Peavey 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.

This is a phenomenal amp. I play Rock, Metal, Blues, and I guess just about anything. This amp handles them all real swell. This is the modeling amp so there are lots of potential channels and comes with a pretty sweet footswitch to control it all. Has dual effects loops and headphone jack. I loved it as soon as I plugged it. What is really cool about this amp is just when you think you have the perfect sound out of it, you find hidden extras that can really shape your sound.(They are explained in the manual) That was until I found the hidden features such as mid boost and combining any cabinet with any amp. I use this amp at home but plan to use it live and has more than enough power. Tuner is also nice along with 6 effects.(7 if you count delay) Delay,chorus,phaser,flanger,rotary speaker,tremolo

I have a Hot Rod Strat with Lil jb,and 2 lil 59 seymour duncan hb's. Also have a hand build guitar with SD Distortion and Lil 59 in the neck position.This amp does create a bit of feedback but can be taken care of with the hidden noise gate feature. Clean channel sounds tremendous but sometimes distorts a bit. The distortion is great, especially when you get your settings tweaked to your liking and match up the right cabinet. It really can achieve a tube sound which I thought was impossible until I tried this amp.

So far so good but havent used it live yet. Built like a tank

I have never had to deal with them and hopefully I never have to.

I have been playing for abbout 12 years or so and I own my hot rodded strat, and my Ibanez Rg flame maple body with warmoth neck. Both guitars have Seymour Duncan pickups and sound and play amazing. I love pretty much everything about it and can't wait to learn to use every little thing on it. I compared it to a Line 6 Spider 2 and liked this amp's sound much more. I sold my Marshall Valvestate in order to buy this amp. This amp definately has more distortion than my old Marshall but wish it had a little more. Not much though, it is pretty nasty. The built in tuner is also a nice feature and the fact that you can tune to e flat on it as well as alternate tunings!! Buy this amp while you have a chance because it has been discontinued.

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.

Bought brand new 2003 after playing other amps that were similar, paid 600 bucks (good price). Made in America! thats a plus. 16 user presets kind of weak though.

sounds great for 600 bucks

I have read reviews that the handle comes off. Mine too came off so I took it apart (good thing it was off and unplugged, had a nut fall into the circutry) and while reinstalling my handle i noticed a green sticker with the quality control inspectors name on it. I also have a friend who bought a 5150 and the reverb tank doesn't work, I took this amp apart as well and to my surprise it had the same name on the same type of round green sticker! This persons name is Mr Proctor I will guess he is a man all though I could be wrong in any case you suck Proctor! Hope someone from peavey reads this then fires you. If I spend that kind of money on a product I expect the handle to stay on, and since this amp is kind of heavy anyway, its probably a good idea that the handle does stay on, a small problem makes it look cheap and makes this guy look lazy, would anybody deal with someone who is lazy and cheap?!

haven't dealt with them all of my repairs done inhouse but other reviews say they are very good.

playing 25+ years have tons of other stuff including Fender Cybertwin SE wished i would have bought that one first. If i could get it for the original price i paid for it yes i would buy another one but they are through the roof now, i think they want just a little too much for them now. But at the time it was the best value for the money. If anyone else has taken it apart and found the same sticker with the same name let me know. Don't get me wrong it sounds fine and it does what peavey advertises and no im not a hater i like their products, they make them in America and employ a lot of Americans! But i have certian expectations when i spend money and so should everyone else and when i read other reviews and something like a handle is a common problem then i wonder about how competent these people are. Would you leave your kid with someone who is lazy and doesn't care????? !!!!!!!!!!!!

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.

This is a heads up for any Peavey amp owners out there. I picked up my Transformer 2x12 and the handle came off in my hands. The amp was in off so no damage was done. I remembered a review of a few years ago, when this happened to someone and the amp was fried. It was an easy fix for me. I would recommend any owners take the time, 30 minutes maybe and remove the amp section. You can tighten and secure the nuts and avoid a big hassle.

I had a Transformer 1x12 for a couple of years and with the group I sit in with, I needed some more volume. The store I bought the 1x12 from had a trade-in special combined with a 50% off sale. I was out the door with a 2x12 for $400 including the $250 trade I got for my 1x12. No new learning curve since I was familiar with the amp's setup. I explored the different settings, found a few that were interesting. I am not a gear head or tone freak, but I'm getting into that stuff more nowadays. Most of my playing is done with the satelite radio stations or Guitar Port tracks. Really can't complain about the backup band making any mistakes. The guys in the Wednesday nite band are all players for 30-40 years like me and have equipment that goes dates the rock era. The pedal is a very easy and useful tool to use and was included in the price.

