Peavey Bandit 112

I wish this amp had headphone outs because my parents are always yelling at me for playing too loud. hmm ... features i never use are the effects loop because all i need is distortion and the distortion on the amp is great by the way. Also, I never use the effects level or resonance switch because those don't seem to do too much for my overall sound. I mainly use this amp during band practice (check out my bands site at nystagmus.fostec.net). This thing gets pretty loud with 80 watts solid state into a 12" sheffield speaker, but thats not enough for me.

I just got an Ibanez Rg220B and it was loaded with an EMG 85 at the neck and an EMG 81 at the bridge. Also, i have a crappy squier affinity series strat that i loaded with two B.C. rich NJ series humbuckers. I play hardcore, and when everthing is cranked up it makes a lot of noise. I thought it might be the pickups when i was using my squier, but i have come to conclude it was the amp because these new EMG's just rock. Also i got this amp used in not so perfect condition, it had been gigged hard .. so maybe that was one reason it made a lot of noise. if your buying any amp used, it's probably gonna make some noise so suck it up and play. although the noise doesn't really matter to me(and it shouldn't matter to you) because you bought it to play through it, not to listen to it hum. Plus i'm playin really loud and so is everyone else so you can't really hear anything. the amp by itself, has 2 major sounds ..... clean, and lead or distortion, not too much variety but hey, the quality of the sound and the amount of sound makes up for it, plus i have an effects processor so it all works out. The clean channel gets distorted when i play loud and low on it. I have reason to believe that the speaker is torn, and that is the source of the distorted sound.

I would use this beast without a back up, it has never broken down on me what-so-ever. Although it was used, and used hard, it is still reliable and therefore i give it a 10.

never had a problem with the amp to go to customer support with.

i've only been playing for about a year. if it were lost or stolen .... i would buy something louder, but if i only had enough money for an amp in this range, i would buy it. visit my bands website .... nystagmus.fostec.net

Bought it new recently -2002. I had to give my friend's vintage Vox AC30 back which I had on a long term loan -dammit! I wanted a compact amp with a good clean channel and a overdrive rather than mega distorion channel -and no tubes...I cant be stuffed maintaining tube amps any more.

I use a very modified Tele and a Gretsch Falcon. I play rockabilly with a regualar gigging band and a little bit of old blues rock with a fun band. This amp is a suprise.. I had the luxury of A/B against the Vox and it got so close that it wasn't funny. The vintage clean is great ! the vintage overdrive is pretty good too. This is not an amp for shredders!! I gig with it and it sounds as tubey as any Fender,Vox ,Marhall I have had in over 30 years of playing for my style of gigs. (remember, I use clean and overdrive..not thrash distortion)

Pretty new - built very solid,very heavy for a transistor amp no problems so far

Never been let down with Peavey in the past - good stuff for working musicians

It is a surprise packet - better than my Tech21 amp which was very good too. I might throw away my old tubes. I have had a lot of vintage amps over the years - I did like my old '68 Fender bassman head from years ago, but I'm sick of the tube hassles ...as a tech, I can see no reason for Trannies not to sound like tubes with clever design.

Lots of useful features. I wish the power level adjustment had more effect, so I could play even softer and still get a great tone. I'd also like 2 gain channels in addition to the clean channel.

I play a Carvin Strat and a Fender Strat. The Carvin has a coil-splittable humbucker for a powerful lead tone. I wanted to sumit a review of this amp because I think it's hard, maybe impossible, to find a better sounding amp for the money. I can't imagine a better distortion sound coming from a solid state amp. And I think with the right guitar and eq, you can get a very wide variety of great sounds from this amp. People will not respect this amp because it is so inexpensive, which is a shame. There is way too much respect for names in the music equipment business. Use your ears, and check out this amp. For people who attack this amp and say it sounds bad, I have to ask, "Why did you buy it if you don't like the way it sounds?"

100% reliable.

Can't say. 100% reliable amp means I don't need help.

I've been playing for 27 years. I love this amp. If I were to fantasize about improving it, I'd focus on getting more tones at the lowest volume levels. This is an issue with all amps I know of.

2002 model,transtube...great versatillity can be used by a metal to blues players.Has a footswich that can switch the effects loop too,comes with it(a plus),has 2 channels clean,gain.Effects loop,extention speaker jack,headphone jack,T-dynamics control,presence control,reverb,resonance switch,pre gain,post gain,High Mid Low controls,Shefield 12inch speaker,100 watts,power amp input,pre amp output,effects level switch.Solid State,wish it was tube.I use this at home right now,and it`s definately loud enough.

I use a peavey Nitro active pickup guitar.Sound was alot better than expected,as soon as I played it I purchased.I play metal/rock,it suits it fine.No noise,it has a pollarity switch on the back(awsome).You`ll be impressed with the gain channel`s distortion,the clean channel is clear...noise free.

No problems yet....I wouldn`t of bought it if I didn`t think it could be reliable.

I haven`t had to deal with Peavey,5 year warranty.

