I played a lot of gigs with a Bandit in the 80s L.A. metal scene at a time when a lot of players were lugging along Marshall stacks. I had a Marshall stack but got smart and stopped using it live. I found the Bandit really delivered. I would boost it with a Boss Distortion and for solos use a Boss EQ pedal, also Chorus or Flange. I got more compliments for my tone than a lot of players lugging stacks. I also had a Randall RG75 combo which rocked and a wonderful Boogie 50 Cal combo which was great, but I was so afraid it would get stolen I stopped bringing it to gigs and used the Randall or Peavey depending on my mood. I love tube amps, but if there's one thing I learned in almost 40 years of playing guitar it's keep an open mind. Solid state technology has improved exponentially and it would be a fool's errand to ignore this reality.
you all prolly dont care at all but does anyone know a tool to get back into an instagram account..? I was stupid forgot the login password. I would appreciate any assistance you can give me
I owned one years ago. I think the onboard overdrive is a little buzzy sounding, but you can run a pedal and make it sound decent. They are pretty reliable, good amp for small club gigs
Im a pro level guitarist whos been playin 36 yrs. Ive owned sooo many tube amps(Marshalls, Laneys, Fenders, Peaveys, & more) but Ive come full circle back to Peavey Transtubes where I started. I jus got so tired of buying and trouble-shooting tubes(which are not made as good as they were in the old days btw yet cost much more). And as far as tone, I have fooled and even embarrassed guitarist who thought they could tell the diff. IMO, Peavey accomplished what they set out to do w Transtube. It's def comes close. So to you Snobs, have fun constantly trouble-shooting, buying, changing & biasing tubes(which always seem to blow at the gig) knowing the more you practice, the sooner you'll have to do it all over again. Meanwhile, I'll be jamming with a carefree, ear to ear smile. Rock On!
Yeah, these Bandits are really good stuff for the money! Once I tried the smallest one (15 w or so) plugged into an old Tesla cabinet with 15´´ speaker and it sounded breathtaking. I really appreciate that you also promote these cheap amps and show their qualities. It brings guitarists back to playing instead of hoarding stuff and saving up for "the best amp"... Thank you a lot, Johan! :-)
This amp belongs in every guitarists arsenal as a backup if nothing else. Great sounds, and you can't kill the damn things. Don't worry too much about transtube or not, if it's made in USA or China, or if its a red stripe or not. These amps all sound great.
Thanks to you and Shane from "Inthe Blues" channel, this little pretty amp is becoming an internet phenomenon and gets the praise it deserves. By the way I had 2 of them and they really were excellent especially when used with Bb preamp pedal. Thanx for the great channel. Always a pleasure to watch and listen to. Cheers from Istanbul.
I had mine and in person the gain channel is not to my taste. I like a more british sound of Orange, Vox, Laney, Marshall or even a SS Traynor over my transtube peavey.
In high gain it has the solid state fizziness, not at all warm like a tube amp. In medium gain it sounds better and maybe would pass for a plexi in a mix, but it really excels when played clean (Peavey amps always had very good clean sound!).
i had one of these and i didnt mind it when played clean or with with a bit of gain, but the drive channel was awful, i had a similar laney amp (gc60?) and the dirty channel was considerably better on that., but also i imgine the speakers in those combos were selected for economy
I agree. Clean to medium gain is where this amp seems to excel. Not a fan of the high gain metal tones this gets. Mind you, as a kid I used to play one of these as a metal amp and thought it sounded great at the time.
+Ben Randolph I was young and naive and thought I had a great distortion sound with an Ibanez Distortion Charger pedal into a Peavey bandit in the late 80s (not Transtube) until I played live in a Peavey Classic 212 tube amp... Wow!
Ha ha! Good video Johan !! Back in the 70s and 80s I was a die hard Peavey enthusiast !! I had one of the first Bandit amps to come out and gigged with it for years! I still have a couple Peavey products. Now I wish I hadn't sold that Bandit !! Ha !! Rock on my friend !!!
I have a Silver Stripe from the mid 90's, and it sounds amazing. I'm glad I got mine when I did, because I have a feeling that these will be the next Silvertone 1484. Within the next twenty or so years some boutique pedal company will make a Bandit pedal because no one will be able to afford one of these things.
Actually there already is a Bandit pedal. Kind of. It's called Peavey MAX 100. It's an analogue preamp with digital multi-fx. Supposedly it's horrible. They say it's transtube, but that is a poweramp technology, and it doesn't have one.
Master Effects makes a teal stripe Peavey In A Box, but unlike the VH140 they also make a pedal of, the Peaveys are still bargains alongside various Crates.
My mother sold the house I grew up in 2 years ago after my father died. When I was getting the basement cleared out I found an old Peavey Envoy that I had in highschool. It was a 40W 1X10 solid state combo. I brought it home, really not expecting it to work. I plugged it in and it started right up. It actually sounded MUCH better than I remembered or expected. I think it was a 94/95. It had a really good Marshall tone to it, and I've actually used it a few times since to over dub guitar parts. When I play the parts isolated for other musicians they're all shocked that it's a Peavey SS amp. The only drawback is that it doesn't clean up with the guitar vol, like, at ALL. When I roll the volume down, it just gets quieter, which for recording can actually be a good thing.
My friend has a vintage Peavey, although I not sure what model. I gave him a celestion g12t speaker from a old amp of mine. Once he mounted it, that amp seem to come to life! You should try it Johan!
This has been the only "real" amp I've owned in my whole life. I bought it new in 1997 for $400 and it's still great. It will do anything you want. The guitars I use with it are a 1988 Ibanez 540S-HH, a G+L Legacy and a 1986 Kramer Striker. Never needed another amp.
