Peavey Bandit 65

Made in 1983. Purchased for $200. The amp has 2 channels, one clean one "distortion". It comes with a foot pedal that is far less durable than the amp. Solid state. Has nice reverb.

I have used this amp for practice at home, clubs, party gigs, and auditoriums. I have never had any need to turn the volume up over 5.

I've played both a Fender Strat and a 1975 Gibson Les Paul on this amp. I play jazz almost exclusively now, but have used this amp in oldies, classic rock, blues, and big band settings with good results. The tone of the clean station is a good as you can get for jazz without tubes. Getting piercing treble tones for blues is tougher. Like everyone else, I hate the distortion. But using a pedal fixes everything.

After 13 years, I have had my first problem with the amp. The reverb starts to distort if I turn the mid-range all the way up to 10 (for a beefy Jim Hall sound). This is despite the inevitable parade of drunks who have tripped over the amp and spilled copious amounts of alchol all over it during gigs, not to mention lots of travel.

I,like everyone else doing these reviews, have never had any contact with Peavy

I love the clear tone and reverb, but wish it would be more versatle. Nonetheless a great amp to get started on and a good reliable workhorse.

I bought this amp used for $100 about two years ago. It was made in 1983. It is a 65 watt amp with lead gain and normal channels, reverb, effects loop, four band equalizer, high and low input jacks, and a ground switch. The lead gain channel has pre gain, saturation, and post gain controls. The normal channel is only selectable by footswitch. Both channels have a "pull bright" function, which boosts high frequencies. The equalizer also has a "pull thick" function which boosts the midrange. It doesn't have a headphone jack. It is really loud, especially the normal channel. It has plenty of power to do most gigs. This amp is fairly versatile; it has lots of tonal possibilities.

I use a single coil strat and an Ibanez metal distortion pedal to get good sound out of it. The bandit's distortion isn't very good. It's noisy, sounds to bassy and has a lack of treble. The "pull thick" function sounds like crap; I never use it. However, a good distortion pedal will make it sound like a dream. I play hardcore rock, and this amp suits me nicely. The amp has a natural "scooped mids" sound to it. I usually turn the Saturation all the way up and leave the Pre Gain on 3, and add a distortion pedal for a good distortion. The normal channel is very clean and sounds nice. I've never cranked it all the way up; it gets really loud. Reverb sounds really good too. Solid State distortion, no tubes.

This amp was made in 1983, and still works like new now, 18 years later. It is definately reliable. The only thing I had a problem with is the pedal. The connections to the jack came loose, but I fixed it with a little sodering, no big deal. The input jacks on mine are going too. They probably need resodering too.

Bought it used; don't know.

They are cheap, they sound nice with external effects, and are super reliable. I've been playing for five years and this is my first and only amp right now, and I don't plan on getting another one. If it were taken from me I would probably save money and get a tube amp. I would recommend it to anyone of any skill level. It's a good, solid, very useable amp.

This is a reletively old amp. It's from around '89 I think, but it's still going strong. I play ska, punk, and general rock & roll, and this amp works pretty good. It's got a good clean channel and a half descent high gain channel. Except I think someone rewired mine along the way because they are both high gain... frustrating, but the one you would buy probably won't be like that. The reverb is very very nice. It's got a low/mid/high eq that works just fine.

I'm using this with a not so good guitar, although its descent. this amp sounds pretty good. The dirty channel is noisy, but not too too noisy. Quieter than most, I guess you could say, but too loud for my taste. The eq gives a nice variety of sounds. The clean stays clean pretty much all the time. The distortion is pretty heavy, although noisy, as I stated.

This is a very reliable amp. I mean, the velcro for the grill no longer works, and thanks to rolling it down sidewalks, a wheel fell of, but this thing is probably 12 years old! The sound has never changed. You could drop it from my roof and it would probably still work. 10 for reliability.

*shrug*

I've been playing for about 2 years. If it were stolen I would probably get something bigger like a 2x12 or even a 4x12 cabinet w/ head. But for starting out or for a low budget guitarist this is a pretty good trusty amp. Especially if you get it cheap like me.