Been playing for 16 years,and this is one of the best amps I played by far.I would definately buy it again,or if I couldn`t I would get the Bandit 112 solo series.Love the distortion sound,and the cleaness of the clean channel.Wish it had the Scorpion speaker in it.I compared it to a Line 6,marshall MGDFX100,Roland(model?),tech 21(model?2,10 speaker combo),Mega(but this was a 8 inch speaker)

1997 Model Transtube w Sheffield.
The combination of this amp and my guitar (Customised triple pickup Jackson Dinky) gives me all the sounds I need, just by flicking the pickup selector switch.
Perfect practice amp, by yourself, or playing with a loud drummer.
The power sag switch is one of the best ideas I have ever seen for an amp. 1 = Death metal saturation at 4:00 am levels.
10 = Loud as all fuck when you crank it.
The effects loop is good, and the external line out boosts the power from 80w to 100w. Great for gigging if you've got a cabinet! Don't use the reverb much though.

My style is everything from dirty mang jazz to clean sweep picking to brutal grind savagery. My guitar has an EMG 81 humbucker in the bridge, a DiMarzio Air Zone humbuckerin the middle, and a stock Duncan designed single coil in the neck, with a five way selector and three volume knobs. With the Bandit's pre-gain cranked, the thrash button on, bass cranked, mids killed, and highs about half, I get every sound I ever need. Using the low gain input and never hitting the gain button is a good idea if noise offends you, as this is a very high gain beast.
This distortion is one of the best I have ever heard. Two high output humbuckers + Bandit + Drop D = Grindcore valhalla!!!

The speaker can (unfortunately) not handle VERY low tunings at high volumes for long periods. I know this because mine has carked it after five years of brutal savagement. How do I fix this? Either replace the speaker with something tougher (EV, JBL, Eminence etc) or do like me, and cut the little bugger into a head unit!!! As this is an amp, and not a speaker review, I'm still gonna rate it high, cos everything else is tougher than Chopper Read.

No idea about this. I know it was way out of warranty when it blew up, though.

I love this amp. The only thing I would like to see is all the buttons on the panel being footswitchable. The new Bandits suck arsehole compared to this bad boy. Built like a brick shithouse, heavier than Mortician, louder than a Deftones pub gig, and more value than an Abbotsford hoor. I love this amp.

i got this amp in 1993 and by that time there was already a newer model out but this is the sheffield version. this thing is a terminator, it won't die...ever. 2 channels 100 watts with an effects loop that i never use, power amp in / preamp out and a footswitch that crapped out too many times to bother with buying another one. it's got reverb and a gain boost. these days it's just a house amp but i have gigged with it and it was plenty loud enough and still sounded great for the little amp that it is.the only thing i wish it had is a headphone jack and maybe a better housing for the footswitch.

right now i run everything i have through it (esp lynch tiger, lp standard,ibanez rg 250dx,turser wolfgang copy, epiphone franken strat) but i use a danelectro cool cat chorus and a dunlop cry baby too. i play alot of old school ramones social d type punk stuff and it's perfect for just going nuts around the house. the distortion is nice if you balance it out with the bottom end and with no body control and the edge contol cranked up, nice and fat. if it super noisy at high volumes but this thing is a real powerhouse and i doubt you'd need to have it past 5 or 6.

this little thing is alot heavier than it looks and it's built like a tank. for ten years i've bumped and banged this thing around and no problems at all. i totally depend on this thing and have gigged with it during some pretty crazy ass shows where people run up and you never know what they're gonna knock over and smash but this thing ain't goin' out like that. you'd have to work pretty fookin' hard to kill it.

never dealt with 'em, never had to.

i've been playing for 11 years. i already told you what i have and use so i won't go into that again. if this were stolen or lost i'd be pissed because they just don't make these anymore. i don't really like the newer bandits as much so i'd probably buy a jcm800 or something. i wish it had a headphone jack and a better footswitch because i've sent 2 of 'em to the graveyard and they're just built shitty. don't be put off by these by their size because i've had the cops called on me numerous times with this amp and that's always a good thing when it comes to amplifiers.

Bought amp in June 02'. I was debating between the peavey bandit 112 and the Line 6 Spider 112. Both had their ups and downs, for example:
-Peavey didnt look as good as the Line6, the line6 was nicely painted red and matched the black very well. Peavey is more of a traditional style amp. nothing crazy on it that catches you eye.
-Peavey came with a footswitch, and this is awesome, cause the Line6 didnt and a footswitch for the line6 cost about $100. VERY nice feature for the peavey. footswitch is just a simple 2 channel system, metal switch knobs on a plastic case, pretty flimsy and prolly will break it if you slam down on it hard, but it would take an idiot to do something like that anyways. Nonetheless, the footswitch is awesome and does its job very nicely.
-Line6 came with a few built in effects like chorus, flanger, and a couple others i think, this is pretty stupid. if your going to spend 400 bucks on an amp then go out and buy a $40 pedal that you know is good. dont rely on built in crap that you cant adjust much.

