In over 4 decades of performing live, I've tried many guitar amps. MANY! I play other styles often, but most of my experience is in a classic rock and country cover band. Most every amp I've owned or played has at least one awesome feature. But the one amp that is the total package and has long been my gigging amp of choice is the Peavey Bandit. The main and most important reason is the rich, clean tone that, to me, is unmatched by ANY other amp for the music I play. Being a true solid state amp, it is far more road worthy than any tube amp. And it is a FAR cry from the modeling amps of today, which I've also owned. I played solely through a pair of early 80s model Bandit 65s for 15 years. I was heavily booked across three states playing four hour shows 2 and 3 nights a week. Those amps took a real beating over that time, yet always performed perfectly and never once let me down. I wore them out! Also, because Bandits are solid state, I get the exact same tone and sound regardless of what volume I need for a particular venue. With tube amps I've used, the tone is great in a particular volume range. Above and below that range there is a significant effect on tone that doesn't happen with the Bandit. Once I make tone adjustments for a room's resonance at sound check, I'm good for the whole show even as stage volume creeps up as the show unfolds. No matter which particular year or model of Bandit I've owned or played, they've all had ample volume and headroom for all gigs I've played from tiny clubs to arenas. Although I will point out that in arenas, unless my band members and I stand in our normal proximity to each other, we have difficulty hearing our amps and each other. We learned that lesson rather painfully on one occasion. My current version, the new Bandit 112, has that same great tone. Also, it is what musicians today like to call a great pedal platform. With the Bandit and my pedalboard, I can create every sound I love with the effects that made many classic rock and country songs famous. This Bandit also offers a power range selector switch with settings for 25%, 50%, and 100% power. It can get loud. I use the 25% setting and only need my clean channel volume set at just under 2. And we play at a significant stage volume, though, thankfully, not loud enough to have caused me any hearing loss over time. I could ramble on, but in short, the Bandit is a reliable, tried and true workhorse that absolutely shines in country and classic rock music performance.
i usually use the JTM45 or the Origin20 for my country gig hahaha but this past yr i got to open for Lee Greenwood and felt like showin out a little bit and took my JCM800 (we're a marshall family as my wife says hahaha) and i thought the sound guy was gonna throw me out when i loaded in. but honestly it did the trick. blast that treble up and grab the tele and you'll be goin *cluck cluck* in no time
Hi Colt, Enjoying your videos a lot. Wanted to ask have you heard of Synergy amp modules . That is also in some ways an amp modeler. But the beauty about that is say you Want a Bassman you just insert that module and instant bassman. Same thing with Just about every other amp maker out there today. And the real kicker. It’s not a wanna be. It’s an actual circuit with the tubes and the blessings from The amp manufacturers. But I do love me some Fractal. I am also loving the Hot-tone Ampero If you haven’t I encourage you to give that a hear. Think vintage gear and you are there. From Eventide rack eclipse , think vintage pedals and can’t find anymore delays. Things that make you go squeeeel!,,lol Pedals to tack they really did their homework on that one! Keep it loud brother! Regards.
I gigged a 6505+ (which is just a 5150 without the EVH marketing) for years after I picked one up at a pawn shop for $150. All it needed was a new set of tubes. Ended up trading it for a 4x10 Hot Rod DeVille which is my main amp now. The HRD is great for country as it has a fantastic clean channel, but the drive channels are just pointless in my opinion. It depends on which model you get as well. The older ones with the eminence speakers sound much better in my opinion than the newer ones with the Celestions. I also have the Boss Katana 100w head/2x12 cab stack. Gotta say that it really impressed me. When I gig with it I usually just run it clean as a pedal platform, but at home it's nice to be able to hook up just the head to my computer and have the ability to record it direct and also control all the tone/effects settings from my computer. Makes recording different guitar sounds a breeze.
I’ve heard good things about the 6505 - Jason Aldean’s guitar players rock the new 5150s so definitely country. And yea those Boss Katanas are straight magical
I use a 1993 Fender Blues DeVille 2x12. On the clean channel with a Tele, it can easily nail that 90's Nashville country sound that Brent Mason is known for. In fact, because they are biased cold which keeps the power section stiff, the Blues Deluxe/DeVille were much better country amps than they were blues amps. If you dial up the bias voltage, the amp comes to life for some more grit.
