Rocktron Banshee

This unit is very easy to get the sound you want. There isn't much of a manual but isn't needed.

The sound quality is very good. Although I had some noise when using a custom shop tele. Once I used a PRS the problem was solved. I purchased this after an unfortunate decision to go cheap and buy the danalectro. No comparison. They unit is powerful enough to practice with out using a mike.

Built like a tank

Well here's where I goofed up. I plugged in the banshee using my tele. Having never used one I called Rocktron and they sent out another. Feel a little guilty but once it goes in your mouth its yours. There service was excellent

It is a really fun and different effect. Using it on a few songs is about right for an evening gig. It is really like a wah on steroids with more interesting sounds. Very easy to use and get the hang of.

Very easy to use. Plug in and play. Just a simple stompbox.

This thing sounds AWESOME. I've never used another talkbox before, but I had my eye on this one before I bought it because of the ease of use. I'm a big Alice in Chains fan, and use the talkbox for "texturing" Not used a whole lot, but it's perfect for what it does. Other reviewers have already said it, but if you crank the gain on the Banshee, it WILL rattle the hell outta your teeth. Experimenting with settings will help. I've found some really good sounds out of this unit, but they're all very relevant.

It hasnt let me down, but I do question the construction. The enclosure seems a little weak, but it could just be my view on it. For all I know these things could get run over my a tractor, but I dont think I'd risk it.

Never dealt with them.

I love this thing. I'm eager to try the new Banshee 2, but for now I'm really loving this unit. They are fairly cheap used now as well which is how I got mine. Just replace the mouth tube so you dont get someone elses germs, or herpes.

Highly recommended.

I have had my talkbox for about 7 months. I'm a blues player and it creates quiet a stir when people hear it doing my solos. The switch malfunctioned this week and I called their customer service department. Their response was excellent; they are sending me a new one. All I had to do was give them my serial number. Great customer support service and hope that the equipment holds up this time.

Bobby - Florida

Using it with my Strat and Fender Hot Rod Deluxe

Probably would.

Excellent

Blues player; works well.

Turn it on, pop the tube in your mouth, run it up to your mic, and whammo, you're talkboxing. Great for beginners (like me), I just needed a talk box for my cover band for some songs that use it (Kickstart, The Zoo, Living on a Prayer, etc.). Works great!

I'm not giving this a rating, because this is the only talk box I've ever used, but people still go apes**t over it at shows, so it must be doing something right!

No rating here, as I've only had mine for a week and a half. Here's the story: my first one fried out on me within a couple of days, just started buzzing. See "Customer Support" for more of this . . .

. . . Like I said, my brand new product s**t the bed on me within 3 days of having it, but, the good news is that I called Rocktron, and after taking my info, the guy just sent me a new one, it was maybe a 2 minute phone call. And it only took three days to get here!

Great for what I use it for: a fun toy/gimmick, and it easily impresses people. Also, I wouldn't be discouraged by the fact that my first one crapped out right away, I think it was a sporadic defect, and Rocktron had me set back up in a matter of days. So, in conclusion, if you want a talkbox, but don't want to mess around with the setup of a Heil or like product, get it! It's a blast.

Yes, its very easy to use...plug and play. No, it doesnt require a second amp, and yes, you still have to mike it out the PA to be heard by the crowd. Can be placed anywhere in the pedal chain.
Has separate controls for distortion level, tone, and output level. Powered by a wall-wart.

My first talk Box was a Dean Markley (back in the 70's), and it was great! It worked the same as a Heil. To be perfectly honest, the Banshee doesnt even come close! Weak sound, the controls add HISS (even at lower levels), and it just doesnt have the original sounds of the Artists you're trying to ape....
Ive tried this thing in a few different quality amps, and the result is the same, too weak. (Marshall, Fender, Boogie, and Mesa).

As someone said earlier, most music stores wont carry these due to Rocktrons un-reliability in the past, but to be fair, this unit looks to be solid. Time will tell.

Never contacted them as yet.

Ive been using these since they first appeared. EVERY SINGLE ARTIST, (Rufus, Walsh, Frampton, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi), ect. have used the HEIL! What does that say? Youre trying to get their sound right?
All the bullshit about blowing up amps and frying talk boxes are all common sense issues! When the box-maker says "DONT EXCEED 100 Watts", what does that mean to you????? Second, if the box requires an 8-OLHM load ONLY, DO NOT use 4 or 16 OLHM settings! Thats just STUPID SIMPLE! As long as your OLHM setting is on 8, even if the switch goes, youre NOT going to damage your amp or the box! Nuff Said.
I much prefer to use a small second amp, (ideally 18-50 watt with an 8 OLHM output), which are plentyful and in-expensive, so that I can run the Heil and my main amp at the same time if needed, and absolutely NO HISS. Try playing the Banshee clean.......
I gave each box a fair trial all around, and it was a no-brainer....the Banshee doesnt cut it. Sorry, just an honest opinion.

Plug in, put the tube in yer mouth, push the button - tada! you have talkbox. Ease of use is the key feature. It could be even easier to use, if it had in-use indicator light, better mic-stand straps... maybe a better wall wart. But plug-n-play is certainly a selling point.

The limitations of the Rocktron's amplification chain is its major drawback.

The Banshee expects input at guitar level; after moderate pre-amplification, it distorts. Furthermore, although the Banshee can be plenty loud in the distorted mode, it cannot put out a clean signal at normal (pro) singing volumes.

There is little tonal flexibility - you're stuck with this for your full amp.

There is some noise, particularly when cranked. The power source won't massage the current, so whatever noise you've got in your system will be amplified.

It's simple, so there's not so much to go wrong... except that shoddy wall wart doesn't seem very sturdy. No battery back-up, either.

Never used.

Finding a retailer who'd touch Rocktron was quite an ordeal, tho.

The Banshee is great for a purpose - simplicity. Although heavy for a stompbox, it's hardly a burden given that it a complete amp & speaker combo.

However, if you might want anything other than the driven sound, the Banshee is not for you.

For years I have been using a homemade talk box ala Joe Walsh, about 7 years ago I switched to a Heil Talk Box. Since regular talk boxes can destroy a tube amp if the switch fails, I have always used a seperate amp and an ABY switch. Finally got tired of dragging the extra gear and I needed mre room to stand at some of the small gigs. It's super easy to use and I do not miss my old talkbox setups.

I can get the sound I need for Frampton, Jovi, Walsh, Alice n Chains without any problem.
I use it with my Gretsch G6120SSU and my Strats, Parker Classic.
Not really noisy. Serves the purpose it is intended for and he internal amplifier is strong!

I hope I can depend on it. I don't know. I don't have any experience with the banshee until now. I won't bring a backup for the talkbox. If it craps out at a gig, I will not play those tunes or I will half *ss it and just use my wah pedal if I have to play the tunes using the talkbox.

No experience with them

I play many styles of music. Now I am playing classic rock and female pop music since we have a female lead singer. Been playing for 40 years. I own lots of old fender gear and other brands.

There isn't much to compare it to except Heil and home made talk boxes. It works flawlessly for me so far.

Very happy with it. I would recommend it to anyone who needs to use a talkbox.

Very easy to use. Any one can do it. Here is the kicker. It has a built in amp so you dont need another amp bla bla... But you do need a mic and a pa to use it correctly. If your just practicing in your room it will work to. Unlike the Danelectro free speech that uses a mic input on the pedal and it combines the sound out to your amp. Back to the Rocktron. IT's really a great pedal. I love it.

It's amazing. The sound clips on there web site do not do it justice, it sounds way better in person. You wont be disapointed.

Seems good..

Dont know..

If you dont have a pa get the Danelectro. If you do have a pa get the Rocktron. They both are cool.