Another good feature on the Peavey is that is 100watts. this is awesome. most ive ever turned it up before is to 2 maybe. so basically 1/10th of the total volume. and that was hurting my ears it was so loud.
plenty of power. if you want to add on in the future, then buy a cab for 300 bucks and power it with this thing, so then youve got a 4x12 and this 1x12.

i wish it had a headphone jack though. i doubt i would use it much, but its a nice feature to have.

i play an Ibanez JS100 and its got dual humbuckers, sounds nice on this thing.
i play mostly hard rock to metal. but also some mellow stuff. its got a beautiful clean channel.
distortion channel (3 settings of distortion (vintage, modern, and the last one i forget)) sounds really nice for a solid state.
i like it cause its not very muddy.
sounds good when volume is low. even better louder you go. ive heard a few amps that sound like crap on bottom end and you have to play crazy loud to get the sound. not this one.

i hate people that compare tube amps to solid state. fact is that there is no solid state that will ever sound like a tube amp, face it. this peavey has "Transtube Technology" to mimic effects of a tube amp. but anyone will know its solid state when you turn it on.
still sounds sweet.

pretty heavy amp. probably about 50lbs. so i try not to move it around to much. i think its got caster holes on the bottom so you can add wheels. but its not that heavy where you would need them anyways.

ive had this amp probably 6months and play a good deal and it has never had one thing go wrong with it.

only been playing for a few years, but i really like this amp.
if it was stolen i would go out and get another one, its an awesome PRACTICE amp. im saving up for a VHT, but this thing is nice for just jamming out in your room or playing with a few people.

I purchased this amp in 1993 new, in Fox Music, Cordoba, Argentina. I play very Heavy rock music. The bandit haves nice features in both channels, clean and dist., and includes footswitch for the channels and the reverb. The efect loop works good. Wolud love to have a headphone jack and an output for an extra cabinet. The amp sounds great with its Sheffield speaker, but I can't use it more than half its power, because it starts to sound bad(that's why I think about a cabinet).The Sheffield speaker broke when I used the eq. I love to(lots of low end!).

I used it with a Kramer Neptune with DiMarzio, a Fender Floyd Rose Japan, an now with a Washburn KC-44V, and sound pretty good. I used the dist. channel a lot of time because it sounds great for Metal and Hard Rock. Now I use a Digitech RP12 in the clean channel only, and the eq. is very versatile. Good for little pubs and rehearsals(if you don't have a drumer like mine!). Great for Metal, don't now for other styles, I don't care!!

It's a great amp for use and abuse. Except for the Sheffield speaker, it broke up a couple of times. Don't worry if you don't wanna sound like Pantera(I do!).Never had to repair it.

I don't now. Never used it.

I recomend it. Great sound and features for less money. Don't think it would sound like a valvular amp. It sounds great, but like solid state.
DON'T LAUGH ABOUT MY POUR ENGLISH....I DO WHAT I CAN!!! JAJAJA!!!

2002 model. Very versatile. Clean jazz to Van Halen and Metallica. 2 channels, bla bla. Great for at home and on stage clubbing. Lot's of power. Even lower watts can be mmde loud with a mic.

I use a custome Yamaha w/dual HB's. Sound suits my styles anyway. Is noisy at times, but a bit of adjustment, and it's gone. Great clean sound. Great dirty sound.

Too new to tell.

Greta warranty!!!!

So far, so good. Very versatile in sound. Be realistic though. It's not a high priced amp, so don't expect it to be like a 5150 or Marshall Tube job.

This amp was given to me by a friend... Don't know when it was made. Has reverb, and the standard 2 channels. With a gain boost and a clean boost. Other than that, nothing fancy.

This amp is very versatile, I think of peavey's as somewhere in the middle of the Marshall Fender divide. No one really shouts about their sound but I can get pretty much anything out of this without my effects board. I play a Les Paul and really like the humbuckers with this baby.

Also, its LOUD!

It had a problem that it took 10 mins or so to warm up but then worked fine. I cleaned it with contact spray and that made it better but if I sit on top of it and lean back, it still cuts out. When I lean forward, it comes back in!!!

Other than that, its dependable.

No idea...

Great amp for the right money but please... Don't spend $200 on something like this used when you could get a Marshall / Fender for the same money... It really has no character of its own.

Standard, Clear channel with pregain and the Lead channel with postgain. Has reverb, presence, and t dynamics. Solid state is good. No hassles with tubes. Effects loop. Versatile for rock, metal, and blues. Made late 1990's. No headphone jack.

I use a Ibanez guitar with two single coils and a humbucker setup. The amp has loud hissing and humming sound when the lead channel postgain is above one with all buttons in. The higher the postgain the higher the hissing and humming. The WORST agonizing sound for one to hear. It's REALLY BAD!!! The clear channel is good. Both channels dont distort at high volumes. Neither does the reverb. IT'S THE GODDAMM HISSING AND HUMMING IN THE LEAD CHANNEL!!! STAY AWAY FROM THIS AMP!!!