I had one of these for years and years.... its clean sounds were just soooo good. Shame about the drive channel. And the spring reverb really started working nicely after I ran over amp with my car and dragged it about 10 metres LOL
Just sold my USA '96 silverstripe to a dear friend of mine (kind of glad it stays in the family though). Had it for about 10 years and replaced my Crate gx15r which i just gave away to another harmonica playing friend, will not look back to that one haha.. Now my number 1 is a UK laney lionheart L5t with the 55hz greenback, which i think you would really like, Johan, it's quite nice sounding, especially with tungsols in it. But, the peavey silverstripe was my first serious 12 inch speaker amp, had some really good times with it. Only after i discovered the dynamics of low wattage tube amps did i lose interest in the bandit. Still, it sat in my house for a while before i could part with it haha. Great video as always, Johan.
great tones johan,i managed to grab one of these awhile ago found it in someones rubbish pile,a quick dust off and she was ready to go and free too awesome amps cheers bro
Massive sounding amp for the buck! Really versatile and loud! As a 90s kid, I grew up playing the hell out of a Peavey Bandit 112 silver-stripe for the despair of my neighbors.
I saw the late great Mickey Jones play live many times. Old school, half cocked wah, riding the volume control, etc. I heard him use Ampeg, Fender, Hiwatt, Marshall, and on one occasion, a Bandit. The Ampeg probably edged it but but the Bandit definitely matched the rest. The Ampeg btw was a mid seventies twin-a-like if memory serves.
Johan, you make great videos and the subjects of your choice are always important. From the cheapest to the most expensive amps and guitars. However, since many of us are dedicated to using pedals on our amps - in front or in the loop - I would really appreciate it if you would plug in a sort of well known/often used dirt pedal just for the sake of comparison. It's very rare to be able to play at volumes you are when you run your tests. In any case, thanks very much for your great work, and keep it up.
Excellent demo! Particularly lovely clean tone. Nice job of working the distortion, also. Blindfolded, I would have guessed it was one of your Marshall toob amps. I've been using Peavey solid-state combos since 1980, and had heard the Chinese models were also very good. You have confirmed that. Thanks!
Old 70s and 80s Solid state peavys are absolute treasures! They dont distort anything like a tube amp but they have a good sound in their own right. I'm a proud owner of one myself.
Bought one of these for gigs about 7 years ago (still have it), They are as durable as Keith Richards, im pretty sure my grandsons will be playing it. They become little beasts with a good Celestion/Eminence speaker with it (even better with a extension cabinet) 10/10 content.
+Sparkplug1034: i tried some speakers over the years, in my opinion: Eminence V128 (as main Speaker): Good for 80's Hard Rock, makes the bandit sound more ''British''. Gets very good at gig volume, but in bedroom level it will not breakup very well (but doesn't sound bad). Overall its pretty good, but i find it a bit modern if you want a spot on 70's rock tone (Deep Purple, Led Zep). Celestion Seventy 80(main Speaker): Not bad, sounded less shrill than stock blue marvel. The bass response was a bit more tight, and sounded decent at gig level, but i dont think it was a great improvement at all. Eminence Texas Heat (main Speaker): My favorite speaker on bandit, i play mostly blues and 60's/70's rock with Strat and LP and this speaker sounded excelent for it, at gig levels its even better. Even being a little bit ''vintage'', it still sound good for Hard Rock and early 80's heavy metal, i recommend that one. Celestion G12t-75 (On Extension Cabinet): Good bass response, but very scooped tone, sounded good with the ''modern'' gain setting on bandit, but not that amazing with more vintage tones, didn't like very much (im not into modern metal so...). Eminence GB128 (extension cabinet): Good pair with the stock Blue Marvel, the sound gets more rich in mids and highs, good for vintage stuff. PS: i never tried the Sheffield Speaker, but since the amplifier is pretty much the same, i believe those speaker swaps will sound close in the older bandits as well.
My parents got me the Bandit 112 red stripe for Christmas back in 1998 and I still use it for everything from cleans to heavy metal and it's never let me down. Considered getting a Marshall stack just because I can but thought to myself, "why?" lol
I’m late to the party... but as a teen, playing metal through this amp with my Black MIJ Ibanez RG560 was sheer heaven. As an adult I don’t like the high gain channel compared to my Marshall Stack, bit the Bandit still represents in blues nights with a strat. Marvellous amp for what it is.
i have been waiting for this demo for 8 or so months my man... this is the china version. i swapped out the terrible speaker for an eminence legend v128. it made a huge difference. i believe you can swap out the op-amp chips as well. it sounds great through a 412 too. nice job Mr. Vintage!
Man I can't afford the tube amp I want and I still use my Bandit 112. As long as you're not playing next to someone with a tube amp from another brand, you just can't beat this thing or tell that it's solid state. Those scooped tones you did sounded like a line 6 but you demonstrated how genuine this thing can sound. I bought a behringer VT999 ($50 tube overdrive pedal) and replaced the 12ax7 with a JJ5751, rolled the gain to about 0.9, and matched the EQ to my bandit. That gave me the tube feel I needed and the slight grit on the clean channel that tube amps have. Then the lead channel layered on top of the tube pedal... It's as close to a sweet tube rig as you can get without the money. I play gigs with said rig. Thanks for the video! I feel vindicated. Lol. And your playing is great :)
@@danstringer7610 the Silver Stripe is better no need for a speaker upgrade they are a very good amp just sprayed the volume pot's and it Sounds great with my Pedal board!
@@danstringer7610 i also use it on the clean channel tried it with one of my Pedal board wich has a RYRA klon clone and a Vox Ice 9 and a Nux mod core deluxe and a baby Boom delay it sounds awesome 😊👍
I've got two "made in USA" Bandit 112's, a Teal (blue) strip & a Red Stripe, & Peavey 2nd cabs for both, all bought used but in good shape back when they were cheap. I fell in love with these amps - great for practice, great for gigs, great for annoying the neighbors :-). Bulletproof for road gigs. Also had a Peavey 212 that I sold in a moment of stupidity or weakness - still trying to find another I can afford. One of the 2nd cabs had its speaker re-coned, but it still sounds great. One Bandit came with Sheffields, the other with Black Widows, if I remember correctly. Changed one out to a Celestion that had a higher watt rating. The Bandit 112's are probably the best bang for the buck of any amps I've owned.
The best usage of this amp was using it in send-return. The reverb was the real spring though. I remember gigging with it for four years. I still have it. Only problem is with pots. It needs cleaning and there you go.
Great!! Always wanted one of these but ended up saving some money and went for a Laney lionheart l5t (made in uk, not the new chinese one). 80 watts is overkill to my apartment. How good does it sound at bedroom level? Thanks.
