Peavey Bandit 112 review

[jgcable]

Transtube Technology, Sheffield 1 x 12 speaker, 2 channels, tons of features, realy good reverb. This combo is on the large size for a 1 x 12. Separate speaker out, effects loop, 2 button switch to control channel switching and effects loop/reverb on and off.
It has a resonance button which adds thumb without the amp getting bottom heavy, it has a thrash button which scoops the tone perfect for Pantera, it has a gain switch which adds 30% to the gain structure (I don't think it even needs it), it has a presence control, and a Tube Dynamics control that is very good at making your ears think you are playing out of a tube amp.
It also comes with a super high quality Sheffield 1 x 12 speaker and I LOVE Sheffield speakers!!!!

First impression.... its pretty big for a 1 x 12.
Its extremely loud. It has a really nice clean channel. The lead channel has many features including resonance. It is voiced VERY close to a 5150. Actually, you would think it is a 5150 if you first heard it.
You could actually gig with this amp. Its that loud. It stays together at high volumes too. Lots of thump and great sound projection. Peavey did a great job fooling you into thinking that this is a tube amp. The guy I got it from actually thought it was a tube amp. It really sounds like it has tubes in it. Its built like a tank and has a nice Accutronics large reverb tank in it.
It give this relatively inexpensive solid state Bandit 112 a firm 2 thumbs up. As far as amps in this range I would give it a 9.5 out of 10.
This... my fellow JCF bros.... is a really nice Bandit.
I wouldn't hesitate in the slightest to take this amp to a small gig or jam session.

[axeman81]

cool, thanks for the review John.
Haven't tried the newer ones, but I still remember the amazing sound of the early 90's version friend of mine had, incredible difference from my Studio Pro 110....perfect trash metal gain in that one!

[MBreinin]

I have a Studio Pro 112 and I don't know what speaker is in that amp, but it is amazing. I use that amp as a powered cabinet for my rig, adding a third 12 to the Avatar 2x12, and I swear..it murders the Avatar which has a V30 and G12 in it. The amp itself needs to be totally cleaned, the pots got so gunked up from the humidity that you can't even use anything in the Pre section. But it works fine using the loop in and only the power section.

I'm telling you..I am going to buy 10 of these old combos and daisy chain them! A wall of Studio Pro 112s.


Mike

[jgcable]

Its a sleeper amp for sure. I walked by a ton of these amps at music stores for years now and never plugged into one.
BTW... mine is a 2004 model.

[shadowcat]

I've played through Bandit 112s a few times at music stores.

Every time I did this I instantly regretted that I had bought a Marshall AVT-50 combo as my first real practice amp 5 years ago.
The Bandit sounds better and is cheaper.

[nonamemx]

Wow, I was actually looking at one, just to muck around with for practice when I dont wanna use my stack, or to take to really small gigs and jams where a halfstack is rediculous.

[quiksilver]

Wow, I am going to have to try one of these out, to see how they've changed. I had a friend with a Bandit 65 in high school (80s), and I had a Peavey Special 130. They were both well-built, but I never thought either one sounded very good at all. Of course, that was before TransTube and a lot of other advances.

[FusionFarmer]

A lot of guys use these as back up amps, they are practically indestructable, when your tube amp whacks out, one of these will do for sure, I have an older one back in spare room, still works great, worth hanging on to for sure.

[guitarsjb]

I had one of the older ones. Still kicking myself in the ass for selling it. Stupid move..great amp!!

[toejam]

Yep, those things are supposed to be awesome. Chuckracer used to talk about the greatness of the Peavey Bandit quite a bit around here.

[jgcable]

Yep, this particular amp gets rave reviews from everybody. I can certainly see why.

[toejam]

Did they change the speakers in them? Because Peavey's site says it's got a Blue Marvel speaker.

[demeyes]

I have a Bandit that I got for a good price in a shop when I moved to a new city for college last year. I got it for less than half of what I made for selling my Marshall AVT-100. I flat out prefer this amp. It has a solid clean and a really good range of useable distortion tones. I have gigged with it and I've used it for practices and jams and it's never struggled to meet my demands. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a good practice amp that will suit small gigs/jams.

[jgcable]

Did they change the speakers in them? Because Peavey's site says it's got a Blue Marvel speaker.

Mine is a 2004 and it has a Sheffield in it. It has Sheffield Equipped silkscreened on the front.
This is what would be considered the newer model.

[lerxstcat]

Yep, those things are supposed to be awesome. Chuckracer used to talk about the greatness of the Peavey Bandit quite a bit around here.

Yes he did, and Chuck is basically a tube conniseur. His other amp was an SLO100 head through a Marshall 412 cab, so the fact he digs that amp says a lot!