Peavey Bandit 65

I have the old Bandit 65 from the 80's. Features have been described pretty well below. Bought mine used about 3 years ago and it's all original except for the reverb tank - all but one spring was broken when I bought it, so I replaced the tank. It's in good shape cosmetically as well - the logo is still on the front, grill cloth intact, etc. The thing smells like cigarettes and beer so I know it's seem some use in bars!

I have a number of guitars but I mostly play an older PRS CE24 and a Squier Strat (both ends of the quality spectrum). I play mostly blues, classic rock and country music. Some jazzier stuff as well.

When I first bought this amp I used it set very clean and plugged into various multi-effect pedals for distortion and even for reverb. About a year ago I finally tried playing without any pedals, and I found that this amp sounds GREAT totally on it's own! What I do is set the PRE gain at 3:00 (3/4 up) or higher, the POST gain around 9:00 (1/4 up) and then keep the SATURATION somewhere between 0 and about 4, depending on the guitar and how much grit I need. Tone controls are: bass - 4, mid - 0, treble - 5 and presence between 0 - 5. With these settings my PRS just sings! Huge sustain and even controlled feedback, with warm tube-like overdrive tones. And I can get my Strat to sound more SRV'ish with just this amp, than with any overdrive pedal I've tried.

I should mention that I also have a 40 year old Fender Deluxe Reverb as well, that I used to gig with regularly - but the Peavey has replaced it. The DR sounds great but it needs a good overdrive pedal to really get it going and it's tonal variety is rather limited. The Bandit's tone is so much more versatile (eq pots very expressive) and with the pre, post, and saturation controls, it gets an amazing range of sounds. Even though this amp sounds great on it's own, I confess that I have been using a compression pedal for a little extra punch.

As for volume - I use the lead channel all the time, and with the PRE gain set 3/4 or full up, I've never had to turn the POST gain past 3 or 4. I play smaller clubs and outdoor gigs (county fairs, Music in the Park, etc) and this thing has all the volume I need, and then some.

I've been using this amp for rehearsals and gigs (a bunch of them outside events) for the last year without any problems. This Bandit is about 25 years old and still doing just fine. I did take another amp along to my last gig, just 'cause the venue was an hour away and I thought it prudent to have a back-up (hey, I was a Scout, so I've learned to 'be prepared').

I called Peavey for info when I bought this amp. They told me where to find an owners manual and what kind of reverb tank to buy. For a product this old, I was surprised how helpful they were.

Love this amp! I never thought I'd like a SS amp so much. I've been contemplating getting a second Bandit 65, for larger venues or just to get a stereo effect on stage. Love it, love it, love it!

I have the old Bandit 65 from the 80's. Features have been described pretty well below. Bought mine used about 3 years ago and it's all original except for the reverb tank - all but one spring was broken when I bought it, so I replaced the tank. It's in good shape cosmetically as well - the logo is still on the front, grill cloth intact, etc. The thing smells like cigarettes and beer so I know it's seem some use in bars!

I have a number of guitars but I mostly play an older PRS CE24 and a Squier Strat (both ends of the quality spectrum). I play mostly blues, classic rock and country music. Some jazzier stuff as well.

When I first bought this amp I used it set very clean and plugged into various multi-effect pedals for distortion and even for reverb. About a year ago I finally tried playing without any pedals, and I found that this amp sounds GREAT totally on it's own! What I do is set the PRE gain at 3:00 (3/4 up) or higher, the POST gain around 9:00 (1/4 up) and then keep the SATURATION somewhere between 0 and about 4, depending on the guitar and how much grit I need. Tone controls are: bass - 4, mid - 0, treble - 5 and presence between 0 - 5. With these settings my PRS just sings! Huge sustain and even controlled feedback, with warm tube-like overdrive tones. And I can get my Strat to sound more SRV'ish with just this amp, than with any overdrive pedal I've tried.

I should mention that I also have a 40 year old Fender Deluxe Reverb as well, that I used to gig with regularly - but the Peavey has replaced it. The DR sounds great but it needs a good overdrive pedal to really get it going and it's tonal variety is rather limited. The Bandit's tone is so much more versatile (eq pots very expressive) and with the pre, post, and saturation controls, it gets an amazing range of sounds. Even though this amp sounds great on it's own, I confess that I have been using a compression pedal for a little extra punch.

As for volume - I use the lead channel all the time, and with the PRE gain set 3/4 or full up, I've never had to turn the POST gain past 3 or 4. I play smaller clubs and outdoor gigs (county fairs, Music in the Park, etc) and this thing has all the volume I need, and then some.

I've been using this amp for rehearsals and gigs (a bunch of them outside events) for the last year without any problems. This Bandit is about 25 years old and still doing just fine. I did take another amp along to my last gig, just 'cause the venue was an hour away and I thought it prudent to have a back-up (hey, I was a Scout, so I've learned to 'be prepared').

I called Peavey for info when I bought this amp. They told me where to find an owners manual and what kind of reverb tank to buy. For a product this old, I was surprised how helpful they were.