A lot of people will tell you tone is in the fingers, a player has a lot to do with his tone and I believe this video is a very good example of that. You are a very good guitar player and I have yet to hear you play any amp, any guitar that sounds awful. You always seem to find a way to make them sound great. This is a 2 part= 1 part: your playing / 2: your engineering skills as a sound engineer. Both are very good.
Agreed 100% That second part is often overlooked. Lots of players, myself included, have a tough time getting most of what we hear across to the recorded format. People say "just stick a 57 in front if the speaker and move it around until it sounds good", which is BS. Proper recording is as much an art as playing
I had no idea the dirty channel was so tight on these. Peavey has some old sleeper amps for sure. The Peavey Mace/Deuce with the solid state preamp with a 120 watt 6l6 power section is a great pedal platform. You should do a video of the Mace/Deuce.
I hope to get a bandit to knock around on someday. However I'm enjoying my all tube Encore 65 from Peavey for plexi tones. It's very cool in that it has a tube distortion and a "pump" distortion that sounds similar to a Proco RAT to my ears. If you ever find one scoop it up you'll love it!!
I split my time between a small condo and my house, was looking for an inexpensive little amp to not disturb my condo neighbors. Picked up a Peavey Audition 110 for 20USD at a garage sale, very satisfying for low volume tube sounds. I would not hesitate to use it for a small non drummer gig.
Ive been a guitarist for 37yrs and have owned so, so many tube amps(Marshall,Fender,Carvin,Mesa,Crate,Laney, & more). Ive also owned 2 Peavey Classic 50s and a Classic 30, but now I just own a Bandit for gigs and an Envoy for Home practice. Bottomline, I got sick & tired of always buying, changing, biasing and trouble shooting tubes. Then, having to crank the volume to get my tone. Not to mention, tubes always seemed to die during the gig! Plus, every time I played, I knew I was that much closer to having to replace my tubes again. BTW, for those who dont know... they do not make tubes as good as they used to. However, even with all that aside, I LOVE the sound of my Bandit! IMO, Hartley hit it out the park with Transtube. I get nothing but compliments on my sound. With my Boss SD1 in front, no one would know it's not a real tube amp just by listening. So while the other guy is changing his tubes, I'll be jammin with a huge smile on my face. Rock On!!!
I've got one of these , Peavey Bandit with the Sheffield speaker , I took the speaker out and built an isolation box for it with a shure 57 mic in it , then I cut 10 inches out of the middle of the cabinet and attached the bottom 5 inches to the top 5 inches and glued the seam and put black ATV to match the black tolex seam , you can't even hardly tell there is a seam. I now can use the head with any speaker cabinet. these things are too close to sounding like a Tube amp to ever sell . A real work horse.
I love this amp so much! A true jack-of-all-trades -- no amp can do so much so well. Great playing as always. You ever play a Randall RG from the 80s? It's a SS Marshall style amp that you would adore. Cheers from NYC
The mostly legendary Peavey guitar amp of all is the Peavey Mace. The Peavey Mace comes in two versions. There is the early version with the silver knobs, and there is the later Peavey "VT" Mace version with the blue, white, grey, and black knobs. That amp was knicknamed "The Mississippi Marshall". Lynyrd Skynyrd and 38 Special used them. There are a few videos from the 1979/1980 era showing Journey guitar player Neal Schon using one. I prefer the later Peavey VT Mace version. Former 38 Special guitarist Jeff Carlisi said he used an external MXR 10 band equalizer in the studio to boost the treble and mids.
WOW JOHAN! That's my main amp - 1994 Peavey 112 Bandit. U can't break these Amps. I use it as my foundation amp & have a ZOOM G3Xon going thru it. I don't need anything else. Mine is the last year made in the USA. Teal stripe. You can virtually make it sound like anything. AND LOUD!!! I can't play up past 2 with my wife in the house. Once she leaves I can't go past 4 or 5!!! Durable, Loud, & only $150. Add another $125 for the used ZOOM, & I'm at $275. How can you beat that? Sounds like Jimi, Cream, BTO, Allman Bros, on & on & on.
3 Card Monty I love that, man. Your whole rig is less than some of these boutique (read: expensive) pedals. I love someone who is man enough to play a rig on the cheap and not worry about what the vocal minority of gear snobs think.
Hello again Johan, I got the BANDIT! The amp totally rocks except it has one issue, the reverb unit doesn't work. kind of a downer Are these reverbs worth fixing? 1-28-19 I fixed reverb. A wire on the 4 way connector had broke so now reverb is up and running too sounds ok. Best reverb is the Gibson Scout amp.
I have this amp - got the silverstripe model used on eBay for £63! Sounds great! However, when the amp is on, I can hear a quiet yet noticeable hiss coming from it - even with no cables plugged in and all knobs on zero - is this normal? If not, any ideas on how I could fix it? Thanks!
The "red stripe" Peavey Bandit - an ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC amp! Always was the "working man's" amp for a lot of years, they always sounded great, and withstand abuse : ) Great Playing, and sounding video Johan!
Does this model have a push button in the back for effects loop level?If so,when pushed in "half way",does the amps volume increase significantly,then resume to lower volume when pushed in properly?Mine does & I wonder if its just the way it is or I need to fix it-thanks!
I continue to love your demos! The Bandit 65 was my first amp, back in high school. I sold it to upgrade to a big rig (I didn't need) years ago, and now I want one again. Great circuit! You're a great straightforward presenter, J--keep it up and thank you!
The Peavey Bandit 112 was my 1st amp. I got it in 1989. It was before they updated it to "transtube", and had the plate "Scorpion Equipped," with light blue trim. I loved that amp, it took punishment and I was 15 and abused it badly. After that I started getting a few pedals, and they worked well with it to. I traded it in 2 years later towards a 1978 JMP 2203 1/2 stack on consignment at the local mall :)
I don't know about you Johan,but that what you played at 1:17 is to me so reminiscent of some atmospheric moment from some imaginary John Carpenter movie.Great stuff!
I do not know why are they so cheap. I got my for 120€ with 5m guitar cable and boss GT6. Sold boss for 80€ and kept bandit and the cable. The amp is amazing and indestructible. Very reliable amp. Great video and massive tones. Great job man.
