Peavey Bandit 112 Guitar Amp For Sale (2024 Update)

I had previously bought a Roland 80GX but it required too much tweaking to get the sound I was looking for. So I still wasn't satisfied. When I was playing out in the early nineties I was using an all tube Carvin half-stack which was pretty basic…clean or distorted with reverb and very loud. Great amp but I eventually sold that because it was way too much for home use, and frankly, it sounded best when cranked up. I teach guitar now and I don't intend on playing out again, but I still wanted an amp that was simple to use, solid state so I wouldn't be concerned about replacing tubes, and would be powerful enough to do a gig if I ever got swayed into that again. The only built-in effect on the Bandit is reverb which is all I want besides distortion. I've read that it takes pedals great but I haven't gotten around to trying any. The best thing about this amp (for me) is that I can stop searching for the amp I want. This one is perfect. Clean or dirty, it has great sound and can get seriously loud. For my purposes it also sounds very good at low volume.Russ

Overall: I was able to gig with the unit twice before I had to send it back for exchange. The one I got had issues that occurred,buzz started to happen when nothing is plug in and even when all the controls are set to zero,buzz is still fairly loud!and then the three way switch in the rear panel that switches from 100%-50%-25% does not engage to 25% percent. yes this amp is loud! and last of all you have to buy the peavey footswitch….The Great news is, this amp sounds very good both clean and dirty channel. The cleans can be dialed well(fendery!) and takes Overdrive/Distortion well and that's if you need a pedal. The Lead channel has great gain depending on what you use it for! I like the classic Overdrive/Distortion(aka- marshall) setting allot. I play in two different bands, the first band I'm in plays Rock/Alternative,Twang Rock,Blues Rock,Heavy Rock, Responds real well to volume knob adjustments on the guitar during live playing. The other band is more Funk,Jazz fusion,Gospel,R-n-B type and this amp does it well without any pedals! and that's what I bought this amp for! basically I don't wanna use pedals,just amp cable,guitar and the footswitch to switch from clean to dirty and solo boost when needed. And it does it very well! I dig this amp allot. All the features and especially the solo boost function is awesome! the effect loop works well. I hook up my Boss DD20 with two 15ft cables(not live just for home use!) and there was hardly any tone lost or I could not tell at all. And this is coming from an overly picky Guitar Player. This amp is well thought out by Peavey Engineers and last of all its pretty light amp!Now I just have to wait for the other Peavey Bandit to be delivered to my front door and hope its trouble free!,and thank you zZounds for taking care of business, you always took care of me when there were unexpected issues and you got on top of it fast. Thank youWb

Everyone treats this like either a country/blues amp, or a metal amp. But it does fantastic tones for bands in between. Think Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World, Kings of Leon, The Gaslight Anthem, Death Cab… those in-between tones…it NAILS them. The amp sounds tube. And i mean that. And i've played/owned a LOT of expensive tube amps. I love this thing. Sounds great. Is it a JCM800, Princeton, AC30, or Deluxe? No. It's not. But it can get amazing ballpark sounds. And I dont mean "Line 6, Fender Mustang" ballpark, I mean close your eyes and it would take a discerning ear. Sounds great at low volume but absolutely keeps up with a drummer at half volume. I can gig with mine no problem. If I HAD to pick something to gripe about, it's that by now the new ones should have the 3 different overdrive types foot-switchable. As it is, you can switch between clean and overdrive. But you set which type of overdrive (vintage, modern, high gain) at the amp and if you want to change your OD type you have to do so with your hands. This is an extremely minor complaint though and I'm being crazy picky. Especially considering that between a tube-screamer, Joyo AC Tone and the vintage channel, I can get every sound I'll ever use. I'm not really into the heavy stuff, but it does do that very well too. Oh also, it takes pedals like a tube amp. I've read reviews from people who say that it doesn't and they must be insane. Also..i dont know why the youtube videos comparing them to fender amps sound so muddy or dark, that is DEFINITELY a settings problem. I can get mine sounding VERY fender. And i'd put it up against a Hotrod Deluxe any day of the week.underXtheXradar