It couldn't be easier to use. Hook up a guitar, put the tube in your mouth, and let fly in the general direction of a microphone. Couldn't be easier. Since it's an amplified talkbox, no amplifier is required. All you need is this unit and a microphone to pick up the sound coming out of your mouth.

As far as using it effectively, it's just a matter of practice. I gave this pedal a 10 because of its brain-dead easy setup, but it does take practice to make words instead of sounds.

Sounds great to me. The pedal's drive tone is beefy and powerful, which makes for some good old teeth-rattling fun. If you're looking for the classic Frampton talkbox sounds, this thing is the pedal for you.

The cool thing about talkboxes in general is that you have the ultimate power to shape tone. It's been said that the human vocal system is the ultimate sound synthesizer, and with a talkbox you can harness the infinite sound palette of your mouth and put it to use with your guitar.

I've also used this particular unit with my Roland Juno 60 analog synth. It doesn't get much cooler than that.

The chassis is cast, but the sides are plastic. If I were a gigging musician, I would be slightly concerned about the build quality of the sides, but this unit will never leave my home studio. Gigging musicians, consider that your warning, because it looks like you could crack the side plates with a good, solid kick.

None of my Rocktron units have failed me, so I can't speak on their support. I guess that's worth something...

This box will give you what you want to hear if you're looking for the classic Frampton sound. However, many people underestimate the talkbox effect for psychedelic purposes. I bought this unit for use on a concept album, on which it is featured as the voice of a messiah figure. In the right context, it can really blow your mind.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with the Banshee. Once again, Rocktron has delivered a good, quality, and affordable effect that is versatile enough to handle conventional and experimental applications.

I'm just glad they came up with a talkbox system that 1.) doesn't feed back like a squawking siren, and 2.) doesn't have a penchant for blowing amp heads, like those of antiquity. Thank you Rocktron for developing the next evoloutionary step in the talkbox.

Outta the box, plug in the guitar and power it up ! That's all folks. Man, you don't even need a speaker or anything.

So, far I'm pleased. I haven't done much with it, regarding combining effects and so.

This piece looks like it can survive a nuclear holocaust. Built like a tan. Only downpart, it is a bit heavier(around 4 lbs).

Haven't had to deal with that yet !

I'm an aspiring musician(guitarists) and have been playing for more than 10 years now. I'm into Classic Rock and some Metal with lots of Riffs and Solos. All I can say to all the people who haven't tried this product yet, guys you are missing out big time. It is worth every penny if not more.

Pretty easy to get a good sound. It takes some practice to actually make it "talk", but I think that is just the same with all talk boxes. The manual is pretty simple and connection is a breeze.

I am using a custom Togaman GuitarViol (www.bowedguitar.com) through Banshee>>Boss Tuner>> Digitech Expression Pedal>>Digitech Bad Monkey>>Boss DD-3 Delay>>Boss Super Chorus>>Boss Pitch Shifter all to a Yamaha T-50 amp with 2-12 cabinet. The sound I get is very classic. I love that Frampton sound. It is easy to manipulate the sound with the tone and gain knobs. I am starting to try it with the bow and it is something else. This is a great effect and attention getter.

Looks pretty reliable. It's pretty heavy and look to be built to be gigged with. I wouldn't bring a back up unless I was using this effect as a main part of my sound.

Have never dealt with them.

I play anything from rock, blues, jazz, latin, new age, classical etc.. (www.deuxguitarviols.com) This is a great effect and I hope to shine some new light on with our music. I will be using this mostly as a gimmick. I own a lot of gear and I know what work and what doesn't. This is a great piece of gear because it doesn't damage your equipment like all other talk boxes out there. I recomend anyone who is interested in a talk box to check out the banshee. I also advise anyone who does buy it to make sure you clean out the tube every time you use it. You wouldn't want anything to crawl up that tube into your mouth!!

So simple. I took it out of the box, stuck the tube in it, and hooked my guitar up. Didn't even need mic, just used the tube as my amplifier. Plenty loud!

The sound is perfect to my ears. Exactly like Walsh, which is what I was going for. I've heard it can rattle your teeth, but I don't seem to have that problem, and I've had it up pretty loud. It is a strange feeling though, having all that sound in your mouth! I use it with my SM58 and it sounds great. I have two problems with it though. One is the size of the tube. It's like sticking a garden hose in your mouth! I wish they sent an optional thinner tube! Also, getting it velcroed at just the right position on your mic stand is tricky. You don't want to tape it to the mic unless you want it there the entire gig - poking you in the face as you try to sing!!

It's heavy duty. And just plain heavy! It feels like it's built for heavy use and will last a long time. I've only had it for a couple of months, so time will tell.

I have to use it without a backup, because I don't want to buy two of them!

Never tried them yet.

I play Classic Rock, using a Fender American Deluxe Strat and Nashville Tele, among other things from time to time. We actually dumped our amps and go directly into the mixer board now. Small sacrifice to my sound, but major advantage in that I don't have to haul a heavy amp anymore! Anyway, this works perfectly for Walsh's Rocky Mt Way and his Eagle stuff as well.

If it were stolen, then I hope the SOB gets sick from whatever germs are crawling around inside the tube!! Yes, I'd buy another one.

Again, I wish Rocktron gave you a choice of a thinner tube.

Basically a plug and play unit & fairly simple to use .manual is ok,not much to it .Just make sure you do your research before buying and it's what your looking for.You can't return it once you use it for health reasons ,nobody wants it back after you slobbered on the tube .break the factory seal it's yours .

I bought this as an alternative to my Heil talk box .The selling point for me was that it has an internal amp and doesn't need to be hooked up to your speaker outputs like a heil box.It hooks up to the front of your amp just like a stomp box would .I use it with a line 6 AX2 .It sounds pretty good .It's loud and powerful ,it can really rattle your head if you set the output too high .It would be nice if it had a clean setting .Distortion is the only sound it does ,which is fine as most popular talk box tunes used dirty sounds .

only had it a few months so I don't know of it's reliability .it seems pretty solid .rocktron has a good reputation for quality products .Time will tell .

I emailed them with questions before I purchased one .They were quick to reply and very helpful .

Been playing for 30yrs .I play classic rock and country and only use it on a few tunes .it suits my needs fine .you'll have no problem pulling off all the popular classic talk box tunes with this .again more 'tweakability'(is that a word?)would have been nice, but it's a decent piece and has a quality sound for the money .The plug and play aspect was the selling point for me .

Super easy to set up. Don't try to run through your amp though or have your amp running at the same time because it defeats the purpose of this effect.

I took a chance based on reviews (which I am a sucker for and have regretted more than once) but this is the balls. I seldom use it but it is a great attention getter and it truely nails Walsh Frampton, whoever. I use a SM-57 with a littel verb. Getting used to the amp shutting off is a little strange but as long as the monitors are up and the soundman doesn't over do it and get feedback (you know who you are!)it's fine.