I have a Boss Katana, for country tone i just put a Blues Driver to 35% of gain i put a single coil simulator for my bridge humbucker on my strat i turn bass eq down to 30% (the middle and high still flat on 50%), on the pickup simulation i turn up the low on +20% the high i turn down to -15% because of harshness on treble and i put the output level to 75% (50% is flat) to have the similar sound to the neck and middle single coils on the strat and the output of humbucker and all the pickups.
@@ryansnydercg the advantaje its if you want to rock hard you can turn back to humbucker and put all the gain or keeping on the single coil sound without the hum noise like the noiseless single coils of modern fender guitars.
Man great video I have a deluxe reverb 65 reissue, pedals are ego compressor, rc booster,bb preamp,nobles odr1, tc electronic mod, and tc electronic flashback mostly play 70-90 country I really enjoy your videos
It definitely is. I’ve played a blues jr clean with a drummer. And I believe there is a video floating around of Guthrie Trap saying Deluxe reverbs is more than enough
Love this video! Using a 2009 hot rod deluxe currently and really like it but been chasing those brad tones for years. May get a ac30 as well. Should I look at a 2 channel or just a top boost model??
Thanks friend!! And had you asked me 3 years ago, I would have said the 2 channel, but these days I’m looking for simplicity. I would chose the top boost
Searching for someone using the Roland JC-40 along with the Fender Tone Master Pro. I don't have any amps yet, trying to choose just one as I don't have time, space or money to buy a bunch of amps. I need to look at the FR of the JC-40.
I use to use a twin or a AC-30 in the early days Until I figured out I didn't need All that especially the weight So I started using the deluxe and AC-15 Until I figured out I didn't need All that especially the weight So now I use a Princeton and a AC-10 in stero.
It’s amazing how we’ve gone from the land of having a stage full of Marshall stacks as the pentacle of guitardom to now everyone realizing all you need is a few 5-10 watt amps
Very true! And if you look back at the history of the dual rectifiers you’ll come across Princetons - a clean fender and bassmans which is how Marshall was started
While I agree you can use very different sounding amps for country or any genre, and you don't have to get trapped into thinking of certain amps for certain genres, I don't necessarily agree with your examples of tones. You can set a Vox to be extremely chimey and Fender-like in it's cleans, and even Marshalls, set right can have beautiful sparkly cleans (just listen to Hendrix's clean tones). So all I disagree with is where you said Marshall is all about crunch and distortion and gain, where it "plays to its strengths". I think a Marshall set to edge of breakup is one of the best amp sounds ever, and definitely is one of it's underrated "strengths", for sure.
Totally fair. I probably over simplified but definitely agree you don’t necessarily need to tie amps to certain genres, honestly whatever amp you have is more than enough. But solid points all around
Anyone who makes a video on this subject and leave out the Fender Twin Reverb as THE stand alone amp, obviously knows NOTHING about getting the country sound...........the Deluxe was used a lot in studio work, especially for rockers who wanted to overdrive it, but THE FENDER TWIN was and is the king of country music.
Ehhh I hear what you’re saying but that misses the point I was making in the video. My point was trying to keep things as simple and reasonably accessible to everyone. Clean Fender, Vox AC chime, and an overdriven Marshall.
Most country players have used Princeton's, Deluxe Reverbs, and Tweeds in the studio. Take the most prolific country studio player of all time (Brent Mason) for instance... He uses a '67 Deluxe Reverb on most of those recordings. Some players may use Twins on stage for volume, but most of what you hear on recordings were done on those smaller amps.
If you are wondering what all you need to know in order to play country guitar, check out my free cheatsheet here: ryansnydercg.ck.page/cheatsheet
In over 4 decades of performing live, I've tried many guitar amps. MANY!
I play other styles often, but most of my experience is in a classic rock and country cover band.
Most every amp I've owned or played has at least one awesome feature. But the one amp that is the total package and has long been my gigging amp of choice is the Peavey Bandit.
The main and most important reason is the rich, clean tone that, to me, is unmatched by ANY other amp for the music I play.
Being a true solid state amp, it is far more road worthy than any tube amp. And it is a FAR cry from the modeling amps of today, which I've also owned. I played solely through a pair of early 80s model Bandit 65s for 15 years. I was heavily booked across three states playing four hour shows 2 and 3 nights a week. Those amps took a real beating over that time, yet always performed perfectly and never once let me down. I wore them out!
