Peavey Bandit 112

I was not impressed by any of the features of this amp. I bought one for my SG and despised it from the beginning. I've had it for about 2 years and am currently selling it. There are no built in "effects," just a few EQ's and channel type switches.

It is a loud amp, at the sacrifice of quality. I could never get rid of the hissing in the background. The "modern" setting is blotchy, the "vintage" setting is dull, the Lead channel has horrible gain overdrive, the reverb is too distorted, and the transtube has virtually no effect on the quality/level of sound.

It is dependable for what it's worth. Rigid design. Electronics are stout. Speaker is durable. Knobs are persistant.

I have been playing guitar for about 3 years. I am fairly decent, but recently discovered I'm a bassist. If this amp were stolen, I'd want my money back... Overall, it has a cheap loud sound. You would need a very high end guitar to make up the difference

I bought the Bandit used out of a pawnshop in 1991 or thereabouts. I think I gave $150 for it. This is not the Transtube model.

I've been playing rock for about 15 years, from blues to metal and all points in between.

I have never used the effects loop, like most folks seem to do I put all my pedals between the guitar and amp. For the most part, I use the clean channel for everything. There have been times I've used both inputs at once (hi and low gain).

For the price I paid I certainly can't complain about the features. I do think it's an awfully heavy amp for what it is.

I use a Jackson and a Schecter dual humbucker currently, all stock. The amp gets plenty loud enough, I doubt I've ever been able to get it over 4 on the clean channel. I've used it for band rehearsals and it has no trouble keeping up with half stacks or 2x12 tube amps. I wouldn't have a problem gigging with it in a small bar, though I would add another speaker to get a bigger sound.

The sound is a bit sterile and dry, however, and it just isn't very warm at all compared to a tube amp.

I have never liked the lead channel. Seems I can never get the dirty breakup sound I like so much, it's either distortion or no distortion. It's OK in a pinch but it's definitely a one trick pony. Also there is some sort of clipping or something happening at higher volumes, but it isn't too noticeable using the clean channel. You will probably have to depend on pedals to get the most out of this amp unless you are the 10% of players who like the distortion.

The amp is very quiet, in fact I have left it turned on all night several times, forgetting it was on.

It's seen its share of bumps and knocks but nothing nasty. It has held up like a champ for 15 years, and it has never needed the first repair.

Never dealt with Peavey. The extent of my customer support experiences is when I downloaded the manual for it off their website.

The Bandit has excelled in the role I purchased it for, which is bedroom practice / jam / rehearsal. If you're looking for a no-hassle, dependable workhorse that will get as loud as you need it to within these circumstances, the Bandit is hard to beat -- as long as you realize you will need to bring your own tone.

Bought it in 2004 in Russia. Must have been made prior to that, right?
I bought it because I liked the power 80W, the two channels with vintage modes selectable, the spring reverb, the T-dynamics kind of output compressor.

having bought the amp I stopped using my Korg AX1 Guitar processor for gain - I like the amp preamp section a lot better. The processor is now in effects loop only doing the Wah and the Flanger.
I like the built in reverb - it's got life to it. It's spring reverb and it doesn't sound like a digital and it should not!

The amp is really loud - it rattles the windows at home and at reharsals it makes drummer beat the shit out of the drums just to be heard.

if I worked at Peavey on making a new model of this amp I would include a separate compressor knob for the clean channel. T-dynamics does work as a compressor for the clean but sometimes you want it at 10 for clean and at 100 for distorted...

I use Ibanez blazer series custom guitar - it's got two single coils and a humbucker. With this amp I can dial anything, and particularly:

I get Smoke on the water - dead on with neck single coil using modern setting in lead channel and mid gain.
If I turn up gain and the highs and the presence with single coil I get the dirt which I use for Smills Like Teen Spirit.
Whole lotta love - very crunchy with vintge on lead channel - i's close but it will get closer when I get a better guitar.
Metallica Sad but true - very close in in modern setting with humbucker
Blues tone like Since I've been Loving you - in vintage setting.

The clean is really nice for anything - it can twang, in can jazz and do dire straights.. or clean like Nirvana kind of clean. Just don't overdo the high freq EQ - it will be shrill especially at high volume.