I play a 96 Strat Plus and a custom Bil Mitchell acoustic. Styles I play are mainly blues, rock, country. Playing along with the satelite music stations loud on the home stereo is 98% of the amp's use. I sit in with some bands once in a while. I find the amp is noisy on some settings and that can be annoying. Sounds like a breeze blowing out the speaker on the settings with the gains pushed up. Since I set up my own user settings, I don't explore around the 1,000,000 or so presets that this amp has got. It has got some neat sounds, but I don't need that many in my situation. I found a good bluesy tone that works, but it still isn't a Fender Deluxe. I found a distortion sound that sounds ok, but it's not a Marshall. I have a clean setting that works for rhythm. After reading a lot of modeling amp reviews, I realized I subscribe to the "I don't want to carry all that equipment" school. When you are playing with guitar players who have been around, the sound isn't as important sometimes as the licks you're playing.

Never had a problem. I also have a Peavey Stereo Chorus that I bought used 12 years ago and it starts every time. I put 2" casters on both of them so my wife can roll the amps out of her way when she is in our music room

n/a

I like this amp a lot. Even though I have been playing since the Beatles hit and have become a good player, I never really collected that much gear over the years. Over the years I have owned an Ampeg GeminiIV, Fender Bandmaster head thru a home made cabinet, couple of Peaveys and a few other minor rigs I can't remember. Nothing special. This amp sparked my playing with all the bells and whistles it came with. I had a fun time spinning the dials and hearing all the sounds this amp could make, but the novelty wore off after a while. Now, I know a little more of what sounds I need and with those sounds set in the user bank, I can play right into most of the material the Wed nite band calls for. This amp is not a Matchless or a Boogie or a Twin. But for the price and options it has, the Transformer 2x12 is a lot of amp for not alot of money.

My amp was made in 2003. I paid around 850$. I am a very very uneducated guitar player. I play drums and picked up guitar to help me right songs. I write metal mostly(See Godsmack, Papa Roach, Rage, Etc...), but I have played many styles thru this amp. I am fairly positive there aren't too many sounds you couldn't get out of this amp. There are no features I could think of adding, but then again, I am a rookie player here. There are WAY TOO MANY features for me. I can honestly say, for the songs I write, which is just rhythm since I can't play lead at all, I bought the wrong amp. I am hoping that I get good enough to actually use the whole thing. As far as the volume is concerned, I am a drummer, and I am a LOUD DRUMMER, and when my guitarist uses my amp, it cuts thru almost as good and clear as his Marshall Half Stack. That is all IMO. All the rest of the facts you can read in numerous other reviews. Oh, by the way, the footpedal is awesome! Jumping between to channels is easy since you can achieve this just by pressing the last button. For example, if you are on channel 1 and you switch to channel 4, you can switch back to channel 1 just by pressing channel 4 again. I don't use this feature, but I imagine it would be very helpful in the dark on stage instead of having to fumble over all 6 buttons. The design is great and it blows away my buddies footpedal on his marshall. I have decided on a few things I think they could fix or change or add. The preset levels, for one, are all different. You switch from one to the other and never know where your volume is gonna end up at. Second thing, the banks and channels seem to have no real organization. It would make sense to me, the novice that I am, to maybe set all channel 1's to maybe a clean, and all channel 2's to maybe a dirty rhythm, and all channel 3's to maybe a heavy distortion, and then finally all channel 4's to maybe a lead distortion. And I don't mean neccessarily exactly like that, but some sort of organization. It just seems to me that they are too random. Lastly, I would love to see a chromatic tuner. The tuning function is great on this amp, but having chromatic also would completely eliminate me having to buy another tuner or walking around thinking I'm in B when I'm really in some B# or A or some shit like that.