No problems

This is a very good deal at a fair price and if you want to spend more to achive what may be better go for it, but I can't see the need to waste money. This unit will not fry your amp and sounds fantastic. Great job Rocktron!

luckily, it's plug and play, but the manual is as anorexic, as it gets. why don't manufacture's write and include proper manuals, shame on them all.

i'm using a 1995 usa strat, plugged straight into the rocktron's guitar imput, (no other effects needed) and i've got a marshall stack, from the rocktron's amp output. the rocktron has it's own built-in amp, and on it's own, is loud enough to deafen a person with extended exsposure, given the closeness of a human's ears to his mouth. it's easy to tweak-it, so that you can get the same sound levels between the talk-box and your guitar amp. (although you don't need to have an amp to play it) but if you want to switch from talk box mode to normal guitar mode, you'll need an amp) but initally to get great sounds, all you need is, the rocktron, a guitar, a guitar lead, and a power point, and your sounding like richie, himself. i got the richie thing happening straight away, and those famous fantastic lead/lick/riff sections from the queen songs sound magical, when played through the talk box, although brian didn't use a talk box, i breathed some new life into those old queen songs. the main thing to do is, is to experiement, not everything will sound good, but you'll discover what does and what doesn't, and you'll get the hang of it quickly. i hope this information helps, i would encourage anyone that were considering buying the roctron, to buy it, you wont be disappointed, it requires no skill, if you can breath, you can work this thing out.

it's real heavy, and larger than i thought, (i bought it of the web, without first seeing it, because of all the good reviews i'd read here) i'd use it without a back-up, but things do break.

i play clasical nylon string alot, but when i rock out "these days" (speak of the devil) i do bonjovi, queen, ac/dc, etc, and lots of punk rock, funk rock, glam rock, & power pop. i've been playing for 24 years, and have heaps of everything, (greedy-me). if the rocktron was stolen, i'd hunt the thief down, but his siliva would be all over it, so i wouldn't want it back. i'd proably try feeding my harmnica some steroids, and if that did work, i'd buy another one.
i compared the roctron to all the other ones, and choose it because of the reviews i read here, and else where. i wish the rocktron didn't have the power input, on the side, wish it were on the front, also, i hate they fact that it's a 9 volt 2 amp power unit.

- A box and a tube
- Guitar in
- Amp out (connects the bypassed signal to your guitar amp)
- Speaker out (for using the Banshee like an amp head)
- Adaptor in
- Gain, Tone, Volume knobs

Plug and play !

The tube is the weakest link in this unit :
It really should come from the factory with a piece that would fit on the upper end and make the connexion between the tube and a regular mic instead of that useless velcro strip
it comes shipped with.
Also the lower end should be able to lock into the chassis instead of just being pushed in a socket.
A threaded tube end and socket would have been welcome. Points off !

Guitar signal chain : Guitar -> Boss GT5 -> PA
Talkbox signal chain : Boss GT5 FX send -> Banshee -> Behringer mic -> Vocal300 processor -> PA

I bought it online without trying first and frankly at that price, I was expecting something mediocre.
To my surprise the effect is strong and not toy-like at all.
It certainly gives the real talkbox sound, not a pale cheap imitation.
Running it through a processor for adding some reverb makes a big difference.
Even through my cheapo Behringer XM2000 mic (not that bad a vocal mic actually) it sounds good. I plan on buying a SM57 or similar straight mic as it is hard to keep the tube attached parallel to the mic because of the bulb all the other microphones sport.

Actually it's impossible to decide whether or not you like the Banshee unless you record yourself,
just like your voice sounds different on recordings from what you hear in your head while singing.

The tone control is kinda tricky. If you play on the lower frets, it sounds best with the tone rolled off but high up on the neck it sounds better with the tone set high.
Compromises ... I leave mine at 12:00 since I run up and down the neck ...

Some audible hiss appears all of a sudden when the gain knob passes the 12:00 mark.
No biggie, I just set the gain at 11:59 :)) and the output fairly high (anywhere from 02:00 to 05:00)
I can definitely "feel" the sound on my palate.

I never use the amp and speaker outs.

I have many thoughts about reliability as I take it out to every single gig.
I have to tape the lower tube end to the socket : it doesn't stay in place otherwise.

While the unit looks sturdy I'm very afraid of saliva, beer and dust falling through the aperture. The internal speaker area is impossible to clean.

N/A

I'm 40 playing for 20 years.
I use the Banshee for a couple original songs.
I for one strive to get some Gilmour pig-like tones out of it as opposed to Frampton style vowels or Sambora "owah owah owah" sounds.
All these sounds are feasible though ...

One of my better purchases over the last 5 years.
Certainly worth the price and definitely a keeper !

This is very easy to use. Set up is clear, no issues as all. Getting the tube to stay in place can be tricky. Manual is OK, it is a manual.

I mainly use an Epiphone Zakk Wylde Guitar, into a Boss tuner (not sure of the model number), a Dunlop Cry Baby, the MXR ZW-44 Zakk Wylde Overdrive, Boss CH-1 Super Chorus, Rocktron Banshee Talkbox, into a Marshall JCM2000 Head and a Marshall 412. I use all Monster cables to connect everything. The sound is monsterous! I got the Rocktron Banshee to get the talkbox sound Zakk used on the BLS Mafia album. It seems to work well with my setup. It is hard to use when you are just practicing and don't have a PA setup as it turns off the output to your amp to make it work. But, you can still hear it.

So far so good. Only had it for a week now so I can't give it a 10

Nothing to report

So far I can't complain. It is pretty easy to use, but I will have to work with it to get the technique down.

Pretty easy to use. Just plug it in and go. Very easy to get that laid back 70's tone and to also get a huge screaming blast sound as well. What was hard to do was get the tube positioned on the mic right. I found some black duct tape and it works fine.

I'm most impressed with the way you can use the gain control to get the different tones to replicate the past talk box sounds. But the cool thing is that this pedal can belt it out and scream unlike other talkboxes I have heard. It took some getting use to the not hearing the sound come out of my amp. I just have my sound guy turn up my monitor when I'm using it. The manual says for optimal results to use an SM57 (I have seen Ritchie Sambora do that), but I just use my normal 58 and it sounds awesome. A friend told me that I could put another distortion pedal in front of the Banshee and use that to drive it to get a different sound but I have not tried that yet.

No issues to report. Seems extremely rugged.

No issues to report

I really like this thing. I have to use it some more to get the style down, but it is very cool. I bought the Banshee after hearing that Zakk Wylde used one on the new record. But I saw this guy in a bar use it once and he did some really cool stuff with it, no one was paying any attention to the band until he used it. The thing I really like about it is that you don't need another amp. I heard a lot of things about talkboxes, mostly that you could damage your equipment, but the Banshee is like just like a pedal so you don't need another amp.

It's as simple as can be. Connect it and start rocking !!!
Don't need a manual. Simple settings, adjust and go !

I run this the first in my pedal chain into a Marshall DSL head. Use fender strat plus guitars. I did alot of research and made a decision on the banshee. I was worried it wouldn't put out enough power.
Rest assured this thing will rattle your brain. It does the job very well. My Band members thought is was very cool. If your shopping for a talk box, buy this one. It is the safest way to add this effect and not damage your equipment.

Appears to be built very well ?

Dont know, never dealt with them.

I play classic rock and have been playing for over 20 years. I have had talk box's in the past but got discouraged because of having to have another amp to drive it. The Banshee is a safe, well made unit that works great. It's a keeper !

If it was stolen or lost I would buy another !

How easy is it? Give me a break! Plug it in and go. Nuff said.

I run an AB box so I can bypass my amp modeling effects. I have 3 guitars, a Musicman Sillouhette and 2 Ibanez jazz boxes. I use only the MM with the talkbox. It can be noisy particularlly with hissing so I make sure when I switch the AB box back to my amp I shut off the talkbox switch too. Compared to the Heil which this took the place of, it's much more meaty with a lot more sustain. It's safer too. I blew either the driver or the resistor fuse on the heil. Too much guts from my Carvin X100. Now I don't have to worry so I guess I'll have to use the extra head with another 4x12 cab to run two halfstacks.

I've had no problems with it however the dealer I bought it from said they no longer are carrying it due to reliability problems. We'll see. Don't need a backup. If it breaks I just don't play a few songs. I'll live.

Never dealt with them.