I can't get Pantera kind of Sound - not enough gain. I probly could get that tone with a more powerfull humbucker but I'm not missing it that much...
I never use the High Gain mode out of the tree - it got too much mid.
All other features are very usable to create and fine tune your sound.

the T-dynamics thing is really weird. it's a kind of out put compressor but it's got something else to it. At mid power when you turn TD to 10 %it makes the sound tight and controllable, and at 100% it let's the dogs off the leash - the attack goes crazy, the sound jumps out. Setting of about 50% helps the clean not to bash you on your head with attack.
At full power T-dynamics is meant to be set to max or so. Just for the hell of it I sometimes turn T-dynamix to 10 and power to max - that's when it becomes real weird.. it sounds like the speaker is overpowered, it's suffocating and it's gasping for life.. really makes me nervous... But it's a cool sound... Closest to Pantera I can get...

Sometimes I feel like the bass isn't punchy enough. but hey, it's just one 12" speaker. I guess that's why we have the bass guitar in the band. 4x10 cab could make a difference probably in bass deparment.

Nothing ever happend to it in a year and it gives me confidence that it won't. It's solid.

I like to play STANDING ON IT. then I begin to rock on top of it and the springs of the reverb begin to bash against the reverb metal casing and that makes a real loud bang like I just blew the guts out of it! Scares everyone when they hear it for the first time :)

One thing to complain about is that when I just bought it it made some rattling sound at full power.. I didn't bother with warranty cause I'm in Russia. I just took the electronics section apart and found out that the circuit board was rattling against the shielding case. I stuck a rubber pad between them and haven't heard the problem since..
It's must have been just my amp cause nobody else seams to have complained about it... So I still give it a 9.

Again I'm in russia. I never even thougt about warranty here. In Russia you just fix your amp :)

I've been playing for 8 years and all this time that same Ibanez guitar was my first and only real guitar. I use the above mentioned Korg AX1. I used to plug my guitar into it and run it into some power amplifiers most of which were Russian made and even into one tube power amp.. But this Peavey really makes the best sound of all combinations I ever tried. I like it's sound better over my fiends set up, which is Jackson (explorer kind of guitar) - into marshal jackhammer dist pedal - into solid state 60 watt amp - into 2x12 cab. He might be doing better in bass punch department but I get nicer and more natural tone...

At the music store I chose this amp over Marshall AVT50. I A\B'ed the two and found the Bandit actually more natural sounding in gain department than Marshall which has a real tube in it. Peavey sounded smother and was more versatile, Marshal sounded like sand with lot's unpleasant high frequency harmonix and could only really do metal.

If it got stolen i'd buy another cause I don't know a better amp for the price... Or perhaps I would have saved on a more expensive amp..

I've got a 2003 Bandit so its got al the bells and whistles. Couldn't really ask for any more

I've got 10 different guitars. 2 1950's Hofners, 1984 Gibson "The Paul", 1979 Epiphone Firebird, 1982 jap strat, Aerodyne Tele, Wesley (see through, look on ebay), Tanglewood Oddysey, Brunswick 12 string and a Maverick F1 so they are quite varied. They all sound fantastic. Anyone that says that these amps don't deliver the goods is a fool. Anyway, if there that bad why the hell did you buy it you useless gits.

I have no worries gigging this without a backup. It's tough and well made and can with stand a good kicking and can survive serious beer spillage.

I've never had to phone them but they're Peavey for christ sake so I'm confident they would be good

?250 for a brand new amp is peanuts nowadays and when the amp is this good then it's just rude if you don't buy one. Don't take any notice of the these valve amp purists, this sounds the bollocks what ever style you play. I've been playing for 13 years and this has good tone PERIOD!

I have no idea, probably 2004. I play no bullshit blues and blues rock. I don't give a fuck about a lot of versatility, just want something in my living room that I can practice on and get a decent clean sound and decent crunch from. This amp is more than good enough for that and it is loud. I was a little disappointed in this amp. I've had several Peavey amps and while they are not BAD amps, they just seem to lack something and I can't figure out exactly what that something is. I'll give it an 8 because it does what's its suppose to do.

I have the following guitars:

1956 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop, yep - original, passed down from my Dad. Two P-90 pickups.

1962 Fender Stratocaster, also passed down from my Dad. It was upgraded to Fender Vintage Tonless pickups (absolutely suck) switched to Texas Specials. I can deal with the buzz.

1964 Fender Telecaster. The last of the electrics passed down from my Dad. I have the vintage noiseless pickups on these, which are actually stacked humbuckers. They kick ass.

1972, Fender Telecaster Custom. I bought it new. Has a Vintage Noiseless at the Bridge and a stock Fender chrome covered humbucker at the neck. A Keith Richards look alike.