The only thing you can rely on is the clear channel. No tubes is good. Never broken down. Had it a very short time.

Never used them.

Bought it used. Sounds like a piece of crap. Wouldnt keep it now or would I ever keep one unless it doesnt have the hissing and humming. If it were stolen or lost, I'd let the dude have it. I'd help him destroy it after he finds out it's a piece of crap. Compared it to a line6, fender stage 160, marshall avt50. So far the line6 is clean sounding.

An amp from circa 1984 made in Missisippi
This amp has a use for everything but what amazes me is its endurance.
Has high and low gain channels. The amps own distortion and saturation channels are pretty soft and hard to get a good tone out of. The effcts loop is brilliantly clean and LOUD!!!! It has pull bright and pull thicknesser on the volume and tone buttons that can instantly change ranges of tones from high to low. This amp is a total power house for its size. I have punished it for years on and offstage and the original speaker is only just starting to go now, but thats all right I because it has well enough grunt to run a quadbox through it and that's what I do. It's an old valve amp that will never die. It has a headphone jack but that would fry your ears.
Good all round amp that can handle effects through the front and back.
Effects are really a must with this amp as the reverb isn't the best the gain channels aren't smooth either.
But all up the best amp I ever have used. Best for rocking hard!!!!

Heavy rock and weird effects.Hummbuckers sound the best through it.
Noisy around powerlines. Never starts vibrate the speaker out.
Clean channel stays clean at high volumes. The distortion sucks so you'll need something to boost it up bit.

Toughest ever. Would never ever let me down, it has had a hard life and never shows it. Never broken down before. Never made a weird noise. Never serviced.

Amp was bought third hand in Australia for $80U.S. What a bargain!!!
I rang Peavey to find out about the amp and they could tell me everything I wanted to know, so that was cool.

I've been playing for eight years and for six on this amp.
If it was stolen I'd find another one tommorow.
Love everything about it. I chose it because it was cheap. I evolved in my playing through the amp. If you can find one buy it.

don't know when build, has high and low gain input, T-Dyn, Pres, 3 switch channels, (clean, trash, gain) etc...
but no headphone jack, shit, I like play the night in my room when I can't sleep.
Bougth in a North-East shop in France.

I'm using a Samick Blues Saraceno with s/s/h seymour duncan pickups, wich need to be totally rechecked up and reset (fret, mics, electronics, neck) the poor is suffering. I use now instead an Ibanez DTX120 with original humbuckers (this one is hell !!). I will say : you can love the power, but not the sound. There is hiss !
But when you use a effect processor it's different. One day I returned home with an Korg AX300G, I plug it and hiss has disappeard, and now I can use the proc sounds (but it's hard to set this effect as you want) and I have got the power of the amp !
With the original sound, music is Lifeless (but better than an Hugh & Kettner or Marshall transistors-same-price-amp), but it can fit for -not extra- but good playing (and not for those "Rock Stars" who post messages about a cheap amp and who wants real professional quality stuff)Reverb is good.
really powerfull - get off my room's wallpapers with it =p

Hard as a rock. Mithril Inside ? =p.
No need to spend money every year for changing the "trans"tubes =p
(I hear some Tubes-Addicted-Guy saying "what ? every year ?")

Ouch, I buy it priceless, with the footswitch (Marshall give Free Footswitches ?).
But I don't receive the manual and informations about guarantee (no need at last).
I give also 5 because, I find the manual online in PDF format on the Peavey Website (and in French) - don't find it's difficult to read me ? lol -

I've playing for 5 years just for fun, cause i'm working i cannot do my life as a real guitar player (need lot of training) (but I'm not so bad, I play Hendrix, Metallica, Deftones, some Satriani's song,... and lots of very differents things I like).
If you are like me, this amp is for you (with an effects processor), no need the ultimate Mesa/Boogie (will buy one when i've got enough money and professional musician situation, - but i'll think it will never happend).

by the way,
Try it with an effects proc and made your own opinion. Don't forget that's quality/price amp

Nb : I find Marshalls for the same price, with transistors (not tubes, lots of marshalls are tubesless and expensives) and (damn marshall) HALFLESS power! I thinks transtubes will sound greater than that kind of stuff

Sometimes I think marshall sux
(pay-the-brand-baby)

Thanks for reading me !

Not sure exactly when made but i bought it in late 2000.
One thing is for sure and that is that is its definetely not versatile enough for me or my music style, which is clean blues leads/ Heavy Rock (Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, R.a.t.m. etc.)
2 Channels/Solid State/Foot Switching/Effects Loop/NO headphone jack.
Features i dont use are the 'resonance' button coz it does hardly anything to the sound whatsoever, and the 'effects boost' button coz it doesnt change the sound at all!