I'm no expert on amps, at all, but after researching this seemed like a perfect choice for someone playing smallish to medium sized gigs who wants a great all rounder – and that's how I'd describe it.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I'm no expert on amps, at all, but after researching this seemed like a perfect choice for someone playing smallish to medium sized gigs who wants a great all rounder – and that's how I'd describe it.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Bought this for my grandson to use. My other amps are too big for him to take to lessons and school. This isn't the cheapest practice amp but the sound is great and the overdrive DSP is as good as much more expensive amps. Excellent amp for the money.digital_photog

I was looking for a pair of SS amps to gig with (I run stereo reverb), ones that sounded good clean but also had a tube like attack and compression. These TransTube do. Sure they aren't AS good as a tube amp, but they sound really good none-the-less. Better than all my other SS amps. They DON'T have the annoying ultra-high freq, almost ice-picky thing going on that so many SS amps have.I own four of the TransTube amps: the Solo, Rage, Envoy and Bandit. If you're looking for clean tones, this Rage 258 seems the best of the bunch.On the higher end models (Envoy and Bandit), you get to select separate EQ'ing for your clean and lead channels, but I find most of the lead selections not really my taste. But the Rage's three EQ selections all sound good to my ears.The other three models' clean channels tend to start breaking up earlier on as well. With the Rage, you can be almost to full volume before the break-up starts.I did a side-by-side with the Envoy and the Rage. I connected each to a single spkr in my Peavey Classic 50 combo, so both were playing from identical speakers in the same cabinetry.I found that the volume level of the Envoy wasn't really much greater than the Rage, and if you turned them up just to the point of break up the Rage was slightly louder. The Rage is EQ'ed a bit differently, so even the two models' clean channels sounded a bit different. The Rage was a tad brighter, a bit more presence, perhaps a bit less compression. I also noticed that going through the 10" speaker from my cab, the Rage had all the depth and character of the Envoy. In other words, I'm betting the limiting factor on tonal depth with these amps is the speaker and enclosure. I suspect I could plug my tiny Solo up to a warm 12" speaker and get some thunderous bass. I'll have to try that with my Solo and Bandit!How am I using this amp as a clean amp? By running ultra clean, I can more easily make my electric sound like an acoustic (I use an EH Knockout pedal). I also have the option of getting whatever kinda dirty I like, without limiting my ability to play clean – I treat the whole amp as the power-amp stage of an amp and use overdrive pedals to emulate the pre-amp stage, putting effects in-between like an fx send/rtrn on an amp would. I put my dirt boxes in front of my phaser pedal (A behringer PH9 – the cheapest phaser I found, and the BEST one [true bypass, low stage count so it sounds all warm and gooey like the Vintage 74 MXR]). After my phaser I've got a Vox Cooltron Big Ben Overdrive (basically a pre-amp stage from an amp). Then I do my chorus and reverb before going in the Rage.Chorus and Reverb sound MUCH nicer when not overdriven. By putting a tube pre in front of those effects, I get nice glistening effects. I put the phaser before the tube pre because it's a bit bitey and the tube pre smooths the edges a bit. More of a Robin Trower effect that way as well.FrostBottomBoys

Overall: As a studio musician, I get to try dozens of Boutique tube amps for free in return for my opinions and advice. You can spend thousands more and not get better tube-tone or "feel" than this little guy. As another reviewer pointed out, the speaker could be improved but is OK for low volume practice or very quiet jazz gigs, like those where people eat dinner. You can very easily improve the already good tone by plying this through a better 8 inch speaker OR putting the head into a better cabinet with a premium 12 inch speaker. I use both of those strategies. For lightweight low-volume jazz gigs, I bring TWO of these to run in stereo from my stereo effects board. In those, I merely replaced the stock "blue marvel" speaker ( which is not terrible) with a much better 8 inch with wider frequency response and a lower FS. You'd be amazed. I had a woodworking friend build another cabinet that encloses this amp with an italian neodymium speaker. WHOW! You probably won't believe how beautiful and loud this thing gets! So, if you just want a good little practice amp or play VERY quietly, use this as is. These are so inexpensive, you can get two and make a very affordable stereo rig that fits in a rolling suitcase. And if you need boutique low-wattage tube tone, just use this amp with a good 12".Geo

