The Peavey Bandit - Redstripe

[DetroitBlues]

A couple months ago, I sold off my Jet City 2212 combo for a nice sum of a few hundred bucks, made a few dollars off it.  The amp was my band practice amp, so it had about a 100+ hours on it over a three year period.

Being such a high gain amp, I really couldn't use it with playing all country music, so I took a little bit of the proceeds and found a used Peavey Bandit Redstripe, (USA made version) at Guitar Center's used gear.  This was supposed to be my new amp for band practice since its kept in a barn with little climate control  They have a reputation for sounding really good and built like tanks.

A couple weeks ago, our bass player took the PA out of the barn and grabbed my amp assuming it was my gig amp.  When I arrived at the fairgrounds, he already had my amp on stage, so I just went with it.

Honestly, the amp sounded really good.  Didn't need to turn it up, just needed to position it so I could hear it (often my amps are a few feet behind me and flat on the floor so its hard to really hear it).  

I might just get another one as they just don't make them like this anymore.  Analog, solid state, loud, and very usable all away around.

Edited Wednesday at 12:10 PM by DetroitBlues

[rockabilly69]

Years ago, I played in a country band and we did a lot of winter gigs in Wyoming. We would do 2 nights at each bar, and we would leave our amps in the equipment van overnight. It would get cold as hell up there, sometimes below 0 with windchill. I didn't want to leave one of my expensive tube amps out in the cold, so I bought a Peavey Special 130 which was like a Bandit just more powerful. I paid a few hundred bucks for it used and it never falted once. When I quit that band, I gave it to a close friend who needed an amp. But while I had it, I was surprised how good that amp sounded! I had a simple pedal board that I made with a piece of scrap plywood painted black, that had a volume pedal, Rat distortion, Danelectro DanEcho Delay and a Boss tuner. That was all I needed to get the job done with that amp. Talk about a cheap rig! My guitar was an early seventies Les Paul Deluxe.

 

 

 

[TalismanRich]

The Bandits have been one of those amps that just work without any problem...  mostly bulletproof, don't need to worry about spare tubes, and sound pretty decent.    The Peavey folks actually knew what they were doing!

[DetroitBlues]

15 hours ago, rockabilly69 said:

Years ago, I played in a country band and we did a lot of winter gigs in Wyoming. We would do 2 nights at each bar, and we would leave our amps in the equipment van overnight. It would get cold as hell up there, sometimes below 0 with windchill. I didn't want to leave one of my expensive tube amps out in the cold, so I bought a Peavey Special 130 which was like a Bandit just more powerful. I paid a few hundred bucks for it used and it never falted once. When I quit that band, I gave it to a close friend who needed an amp. But while I had it, I was surprised how good that amp sounded! I had a simple pedal board that I made with a piece of scrap plywood painted black, that had a volume pedal, Rat distortion, Danelectro DanEcho Delay and a Boss tuner. That was all I needed to get the job done with that amp. Talk about a cheap rig! My guitar was an early seventies Les Paul Deluxe.

 

 

 

I've read about the Special 130 and the Studio Pro, both of the Transtube variety and nothing but praise. One would think Peavey would bring them back.  They do still make a Bandit, but its a digital amp these days.  

[Genericmusic]

What's this? Tube people embracing solid state. 😏 I've always maintained both for this same reason. 

Edited Thursday at 12:18 PM by Genericmusic
grammar

[DetroitBlues]

55 minutes ago, Genericmusic said:

What's this? Tube people embracing solid state. 😏 I've always maintained both for this same reason. 

Yup, but I also think there is a difference between analog and digital technology.  The old transistor, analog Bandit is still a serviceable amp just like a tube amp.  The modeling/digital stuff has a shelf life and when it fails, its trash.  

[ElNumero]

On 7/14/2026 at 7:53 PM, TalismanRich said:

The Bandits have been one of those amps that just work without any problem...  mostly bulletproof, don't need to worry about spare tubes, and sound pretty decent.    The Peavey folks actually knew what they were doing!

Actually? Peavey led the charge in PA systems hands down. And their amps were no let down either. My Peavey arsenal is

Peavey Bandit 112

Peavey Express 112

Peavey Classic 50 212

Peavey TNT 115BW bass amp

[ElNumero]

On 7/15/2026 at 8:12 AM, DetroitBlues said:

I've read about the Special 130 and the Studio Pro, both of the Transtube variety and nothing but praise. One would think Peavey would bring them back.  They do still make a Bandit, but its a digital amp these days.  

Everything comes from China now. But you can still find plenty of the USA gear on the market 

[DetroitBlues]

9 hours ago, ElNumero said:

Everything comes from China now. But you can still find plenty of the USA gear on the market 

Yes, my Redstripe is the USA made variant.