Schecter Classic 7 (7 string obviously), Schecter Omen 6, Schecter HX-5 (5 string baritone). The 7 and 6 both have 2 Dunkin Design (see Seymour Dunkins made in Korea) humbuckers. The 5 string has one of these pickups. The tone is good out of this amp, but I don't feel they are great tones. There are so many you can get out of this amp that most won't have a problem, but I just can't seem to find a nice warm honey round distorted tone that sounds good with my 5 or 7 string. Godsmack tone seems hard to find for me, but again, I am a novice and definatly haven't played with the sound enough to say it is impossible. In fact, I pretty much gave up and just this week purchased a Mesa Mark IV. Gonna see what I can do with it, and it should be more along my lines of 1 or 2 tones and no effects to mess me up. There are more sounds than someone as novice as me could ever use on the peavey. The effects on this amp however are great. They all sound realistic and they are very useful for todays style of music. Everything seems to be in line at higher levels except the distortion. Either the speaker gives or the amp itself. I am not sure which, but it sounds like my speaker comes to the verge of buzzing and just barely crosses the line.

Never had any breakdowns yet. It has turned on everytime I have flipped the power switch. I only use it in home so I don't know if I would gig with it or not...probably would gig with it alone, since I usually don't prepare well, which is how I got this amp instead of something more along the lines of...lets hear it once more....NOVICE ME!!!!

No idea.

I have been playing accoustic guitar for about....my whole life since my father played while I was growing up, but I really sat down and learned more then 6 chords only about 4 years ago. I have been playing electric guitar for only about 2 years. Only other gear I own is a Ibanez Tubescream, which my guitarist stole from me and took to college with him, and my primary pedal, Boss Metal Zone. I do love this amp. Again, I just bought a boogie (should be here in 4 days) and I was actually going to sell this amp, but......this is my first amp I have every owned, and it is my baby, and after reading all the reviews of people on here, I decided instead to write this review and try to learn it. Since reading these reviews yesterday, I have actually sat down with my amp for about 3 hours and went thru all the factory settings and played with each of them a little more to try and appreciate the sounds a bit more. It worked and I have decided to indefinatley keep this amp. Again, I was stupid and I didn't compare or shop around. I went to a store to look and while there decided to buy an amp so our second guitarist could have an amp to play thru that would hang with my lead players marshall. (see second guitarist = cheap bastard that has to have his gear provided by his drummer) It was the best thing I ever did since it inspired me to go buy a decent electric and learn to play guitar even more. One thing I would like to share...If you are a new player or strictly a one style rhythm player that doesn't really use effects, do your research first. Don't just jump into an amp, because as I found, it will make you more discouraged in the long run having 60 some sounds to play with and only using 2 or 3 of them. I know I was bored and discouraged, but I have now found a new respect and rekindled my desires to really learn how to play. Reading these reviews really helped that happen. I am giving this amp an overall of 7 only because it is soooooo confusing for a rookie, but if I was very experienced or a decent lead player, I am sure this amp would rank a 10 overall. Not a 10 in all catagories. As most everyone in here has said, nothing is perfect. And above all, tone can always be better. But it is definatly worth the price and it has the balls to keep up with a loud ass drummer and half stack blaring with it. I do think that it could use a better speaker, although I am not a sound man, so maybe this is an unjust accusation. 2 weeks ago if it was stolen I wouldn't have bought a new one, I probably would have paid someone to steal it and collected some insurance for it, but now if it was stolen, I still wouldn't rush out to buy a new one since I just bought a boogie. If I had 800 dollars to blow though and was in the market for a new amp, I would definatly consider it. I would just have to actually compare it to something else first.

I bought this amp two years ago after looking for a good combo amp to cut down my rig, which included a Marshall head, Peavey preamp, and custom speaker cabinet. I wanted an amp that had the effects and tones that I needed all in one package. This amp came the closest, so I bought it.
It has 32 channels, 16 user and 16 preset, but frankly, 32 user channels would have been a lot better. Has headphone jack, D.I.'s effects loop...but no speaker ext. jack??? I never really understood that as it limits the amp in many ways, but whatever. Also, the D.I.'s are controlled by the master volume (quite foolishly) so you have to have your amp in a very limited volume range to use the D.I.'s effectively. That has to be the stupidest design I've seen in a while, but hopefully there was a reason for it...
It has a LOAD of different options, most of which I haven't looked at that much. You have your vast amount of amp simulations and you can switch around the cabinet simulations for each one. Has a few effects like chorus, phaser, roatary speaker, delay. I find them quite nice. No, they aren't the greatest effects I've ever heard, but they are very usable. The pedal that comes with it is ridiculously handy and I'd be screwed trying to use it live without it...can switch channels, add affects, volume boost, tuner, etc. Very well thought out.
Oh, and this is definitely a solid state amp.