Love this amp! I never thought I'd like a SS amp so much. I've been contemplating getting a second Bandit 65, for larger venues or just to get a stereo effect on stage. Love it, love it, love it!

It's a pretty basic solid state setup: 2 footswitch-able channels, 3-band EQ, presence, an effects loop, and a spring reverb. Really, it's got everything I need and more, although sometimes I wish it had a headphone jack. The one sort of neat -- but in my opinion somewhat limited -- feature is the pull-knob. This amp has three: one for "bright" on each channel, and one for "thick" on the EQ. I don't typically use these knobs, but I suppose I would if I was looking around for different sorts of sounds.

I play rock'n'roll, more or less, and I play semi-regular gigs with this amp. The thing has tons of power and could easily do a club without being mic'd. Typically, however, I used it with a SM-57, and I tend to keep the volume somewhere between 3 and 4. My one complaint is its weight: the thing is rather heavy for a 1-speaker combo. Makes it feel solid, I guess.

I've played a pretty decent variety of guitars through this amplifier and have yet to find anything that doesn't work. My main guitar is a Les Paul with stock humbuckers, and I think it sounds great. However, this amp can be somewhat difficult to get a good sound from at first. That being said, once you find some settings that work well, it can be great. Other people have said that it's a relatively "flat" sounding amp, and I would agree. The key, in my opinion, to getting a great sound from this amp is to have a couple of choice pedals from which you can draw some character tone. My live setup is really simple: guitar --> Boss TU-2 --> Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive --> Bandit 65. I generally just set my two pedals on top of the thing, turn it up, and play.

I think this amp tends to handle overdrive better than distortion. I do occasionally use a DS-1, but it's really more suited to making crunchy, classic-type sounds -- something it does very well. The clean channel is nice for running an acoustic guitar through in a pinch, but really nice, almost tube-y cleans can be achieved through proper manipulation of the lead channel and the EQ.

As I said previously, the features are nice, but I don't use all of them. The pull knobs stay pushed 99% of the time, and the effects loop has been used once (not that it's useless or anything; I just like to keep it simple). The reverb, on the other hand, is most useful. It sounds pretty good and is very versatile.

Also, if you decide that you need volume in a smaller combo, this amp is for you! I've never had it past about 3/4 for any length of time, and 1/4 is more than enough for jamming with a drummer. It's a loud amp that continues to sound good at volume.

If you're a real tone-freak, however, keep in mind that this is most certainly not a Fender '57 Twin. But for what it is, it's wonderful. That's why it gets an 8.

This amp is by far the most dependable piece of hardware I've used. I'd put its reliability on par with that of the indestructible Boss pedals. I have no concerns about gigging without a backup; my Bandit has never failed me, and I doubt that it ever will.

I've never dealt with Peavey, and the thing doesn't look like it's going to die anytime soon.

For what I do, this is an excellent amp. Tons of power, all the features I need, and the versatility to do more than just rock'n'roll. You could conceivably set it up to play anything from jazz to all but the heaviest metal. It takes pedals well, it's damn near indestructible, and it's a great little amp whether you're a beginner, a gigger, or just want to play a good sounding amp. I've played better sounding amps, but they typically cost at least a few hundred bucks more and, frankly, are less reliable ('57 Twin, JCM-800, Bassman, Blues Junior). Sounds better than any Marshall combo I've ever owned. If it was stolen or lost, I would absolutely scour the globe to find another one.

Purchased in 1986 and at the time was in the top 3 in Guitar for Practicing Musician's top amp seller list for what must have been 3-4 years. For the novice and intermediate guitar player who's not picky with tone this is a more than solid amp. Built in distortion is way to saturated to do hard rock or metal but for a light overdrive like sound it does well. It has channel switching and you can plug an effects loop. The amp cranks (65 watts solid state) and is loud enough for gigging and jamming the versatile songs that we did (but with the aid of a handful of pedals)

The clean channel is crisp, perhaps a bit stiff. It's no contest when it's side by side next to a marshall but when I hooked up my Boss GT-6 (all in one programmable pedal) and used some of the amp modeling it sounded pretty good. The built in distortion is only good for a light crunch. If you turn it way up it sounds pretty crappy and you loose the crispness. Clean is nice and useful. When using the clean channel with a procat stomp box and a boss eq it sounds pretty damn good (a good classic rock sound).

damn reliable. It went almost 20 years before the treble pots (resistor) started to go. I kick the crap out of this. it fell down a couple of times. Solid.

n/a

I've been playing for over 20 years and I've recommended and seen other people be happy with this amp. if you expect versatility and that tube sound this is not the amp for you. I think it just barely makes it as a professional amp.

65W solid state combo, 2 channels that are footswitchable. spring reverb, 3 band eq, thick option, bright option, sounds good to me

The clean is decent, and the reverb sounds excellent, but here's the trick -- use the lead channel and put saturation low and you can get tube-like sounds on a serious budget. I recommend this amp to any gigging guitarist, I'll never sell mine! This amp shines with pedals in front of it.