Love the quality of the product. Easy to use and sound quality for the price is excellent. I love buying products from Sam Ash!!!! Selection is great and everyone is knowledgeable and very helpful.Rita

Great Amp/speaker for a portable PA system. Very clean sound with tone controls for 3 different channels. I play flute and bass flute, and want an acoutically accurate sound. I also plug an acoustic guitar in at the same time. I am picky about my sound, and am very satisfied with this system for playing small rooms.mmmark11

This amp is all most solo acts will need to play a room that seats 50-80 people. The features include all the essentials: balanced line out, 3 inputs with per-channel EQ and one XLR input; FX loop. The 10" speaker sounds great. The amp gets plenty loud on its own, and makes a good onstage monitor for very loud gigs where you can line-out to the PA. Easy to carry with one hand, not too heavy at less than 40 pounds. In its price range, nothing else offers as much mixer and amp together. If you need something really loud–like for amping a keyboard entirely from the stage in a heavy rock band–then this probably isn't for you. If you don't need the mixer, a powered speaker might be the thing. Otherwise, this is it.lightninrick

Sound: I'm going to use an example to try and explain the sound in a KB 3. Having a small recording studio, there has to be different amps, guitars, etc, in order to have the sound needed by different styles of music. One of my amps is a Marshall JVM410H with a Marshall 4X12 JCM900 1960 Lead cabinet. This half stack if purchased would cost you around $3.300.00 dollars. Even so, my keyboard goes way down in sound quality if I were to plug into the Marshall over the KB 3. On one hand you have a high price amp going against a small, much lowered priced Peavey amp. This is due to the speaker selection, and the ability that the KB 3 has in picking up the different levels of sound coming from the keyboard. My Fender Twin Reverb 65 reissue all tupe amp also is in the high price area, considered to be one of the best clean amps on the market, but it's no match for the Peavey when using keyboards. If your going to mic this amp, I suggest you use a Sennheiser e 609 SilverDynamic Microphone. This mic is flat faced, phantom powered, and works great for live or recording settings. I just bring the mic cable from behind the amp and let it hang down to where the KB 3 speaker is located. For those that may not know, a phantom powered mic requires a power source that has the phantom power ability to pick up sound. In order to tune in the sound I was looking for using the amp control settings. I played my keyboard around 10ft in front of the KB 3, and had my wife turn each setting while I listened. This is the best way to tune in what your looking for, without having to run back and forth to the keyboard and the amp. Features: Any amp that gives you the ability of some type of mixer/EQ , is more than most amps have to offer. My studio has 9 all tube amps, bass amp, and this Peavey KB 3. The Peavey was far less in money than any other amp I have, yet it gives you the ability to adjust the low, mid, high, and volume on each of the 3 channels. None of my other amps give me that ability, they go from $1,099.00 to $3.300.00 and are different brands. My hat is off to Peavey for making it possible to adjust settings on the KB 3, and it is easy to do. This amp is built like a tank, has the ability to plug in RCA jacks, FX loop for pedals, and the list goes on. The fact that you can plug your mic into the 1/4" or XLR jack, then plug your keyboard into another channel and adjust the settings for each channel. Then go to the main control and bring up the volume or some other setting for both the mic and keyboard says it all. This is much live having both a keyboard amp and a PA, which is all many will need. Ease of Use: Here again I will bring out what I said in my opening review. The control knobs are on the top which is great, but all of the inputs are on the back of the amp. If you have placed your amp where you can freely move all around it, the inputs on the back will be no problem. In my case, all of my amps set on stands (with the exception of my Marshall half stack), and are only a few inches from the walls in my studio. An amp stand leans slightly back, and I have a difficult time when I go to plug anything into the inputs. Quality: Again. This amp has been used by me for the last 5 plus years, and never has it given me a problem. The metal mesh speaker screen is easy to just dust off, and adds protection to the speaker. The tolex covering looks to be made from thick material, which will keep it from tearing from some little bump. The construction of the walls surounding the inner amp is made of strong material, and I can't see it falling apart for no reason. If this amp is not abused in ways such as; turning the volume past it's peak, not tossed in back of a vehicle like a ball, and kept clean. I'm not sure of the years one could use this without having any problems. If you did blow a speaker, I would replace it since the rest of the amp is so good. REMEMBER! If you come to the place where the drums are over riding you, don't try getting louder by maxing out your volume setting. Put a mic in front of the Peavey KB 3 amp, then run it through the PA. I'm more of a guitar player than a keyboard, but I was blessed at being able to play different instrments. If this amp is not high enough in power to over ride the drums, do something to enhance the power. If you want to increase the volume on the Peavey KB 3 run an OCD overdrive pedal through the amp. Value: This is the best price one could hope for in an outstanding keyboard amp. Manufacturer Support: NO The Wow Factor: As already stated. The ability of controling different channels, and the many inputs make this amp a fantastic purchase. This is not an amp I would use for my guitars, but is the best one for the money for keyboards. Overall: For a couple of years I played my Yamaha SO3 synth over a Fender solid state amp. Nothing seemed to be wrong in the sound I played, and I was pretty content. One day my son came over, and had purchased me this Peavey KB 3 amp. To say I was shDr.

