Peavey Bandit 112

mine is the very 1st of the transtube series
loaded withe the shefield speaker
2 channels
effects loop
footswitch
reverb
t dynamics knobs

im using this amp with a 1987 rg550 loaded with wsc pickups and an esp eclipse loaded with emg 60-81.i mainly play metal but u can get just about any sound out of this thing even with the active pickups.my only gripe is the cleans can be too compressed but yeh so are mesas.i also have a hughes and kettner switchblade stack sitting next to my peavey and honestly i wish i never bought it.i even sold my marshall dsl because the bandit just sounds better.

built like a tank i got this in the early 90's and and shes still going strong and ive never heard of a bandit breaking down.

havent had to deal with peavey

ive been playing on and off since 94 and have owned expensive valve amps but i keep going back to this thng.
if it was stolen i would look into the new bandit apparently the chinese ones are better.

Low Gain / High Gain inputs, 2 channnel clean and lead. Clean has seperate low, mid, high EQ with volume and vintage/modern switch, lead channel has low, mid, high EQ, pre-gain, post-gain, vintage/modern/high gain switch, master Reverb, Presence, T-Dynamics control, loose/tight speaker selection. effects loop, power amp in and out footswitch and 8 ohm ext. speaker jack. Loaded with Sheffield model 1230 8 ohm speaker. Rated at 80 watts RMS (100 watts with ext. speaker).

Has a very clear clean sound on either selection but esp. on vintage and the volume and EQ on this channel have a wide adjustment spectrum. Lead channel will acheive the old Marshall sounds along with some good more modern metal distortion. Very clear and really doesn't mudd except on a higher volume/gain speaker does not handle high volume as well as it should so I may install an Eminence V-12 or Man-O-War. T-Dynamics seems to have better control on the clean channel or high gain selection on lead. Other settings have little volume variance. Seems to be like 2-2-3-5-7-10 with no in-between. Use many guitars Firebird VII, V, SG, LP, many Strats Stock and modded. Sounds good with all, of course 60 cycle with singles but no worse than others. Blues, Classic Rock, 80's Metal, Jazz are a good. Death Metal would be attainable with the right pedal but I don't think the speaker would perform optimum.

Seems to be built like a tank and that is Peavey's rep.

Unused but I like their site

Transtube is nice but will still look for an older all tube peavey. Wish the T-Dynamics was more responsive. Like tthe fact it more portable than an old tube amp and with a speaker change I may even love it. If it were stolen I'd prob. replace ith with a transtube 2x12 or most likely an old Classic VT series and install and attenuator.

It has great sounds and lots of them. With the Thrash, Gain Boost, Bright and Resonance buttons along with a Presence control you can get any sound you want from the most bright clean sound all the way to an agressive heav metal sound. It also has 2 channels, effects loop, high and low inputs and a reverb control. And it also has a control called T.Dynamics which changes the power from 10% (Weak, soft tone) and everything all the way to 100% (Strong, Heavy tone). You can either use the Pre gain as the main gain control and the Post gain as the volume for a more metal sound or the other way round for a softer more bluesy sound.

The quality is very good the problem i have is buzz when on the distorted channel when just plugged in and not playing. This suits my style very well i play heavy metal of the highest degree and it can do it amazingly. I can also get all sorts of other sounds punk, blues, jazz etc. The distortion has no one sound it cn be insanely brutal then with some slight tweeking can be a soft distortion for blues or jazz. The only problem is the buzz.

This amp is second hand so i would not play it without a backup live. but it seems to be reliable enough. i have not had it break down so far.

Never Dealt With The Company

I have been playing for just over a year and i play Schecters and BC Richs and some others through the Bandit 112 as my main setup for now. I would buy it again or look at some higher range Peaveys. I love pretty much everything about it. I just hate the buzz that is driving me insane but it is not there while playing. I just got this as a spur of the moment style thing but i can compare it to some good ??500 amps and i cant tell the difference. I would say if you can get one of the older Bandits DO IT! i do not like the newer ones because of the softer and brighter tones compared to the older ones (like mine). I dont know what year mine is but i would guess late 90's.

This amp comes with a lot of great features for a decent price: effects loop, head phone jack, line out for a separate cabinet and voicing features for the clean and lead channels (these offer tonal versatility not usually found on amps for this price). I was looking for a pretty cheap amp that could address a wide variety of sounds, and it is successful to an extent. I use this amp for practice and jamming with a rhythym section. Its loud enough to be heard with drums, but if you turn the volume past noon the bottom end begins to sound flubby and if you have it at a level where you can get some decent sounding sustain/harmonic feedback it begins to smell like burning rubber.

I use a single coil strat with this amp and at low volume it sounds pretty decent: sounds like crap above noon. Don't let the transtube feature convince you to buy this amp. It does emulate a tube sound somewhat, but volume suffers, and it doesn't match the rich tones you can get from tubes. If you want variety in your sound (from sparkly clean to metal) I'd suggest getting a decent tube amp and putting a tube screamer or the Dist. pedal of your choice in front. However, if you play at low volume and are looking for cheap, flexible amp to practice on you might want to consider getting it.