It's a good attention getter. It's one of those effects that you aren't going to use a lot but when you do it won't sound like anything else. I've been playing since the mid 60's and this thing has caused more looks from the audience than any other effect I've had. As far as volume goes I noticed it wasn't as loud as I could get my Heil but that comes from having one in the first place. Having a hundred watt head with the sound running into your mouth with enough volume to rattle your fillings can create the feeling of a lack of volume. But it's a different sound coming from the Banshee. It's more controlled and processed with a less squawky sound, more like an amplifier with a tube on it. If something happened to it I could either fix my Heil or get another Banshee. Considering the weight of my X100, I'll get another.

This thing is an absolute breeze to use. I mean My God!! How hard can it be to plug in & play?. Any one who cant use this thing must be just slightly dim. Use it like a pedal simply plug in-line & play. The only thing is just making sure the tube is placed well, in relation to the mike (notice I said mike, not MIKES!.......read on). No extra Mike, no extra amp, NO bi-amping, No A/B switches....basically, No extra fucking about or arguing with sound men as to where to put ur second amp. This where the Heil lets you down & also in the price range .... Make sure u clean the tube every time & NEVER .....NEVER......let any one else use it ......yeeeeeeuuuuck. (My bass player almost got a kick in the bollox and a screwdriver thru his speaker for playin with mine during the break in rehersals!!!) but then thats bass players 4 U!!!

The 1st time I plugged this baby in, I was amazed, if not a little bemused by the concept if sicking a tube in my gob while playing. But the sound I got was excellent. When I heard it goin thru the P.A, I thought I was Mr Sambora Himself.....and more importantly, so did the crowd, even the sceptic muso freaks!! (ooooo aaaaa oooo aaaaaa ooooo aaaaa oooo aaaaaa .....Tommy used 2 work docks...etc etc ) I particularly liked the extra option of using it as a powered stomp box pre-amp with excellent gain, able to power an 8 ohm Cab..........sweet. You can also practice at home without an amp as the sound comes out of you mouth.

Ive gigged it with no problems, it's built like a tank....no worries.

N/A

B4 I bought this, I checked out other models such as the digitech talker (5/10), The Heil Dunlop(6/10 because of all the extra bullshit u have 2 do with it), And the ....HA HA HA....Danelectro...HA HA HA....free speech (sorry, fell off my chair laughing there). I play mainly rock & tribute type stuff now & have been playing for over 15 yrs & have truck loads of gear, so im not some kid who hasn't a clue here. But lets face it, you can't do Bon Jovi or Peter Frampton etc without a Talk Box!!!!It is a tiny a pain in the arse to set up & the tube does get in the way of the mike when ur not actually using it. But that is a minor & I mean minor quip. I really cant says enuff about this we box. The Fact That its active makes all the difference here in my opinion & makes it sound nicer & fuller than the Heil model, which is it's only main rival. However, its an indulgence and not a necessity. But the main thing here is that IT DOES EXACTLY WOT IT SAYS ON THE TIN!!!...... Well Done Rocktron!!

Rocktron's manual explains everything, but it really is quite easy to set up. Guitar goes in one side, amp in the other, tube in the top. It takes some getting used to when you stomp the switch and the sound comes up the tube instead of to your amp. But it's a lot easier, and safer, to use than a Heil or Framptone. I set mine up as a permanent fixture in my pedalboard and it never moves.

Tube maintenance is a big issue. Keep it clean or you'll get some nasty oral infections. I swap the tube before and after use with alcohol pads, available at any pharmacy. I also recommend a clear replacement tube, available in the plumbing section of any hardware store. With the stock Rocktron black tube, you can't see the excess moisture that builds up inside the tube, not to mention any fungus that might be growing. I use an aerosol duster to dry up the inside of the tube after use too.

I've been playing this for a couple of years now. Despite having Gain and Tone controls, there really is only one sound that comes out of the Banshee. I like it, but it is pretty heavily distorted, even at low gain settings, so others may want something cleaner. I use a Shure SM57 microphone with a wind guard, and I can assure you that a good mic makes a world of difference. I tried cheaper mics, and the Shure is best for this purpose.

You need a good loud, clean PA amp, and outboard EQ if you want to affect the tone. I use one side of a dbx 215 EQ and bump the upper midrange. This really gives the Banshee a more authoritative tone, as well as extra volume when necessary.

I don't use it on all songs, naturally. I use it to play Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion," Nazareth's "Hair of the Dog," the Eagles "Those Shoes" and Joe Walsh' "Rocky Mountain Way." I haven't used it for any originals yet.

So far, so good. I wouldn't use a backup. If the Banshee broke down I would live without it until I could fix or replace it. Before the Banshee, I used a wah pedal to play these songs, and it wasn't too far off.

Never dealt with Rocktron. I bought this one used off Ebay. Their web site seems pretty informative, and you can buy replacement tubes and power supplies directly from Rocktron.

I play hard rock. Has anyone ever used a talk box for anything else?

It's got one good sound, but it's a specialty effect, some would say a gimmick. For the songs I mentioned above, it gives me what I need.

Extremely easy to use. Just hook it up like any foot pedal and your up and running

I got this to replace my Heil. I was tired of carting around an extra amp and amp switcher just so I could us a talk box for two songs. I would say the Heil is a little bit throatier but for the set-up convienence it sounds great. I read some other post where they did not think it was load enough. This is plenty loud. Either they are not positioning themselves in front of the mic correctly or their PA is not the powerful. Also if you do not put this into the stage monitors you will have trouble hearing yourself. I know my stuff and this product sounds very good for the price and conveinence factor

So far no problems but I've only done three shows with it. Time will tell.

I got my through Rocktron as an artist. The artist relations guy was very cool. We'll see what happens if I ever blow it up which I don't think I will...

My style is pretty heavy and the band has a very loud stage volume. If you have a decent PA and you have the technique down you should have no problems with this unit. I highly recomend it!!!

Ridiculous! 3 knobs and ready to go!

Very, very close to the Bon Jovi's sound. If you pass this thru a EQ or other similar effect you match the EXACT sound of Ritchie.
IMPORTANT!
When you turn the Banshee effect on, the signal for the amp is cutted off , so the "normal" sound of guitar DON'T comes out in the amp. You can't mix the original signal of your guitar (from amp) and talk box effect (from mic) without a splitter for this function. The whole sound of the guitar comes to your mouth, only! It's amazing what you can do with this baby. Make a "whoahhhw" and look at peoples face! FORGET ABOUT THE REVIEWS WHO SAYS THIS PEDAL NOT HAVE A GREAT SOUND QUALITY! My setup: Fender YJM - Banshee (first, yes. I don't want interference from other pedals, only the banshee) - Dunlop wah 95Q - Boss Cs3 - AMP Marshall VS-100 (I use his ODs). You don't need a Od or distortion before this pedal to get distorted sound like Sambora, it have your own.

I bought this pedal one week ago, so I'm not finish the stage map/ P.A connections yet. I dunno if I really need use a small amp only for talk box. I guess not, because the opperator of the P.A can put the talk box mic in same level of the mic of my amp. I play some Bon Jovi songs with talk box, but the most part of the set list is composed by Yngwie songs, so I use in a couple of songs, witch depends of the banshee. Ah, it's very robust too.

Before I get Banshee, I sent a email to Rocktron to resolve some technical doubts....... 3 months passed and nothing. I found the answers for my questions by other ways and bought it. Not too much respect for the future consumer...

Perfect for what I play. Certainly I will buy another one if it were stolen / lost. If Heil sounds better, honestly I dunno. If Banshee sounds like Sambora talk box, certainly do. Banshee have much more cost/bennefits and sounds great, without blow your amp. I wish the product had a switch who made the sound from guitar come straight to amp MEANWHILE the talk box was turned on. But it's ok, you can made it with a splitter.

It really is very very easy to get a good sound out of this one!