I beleive the amp is about 6 years old. It doesnt have a headphone jack, that kinda sucks, but overall, it has some nice featues..

I play with a Jackson Rhoads model with double hums and it sounds great on it. The distortion is just fine with the 80s music that i play. I use an overdrive pedal and it makes up for it.

It has been a great amp so far. I would use thsamp at a gig without a backup, its really great and i can always count on it.

Overall, its a good amp, with a lot of features, some better than others and some that could have been left off. It does need a headphones jack and maybe a little better distortion, but other than that,its great for playing.

UHM IT'S A REALLY OLD AMP! IT HAS EQ, REVERB, DIST.
THE FEATURES ARE ENOUGH I GUESS I MEAN WHAT ELSE YOU WANT.
65 WATTS OF POWER WITH A 200 WATT SPEAKER. TRUST ME IT'S ENOUGH FOR A SMALL PARTY.

THE CLEAN SOUND IS VERY NICE ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU PLAY AT A PRETTY LOUD VOLUME. I MEAN IT'S NOT THE BEST BUT IT PASSES. THE DISTORTION SUCKS LOT'S OF ASS! BUT WHO CARES I ALWAYS USE PEDALS ANYWAY. THE REVERB IS SWEET, GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME TO PLAY SOME SUBLIME, BOB MARLEY ETC. THAT REGGAE, SKA STUFF. THE SOUND IS A LITTLE TINNY BUT I JUST USE A BOSS EQ AND IT'S PRETTY MUCH FIXED UP.

MINE IS TOTALLY BEAT UP I HAD TO TAPE THE BOTTOM BECAUSE IT WAS TOTALLY LOSE. BUT I MEAN IT STILL WORKS SO I'M HAPPY.
I THOUGHT IT BROKE ONE DAY BUT IT WAS A STUPID CABLE THAT WAS GIVING ME THE SCREECHING NOISE

DON'T KNOW DON'T CARE

IT'S A NICE AMP. GOOD ENOUGH FOR PARTIES AND STUFF SO I'M HAPPY.
LAST PARTY I PLAYED AT THERE WAS THIS BAND WITH ALL THIS FANCY ASS EXPENSIVE STUFF BUT THEY SOUNDED LIKE SHIT, AND THEN THERE WAS MY BAND WITH ALL CHEAP SHIT AND WE SOUNDED MUCH BETTER THAN THOSE GUYS DID.(OUR BASS PLAYER ALSO PLAYS WITH THIS AMP AND THE VOCALS ARE ALSO BUT ON THE AMP) SO YEAH WE DON'T HAVE GOOD EQUIPMENT BUT WE RULE ANYWAY. SO JUST PRACTICE BEFORE YOU BUY EXPENSIVE FANCY STUFF.

I'm not sure what year it was manufactured,but I got it in 1986.
This amp CRANKS!I play rock/metal and it does fine.I run a boss distortion pedal through the clean channel and it sounds great!I don't use the built-in distortion channel at all.No headphone jack.

I use a Gibson Epiphone strat with 2 double-humbuckers.Suits me fine,I play alot of rock/metal in a garage band right now.

Peavey Manual at http://www.peavey.com/media/pdf/searchmanuals/bandit65.html

LOUD. No headphonejack, but i just take pre-amp out to my soundcard and play along with MP3's on my computer's headphones.
Weight is heavy but can handle with one hand.
I use clean chanel as power amp only. I have played in a rehearsal studio a few times with my 7 piece band and was able to keep on top. This sucker is loud.

Tone is so-so on its own.. No praises. But with a nice effects processor (I use DigitecRP3) it is fine.

Distorion on the amp I think was an inside joke by the folks at Peavey. Though I hear some guys who play punk rave about it when used at lower saturation.

In a party cover band. All styles from 70's rock and funk, Ska, Alternative rock and th heavy 90's stuff.