I've had the amp for 2 years and it hasn't broken down. I would only use this for a gig for backup (just because I can't get a decent sound past noon) and I'm worried about something burning something up because of the smell eminating from the cabinet when I turn it up to live levels.

n/a

I've been playing 17 years. I own a Crate 50 vintage club with 1 15. Love its sound but the effects loop sucks. (that's why i got this amp for recording/practice with something other than a straight guitar to amp sound). If the bandit were lost or stolen I'd get something else due to the disappointing sound at volume. I love its features, tonal flexibility, ease of use, and price.
I don't have to restate what I hate about it.

i got this amp 2nd hand so not sure of its age, probably the 2000 model not made in U.S.A. this has everything you need, effects loop, footswitch (channel and effects) external speaker out and some different amp modelling switches. this amp is great for band practice and gigging. solid state transtube

bad points first; its reverb isnt the best (i use my digitech gnx1 for that) and the distortion often is a little bit undefined so its kind of hard for soloing. other than that its awesome. its transtube (transistor) but moddeled to sound like a tube amp. NOTE it dosent sound like a tube amp but does sound good. wicked clean channel if your into that kind of stuff.

taken it to band practice heaps and knocked a wire but only effected it the once and its good now. it is one hard *** amp! dont knock it while your playing it goes mental for a second, sounds like you knock the reverb springs and goes amplified trampoline on you. then again i dont know if its spring reverb or not.

dont know never needed it.

great

Let me be brief! Nothing Fancy, but is you are looking for an amp that is an extension of your guitar this is it!

Simply put.... Sound quality is a much about the axe you plug into it (any amp for that matter) as it is about your ability to truly understand sound reproduction thresholds. You can tweak the Bandit 112 to sound like a sweet smooth blues/jazz sound to an all out raunch!

I use a Les Paul Studio, EPI Zack Wilde Les Paul Standard, Taylor T-5 C1, Gibson ES-335 and frankly even my high end acoustics sound great. Remember it's all about taking the time to finding your tone.

I play a lot of CCR, Eagles, Blue Rodeo, and some Queen, AC/DC and the likes as well.

Can you say "TANK" like! Mine was built in the USA in 2000. I understand that the new models are built in China hence I unable to speak to the modern version's overall qualities or lack thereof.

I also DJ with PEAVEY equipment and speakers and I have yet to have to call on them for service or otherwise. Call it a 9 given that they build such great products.

15 years and counting of playing. Owned Fender Deville 410, owned a Peavey Classic 30 and in comparison the Bandit 112 simply delivers on all aspects of what an amp should be. Reliable, tweakable and great sound.

I have no idea when this amp was made, I bought it used and it appears to be much different than today's Bandits. It has pretty much standard everything, no fancy, flashy features to list, except maybe reverb (which isn't that good, by the way).

When I first got it, I was expecting some kind of monstrous hi gain amp, which was my first mistake. What I ended up with was a more bluesy sounding amp that doesn't sound good unless you either overdrive it with a marshall guv'nor on the gain channel, or just put it on clean and use a Line 6 ??ber metal distortion pedal. But even with the need for a pedal, the amp is still pretty versatile for what I play (death metal inspired instrumental-stuff), as I still use it today. One thing I have found, however, is that using an EMG 81 pickup in the bridge of my First Act strat copy, then putting both the gain channel and the gain switch on, I can actually get some pretty nice sounding tremolo riffs out of it, especially downtuned. One thing to keep in mind is that playing it like this is going to be noisy as hell when you're just idle with your guitar (i.e. loads of feedback). The upshot to playing with the emg is that you don't need a pedal, except maybe a noise suppressor.

Seeing as how my amp was bought used, and how old it appears, I'm suprised it actually functions as well as it does. I'd give Peavey an 8 for making this amp reliable enough for what I do.

Never had to deal with them.

Only been playing about 3 years but I'm still getting better everyday. I play mainly death/black/thrashy-metal inspired instrumentals. I have about 6 guitars (which includes 1 bass and 2 acoustics). My main two are my BC Rich warlock (set neck) w/ Dimarzio X2n and Seymour Duncan Invader pickups, and an Ibanez RG370DX with a seymour duncan jazz and stock pickups. The First Act guitar I mentioned above is my first guitar, so i've pretty much mutilated it with all the experimentation. Kind of funny after three years I finally get a handle on soldering electronics.

Anyway, if this amp were stolen I'd have to get another amp, regardless of the praise I've given it here. I wouldn't want to take all the effort of finding this exact year/model only to end up disappointed, so I'd go with a brand new tube amp or something.

The only thing I'd add to this amp is some decent reverb. The built in version sounds like absolute crap. otherwise it's a great bargain amp.

If you have any desire to hear some sound samples of this amp, just email me.

I bought my amp in '96. Back then I was playing Catherine Wheel-esque rock, and relied heavily on effects pedals to give me the sound I wanted. I didn't know much about amps, but it had volume, and the clean tone was good. Now, I play rockabilly, country, and a little bit of those Catherine Wheel type songs, I've learned more about amps, and now I wouldn't trade it for anything. I play a gretsch Tennessee Rose, and a strat, and the clean tone from this guitar is perfect, even at high volumes. I wouldn't even bother with other switch, as it only sounds muddy. At 80 watts, its plenty of power for most of the venues I've played; I haven't been invited to play Shae stadium yet. ;)

I think I covered a lot of this above, but the clean channel sounds great at high volumes. I have no complaints whatsoever with how my guitars sound in the amp. I have tried a number of other amps in the stores, and have never felt as satisfied as I have with this amp. The transtube feature is nice, especially if you are heavy strummer like me. You can dial the power output down quite a ways and get just the barest hint of some overdrive, which is perfect for country tunes.

Like I said, I bought it in '96, used it a lot for 4 straight years, then put it in a closet for 6 years. Got it out a couple of years ago and have been beating on it solid for awhile, lugging it around places, and haven't had anything break. There's a loose wire somewhere which makes a really fun noise if I move it when it's turned on, but as long as it's sitting in place, there is no issue.

Haven't ever talked to them. The manual is ok.

I've been playing for 15 years. I use a lot of effects, SD-1, fabtone, chorus, reverb, phaser, etc, but on a fair amount of songs, I just run clean with a little bit of chorus dialed in. I have used the amp with acoustic guitars, and even vocals and find that it handles everything ok. If it were stolen, I would buy it again, or a comparable Peavey. My only complaint about it is that the built in reverb doesn't sound as nice as I would like, but that's ok. No complaints.

