for country, single coil, Fender sounds.  Bottom Line - This is a great gigging jack of all trades amp for rock and heavy metal classics and does not have that overly antiseptic, masked sound of many other digital amps.  You can get many useful sounds.  A litmus test is that I have 5 other amps (Fender, Vox, Crate) and this is the amp I play the most because of the ground it covers. Not a negative, but another perspective is the Transformer was extremely well thought out, but they have not tried to take it to the next level.  I actually emailed Hartley Peavey himself to see why they have not made any modifications or updates or made a head version with a direct line out, additional speaker outs and added more amp models - they have not done anything in 4 years to this amp.  Digital and modeling amps are not going away.  If you read Jim Marshalls book, "The Father of Loud", he even talks about this, the future of digital, Marshall Amplifications R&D emphasis and that he is extremely proud of his digital lines.  Digital is going to close the gap further. If I had more room I would look at the Randall MTS/Modular series and the Bogner line; but would not get rid of the Transformer and continue to use the heck out of it; if you liken it to golf, it is a utility wood. Have had some time to play with mixing and matching the available amps and cabs. The sounds on this amp are great for crunchy blues and distorted rock. It has a very good "sweet spot" in those arenas and probably gets a B- for getting the Fender sound and doing a single coil justice, and for over the top heavy metal for my ears the regular transtube 212 EFX has slightly better voicing. It your spectrum is mainly blues and rock though, this is a great amp.