I use a cheap ass Yamaha EG-303 i got for 200 aus in a beginers package with a 10 watt amp, altho its crap cheap as pickups are not the problem with my sound coz ive tried it out on my freinds Ashton anp and it does ok.
This amp suits my music style in the way that the clean channel goes pretty sweet on my guitar's neck pickup, nice and smooth. but u cant get the good smooth lead tone out of it that ive gotten with other amps. and if u turn the clean channel up past around 4, it gets distorted and sounds crap as.
The Dirty channel is well, pathetic to be honest, i honestly think it useless exept for that u can get some good vintage lead tones out of it , but it doesnt have very much distortion so thats about all u can do with it. You cant play heavy rock on it, no way its just too weak and nasal u can play vintage rock on it, but u cant get a descent thick distortion out of it. its pathetic.
I play a Boss Mt-2 Metalzone through its clean channel and at moderately loud levels (as in garage jam level) it makes an awfull loud bassy vibration of the cabinet/speaker and annoys the hell out of me, if u wanna try and eliminate it, u gotta turn the bass on the eq. all the way down to stop it resulting in crap 'plastic' tone

Well i wouldnt really depend on it, coz i used it at a gig and when i turned the volume up to the required gig level, it wouldnt stop vibrating and making the awfull bass noise.
Other than that ive never had any problems with it.

Haven't Dealt With them

To be quite honest, i regret buying this amp i wish id saved my $$$ and got a 50 watt marshall tube amp or something, i can't stand the distortion on it and it hasnt got a good enough tone for leads, i bought it coz it was the only amp in my price range and thinking that Peavey are a well known brand they're amps would be quality...NEGATIVE
As soon as i save up the money.. im getting a new one, ive had enough with this one.

I bought this amp new in 1997.
Original transtube version (with old Peavey logo)
I play all sorts of styles but mainly blues, country, gospel, etc.
2 inputs (high and normal gain), 2 channels, bright switch, eq for both channels (bass, mids, highs), gain and "trash" buttons on the lead channel, effects loop, reverb, presence, t-dynamics, resonance switch and effects level switch. 80 watts RMS (solid state).

I use lots of guitars (Gibson Les Paul, Fender Tele and Strat, (vintage) Fender Mustang, Fender (electric) mandolin and others.
This amp sounds good using most of the guitars but some guitars I have to play with the eq to get them to sound good.
I set the amps eq like this: (CLEAN) bass 10, mids 1, highs 6.5, bright swith off. (LEAD) bass 10, mids 2.5, highs 7, gain swith off, "trash" switch off. Reverb 7. Presence 0, t-dynamics 0. Resonance switch in.
I really like the reverb in this amp.
The t-dynamics sounds better to me on 10% (at low volumes) and when you crank the amp I turn the t-dynamics to around 50%.
I've used the effects loop a few times and it works but I mainly use all pedals through the inputs instead of through the effects loop.

I've had this amp turned all the way up (on the clean channel) and the cabinet did not rattle at all. This amp (like all Peavey amps) is built like a tank. Very road worthy.

They have a good website with all the books on all their amps in their database for people to download.
Plus I've called them a few times about different things like ohms, etc. and they were very helpful.
I've never had anything wrong with this amp.

This amp is good but it's still not a tube amp.
The clean channel is good but doesn't sound anything like a tube amp to me (after hearing it compared to an actual Fender hot rod deluxe amp) but the lead (distortion) does sound alot like a tube amp (at least the way I set the eq for that channel).

I have no idea what year this amp is, it has a teal faceplate, no "T-" anything button and is scorpion equipped. The gain channel has "Post" and "Superstat" knobs and the eq is "bottom" "body" and "edge." All the old guitar gurus I know are mystified by what the hell's inside it, so if anyone knows, I'd really like to know what the hell I've got here. It's got a clean and gain channel, the gain has a "gain" button which makes ups the output and a "shift" button which kind of smooths out the sound (like an 80's hairband). Very versatile. I never use the efects loop though. I've played it in my room, practice rooms, and auditoriums. I bought this amp from a pawn shop for $120 so I can't really complain about it.

I play an Gibson ES-335 classic 57' humbuckers, Epiphone S-210 SD Screamin' Demon (bridge), Charvel Predator w/reverse headstock/Floyd Rose/Jackson HB & Hotrails, Epiphone PR5E Acoustic/Electric. I play everything from rock/punk/alternative/jazz/classical/Radiohead. Clean is very crisp but a bit punchy at times also very loud (not necessarily a bad thing). I think the presence control should do a little more. The gain channel takes a bit of getting used to. If you don't know what your doing it's easy to make this amp sound like crap, but with the right combination it is very versatile. I've got good sounds out of all my guitars with a little patience at the controls. One thing I haven't seen anyone mention is that this amp (if it's a solid state) has a spring reverb which I don't see very often in solids anymore and sounds a thousand times better. You can get that cool surf rock crash sound (beginning of wipeout). Would like a little less glass on the high end though. People who think the sound sucks have obviously gone deaf from having it too loud all the time in a small space.

I once dropped the thing out of a 2 story window and it just bounced back in.

Never needed it.