Never fails

Never had to deal with them, peavey is legit

I have thought about buying another one to do stereo stuff or just be really big sounding. I've owned many peavey amps, musicman, fender, ampeg, crate, ect, and this is the best value of any of them!

In 1982, the features were certainly average. Today, when compared to something like a Spider III, the features are lacking.

An excllent sound for the money.

I've used this amp for 26 years!! In all that time, there hasn't been a single problem. Seriously, what else can you say about that?

I've not had a reason to call them in 26 years.

Love it or hate it, the Peavey Bandit 65 is a solid performer. I decided to try a Spider III 150 recently, but I took it back after it suffered from the Black Block problem (see the Line 6 forum). As always, I'm back to the Peavey which has never let me down....not even for a moment. I may try a new Peavey Vypyr amp, but I'll be keeping the bandit until one of us dies....and it probably won't be the bandit first.

mine is a 83 and i've had it for about a year and a half and it handles
my bass exceptionally well even considering the manual said the amp is for bass and electric it's got all of the controls that i've ever really needed no effects though but it did have a reverb that was removed before i got it

the distortion sounds like s**t when you crank turn but it has a very rich gritty clean that goes well a distortion turned up a bit and a very versatile sound that i can rigg to go well to go my bass

when i got the amp it had a busted speaker but after i replaced that i've never had a problem

i had no problem finding a aurthorized peavey music store place but i had to call 3 time to get a hold of the repair guy and they couldn't even hook me up with manual or tell what was wrong leaving me to look for a manual on the net and find the problem (speaker was busted) myself

i've been playing nearly two years and i'm pluging the amp to a ibanez soundgear series gto and sounds great i've only turned up past 5 once and it shook my house great amp i'd recommend to to anyone who places a variety of stuff

Mine is an '82 with two channels and reverb. It has an effects loop, which I only used once just to verify that it worked. Apparently the two channels and reverb are footswitch-able, but the FS is long gone. I mostly use this amp at home and for rehearsals. Even in extreme cases, I've never had to turn it up passed 5 - the volume goes up FAST!

This is very much an amp in the classic sense - It's meant to give a clean to slightly gritty sound that you can then add effects to the front end of. It reminds me of an old Fender amp in that sense. Yes, the distortion on it sounds terrible - very buzzy and overly compressed - but you're not supposed to run a classic amp like that. It provides a good basic clean tone and allows you to use distortion pedals to custom-tailor the sound. I use an old Fender Duo-Sonic and Mustang with a BOSS phaser and an EH Big Muff. I tend to go for a distorted grind that blooms into a low feedback - the kind of tone that favors melody but allows for noise. I play and have played most every style, but right now I'm focusing on free jazz and avant-garde. It suits those styles well because it is very responsive to different guitars and effects and can provide a wide variety of good tones that sound slightly different then the normal Fender/Marshall stuff.

It's probably one of the most reliable things ever. I haven't put mine through much abuse, but I have a friend who has put his through hell and only have it break down once. He has used his since '81 without any problems, save for one time when the ground wire for the chassis came loose and started picking up the radio. It has even been completely underwater! After letting it dry out, it turned on and worked just fine.

Haven't needed them, although I was able to find the user guide on their website.

I have been playing since Kurt Cobain died at least. I am fortunate enough to own the best sounding amp I have ever heard - an old Fender Bassman. The Peavey doesn't sound as good, but it gets close enough. I bought it because I'm slightly built and can't haul the Bassman all around town and maintain my enthusiasm for playing music. Plus, tubes are expensive and fragile. The PV gives me a good variety of tones and a nice foundation for my sound in a small, durable package. It's the quintessential back-up amp and an ideal rehearsal tool. And, hey!, it's like $100! I have pedals that cost more sitting in a box.

Made in mid 70s,
2 channels, Normal and Lead, Lead has pre and post gain plus saturation, Normal has just gain plus shared bass, mid, treble and presence controls and master reverb.
Pull Bright on pre gain and Normal gain pots plus Pull thick on tone controls. This only works on Lead channel and cuts mids and tops, a nice effect. Would be nice if it had an external speaker output but it can be slaved using the pre amp out on the rear panel.
Plenty of power, at home use on 1-2, gigs 3-4/5. Never had it up to 10!

Guitars, Squier Strat with single coil sized humbuckers at Neck and bridge, S/C in the middle, plus switching to allow 7 pick up selects, neck, neck and middle, middle, middle and bridge,neck and bridge, all three on.
Squier Tele, standard P/us and wiring. Les Paul Copy, standard.
Ovation Celebrity Electro/ Acoustic.
Suits all styles played, Blues, British R&B, Classic Rock.
Use a Marshall Bluesbreaker II for extra drive and Zoom 505 Mk1 for modulation effects, Phase, Flange and echo. Get all the sounds I need, from Clapton to G.Moore etc

Just got the beast back from the repairers. Whwn I took it in he said "Great, a proper Peavey, built like tanks in those days, don't ever sell it!". Simple repair, pre-amp chip blown, only problem in 10 years.Replaced and serviced for #48.
Reverb can pick up hum if placed too close or on top of another combo with transformer at the top.
Never let me down on a gig.
My tech tells me that all the components in this model were to military spec and the output transistors are capable of 300watts! even though the amp is rated at 65 watts

Great on line forum, but have never used Peavey Support.
Really good amp repairers located in Coventry, can recommend, e-mail for details if you need a repair.