I find the sounds on this amp very usable and very flexible. Yeah, it sounds 'good' if you can dial in the right sound. If you're looking for a ripping tube amp with one awesome sound, look elsewhere my friend, that was not the intention here. I play soooo many different styles, that I couldn't afford to really go any other way. This amp does everything pretty well, but I don't know if it does any one thing amazingly.
I use a lot of effects with my playing because I approach playing a guitar with others as just another colour on the palette to create a beautiful sonic masterpiece. I'm not straight-ahead rock, though I do play that, or straight-ahead anything, for that matter. Neither is this amp. We get along very well together. Another bonus is that there isn't an infinite amount of tweaking you can do on everything. That prevents me from getting way too anal about my sound. I just dial in something that sounds like what I'm looking for in a few minutes as opposed to hours and hours.
This does not sound like a tube amp! It can get close, in a lot of ways, but it just doesn't do it! Don't think you're actually going to get all of the amazing amp sounds as listed on the amp to actually sound exactly like other amps. But the sounds are still good!
I used to be an anal tube freak, but then I realized, "Hey, if it has the sounds that I like, who cares?" I love tube amps, I love their tonal dynamics, if you will, but right now, versatility and flexibility are more important to me...I just am not rich.
So, if you like flexible, try this amp and I bet a lot of the sounds will jive with you. Try it out, I was impressed, and I'm not easily impressed. It sounds the best that I've heard for what it's intended to do.

I don't have more than one amp, so of course I would gig without a backup. Again, I'm not rich. This amp has never once failed me...Although the bolts that hold the handle on the top came undone once, but I tightened them, so it was all good...In fact, this baby has fallen down a couple of times and it's still good, surprisingly. I was a bit dissapointed with how it was put together but that's just from a building perspective, as it works fine and I'm sure it will work fine for a long time. Just not the greatest carpentry job and whatnot. My only really big concern is that all the digital control knobs are plastic, as well as there shafts, so you need to be mindful of that. They designed it so that if it falls over, the knobs won't actually hit the ground, but watch out for falling objects...

I've had mixed feelings about Peavey's support, but they're pretty good, for the most part of my experiences. Hey, nothing will last forever...I believe I have a 5-year extended warranty on mine, with no extra charge, so that's a bonus. Again, nothing's broken so I can't rate that bit.

I have to give this a high rating from my perspective because it has worked with me sooo well through so many different circumstances. I've been playing for almost 7 years and haven't "owned" a whole lot of gear, but I've tried a whole heck of a lot and I really like what I've found here.
It fits me like a glove. Hopefully it may fit you as well. I tried some other amps of it's kind in the same price range, and they were pretty good. This one just seemed to click with me the most. I would recommend to anyone looking for a new amp, make a list of options/tones that you feel you have to have and shop accordingly, doing your best to find the amp that most closely matches your list.
I use this baby with a 1984 Strat with Dimarzio Hs-3's and it is a wonderful thing. It it was stolen, I would be dissapointed. I would look around at all the different amps around because, hey, new stuff comes out in 2 years. No point in keeping personal bonds to equipment.
In any event, I think it's great. My only beef is that thing where the D.I. output levels are controlled by the master volume, and an ext. speaker jack would be a nice touch. But hey, nothings perfect...

Too many features to list. Check out Peaveys website for all the bells and whistles. It has a crap load of features. Some of the best are the way you can use effects. You can have more than one modulation effect at a time, etc... Some amps allow only one modulation effect at a time.

It sounded pretty good. Some channels or settings could produce noise, but once you figure the amp out you can get around them.
The pedal is BAD ASS!!!!!!! Peavey knows what the hell they are doing concerning a ultimate foot pedal!

This is the part I must comment about. I got the amp and inspected it when it came. The board that holds the speakers to the frame had cracks around all of the mounting screws! I've had other peavey amps and they were built better than this aka no overtightening of screws. They even knew they did it because they used filler where the ends split out!!! This must of been a newbie and have not had any other problems with Peaveys like this. I sent it back because of this. The company then asked me if I wanted a replacement for the defective/poor quality on the amp. I said no because I decided on another model elsewhere. A month later and no credit to my charge card I contacted them. They said they already credited my CC(liars who knows more than me! I'm the CC holder!!). Even worse they have the balls to now tell me that it wasn't defective!!!!! They are unprofessional and arrogant(8th street music in Philly,PA & online). Of course I called the CC company to dispute the charges. 8th street can go to hell.

didn't contact them, but will send hate mail about the hassle I got from the dealer(8th street).