After having to sell my Marshall Artist half stack for financial reasons 10 years ago, I needed to replace it with something cheaper, but with a similiar sound. After trying out several tube combos at the music store, I wasn't happy with any of them soundwise or pricewise. Although I was set on a tube amp, the store manager said, "How 'bout this Peavet Bandit?" I said no way, because the other guitarplayer in my former band had an older one from the 80's, and I thought it sucked. Then he told me it had this "new" transtube circuitry(remember, this was 10 years aqgo) that really emulated that tube sound, so I tried it. I was amazed! I could'nt believe a solid state amp could sound this good. The last solid state amp I had owned before my Marshall was a Crate G40CXL and the distortion on it didn't even come close to real tube overdrive. The Bandit, however sounded(to me) just like a tube amp. It had 2 channels; the clean: crystal clear with plenty of eq and a bright switch, and the distortion sound on the lead channel is awesome. It has separate 3 band parametric eq on both channels, and just one reverb shared by both of them. It also has an effects loop, an effects level switch, an out jack and a preamp out as well as a ground switch. The included footswitch allowed you to switch channels as well as turn off the effects loop. some people complain about not being able to turn off the reverb, but I don't use alot of reverb anyway in a live setting. The lead channel also features a resonance switch, a "thrash" setting, and a gain switch, plus the "tube dynamics" knob. Oh and it also has pwr. amp in and out jacks in the back, but I've never used them. For the money, I really don't think it was missing any general features. I have used this amp for live performance extensively, home practice, and for home recording. At 80 watts its plenty loud for just about any situation. Currently my son is using it in the basement and its powering a Hughes and Kettner 4x12 cab w/Celestions, and it does it with juice to spare.

I pretty much play harder rock, punk, power pop, alternative, emo and metal as well as classic rock and pop, plus a little bit of blues. this amp can handle it all, but the overdrive is where this thing really shines. To get that "tube" sound you have to turn the presence and tube dynamics knobs kind of in conjunction with each other in the opposite direction. I would have the presence turned about 4'o'clock, and the Tube dyn. to about 7'o'clock, which on the knob is marked as "20%". Alot of guys I knew who had tried this amp figured the more you turn the tube dynamics knob up towards 100% the more it would sound like tube distortion, right? Not so. It more or less acts like a dmpening effect. The less percent of tube dynamics the more tubey it sounds, but the more tube dynamics the louder the power amp is. As far as the distortion, it was MUCH more diverse than my Marshall ever was. It broke up the same, but you could control the bottem end and the mids and highs on the eq more. The Thrash button basically added more gain and scooped the mids, which I never used because I like alot of mids in my tone. The gain switch however was interesting. I found that for recording, the break up of the overdrive sang thru more when the gain switch was off. The gain switch adds more gain, tons of bottom end and more noise, which does make it sound tubey, but with out it, you get great tube breakup with out the hum and noise, and you get much more control over your eq. It does sound a little "thinner" and more compressed this way, but for recording I thought it sounded much better. I ran my dod and boss pedals, plus a Crybaby wah/volume pedal thru the effect loop, and got pretty good sounds live. The only problem was that when I would switch from dirty to clean, sometimes the clean level would seem to "drop off" a bit. Maybe it was because I was using a noise suppressor, but I'm not sure, but overall it sounded great live. My guitar player in that band used Marshall tube amps and a Quadroverb and everyone used to tell me how much better my rig sounded than his. I ran a PRS ce 24 Thru it as well as a Les Paul, both with humbuckers and it did well with anything from the Stones to Godsmack to Blink 182 to Korn. I like the Transtube series so much i even bought a Peavey Supreme half stack and a Peavey blazer 158, because they all used basically the same preamp. But I usually ended up using the Bandit because it was easier to transport and seemed to have just as much power as the half stack.For the last four years I switched to a Line6 Flextone cause I got a good deal on it and it was just easier for convenience sake to haul an amp that had all the effects built in. Well That took a crap on me recentely and wouldn't ya know it, I bought another Marshall Artist, so I gave the peavey to my son who loves it. We both agreed we are going to keep it forever. I still use it to record from time to time and to jam with, but it has seen some use and it does seem noisier than it used to.

Overall this amp has never really let me down and its built like a tank. One time I did have to get the effect loop jack fixed, but that was because I was runnin a Peavey Prowler 45 watt tube amp thru it, just to see what it sounded like and wasn't sure how to hook them togeher, and my guitar player hooked it up that way if I remember and I think it messed it up, but my bassplayer fixed it for me, so it didn't cost me anything. I used this amp for recording for about 3 years and almost exclusively for live shows weekly for about 3 years and I always trusted it to deliver. I never had a backup when I used it either

I never had to deal w/the company, and the one problem I had was my own fault and the warrenty was way over and I got it fixed for free so that's that

I've been playing on and off for about 26 years, seriously for the past 17 years and I've owned several solid state amps and a couple of tube and hybrid amps. If this amp was lost or stolen I dunno if I'd get another one or not. I think this is probably the most versatile and reliable amp I've owned, but nowadays most of the tube emulating circuitry is really good on even the cheaper amps. But at the time I bought it(10 years ago) this was one of the best sounding solid state amps. I have no complaints about it and for harder rock or just about anything else, this amp delivers. When I bought it I couldn't even think about affording a Marshall, so I compared it to some Fender tube amps and an Ampeg tube am in the store and I thought they were more suited for blues or Jazz or country, not for harder rock. The one guitar player in my band is a tube conniuesour(?) and we compared it to a 5150 and some of his Marshalls and the sound was comprable to them. Overall I think Peavey got a bad rap in the 80's for some reason or another, but I think bang for the buck ya can't beat 'em. And they do have higher end stuff that is right up there with Mesas and Marshalls alike, both in quality and price, but their lower end stuff is suitable for anyone on just about any level. Eddie Van Halen...Joe Satriani, Hello! These aren't just your run of the mill endorsers here folks, so Peavey must have been doing something right. I've been looking at getting another tube head, and the tried out the Peavey windsor and the Valve King and was very impressed by both of them and these are much cheaper amps than the 6505(formally 5150) and the Joe Satrianni model. sometimes I think people just want to pay more for an amp or other product by an expensive name brand, just so can they say they did. I think that's why people didn't trust Peavey products, but to me they are excellant sounding amps and thats all that matters.