Been playing for 3 years quite religiously. I also play through a 100w Marshall, sometimes I loop them together (whoa!) to get that earth shattering rumble needed for working off post work aggression. (If your going to do that invest in a 30' cord and earplugs). I also have a 50W Kramer, and a Trace Elliot TVt9000? (6 tubes whohoo) It's some rediculous number, but I've never gotten the thing above 2 on the volume knob without my ears bleeding since its built for gigging on the moon. If my peavy were stolen I wouldn't replace it with a new one (like I need 4 amps), plus I don't really like all the digitized crap on new amps. But if I saw another used one of the same for a $100.... I don't think I would pay 400 for it, just save up for a decent stack. I love the power and flexibility it has, but sound quality isn't as good as it should be in my opinion. You get what you pay for though.

it was made in 2000, 2 channels *clean and lead*, shitty effects loop, good reverb though, the Modern sound..sux ass, but it can make a 100 watts of noise pollution if you want...so thats always a plus.

i play a esp ltd m-251 with emg pickups never sounds that great on this amp though...i mostly play hardcore and even some metal. sometimes it makes a buzzying sound..kinda annoying..but i'm sure you could fix it. you can get a lot of shitty sounds out of it..though...the lead channel sounds horrible..but the clean with reverb i like.

i wouldn't use it for a gig..it sounds pretty horrible...and sometimes it turns off by itself...and the handle on top shitted out..came right off. i've even heard some really low end bass muffled sounds after playing a chord..coming from the sheffield.

i've never spoken to them. warranty is good i hear though.

overall i think its a good buy if you can find it used for about 200 bucks, mostly because of how loud it can get. and if you set it up w/ a boss metal zone pedal the lead can sound alright...but basically i don't think its worth the money...unless you find it for a damn good price...but compared to other amps such as the line 6, and crate...it is better..so thats a plus...but whatever if you want that much power, get a good sounding peavey or marshall half stack.

Consider the cost, i paid 600cdn dollars, same as the marshall mg series (terrible) and got a tube emulating (not that bad) amp with good reverb, a workable, though annoying effects loop, ground control incase of a bad ground in the socket you're using, 2 channels, 5 modes. It's pretty well loaded if you comepare it with a good tube amp at the same price.

I'm using a stock Ibanez S series and a Godin Radiator modded to hell. I play Punk, Metal, Some classic rock, and a lot of classical stuff put to 80's shredding, and i have to say, this thing covers pretty much all of them.

I have a friend with a jcm 900 2x12 100 watter that can't get louder than this SOB. It's a freaking powerhouse.

In my opinion the high-gain channel is the only tolerable one, with the mids scooped on modern, yes, you can make yourself sound like a Nu-Metal star, but play it at a show and all you'll hear is a muddy freaking mess. I use High-Gain, Gain 10 (always 10 on this amp, no matter what mode, otherwise it sounds thin) Bass 7 Mid 5 High 10 Post 4

Try as you will, this thing is not going to break, i've kicked it, thrown it out of a bus, and bumped it on too many walls, and you know what, it left chips and dents in the walls, the street curb, and my goddamn foot without a mark on it.

Solid State, no tube changes, no blown tubes, no fire hazards really, pretty safe to gig without a backup, I do, but then again, I'm an idiot...

Never had to
Hope i never will
Hear they're bad

Been playing 4 years, longest 4 of my life... Though i've progressed much in these four years... i practice about 4-5 hours nightly and have to tolerate the sounds of this bandit often. If it were stolen, I'd buy one of the old 90's Marshall valvestates, sound isn't better, but there's 3 channels. I love the Gain, it rules, beats the crap out of most amps in it's class, hate the hiss, though you can get rid of it.

This amp was built in 2000, right after peavey gave the old banditts the boot up the ass that they deserved. Its a typical amp, 2 channels usual controls etc, you dont need anything more and I dig simpleness, so I'm not complaining.

My guitars are - ibanez universe, ibanez RG520 and gibson les paul standard (i blow all my money on guitars and have to settle for a cheap amps). I play many music styles, mainly rock from nirvana to silverchair and have tendancies to belt out some slipknot, but i dont mind having a stab at angus young smart ass solos. The clean isnt to brilliant, it breaks up at low volumes and its not a nice breaking up, kinda sounds like a machine gun being fired beside your head. But, if you control your picking, its alright. There is a Modern/vintage option on the clean channel that arent really very different, it is a personal choice thing rather than musical style.
The dirty channel has 3 options - high gain/modern/vintage. High gain is too noisy to use, but it has a good AC/DC type tone if you can ignore the shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh noise. The modern channel is my personal favourite, you can find your self a nice, fat, mesa style distortion after a bit of tweaking. It is muddy, i wont deny it, and can be noisy, but for a cheap amp like this, it isnt bad at all. The vintage is warm, and very quiet. Blues tones are piss easy to dial in and a lighty overdriven clean is easy done.
To get a descent sound from any of the channels, the 'tube dynamics' must be on 10. This knob is bascically a "do you want your amp to sound shit or not??" kind of option...i dont understand the point of it.