That was my first amp!!! I bought it in 1995, used at Mahoney's, a small local store that is not longer in existence. I wish I still had that amp...I should have kept it.
Johan i have newly purchased a peavey bandit 112 it is the model with attenuator and boost volume can i use this as a practise amp in my apartment. great playing
Just got one of these last week. 1981-83 series with spring reverb and original footswitch. Bought the amp, and 2 MIJ vintage 80's Boss pedals, CE-2 Chorus and DS-1 Distortion for $130. Sold The Chorus pedal for $150, made $20 profit and kept the amp and DS-1. It was a good day :D
Johan after watching alot of your videos, I think you could make a plastic smokey amp sound awesome. By the way when are you going to do a Marshall Lead 20
Great hi end and cleans ...struggle with bottom end and dirt ...they say use the clean channel and drive it with pedals ... price is on the rise as they are getting great reviews as a small gig amp - keep up the good work
I have a question for Bandit 112 owners. Just got one and really like the tones I'm getting. Only thing is the level of noise, hiss, etc. To me it's pretty loud compared to other solid state amps I've used. Anyone else think this is a defect? I'm using it pretty much on the high gain, lead channel, at 25% power and without any pedals. Also this is happening at a fairly low pre and post gain levels. It increases when switched from the classic to vintage to modern positions too, which I guess is too be expected, but it's louder than I expected. I guess I'm just trying to get an idea of whether this is normal or not before I return this unit.
The first brand new amp I ever bought was a Peavey Bandit 112 ha ha. I remember it had a really good grinding rock tone. But not so much of a good metal tone. Now I want to go buy one again! Thanks, lol.
This amp sounds great!! I have the exact same amp and really like it as well, but I've found that on the drive channel the settings are very touchy, a small change away from the sweet spot can make it sound bad. Could you share your settings for the distorted tones you demoed here?
I played a lot of gigs with a Bandit in the 80s L.A. metal scene at a time when a lot of players were lugging along Marshall stacks. I had a Marshall stack but got smart and stopped using it live. I found the Bandit really delivered. I would boost it with a Boss Distortion and for solos use a Boss EQ pedal, also Chorus or Flange. I got more compliments for my tone than a lot of players lugging stacks. I also had a Randall RG75 combo which rocked and a wonderful Boogie 50 Cal combo which was great, but I was so afraid it would get stolen I stopped bringing it to gigs and used the Randall or Peavey depending on my mood. I love tube amps, but if there's one thing I learned in almost 40 years of playing guitar it's keep an open mind. Solid state technology has improved exponentially and it would be a fool's errand to ignore this reality.
Excellent comment!
I can't get rid of my Peavy Bandit. 😊
Well said.
Every guitarist has their weakness. Johan's is that he can't get a crap sound out of anything.
+fred fox hahahaha! Thanks my friend :-)
So you're the one...
by that you mean the amp sounds like crap....no matter how much tweaking is involved?
@@69zenos1 im a year late but he meant he CAN'T get a crap sound out of anything.
you all prolly dont care at all but does anyone know a tool to get back into an instagram account..?
I was stupid forgot the login password. I would appreciate any assistance you can give me
The Peavey Bandit 112 and the Shure SM57. Two forever enduring constants in the world of electric guitar.
Had one of those. It suffered poor timing and played out of tune all the time...
Yours sounds great though. Must be a higher spec version. Cheers!
+NPGANDERSSON hahaha! Cheers my friend
NPGANDERSSON
Well that explains a lot. I always knew it was that damn amp's fault!
@@thorthunderlungs5171 I keep buying metronomes that have piss poor timing. Keep sending them back. WTF? Can't the Chinese count?
Pretty much the real reason these amps were hated by snobs
3 yrs late, but good joke mate ;)
I believe this is the best Bandit demo I’ve heard yet. These are unbelievably good amps
I owned one years ago. I think the onboard overdrive is a little buzzy sounding, but you can run a pedal and make it sound decent.
They are pretty reliable, good amp for small club gigs
Im a pro level guitarist whos been playin 36 yrs. Ive owned sooo many tube amps(Marshalls, Laneys, Fenders, Peaveys, & more) but Ive come full circle back to Peavey Transtubes where I started. I jus got so tired of buying and trouble-shooting tubes(which are not made as good as they were in the old days btw yet cost much more). And as far as tone, I have fooled and even embarrassed guitarist who thought they could tell the diff. IMO, Peavey accomplished what they set out to do w Transtube. It's def comes close. So to you Snobs, have fun constantly trouble-shooting, buying, changing & biasing tubes(which always seem to blow at the gig) knowing the more you practice, the sooner you'll have to do it all over again. Meanwhile, I'll be jamming with a carefree, ear to ear smile. Rock On!
Yeah, these Bandits are really good stuff for the money! Once I tried the smallest one (15 w or so) plugged into an old Tesla cabinet with 15´´ speaker and it sounded breathtaking. I really appreciate that you also promote these cheap amps and show their qualities. It brings guitarists back to playing instead of hoarding stuff and saving up for "the best amp"... Thank you a lot, Johan! :-)
This amp belongs in every guitarists arsenal as a backup if nothing else. Great sounds, and you can't kill the damn things. Don't worry too much about transtube or not, if it's made in USA or China, or if its a red stripe or not. These amps all sound great.
+TheRosswise A great tool for a working musician indeed
Thanks to you and Shane from "Inthe Blues" channel, this little pretty amp is becoming an internet phenomenon and gets the praise it deserves. By the way I had 2 of them and they really were excellent especially when used with Bb preamp pedal.
Thanx for the great channel. Always a pleasure to watch and listen to. Cheers from Istanbul.
+Cem Sarioglu Thanks, great to hear that! Cheers from Gothenburg!
I had mine and in person the gain channel is not to my taste. I like a more british sound of Orange, Vox, Laney, Marshall or even a SS Traynor over my transtube peavey.
But. Seriously tho: its fucking shyte. Really don't quite understand why!
Cem, I use the same setup, Peavey Bandit 112 Red Stipe and a BB preamp. Just a great combination. Cheers from the USA.
hocam bu amfiyi nereden buldun türkiyede?
Damn Johan! I always click on your videos!