It'd be nice if the dealer wasn't a prick. This one slipped thru peavey's quality inspection(ie: cracks in frame due to over tightened screws).

All kinds of goodies. Fairly easy to use. What the heck is "Power Dynamics"? Tap delay is cool. Nice footswitch included.

Strats, G&L Legacy, Jackson DK2, Gibby LP Classic with Duncan 59's, Tele Deluxe w/noisless.
Lot's of sounds. Distortion is never enough on any amp! Clean and quiet when you want it. Sound quality very good for a solid state amp.

The Post Gain switch went south within a week. The local Dealer sent it to the guys at Mojave Amps for warranted repair and I had it back within a week or so. I'll withhold judgement on the switch because it could have been dicked with at the store by someone.

For the repair I needed it was handled quick, clean and free. Perfect 10 for the guys at Mojave Amps (autho'd Peavey repair)

You'll like it. It's cool and versatile. Fairly loud and nice looking too.

I have had this amp for about a year and 1/2, and I honestly believe it is the best unknown bargain among current modeling amps. The reviews prior to mine have fairly well documented the features. It is versatile enough to cover everthing from country twang to in your face gutty distorion, but with an ability to change and edit even while you play, other tweak types should love this- saving the new settings is super easy as well. The ability to see your settings with the LED readout in semi darkness or with stage lighting in your face- wow, it is all right there, no problems!! The amp has 16 user and 16 presets, the only thing I could have wished for would have been a foot toggle switch arrangement to go between the user/preset patches- it can be done by quickly moving your left hand and tapping the user button back to presets, but if you like the preset you can easily make it part of your user patch setup. The user patches are very musical, allow for a wide variety besides showing off what this amp can do. Hendrix, U2, ZZTop, Jazz, and Santana licks ripped off the presets as some of my friends went through the settings. Another feature that might have been nice to have would be a way to adjust the drive of the distoriton on the various lead models, but hey, in all fairness for the most part you can back off your guitar volume and do this on most of the models- and that is pretty cool in itself. I use this amp at my Church where in a 1/2 hour we span the range during Praise from pop, rock, funky, blues, boogie shuffle to very quiet refective material during Worship. Powerwise, I have not had a direct shotout with the ASx2 line six the other guys have, but in fairness at 1/4 output I have no trouble hearing myself andI get motioned to turn down- almost the same results at higer lvels but now I am moving lots of air too. It easily keeps up with the Line 6- this is a very powerful amp with strong output when required. It is also the only modeling amp I have found that can work with success with acoustic pickups (American clean model- read Twin Reverb). I searched for an amp that could meet both my acoustic and electric needs, with a variety of user friendly good sounding effects- at this time, this is the amp.

Lets talk about what guitar players are striving for-TONE! This is a trans tube amp; it allows the flexibility to push the amp at 10% to 100% power output, allowing for a natural compression of the tone allowing a sweet round articulated sound that can be incredibly clean, blusey overdrive, to driving feedback even at low volumes- you have to go try it to hear it. I was not a believer in Peavey nor have ever owned any, I have always owned fender/musicman tube amps and wanted something more than one tone amps. I was also tired of hauling a variety of pedals and or pedal boards around to get that TONE- most of you know exactly what I mean. I took my TEX MEX Strat in to demo the transformer 112 amp- I also have an LR Baggs acoustic bridge pickup installed. I was completely blown away by the sound with the Tex Mex pickups- you still get the strat noise on high gain, but in between setting on the strat were fairly quiet- in fact the amp even turned up did not have any HISS unlike the line six stuff. The tone is rounder and more tuby that the line six stuff in this price range, even more so when I switched to a Gretsch I have with humbuckings- talk about sustain. Then I tried the LR Baggs- this is the only electric amp I have found that could make the sound of the Baggs sound "correct", like an acoustic. It is very similar to the sound with an acoustic amp I have. I found this tone and sound to be truer with a Takamine I just sold, and that the amp sounds even better with my new acoustic, a Taylor 414ce with Fishman electronics. The variety of the effects is small- 5 plus delay and reverb-- but I find them very good, especially the rotary and delays. I play in a church that seats about 550 to 600, and my biggest problem is always being told I am to loud (typical setting is about 1 1/2 on the master) and too much bass- pretty good for an open back cabinet. The clean remains clean on the clean channels even at high volumes with maxed pre and post gain, the crunch models are dependent on the pre and post gain offsets- so are the lead models. This makes for a variety of endless tweaking because the lead models can be made to sound clean, edgy, ect--- also there is the ability to change cabinet styles (15 other choices besides the preset)which do make a difference to the tone as well- I am still coming up with new tweaks and changes as I listen to differences- keeps it fun looking for the elusive tone/sound or the new one I want to make up.