1982 Fender Standard Stratocaster. I also bought it new. Has the stock pickups on it, made in USA. Sounds great as is.

1995 Gibson Les Paul Standard. Everything is stock. Two humbuckers.

I've had lots of other guitars, but these are the only electrics I have kept. This amp is good BUT NOT GREAT for all these guitars. Handles humbuckers quite well. I play pure no bullshit blues based rock. I do my own stuff, but I draw heavily from late 60's to mid 70's blues based stuff and Southern Rock (hey, I'm from fuckin Georgia) like Hendrix, Zeppelin, Sabbath (yes that is blues based hard rock), Stones, Skynyrd, Molly Hatchett, AC/DC, Blacksnake, etc.. Nothing else is music to me. I don't care for this heavy metal shit. This amp will play all the music I like and for a living room or a porch practice amp, it is good. It's noisy though, even with humbuckers and very high quality cables. Clean channel "breaks up nicely" at higher volumes AT IS SHOULD and that is the best thing about this amp. Go to volume level "5" and you can get a very nice crunch but it's a hundred watts so that volume level is pretty fuckin loud. Distortion can be brutal if that's what you want but the distortion doesn't have "soul". I bought this for Skynyrd, Molly Hatchett, 30 Special type stuff and it does it ok......does Ted Nugent type stuff ok. I keep the gain around 3 or 4 and that's more than sufficient for any of the music I play. Again an 8. Not a bad amp - just not a great amp. I wouldn't gig with it. Unlike the Marshalls or VOX amps, you can't compare the Peavey solid state amps (even the transtubes) with the Peavey Tube Amps. To me, Peavey Solid State Amps miss something the others seem to pickup. Peavey tube amps are awesome though - just don't forget your billfold if you go to buy one.

Now in this department - built like a fuckin tank.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing since I was 3 or 4 and I'm 51. I come from a musical family (obviously since most of my guitars were handed to me when my Dad passed away). I have the guitars that I mentioned above, a Gibson Acoustic that is older than me, an Epiphone Hummingbird, and a couple of Martin Acoustics. I have a VOX AC 30 and a Fender Super Reverb for tube amps (the VOX was also passed to me by my Dad), I bought the Fender Super Reverb at a pawn shop for $200.00 several years back. These are my gig amps when I do gig....which is not as often as in my younger days. I also have a Marshall MG30DFX and a Marshall MG10CD which are damn good. Finally I have a VOX Pathfinder 15R, which is the best damn practice amp I have ever played. I don't have all this shit because I'm materialistic or rich. I'm a musician......that should tell you I ain't rich. I've just accumulated this stuff over a period of years. Now that I have a steady job, I can't play as much as before, but I can afford to buy more stuff. I'd get another one if it were lost. It won't be.....and it won't be stolen either. I have a hald timber wolf, half german sheppard who loves to play with intruders. I live very far in the country in the mountains of North Georgia on 30 acres of land so I can play as loud as I want to. Somehow my wife has put up with all this shit for over 30 years.

Bought my Bandit 2 years ago new, so that would make it a 2003 model. This thing on the distortion side goes from Fender tweed/Supro to Marshall combo to drop tune "Cookie monster" crunch with a 3-way switch on the face of the amp, clean channel and effects loop. Comes with a clunky 2 button foot switch for clean/distorted and effects on/off. Solid state, sturdy and no maintenance to speak of.

I use a Warmoth body/'91 jap ('51 re-issue Broadcaster) maple neck "telly" with Texas Custom pick-ups, a Squier Telly for slide, a Resonator for other slide, a law-suit"Strat" from Vester(a great sounding axe!) and a law suit Les Paul from Tokai probably(it's had a decal put on it,but is too well made to be a Korean) a Cry Baby and Boss delay. I play everything from AC/DC to Zepp. The Bandit goes nicely with all those sound palettes. JUST ONE PROBLEM. It's still solid state, and if you're spoiled from using expensive tube amps(as I am) you're first impression will be "golly" it sounds fat at low volume(unlike tube amps which sound like a kazoo until you get up to about 7) and you'll give it a "close but no cigar" rating at higher levels. Well I got this amp to play small venues and it has enough power to be heard on larger stages too..about as loud as a Twin. I had an old B.K. Butler 2-tube driver with a clean/overdrive. I use the clean side of it as a pre-amp and go into the low input of the Bandit..that made all the difference.. now it sounds like my old Marshall combo which had a 100w Mark II head.

Average of four nights a week for two years and the circuit breaker shut down once! when the 9V power tranny for my delay shorted out. Came right back on when i took the offending plug out. No more $280 "tune-ups" to keep the sound every three freekin months. I haven't needed a back up with this thing and we're talking 400 gigs and i don't know how many practices.