I would definitely try to replace this with another Bandit 65 Solo Series, though I'm not sure whether I'd go for a more modern Bandit.
I love this amp for everything it has, can be used for country to heavy stuff if you take the time to set it up for your favourite sounds. At rehearsal studios I use a Marshall 50 watt FET top and 4x12 as they come in the cost of room hire but I don't seem to get the same sound as the Bandit and it can be off putting. This amp has been played against a Fender 80w tranny combo, and a Laney 50watt valve combo in various bands and blows them both away, but fits perfectly with Bass players TE BLX80.
I wouldn't trade this for the world, prices on E-bay are still fetching what I paid 10 years ago.

Don't know what year, looks like a mid 80s amp though. They amp seem versatile, but very hard to tweek, and useless on the fly. Dual channel but this one is missing a foot switch so I can't change the channels. This amp is a friends and he blew my tube amp so i borrowed it while mine was getting fixed. It is a very loud amp, but I wouldn't turn it up.

Right now I have an SG standard and an aluminum neck Kramer. Both humbuckers and the kramer has Super Distortion on it. I play a harder (dare I say) indy /post punk. The amp is very noisy and feeds back at any playable volume. It will not clean up for anything, or at least I can't seem to figure it out. The pull pods add a nasally nastiness to the amp and I never pulled them. I noticed that app did sound better on my strat than a humbucker. The only thing that sounds decent is the reverb. (which surprised me)

This amp has been serviced once and needs more work again in 2 years. I wouldn't trust this amp for a gig or even think about it. it had some loose wires and was pretty cheap to fix up i've had older amps that lasted forever, now the bass pod doesn't work. Probably needs soldered. The amp never left the house expect about twice a year and should hold up better than that.

I'll give it a 5 because these amps are cheap and meant to be that way. It's a great amp for starters and I think I read somewhere it's the most sold amp of all time. Now that I've been playing for 15+ years this amp is not an option.

I picked this amp up about a year ago, as I needed something a little more powerful than my old amp. Obviously, I got the Peavey 2nd hand... The amp was made in '85. Versatility wise, I think there's an infinite number of settings and different tones for this thing. My general style is Metal, so I use 'fair' amounts of distortion... not too much, but a comfy amount, never going past 8 on Saturation or Pull Bright, and sticking to a nice 5 on Presence.

I've only really used this amp in practice sessions, to be honest, I would never EVER gig with this thing (see below)

Features... It'll rate highly here. 9

I use a Fender American Deluxe guitar (chrome silver, if you want to know!, so I'm using a S-S-S set-up. It's got the SCN Noiseless pickups, so it should generally sound wonderfull!

However....

This amp is TERRIBLE in sound quality. Although I said in the previous box that it's pretty damn versatile, no matter what you set it as, it is either WAY too distorted, WAY too weak, or it sounds like it's being sick with the Pull Thick on...

On a plus side, I love it when you pull the Saturation right up, and put the presence onto 0... Using the neck pickup of ANY guitar, you can get a lovely thick sound, which is great for those slow 'Iron Maiden-esque' melodies, or any Ballad solo.

Clean, this thing is great! I love the warmth in the tone, and often I find myself lost in the sound. Great for ballads/blusey songs!

To call the distortion on this thing 'brutal' would automatically qualify you for "Understatement of the Year" award. It's so bad, I can't actually hear what I'm playing. Death metal fans, or crap players will love this thing! 2, only because of the thickness and the clean tones (one for each, see!).

I have to say, as much as this amp weighs, I've hurled it about a fair bit. I've kicked it, hit it, thrown numerous things at it (including a bandmate!) and it STILL hasn't died (not that I'm trying to kill it, of course - just my general frustration at the bad sound). This thing is built like a tank! If i was small enough, I could use this as a bomb shelter.

I could easily use this one amp alone on a world tour (of pubs, most likely) and not have to worry about it breaking down on me!

Gets a 10 in this field!

Not had to worry about this.

Been playing about 5 years, I've a couple of other guitars, other than my Deluxe Strat: a Mexican Strat and a Ibanez RG1570, but I use the Deluxe most. I'm a lefty player, so it's hard for me to get hold of good gear!

I'd obviously be pissed if some tosser stole it, they'd have broken into my damn house!

I'm going to sell this thing on anyway, and save some #600 or so to buy an Engl amp!

Love the reliability, hate just about everything else. I only wish it had a little less distortion, and nicer sound quality...

That's all for me, I guess... I'm feelin' generous, so I'll give it a 4 or so... Enjoy!

Bought this amp in 1983.Extremely versatile for any style including jazz,blues , c & w , you name it this little pal will do it and is good at all levels of volume.It can produce Fender and Marshall sounds on the clean channel and with a little tweaking on the dirty channel you can produce a beautiful bluesy tone or a heavily saturated tone.It is very reliable and has all the volume there if you need it. I will never sell it because it has never let me down.
Easy to carry. Well made.