Fender-esque tube amp. As it comes from the factory, the clean channel is borderline unusable, it is overdriven. An easy fix is replacing the 1st preamp tube with a less gainy 5751. I put a NOS GE JAN 5751 in mine. (70x gain vs. the original 100x). That yielded a very usable clean channel for me. The factory speaker is a bit harsh sounding, I swapped it out for a Jensen. It comes with a spring reverb, check if it is screwed down properly, they have a tendency to be loose and rattling. The spring reverb also has a tendency to feed back and howl. at certain settings, I have not figured out why it does that, perhaps it needs some acoustical isolation from the cabinet. That is still work in progress. You have to mess with the settings to get it to howl, does not always do it. I never noticed it, but at one time I was trying to sell it and the guitar store found the setting and demoed it to me. With the 3 changes I mentioned (tube swap, speaker swap, reverb tighten) it is a charming tube amp, sounds pretty loud for the 30 watts it has. 2 negatives: it is heavy, built like a tank, and the howling spring reverb. Do not be afraid to get a modded one, esp if someone swapped the speaker already. People usually do not ask for extra money for that, and this is something you likely end up doing anyway.code_slinger

My Classic 30 and related Delta Blues are both US built models so I'm unclear on whether the amps have changed since production moved to China. That said, the Classic 30 replaced my very nice Fender Hot Rod Deville that had been modified to reduce gain and improve the tone stack. The Peavey has a wide range of tones and can produce excellent sound at both lower and high level volumes. The pre/post channel produces a very useful range of overdrive. Finally the amp is an excellent weight and size in terms of portability. The Deville was very nice but still liked to be loud, the Classic 30 is comfortable loud or at home volumes.TomH

I bought this for the nostalgia. This was my first amp back in the day. Fun to jam on, just straight up sound. No effects or reverb.mybads10src

Fender-esque tube amp. As it comes from the factory, the clean channel is borderline unusable, it is overdriven. An easy fix is replacing the 1st preamp tube with a less gainy 5751. I put a NOS GE JAN 5751 in mine. (70x gain vs. the original 100x). That yielded a very usable clean channel for me. The factory speaker is a bit harsh sounding, I swapped it out for a Jensen. It comes with a spring reverb, check if it is screwed down properly, they have a tendency to be loose and rattling. The spring reverb also has a tendency to feed back and howl. at certain settings, I have not figured out why it does that, perhaps it needs some acoustical isolation from the cabinet. That is still work in progress. You have to mess with the settings to get it to howl, does not always do it. I never noticed it, but at one time I was trying to sell it and the guitar store found the setting and demoed it to me. With the 3 changes I mentioned (tube swap, speaker swap, reverb tighten) it is a charming tube amp, sounds pretty loud for the 30 watts it has. 2 negatives: it is heavy, built like a tank, and the howling spring reverb. Do not be afraid to get a modded one, esp if someone swapped the speaker already. People usually do not ask for extra money for that, and this is something you likely end up doing anyway.code_slinger