Hasn't come up

I've been playing guitar for 40 years and this amp is the best small amp i've ever owned. I constantly get great comments on my tone from other guitarists and soundmen because this thing sounds amazing miked up, although i did put in an 80W Celestion speaker as well. With minor modifications such as a cleanish tube-pre and a Celestion speaker my Bandit sounds identical to a $2000 point-to-point Fender Vibra-King I just tried out and that's no bullshit........my druthers is a pair of Mark II Marshalls with four cabinets, but,again, I'm not trying to break the mirror behind the bar, and don't have roadies to schlepp it all around these days. Give it an 8 without the tube-pre and a 10 with. Hate the way it looks, i took off all the name plates but couldn't get rid of the nasty red stripe so i just hide it behind the sub-woofer and everyone aks me what kinda amp i use because it sounds so goood.

Feature-wise, it's difficult to complain about the Bandit. With an effects loop, footswitchable clean/overdrive channels, 80W of power (100W if you plug in an extension cab) and separate EQ knobs for both channels, if you're actually using both then this is quite accomodating and what you would expect from a quality product. No headphone jack, but save those for practice amps anyway.

The Bandit is my second amp. Before it, I owned a Fender Frontman practice amp (the reverbless version). In my opinion now, the difference between the Frontman and the Bandit is the speaker and cab and not much else. In fact, for what purpose my Bandit has served, I may have been better served keeping the Fender.

My main guitar is a custom-made Warmoth Jaguar with DiMarzio humbuckers (Super Distortion in the bridge and Air Norton in the neck position). I also own a cherry red Fender Toronado with stock pickups (humbuckers), although I rarely pull it out of the case anymore.

My style of playing is very much rooted in alternative and grunge music; my favorite band is Nirvana but I play stuff like My Vitriol, Mansun, Gatsby's American Dream, Catherine Wheel, and other bands that have very eccentric, effected sounds in addition to my own stuff.

As a result, I hardly ever have use of (this) amp distortion. I used to run a DS-1 straight into my amp. This works fine for blitzing, grungy, close-to-over-the-top metal distortion but provides little versatility. My current pedal lineup includes a Visual Sound Jekyll & Hyde Ultimate Overdrive (GREAT two-in-one pedal, like a TS-808 Tube Screamer and a Marshall JCM800 in a box), an AnalogMan Clone Chorus, a DOD Graphic EQ, and a Digitech RP200 that I pull out sometimes for some of the effects.

Whether the Bandit is "noisy" is debatable. If "noise" means hiss, this amp is as quiet as your pedals and pickups allow. If noise means terrible icepick-to-the-ears overdrive, then the distortion channel is nothing but noise. Personally, I've never used it seriously for more than five minutes -- it sounds absolutely terrible. Unmusical, lifeless static.

The clean channel is better but lacks the warmth, roundness and overall personality associated with tube amps. My main purpose in writing this review, however, is to stress the lack of headroom offered by the Bandit.

As I mentioned previously, I traded in a Fender Frontman amp as part of the payment for this Bandit. Given that I was never bold enough to really turn the Frontman up very far out of fear that it would rattle apart, imagine my surprise when the store guy, in testing it, managed to get the best sound I'd ever heard coming out of the little thing in the 30 seconds he was mucking around with it at about 6-7 on the volume setting.

You WILL NOT get the same results out of a Bandit. Around 3 or 4, it starts distorting like nobody's business and the distortion, either from the horrible built-in channel or from running a pedal in, will sound like absolute fat ass. Blatty and boxy and terrible.

This is really not what I wanted to discover upon finding some guys to start jamming with at band volumes (which I need to crank the Bandit up past 3 or 4 to achieve).

The irony is, at bedroom levels (ie. 1 or 2 to almost 3) this amp can sound pretty decent and with my pedal setup I can get some pretty nice overdrive sounds for bluesy type licks and riffs. There's never been enough definition in the Bandit to allow for crazily-distorted metal stuff; it justs comes out sounding like loud mush.

It's a tank. As are, I suspect, most solid state amps of reasonable make.

Never needed to talk to them.

Been playing about 7-8 years now; I've had this amp for most of that time, and since I haven't been gigging or performing, it's served just fine in its extended residence in my basement.

Would definitely not buy it again if stolen. If you're serious about playing guitar-based music, you need a tube amp, there's no debate about it.

The thing is this: at $300-400 dollars, the Bandit is a pretty high-end solid state amp. Much more than $300-400 and you get into the range of good tube amps that can do ten times better anything this amp claims to be able to do.

