Peavey Bandit 112S

This is a late 90s amp from the first transtube line. Two channels with bright pushbutton on the clean and a thrash and gain boost on the distortion. Sheffield speaker. Effects loop. Channel switch. Reverb. Nothing fancy but theres a lot of control over the sound. *80 watts.

Jay Turser Les Paul (don't laugh. For 200 bucks it's decent) and a mexican Fender strat. Hard rock and classic rock. It 's quiet except when the distortion is way up with the gain boost on. The clean channel sounds just like a Fender. Very nice with the bright switch on. The distortion channel sounds great. The thrash button is almost like having a third channel. Good EQ on both channels. Good sounding speaker. Plenty of volume.

Peavey is the best.

Peavey is the best.

I bought it for rehearsals. My main amp is a Peavey Revolution with a single 12" Sheffield. It looks just like the Bandit. I tried to find another one but I couldn't so I bought the Bandit cuz it's the same amp (almost) with just two channels and not as many features. The Revolution sounds better to me but this amp is a good substitute for rehearsals. I never gigged with it. I'd buy another one of these transtube Bandits. Transtube comes close to real tube sound.

just a helpfull tip. the louder you turn this amp the worse it sounds unless you click the reso switch to tight and turn down the treble and preasence. it soudns pretty good when you keep it in check very good amp VERY reliable.

Everyone knows what the Bandit has - no need to go on.

I use a Telecaster and a Gretsch. The clean channel is a total surprise.. it is so close to any number of good tube amps I have had that its not funny - the vintage setting is great. The amp alone is worth it for the clean channel.

Never had a problem with Peavey gear

I enquired via Email about the annoying gap when switching channels on the footswitch -the sound disappears momentatily rather than changing instantly like most amps. Peavey responded and said this was part of the design -good customer support but bad design in amp.

A long time player with tons of gigging. I cant believe how good this amp sounds for the money - the clean channel is worth the purchase price. The channel switching pause is totally inexcusible from a technicians point of view and is bad design which flaws an other wiase good amp. I would prefer it was USA made rather than Chinese too.

This amp has everything you can imagine which allows you to get any tone you can dream up, the only hold back is no headphone jack. But, instead of blowing my ears out, I'll blow out everyone elses too, hahaha.

I use mainly a Fender Mex. strat, with an Ibanez tube screamer, Dunlop Craybaby and a Digitech RP100. I've been able to get tones that range from Hendrix, to Zakk Wylde to Stevie Ray Vaughn and Eric Clapton. It has the perfect sound for any style your into.

I'd rather give it a 20 on reliability, hahaha. Had it for about 4 years and not a scratch on it and that's from use about everyday and being lugged around. Hell, it weighs almost like a monster tube amp. I heard about that reverb noise when moved earlier, and I've experienced that, but when playing a tripped out version of Hendrix's Third Stone From The Sun, I'll even kick it to get that reverb scream, so even it's downsides turn out to be upsides.

N/A.......After seeing it's reliabilty, you shouldn't have to deal with Peavey too much over this product.

I can remember I got it cheap that's about it, and that's brand new. I walked in hoping to spend around the $600 I had for a new amp and walked out with a pocket still full of cash, and with what I consider the best amp on the market. I mainly play blues and where blues guitarist cherish they're old Fender Bassman and Fender Reverb old tube amp, I cherish this amp. It's the closest a solid state amp has ever came and will ever come to a real tube amp. And I feel hesitant to call it solid state.

This amp is definetley versatile enough for me to play a range from heavey rock to light jazz. There are two channels, clean and lead, both with individual 3 band EQs and volume controls. There are reverb, resonance, presence and t. dynamics controls for the two channels together. A switch on the lead channel allows three different overdrive sounds - vintage, modern and high gain. Unfortunately there is no way to remotley switch from one setting to the other for soloing etc. The clean channel also has different sounds simulated - vintage and modern.
A remote footswitch is included for channel switching. The only thing missing really is a headphone jack, but why deprive the world of your talents?
One more channel would have been nice for going that extra bit further for solos etc, but for #280 you cant really complain.
The amp has one 12" speaker and at 80watts is more than loud enough. I did a gig at a medium sized hall and the volume on my amp never went above 6 so its has plenty for medium sized gigs. This is of course a solid state amp, but it definetley produces a great sound and it wont cost an arm and a leg to buy either.