Use 69 Strat & Tele 72 reissue.Play a lot of styles.
Crank up the clean and you have classic small amp sounds/ break up eg .Fenderdelux reverb/tweed.

completely dependable .

never needed it.

Been playing 35 years.Own a Mesa Lonestar & 73 FenderTwin Reverb
Will not lose it .Steal it at your peril.
The unsung hero of small combo solid state amps.

I bought my Bandit 65 at a yard sell. I count myself extremely luck to have found it much less for the price I got it for. Prior to this one, the only amp I had was a small Crate Amp. I play Rock (mainly Ballets) and country but I also play hard rock too. I find this amp to be very versatile. I play both acoustic and electric and this amp work well with both. I have never used all the power it is capable of because it would have the cops visiting me constantly. It is solid states and other than having to clean the knobs and plugs when they get dirty, I have had no trouble with it. I have FX 7 Processor that I use with it in a loop and it works great.

My electric guiotar is a Gibson Epiphone Special and performs well with this amp. The main guitar I play with this amp is my 1997 Takamine Limited Edition Electric/Acoustic. Although this amp wasnt made to play with acoustic guitars, it performs exceptionally well with it. In conjuntion with my processor, theres not much I can't play and get the effects I desire.

This amp is very dependable. Other than the routine cleaning of the knobs and plugs, I have dont nothing to it for the five years I have owned it and it has worked flawlessly. I have played with friends who have much more expensive amps than me and they often have trouble with thiers but mine just keeps on keepin on.

I have been playing for around 15 years mostly acoustic without an amp. I purchased this amp to broaden my playing and experiment. I don't think I will ever need another amp for what I do. I have never been able to turn it all the way up because of the power. I would definately buy this amp again. I have a friend who has a Marshall Stack and my Peavey has much better range. It can be played lower or high unlike the Marshall that only sounds good turned up high.

i bought a bandit 65 for my first ever amp about 2 years ago it was cheep and sounded like it was good value for money, and it was . i like how it has a very low sounding tone to it and when playing with the controls over time i hav realised the saturation can get some like buzzy wen turned right up, so its best to keep it low. the most important controls on this amp to me are the pull brights on the high eq and pre gains and the reverb as it brings it to life tho i dont like it anywer past 3 or 4 . this amp i used mostly in my bedroom and has a s**t load of power ive never dared turn the post past five just incase i blew the speaker its like it was made for about 2 speakers at least

i just use a peavey preditor with the bandit as it is the only guitar i have and i cudnt play with out it. if you turn the saturation right up it can get noisy at higher volumes and same with the pre gain if your trying to find a more distorted sound. the clean channel is great on this amp it is actually clean some say too clean but can sound gr8 with some effects.

this amp dusnt break the only thing that could give the slightest worry was if the speaker got damaged like punchered but not even thats happened after faling out my car been nocked all over the place and it still looks like new.

never needed it

i have played with a few different amps and this amp could only give the deep powerful sound that no other make could give i have played on friends marshals and a trace elliot trident c100 if i lost the amp or it wer stolen i would be purchasing a peavey 5150 or a the tripple x series as i crave high gain and more variablility anf am saving up for 1 of them anyway but i wud still miss it :)

made in 1987

has a pre gain, saturation & post gain for the lead channel. normal gain is the clean channel volume. both channels share the eq section. both have a pull bright switch.

this thing rocks man! i play mostly southern rock, country and blues and this amp handles it all very well. the amp distortion tends to get real ugly with the saturation past 5 but i never use it past 3 anyway. so basically, if you are a guitar player who relies on heavy distortion to cover up your bad playing, then the amp distortion on the bandit won`t be what your looking for. go get a boss metal zone for that.

this thing has plenty of power. if you cut back on the saturation, say to 3, and crank the pre gain all the way up you get a real tube like sound. i know because i own 2 early 80s marshall jcm 800 half stacks. i also own 4 other peavey combos and i did a back to back comparison to all of them and the bandit can hang right in there. with the 65 loud watts it has it was easy. the volume never goes past 5. i compared it to my renown 160 watt solo series, my heritage tube 130 watt vtx ,my classic chorus 75 watt x 2, and my old 120 watt tube vtx duece. with the smaller size and lighter weight of the bandit along with its big sound it is perfect for small to medium clubs and cramped stages. it would probably be just fine in bigger gigs because everthing has a mic on it anyway. so really, too loud is too loud any way you look at it. 65 watts is plenty.


to sum it up i am very satisfied with the sound of the bandit 65. i am 40 years old and a professional musician and have been gigging since 1980. i have lugged the same 2 marshall half stacks around for over 15 years. yes, i said TWO half stacks. i have blown power tubes out in the middle of a gig and you have to have a backup ready to go. not so with solid state amps. tubes sound great but so do a lot of solid state amps. the trick is to be not so concerned with the name on the amp and whats inside, but the performance and sound. once you`ve played as long as i have you learn that. it`s time to lighten the load.

what can i say. BUILT LIKE A FRIGGIN TANK MAN!

never needed it.

got to rate it a 10 ya`ll. i probably have well over $3000 total invested in my 2 marshalls and the tube\repair costs combined over the years. wheew, thats a lot of cash for a poor boy.... my peaveys, lets see. i`ve got 5 combos and probably have less than $700 total invested in all of them together with $0 in repairs. DO THE MATH! i found all of them in pawn shops too. like i said earlier, once a guitar player gets past the ooo`s and ahhh`s of his fellow musicians over the marshall,mesa,fender gear he lugs to the gig, he should try out an old peavey. they are in-expensive, reliable and sound just fine. for the price of one marshall you can buy 5 or 6 old peaveys.