Also, because Bandits are solid state, I get the exact same tone and sound regardless of what volume I need for a particular venue. With tube amps I've used, the tone is great in a particular volume range. Above and below that range there is a significant effect on tone that doesn't happen with the Bandit. Once I make tone adjustments for a room's resonance at sound check, I'm good for the whole show even as stage volume creeps up as the show unfolds.
No matter which particular year or model of Bandit I've owned or played, they've all had ample volume and headroom for all gigs I've played from tiny clubs to arenas. Although I will point out that in arenas, unless my band members and I stand in our normal proximity to each other, we have difficulty hearing our amps and each other. We learned that lesson rather painfully on one occasion.
My current version, the new Bandit 112, has that same great tone. Also, it is what musicians today like to call a great pedal platform. With the Bandit and my pedalboard, I can create every sound I love with the effects that made many classic rock and country songs famous.
This Bandit also offers a power range selector switch with settings for 25%, 50%, and 100% power. It can get loud. I use the 25% setting and only need my clean channel volume set at just under 2. And we play at a significant stage volume, though, thankfully, not loud enough to have caused me any hearing loss over time.
I could ramble on, but in short, the Bandit is a reliable, tried and true workhorse that absolutely shines in country and classic rock music performance.
The bandit is an underrated amp.
i usually use the JTM45 or the Origin20 for my country gig hahaha but this past yr i got to open for Lee Greenwood and felt like showin out a little bit and took my JCM800 (we're a marshall family as my wife says hahaha) and i thought the sound guy was gonna throw me out when i loaded in. but honestly it did the trick. blast that treble up and grab the tele and you'll be goin *cluck cluck* in no time
Peavey Classic 50
Fender Princeton, Deluxe, Twin Reverb. No doubt about it. It’s not even debatable 👍🏻😎.
All three are great amps
You forgot the vibrolux.
Also a fantastic amp
Hi Colt,
Enjoying your videos a lot. Wanted to ask have you heard of Synergy amp modules .
That is also in some ways an amp modeler. But the beauty about that is say you
Want a Bassman you just insert that module and instant bassman. Same thing with
Just about every other amp maker out there today. And the real kicker. It’s not
a wanna be. It’s an actual circuit with the tubes and the blessings from
The amp manufacturers. But I do love me some Fractal. I am also loving the Hot-tone Ampero
If you haven’t I encourage you to give that a hear. Think vintage gear and you are there. From
Eventide rack eclipse , think vintage pedals and can’t find anymore delays. Things that make you go squeeeel!,,lol
Pedals to tack they really did their homework on that one! Keep it loud brother!
Regards.
I haven’t heard of that. I’ll have to look into it. Sounds like an awesome piece of tech!
I gigged a 6505+ (which is just a 5150 without the EVH marketing) for years after I picked one up at a pawn shop for $150. All it needed was a new set of tubes. Ended up trading it for a 4x10 Hot Rod DeVille which is my main amp now. The HRD is great for country as it has a fantastic clean channel, but the drive channels are just pointless in my opinion. It depends on which model you get as well. The older ones with the eminence speakers sound much better in my opinion than the newer ones with the Celestions.
I also have the Boss Katana 100w head/2x12 cab stack. Gotta say that it really impressed me. When I gig with it I usually just run it clean as a pedal platform, but at home it's nice to be able to hook up just the head to my computer and have the ability to record it direct and also control all the tone/effects settings from my computer. Makes recording different guitar sounds a breeze.
I’ve heard good things about the 6505 - Jason Aldean’s guitar players rock the new 5150s so definitely country.
And yea those Boss Katanas are straight magical
I use a 1993 Fender Blues DeVille 2x12. On the clean channel with a Tele, it can easily nail that 90's Nashville country sound that Brent Mason is known for. In fact, because they are biased cold which keeps the power section stiff, the Blues Deluxe/DeVille were much better country amps than they were blues amps. If you dial up the bias voltage, the amp comes to life for some more grit.
Yeah those old fenders are incredible
I have a Boss Katana, for country tone i just put a Blues Driver to 35% of gain i put a single coil simulator for my bridge humbucker on my strat i turn bass eq down to 30% (the middle and high still flat on 50%), on the pickup simulation i turn up the low on +20% the high i turn down to -15% because of harshness on treble and i put the output level to 75% (50% is flat) to have the similar sound to the neck and middle single coils on the strat and the output of humbucker and all the pickups.