Why?
1. Most legendary gear in existence
2. Masterful execution
Thank you for always crushing it!
I love the red stripe bandit, when you turn it up to tube volume it really does have more warmth than most solid state amps.
In high gain it has the solid state fizziness, not at all warm like a tube amp. In medium gain it sounds better and maybe would pass for a plexi in a mix, but it really excels when played clean (Peavey amps always had very good clean sound!).
+George Kollaros great cleans indeed
Played clean or pushing pedals through the clean.
i had one of these and i didnt mind it when played clean or with with a bit of gain, but the drive channel was awful, i had a similar laney amp (gc60?) and the dirty channel was considerably better on that., but also i imgine the speakers in those combos were selected for economy
I agree. Clean to medium gain is where this amp seems to excel. Not a fan of the high gain metal tones this gets. Mind you, as a kid I used to play one of these as a metal amp and thought it sounded great at the time.
+Ben Randolph I was young and naive and thought I had a great distortion sound with an Ibanez Distortion Charger pedal into a Peavey bandit in the late 80s (not Transtube) until I played live in a Peavey Classic 212 tube amp... Wow!
You could plug your guitar into an empty cereal box and it would sound good.
+RG Bunker Thanks my friend :-)
You mean sound like a plexi?
Plexi Flakes- Breakfast of champions. :)
Also a mild detergent.
NO! A REFRIGIRATOR BOX, SO HE CAN GET THE HALL REVERB SOUND.
LMAO!
Ha ha! Good video Johan !! Back in the 70s and 80s I was a die hard Peavey enthusiast !! I had one of the first Bandit amps to come out and gigged with it for years! I still have a couple Peavey products. Now I wish I hadn't sold that Bandit !! Ha !! Rock on my friend !!!
+Steve Kuykendall Thanks Steve! I've played a lot of Peavey too throughout the years. Cheers my friend!
I have a Silver Stripe from the mid 90's, and it sounds amazing. I'm glad I got mine when I did, because I have a feeling that these will be the next Silvertone 1484. Within the next twenty or so years some boutique pedal company will make a Bandit pedal because no one will be able to afford one of these things.
Actually there already is a Bandit pedal. Kind of. It's called Peavey MAX 100. It's an analogue preamp with digital multi-fx. Supposedly it's horrible. They say it's transtube, but that is a poweramp technology, and it doesn't have one.
Master Effects makes a teal stripe Peavey In A Box, but unlike the VH140 they also make a pedal of, the Peaveys are still bargains alongside various Crates.
My mother sold the house I grew up in 2 years ago after my father died. When I was getting the basement cleared out I found an old Peavey Envoy that I had in highschool. It was a 40W 1X10 solid state combo. I brought it home, really not expecting it to work. I plugged it in and it started right up.
It actually sounded MUCH better than I remembered or expected. I think it was a 94/95. It had a really good Marshall tone to it, and I've actually used it a few times since to over dub guitar parts. When I play the parts isolated for other musicians they're all shocked that it's a Peavey SS amp. The only drawback is that it doesn't clean up with the guitar vol, like, at ALL. When I roll the volume down, it just gets quieter, which for recording can actually be a good thing.
Another great amp! I remember when those old peavey's were indestructible! Awesome skills as usual!! You make even cheap Amps sound incredible!
+Fernie Gutierrez Thanks, yeah they're built like tanks :-)
Peavey always made great amps and guitars. No wonder, this one too! Great job Johan!!
My friend has a vintage Peavey, although I not sure what model. I gave him a celestion g12t speaker from a old amp of mine. Once he mounted it, that amp seem to come to life! You should try it Johan!
+Brandon Simpson Cool! I'll try that!
Great tone and riffs, as always. I don't think I've ever heard you use that much gain before!
+jordan graf Thanks man :-)
This has been the only "real" amp I've owned in my whole life. I bought it new in 1997 for $400 and it's still great. It will do anything you want. The guitars I use with it are a 1988 Ibanez 540S-HH, a G+L Legacy and a 1986 Kramer Striker. Never needed another amp.
I had one of these for years and years.... its clean sounds were just soooo good. Shame about the drive channel. And the spring reverb really started working nicely after I ran over amp with my car and dragged it about 10 metres LOL
Just sold my USA '96 silverstripe to a dear friend of mine (kind of glad it stays in the family though). Had it for about 10 years and replaced my Crate gx15r which i just gave away to another harmonica playing friend, will not look back to that one haha.. Now my number 1 is a UK laney lionheart L5t with the 55hz greenback, which i think you would really like, Johan, it's quite nice sounding, especially with tungsols in it. But, the peavey silverstripe was my first serious 12 inch speaker amp, had some really good times with it. Only after i discovered the dynamics of low wattage tube amps did i lose interest in the bandit. Still, it sat in my house for a while before i could part with it haha. Great video as always, Johan.
+Willem Thanks man :-)
great tones johan,i managed to grab one of these awhile ago found it in someones rubbish pile,a quick dust off and she was ready to go and free too awesome amps cheers bro
+kinlefafa Cheers my friend!
Massive sounding amp for the buck! Really versatile and loud! As a 90s kid, I grew up playing the hell out of a Peavey Bandit 112 silver-stripe for the despair of my neighbors.
Thank you for giving this great little amp some love.
+604T 80Y Thanks :-)
I saw the late great Mickey Jones play live many times. Old school, half cocked wah, riding the volume control, etc. I heard him use Ampeg, Fender, Hiwatt, Marshall, and on one occasion, a Bandit. The Ampeg probably edged it but but the Bandit definitely matched the rest. The Ampeg btw was a mid seventies twin-a-like if memory serves.
This guy has the most epic background sceneries! Inside & outside!
Thanks! :-)
Sounds great... I have a Peavey Bandit 75 ... bought it new in the late 80's and I'm still impressed with it... and yes it's LOUD !
Johan, you make great videos and the subjects of your choice are always important. From the cheapest to the most expensive amps and guitars. However, since many of us are dedicated to using pedals on our amps - in front or in the loop - I would really appreciate it if you would plug in a sort of well known/often used dirt pedal just for the sake of comparison. It's very rare to be able to play at volumes you are when you run your tests. In any case, thanks very much for your great work, and keep it up.