I really want to thank the reviewers at Harmony Central for directing me to this amp. I needed a medium sized solid state amp for gigging and rehersals. According to reviews(and more importantly my ears) , I was either looking for an early to mid 80?s USA Peavey Bandit 65 or a late 80's Fender m-80 chorus.

The last two digits of the serial number are the year of the amp. Mine is a 1985.


I have been playing for 20 plus years and use a 91 Fender American Standard Stratocaster with Van Zandt Blues and a Heritage H-535 with Seth Lovers. At this stage in my life I have become known to play directly from guitar to amp but occasionally I will use a Ibanez Tubescreamer or a modded VOX Wah. My other amps include a family heirloom 64 Gubson GA 19RTV(Great tones but delicate and not enough wattage without being miked) and an ACOUSTIC 124, (100 watt monster with 4 tens-too heavy to haul around for rehersal and small jobs). As you can see I needed a medium sized amp to place me in a position where I will never need another amp again(yeah right). I didn?t have much to spend. If money was no object I probably would have bought a vintage blackface twin, a Zinky Blue Velvet or a BonePicker. I love tube tone but the price-tone ratio for this ss amp is hard to beat. I have heard some ss amps that really suck but this one is not one of them.

I waited for 6 months to post this review because I wanted to let the excitement of the purchace wear off. My style includes a variety of Blues, Rockabilly, Classic Rock, Vintage Metal, Classic country, New Mexico Traditional Latino Music and Oldies. This amp fits the bill quite nicely for all styles.

My only complaint about this amp is that the knobs and controls can be somewhat confusing. It takes a while to truly understand the subtleties of the knobs. I think people that do not like the sound of this amp have not truly taken the time to understand the controls.

My amp did not come with the footswitch.

This amp has a wicked variety of sounds. From beautiful clean tone with tons of headroom to slight blues overdrive to vintage classic metal distortion. Here are some helpful hints for tonal variety.

Blues Tone-Pre2 bright in, sat-1, post-4, lo-8 mid-8 hi-2, pull thick,pres-0, rv-4

Versatile-pre-5, bright-pull, sat-3, post-4, bass-7, mid-6 treble-10, pres-10

Leadtone-lo-10, mid-3, hi-10, sat-3 pre and post to taste

Heavy- pre-7, bright ?pull, sat-4, post-3, lo-9 mid-3, thick pull, hi-7, pres-10, rv-5

I am amazed that some people who posted say this amp is not loud enough for gigging. Where are you gigging? MILE HIGH STADIUM? This amp is loud enough for just about anything except for some outdoor gigs. Music should be pleasure to the ears, not torture. In a room, people 20 feet away should be able to have a conversation.(end of rant)

For the value to price ratio, this amp deserves a 12 in this caterory. Just learn the knobs and you will be fine.

I A;B'd this amp with my friends Peavey Transtube studio Pro 112. The bandid kicked its ass. Tone, Volume, Clarity

This amp is a workhorse and a Nashville Standard.

This amp is all original and works wonderfully. I bought it used so I do not know the story. PEAVEY USA IS BUILT TO LAST.

They have a good website but the amp is way past warranty.

I really wanted to share my amazement at this amp with the music community. I am a seasoned musician and have been around the block. Again, I want to thank the posters below me for directing me to this beautiful amp. I will recommend this amp to beginners and old pros alike.

If you find one in good condition, You will not regret buying one.

Peavey USA Bandit 65.

This is one of the only amps that really deserves a 10 in this category. Some amps I have reviewed got a 4 here.

My Bandit was made in 1981. Back in those days, you could tell the ago from the serial number, which began '1-A...etc.' Everyone knows the feature-set. Two inputs, pre-saturation-post controls for lead gain set-up. The amp's personality changes radically with different ratios of these. Clean vol. control (both pre-gains have a pull bright). Bass, mid, treble, and presence tone controls, followed by nice spring reverb. Back panel has preamp out/power amp in loop and footswitch port.