2006 model Transtube ( and yes the T Dynamics does work...subtly...but it DOES work) Same features as listed in other reviews...2 ch. seperate eq's reverb, presence, resonance, effects loop (footswitchable effects loop and channel select but not reverb...bummer) etc etc
I've recently picked up the guitar again seriously after almost 15 years of just "plinkin" around here and there and have spent the past year carefully searching for an amp that can cover all the types of music I like to play, that wont kill my already strained chequing account! I play classic rock, blues ( slow and sleazy, ) mellow jazz, country...all the way to 80's hair metal and Metallica-esque heavy metal. Needless to say trying to find a reasonably priced amp that can do all that even half assed has been a challenge! Then I stumbled accross this lil' gem.
Right now I'm just practicing at home and jamming with the guys for fun. but I wanted an amp powerfull enough to split an eardrum or two when called upon. Bandit more than fits the bill in the power department! Only one Gripe really...No footswitchable reverb! IMO this is a seriously basic need that is overlooked in way too many amps!

I've only had 'er for a week now so bear in mind this is an "initial impression" review. That being said...I have managed to get a surprising number of pleasing tones out of this lil' bugger! In particular...a fantastic sleazy, sultry tube heavy blues overdrive that put a silly ass grin on my face in a hurry :) I have also gotten a great clean, warm Jazz tone...very Les Paul-ish ( the man...not the axe ) And a really nice , creamy 80's metal saturation...at lower volumes anyway. The sound is kinda strained and thin at the higher volumes. Canned and harsh. HOWEVER...the stock speaker has a pretty "anorexic" magnet. I wonder if the speaker itself isn't rated at 16 ohms at a lower wattage than the Bandits 80-85 watts RMS output??? But...I will be replacing the stock speaker with a Celestion G12k 100 and have a feelling that may just open up a whole new can o' potental!
For the record, I'm not putting a high end guitar into this amp but it aint junk either. I recently purchased a Godin Freeway Classic (another real good "bang fer' yer buck" hunk of gear!)
She's a little noisy at higher vol's on the gain Ch. when pushed to insane levels of distortion...another reviewer noted quite correctly that pre and post volumes should not equal more than 10...keep it just below !@#$%^&*( blistering distortion and it aint too bad. lol

As one other person said so simply..."It's a Peavey" Legendary relliabillity. I've owned a few older ones...this one isn't the "Tank" that the older ones were but compared to other amps in it's price point ...it's built like a brick sh*t house!

Hve never had to deal with Peavey cos I've never had a problem.

Been playing on and off for 25 years..owned and sold tons of gear...won't do the drawn out list.... suffice it to say I know what sucks...and what doesn't...and this amp doesn't suck. For the money....I dare ya to find a better one. I paid 300.00 taxes included for this puppy...brand new...in the box! Great lil amp. It is what it is...it doesn't do anything incredibly well...but it does a good variety of things respectably well and for the money...it gets a solid 9

Not sure on the year, I bought it used for $350 CDN and it came with a 12' Line 6 extension cab (bonus) .

I play mostly Rock, and the overdrive channel works really well for that. The amp is loud, for the most part and I can cut through with my band, a heavey armed drummer , ampeg bass fridge and A Randall 412. It has the ability to carry your sound remarkably for a small amp.

I play a pawn shop special Gibson Les Paul classic and like I said the overdrive is good for rock. I like the sound I've been getting from it lately. You just really have to learn the amp to find a good usuable sound. I really don't like the clean channel. I'v plugged into the low gain (-20db..i think) and it seems to help. The clean just seems to belch and ring harsh (maybe thats my playing). It's more harsh than warm.

The effects loop works but I don't know why the efx button cuts the volume of the effects,I spent the day playing it with a borrowed POD 2.o and once all your volumes are correct it works, and you can footswitch it, but I'm not much of an effects user. I don't like running effects before the imput so I apreciate the loop. You have to have the efx button out and your individual effect volume turned up to compensate for the volume difference when footswitching. My efx button when pressed by hand makes an audible crackle like another user mentioned.

Lots of features, but once the desired overdrive is acheived I don't really touch it. Thick, loud and clear, with my humbuckers.

I don't look at the amp and say " Fuck Yeah, I wanna rip that thing" but for now the price works well for jamming.

On the clean channel, I don't like the bright switch it seems to make it more harsh, I also use the pressnce down around 3 and click in the resonance. I tend to use my guitar tone knobs more on this amp than on other ones to achieve a more desirable clean tone.

The Gain is what I use, with the pre gain at around 5 or 6 and the post to control volume. I also use the T-dynamics full. This gives a good loud "classic rock" sound, not metal. The scooped mid Thrash setting doesn't do anything for me. Some reviews were saying things about 3 distorted channels, but I think it's one and these little buttons add or subtract alittle color hear and there.

The amp hums very litle unless the pre gain is over 6. If this was loud quality the amp would get a 10.

It's a very dependable amp. Peavey amps seem to be designed to roll down stair cases. It's heavey and solid.

I use it 2 times a month on stage, never had any problem and is too loud for most bars. The last show, I had it too loud and the sound guy just cut the mic. When I'm jamming the post gain rarely goes over 4.

I've owned a few Peavey amps, all cheap old solid states (80's bandit 65,the one with the 15Black widow in the 80's and a TKO bass amp) and they don't wear out. They keep on blasting.

Another user stated his cut out, mine has done this twice in the year I've owned it but never at a show.