If you're looking for the real Frampton/Bon Jovi/Steely Dan-talkbox sound, don't look any further! In combination with the ease of use this is THE perfect talkbox.
You can also practice at home with this one because the amp is in the box.
There is enough power in the box to create that typical talkbox-sound.

Just bought it so I cannot tell you yet but the fact that the box is made of metal I'm sure it will last a long time!

Never dealt with....yet.....

I've had the Heil Talkbox (Dunlop), also a good one but since I use a stereo amp I had to use a seperate amp to drive the talkbox wich is not very handy.
The Banshee certainly deliver the same characteristic talkbox-tone with less effort!

Very easy to use, 3 knobs to control, gain,tone and volume.

set up is as following

Guitar (JS1000/Fender Strat/Epi LP with duncans) > Tuner > JD Crybaby > EHX Small Clone > Boss GE-7 > Legendary Tones TMB > Banshee > TSL100

The unit works fine, also you can give it a gain/volume boost or tonal change when using the GE-7 or TMB which works great but I neevr use them because it sounds awesome all on it's own.

Definetly nails the sambora tone and that's all I realy need, sounds great. Just you'll need a mic when gigging....I use the mic i sing in since I can't sing and play witht he talkbox simaltaneously but you'll need a mic. If your just a bedroom jammer it's perfect for no mic.

Built like a tank, nothing's gonna break this

I emailed them before out the power supply since I had to order it from Germany (to the UK). They got back within a day and were very helpful.

I'd like to try the heil but I dont want to risk blowing up my amp. Though this is great and will be in my setup FOREVER !

Plug it in & play - it's fairly straight forward. Just be careful not to plug the lead to your amp's input into the output jack plug on the pedal (i haven't but on a dark stage it could very easily happen!)

I use an Ibanez JS 10th Anniversary into a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier. I use a separate SM-57 microphone (you need a decent unidirectional mic) for the talkbox. I do vocals in the band too so I bought an extension rod (Koenig and Meyer make a couple) for the mic stand that allows two microphones to be ued on the same stand. For the rubber tubing I actually use Gaffer tape wrapped around the tube + microphone. I just leave the two attached when I'm putting everything away so the tube is always the right length for the next gig. Just remember that this setup will tend to overbalance some crappy mic stands - I use a drink holder for my pint of guinness as ballast. Gaffer tape helps too though! :) I find the unit, while it sounds quite loud in a practice setting is not as loud as you would think in a live setting. I generally need the output cranked all the way to the top for live use - it may be my technique but I only ever seem to get a loud enough sound to be picked up by the mic this way. An alternative is that the sound engineer is being difficult - I have enough problems getting my vocals through the monitors, never mind the talkbox! I put a blues driver in front of the pedal for when I need an extra boost to volume (i use it as part of my regular setup anyway) especially on the higher notes. I've never used any other talkboxes but I gather the Heil is much louder. I'm still happy with this one but I reckon some day I'll end up blowing the power amp on it with the output the way it is. Having said that I'll be using it religiously till then! It gets an 8 out of ten, pretty much because of the volume issue...

So far no hiccups. Can't really give it a rating as I've only had it six months - but for now it's working really well.

Never needed any

We play 70s/80s rock mainly. The best night we had with it was a night in a club playing to around 350 people. We started into a song with a big talkbox solo at the start and the whole dance floor seemed to shift to the left as everyone was dying to know what was making the noise! It's a crowd pleaser first and foremost and a chance to show off something different. I'm happy with it.

10
I've always wanted a talk box but couldn't use it because I have a combo amp. But this piece of equipment is amazing. It has a pre amp built in that lets you plug in to your amp and use it like a pedal. After it is set up, that is it, you are ready.

9
The sound is pretty much what you have on your settings, I have a Fender Amp, but I use the effects from my effects rack. The way I have it set up is not through my loop, but as the last link in the effects chain, it gives me that Sambora (Livin on a Prayer)sound dead on. Even though if you plug strait through it. you can give it some gain by adjusting the knobs on the actual talk box. You can use it without a second amp, if you are practicing in your room.

N/A
I've had it for only about a month, so I can't tell.

N/A

10
At first I was skeptical about buying it. But after I did, I am so pleased with it. I would certanly buy it again if stolen (don't get funny ideas. I have been playing for about 15 years and own a few Ibanez Jems, a Peavey Wolfgang, several 80's Kramer Guitars, and a Steinberger. My style of playing is a weird mix between Steve Vai, Eddie Van halen and Richie Sambora. This thing fits perfectly with what I do. So far there is nothing I don't like about the talk box. and it is certanly more user friendly for the bedroom rockstar than the dunlop heil talkbox.

It's as easy as Madonna. Just plug and play. The built in pre and power amps make this an easy talkbox to set up and use. The manual is helpful, but not really necessary.

I think this unit sounds better than all the other talk-boxes.
I Replaced a Heil Talk Box, power amp, preamp and overdrive with this baby. My rig is lighter, less noisy and sounds better. I use an AB box to switch it on and bypass my other FX, this way I can do clean (or dirty) rythyms and switch to talk box instantly. I use a Godin LGXT guitar and a tiny Carvin amp (miked, we play BIG clubs) and a bunch of Boss stompers. I think one of the main improvements in this unit (over the Heil) is the hose. It seems to be a denser material that transfers sound well. It is LOUD! It nails the Frampton, Walsh, Aerosmith sounds and it is easier to annunciate words because of the hose. There are no super clean souds available, but all talkers are that way. I'm glad I bought it.

Seems rugged enough. Not as heavy as the Heil, but well built. The only real drawback is the 9V-AC (yes AC) wall wart that powers it. I don't like transformers in my pedalboard (I use a Godlyke supply for all my pedals), but will gladly take this one negative because of all the positives.

I've never dealt with them, so I can't offer an opinion.

I play in a Classic Rock cover band and talk-box is a real crowd pleaser. I've been playing for 33 years. I would definitely buy another one. Compared to every other talk box ever made this thing is definitely the best in my opinion. Just being able to reduce the cables and devices contained in my rig is huge, and it sounds better too!

IT'S EXTEMELY EASY TO USE. JUST PLUG IT INTO YOUR GUITAR...TO AN AMP...THEN PLUG YOUR MIC INTO THE LITTLE BOX AND GO.

O JUST GOT MINE YESTERDAY...I PERSONALLY LOVE BON JOVI...IF YOU'VE EVER LISTENED TO LIVIN ON A PRAYER OR LOVE ME BACK TO LIFE...THEN YOU KNOW WHAT A ROCKTRON BANSHE SOUNDS LIKE! I USE A MARSHALL HALFSTACK AMP AND A SMALL 10 WATT PRACTICE AMP FOR MY MIC...IT STILL SOUNDS EXACTLY HOW I WANT IT TO.

I DON'T DO GIGS SO I CAN'T PROMISE ANYTHING...BUT SO FAR IT HASN'T BEEN ONE PLACE FURTHER FROM THE POSITION IT STARTED IN.

MINE IS AS STURDY AS CAN BE SO I HAVEN'T HAD TO CALL.

I LOVE ROCK MUSIC...NOT PUNK...NOT ANYTHING SPECIAL...JUST ROCK. IF YOU'RE LIKE ME OR IF YOU JUST LIKE GUITARS...THIS IS DEFINITELY A GREAT PRODUCT.

The unit itself is easy enough, but playing while having a tube is in your mouth takes a bit of getting used to.

A veryy good sounding unit, however i have one quibble: it is very difficult to get a nice clean sound. The gain knob is very sensitive and seems to go from very quite clean, to crazy distortion.

Well, my first banshee was faulty, so i sent it back (to germany where i got it) and it was fixed. Seems pretty robust though.