Very reliable and dependable so far- no problems, other than it is heavy and I got myself a little trasport carrier for it.

It is fair to say that I have not had problems nor a direct need to contact Peavey except for one thing- there were none of the 212 amps on the west coast, mine was shipped directly from the factory to my Peavey dealer, and there was a slight mixup that the dealer sraightened out.

The best thing was that I was curious about the amp and did an internet search on it, which lead me to a web site by one of the amps software designers. I emailed him with some questions, and was suprised that he not only answered me, but it was the advice I needed to learn how to do a boost fuction on the amp- that was really way cool, designers that standby their work and give a reply. Of course he is not the company, but it makes me secure about the product and the people they employee. Kudos to the design team, hope they remain with peavey for awhile.

I have played since I was 13, seen lots of amps and guitars- heard countless bands and concerts. Today, the ability to mike an amp or line out to the PA makes it far simpler to look for tone in a smaller 2 by 12 package, one that can be heard on stage with authority as needed. This amp can do it. I love the fact that I can have such a variety of sound ready at my fingers without a lot of time spent editing, that the sounds are tasty, the effects are good enought to put away the pedals- as Frank Zappa pointed out shut up and play your guitar! that is what the Peavy lets you do. The Cyber Twin is great, so is the Vetta- but those are way above the price of this amp. The editing on this amp is so simple, as well as setting the effects. It does not sound harsh like the line 6 stuff does, nor does it have the solid state hiss sound that a lot of products do such as Crate or Line 6. Given the opportunity, I would donate this to my Church when a newer improved Transformer 212 came out- for the money (which includes the food pedal) this amp is a very good deal- for the sound and the TONE, it is a bargain.

I bought my Transformer in September 2001. I joined a new band a couple of months earlier and we were ready to start playing on a semi-pro basis. My other amps are a 60's Selmer bass'n'treble valve head and cabinet which was getting too old to rely on, and a Peavey Express which I'd used for rehearsing. I needed something a bit more powerful and simple to use as I'd always had to use multi-fx and stomp boxes with the other two. I was thinking of getting a Fender amp as that would suit the style of the new band (mainly soul/funk/disco) but after reading about the Transformer, modelled on 12 amps, I realised I could get one for a similar price to the Fender models I was thinking about. There are two Fender-style settings - Bassman and Tweed, 3 Marshall-style - Bluesbreaker, 70's and 80's, Vox AC30 Top Boost, 2 Mesa-Boogie style and 4 based on Peavey amps like the 5150 and Classic. The amp has built in digital effects - the basic ones chorus,phaser, flanger, tremelo, rotary speaker,one of which can be used at one time, and separate reverb and delay. It also has Peavey's Transtube T-Dynamics control which is subtle but imitates valve amp compression. The amp has a built-in tuner. Each knob on the panel has a circle of LEDs which show which amp is being used, which effect is on, and all the level settings. When you switch pre-sets using the foot-switch included, the LEDs move to show the new settings - something which only happens on amps with motorised-knobs like the Cyber-Twin. The footswitch also allows you to boost a patch for solos or switch effects in and out.

I play one of the early Japanese Squier strats which i bought in 1984 and although i have a couple of other guitars, this has always been the best-sounding and versatile. The amp was worth buying for the Bassman setting alone which I use most. I use some of the other amp models when a bit more overdrive is needed or for solos. Playing around with the settings, I think you could play any style of music with this amp. I don't know how accurate the sounds are when compared to the original amps which were modelled, but for a covers band this type of amp is really versatile.

I have had no problems with the amp except for one gig when the sound went dead - I switched the amp off and on again and it was back to normal. It may have been caused by a power-surge in the buildings electrics because all the power went off later in the gig. Apart from this, I have had no problems in the 9 months I've been gigging and rehearsing with it.

I got the amp through a local PA dealer who specialises in Peavey PA equipment and doesn't stock many guitar amps. He said he could get one for me and phoned Peavey's UK office who said it could take 4 to 6 weeks to deliver because they were awaiting a shipment from the States. However, as I'd been offered a price #120 less than the book price for the amp, I thought I might as well wait. I got a call from the dealer the following week - my amp had arrived ! I've not had to retun the amp for anything but I did get a 2 year warranty.