Very nice!! Is the single coil simulator on the amp or is it a pedal?
@@ryansnydercg is on the amp
Oh that’s awesome! Really cool feature
@@ryansnydercg the advantaje its if you want to rock hard you can turn back to humbucker and put all the gain or keeping on the single coil sound without the hum noise like the noiseless single coils of modern fender guitars.
That is brilliant!
Man great video I have a deluxe reverb 65 reissue, pedals are ego compressor, rc booster,bb preamp,nobles odr1, tc electronic mod, and tc electronic flashback mostly play 70-90 country I really enjoy your videos
65 Deluxe Reverb might be the perfect country and western amp. Sounds like an awesome setup. What guitar do you play?
And thanks for the kind words!
I play a American tele preformer and a mim early deluxe player
Both incredible guitars
Do you get enough headroom with full band?
I like very much fender BF amps, but I have a doubt about DLX Rev: is it loud enough to play clean along drummer?
It definitely is. I’ve played a blues jr clean with a drummer. And I believe there is a video floating around of Guthrie Trap saying Deluxe reverbs is more than enough
Don't forget the Fender Blues Junior 4
HA! That is literally the only Tube amp I own - and its a beast
Love this video! Using a 2009 hot rod deluxe currently and really like it but been chasing those brad tones for years. May get a ac30 as well. Should I look at a 2 channel or just a top boost model??
Thanks friend!!
And had you asked me 3 years ago, I would have said the 2 channel, but these days I’m looking for simplicity. I would chose the top boost
Searching for someone using the Roland JC-40 along with the Fender Tone Master Pro. I don't have any amps yet, trying to choose just one as I don't have time, space or money to buy a bunch of amps. I need to look at the FR of the JC-40.
I was hoping someone would chime in here. I haven’t used the Roland with modelers but I’ve used a deluxe reverb and that worked out well
I use to use a twin or a AC-30 in the early days
Until I figured out I didn't need All that especially the weight
So I started using the deluxe and AC-15
Until I figured out I didn't need All that especially the weight
So now I use a Princeton and a AC-10 in stero.
It’s amazing how we’ve gone from the land of having a stage full of Marshall stacks as the pentacle of guitardom to now everyone realizing all you need is a few 5-10 watt amps
Nice. In Aldean's older videos you'd see dual rectifiers and other mesa amps.
Very true!
And if you look back at the history of the dual rectifiers you’ll come across Princetons - a clean fender and bassmans which is how Marshall was started
GTX100. Just gotta try downloading presets from the Fender Tone App.
That’s going to be sick! Someone is going to have a fun weekend
While I agree you can use very different sounding amps for country or any genre, and you don't have to get trapped into thinking of certain amps for certain genres, I don't necessarily agree with your examples of tones. You can set a Vox to be extremely chimey and Fender-like in it's cleans, and even Marshalls, set right can have beautiful sparkly cleans (just listen to Hendrix's clean tones). So all I disagree with is where you said Marshall is all about crunch and distortion and gain, where it "plays to its strengths". I think a Marshall set to edge of breakup is one of the best amp sounds ever, and definitely is one of it's underrated "strengths", for sure.
Totally fair. I probably over simplified but definitely agree you don’t necessarily need to tie amps to certain genres, honestly whatever amp you have is more than enough. But solid points all around
Peavey Bandit
Peavey Bro......1980s Opry an ACL all peavey
This is true the Nashville sound of the 80s is peavey
Peavey Srero chorus 2-12 Peavey was my favorite.
Anyone who makes a video on this subject and leave out the Fender Twin Reverb as THE stand alone amp, obviously knows NOTHING about getting the country sound...........the Deluxe was used a lot in studio work, especially for rockers who wanted to overdrive it, but THE FENDER TWIN was and is the king of country music.
Ehhh I hear what you’re saying but that misses the point I was making in the video.
My point was trying to keep things as simple and reasonably accessible to everyone.
Clean Fender, Vox AC chime, and an overdriven Marshall.
Most country players have used Princeton's, Deluxe Reverbs, and Tweeds in the studio. Take the most prolific country studio player of all time (Brent Mason) for instance... He uses a '67 Deluxe Reverb on most of those recordings.
Some players may use Twins on stage for volume, but most of what you hear on recordings were done on those smaller amps.