Very good, first one was fixed and returned within a week.

I play mainly alt rock, and this makes usually boring solos come alive! I will ever lost this i would be really annoyed, but it wont because i love it so much. The bypass pedal is really good, its silent and very quick (unlike the ones on my POD floorboard). Drooling down the tube is something you will have to get used to aswell!

If you understand the concept of a talkbox, then this unit is as easy to use as plugging into an amplifier (which it essentially is). Three knobs for input gain, tone, and output. A tube that goes into your mouth. Very easy to use--though very difficult to master!

This thing sounds like a talkbox. I've used a variety of them--Heil, EH Golden Throat--and this unit can acheive what is commonly thought of as the "classic" talkbox sound: raspy and vowel-like. Those who are not getting the sound they desire are either lacking in technique or in their preconceptions about additional equipment. You need a good quality mic (Shure SM57s seem to work best given their directional nature) and a good PA. Running a mic through a guitar amp is going to be disappointing. It's also a good idea, if you also sing, to have a separate vocal and talkbox mic, though this is more of a luxury than a necessity (an SM57 is an excellent vocal mic). The secret to getting a good sound out of the unit is in balancing your amp and PA volumes so that they're relatively matched. There is also the issue of learning to use your mouth as a sound chamber for a source other than your vocal chords (and do so w/ a tube stuck in your mouth). Those reviewers who have complained of a weak or tame sound may not be exploring all that this box is capable of. A talkbox, by its very nature, has a pretty limited sonic pallette. There's only so much bandwidth that can travel along a 1/2 inch diameter, 6-foot length of hose. With the right equipment, techinique, and patience, the Banshee can deliver great talking guitar sounds--with the added benefit of being amp-safe.

Seems very sturdy. My first Rocktron pedal, so I can't comment on previous experience, though I've owned other Rocktron gear that was very solid and dependable.

A terrific value for a talking effect. Delivers great sounds.

Simple enough to use. I had the stupid idea that I wouldn't need a mic and seperate amp. I was wrong.

I could not get the sound I was wanting out of it. Since I had only heard talkboxes used on Aerosmith, Pink Floyd and of course Frampton music, I was expecting a similar sound. It ain't gonna happen with this unit. If you want the Heil sound, get one. This won't do it.

I don't gig, I only play for my own enjoyment. If I did gigs, I probably wouldn't use this. It seems reliable though.

Never called them.

Basically, I wanted to get the wild sounds that I've heard from Aerosmith, etc. But with this unit, I couldn't get anything near that. The sound was too tame, almost like using a wah alone. You can get "talking" sounds from it, but they don't have the cool overtones that Frampton had. Also, as I mentioned earlier, I was an idiot to think that I didn't need a mic and seperate amp for this. (lucky I already had them so I could use the unit) I tried running the mic through the same amp as my guitar, but it really sucked that way, and I gave up trying. So, since I had to run it through another amp, I have to buy (again) any effects that I would like to run it through. Maybe I could get some cooler sounds if I did, but I haven't tried it yet. If I had it to do over again, I would either spend more bucks to get the Heil and additional equipment it needs, or I would use the money for something else entirely.

Very easy to set up. I didn't have to run speaker cables from my amp to the talk box ( I also own a heil talkbox)and back to the speaker cabinet. Just put it at the end of my pedal board and go!

very good sound without any effects turned on. be careful with the gain control if your distortion unit is turned on. otherwise crank up the gain control and get a fairly decent sound.

I've used it for three shows so far. i'll see in a couple of months

this is a great addition to anyone who uses a combo amp. I had to use my marshall half stack with the Heil talkbox and sometimes thats a pain when you're playing smaller venues.I love the effect on peoples faces when you start playing with a talkbox.The only thing I think would make this better would be a little more output.When you have the monitors set for your vocals you have a little bit of a hard time hearing the banshee if there is anything else in your monitor because it's not as loud as your vocals. The Heil was a little louder depending how loud you had your amp set. but to be able to plug in and go totally rocks and I play in a Disco band.(www.discoinferno.cc)

Thst's the whole point! Just plug in and play. A definite bonus if you don't have a separate amp and cabinet, or if you don't even use an amp live (I'm a keyboard player). Also, I think that the tube is slightly slimmer than on the Heil Sound, which makes it easier to hold in your mouth. Or maybe I finally got the hang of it. Who knows!

I use the Banshee with my Yamaha SY85 synthesiser for Roger Troutman & Zapp -style talkbox vocals (remember 'More bounce to the ounce'?). It took me a while to get the right sound, which is somehthing I never really had to do with my old Heil Sound. I can understand why people complain you get too much gain out of the Banshee. Setting the 'gain' dial a millimeter too far will make this buzz like hell and give you a monster headache. However, it's definitely possible make it sound like a Heil with a bit of fiddling around.

It doesn't quite have that 'big, heavy chunk of metal' feel like the Heil, but it definitely looks sturdy.

I haven't had to contact Rocktron yet.

Best I've ever used. My Heil spent its last few weeks of its life (before I sold it) in a cupboard, cause I no longer had the energy to carry an extra amp to gigs just for the couple of songs where I used the talkbox. The Banshee is so much more convenient in every way. It's smaller, lighter, takes seconds to set up and can sound just as good as any other talkbox I've used.

If you own a Heil, stop being a purist and go out there and buy a Banshee. They rock!

Very easy to use. Just plug in the guitar and plug the box into the wall. You dont even have to hook it up to an amp or speaker cab at all. I actully found it usefull as a practice (and strictly practice) amp when I dont plug the hose in. The tone is at least as good as the mini travel amps. Anyhow, just another use for the thing.

Before buying this, I read just about every review for this and the heil version. No one doubts the abilities of the heil (except in ease of use) and the banshee gets some talk of not having the exact sound, but I disagree. Much like any other effect, this is a blank slate. I think my guitar sounds good, but give it to joe perry and it will sound amazing. Same goes for the talkbox. This more than any other effect requires alot of phisical work. I can get every sound i want out of this box, but it does take a little experimentation. As for getting chunky low or bright highs, I think an often overlooked area in tweaking effects, is the actuall guitar tone controls. I have a dean evo premium. If I want a more nasal high tone, I find it far more helpful to work my tone controls on the guitar. My guitar is equiped with coil taps, so it is very capable of bright strat sound or chunky les paul, but I wouldnt leave it up to the banshee tone control to do all that. Anyhow I just think it to easy to dismiss an effect than to put a little more effort into it. Personally if this thing didn't sound like "classic talk box sound" that would be fine...After all isn't that the reason someone would play through there mouth...To be original?

Looks to be built strong...best I can say.

Sure you can achive any of the frampton/perry/slash etc sounds with this, but I look far past that for this effect. Some effects are there to shine up your sound, and some are there for expression. This box is a great expression tool. The creativity scale for this thing is endless. I am not the greatest guitar player, but stuff like this helps me get closer to getting out the music inside me.

