# Best Peavey Bandit for Metal



## Bearitone (Jan 29, 2019)

Looking into peavey bandits. Whats the best version of the Peavey Bandit for metal? Teal stripe, Red stripe, Silver stripe, or some other incarnation?

I’ve read through a lot of threads but, a lot of them were on TGP and that TDPRI and i don’t know how many of those guys are actually playing metal.


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## Bearitone (Jan 29, 2019)

Not sure how this posted twice. Could a mod delete this one?


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## GunpointMetal (Jan 29, 2019)

Bandits are pretty much pedal platform/practice amps. Haven't played one in years, but owned both the silver stripe and red stripe versions at different times and the onboard distortion isn't anywhere close to what I consider "metal". It can be boosted into that territory, but still kinda grainy/clunky IME. They take all kinds of pedals/preamps pretty well into the clean channel, though.


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## B.M.F. (Jan 29, 2019)

There’s lots of discussions online as to what generation of Peavey Bandit was “the best.” I owned a newer gen-Bandit and then got a XXL 2x12; for metal? The XXL blew away the Bandit easily. The XXL is the top-of-the-line Peavey Transtube amp and one of the last Peaveys to be made in the US. Even the clean channel was also significantly better on the XXL.
The older Peavey Supreme is also worth looking into as far as Peavey solid-state for metal is concerned.
Since then I have moved on from the XXL. I would still recommend the XXL as a backup amp for anyone who plays metal; the third channel (Ultra) has so much gain that a boost is not needed.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 29, 2019)

I was gonna recommend the XXL as well. It seems to be the pinnacle of the Transtube technology. They've been hyped up in recent times, though, so the prices have gone up. 

Otherwise, I think the red stripe Bandit would be the best.


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## GunpointMetal (Jan 29, 2019)

The Special 2x12 was basically the XXL with the red/black cabinet design. They sounded almost identical when I owned both. I think they had different speakers, which made the difference. Same three modes on each channel, same controls.


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## Bearitone (Jan 29, 2019)

BlasphemyMadeFlesh said:


> There’s lots of discussions online as to what generation of Peavey Bandit was “the best.” I owned a newer gen-Bandit and then got a XXL 2x12; for metal? The XXL blew away the Bandit easily. The XXL is the top-of-the-line Peavey Transtube amp and one of the last Peaveys to be made in the US. Even the clean channel was also significantly better on the XXL.
> The older Peavey Supreme is also worth looking into as far as Peavey solid-state for metal is concerned.
> Since then I have moved on from the XXL. I would still recommend the XXL as a backup amp for anyone who plays metal; the third channel has so much gain that a boost is not needed.



Damn, i thought the Bandit was some modern metal hidden gem reading descriptions like “6505-like high gain tones”.

I really didn’t like the XXL i tried in store. I got more of a smooth 80’s metal gain structure from it, not modern brutality. If the XXL is the top of the line transtube i’ll just pass on transtube all together.


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## GunpointMetal (Jan 29, 2019)

Bearitone said:


> Damn, i thought the Bandit was some modern metal hidden gem reading descriptions like “6505-like high gain tones”.
> 
> I really didn’t like the XXL i tried in store. I got more of a smooth 80’s metal gain structure from it, not modern brutality. If the XXL is the top of the line transtube i’ll just pass on transtube all together.


There are three different gain modes on both crunch and lead channels. Definitely not just "smooth 80s" sounds.


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## Bearitone (Jan 29, 2019)

GunpointMetal said:


> There are three different gain modes on both crunch and lead channels. Definitely not just "smooth 80s" sounds.



I’ll have to find one and try it again


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## ATRguitar91 (Jan 29, 2019)

The Supreme 160 is a very cool amp if you want to go with a Peavey solid state. It can get really raunchy on its own and especially with a boost.

The active EQ is very responsive and you can absolutely gut the mids for old school death metal tones.


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## TheWarAgainstTime (Jan 29, 2019)

I had a red stripe Bandit as my first "real" amp years ago and it served me well for my first few gigs and many practices with a full band. I never used pedals with it, but I was happy enough with the tone at the time playing modern rock and covering heavier stuff at home. It would probably benefit from a boost, but it's a solid platform as is.