Well I've had it for 2 years now, and I havnt encountered any problems with it. It fell 2m off the edge of a stage onto concrete in the middle of a song due to newly installed wheels, and was still kicking strong. I use the peavey as a back up now, simply because i found better tone in a soldano, but the peavey still makes a good bedroom amp, or footrest.

before this amp, i had one of the old models. The old models were absolute shit mind you, but that didnt stop me from buying one. It died in the second week i owned it, committed suicide and made my room smell of burning plastic. i went to my local music store and within a week the peavey factory sent me a brand spanking new 2000 model. I've heard that in america peavey is a bit of a pain in the ass when it comes to customer support, but here in good ol' australia they are just peachy.

I've been playing since I was 5 and turn 15 in a few months, i cant work out the exact time i have been playing for, but you get the idea. If it were stolen, i would tell the insurance company that is was a mesa triple rectifier or a hughes and kettner duotone, then i would go to jail.
Considering the price this amp isn't half bad, it is quite versitile as it can be used for jamming, gigs, or just chillin in ya bedroom, or loungeroom, kitchen or bathroom, perhaps even toilet.
So, if you're looking for a cheap amp that will do the job, or if you're a beginner with a bidget, this amp is worth looking at.
thank you for reading this, goodbye

Its a peavey amp was made in 1995-96, it has good reverb etc, good sound. Its an express 112 or 221 or something

fender pickups on a jackson guitar
Its reliable
Not very noisy, you can crank it and it sounds good
Cleen channel is not distorted
distorion channel has nice clean distortion

Its not really a gig amp, it could work for a small gig in a garage
never broken down

The guitar I bought at Rubinos in Merrillville was a piece of shit brand new, a couple months after i bought this peavy predator, the crappy volume know came apart.
Repaired it myself
Dont Buy from rubinos in merrillville if you have respect for yourself
He overcharges, and does not let you effectively test equipment, he tries to sell cheap items for a large markup.
Beware of rubinos

Trust me stay awayy from rubinos, at least guitar center lets you return an item you bought

This amp of mine was made in 1997 and I really wish it would have been aborted!!! I bought the thing from a local music store and could'nt crank it when I tried it out (huge mistake). T-Dynamic's sux so much I can't find the word's to describe it. The bright switch on the clean channel is broke, I think, I cant tell a difference!!! The thrash switch on the lead channel does something like make the sucky tone suck worse, and then there's that hiss!! what in the hell can we use the hiss effect for?? I called Peavey about that and they said the hiss was for "authentic tube emulation". I say bull s@#$!!! The reverb is ok though if you can bear the sound your reverberating.

I use a Gibson LP Custom, ESP M-200, Fender Strat, and a Krammer Striker. I can't plug any of them into this thing and get a good sound. Then clean is brittle and break's up at a volume setting of 3, and the lead channel has no soul and that god awful hiss. Turning down the presence kind of help's lower the hissing volume, but it does'nt eliminate it. I also find the distortion to be flat and useless, I cant find a setting that is the least bit musical!! I've even used effect pedal's from Boss and Zoom in front of this amp trying to get a good distortion and the amp kill's the pedal's. I'ts like the amp only want's to amplify and send the hiss. And again, I can't find a market for people who like hissing guitar music (excuse me, I meant authentic tube emulation)

I doubt through normal use you could ever destroy this amp. But hell, if it does tear up you'll have a nice heavy boat anchor.

I've dealt with Peavey about this amp via phone conversation and it seem's they are pleased with this amp. I'm glad they sold a few million of them. The guy I talked to was very professional and courtious. He obviously make's his living telling lie's to customer's while trying to smooth over the fact that this particular amp suck's giant horse cock.

I've been playing over 20 yrs and have used some good Peavey gear in this time. However, this transtube bandit has left me at a loss of word's for Peavey. Luckily I have several amp's that suit my playing style and taste (such as a Marshall JCM 900, Marshall vs65,and a Fender Hot Rod Deville). Notice that 2 of the 3 amp's I listed are tube driven amp's. You can't go wrong with a quality tube amp, save your doe and buy 1, you'll never regret it. By the way, I have a Peavey Bandit Transtube amp for sale cheap!!!!

I've got the old big black one without the red stripe. Its your basic 2 channel amp, nothing fancy, and the reverb sounds good. 80W plus the 100W output is plenty loud for almost anything.

OK, the real reason I posted a review is because of the morons who complained about the sound. ARE YOU INSANE?!?!?! This amp is $300-400, what the hell do you expect? What I like most about its sound is the clean channel. It's super-crisp, and a tweak of the knobs can warm it up alot. It helps to buy the 112SX 1X12 cabinet, it adds a warmth to the sound.
The distortion is decent, especially if you have hot pickups. I was only relatively satisfied with this amp's distortion, until I bought a Les Paul. Now I am 100% satisfied with the sound.

