1987 Peavey Bandit 65 Thoughts Blast from the past

**Fear the Reaper** · 10-01-2022, 10:30 AM

In the past, 10 years ago, I have owned a Peavy Envoy 10" transtube. At that time it sounded very good to me. Not so much anymore with owning higher end amp heads and speaker cabs.

But occasionally I am looking for a solid state amp that might be a "sleeper" or overlooked. From my research the 1980's Peavey Bandit 65, 12" Scorpion speaker, 65 watts might be one.

I just found one on Craigslist for $100. My former guitar teacher raved about the Scorpion speaker. The seller sent me a video of the clean channel. Nice.
Overall it is the cleanest one I have seen. Many have been heavey used over the years. I would say based on pics 8 out of 10. It was in storage many years and has a dust cover.

Please let me know if you have any experience with the this amp.
Thanks!

**citizenk74** · 10-01-2022, 12:59 PM

Had a buddy who had one. Sounded great, never let him down.

**Fear the Reaper** · 10-01-2022, 01:37 PM

Interesting as alot of people say the same. For $100 I couldn't pass it up with it's reputation.

Originally Posted by citizenk74

Had a buddy who had one. Sounded great, never let him down.

**Jimmy blue note** · 10-01-2022, 02:13 PM

Absolute gems in my book. For years, it was Mick Goodrick's go-to gigging amp because they were light enough to be easily portable, had great warmth and clarity and built like tanks, and cheap enough not to worry about. He had two- for chorus and one developed some problems and he gave it away. The new owner took it to an amp tech and whatever the problem was, he had it running in no time.
Reliability of transistors, warmth and characters of tubes, and good clarity, true sound and reliability. Hundred bucks? Try it and see if it works for you and if it seems halfway decent, I recommend you go for it.
In Mick's words "Nothing special but everything I ever needed." And he played it without any further thoughts or regrets for many many years.

**Fear the Reaper** · 10-01-2022, 05:09 PM

Great endorsement story!
"Nothing special, but everything I need.
BTW I just found out that Mick lives about one hour north of me.

Originally Posted by Jimmy blue note

Absolute gems in my book. For years, it was Mick Goodrick's go-to gigging amp because they were light enough to be easily portable, had great warmth and clarity and built like tanks, and cheap enough not to worry about. He had two- for chorus and one developed some problems and he gave it away. The new owner took it to an amp tech and whatever the problem was, he had it running in no time.
Reliability of transistors, warmth and characters of tubes, and good clarity, true sound and reliability. Hundred bucks? Try it and see if it works for you and if it seems halfway decent, I recommend you go for it.
In Mick's words "Nothing special but everything I ever needed." And he played it without any further thoughts or regrets for many many years.

**ThatRhythmMan** · 10-01-2022, 09:25 PM

I had one as the first amp I bought. I remember the clean channel being fine, but as I was trying to play Megadeth if felt like a huge mistake, considering it cost about half of what I made that summer.

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**Fear the Reaper** · 10-02-2022, 09:26 AM

I am buying the Peavey Bandit 65 today. And a Henriksen Blue 6 later this week. Is there something wrong with me? BTW The Blue 6 is a 1/3th the size and twice the wattage.

**Jimmy blue note** · 10-02-2022, 10:13 AM

Originally Posted by Fear the Reaper

I am buying the Peavey Bandit 65 today. And a Henriksen Blue 6 later this week. Is there something wrong with me? BTW The Blue 6 is a 1/3th the size and twice the wattage.

Wattage and db don't necessarily correlate when you're talking solid state and tubes. One of those funny things. I had a 30 watt Boogie that was a hand grenade with a speaker. Just sayin'
Try it out before you buy it. Make sure it's inspiring. Amps are very personal things. You know.

**nevershouldhavesoldit** · 10-02-2022, 10:27 AM

We have a Bandit in the backline where I play regularly. It belongs to the bass player in our blues band (who owns the club). He’s had it for the 15 years I’ve been playing with him and it’s never failed. It sounds great at any volume, and it’ll do clean jazz, over the top sizzle, and anything in between. For $100, you can’t beat it.

**Fear the Reaper** · 10-02-2022, 05:18 PM

Met the owner this afternoon. Very interesting fellow. Masters in music and Phd in something else. He's retired as a professor at the local college. But he's cut back to gigging with "only" 3 bands. Jazz is his true love and has a regular Friday night gig play it.

He dropped the price from $125 to $100 as I was driving about an hour to meet. Seeing how good of condition it was in, I tried to give him the full $125. He wouldn't take it.

Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit

We have a Bandit in the backline where I play regularly. It belongs to the bass player in our blues band (who owns the club). He’s had it for the 15 years I’ve been playing with him and it’s never failed. It sounds great at any volume, and it’ll do clean jazz, over the top sizzle, and anything in between. For $100, you can’t beat it.

**Jimmy blue note** · 10-02-2022, 06:02 PM

Good karma in an amp. Do it justice!
I got Mick's when he stopped using it. Still trying to do it justice ;-)

**TheGrandWazoo** · 10-03-2022, 12:45 PM

I LOVE my Bandit 65. They say its 65 watts but it sounds like it 650. It will peel paint at 20 yards.

Best thing to do also is get a standard mono jack and connect the wires and insert it into the foot switch jack. This will keep the clean channel always on and reverb. No foot pedal needed. Keep the Scorpion too. Great speaker.

**entresz** · 10-03-2022, 10:51 PM

I sold my Bandit 65 a couple years ago and regret selling it. I bought a Black Widow speaker for mine (Peavey's take on the JBL sound) and it sounded great. The stock Scorpion speaker isn't bad either.