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## scratchNdentPrestige (Jan 29, 2019)

I had a bandit as one of my first amps a zillion years ago, seemed indestructible but not great sounding. Weirdly enough recently I had a bass player in a band who was using one as a bass amp for low volume stuff. I was telling him he would blow up the speaker, and he said "nah, I have been using it like this for years" - and I guess it kept working.



Bearitone said:


> Damn, i thought the Bandit was some modern metal hidden gem reading descriptions like “6505-like high gain tones”.



Not saying it is exactly 6505 like, but the peavey prowler is close to a hidden gem. I had one for a bit and it is the peavey I most regret selling. I got it for dirt cheap used, and it was a pretty great amp for the price. I think the Ultra is similar, and I have heard the XXX is great as well. I also had a 120 watt VTM (bought new!) when I was younger, and it was a super amp, but maybe more marshall like if I remember correctly. I'd check out any of those over a bandit.


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## PunkBillCarson (Jan 30, 2019)

The newer Peavey Bandits with transtube sounded pretty damn gnarly. Now granted, many people here will have it pegged for "bad tone" but for old school black metal/Swedish death metal, it's pretty good even without a boost.


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## Gmork (Jan 30, 2019)

The old vintagevbandit 65 was my first real amp way back when! 
Anyway, concerning transtube stuff i have a peavey transtube special 2x12 and its one of the most brutal tones ive ever heard from an amp! No joke!


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## KailM (Jan 30, 2019)

It doesn't matter which version you get, as long as you run an HM-2, dimed, into the input -- as any reasonable person would do.


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## MaxOfMetal (Jan 30, 2019)

For as cheap as you can grab the older ones, just try them all. There's usually at least a few for <$100 available on CL at any given time. Really anything under $200 will be easy to resell for what you payed.


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## trem licking (Jan 30, 2019)

I used a peavey supreme head in a band for a bit, it sounded awesome. super heavy, tight and chuggy. would not hesitate to get one cheap.


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## Lax (Jan 30, 2019)

I have a silver striped sheffield bandit 112 and it did fine with a multieffect and a dist in front, for my 1996 black metal band


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## VBCheeseGrater (Feb 4, 2019)

I found the Teal stripes to have kinda dry and focused distortion, but still very much metal - nice "edge" to the sound. I had the later model as well, i believe a red stripe, and I found it to be a fire breathing beast with a tube screamer out front - killer chug tones out of that thing for what is basically a large practice amp.


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## Isurez (Feb 4, 2019)

I had Peavey Bandit 112 Teal Stripe, my friend @Amanita can confirm that I was able to get some good tones out of it. I was using this amp mostly for practice, sometimes I got some pedals to test them out on it and surprisingly they were working pretty fine. Suhr Riot, Ibanez TS9, BOSS HM-2, Ibanez AD9 it's only part of the effects I had the opportunity to try with this amplifier. Funny story because two years ago I sold it to my brother and he is playing some gigs with bigger pedalboards because he and his band are really into shoegaze, post-punk, indie stuff and can't complain about anything when it comes to Peavey. It's worth to admit that this amplifier is about 30 years old and I think that he is going to hold twice much. 

Also guys from Lynyrd Skynyrd used to play on Peavey stuff due their durability and sound.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Feb 4, 2019)

Isurez said:


> Also guys from Lynyrd Skynyrd used to play on Peavey stuff due their durability and sound.



Gary Rossington has used nothing but Peavey since like 1975. I think he forced the rest of the band to use them as well for endorsement reasons up until the plane crash, but he still uses them to this day.


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## Necky379 (Feb 4, 2019)

ATRguitar91 said:


> The Supreme 160 is a very cool amp if you want to go with a Peavey solid state. It can get really raunchy on its own and especially with a boost.
> 
> The active EQ is very responsive and you can absolutely gut the mids for old school death metal tones.



That’s my favorite sound with the Bandit. I run it as a head through a cab with a lot of mids and an mt-2 + hm-2 upfront. The settings are laughable but the HM-2 and speakers add a lot of mids. I don’t know how well it would work in a band but as a dicking around in the bedroom rig it sounds _so _good. 
I have a 5150 and I don’t think they sound comparable at all. The Bandit sound is awesome, so is the 6505/5150 sound. I haven’t had them in the same room to compare them but would bet the 5150 could bury the Bandit if that’s what you were trying to do. They could sound good together too, might try that sometime.