As a clean post amp for my effects, it is fine for all. Even has a little bit of bottom end.

TANK. You seriously can not kill this thing unless you rip out the electronics and take a hammer to them. This think was thrown around by high school band kids for 4 years before it sat in a swampy basement for 6 more.

Peavy has goos site with info. Never had to call them though. This thing in the undead. Always works.

Check all above reviews for features. Mine is old, bought it used about 8 years ago.

When I first bought it, I had only been playing a year or 2 and needed an amp with more balls to it for my band. Well that's what I got. The distortion is heavy, but farty and muddy if you're looking for tight riffing, like some Metallica, or basically any type of metal. Great for power chords or punk music though. So for 7 of those years I used a Marshall Shred Master and Morley Wah. I got great sounds, when I coupled it with the spring reverb which was great. Now I use a Digitech RP2000, so most of my sound comes from that, but I play everything from Pantera to Vai, so it was great for anything. Especially now, with the board. For the beginner it offers great sounds and even for someone who's playing a little longer it still can pass the test.

Like I said, 8 years used and still kickin. Plus it fell a few times off a bench when I was playing with my band...I though "oh shit, it's over" but this bad boy kept coming back for more. Gone through 3 or 4 bands and it's delivered each time. This baby is tough!! I know I can always count on it. I'm receiving a Carvin Legacy cab soon, and I'm still going to keep the Peavey for some extra punch, and run em both off the Digitech. If I could I'd give this the Spinal Tap rating of 11.

Never used, as this was bought used. But I hear they're decent. Especially if you own EVH gear.

This has been a great amp, through bands, jamming with freinds, and just jammin at home. I'd be pissed if it were stolen, and would go Indiana Jones lookin for a new one, Last Crusade style. Like I said, I have the Digitech, gettin hooked up with a Carvin and I'm still keeping this lil mofo in my arsenal. In case anyone cares I also mainly play 2 Ibanez', a JS1000, and a Jem7DBK, and on occasion my Les Paul and 2 BC Rich's. They all sound great.

I think this amp was made in the mid 80s. Has your standard Bass/Mid/Treble controls, with a presence knob and reverb. Has Pull Bright on the clean gain, and Pull Thick on the High EQ knob. 2 Footswitchable channels, clean and lead, with pre-gain, post-gain, and saturation (controls amt. of distortion) knobs. Has 2 inputs, an FX loop, and I think thats it. I like to play mostly Metal, but I keep an open mind. This amp is pretty versitile for what I like to play. Sometimes I get minor feedback, but during playing its usually never there. No headphone jack, but with some materials from radio shack you can wire one in. Its 65 watts through a 12 inch speaker. I play in my room, so its definately enough.

I use an Ibanez RG170, soon to be through a Dunlop Crybaby Wah pedal, and like to play mostly heavy stuff. My guitar has an HSH pickup configuration with a 5 way selector switch. It works great for what I like to play, though sometimes I get a little hiss. Thats with my guitar tone set to 10 on the Single Coil pickup, though. I spose the amp can make all kinds of sounds, though I always keep my EQ/saturation/presence set to 10. Clean channel is nice and thick, not tinny. Many people bitch about the distortion. Ive only been playing for about a year, so maybe my ears arent that good yet. Of course this is going to look bad against a Mesa/Boogie or Marshall, but for now, the distortion works wonders for me.

This is built like a fuckin tank. I would definately gig w/o a back up. This things been going for 14 years, why stop now? Never broken, as far as I can tell.

Never delt with peavey.

If this was lost I might buy a crate, but to me this is a fantastic amp to own for beginners. I love the distortion; warm, cruchy, great. I dont really hate anything about it, but it could use a headphone jack. I compared it to the audition 110 and the envoy 110.

this amp kicks ass. it shakes my house on volume 5 (200 watt power for ya) it has reverb and saturation. it's an awasome amp.

it sounds great. 200 watts.

ive had it for only a week so i don't know the reliablity

go buy this amp...it kicks ass