My Classic 30 and related Delta Blues are both US built models so I'm unclear on whether the amps have changed since production moved to China. That said, the Classic 30 replaced my very nice Fender Hot Rod Deville that had been modified to reduce gain and improve the tone stack. The Peavey has a wide range of tones and can produce excellent sound at both lower and high level volumes. The pre/post channel produces a very useful range of overdrive. Finally the amp is an excellent weight and size in terms of portability. The Deville was very nice but still liked to be loud, the Classic 30 is comfortable loud or at home volumes.TomH

I bought one of these because the price was good and you just can't go wrong with Peavey. This amplifier is easy to use and dial your sound in. They have banging low's and a very defined sound. I've had allot of bass and guitar rigs over the years and Peavey holds up better than any other I've had so far.rocket-auto

This is a fun little amp that offers a variety of tones at whatever volume you need. 20 watts in an all-tube amp is more than enough volume to keep up with a drummer and gig. With built power attenuation that lets you switch between 20, 5, or even 1 watt, you can practice at low volume at home (or no volume with headphones), and still achieve a rich tube tone. Rhythm channel: Acts as both a "clean" and "crunch" channel. Fender Twin Reverb cleans are out of reach, but still surprisingly lush and useable. Turn up the pre-gain to add a beautiful smooth break-up. Bright switch available, and I'll note that it's useable, and doesn't turn your tone into an ice pick. Toggle the crunch mode on (or switch on with the included foot switch) to add another level of drive and a bit more compression. There's quite a bit of gain on tap here, enough for classic rock of any variety, even 80's/90's hard rock, grunge, alternative. This would be a complete, excellent amp with only the rhythm channel. But there's more…. Lead channel: This is why you buy the amp. Hot, searing lead tone designed by Eddie Van Halen himself (Peavey 6505 = Peavey 5150 with a different name). Used by rockers and metal-heads alike for decades now, this ultra high gain tone is iconic. Plenty of bass for chugging palm-muted riffs a la Metallica or [insert heavy metal band name], but don't worry, shredders, lead lines maintain remarkable clarity and character. Shared EQ across both channels; not an issue for me, and you can always get an EQ pedal. Effects loop, options for recording via USB, headphones out (no auxiliary out for your MP3 player). Bottom line: This amp offers a lot of options, and it does an impressive job at each. I LOVE the built in attenuation for late night jam sessions while still having the volume and power for full band settings. I carefully researched and listened to dozens of YouTube demos before buying, recommend you do the same. If it's your cup of tea, buy with confidence!Slashaholic Anonymous

Bought used, had the pots cleaned to get rid of some crackling. I love this amp but I will say, the standard overdrive does suck if you aren't using any boosts or pedals. I really recommend an eq and tube screamer pedal with this. I had no problems with feedback, just weak gain and needed just a push on the overdrive punch. Love the presence and resonance, its also nice having reverb. I have the 100 watt of this amp too and the pedal is NOT cross compatible sadly. Clean channel could be cleaner, a little on the muddied sound, like a jazz pick up trying on crunch overdrive. Definitely play through 12 inch speakers, tens don't give you full bass capacity,even with eq boosts. All in all, amp is built well and adaptable if you have your sound dialed in outside of your standard amp controls, i.e.- pedals/compressor, etc. Through just standard amp distortion on overdrive, at most you get an ac/dc amount of over drive/distortion.jeffro records