Never dealt with them, but head over to the website and get the manual. It proves how useless most of the buttons are.

I've been playing on and off as much as I can for 5 years.
Everything I've owned was solid state (price) and once I save up I want to Get a Traynor Custom Valve 80 or Twin Reverb or similar.

If it was stolen, I don't think I'd get another one. But it's a great amp for the buck. I checked one out in a pawn shop for $300 in resonable shape so if I only had $300 dollars and nothing else available on gig night I'd buy it.

I'm not sure when this bandit was made, probably 2005-06. You guys all know the features...80W, 2 channels, effects loop... All you need... Could have a headphone jack. I use it mostly Fender fat strats and I have a Danelectro U2 that sounds awesome throught it. I play rock and I'm really into stuff like Foo Fighters. This amp is perfect for that kind of music. About a week after I bought this I realised that mine didn't have a Sheffeild. Instead it has a plane speaker. No sticker, no make... So I emailed peavey and they told me that this speaker was a copy of the ones used in the XXX amps. So they call them SheffeildXXX.

I've been looking for a sound for a fiew years now. A clear, versatile sound. What I like about this amp is that you can get a nice clean sound with the overdrive channel(vintage seting) by turning the volume on your guitar down. I know that many amps can do that but the bandits overdrive channel takes off where the clean chanel stops. Most amps have different voicings for each channels but the bandit seams to sound the same with both channels. The modern setting on the overdrive channel sucks. I noticed that when you switch the effects loop on (with the footswitch) it makes a popping noise but other then that this amp sounds and works great.

The amp still works fine. I'm not sure that the footswitch will stand up to too many years of abuse...

When I emailed the guys at peavey for the speaker they responded the same day with all the information I needed. That's pretty quick.

I used to own a Randall RG100SC that really sucked compared to the bandit. I use the peavey for house playing and a little jamming when I get the chance and it does the job perfectly. The thing is lound has hell. After a couple of months of playing with it I can tell that this amp is really versatile. The clean channel can do Jazz, country... The overdrive channel is great for rock, metal, punk...If it got stolen or lost I'd get an other one right away. Nice bang for the buck too. Can't get any better under 500$ OK I've said enough...

The Bandit 112 is loaded with fetures: 80 watts RMS into 8 ohms,100 watts RMS into 4 ohms ,12 in. Sheffield 1230 speaker, 2 footswitchable channels, T-Dynamics and presence, 3-band EQ each channel, Reverb, Modern/vintage voicing switch on Clean channel, External speaker jack, Footswitchable effects loop, High gain/modern/vintage voicing switch on Lead channel, Resonance switch.

I have yet to own another amp that has that many features in one combo. Awesome.

This am is amazing. You can get just about any sound you want out of the Bandit 112. No matter what style you play. The transtube really does a good job with the tone and I have yet to find another solid-state amp that sounds this good. Not even the new Line 6 Spiders impresses me as much as this amp does. At 80 watts it's plenty loud to play in a band. Sounds great at all sound levels.

I have owned this amp for nearly five years and it's been thrown around a bit. It has yet to fail me.

I have yet to have to deal with them.

This was a second amp, I own a half-stack and other combos now and have played Mesas and Marshals. Whenever I come to this amp I always say to myself "man this is a nice sounding amp". This amp is PERFECT for those who are just starting playing guitar out and want a nice upgrade to play with a band. I don't work at any guitar store but when anybody asks me about a good amp, this first thing I say is a Bandit 112. If it were lost or stolen I don't know if I could get another one because they stopped making them.

Pretty standard features on this rig... "three" channels, one clean, one higher gain, and another even for even heavier distortion. It comes with a high gain and a low gain input (more on this later), reverb, and some presence controls. Has an effects loop, but I've never actually used it.

Okay, here's the thing. If you're looking for versatility, this is *not* the amp for you. It's really only good for two things; the clean channel actually sounds pretty decent (add a little reverb to give it a bit of warmth), and the distortion is great for thrashing around and shredding like a madman. There's no in-between on this amp. Oh sure, you can ramp the gain down a bit in an attempt to play some blues/blues-rock, but it ends up sounding horribly mushy, undefined, and incredibly solid-state. They have no business putting the word "tube" in "Transtube," as this amp gives *nothing* even close to the warmth and dynamics you can get out of a tube amp. Forget backing off on the volume knob to clean things up, if it's on the OD channel, it's always distorted, and it's always obvious you're playing a solid-state amp.

Also, I fail to understand why this amp has two inputs, high and low gain. They both sound exactly the same.

To sum up, if all you ever want to play is Metallica (which is all I played at the time I bought this amp), then fine. This amp will work perfectly. If you ever plan to play anything other than thrash, do yourself a favour and look at something else.

Haven't ever had a problem with it. Would I use it on a gig without a backup? No. I wouldn't use it on a gig at all at this point.

It's never failed on me in any way, so I've never had to contact Peavey for any reason.

I haven't been playing for 30 years, as it seems everyone else here has. I've been playing for about eight or so. This was my first "real" amp, and it served me well enough in high school when all I wanted to do was play metal. I've moved well past that stage of my life now, and this amp has nothing to offer me at this point. If it were stolen, well, I guess I'd be playing without an amp for awhile. There is *no* way I would buy this amp again.

So, to beat this horse to death, I must again reiterate:

**** IF ALL YOU EVER WANT TO DO IS PLAY METAL, THEN BUY THIS AMP. IF YOU EVER PLAN TO GROW AS A MUSICIAN AND EXPLORE OTHER GENRES, GET SOMETHING ELSE. ****

Just bought it a few weeks ago. I presume it's a 2005 or 2006.
By seeing the number of reviews, I'll let you check all features on the previous reviews. This Bandit was bought for home studio use only...but it's so good I'm thinking carrying it at a next gig !!! My main amp is a Fender Stage 1600, and I'm not sure this Peavey is not more appropriate for my music style that is Classic Rock. I only wish it would have a headphone jack, and a 3rd button on the pedal to turn off/on the reverb.