I bought this amp originally to use with a J-Station for a multi-instrument rig (electric, acoustic, mandolin, and steel guitar. It was years before I actually used the amp as a stand-alone. I remembered them as being OK, but not comparable to a 'professional' amp. I had to use this for a wedding reception gig a few weeks ago, having broken and failed to fix my other amps. IT ROCKED! Just the Bandit and a Line 6 Delay Modeler in the loop. Since then I've had great results with this combination with a Roadhouse Strat and with a Peavey Firenza with DiMarzio Virtual P-90s. Here's the trick: don't overuse the saturation control. Try this: Pre gain at 5, bright switch on, saturation at 3, post at 4; bass at 7, mid at 6, treble at 10, presence at 10, reverb at 3. With the aforementioned guitars, you don't even NEED the clean channel. Just turn up or down for cleaner or more distorted tones, just like a tube amp. I probably wouldn't record with this rig, but it's GREAT live. At $200 used, it's the cheapest amp I've ever played out with, and will probably last ANOTHER 23 years!

It's 23 years old! If anything were going to let go, it sure would have by now.

Peavey customer support remains exemplary! I've never needed them for this product, but I've had great luck with the factory people.

Been playing over 40 years, road-dog and semi-pro. I play the occasional gig now, plus the odd recording session. I've had the usual litany of Marshalls, Randalls, Fenders, Tech 21s, Tube Works 2112. Lotsa different guitars, too. I don't play enough to ever wear this amp out, but I've thought about having another one anyway. They're always on eBay.

Just your average 2 channel solid state. the clean is good. the overdrive is really rocky (all low mids), which can be cool if your going for that kinda sound. the reverb is ok too, but nothing special. I've removed mine.

This is the coolest sounding solid state i've ever played. The trick is, get rid of the stock speaker and put in 65w celestion. And the most important thing is USE A TUBESCREAMER. This amp sounds great when you run it clean and use the TS-9 (or 808) as the overdrive. I have recordings of me with just a les paul thru in the TS-9 into the bandit and people have commented on how great my tone is. They usually ask what kind of tube amp I'm using. I mean, put it next to an old Marshall JMP and it will probably sound like shit at high volumes. But for a solid state, it doesn't get better.

I've dropped this thing so many times and it has never given me any problems at all. It has even fallen out of a moving van twice! Head first! Just pull out the chassis and you'll see. Its so built so simply, nothing could possibly good wrong. :0)

never had to call

this amp is a good back up if your use to using tube amps. You never know what can happen with this pesky tubes, so its a good idea to have this work horse with you. As stated earlier, the key to getting good tone is use a tubescreamer for the overdrive.

Bought it back in mid 80s. I was in high school at the time and it took a long time to save up. Has clean and distorted channel, reverb. solid state. Distortion/Saturation is pretty useless. You'll need an effects units to get good rock sounds. I bypass everything on the amp now and run a Rockton Voodu Valve in and just use the poweramp. Used at home for playing/recording - no gigging. Plenty loud for that. Basically, it has features, but I only use the power switch and run effects into poweramp.

Again, saturation/distortion on board is bad. Get an effects unit. The clean is usable. You'll be best off getting an effects unit and bypassing the amps preamp controls. The 12" speaker gives a good full sound though if you do that.

I've had it for nearly 20 years with no problem.. Haven't worked it hard though.

No experience here.

This a solid utility amp. nothing outstanding, but usable clean channel, and/or bypass the preamp and run an effects unit straight into the poweramp. Again, the 12" speaker sounds pretty good with a decent preamp in front.

For the time the features were quite good (i.e. channel switching, good sounding distortion for the time, deep reverb, comprehensive EQ, etc...) for the price (~$200 in 1984) I got mine in 1984 back in HS and still have it albeit in not-so-mint condition. It's heavier than most amps.

Not to beat a dead horse but the 'distortion' channel was actually the best sounding of it's kind for that type of amp. Remember at the time most music stores just had either Peavey or Crate amps for combos; Marshalls, Fenders, etc... did not have their lineups of affordable solid state amps at the time.

The distortion DID sound like a heavily overdriven tube stack if you maxed the 'saturation' and DIDN'T pull out the 'thick' knob; what the thick knob would do would be to boost the low mids but it would also disable the low and mid tone controls so you ended up have somewhat of a low cut as well leading to kind of a nasal sound. It even fed back like a heavy tube stack; I remember being able to mimic Hendrix-y live feedback on this amp.

As far as these days, people may find the distortion unuseable since the gain-saturation just isn't there for most of the nu-metal/heavy metal sounds of this era, and it's just too darn dirty for things best left to a TS overdrive/Fender Tube Amp combo.

As far as the rest of the amp, I'd say it works quite well. The reverb is nice and deep for a spring reverb. The EQ seems to have a lot of sweep making for a lot of sounds and the clean channel doesn't break up a lot.

Footswitch was my only gripe since it basically broke a year after I got it from constant abuse. The amp itself was built like a tank and it's still going strong after 20 years.

N/A

Good amp for recording or small club venues if you can find it in good condition. The distortion circuit has a particular sort of sound so if it's not for you, you may wish to look at another amp or use your favorite pedal with this. Overall for the price used (I've seen it around $100 - 150) it's a good buy, around a 9. New way back when it was a 10.

Features as previously described...