The amp sounds phenomenal. You have to hear it in person to appreciate it. When you dig into the guitar you not only get a gritty, gain-heavy sonic assault, you can feel the amps power hit you in the gut. It has a very nice controllable compression that still enough headroom to feel when you play. Peavey amplifiers are frequently regarded as "high gain" amplifiers and this amplifier is definitely one of them. It's light in weight, yet powerful enough for practice and gigging. Pair it with a 4×12 cabinet with some Celestions and there are few could find fault with your sound or volume. It's got several tone-shaping controls, including presence, resonence, a bright boot and a separate gain-boost on the crunch channel. The amplifier is smart about it's electronics, and gives you tube status via LEDs above the power and stand-by switch. The amp has a nice feature set including cabinet-less recording out, a USB interface, variable power output (20 watt, 5 watt, and 1 watt). It has an XLR out for recording. The amp doesn't support 4 ohm speakers, only 8 ohm & 16 ohm. Ergonomics: I'm used to gain first, by the input jack, followed by tone, followed by main power amplification (loudness). Not this amp. First are some tone-conntrol functions mixed together with gain, then more tone control, then loudness, then reverb, then more tone control. I don't know why all the tone control was grouped together, but it wasn't. The labels for the knob are below them, so unless the amp is almost at eye level you can't read them. The speaker ohm setting, something presumably you wouldn't need to swtich often, is handled by a big, ready to be flipped toggle-switch. The power/power soak function, something you may actually flip back and forth in a given evening, is an uninvited plastic slide switch. Peavey got these switches backwards. Then there's some obtuse buttons that control things like XLR wiring and if a cabinet is selected. The ergonomics are weird. I like the amp A LOT, though.Salvador

I have bought and sold several amps over the past few years, and I think this one's the keeper. It reminds me a bit of the katana 50 in that it has lots of features – but it is far easier to figure out how to use. I wish it had a slightly smaller footprint, for portability's sake, but the sound and usability make up for it. I also wish manufacturers would provide more useful documentation, but there are lots of helpful videos on the web. From clean, to crunch, to filthy – and some Fender Vibratone if you like – this amp can do just about anything.CR

Sound: Its odd they make you choose a rating for manufacturer support seeing as I imaging you would only contact them if you had an issue with your new item and zZounds didn't resolve it Overall: Its way louder than I expected. We don't turn it up past 3. The distortion sounds great. The amp modules sound great. For metal and grunge which my daughter plays its fantastic. I used the acoustic channel for jazz ukulele and it sounds great as well.James

I work at a guitar store so we recently got these amps in, I have to say that it genuinely shocked me? For the price and for what you get, it's pretty darn good
I'm really picky with my amps, so much so that I've only had one amp my whole 5+ years of playing and seeiing this new amp really, made me wanna get one, don't think of it as a legit replacer to a real 6405 or a XXX Head and Cab, think of it as a beginner amp, something to get started one, yes it has a lot of knobs and buttons that may seem intimidating, but take some time to get to know the little beast? You're gonna be kicking fun with this thing for hours.
It has some pretty alright effects besides the amp itself, the only thing I will say is that when passing 4-5 on a distorted amp like the 6505 it rumbles, and not in a good way as well as the whole amp kit app, IOS only? That's a bummer
Besides that, great amp.David Romero

After all the hype I have heard about the Peavey Nashville 112 about how great it is… and I needed a good amp for my pedal steel, I went and bought this amp. The amp is ok but not the "Holy Grail" for steel players. The tone of the amp is just fair. It is the weakest 80 watts I have ever heard. I had an old PV KB 60 that would blow it's doors off! (The KB 60 was rated @ 50 watts). This Nashville amp is noisy. Especially if you want to add a delay pedal. Whether you put it in front or in the FX loop…still noisy. I think the amp is WAY over priced in MHO. The quality and tone is just not there. I know that with a 12 in. speaker you can't get the lows and hefty tone you can with a 15 in. speaker but this 12 in. speaker just doesn't have what it takes to get the full range of a pedal steel.(It needs a 15 in. BW speaker). All in all I say this amp is NOT worth the price they are charging. The amp is small so it's easy to haul around but I wouldn't want to take it out because of it's poor tone and lack of power. If you hide it in the backline and mic it with a lot of EQ you might get away with using it for live shows. But who wants to spend a lot of money on a amp that doesn't do the job? I have been a professional musician for over 50 years and I have heard a lot of amps. The Nashville 112 is not the best pedal steel amp. ( Evans anyone?) If you just have to have a Nashville 112 then buy it. But if you want the best bang for your buck this amp is NOT the way to go. *(Fender twin reverb is a nice amp. Plenty of power. 85 REAL watts and tone to die for). But, hey, I'm just say'in!Bob the banger