I used to have a Bandit 65 in the 80's, and was very happy with it. That's what brings me to a Peavey dealer. They are now a lot better than that 65 I had. The Transtube makes you have the sound of the tube amp without all the mess of maintenance that goe's with it. Since I have it for omly a few weeks, I did'nt even try everything this amp can do. I'm using it with a American Fender Stratocaster and a LesPaul classic Epiphone, that have all Gibson components. ( 496R and 500T pickups and all the Gibson pots and switches ) It suit my style very well. Both guitars are responding differently, but both have there job to do and it's OK with me. I'm playing in a cover band about 20 gigs a year ( I'm getting older:-)and our style is mainly Classic Rock mixed with a few Ballads and Disco songs. But as I was saying, I never used that Peavey in a gig yet, so I can tell for now, but I will certainly try it pretty soon.

It's to soon to know, but Peavey have a "earthquake resistance" reputation. I presume it will last for a long time. Anyway, I never gig without a back up...My actual back up is a CRATE power block. It's so useful to carry a 4 pounds, 150 watts amp for backup in your pocket :-)

No experience with them never....not even in the 80's.
But thanks to the "Musik shoppe" in Mercier, Quebec, where I bought it. They are nice, helpful and honest.

I'm playing guitar for 40 years. I owned 3 amps, that are a Fender stage 1600, as a gig amp, a Crate power block as a back up and now that Bandit for home studio use. I will certainly bring that Peavey at a gig soon. Before buying this Peavey, I shopped a few Line6, Crate and smaller Marshall, but I definetely stop my choice on the Bandit for all the reasons you read above, but mainly the sound and power of it. In matter of what you have for your money, the Bandit is a great buy. If it get stolen, I would certainly buy another one.

Standard features for the 112. Bought it at a pawn shop in great condition, believe it to be about 3 years old. Love the tone and is a great practive and small gig amp.

Was very impressed with the highs, extremely clean played with several Fenders. I thought it was a little lackluster at high volume but designed more for the practicing player, or small venue. Sounds great for church praise music.

To early to tell, but whomever sold it didn't give it up for any damage reason.

to early to tell

Perfect for small Church, clean sound. Fits my needs.

I got mine new in February 2004, so I assume it was made in 2003 or 2004.

-2 Channels: Clean + Lead
The clean channel has modern and vintage voicing modes, the lead has modern, vintage and high gain.
-2 Inputs (high + low gain)
-Spring reverb
-Effects loop
-Footswitch to change channels and bypass effects loop
-Resonance switch
-Presence and T. Dynamics knob (I'm still not quite sure what the T. Dyamics is supposed to accomplish)

I play a lot of rock and metal and sometimes some jazzy jam type stuff and I can usually get whatever sound I want out of it, the only problem is the noise on some of the distortion.
Other than less noise, the only thing I really wish it had was a switch on the footswitch to turn off the reverb. I know the smaller models in the series had that, so I don't know why the left it out for the Bandit.

The two guitars I regularly run through it are a Dean 7 string Avalanche and some Harmony Strat-copy that I fixed up with Duncan Scorchers.

The sound quality on the clean channel is fantastic. I definately like it better than some similar sized solid-state Marshalls and Fenders my friends have. It handles the extra low end I throw at it with the 7-string perfectly. I even ran a bass through it once or twice and it didn't sound too bad for a guitar amp. At higher volume levels, it does start to crunch, but it's a very pleasant crisp crunch, not a bad speaker crapping out on you crunch.

The lead channel leaves some more to be desired. I usually only use it on the vintage voicing for 2 reasons: the modern voicing just isn't my thing, and both the modern and especially the high-gain are incredibly noisy. The vintage channel can pack a punch though. I was in a metal band for a little over a year and the vintage mode with the pre-gain up all the way worked fine for me.

For the first year it was fine, but then it started cutting out a lot. Some days it would be fine, but it would frequently cut out so that when you turned the volume to 10 it would sound like it wasn't even at 1. After a month or so of that it started to smell like it was burning so I took it back to the store to get it fixed. After two weeks I got it back and they said they opened it up and cleaned the dust out and couldn't find anything wrong with it. So I spent $45 on nothing there. It did work for a little over a year and a half after that and now its doing the same old shit, so I think it's time for a new amp.

It started acting up while it was still under warranty so I called them to see what they could do. Apparently for them to fix it, I'd have to mail it to them and pay for shipping both ways, but the actual repairs would be free. I don't remember the exact amount, but shipping something of that size and weight across the country isn't cheap.

I've been playing guitar and bass for a little over 5 years and this was my first amp other than a small 10 watt beginner's amp. I got an Ampeg SVT806 cab a little while ago, but never got around to getting a head for it since the Bandit started working again. I think it's time to get a head though, cause I'm definately not fooling around with the Bandit anymore.

If it was lost or stolen, I wouldn't been too upset seeing as it's broken.

I would like to say that mine may be a defect, since most people have given it pretty good ratings for reliability.

When it works I love it. But thats WHEN it works.

Overall I give it a 6, because I am assuming mine's a defect. If it worked I'd give it an 8, because for the money it does sound pretty good.

I think the amp was made in 2005 or 2006. I bought it in march 2006. I play a lot of Metal, Heavy Metal and Hard Rock and this amp is perfect for it. 2 clean channels (Modern, Vintage) and 3 distortion channels (High Gain, Modern, Vintage). I can change from clean to distortion with the footswitch (included). I now use this amp all the time. I jam with music alone, with my bands and some friends. This amplifier is LOUD. If I jam with one drummer and one bassist I put the volume around at 5 or 6. When I play with another guitarist I put it around 4 or 5. It's a solid state but with the dynamic feature thingy on it it's still great.

