Peavey Bandit 65

early '80's model, fitted with Scorpion 12". what i like about peavey amps is all the knobs and pull pots they have. what i dont like is the buzzy distortion you get no matter how many knobs you turn and push.

this is a rock sounding amp. i used to think the buzzier the distortion the better. cranking the saturation up to 10 and pegging the reverb knob would really make me sound like a rock star...wrong!
now, i really hate the sound of this distortion. the Scorpion speaker is strange in that you must be directly in front of it (ie at a gig) or you will not hear it.
the reverb sounds like crap-it adds alot of buzziness to the distortion sound, not like an electrical buzz. its kind of like adding high freq treble, definitely not anything like fender spring reverb.
the clean sound has some versatility, but at best still sounds like a clean tiny solid state box, perhaps a change of speaker would help.

this thing died at a gig and the repair shop wanted $250 just to open it up and look at it. i said forget it and kept it in the closet for 5 years until one day i opened it up and saw a loose power capacitor. i soldered it down to the board and was back in business. i think this is a tough little amp. its been dropped and knocked around, rained on, etc...

65 watts ,no headphone jack,reverb,2 channels,solid state,foot switch,but i didnt get it when i bought it.i have no idea when it was made.i pay in a band and it can blow away just about anything you put up against it.i play hardrock/deathmetal

i have a jackson kv standard.i think it sounds alright. if you screw with the eq a little bit,but if you dont know what you are doing you are going to get the most aggrivating sound in the world.i use a dod death metal distortion pedal and it sounds good at low volumes but when you crank it up you get a crappy muffled sound.the only reason i bought it is so i would have something to keep up with my drummer,but i still cant get the eq right when it is cranked up,so if any one can help me with the settings e-mail me PLEASE!

i only hadit for a few weeks now so i cant really say

never had to deal with them yet.

i have geen playing for about 3 years.if it were stolen i would be pissed because i wont be able to keep up and id be back to mikeing the old crate gx-15 are what ever it is.id probably get a randall.i love how loud it gets it.i hate it cranked up.it really sounds like shit,but that can be fixed it i can get the eq right.my friend has a marshall vs65.it sounds way better bit i can blow it away volume wise easaly.i just wish it sounded better

Features are covered pretty well in the other reviews. It has good reverb. The saturation control is convenient. No external speaker jack. No accessory AC outlet. No tilt legs. My amp does not have the original speaker, or original cabinet, for that matter. The amp's original cabinet had been cut down (crudely) to make it into a piggyback head. I found the amp at the dump. I made a new cabinet for it. I believe it is somewhat lighter than the original (plywood vs. particle board). I put in an Eminence 12 that I had lying around. It's a nice speaker for this amp. (Price paid is approximate cost of speaker and cabinet parts.)

I am surprised at how much I like the sound. I use this amp with a telecaster and a pedal steel. I usually use a little compression (MXR DynaComp). I play country, western swing, rockabilly, blues, folk, etc. I don't use it for heavy distorted stuff. But having the saturation turned up a just a little gives me a fairly decent simulation of an amp that's being pushed a little. The reverb is fine.

When I found it, it was in pieces, and had apparently sat in a damp location for years... but it worked. I did some minor maintenance (new line cord and speaker cable, fixed damaged reverb cables, replaced missing knobs) and made a cabinet. I've used it for a about a year and a half, with no problems.

Obviously I can't comment on warranty service. I did order a schematic from Peavey via phone at reasonable cost. I also was able to speak directly to a technician who was very knowledgable. The user's manual was on the Peavey web site. Apparently they don't orphan their older products.

When I found this thing I had been looking for a small amp and was even considering building one. I didn't expect to like this amp much, but it's been fine. I'll still get another amp, but I'll keep this as an alternate. If it were stolen I'd consider replacing it (although with stock speaker and cabinet it would probably sound a little different and weigh more), or getting something similar. After over 35 years of playing, I no longer care to lug anything bigger than this amp around. It could use an accessory outlet (I installed one) and tilt legs (I'm working on these). Based on my experience, I'd recommend a stock Bandit 65 as a very good beginner's amp or backup amp, and a pretty good main amp. It's fairly versatile, very reliable, and you can find them cheap.

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.