After playing electric guitar for over 20 years, this is the first time I have had a set-up which I feel comfortable with. The guitar plugs straight into the amp and just one footswitch to worry about. The average audience doesn't know or care whether you're playing through a tube amp and for the price and the features, I think this amp ( and probably some of the other DM amps) are ideal for use in a covers band. They may not be exact copies of the amps they model, but they certainly come close enough to get the right sound for the song. I read about some of the other amps like the Flextone, Line 6 etc, but the Peavey, with its LED interface and the footswitch included in the price seemed to be the simplest to use and the best value. I would probably replace it with the same model if it was lost or stolen although there are a few amps which have come onto the market since I bought the Transformer which I might check out first

Made in 2002. Has very cool modulations ala Korn and coal chamber. Has 4 channels per bank, and 4 banks. the channel switching is fast compared to other modeling amps but NOT FAST ENOUGH for fast verse/chorus changes. Its awesome that you can have modulation and reverb at the same time. The amp i got wasnt that loud...turns out the POWER AMP WAS DEFECTIVE, so i took it back and got a refund...

I use an ESP with 2 Humbuks and a kramer with 3 humbuks ran thru a Zoom 505 II for tuning and FX. It would havve been an awesome amp for my NU-Metal style(coal chamber, korn, rage) but it cant channel switch fast enough for heavy, quick music. The combo was erratic and noisy on distortion and the volume/noise fluctuated wildly. Has tons of awesome clean tones, modulations(twirps,blurbs, wehr-wehr-wehrmps) awesome heay distortions(if they would work right)

It was broke when i got it, the power amp was crap, and wildly fluctuated the volume levels, so i returned it, SUCKED FOR ME

never talked to them, returned it to retailer, got my $730 back, its a good amp, but not worth that much

it COULD hae been awesome, but it was defective and the switching is NOT FAST ENOUGH, maybe someday they will make them instantaneous like the wonderful A/B boxes ive come to love

2002 Model, all the features you would expect from a modeling amp.
The Best interface I've used yet (simple to use). Smart, easy to use
footswitch (love the boost feature!).

This thing blows away the competition here...and this is the catagory
that matters! Amazing clean tones, smooth lead tones with punch.
SOUNDS LIKE A TUBE AMP. FEELS LIKE A TUBE AMP. Very easy to dial in a great tone- with humbuckers or single coils. I play a McCarty & a Strat, both sound amazing through this amp and I don't have to tweak settings much when changing guitars. Very loud amp...but not overly loud. Good for my style. I play mainly classic rock with a LOUD drummer & a 2nd guitarist who plays through a Marshall 1/2 stack.
This amp cuts through it all with ease.

No Problems so far.

I Bought the Cyber Twin at GC and returned it with in my 30 window.
I tried to like the CT but in the end I felt it was a piece of shit.
In case you're wondering, I've been a tube player for the last 20 years. I was VERY skeptical about the whole digital thing but wanted to keep an open mind. I have owned mainly Boogies & Marshalls over the years. I found the Transformer 2x12 by accident, I NEVER even considered a Peavey...Sure am glad I stumbled on to this thing.
Best kept secret in the industry!!!

too many to list!! see others for stats

I'm playing an ESP EC-300 through this, and the total sound is just amazing! The built in effects, specially the phaser, are really on the mark and sound great when added to your presets. While it could use a bit more of an edgy sound in some of the distortions (to suit my metal moods), and an overall normal distortion sound, (not that you couldn't make one up), the other amp models are great and come fairly close to what they're supposed to sound like. Very versitile sounds. THIS AMP IS LOUD!! although I've only had it for a while, and it hasn't gotten out of my room. 2 12's is plenty for me, and I'm sure this thing would hold up great at any type of gig. Super quiet switching with no split second delay periods. All around, probably one of the best you could ever buy.

Seems like with Peavey anything you don't have to worry about reliability anything. This things a boat!! (60lbs) I need a trolly to cart it around and save my back! It should be able to take anything you can give it.

haven't had to deal with them, but from what I've heard, support is great.

This is the most versatile amp I've ever seen in my life. Sounds are great in tone, and the features are endless. Go buy one and have fun!!

If you've got any cool settings, feel free to email. I'd love to add to my collection

Modeling amplifier - read others for the specs

Sounds pretty good. I play it with a Peavey Predator plus. Suits my playing in a Classic Rock and Roll band.