The clean channels are nice. I found the vintage better than the modern sound.

The distortion is AWESOME;

High Gain--> Loud with a lot of midgain.

Modern--> Heavy Metal sound |m|.

Vintage--> Classic Rock sound, AC/DC etc...

I use the modern sound most of the time because at high volume if I put it to high gain it hurts the ears! I'm using an Epiphone Les Paul Standard with this amp.

YES, this amplifier HAS some feedback. But! I have a Noise Suppressor! :) So yeah I strongly recommend to buy a Noise Gate if you want this amplifier.

hell yeah I can depend on it.

Never dealt with Boss. Didn't need to.

I've been playing for about 2 1/2 years, since March 2004. Wow if it were stolen (I wonder how ?), I'd find and kill the bastard that would do a thing like that, then take back my amp. I'm not stupid enough to lose an amp this big. I love all its features but it's kind of heavy :P About 45-50 pounds. Overall, this amplifier is great. You can plug a cab in the external speaker input so it can be louder (from 80 to 100 watts). The normal price was 649.99 and the guy sold it to me for 575!

You've read all the ote reivews so you know. Feature wise it's average, nothing too fancy but doesn't lack in features. 80 watts rms isn't loud enough, maybe good for jam sessions in which you have a very light handed drummer but othrewise it's a practice amp.

Distortion is nice, but way too much hum when on overdrive, you NEED a noise gate to use amp. I play all sorts of stuff related to the rock genre and yeah it can do them all. Has a nice lead sound, terrible rhythm sound. Too use this amp within any band situation it must be run on overdrive channel with full post gain (and full pregain to get that 'bandit' sound!) It's nice at the treble end of tonality pretty rough at bass end. Not even to mention the various annoying buzzes this amp makes with different tonal settings....

It's pretty crap. I mean it's built heavy but really can't be relied on electronically wise.

I have no idea about the company

Okay for practice, really a beggingers amp. I've been playing electric for 4 years and I use a Michael Kelly Tribal Sun as my main guitar I also own an Epiphone Nighthawk. This amp is pretty crap overall. My best amp is a Line 6 HD half stack. That sounds much, much, much better and reachs the required volumes and beyond but cost a fair bit more. If this amp was stolen I wouldn't care too much, and I wouldn't replace it. Really I know a lot of people swear be peavey but I've played many Peavey guitar amps of various sizes and prices and they are all looks and no performance, it's up to you if you buy one but I recommend taking your money else where, I own a small Vox practice amp aswell sounds much nicer and way more reliably. DOn't get fooled by the tough looks of this amp the only thing tough about it is it's ability to take it being kicked becasue it sounds so bad you can't help but kick it!

Bought new in 2004. First off the bad - I use this amp in clubs and had a few gigs coming up in a larger hall so my bass player loaned me a Peavey 410 cab, well I did enjoy the extra 20w of power but 95% of the sound still comes from the 12" Sheffield, I have to lean down to even hear anything from the 410's. This has to be a switch/wiring flaw in the amp design.
I rarely use the raunch side of the amp, I run a DigiTech 300a pedal and stay on the clean channel.

The amp is pretty loud with my DigiTech, alone on it's own it seem weak at mid to higher volumes. The highs you do have to be careful with using a Strat. I'm playing a Strat,SG,and a 335 thru the amp.
I'm in a cover band so my styles of music varies from SRV to Merle Haggard to The Allman Brothers to the Beatles. But again it's not the amp that allows me to do this its the pedal.

Never a hitch.

Never dealt with them

Been playing for 33 years. I've owned Marshalls, and other Peavey Amps. I do gig with this one, But if I could afford it I'd have a JCM200 with a 412 cab or a 70's model 410 Fender.

This amp was made in 1996. It is the OLD one with the cheap shiny vinyl on it. It is rated at 80 watts and is plenty loud. Typical peavey, it is VERY directional. It has two channels, one clean one overdrive. The overdrive is really good for solidstate. For all the tube amps I have, I don't mind the overdrive in this Bandit. Plenty of tone shaping as listed below in the other reviews. It is SOLID STATE, Transistors.
I use it with my pedalboard. I play Country Rock. If you want that Lynyrd Skynyrd sound, this will deliver.

I use a Fender Custom Shop FMT Telecaster with hums. A DiMarzio X2N in the front. The amp only gets noisy when the OD gets turned up high. As you would expect. This amp does well on a number of levels. The clean stays clean and bright until you really crank it, then the clean channel goes a little dirty. The OD is nice for a solid state amp. That is why I bought it. It sounds really good. The crap Sheffield speaker is only good at bedroom levels (as are so many of Peavey's a speakers). As the volume goes up, the sound goes muddy. I solved that with an Eminence Patriot Screamin' Eagle. It will handle the volume and stay clean and deliver the sound of the amp. The reverb is a little weak, but OK for guitar work.

It's a Peavey, for cripes sake. Epoxy glass boards, mil spec components and all the caps and heavy components are glued down.

Beats me, never dealt with them.

I have been playing 41 years. I have owned just about every type amp made. I currently have 5 amps and 6 guitars. If this one were lost I would probably get another. I always take it as a backup as I never play without a backup. This amp has NEVER given me one seconds of trouble. It is the perfect backup amp. I swapped the red LED out to blue, just because I like blue. I have no idea what other amps to compare it to as most solid state amps sound like crap.
It is kind of big and heavy for only a single 12" speaker. Looks like a 2-12.
Had to buy the cover from another manufacturer as Peavey did not have one for this amp. That was odd.
If you can only afford ONE amp, make it a Peavey Bandit. Not the crappy "S" model or the new cheap ones. Get the old, big, heavy Sheffield equipped one with the cheap, shiny vinyl. Swap the speaker out if you play above 30 watts and you will have an amp you will REALLY like and will last you until you croak. It should get a 10 in this rating, but the Sheffield speaker can't keep up with the amp.