It's been on a truckload of gigs and never given a problem. The clean sound is just beautiful through a hollow body or my Ibanez 550. Most agree on this. About the distortion...it's not as horrible as everyone says, you just can't crank the saturation. I don't use any pedals, just a cord and my bandit. To get a nice edge for a lead I have the low EQ all the way, the mid on about 3 or 4 and the Hi all the way up. Saturation on about 3 or 4 with pre and post to taste. You won't be disappointed with this little workhorse. For the money, it'll hang with anything.

This amp is a tank. A whopping, beefy TANK!

Have never even thought about it. Never needed it.

I've been playing for about 16 years and own a Gibson Lucille, Ibanez 550 that I use primarily through this little monster. Recently I bought a Behringer V-Amp 2 but haven't had it long enough to really talk much about it with the Peavey. It does look promising though!

Features huh? Not many but it does do a nice crunchy tone. Built in reverb that has a better tone than most I've heard. Not as much as an older Fender but noteworthy. Bright pull knobs that are nice but I used a Boss bass eq to give it even more high end. I've used this amp for close to a decade to fake my Fender tone and I'm either the cheapest sunnuva bitch on the planet or it's not bad. The distortion (if maxed out or in SATURATION mode) is unusable for any style or by any stretch of the imagination. I'm not being cruel. The PRE gain gives a nice overdriven tone. Not as much clarity as I've heard elsewhere; I play a strat and I don't get a strat tone as you hear on boutique amps. It's a very postpunk, souless identity of it's own. If you listen to Einsturzende Neubauten and tune to B, you become Durstiges Tier.

Being drunk, I've combined Features and Sounds. Oh well. I use it with single coils but I have played humbuckers through it. With the bass eq the humbuckers have enough to cut through.

Solid state circuitry ensures reliability. The pots are scratchy but I assume they can be cleaned with any of the available cleaners.

Not a bad amp but I always wished it had more treble. I tend to use too much. Loud enough for a drummer blah, blah, blah.

what ever the bandit can do whatever you want it to do. i agree with the guy earlier stating that its no marshall or fender twin reverb,but its true marshalls are a pain in the ass to lug around and are also pawn shop amps as well for any other amp my bandit rocks for the last 20 yrs without fai; so matt your outta line is a great amp
so maybe some people dont have the money you do to afford highend amps bet you got thoes at a pawn shop! the bandit rocks

i get sounds of all sorts

excelent

all you guys with high end stuff you can have it no disrespect, but i bet you dont take you special amps out much. as for the matchless guy bite me! bandit 65 was a great amp

Simple, no-nonsense Peavey design. Two channels, push-pull pots and an effects loop. Great beginner, intermediate or advanced guitar player amp. Amp versatility comes from the player and the tools they use, not solely from the amp. Reverb is an Accutronics (I believe) which is the same company that builds Fender's reverb tanks.

This amp gives the classic 'flat' Peavey sound. These early to mid '80's amps did little to color the sound of the instrument on the clean channel, which is what made them so great for adding effects in line. Solid state Peavey amps have no real voice of thier own, contrary to your Fender, Marshall, and other amps. This can work for you or against you, depending on how you approach it. If you are playing a guitar that doesn't sound good through pedals that aren't set right, the Peavey isn't going to add anything in the tone that is missing. The end result is that it will sound bad. On the plus side, if you have a really great tone dialed in, the Bandit acts simply as an amplifier, not another tone shaping tool. Once again, it depends greatly on what kind of tools you are using to shape your sound. The gain channel, when set properly, gives a nice, smooth clipping overdrive. The key to this channel is to not get too crazy with the Saturation knob. Overall, it's a 112 budget amp. No Mister "Ive got a 1973 Marshall" it's not going to sound like your amp. But a Matchless isn't going to either, so does that make the Matchless second rate? You're not comparing apples to apples, so don't make the inference that one is better than the other. Also, nobody cares about your 1973 Marshall. My backup amps are worth more, and are more desireable than your equipment. Don't brag unless you own one of everything ever built. Nobody cares.

It's a Peavey. It's solid state. 'Nuff said.

Once again, it's Peavey. They've been around forever, and most any info you will ever need is available 24-7 online at www.peavey.com.

Overall, as a pawn shop amp under $150, this might be the best bang for the buck available. The newer TransTube series don't sound as good to my ears as the older ones, but that's just my taste. Go with what your ears tell you. It's loud enough to be great in most gigging applications, and if you're playing someplace where more watts are necessary, you'll be micing stuff anyway. (and this amp sounds great miced)

i totaly disagree the bandit 65 is a great amp no matter what your playing . i have had mine for years and has never failed me once. the 12inch scorpin is a good speaker. the only draw back is it has no effects loop or ext cab in put otherwise its a good amp, nuthing personal to the guy that has a wharehouse full of guitars going back to the 60s but WHO CARES!! peavy made an affordable amp in the day and it had lasted me a quite a while . infact i have seen some in pawn shops i should have bought an extra one. . besides i know that its no marshall or a fender twin but gddamn guys you realy only need one speaker to get you sound across but to each thir own i guess. i think marshals are to costly and a pain in the ass to haul around like if you playing in a club thats tiney why do you need a half stack or full stack. this bandit is loud enough cranked to play a large hall i know i have done that before.