Bottom line: not a gigging or band practice amp in any way, shape or form. It sounds like absolute ass at anything higher than basement practice volumes, inspiring me to cry myself to sleep for an afternoon nap instead of play guitar. My advice to anyone currently in my situation from a few years back (got a few hundred dollars to spend to move up from a cheap practice amp) would be, save it that extra bit much to cross over into tube and valve territory and get a good solid guitar amp that will last. I chose the Bandit because I was unexperienced and naive and thought it was a good deal. In the long run, it's going to end up having cost me money. I plan on getting a Hot Rod DeVille at the soonest opportunity and I expect it will last me for a very long time.

Early 90's model without the 'Tube' simulation.
Has power amp in and preamp out
Sheffield speaker
Quite heavy (16 - 17kg's)
Spring reverb

I play 50, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's rock - hard rock

I use various Yamaha pacificas with single and humbucker pickups. I drive the clean channel with a Roland GP8 and have done so for many years live with great success.

I haven't used the lead channel live because I don't like the sound and didn't want to have to adjust clean and lead channel volumes at the Amp. I generally setup the clean channel volume at the start of the gig and change (increase) it for louder sets.

The lead channel isn't bad but is good for distortion while practicing when I don't want to setup te GP8

I like the reverb and generally use it for clean/chorus lead breaks in those 50's and 60's songs. I like the flexibility of the footswitch

Top marks. The amp has failed me once (in 15 years) when it was too close to a backdrop curtain and overheated. The amp came to life when I moved it away from the curtain

Never need customer support

I give it an 8 because it is a workhorse, loud enough for all situations, and I have found the Power Amp input to be very usefull. The amp is great as a 'Monitor' amp now being driven from my recoding mixer.

I deduct points because it has a 'general purpose' overdrive although it is fine. It is also 5kg's too heavy that causes it to be a pain to lug around.

I have recently tried out the Roland cube amps and are very impressed with the sound, size etc and have considered selling the Peavey but may have changed my mind because it has been such a usefull amp and is now proving to be a great general purpose monitor. The power amp in is also great input for guitar amp modelled sounds.

I probably wouldn't get another if it were stolen because there are many great amps around at reasonable prices

I bought the amp a couple of years ago. I was lookin for a fender but they were a little expensive for me at the time. While lookin I never even considered buying a Peavey. I thought no self respecting guitarist would play through one, not so now. It has two channels selected by a footswitch, clean is nice and clean and dirty is not great but as I play the clean through an effect all I need is a little boost for leads and the dirty channel gives me enough boost to carry it off. I wish there was an LED to indicate which channel is selected I know the sound tells you but some times it would be handy. The volume is loud enough to compete with the other guitarist's 100W valve Marshall head connected to 4 10inch speakers(believe me) and has been gigged without being miked.

I play a fender tele and this amp suits it well. I believe in starting with a clean sounding amp and using effects to dirty it up. The crisp sound from the tele comes out well unlike a tube amp which I find is always fuzzy (Yes that's right I DO NOT LIKE TUBE AMPS). Having said the dirty ch is not great it can be alright if you mess with the pre gain and post gain. We play ~Clash Jam and Pistols stuff and I find that you can get that late 70's sound quite easy. I've played this amp at 8/9 vol and there has been no distortion. By the way this was a shop Demo amp so has taken a lot of abuse I would imagine and still it preforms great.

I always gig with no backup and I have no problem in doing so. Like all solid state amps there is no replacing of tubes and this in itself is worth it's weight in gold. So far in two years I have had no problems.

Never dealt with them. Never had to.

I 've playing for donkey's years but only started playing in a band in the last three years. Until I bought this amp I borrowed amps from the rehearsal studio (fenders, marshalls and a roland jazz) But I am happy to use my Peavey 112. It was lost stolen or broken I would probably go for a fender purely for the name but if the price was right I would definately consider the bigger peavey 212.

well it is not a tube amp but it sounds like one. i use it at home and in my band. i play bossa, swing, metal, blues, pop, rock...everything. it has 2 channels but the clean has two choices and the lead 3. it has enough power for me.

it fits to nearly all styles. clean channel has just a little crunch if it is loud. sometimes it is noisy i dont know why. the distortion is okay

ohhh yes the quality is **** when i lifted the amp the handle just broke. i was licky thath the amp did't fall on my feet. so pay attention people! i could use it without a backup.

the warranty is 6 years if you sent in a card. when the handle brome i went to a peavey dealer and he said that peavey didn't get that card i paied 60 ?

amp is great for beginners who wants to have more for less, but some parts are****