Rocktron Product Reviews – BANSHEE AMPLIFIED TALKBOX from Guitar Shop Magazine
RocktronBanshee Amplified Talkbox
Aural Examsfrom Guitar Shop Magazine,
July 1997, by Jeff Vanda
Just think of the talkbox’s incredible legacy: Jeff Beck’s “She’s A Woman,” Peter Frampton’s hit “Show Me The Way,” Joe Walsh on “Rocky Mountain Way,” Joe Perry in “Sweet Emotion,” plus various tracks by Steely Dan (“Haitian Divorce”), and Bon Jovi (“Livin’ On A Prayer”). After its ’70s heyday, the effect largely disappeared, but today, with the retro-revival bringing back every effect known to mankind, the return of the fuzzy, throaty talkbox is a reality. Rocktron has taken it upon itself to be the new harbinger of voice-box mania with their Banshee pedal.
The concept behind the talkbox is so elegantly simple, it’s ridiculous. Picture being able to stick your amp’s speaker into your mouth and then manipulate the tone with all sorts of cheek and jaw movements (when they say that talkboxes have a “throaty” sound, they ain’t kidding). Essentially, a talkbox has a horn driver in its guts that shoots that fuzzed-out “talkbox” sound up a plastic tube, which the player has taped next to a microphone on a stand. Then, as you make all sorts of weird sounds out of the speaker noises in your mouth, the mic picks up the talkbox sounds and it comes out of the PA. Better yet, the effect of basically having a speaker in your skull makes one’s head shake like you’re on the bridge of the Enterprise and the Klingons have suddenly attacked. Clearly, the talkbox is a weird, but brilliant idea.
Rocktron goes one step further by improving on the setup problems of old boxes. In ye olde days, the unit had to go between an amp head and speaker cabinet, creating all sorts of A/B cabling headaches. But, like the ancient Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Golden Throat, the Banshee gets hooked up just like a regular stompbox between your guitar and amp. Just plug in as usual and then run the tube up to your microphone. Even cooler is that you could even use it as a tiny 5-watt amp head, since there’s an 8-ohm speaker-out jack that will run a small cabinet. Use it for practicing or recording (but don’t run it into another amp or effects loop, since there is real speaker-level voltage here and it could do internal damage, just as any amp would). The Banshee may look tiny, but it’s still a real amp, which may account for its sturdy price tag. But I think that amount is more than made up for by its super-convenient setup. By the way, it’s also encased in a heavy-duty metal shell, which will make it more than durable enough for roadwork. Weighs a ton, too.
How does it sound? In a word, great. I hooked it up using a Crate amp for the guitar and a small PA for the microphone. Powered by a 9-volt adaptor, the Banshee worked perfectly, creating that classic, nasty fuzz that is steeped in rich midrange flavors. The Banshee has three knobs on it (Gain, Tone, Output), but their effect is rather modest. Really, once you step on the heavy-duty footswitch, the unit is simply on and there’s not too much you can do to alter it other than through mouth movement on the tube. Fortunately, the sound is incredibly punchy, and you’ll have a blast experimenting with the new “oral” effects. Use it for background textures, solos, or “talk” to your audiences, like Frampton did on the live version of “Do You Feel Like We Do.” Believe me, after you play around with the Banshee for a while, your wah-wah pedal will start to look like a rusty old Model T. Plus, can a wah make your teeth rattle like you’ve got a 4×12 cab in your mouth? I think not.
Article Copyright © 1997 Guitar Shop Magazine
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