Excellent demo! Particularly lovely clean tone. Nice job of working the distortion, also. Blindfolded, I would have guessed it was one of your Marshall toob amps.
I've been using Peavey solid-state combos since 1980, and had heard the Chinese models were also very good. You have confirmed that.
Thanks!
+Oren Fisher Thanks Oren! Cheers Johan
I had one of these in the late 90's and it was honestly a great amp. It's main weakness was the on board reverb.
I have this amp (still), it replaced a previous Transtube years ago. It's not to replace any of my tube amps, I got this because it sounds great.
Old 70s and 80s Solid state peavys are absolute treasures! They dont distort anything like a tube amp but they have a good sound in their own right. I'm a proud owner of one myself.
Hi, I,m From Brazil . The amplifier Peavey Chorus Special 2x12" is Good ?
I have a 74 peavey musician and a 74 peavey bass 400...they both are extremely loud and flawless pedal platforms
@@m.borges5747definitely
Bought one of these for gigs about 7 years ago (still have it), They are as durable as Keith Richards, im pretty sure my grandsons will be playing it.
They become little beasts with a good Celestion/Eminence speaker with it (even better with a extension cabinet)
10/10 content.
Lucas Marques oh yeah? What celestiom replacement would you recommend? V-Type? How big of an improvement is it over the sheffield?
+Lucas Marques Thanks! Yeah they are great amps for a working musician
The stock Blue Marvel on the newer Bandits is an Eminence speaker, by the way. It sounds like a clone of the Celestion Vintage 30.
+Sparkplug1034: i tried some speakers over the years, in my opinion:
Eminence V128 (as main Speaker): Good for 80's Hard Rock, makes the bandit sound more ''British''. Gets very good at gig volume, but in bedroom level it will not breakup very well (but doesn't sound bad). Overall its pretty good, but i find it a bit modern if you want a spot on 70's rock tone (Deep Purple, Led Zep).
Celestion Seventy 80(main Speaker): Not bad, sounded less shrill than stock blue marvel. The bass response was a bit more tight, and sounded decent at gig level, but i dont think it was a great improvement at all.
Eminence Texas Heat (main Speaker): My favorite speaker on bandit, i play mostly blues and 60's/70's rock with Strat and LP and this speaker sounded excelent for it, at gig levels its even better. Even being a little bit ''vintage'', it still sound good for Hard Rock and early 80's heavy metal, i recommend that one.
Celestion G12t-75 (On Extension Cabinet): Good bass response, but very scooped tone, sounded good with the ''modern'' gain setting on bandit, but not that amazing with more vintage tones, didn't like very much (im not into modern metal so...).
Eminence GB128 (extension cabinet): Good pair with the stock Blue Marvel, the sound gets more rich in mids and highs, good for vintage stuff.
PS: i never tried the Sheffield Speaker, but since the amplifier is pretty much the same, i believe those speaker swaps will sound close in the older bandits as well.
+TheRosswise: I never tried the Vintage 30 on bandit, but i will try to find one to compare with the Blue Marvel.
Thanks
By the way, great video! Great demo of what this amp is capable of.
I have a Bandit 112 with a shieffield speaker since 1995 and still works great!
My parents got me the Bandit 112 red stripe for Christmas back in 1998 and I still use it for everything from cleans to heavy metal and it's never let me down. Considered getting a Marshall stack just because I can but thought to myself, "why?" lol
Yeah, that amp is good enough for anyone and any classic rock application.
I’m late to the party... but as a teen, playing metal through this amp with my Black MIJ Ibanez RG560 was sheer heaven. As an adult I don’t like the high gain channel compared to my Marshall Stack, bit the Bandit still represents in blues nights with a strat. Marvellous amp for what it is.
I love my peavey bandit (red stride). You did an awesome job showing us what this amp is capable of. Thank you
I love you're videos but ever time you post one I've got to buy another amp. I've now got more amps then my wife has shoe's !
+Chesty Puller Hahaha! ;-)
Quick, buy her some more shoes! then you'll have another amp opportunity.
Oohrah ! Get some Chesty !!
i have been waiting for this demo for 8 or so months my man... this is the china version. i swapped out the terrible speaker for an eminence legend v128. it made a huge difference. i believe you can swap out the op-amp chips as well. it sounds great through a 412 too.
nice job Mr. Vintage!
+STEVE LEITNER Thanks Steve! :-)
Man I can't afford the tube amp I want and I still use my Bandit 112. As long as you're not playing next to someone with a tube amp from another brand, you just can't beat this thing or tell that it's solid state. Those scooped tones you did sounded like a line 6 but you demonstrated how genuine this thing can sound.
I bought a behringer VT999 ($50 tube overdrive pedal) and replaced the 12ax7 with a JJ5751, rolled the gain to about 0.9, and matched the EQ to my bandit. That gave me the tube feel I needed and the slight grit on the clean channel that tube amps have. Then the lead channel layered on top of the tube pedal... It's as close to a sweet tube rig as you can get without the money. I play gigs with said rig.
Thanks for the video! I feel vindicated. Lol. And your playing is great :)
+Sparkplug1034 Thanks ;-) Glad to hear that!
The modern setting
is not very good, too scooped, but the high gain settings sounds really good, nice sounding SS gain.
Awesome amps i have both the silver stripe and red stripe great amps awesome Demo great playing ❤🎸😊👍👍
Massimo Salvatore which do you prefer? The red strip or the silver?
@@danstringer7610 the Silver Stripe is better no need for a speaker upgrade they are a very good amp just sprayed the volume pot's and it Sounds great with my Pedal board!
Massimo Salvatore I use my bandit clean and then use a full tone OCD for my drive tone.
@@danstringer7610 i also use it on the clean channel tried it with one of my Pedal board wich has a RYRA klon clone and a Vox Ice 9 and a Nux mod core deluxe and a baby Boom delay it sounds awesome 😊👍
I have had my USA made bandit for 25 years or so. It's a real workhorse. Never had an issue or problem.