One the lead channel, vintage is the sound i use most often, as it simulates the classic tube amp overdrive sound. The modern setting is great for more modern, heavy sounding overdrive. I have found that I never use the high gain channel at all - it produces an extremely distorted sound, that, in my opinion isnt pleasing at all to the ear. It doesnt have enough crunch or bass to it and also I get a lot of feedback when on this setting.
On the clean channel the modern sound is more mellow, whilst the vintage sound has more bite to it and is sharper.

I would and have used it at a gig without a backup because there isnt a chance in hell that I could afford to buy another amp like this just to backup the first one! It's a really sturdy amp anyway, and feels reasuringly heavy. It has been banged around a bit and hasnt suffered the slightest scratch yet. Excellent build quality.

You get extended warranty as long as you send away a registration card to Peavey or register via the web-site. Worth it for 3 years extra cover.

I would probably buy this same amp again if it were stolen, and if I had enough money. It's the best amp out there for the price. I researched for months on the best value for money amp before actually buying this one.
What I like about this amp is that it does what I want and does it well, and doesnt try to be anything more like some of the new amps with built in digital effects.
It obviously has its flaws (read the review), but overall its a good amp.
Also you get free broadjam.com registration for a year when you buy a peavey product :)

I bought this amp 2nd and and do not know when it was made. I play metal, nu-metal n hard rock and i was amazed when i first turned it on and heard the rumble of one of the deepest distortions ive ever heard.it has 2 channels, with footswitch, effects loop and unfortunately is missing a headphone jack. Playing in a band with an acoustic drumset in a small room wont ever sound right unless you have enough power on your amp and out of the 80w this amp provides i find that its more than enough, maybe if you play on stage you might need an extension cabinet so your sound gets spread better.

I have a washburn cs780 and a gt-3 and have to say that the distortion on this thing is nearly better than the one on the effects board, for metal or nu-metal this is the right amp. a bit of noise when you crank it up alot. the clean channel stays clean all the way which i find amazing as you can play some clean intros at really high volume for an 80w amp. and as ive already said the distortion of this thing rocks.

this amp is as solid as a rock i take it around all the time and never had any problems.

never dealt with them.

This amp was a really good buy, for a really low price as 1000dhs r not more than 360$. for the price the quality is the best you could ask for n plus you get to have a nice known name on your amp and not some shitty brand no one knows... so i recommend this amp to all the metal heads out there, this is the right one for you. rock on

this is the new one,2 channels (but way more versatile than any other amp that i've played through of pretty much seen)high,low input, 80-100 watts, effects loop, external speaker jacks, footswich for channel switching and reverb. A nice 100 watt solidstate amp

All I have to say is wow. Before you old tube playing guys say that I'm fucked consider this, who has $1000+ to spend on an amp and is as picky as most of you old fuckers. I used to be the biggest peavey hatter out there, I would fucking laugh at people when they said they had a peavey. I tried a bunch of the old peavey amps, tube and solid state. The solid state amps were the biggest pieces of shit on the planet, a 15 watt fender was 20 times better. But this new line is fucking amasing, I was totally blown away. First the clean, I was exspecting a normal, average, slitely metallic fender type clean, but I was wrong, it is a less metalic, more lightly bass orented clean. But I mean in a good way. It is totally what I was looking for in a clean sound. I like all the different switches on the amp, because it allows you to customise your sound alot more than most other amps. The lead channel fucking amased me. I was exspecting a shitty harsh bullshit, no gain distortion, but i was totally wrong. On modern it is one of the heaveyist, deepest most saturated distrrotions, that I has ever played. I have played a mesa single recto and I can honestly say that this thing is not that far off in the gain department. Don't buy this thing thinking you are going to get a rectofier, buy it thinking that you are going to get an amasing clean channel, lots of sound options,(more than almost any other amp I have seen in its range) and a fucking insane ear grinding nu-metal distortion.

I got it at steve's music in toronto. I went on a search for a new 100 watt amp, with 2-3 channels, in the under $700 canadian price range, that had enough distortion and options, and this was the best one I found. I tried everything, you name it crate, randall, marshall,trace and elliot ...... This amp had most options, came with a footswitch and more importantly had the most brutal distortion that I had ever heard on a non-tube amp. The only thing I wish this had was foot switchable effects loop, but an amp can't be perfect. If you like this, but need the switchable effects loop than check out the step-up amp from this, the peavey revolution 112, which is basiclly the same, but with the switchable loop and one more channel.The reason I got this one instead of the revolution 112 is because the bandit is 575 + tax, but the revolution is like 700 + tax.