Jeez, this thing is a tank!!!! My personal favorite story is when the Bandit fell out of the van and rolled down my driveway(its a really steep incline) we walked the 40 feet it had rolled and slid, carried it back to the van, and went to the club to play. You cannot break this amp!!!

Never had a problem with the amp. I know the guys at the service center, though, and I know they do good work!

I've been playing a few years, and I love this amp. The only thing I might suggest is if you aren't quite happy with the sound, buy a Multi-FX pedal with amp modeling, this amp seems perfect for that sort of tweaking.

I believe my Bandit is late '80's or early '90's vintage - it is pre-transtube tecnology. I play blues, country, jazz and a little rock. The amp has more than enough power to meet my needs (practice, small venues). I mostly use the clean channel and am not wild about the distortion channel.

I use an American Standard telecaster (late '80's) and a recently purchased Epiphone dot and occasionally use a Zoom II 505. My biggest complaint about the amp is that I cannot get a good sound with the tele. Through the bandit, the tele sounds thin and flat (Even though tele's and fenders are thinner sounding by nature, I expected a little more depth). Also there is too much static, even for pickups that are not humbuckers. However, the I can get some fine jazz tones out of the Epiphone through this amp. With the Epiphone, I'll give the sound a 9. With the tele, the sound is a 3. Overall score is a 6.

The amp is a rock - If I were still gigging regularly I would definitely hold on to it. I have not had to service it in the 7 years I've owned the amp. However, the amp is sensitive to poor jacks - use good cables with it.

I bought the amp used from a local guitar store. The store owner thinks Peaveys are the most servicable and best line of amps he carries. I have not needed to have the amp repaired and have not dealt with Peavey. The rating is based on the store owner's good relationship with Peavey over the years. I'm sure he could cancel his obligation if he was not satisfied and hassled with lots of returned instruments.

I've been playing for over 35 years. My electric gear includes a Amer. Stan tele, Epi dot, Marshall Artist 4203, early '60's Ampeg Reverberocket, small Kustom PA system, Zoom 505 II and a Peavey echo box. I'm getting ready to pass on the Bandit to my sister who uses an Ovation. I think it will serve her needs well via the clear channel. I much prefer the tone I can get out of the Marshall combo - It makes the tele come alive and adds some bottom with little muddiness. Even though the Peavey clear channel sounds good with the Epiphone, it simply cannot produce a good sound with the tele. Maybe the transtube produces a lusher sound with this type of guitar. However, as I stated before, the amp is built solidly and is very loud for its weight and sound.

Mine is a premier version of the Bandit, still with the scorpion speaker instead of the Sheffield of the newer ones. Two channels (lead and distort), full control of each one. Could be better if it had three channel. Doesn't have the T-tube technology, but it no problem, since I don't use it anyway.

For me, the best 80W combo. I think the scorpion speaker gives a better result than the sheffield, since I tried the newer Bandit II. Very warm if needed (right tunning). The same sound for a variety of volumes. No marshall can beat this baby in terms of consistency or power. Just perfect for the category.

I've heard many stories about this combo. I just had one in which I was performing my first gig in an open-air auditorium, started to pour rain as hell, the crowd (mostly friends, of course) going wacko with the music, no stops and my guitar partner had to stop since his 200W Marshall went kapput. I just kept on going, no problem what so ever...

Before I bought my Bandit, I came here to check if it was cool or not and subscribed myself into the Peavey foruns... Quick replies, excelent hint and tips. Really helpfull and kind.

I played with this baby through most everything. Acoustics, semi-acoustics, cheap Maisons, expensive Ibanez and Washburns. Great sound in Heavy Metal, Trash Metal and also acoustic sound. As I said, it lacks a third channel... Excelent Combo. If stollen (since it won't break) I would buy one again, probably the Bandit II and replace the Sheffield speaker for a Scorpion.

The amp has a decent amount of features, two channels, two modes on the clean, and three on the distorted channel. The footswitch has buttons for channel switching and reverb. It also has an effects loop with volume control. It is 100 watts, and has a single sheffield speaker. There are high and low gain inputs, and preamp out and power amp ins.

I use a Schecter C-1 with Duncan pickups, first of all this amp is absurdly loud for any purposes besides possibly a stadium. You probably will never turn this amp up passed 3 or 4. The clean channel is pretty nice, the reverb sounds good. The modern/highgain distortion is good and crunchy, and you can get some nice heavy sounds out of the amp. The low end is very tight. The treble is very strong but that can be fixed by turning down the treble setting. The vintage distortion is not bad, but nothing to right home about. The amp gets feedback when the gain is set to high, but other than that the amp is pretty nice. It sounds about as good as a solid state amp will, it doesn't sound like a tube amp, but then what solid state does?

hasn't broken yet

haven't delt with them

For the money this is a great amp, if a little too loud for any gig you will play in if your only looking to spend $450 on you amp (you could play in a concert hall with this set at 4!) it has the option of an extension cab, which might add some lows, but you won't need the extra volume!