I've got two "made in USA" Bandit 112's, a Teal (blue) strip & a Red Stripe, & Peavey 2nd cabs for both, all bought used but in good shape back when they were cheap. I fell in love with these amps - great for practice, great for gigs, great for annoying the neighbors :-). Bulletproof for road gigs. Also had a Peavey 212 that I sold in a moment of stupidity or weakness - still trying to find another I can afford. One of the 2nd cabs had its speaker re-coned, but it still sounds great. One Bandit came with Sheffields, the other with Black Widows, if I remember correctly. Changed one out to a Celestion that had a higher watt rating. The Bandit 112's are probably the best bang for the buck of any amps I've owned.
The best usage of this amp was using it in send-return. The reverb was the real spring though. I remember gigging with it for four years. I still have it. Only problem is with pots. It needs cleaning and there you go.
Great!! Always wanted one of these but ended up saving some money and went for a Laney lionheart l5t (made in uk, not the new chinese one). 80 watts is overkill to my apartment. How good does it sound at bedroom level? Thanks.
A lot of people will tell you tone is in the fingers, a player has a lot to do with his tone and I believe this video is a very good example of that. You are a very good guitar player and I have yet to hear you play any amp, any guitar that sounds awful. You always seem to find a way to make them sound great. This is a 2 part= 1 part: your playing / 2: your engineering skills as a sound engineer. Both are very good.
+chuck jones Thanks Chuck! It's so good to hear that!
Agreed 100% That second part is often overlooked. Lots of players, myself included, have a tough time getting most of what we hear across to the recorded format. People say "just stick a 57 in front if the speaker and move it around until it sounds good", which is BS. Proper recording is as much an art as playing
I had no idea the dirty channel was so tight on these. Peavey has some old sleeper amps for sure. The Peavey Mace/Deuce with the solid state preamp with a 120 watt 6l6 power section is a great pedal platform. You should do a video of the Mace/Deuce.
Wow Johan, amazed just how good that Bandit sounded! May have to pick one up! Thanks for the great video my friend!
The tone you get around 1:57 is amazing!!
Agreed, should've made his record!
I hope to get a bandit to knock around on someday. However I'm enjoying my all tube Encore 65 from Peavey for plexi tones. It's very cool in that it has a tube distortion and a "pump" distortion that sounds similar to a Proco RAT to my ears.
If you ever find one scoop it up you'll love it!!
+Stuart K Reilly cool, I'll keep that one in mind!
TRUE. I own a Bandit 112 Solo Series, it is a great small room amp.
I split my time between a small condo and my house, was looking for an inexpensive little amp to not disturb my condo neighbors. Picked up a Peavey Audition 110 for 20USD at a garage sale, very satisfying for low volume tube sounds. I would not hesitate to use it for a small non drummer gig.
Ive been a guitarist for 37yrs and have owned so, so many tube amps(Marshall,Fender,Carvin,Mesa,Crate,Laney, & more). Ive also owned 2 Peavey Classic 50s and a Classic 30, but now I just own a Bandit for gigs and an Envoy for Home practice. Bottomline, I got sick & tired of always buying, changing, biasing and trouble shooting tubes. Then, having to crank the volume to get my tone. Not to mention, tubes always seemed to die during the gig! Plus, every time I played, I knew I was that much closer to having to replace my tubes again. BTW, for those who dont know... they do not make tubes as good as they used to. However, even with all that aside, I LOVE the sound of my Bandit! IMO, Hartley hit it out the park with Transtube. I get nothing but compliments on my sound. With my Boss SD1 in front, no one would know it's not a real tube amp just by listening. So while the other guy is changing his tubes, I'll be jammin with a huge smile on my face. Rock On!!!
I've got one of these , Peavey Bandit with the Sheffield speaker , I took the speaker out and built an isolation box for it with a shure 57 mic in it , then I cut 10 inches out of the middle of the cabinet and attached the bottom 5 inches to the top 5 inches and glued the seam and put black ATV to match the black tolex seam , you can't even hardly tell there is a seam. I now can use the head with any speaker cabinet. these things are too close to sounding like a Tube amp to ever sell . A real work horse.
I would've never guessed in a million years that tones like that were available from a bandit!!
+Dave Edinger Thanks Dave! :-)
I love this amp so much! A true jack-of-all-trades -- no amp can do so much so well. Great playing as always. You ever play a Randall RG from the 80s? It's a SS Marshall style amp that you would adore. Cheers from NYC
+Brendan Kiernan Thanks Brendan! I'm definitely gonna check out that Randall!
Great video as always, fantastic sound! Didn't know you could get a really good plexi sound from an amp like that haha.
+Dean Arnold Thanks Dean! :-)
The mostly legendary Peavey guitar amp of all is the Peavey Mace. The Peavey Mace comes in two versions. There is the early version with the silver knobs, and there is the later Peavey "VT" Mace version with the blue, white, grey, and black knobs. That amp was knicknamed "The Mississippi Marshall". Lynyrd Skynyrd and 38 Special used them. There are a few videos from the 1979/1980 era showing Journey guitar player Neal Schon using one. I prefer the later Peavey VT Mace version. Former 38 Special guitarist Jeff Carlisi said he used an external MXR 10 band equalizer in the studio to boost the treble and mids.
Had a Peavey Mace once. You know why it's called Mace? Because it hits you in the face like a Mace :) SO loud.
WOW JOHAN! That's my main amp - 1994 Peavey 112 Bandit. U can't break these Amps. I use it as my foundation amp & have a ZOOM G3Xon going thru it. I don't need anything else. Mine is the last year made in the USA. Teal stripe. You can virtually make it sound like anything. AND LOUD!!! I can't play up past 2 with my wife in the house. Once she leaves I can't go past 4 or 5!!! Durable, Loud, & only $150. Add another $125 for the used ZOOM, & I'm at $275. How can you beat that? Sounds like Jimi, Cream, BTO, Allman Bros, on & on & on.
+Dave Monty Thanks Dave!
3 Card Monty I love that, man. Your whole rig is less than some of these boutique (read: expensive) pedals. I love someone who is man enough to play a rig on the cheap and not worry about what the vocal minority of gear snobs think.
Your intro shots always get me lmao
Hello again Johan, I got the BANDIT! The amp totally rocks except it has one issue, the reverb unit doesn't work. kind of a downer Are these reverbs worth fixing? 1-28-19 I fixed reverb. A wire on the 4 way connector had broke so now reverb is up and running too sounds ok. Best reverb is the Gibson Scout amp.