2001 peavy bandit 112 assembled by a small Korean boy I would assume. It's got 2 channels, clean and lead. The clean is ok at best nothing to brag about, sorta middy. The distortion is really good on the modern, high gain, and vintage settings. I only use the modern for my rythem parts, it's the thickest tone. The high gain is cool for solos and maybe some leads but I get too much feedback. it can be used like a head which boosts the output form 80 to 100 watts. It's a really good amp for a guy like me who plays punk rock and just needs something to get over a drummer. I play punk, ska, metal, hardcore, and some heavyrock. This solid state amp is pretty rocking. If you could switch this amp via foot switch from vintage to modern to high gain it would get a perfect 10. the resonance switch rocks.

I use an epiphone les paul with a seymour dunacan invader and an Ibanez RG 320dx with a duncan buck shot. on my settings (modern, B7,M7,T8,pregain 7, post gain 1-4, preseance 7-8, t.d.75-80, r loose) my les paul gets a nice clear but heavy drive. very brutal but crisp. My Ibanez gets the best crunch and rythem i could ask for outtah this amp. just awesome. my clean settings always change... i wonder if it effects the lead? the clean channel breaks up horibly.

never had a problem.

never had a need

i;ve been playing over 2 years. only peavey amps untill i get dual rect or 5150..... it it were stolen blah blah blah kill kill kill blah blah blah. Basically its a good amp for under $400 but it seems to cater more to metal and rock.

The modern / vintage switches really do a nice job once you find the right volume settings. I used one without and with extra cabinet. Without it it is nicely portable, with it the sound rates among the best I've heard.

I am not into very heavily distorted sounds, I like my guitar ringing, quacking, singing, not buzzing. I have used it with a '61 Hofner (my favourite, for those who don't know it: ES-like) with Seymour Duncans, a strat and a LP-type guitar. With each guitar I took a while (a little longer than with most amps) to get what I liked, but it was worth the effort. The amp "respected" all 3 types. I am wondering what it will do with a "acoustic-like" modern guitar.

There are two places where I use them. One is at a rehearsal room where the amp is used at least 6 hours a day 7 days a week. The other is at a bar with live music 6 days a week. Both have the amp a few months now (to short for a 10). No problems yet.

I don know how it is now. I once (15 years ago) needed support for another Peavey amp, so I'll credit them for that occasion.

I bought my 2nd hand Vox AC 30 TB in '74. The Bandit comes in second (which is high praise, I have used many many many amps).
It is a very transportable, guitar respecting, good sounding amp.
My TB will die within years. I am seriously considering buying one.
Within 3 times the price I know amps with more possibilities, but not more to my liking.

My Transtube Bandit was made in August 2001 and was purchased new for $360.00. The amp has very clear controls and voicing switches for the clean and lead (distortion) channels, vintage and modern for the clean channel and high gain, modern and vintage for the distortion channel. I have used this amp for sessions and live playing. Does the job quite well.

I use a variety of guitars in my work, but mostly utilize a Fender Strat (maple neck, Seymour Duncan pickups, Sperzel tuners), Peavey Wolfgang (for humbucking rock tones and wang bar), Gibson ES-335 and a Les Paul Standard.

I have to be able to produce singing solos, to shred distortion to anything else that may come up. While this is not the only amp I use (Tech 21 and Mesa Boogie are my other work horses), it *is* an extremely versatile, good-sounding amp. The voicing switches on the channels are not gimmicky and are quite effective in emulating various tube tones. The modern voicing on the distortion channel does a fine job of emulating a "scooped" Boogie marks series amp cranked.

For a new amp obtained for under $400 it really is hard to beat. I use it in professional settings and it does very well.

I use it all the time and it delivers.

The folks at Peavey have typically treated me well. I once had a problem with a 5150 tube head and they took care of it.

Overall, the Transtube Bandit (the older Bandits are horrible) is an affordable amp that can produce very good tones, particularly for rock and soloing. Worth checking out.