Not too sure. This is a replacement for the amp I originally bought. The handle nut fell off inside a FRIED it! I used loc-tite to secure the handle on the replacement (it was loose too!!!). Once tightened and secure, it looks like it should hold up.

In the interim that my amp was at peavey, it took a long time for results. I wonder if they lost the amp???? Anyway my local dealer finally started to hound peavey for some results. Finally agreed to exchange amp for another off the floor. Dealer helped out superbly. Peavey dropped ball.

Overall the second amp is working fine and the amp is sounding well in the 4 piece group i play with. Not as loud as my Peavey stereo 212 chorus. but holds it's own. Price was Ok for what you get. Just watch the handle hardware

Transformer, 2 x 12, 50 Watt x 50 Watt stereo, amp modeling, 16 factory presets, 16 user, chorus, flange, phaser, tremelo, rotary speaker. Complete with midi footswitch, bulit in tuner, standard and chromatic, E and E flat. 16 amp models including American, British, Peavey 5150 and classic, 2x12, 1 x 12 and 4 x 12 cabinet selections available. All funcitions are knob controlled, no numbers, LED backlit on each knob,(kind of neat in the dark). Stereo headphone jack, left and right send and return, 8 pin midi in, 5 pin midi out, left and right line out for console direct or to tape.

Speakers are 12" Blue Marvel(?) 4 0hm

Specs are 29W x 11.6 deep X 20.6 H, 60 lbs.

G&L Legacy, 3 sinlge coils. Humbuckers should be awsome through this modeling amp. As with many of the submissions for the 1 x12 Transformer, it models amps very close. It does not sound like a Peavey 5150 or Marshall head with 4 x12 cab, but it comes damn close. The modulation effects are very nice. Huge stereo chorus. The rotary speaker is realistic. For the first time in my 30+ years of playing, I plugged straight into the amp, no foot switches etc. to go through. The pre sets are well thought out, lots of flexibility. Tweak the low, mid, high and modulation knobs and press the save button, select where you want to save it (turn a knob) and your USER sound is saved. The footswith has a boost switch, which allows you to tweak the saved preset. So basically, you have 16 factory,16 USER presets, each with boost giving you a total of 64 possible presets. I will probably only use 3 or 4 presets but having the ability to save a sound I stumble on is nice feature. The presets are stored in A,B,C,D banks and 1,2,3,4 presets sounds, each with BOOST. The BOOST allows you to tweak the EQ and Modulation effects. Very user friendly.

The amp is very quiet. No cracks, pops when switching banks or presets. Silent switching. Totally Amazing.

I have the left and right send going to (two) other amps. Left to a Fender Concert and right to Fender Princeton Chorus. Both amps set to clean with volume set at 3 to 4. The Transfomrer pre amp powers the send circuit, therefore all of the Transformer effects are in stereo, coming out the slave amps. The tone is totally awsome. Even my wife was impressed.

The distortion sound like solid state. But remember it is solid state. Don't expect it to sound like a Mesa triple rectifier. The pre gain and post gain combinations are flexible enough to get a good bluesy tone all the way to hard metal crunch. Many combinations are possible due to the software amp modeling selection. You can even mix amps with different cabinets. Tons of possibilities. Just remember, this is a solid state amp, no tubes. So don't buy this thing if you a re looking for a huge fat tube, one sound type of amp. This amp is extremely flexible. I chose the Peavery over the Flextone, Line 6 and Repliflex. (It was my second choice).

This is my first Peavey product. The amp cabinet is very well constructed. Built to withstand abuse. The control knobs are smooth. The LED backlit knobs and footswitch seem reliable.

I have not had to deal with Peavey direct. From the quality of the amp and user friendly owners manuals (easy to understand, technical made simple), I do not anticiapte any problems with support from Peavey. I purchased the amp for $650 from Evans Music in Houston, Texas. The amp tech/salesman was extremely helpful, courteous and made the buying experience very pleasant. We both read through the manual to figure out the USER save functions etc. In a matter of minutes we had it figured out.

I have been playing for 30+ years and have owned/own Fender and Mesa Boogie amps. This is my second solid state amp I've purchased. The other one is a Fender Princeton Chorus. This is by far the most versatile and fun amp I have purchased. The amp is internet ready ( User Presets) from Peaveys web site. Peavey promises this feature soon. Overall, if you are hunting for a modeling amp which is portable, affordable, stereo effects and easy to use, I recommend the Peavey Transformer 2x12.