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A very good friend .
By: Christophe
Submitted: 7/2/2023
Overall
What is your opinion of this product?
I have a Bandit 112 transtube silver stripe and I use it every day for guitar and like a power amp .
I have a question : My amp is product at UK and date 1995 , but i see juste usa or china for this amp.
Have a good day.
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I get many compliments on my tone.
By: Bobby S.
Submitted: 10/12/2022
What is your opinion of this product?
I am a working Las Vegas musician and I use this Bandit 3 nights week. Sound people and other musicians are always blown away by my tone. You can dial this beast to be anything you need. I play many styles throughout the night and It delivers. Tube guys are always amazed when I fire the Bandit up.
Big Thank You.
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its killer
What is your opinion of this product?
I just got mine, I have a vypr 2 which in my opinion is a pain in the butt so I researched all makes and models. I knew I didn't want another modeling amp. So I took a chance with the 112, I played some last night and I love it. it is everything and more that I wanted. plus I have always bought Peavey because its a brand from my home state !!!
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The only amp you need.
By: Steve B.
Submitted: 10/23/2021
What is your opinion of this product?
It was 1989 when I bought my first "real" amp: a Peavey Bandit 112. It weighed a ton, but was loud as hell. Within the first couple of years gigging with it, through excessive abuse, I melted the speaker coil. But once that was replaced, that amp was my ONLY amp. I used it for every guitar gig imaginable; rock, metal, country, blues, folk. It powered my classical electric performances. It served as a PA with a mic for a wedding. I used it as a keyboard amp with my Korg M-1. I played in a wedding band. Absolute freakin' workhorse.
Then, in 2018, it died. If you're doing the math, that's almost 30 years of hard work. And the thing that killed it was poor storage...the capacitors were corroded, and my guitar tech basically said it would cost almost as much to replace all the individual parts as a new amp. So I went searching.
I was looking for something gig-ready, adaptable, sounded great, and didn't need a ton of bells and whistles. A bank of 600 onboard effects isn't as practical as it sounds. I tried ALL of the combo amps in this category: Fender, Line 6, Marshall, Boss, Cort, all of them. In three months of test driving amps, I landed right back on the Bandit 112.
With 30 years of advancement, I had no idea how far this amp had left the others in the dust. It's absolutely the most versatile combo amp you'll find anywhere. It's easily gig volume for 90% of what you need. If you dime out the clean channel you'll get vintage tube breakup. It handles pedals on the front and in the loop like a dream. You can literally make it sound like any amp you want, or use the FX return as your input (bypassing the preamp section) with a preamp pedal and create any OTHER amp with a powerful 112 speaker.
If I could take half a star away, it would be for the absence of a footswitch. Changing channels or actually using the Boost function isn't practical with a footswitch, and not including one just doesn't make sense if you're going to use the amp.
I've played this amp for 32 years, not even looking at the "stripe" versions. You absolutely will not be let down or disappointed by this purchase. Hands down the best combo amp on the market.
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The best SS amp ever made!
By: Ben
Submitted: 9/13/2021
What is your opinion of this product?
The Bandit still wears the crown when it comes to solid state amps. This will always be an amp that sounds way to good, and you will always get those same reactions from people. I've owned hundreds of amps from tube to digital to SS, from Kemper to Bogner to Mesa, and the Bandit can hang with all of them.
The size of the 112 is very important too, they make this combo extra large, without being super heavy. The size makes it sound much bigger than you'd expect. I've run this next to Orange combos and Marshall combos, it eats them alive with the oversized cab.
It's ultra versatile, good for basically every style out there, but especially good for hard rock / metal. Takes pedals like a champ, and is quieter than most tube amps.
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Buy one, you'll love it!
By: Daveyboy
Submitted: 1/23/2021
What is your opinion of this product?
I purchased one of these in 1996 and it sounds as good today as it did then! The clean is really nice, but the distortion is spectacular! In short: buy one, you won't be disappointed!