Ok........fellas. For all of you Roger/Zapp fans whose been wondering how in the world to get this talbox effect sound, here it goes:

I'm writing this because I've been searching forever and no one wanted to tell the secrets as to how to get the clasic Roger sound, well..........here it goes:

First let me say that I have the Digitech Talker and the Banshee and to get the Roger sound, you have to use a talkbox, not a vocoder. Also, you might want to modify the driver on the Banshee. You want that driver to really drive the air up into your mouth. That's why the Heil may be better, but it's a pain to set-up

1st.....Tubing: Use the tube inclued. It's fine. But wha you want to do is go to the plumbing section and get some adapters/connectors to make the tube smaller. It's a pain, trying to put that big tube in your mouth especially when pronouncing. If you look on the TV you will see that they use small tubes. So, use a connector to make your tube about 3/4"

2. Technique: Place it in your mouth such that it's in the molars. This is what the experts tell me, but it hasn't worked for me. My toungue and inner-cheek skin gets in the way, so I hold mine in the front between my two front teeth and put the tube as far back as possible....without choking yourself. Try differnt positions that give you the best pronunciation. Now........here is the secret: You have to really, really, pronounce your words. You might look silly, but it works. For example, if your pronouncing a word, really move your mouth to pronouce your words and listen. Sometime the way you would normally say a word is overly exagerated in your mouth movements. Also...you have to breath out while you're moving your mouth. It's like a loud whisper. You know how people talk when they have laragitis or they have a real bad sore throat? Nothing comes out as far as sound and all you can hear is air. That's how you talk and play the talkbox into the mic. That's the secret and above all things.......Practice, practice practice!!!

3. Keyboard sound: I'm using a Yamaha EX5. Use your favorite analog lead board (moog, TB303, Analog modelers, JP-8000, Prophecy, Korg Moss board, AN1x (works very good).....etc.) You want to use a super saw. If you don't have an analogish board, then use your 4 elements and choose 4 saws that are detuned. Turn the global effects off (Reverb and Chorus) YOu don't want a wet sound. The sound should sound like a buzz or a chain saw. Really ugly. Move the attack time up. YOu don't want the attack to be sharp, it takes away from the sound. Let the attack slowly glide in. You have to use Portamento/slide and legato. On my EX5, I can use two notes of Poly which is perfect, because you don't want to play more than 2 or 3 finger chords, because it starts sounding ugly. For extra added robtic sounds, use your insert effects. Try using a fuzz effect. On my EX5 I'm using a talking modualto that gives me vowl sounds. The fuzz adds a little bit of distortion.....Not too much though. For your modulation wheels or modulation stick (roland), make sure it vibrates kinda fast. About 100 out of 127. Makes sure the depth is noticable. If you have an EQ effect or global EQ, Amplify the midrange, as voices tend to be on the midrange. Crank the dB of the midrange high and try to crank the overall Gain of the whole sound, so it really shoots into your Talkbox.

Hints: The lower notes sound better. Don't play more than two finger chords. Talk like you have larangitis, and really over exagerate the pronunciation and the air coming out. Change the tube, to be smaller and play with placements.

Hope this helps fellas.........These are the secrets. Practice, Practice and more practice, but you'll get it! I'm still getting better.

I tend to agree with some of the comments. It isn't exactly like the classic Heil sound, but it IS a helluva lot easier to set up and deal with! Its pretty easy to get a usable sound out of though.
One previous reviewer commented on the coupling of the tube to the box itself by using chapstick!? According to Rocktron, its meant to be fitted INSIDE the lip, not outside. Its still a tight fit, but once its been jammed down in the hole a few times, it works well enough. I actually found some larger diameter tubing, made a fitting so that the tube goes down inside, and the fitting goes on the outside. Then I used a zip tie to clamp it down.
As far as figuring it out.....if you can't, then you need to be riding a short yellow bus! This thing couldn't be simpler.

Sound-wise its decent. It could have more of a Heil tone, but it works well and sounds good if you don't try to compare it. It is its own beast. Heres a tip for anyone who doesn't like the fact when you run it inline it cuts out your amp signal.
I run my various guitars(Gibson Les Paul, Parker NiteFly, Ernie Ball Musicman "Luke II", and Carvin SC90 custom) first through a Boss TU-2 tuner. From there I split the signal out of it...one side going on to my other effects, and the the other deadending into the Banshee. This way I can kick on the box, and still have my amp running at the same time.

Its built like a Russian Peasant woman.....not pretty, but built to last! I've used it for over a year non stop without backup. Never a problem.

They are a great company to deal with...I have dealt with them many times over questions and for endorsement reasons, and they are always cool and helpful.

Once you get past it not sounding like a Heil or any other Talker.....its actually pretty damn cool. It has a mean grinding sound and works very well for heavier music! Its worth it to me to not have to run separate amps for a talk box and my regular amp.

I'd just like to make a few comments after reading Jimmy B's submission. First of all, in response to his questioning the comparison between Banshees and Heils, I say, why not? Some people might want to know, I certainly did, got the thing, found out, and felt compelled to share my findings and opinions. Just like he did.

Yeah sir, I hooked the thing up to my various cabs and amp speakers of 8 and otherwise even ohms to check out the practice amp feature also. I'm sure I would have said something about it if I'd have found it to be as good sounding as you did. But it just didn't ring my bells. I guess one man's tone from the gods is another man's undimensional distortion. I'd rather play through my low power tube amps, especially for practice or recording. Hey, we all know what we have besides our opinions, right? I've been playing for 28 years too, we both probably know what good tone is. So who's right or wrong. Ultimately, check the damn thing out if you can and decide for yourself. That's what matters. And don't knock me for trying to sound like Frampton and Walsh, we all have to start somewhere. Best of luck Bubba, speak on.

Aaaaggghh!!! Whoooopaaa!! Oink! OInk!

very easy to get a good sound. Takes some practice to learn to talk
with it. There is a manual,but who reads one anyway until something goes wrong?
k

I play a 1970 Les Paul. A early 80's strat, and epiphone telecaster copy.Very easy to get the frampton thing. The only drawback is you're not going to use it on very many songs.People kill me comparing the effect to heil, electro-harmonix etc.The real hidden secret to this thing is not the talk box capability-It's the fact that if you plug this thing into a speaker cabnet< 8 ohm > This is where this little thing really shows out.No one has commented on this maybe they're too busy trying to be Joe Walsh.I have a crate vintage series head and cabnet, and compared to the sound of the banshee hooked to the cabnet,the crate head sounds very noisy and crappy.Mind you, you can't play an outdoor concert with it,but it's just right for recording or practicing.You can crank it up clean and get it slightly distorted like a overdrive, or you can turn the gain all the way up and unplug you're crappy boss distortion.Don't use a guitar cord to plug it into you're cabnet though. Use a speaker cable or you will have lots of noise.Back to the talkbox sounds very good if you add some reverb or delay on the mic.

Had some trouble the first one I had I ordered it from a place and they sent me the wrong ac adapter.Ordered another one from a different place havent had any problems.The effect is very sturdy and seems to be well made.

I called when I first started looking for one to try to find one in my area.They suggested 3 places where I could find one.They were very helpful.I called another time to try to find out if they still made the orange peal phaser,because I was considering buying one.Spoke with a teck who was real nice told me about upcoming products etc.

been playing 28 years played all types of music played all types of effects. Was looking for a good talkbox that I wouldn't have to risk blowing an amp for,but like I said what I really got which was a great bonus was one of the best sounding amps I've ever had.The only drawback to this talkbox is the price almost twice what a heil cost.The cool thing about it is that I run to a distortion then chorus then phaser then banshee you can't do that with a heil. In other words it goes right in line with you're other effects and doesn;t have to go in between youre head and cabinet.Oh and do like I do quit trying to be someone else and come up with youre own music.

Well, here we go again. Why am I doing this. You know, I'm sorry, but this is just not the real deal to me. Ok, yeah, I guess it is easier to use since you don't have to hitch it to the ass end of a cranked amp. You don't need any thing else to play it in fact. It works out of the box. Power it with the included HUGE wart, insert the tube with it's adapter sleeve(I used chapstick to make it easier to slip/force the adapter sleeve over the actual tube and then it fits? into the hole in the talkbox. Frankly I'm not real confident in the coupling here as to how well it will stay in), plug in your axe and it works. The speaker out works fine too, but it becomes 'talkbox mode', meaning you can't switch it between 'practice amp speaker' and talkbox. It will just switch between bypass and Talkbox/Speaker(depending on if you have a speaker plugged in). But no biggie I guess. So yippee skippee, it works in line with your effects, no hassles, right? Yes. But soundwise, I had some stark realizations.

