Peavey Bandit 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

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'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.

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 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

Its lightweight but maaan this thing kicks. Its loud and can easily be used at smaller gigs. Just Peavey being Rad as usual!Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

This is a really neat little amp that has more than enough gain to be usable for modern metal tones right out of the box. To get it sounding exactly how I want, I needed to put an overdrive/boost into the front (Boss SD1 sounds great to me), and use a noisegate. But that's pretty much expected of most amps to get tight modern tone. Overall, I am very happy with this amp.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I couldn't find these local and I mounted the amp right next to the stereo. The thing was I didn't want a 2 to 6 ft cord hanging out that I was gonna have to hide so these little Rca jacks did the trick and they work perfect. No wires to hide!josepbusto0

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

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 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

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

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.

First of all, this came shipped with 5 levels of protection (Andertons box, insulation, Peavey warehouse box, invective box, insulation). Therefore it could have survived an explosion, thumbs up to Andertons! That said, this head is simply wonderful. Materials and construction are high standard and looks are clean and aggressive. No Christmas-style-ubiquitous LEDs, but a slight blue glow which blends with red valves and white panels. Speaking about the sound, this has a slightly high bass output at standard settings and could be tweaked a little. When correctly matched with pickups output and cabinet it produces a marvelous clean sound, very dynamic and warm. Lead channel is simply astonishing: gain is dense and controlled, tight and boost functions work well together and give high gain leads and well articulated notes as well. The noise gate is a nice touch. I will explore the various functions (recording via usb directly from the invective, and so on) over time, but I’m very satisfied overall. Volume output is huge and for room plays I set it under the first point of the scale…but i get high dynamics as well! This is seriously one of the best heads available for metal and progressive, with djenty touches and experimental features (same sounds as the Invective.120, but with a more “socially acceptable” volume output). I’d have liked a better footswitch from peavey instead of the cheap plastic one included, but I will eventually recase it.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

This amplifier is amazing for metal players. The inclusion of a very-effective noise gate makes this head completely perfect for live and recording situations. I have always used the Boss NS2 in front of all my amps, but the noise gate in this head works easily as well. If you have quick stop/start songs, this thing will track. The distortion channel on this head is the 5150/6505, so you will get the legendary 5150/6505 sound. The clean channel is a TON better than the 5150/6505, however. The cleans are creamy and not brittle at all. You will really enjoy all channels on this amp, as the cleans blow the 5150/6505 away. There are two effects loops that work independently, or in concert. If you use a lot of effects, this head is destined to be your favorite. I am not a big effects user, so it doesn't mean a lot to me, but the loops are clean, independent, and controllable via the foot switch. I can say, without hesitation, that this head is the best Peavey has ever made. Full stop.TheTerrorBeyond

Overall: The Peavey Invective 120 is the best sounding high gain amp I have EVER played…and after 22 years I've tried many. A big thanks to Misha Mansoor and Peavey as well as zZounds. The lineage is apparent in this amp. What else is apparent is the time and energy Misha and Peavey put into refining this product. The lead channel…oh the lead channel. Downright sinister. Modern aggression that is completely unrivaled. The Invective puts all other high gain amps in their place. It's simply meaner, more modern and has more harmonic content and responsiveness through the entire frequency range than other amps. Lead and Rhythm channels sit excellently in even the most dense mix. Bear in mind im hitting my favorite parts of this amp…it can so much more than metal. And the clean channel is absolutely beautiful. Lots of clarity and fatness. Two things that can often be hard to achieve on a clean channel. The gate…perfection. The boosts (technically there are 3 different kinds)…perfection. And with the dual effects loops and 9v power on the back panel as well as the a foot switch that really does do it all. The Invective is the all in one solution…its so beautifully engineered. Plug your effects in the loop(s). Done deal. And it's midi controlled. So streamlined. And the best part…the Invective sound is MASSIVE. This is the new benchmark in high gain. Period.Keola

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

Its lightweight but maaan this thing kicks. Its loud and can easily be used at smaller gigs. Just Peavey being Rad as usual!Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

This is a really neat little amp that has more than enough gain to be usable for modern metal tones right out of the box. To get it sounding exactly how I want, I needed to put an overdrive/boost into the front (Boss SD1 sounds great to me), and use a noisegate. But that's pretty much expected of most amps to get tight modern tone. Overall, I am very happy with this amp.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I couldn't find these local and I mounted the amp right next to the stereo. The thing was I didn't want a 2 to 6 ft cord hanging out that I was gonna have to hide so these little Rca jacks did the trick and they work perfect. No wires to hide!josepbusto0

The Classic 20 is the perfect amp for the blues and classic rock player. 2 channels, with an included footswitch. Headphone socket, 20watts if you have to make a lot of noise but 5w and 1 watt modes. At home 1 use this on 1 watt with about 1/2 volume selected and its plenty loud enough. It's all valve so the tones are amazing, check out some YouTube reviews to listen to it. If you want 1 amp to practice and to play pub/club gigs then this has it all. Amazing. If you play death metal you will need a pedal to add extra distortion.simonb3453

The peavey classic 20 mini head,for its size is a mighty beast.The clean sound is super warm and responsive,and the foot switchable boost thickens the sound in a very useable way.the lead channel is a monster,and very versatile.add into the mix the built in attenuator,d.i,and computer hookup.all in all,a fantastic piece of kit.highly recommended,dave

Well I do not know what to tell you. I bought the amp because it is what my music teacher has. I am just starting to take music lessons so I can not go into any detail. I still need to learn how to use it but just to plug in my guitar it sounds 10 times better than my other 2 amps. I can't wait until I know what I am doing to make it sound even better. I would buy this amp again if I needed another one.staniels1960

Nice portable amp with small footprint, fairly good tube emulation, and plenty of power. My only complaint is the pre gain lead channel control is over saturated; you've got sizzlin' bacon at about 10:00 O'clock. I had the first generation Bandit 112 transtube and it was the same way. But, this turned out to be an advantage..by setting the pre gain overly saturated, I found I could roll back my guitar's vol. knob to half, or even less, giving me a very useable and quiet vol., and at the same time, still having plenty of saturation to still work with! Don't let the negatives addressed to the lead ch. discourage you from picking up one of these nice little amps.seventyeighty

Small size, fairly powerful. Works well. Don't like the dirty channel- too harsh, but never use it anyway. Bought it for a little practice amp at home, and it works well for that. Reverb is good. It is foot switchable between channels and to turn the verb on and off. I'm a Peavey fan. Good quality stuff at very good prices, especially used. Had this USA made Peavey amp been a USA made Fender. it would have cost 3 times as much, and not been any better.zip-the-chim