I recently acquired a vintage Peavey 4×12 cabinet which is rate for 4Ohms impedance, and would cause most other heads rated at 8 or 16Ohms to draw too much current. I saw several promo videos for this head online and decided to give it a go around instead of rewiring the cabinet. As a guitarist that plays a little bit of everything, I was really impressed with how much of a range of tones this little head can deliver. It can deliver good clean tones, as well as a lot of good rock and metal tones. I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of low gain and clean sounds I was able to achieve, since this head was designed to replicate the high gain sound of the 6505 series heads. The nice thing is being 20W, it puts out good distorted sounds at reasonable volume levels for practicing compared to 100W counterparts. It only has a single EQ pot, so you don't get the same tonal range you would with a 3 band EQ. You can still dial in lots of good sounding tones, its simply a matter of playing with the EQ. Having the two channels for crunch and lead really allow you to dial in a wider variety of tones, with the lead channel offering a bit more gain and sustain than the crunch channel. This does not give you quite the same high gain you would expect from its bigger brother 6505 heads, but it can achieve those super high gain tones with an overdrive pedal to give it that push over the hill. Overall this head was a good buy for the price, and has been a lot of fun to play with.Matty68

I was expecting too much from this product. Peavey should take the "6505" tag right off this product. If you own or like the original head, you will be disappointed in the Piranha. The sound is thin and tough to dial in a tone. The gain is decent but extremely lacks the low end. I through an EQ pedal into the effects loop, which seems to help, but doesn't really solve the sound issue.ISoulfly

I really love the 6505 sound, so I put this on my wish list as something I could play at low volumes or even record with. The first thing I noticed right away was that it lacked gain when dimed. This is a 6505 right? Gain is nowhere near the levels of it's big brothers. Another thing is that this head is really really noisy. If you want to get into modern high gain metal, you won't be able to without an OD in front. The gain is just too week. Get a noise suppressor too. Headphone jack has no speaker emulation which sort of makes it useless unless you like the sound of bees. Changing out the stock JJ tube improves the noise, gain, and fidelity. Yes, I know it's a micro head under two franklins, but I expect a little better from Peavey. If you are going to put the 6505 label on it, it's needs to have the main allure of the 6505 name- and that is tons of gain and good quality for the money.illinismitty

Fender-esque tube amp. As it comes from the factory, the clean channel is borderline unusable, it is overdriven. An easy fix is replacing the 1st preamp tube with a less gainy 5751. I put a NOS GE JAN 5751 in mine. (70x gain vs. the original 100x). That yielded a very usable clean channel for me. The factory speaker is a bit harsh sounding, I swapped it out for a Jensen. It comes with a spring reverb, check if it is screwed down properly, they have a tendency to be loose and rattling. The spring reverb also has a tendency to feed back and howl. at certain settings, I have not figured out why it does that, perhaps it needs some acoustical isolation from the cabinet. That is still work in progress. You have to mess with the settings to get it to howl, does not always do it. I never noticed it, but at one time I was trying to sell it and the guitar store found the setting and demoed it to me. With the 3 changes I mentioned (tube swap, speaker swap, reverb tighten) it is a charming tube amp, sounds pretty loud for the 30 watts it has. 2 negatives: it is heavy, built like a tank, and the howling spring reverb. Do not be afraid to get a modded one, esp if someone swapped the speaker already. People usually do not ask for extra money for that, and this is something you likely end up doing anyway.code_slinger