Everything I've read or heard about the Rocktron Banshee has been positive. Classic tone. Ease of use. Well made. Cool features. This is where I should have been wary, but I got a wild hair, found an excellent deal on one and couldn't stand not knowing how one of these would work out for me. I guess my problemm is I've been playing a Dunlop Heil Talkbox for about 4 years now and I'm of the opinion that it's THE sound. You could refer to my review on it for more on that. Suffice to say that I think the Heil gets the Frampton, Walsh, etc. sound very closely. The Heil design is very loud(even with lower power amps),nasty and full of high end. Not for the faint. Well, the Rocktron Banshee I'm sorry to say doesn't get anywhere near the blastingly obnoxious glory of the simpler design. Just my opinion now, folks. The 'Banshee' doesn't really scream. It just purrs in comparison. It's a kinder, gentler talkbox. No killer high end. Way less volume. I'm not talking about gain. The freakin' thing has TOO, TOO much front end,preamp gain. But it's output volume, the stuff that makes the driver crackle and give you that distinctive, classic, talky sound, just isn't there. Getting back to the gain. Since when did we need to play a talkbox with mosquito tone? Yuck. It just makes the sound less intelligible. I mean you can hardly get the thing to be clean enough to emulate a cranked tube amp for the popular sounds. I'm not against having gain on tap, but it would have been nice to be able to get a more easily controllable low gain sound here. And then crank the shit out of it. But the 5 watt amp inside just doesn't push the driver into that badass breakup. Now granted, maybe that's what they wanted. The Heil sound can be difficult to deal with at times with monitor levels, and the Banshee is way more manageable, much warmer. But with the tone knob at full high end, low front gain, and output cranked, it's rather tame. Course, maybe I'm just deaf from using the damn Heil. But that's my current take on it kids, it AIN'T the same. I had a funny feeling it wouldn't be. But I will probably keep it and try to get used to it for what it does do, which isn't terrible. There's always room for creating new sounds. I'd hope people get these and create some more great tunes that can be played on talkbox.

Aside from the questionable tube insertion/mating/size/fit, this thing is very well made. I'm sure the built in amp will never blow the driver. I'll continue to use my Heil on gigs at least until I warm up to the sound of the Banshee. As long as I have to perform the classic cover stuff, the Heil is far better sounding.

Well, after many tries, I finally got to talk to Jim Chowning to see if I wasn't just stupid(which he probably thinks I am)or doing something wrong, but I could tell that he had no interest in my description or comparison of sound between the Heil and the Banshee. It is what it is and mine is not defective. He apparently thinks mucho gain is where it's at on this thing. No, I'm not hooking it together wrong. He seemed quite busy. Well, look at their other stuff. Super gain preamps, what did I expect. He has every right to not want to listen to how I would rather it had been designed.

You don't really care what I play or what other gear I have. The bottom line is will either of us ever get rich or famous. Only then will it matter. I just think all the people that have said this thing rocks haven't put the time in and listened closely or compared it to the other designs. My next quest will be to wonder how the old self powered ElectroHarmonix boxes sound. How about the Hagstrom Bag that looked like a wine flask? I have a friend who plays one but I haven't heard him. It's similar to the Heil design(driver with a tube,period.) Well, most people just don't care or notice the subtleties, but if you're after the real deal, it makes all the difference my friends. Rock on, Rocktron.

If you can't figure this out then your a moron. Just plug it into the amp like a normal effects pedal and play.

It sounds great. I use an Ibanez rg570 with EMG pickups through a crate gfx212 amp and it sounds awesome. It has little feedback and has built in distortion.

It is made out of steel. Through it off a building and it will probably still work.

Never delt with them

I play things like Metallica, Guns'N'Roses, Hendrix, and other cool stuff. If anyone ever stole this i would kick their ass. You don't need other effects because you can make effects from wah to flanger just by moving your mouth around.

Supa Dupa easy. I'll admit it does take a little time getting used to holding the tube in youre mouth, unless youre used to giving blow jobs while you play guitar, but other than that its just as hard as rocking a wah while playing or stepping on distortion at the right time.

I am running the banshee through my Marshall vs265r (sucks). Ok thats not technically accurate., You cant "run" the banshee through anything because it is its own amp. I use my amp in parrallel, and once you get the volume levels situated it can sound fucking awsome. Bump up the reverb on youre amp and then play a few chords, then kick this baby in, and it wont even sound like you switched. The audience (assuming they werent paying attention) will be bedazzled from where that whacked out sound is coming from. Ok, I really shouldnt be telling any of you fuckers any of this, because I have wanted a talkbox since before I even started playing guitar and the more popular it gets (suprisingly its still not all that popluar) the more of youre sorry asses are gonna buy them. If you wanna know what one of them sounds like go put in youre Alice in Chains Jar of flies CD (ofcourse you have one, dont you?) and listen to it there. Fucking awsome!!! Even if jerry was half as good as he is it would still rule. Ok, So Im a bit obesses but... My only bitch is I did also have the Hiel talkbox for a short time and its probably just my imagination but I think that the "vocal: effect came through just a tad more on the heil than with the banshee. It could be just the lenght of the tube though. No biggie, still rules!

Well, I guess I cant ever send it back anyways, because, much like most of my gear I have modified the unit already (had it for 2 weeks when I did it). But this one was neccesary, because the stupid people who made this thing insisted on putting the AC power jack (proprietary plug by the sucky way) on the side of the unit right by the input jack, and it wont work that way in my pedal board setup. So I took my ass to radio shack and bought a new jack and drilled out a hole in the back for the jack, rewired and walaa! The one that I got was very fresh out of the factory, so fresh that I think they were going to discontinue the unit, but decided not to and I had to wait 4 weeks for them to run the production line just to giv eit to the shitty music dealer I bought it through.

Havent contacted them as of yet, although I know rocktron makes some damn good products that I might be able to afford one day. I cant think of any reason to upgrade the unit, but I hope it never breaks, because like I said Ill probably have to buy a new one, seeing as how I modded it. Oh well, Im a tinkler...

Ive said just about everyhting I can about this bad boy. I am reviewing all of the gear I have thats of significance of me on here, because every peice I own was reviewed thouroughly by doing the exact same thing youre doing right now. I strongly feel that word of mouth is the best word, because no ones trying to seel you anything and they could frankly give a fuck. Hell I could be lying to you about everything in hopes that you get shitty tone and suck, so I have less competition.

This is the most inovative talkbox i have ever used. Just connect the talkbox up just like any other stompbox. Very easy to get a Peter Frampton, Joe Wash sound out of it.

It has the classic talkbox sound just hookup run the tube up the mic stand into your mouth and mouth out sounds.Takes some skill to learn to know how use a talkbox right. Just takes practice. Has built in distortion built in mimi amp and horn driver.

have had it for about four months have had no problem great product by Rocktron

never have delt with Rocktron

I liked this better then the Digetech vocaler. Sounds more real The only thing i dodn't like was the high price tag i could have got a Heli Talkbox for half the price. but i like the way everything was built in and i no longer have to worry about frying my amp. Like the old talkbox's you could do very easy. I also got rid of all my wah pedals with this talkbox i can make a wah sound very easy with better control. Its about time the came out with a talkbox that is user friendly only Rocktron could do it right. I like doing "THOSE SHOES" by the eagles.

This is a talkbox with an amp and horn driver built inside. Plug your guitar in, put the tube in your mouth and play!

It's up to you. Move your mouth for the sound you want.

You bet.

I love this pup. It's groovy baby, yeah.