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Best amp I’ve ever owned
By: Roger
Submitted: 7/10/2020
What is your opinion of this product?
For years I struggled with tube amp heavy, versus solid state amps that were light and anorexic. I tried modeling amps, but the artifacting was horrible.
I found this amp at a store and was blown away by several things. It can do cleans very well. But the level of grit you can apply was simply awesome. Two gain stages, and it sounds like a real tube amp, but without the annoying hiss, weight and PRICE. I was considering a Marshall DSL 40 combo, or EVH 5150 EVH combo, for the distortion and power scaling, but this amp is better to my ears, as it has no hiss, zero. You can also powerscale it down to bedroom levels, meaning you can sound awesome for everyday practice and recording, and flip the switch on the back and absolutely blow everyone’s eardrums!
I put an EVH flanger and MXR Reverb in the effects loop, Echoplex pedal at the front of the amp, and with a Les Paul or Jackson, I can nail EVH tone. Gary Moore type blues: check. Led Zeppelin heavy: check. If I switch to a clean single coil guitar, neck position, on the clean channel, I can get amazing vintage Strat tones, and ethereal arpeggios with some modulation. This amp, these tones: around $400, depending on your guitar store. You cannot beat it with a stick.
I later found out that this amp is a favorite of Nashville gigging musicians. Built like a tank, extremely reliable, no tubes to blow, they get a dolly and roll it from gig to gig. That speaks volumes for when your reputation and rent depends on an amp that cannot fail.
This is probably a lifetime amp for me: consistent good tone, every time. In my humble studio, or at a gig, it’s simply awesome.
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Close to perfection
By: Andrés Velázquez
Submitted: 7/2/2020
What is your opinion of this product?
I have had mine for 3 1/2 years now, and its use has evolved along with my rig. From pushing the Vintage clean with an SD-1, to cranking the Warm voicing -which has the BEST breakup tones I've heard from any amp- to settling for the Classic clean with an EHX Hot Wax for gain duties, I have used pretty much any setting and can only say Wow, Peavey, Wow.
This amp can take pedals as well as any tube amp. It is not quite as "squishy" in the attack as some tube amps, but not nearly as stiff as other SS amps; it lives somewhere in the middle, which gives the pedals enough touch sensitivity and headroom to impart their tone without compromise. The lead channel is the secret weapon, as it allows you to recall two completely different sounds (clean + pedals / lead) instantly. The Classic lead is instant Marshall, with great dynamics and cleanup capabilities, while the High Gain mode (6505) unleashes the full potential of Transtube tech. This channel benefits from an external closed back cab, as it improves the low end response. Connecting to one also increases the amp's power to 100 Watts RMS, so keep your distance or wear some good earplugs before hitting the first power chord!
For reference, I've never had to set the power output higher than 25% and it will reach gig-levels without being annoying for the rest of the band or FOH. The amp opens up beautifully with the volume knob past "3" - on either channel- as the preamp starts compressing a little and cabinet resonance is introduced, adding a great midrange growl and removing any fizz from either the lead channel or drive pedals which comes at lower levels. Be sure to try both inputs, as hotter pickups will saturate the clean channel easily and won't let drive pedals do their job properly.
While this amp is incredibly versatile and reliable -it's built like a tank!- there are some details that keep it from being perfect. To me, it is very bright, which some people may like, but at higher volumes it gets harder to tame the top end. The Eminence Texas Heat seems to be a popular upgrade to get rid of this "issue".
At first, I wasn't crazy about the Speaker Simulated Direct Out, as it requires some judicious EQing (specially with the brighter voicings), but after several gigs and recordings I've come to appreciate its functionality. If you prefer to run the FX send to your computer, though, be aware that both the reverb and boost come before it.
Lastly, I would have liked the power amp out to have a jack. Being hardwired to the speaker, I cannot feed the full power of the amp to a DI/loadbox for live or home use, but I guess it was not designed for that, and it is a relatively cheap mod, so no big deal.
All in all, this amp is fantastic! It will do everything you want and more, and it is nearly indestructible!