My Classic 30 and related Delta Blues are both US built models so I'm unclear on whether the amps have changed since production moved to China. That said, the Classic 30 replaced my very nice Fender Hot Rod Deville that had been modified to reduce gain and improve the tone stack. The Peavey has a wide range of tones and can produce excellent sound at both lower and high level volumes. The pre/post channel produces a very useful range of overdrive. Finally the amp is an excellent weight and size in terms of portability. The Deville was very nice but still liked to be loud, the Classic 30 is comfortable loud or at home volumes.TomH

I have bought and sold several amps over the past few years, and I think this one's the keeper. It reminds me a bit of the katana 50 in that it has lots of features – but it is far easier to figure out how to use. I wish it had a slightly smaller footprint, for portability's sake, but the sound and usability make up for it. I also wish manufacturers would provide more useful documentation, but there are lots of helpful videos on the web. From clean, to crunch, to filthy – and some Fender Vibratone if you like – this amp can do just about anything.CR

Sound: Its odd they make you choose a rating for manufacturer support seeing as I imaging you would only contact them if you had an issue with your new item and zZounds didn't resolve it Overall: Its way louder than I expected. We don't turn it up past 3. The distortion sounds great. The amp modules sound great. For metal and grunge which my daughter plays its fantastic. I used the acoustic channel for jazz ukulele and it sounds great as well.James

I work at a guitar store so we recently got these amps in, I have to say that it genuinely shocked me? For the price and for what you get, it's pretty darn good
I'm really picky with my amps, so much so that I've only had one amp my whole 5+ years of playing and seeiing this new amp really, made me wanna get one, don't think of it as a legit replacer to a real 6405 or a XXX Head and Cab, think of it as a beginner amp, something to get started one, yes it has a lot of knobs and buttons that may seem intimidating, but take some time to get to know the little beast? You're gonna be kicking fun with this thing for hours.
It has some pretty alright effects besides the amp itself, the only thing I will say is that when passing 4-5 on a distorted amp like the 6505 it rumbles, and not in a good way as well as the whole amp kit app, IOS only? That's a bummer
Besides that, great amp.David Romero

Got this amp for playing in the bedroom. I'm playing an Epiphone Les Paul Vintage Edition guitar via a VOX StompLab SL1G. I've been able to get good sound through the amp with some nice warm tones. Beefed things up a bit with some grunge and it handled it very well. At higher volumes the speaker remains clear and free of cracking as I have had in other smaller amps. It's a steal for the price and does what it was intended to do.ShaunH

I'm working out of the country and have a small apartment so a big amp is out of the question. This this sounds great at all volume levels and fits in my big suitcase. It's light so it doesn't even make my bag too heavy for air travel.Big T 13

I think they're amazing little practice amps if you can pick one up for under 50 bucks you won't be disappointed I highly recommend themwinvillanth

Great speaker cab for the price point and sounds better than expected although a bit to echoey for some perhaps. Would have been nice if there was a removable panel on the back as opposed to a sealed closed back bit for the price I can't really complain and would still recommend this unit.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

This is the best 12" cabinet you can buy at this price range. It's well built, looks good and sounds ok, but the first thing I did after playing it a couple of times is change the speaker to get the sound I was looking for. This cabinet comes with an un-branded, completely un-marked 12" speaker. It isn't marked as a Blue Marvel speaker as advertised. I suspected that would be the case when I bought it. The cabinet alone is worth the price, so that's why i bought it.jim7699

I realize some people complain about the Blue Marvel speaker it comes with, but it really sounds great with the cabinet. I play mostly small clubs, I use 2 of these with a Peavey head and works great. Tough, great value and does the job perfectly. Zero complaints. It's a Peavey. Good enough for me. There are better ones out there, but the differences are negligible. I'd be hard pressed to find someone in the audience who would say "but it's not loaded with a higher priced driver". That pretty much never happens in that environment. The amp produces some great sounds and this cabinet accurately does it's job. Why pay the extra $100 bucks for what only gear snobs say is better. You won't hear much difference and this thing simply rocks!iluvnicki3