Awesome opening background location Johan !
+rhykko77 Thanks, it's in the woods near the Volvo Factory in Gothenburg! Cheers
I have this amp - got the silverstripe model used on eBay for £63! Sounds great! However, when the amp is on, I can hear a quiet yet noticeable hiss coming from it - even with no cables plugged in and all knobs on zero - is this normal? If not, any ideas on how I could fix it? Thanks!
The "red stripe" Peavey Bandit - an ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC amp! Always was the "working man's" amp for a lot of years, they always sounded great, and withstand abuse : ) Great Playing, and sounding video Johan!
+JJ Collins Thanks JJ! Good to hear that!
Does this model have a push button in the back for effects loop level?If so,when pushed in "half way",does the amps volume increase significantly,then resume to lower volume when pushed in properly?Mine does & I wonder if its just the way it is or I need to fix it-thanks!
I had a Bandit in the 80's, pre-Transtube, once described as the "Bic Lighter" of amps. But it worked for me at the time. Good value, as Johan says.
+sassulusmagnus Cheers
Just got one for $0 off Freecycle!
I love my Bandit. I just keep it on the clean channel, using my 3 gain pedals for 11 different dirty tones.
Holy moly that is the most gain I’ve ever heard you use Johan 😂😂
I Still Have a Bandit 112 Made in The USA and Its Works Great I also got the new Trans Tub one Their Great Amps for Sure Great Video 🎸🎸🎸☮💟🎻
I continue to love your demos! The Bandit 65 was my first amp, back in high school. I sold it to upgrade to a big rig (I didn't need) years ago, and now I want one again. Great circuit! You're a great straightforward presenter, J--keep it up and thank you!
+BT Hellam Thanks, glad to hear it!
I have the studio 112 (similar) that I restored. Love this amp
The Peavey Bandit 112 was my 1st amp. I got it in 1989. It was before they updated it to "transtube", and had the plate "Scorpion Equipped," with light blue trim. I loved that amp, it took punishment and I was 15 and abused it badly. After that I started getting a few pedals, and they worked well with it to. I traded it in 2 years later towards a 1978 JMP 2203 1/2 stack on consignment at the local mall :)
+Severed Tongue well it's hard to beat those early 2203/2204
I don't know about you Johan,but that what you played at 1:17 is to me so reminiscent of
some atmospheric moment from some imaginary John Carpenter movie.Great stuff!
I do not know why are they so cheap. I got my for 120€ with 5m guitar cable and boss GT6. Sold boss for 80€ and kept bandit and the cable. The amp is amazing and indestructible. Very reliable amp. Great video and massive tones. Great job man.
+Mario Kambic Thanks man, they were probably made in large numbers. Cheers
That was my first amp!!! I bought it in 1995, used at Mahoney's, a small local store that is not longer in existence. I wish I still had that amp...I should have kept it.
Johan i have newly purchased a peavey bandit 112 it is the model with attenuator and boost volume can i use this as a practise amp in my apartment. great playing
Great vid, really good range of tones you got....nice!
+Matt Furmidge Thanks Matt! :-)
Awesome video thanks Johan! Great sound from a cheap amp. Someone locally is selling the Teal Stripe version for $70 I should get it.
Just got one of these last week. 1981-83 series with spring reverb and original footswitch. Bought the amp, and 2 MIJ vintage 80's Boss pedals, CE-2 Chorus and DS-1 Distortion for $130. Sold The Chorus pedal for $150, made $20 profit and kept the amp and DS-1. It was a good day :D
+Hulk Slayer good deal :-)
I just got the same amp, but it needs a new speaker. Is it 8 ohm?
Johan after watching alot of your videos, I think you could make a plastic smokey amp sound awesome. By the way when are you going to do a Marshall Lead 20
omg man yeesssss! peavey has always had a huge bass sound! now mic it with a vocal rig and 🐚ocean of musicality
+Tone Fingerz ;-) I will
Think you could squeeze some ZZ Top tones out of that Peavey? That is if you still have it?Enjoy all the videos new and old! Please keep them coming.
Great hi end and cleans ...struggle with bottom end and dirt ...they say use the clean channel and drive it with pedals ... price is on the rise as they are getting great reviews as a small gig amp - keep up the good work
+Gerry Loughran Thanks Gerry, Yeah the bottom end was the hardest to tweak indeed
Sounds awesome :) The magic is not from the amp but your hands and your riffs :)
+Sylvain Alain Thanks Sylvain, glad you like it!
Hi, I,m From Brazil . The amplifier Peavey Chorus Special 2x12" is Good ?
At 1:01 get some!🤘 You do got the metal in you👍😎
I have a question for Bandit 112 owners. Just got one and really like the tones I'm getting. Only thing is the level of noise, hiss, etc. To me it's pretty loud compared to other solid state amps I've used. Anyone else think this is a defect? I'm using it pretty much on the high gain, lead channel, at 25% power and without any pedals. Also this is happening at a fairly low pre and post gain levels. It increases when switched from the classic to vintage to modern positions too, which I guess is too be expected, but it's louder than I expected. I guess I'm just trying to get an idea of whether this is normal or not before I return this unit.
awesome amp! I've got a 2004 Red Stripe. kick ass
It'd be great if you could show the settings for each sound you're using.
Reminds me of junior high, everyone had this amp.
The first brand new amp I ever bought was a Peavey Bandit 112 ha ha. I remember it had a really good grinding rock tone. But not so much of a good metal tone. Now I want to go buy one again! Thanks, lol.
+Jake Bond Thanks Jake!
Had one and loved it. The Black Metal amp.
I got one from a pawn shop and it sounds great...
Someone put a Carvin speaker in and I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing?
This amp sounds great!! I have the exact same amp and really like it as well, but I've found that on the drive channel the settings are very touchy, a small change away from the sweet spot can make it sound bad. Could you share your settings for the distorted tones you demoed here?
how did you get that high gain tone? can you show us those settings?? damn it sounds incredible!
I've had a tough time finding one and they definitely aren't $100 when I do. Sounding great as always!
+Panhandle Gear Demos Thanks! :-)