Mine has to be atleast 8 years old or older. im not sure, i bought it used. the features have been discussed plenty so ill leave it at that.

The clean channel is ok. The distortions are heavy. I dont use the preamp anymore though. i use a vamp as a preamp and use the power amp and cab on the amp. It sounds great.. Very nice amp.

This is where peavey $%^& stands out to me. i bought this amp from a friend who had it in his house when it burned down.. the fire got most of the house and got to the next room from the amp.. it still worked fine. i have had about 6 years since then and have used it almost everyday and works like te day he ot it..

very good company. i live in ms so getting thing done from them is pretty fast.

i have a lot of stuff and have been playing for about 10 years. if i lost it i would prob get something else but that really doesnt have anything to do with the amp, i just like trying new stuff. it is a wonderful amp with very good sound (for ss). the distortion is very good for heavy music in my opinion but use clean and lightly overdriven sounds mostly. It is also very very loud. i dont see how these people rate all these amps as having low volume.. 80 watts is really loud... period.. if your thinking about buying it i woul recomend it.. built like a mother*&^%$#@ tank... feel free to email me w/ any questions

I bought this amp in 2001 and I feel that it is the most versitile amp I have ever tried... so I bought it. It has 2 channels, lead and clean and it comes with a foot switch. In the clean channel there are 2 settings, modern and vintage. In the lead channel there are 3 settings, high gain, modern, and vintage. It also features a master section which has Reverb, Presence (the tube simulator), a resonance switch (tight and loose), and T.Dynamics (I have no idea what that knob is for).

I uses a Fender Stratocaster with a trio of Seymour Duncan single coil pickups. these pickups are no ordinary single coil pickups, they sound sound soooo beefy that sometimes I think that there's blood comming out of them.

If you just bought this amp or you are looking for new sounds, then I know exactly what you want.

This setting will give you a very Eric Clapton type tone. The tone the early Marshalls made:

CLEAN LEAD MASTER
Vlo Switch Low Mid High Pre Switch Low Mid High Post Rev Pres Res T.D
N/A (Vint) 6 4.5 5.5 3 HiGain 3.5 5.5 6.5 N/A 6 + 8 L 80%

------------------------------------------------------------

This setting will give you a very Dream Theater raunchy distortion tone: (This is my favotite tone.) Amazing Distortion tone. The reverb is optional, (I put it on Zero. If you want to put it up go ahead, never pass 5 though, you loose tone quality in the distortion)

CLEAN LEAD MASTER
Vlo Switch Low Mid High Pre Switch Low Mid High Post Rev Pres Res T.D
N/A (Vint) 6 4.5 5.5 5 HiGain 3.5 5.5 6.5 N/A 0 10 T 80%

------------------------------------------------------------

This will give you a very Steve Vai/Eddie Van Halen tone, that kinda raw 80's rock tone. Good for tapping (though I don't tap)This setting will give you some sweet sounds.

CLEAN LEAD MASTER
Vlo Switch Low Mid High Pre Switch Low Mid High Post Rev Pres Res T.D
N/A (Vint) 6 4.5 5.5 5 Modern 6 5.5 6.5 N/A 0-8 10 L 80%

------------------------------------------------------------

That's about it. Enjoy your new settings. E-mail me and tell me if it helped. :)

This amp goes beyond expectations when it comes to reliability and durability. I dropped it down a flight of stairs and I started crying not because I thought that the amp was not going to work anymore, but because I thought my dad was going to hit me. I plugged it in and started playing. It sounded better than ever before. (I don't suggest that you drop this amp down a flight of stairs to see what happens) but accidents do happen, it will triumphantly stay in tact (I hope). This is the only amp I need.

I never had a problem with this amp and I probably never will.

I don't know how long the warranty is.

It's 2006 and I've been playing guitar for 6 years now. this amp has lased me for 5 and hopefully for 105 years more. I'm hoping to switch to Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier but it's really really really expensive, this is a great substitute, it's not as powerful or as famous, but it has the voice of an angel.

I used to like this girl that lived in Mississippi, and when I moved back to Canada we started calling each other a lot and one day I told her that I play a Peavey Bandit amp and she started laughing I asked he what she was laughing about and she said that her dad used to design amps for them and one of the models he worked was the Bandit. Ever since then I gave more love to that amp.

Please E-mail me if you have any suggestions for the amp settings.

Remember that 90% of your tone comes not from your guitar or your amp, but from the passion behind your fingertips.

Not sure of the year but it's an older one not the transtube.80 watts. Two chanels, high and low. Effects loop, preamp, etc., but no extension speaker! Rats! Very loud! Can't turn up to loud in fear of a police visit or just an angry neighbor! Find settings on the various knobs don't just crank them all up you can get good sounds. If there's a awful Humm it's just because of what I feed it! Giving an 8 for lack of extra speaker.

Using Fender Fat Strat with various effect pedals. I prefer individual pedals over those new effects boards. So what. More batteries and extention cords what's the problem?! Play Stoner rock, Sunno, Boris, yea yea low gain power cords endless sustain.Seattle OK!
This amp suits me just fine for in home use. The search for monster tube amps begins. I don't use the amps distorted controls at all. I leave that up to my pedal selection using the loop for echo and delays. Overdrive and distortion inserted just after guitar. It sounds pretty good on the clean channel. Bright and Punchy.
I punish when I can and it's still alive. Feedback is OK more would be better I like to body form sound waves. Scorpion speaker built tough. 10 cuz it sounds good via my choice of added effects.
By itself stock sound at least an 8.

For me not big enough to gig with. Just a small Loud practice amp.
Kept clean and warm. I neglect no instrument physically just circuitly. Haven't fried anything. A 9. I have a baby Peavey that's still breathing also. Built in USA. Boycot China!

Never had to call Peavey and wouldn't need to. Service is available but haven't needed.