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## broj15 (Feb 4, 2019)

Bearitone said:


> Damn, i thought the Bandit was some modern metal hidden gem reading descriptions like “6505-like high gain tones”.



I've never heard anyone compare a bandit to a 6505, however I feel like the reason bandits are sought after is thier association with the old school swedish death and black metal sound. HM2 or any equivelant with all the knobs set to 10 into a teal stripe bandit will get you pretty close to entombed-core tones for relatively cheap.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Feb 4, 2019)

I dug the Bandit I had for what it was. An abraisive SS sound that has a bit more warmth than your standard SS amp. I don't expect massive tube-like 5150 hugeness. 

Although the Bandit I had DEFINTITELY had a better clean sound than the 5150II I had.


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## PunkBillCarson (Feb 5, 2019)

Even though I've got a 6505+, I would absolutely love to have a Peavey Bandit in my collection just for the types of tones you get. Bad tones, be damned, I'll make something of it!


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Feb 5, 2019)

The only thing I didn't like about my silver stripe is that it didn't like boosts. At least it didn't like the Ibanez TS5 I threw in front of it. I wish I still ahd it so I could try a SD-1 instead.


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## BornToLooze (Feb 5, 2019)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Gary Rossington has used nothing but Peavey since like 1975. I think he forced the rest of the band to use them as well for endorsement reasons up until the plane crash, but he still uses them to this day.



From what I remember, he always used Peavey, and Ed King and Allen Collins used Marshalls and Fenders on the records. But I'm pretty sure every live video I've seen of a southern rock band besides the Allmans was full of Peavey.

I've been thinking of getting another one because I've been playing a lot more older stuff (metal's cool and all, but southern rock is my first love), and I found one video where the dude had dialed in a metal-ish tone, and it was crazy how close to my Katana it sounded.


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## sharedEQ (Feb 5, 2019)

Check out first gen peavey vypyrs. They are digitally controlled transtube circuit with built in effects. You get different versions of the preamp..jsx xxx 5150 that all sound like bandits.

The bigger ones are in same territory as bandit..practice amp thats big enough to gig.

I think later vypyrs got digital preamps.


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## Symo (Jun 26, 2021)

Peavey bandit teal with a Victory Kraken 4 cabled in, it’s soo good.


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## c7spheres (Jun 26, 2021)

I had the Express and Bandit blue stripe and the Supreme 160 blue stripe in early 90's. Both can do the metal. Never compared them to newer incarnations.


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## c7spheres (Jun 26, 2021)

Necky379 said:


> That’s my favorite sound with the Bandit. I run it as a head through a cab with a lot of mids and an mt-2 + hm-2 upfront. The settings are laughable but the HM-2 and speakers add a lot of mids. I don’t know how well it would work in a band but as a dicking around in the bedroom rig it sounds _so _good.
> I have a 5150 and I don’t think they sound comparable at all. The Bandit sound is awesome, so is the 6505/5150 sound. I haven’t had them in the same room to compare them but would bet the 5150 could bury the Bandit if that’s what you were trying to do. They could sound good together too, might try that sometime.



Why you connect effects send directly to the return for?


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jun 26, 2021)

Whoah this thread is back. 




c7spheres said:


> Why you connect effects send directly to the return for?



I'm guessing it effects the sound in some way, or maybe something broke and throwing a patch cable in the loop fixed it. IIRC some of those old Peavey amps have weird FX loops and them fucking up can effect the actual amp.


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## Necky379 (Jun 26, 2021)

c7spheres said:


> Why you connect effects send directly to the return for?



There’s an issue with it I don’t want to pay to have fixed, the patch cable works


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## c7spheres (Jun 26, 2021)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Whoah this thread is back.
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Necky379 said:


> There’s an issue with it I don’t want to pay to have fixed, the patch cable works



It just might sound better that way anyways. : )


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## Jacksonluvr636 (Jun 26, 2021)

Sleeper. My old drummer has a silver, sounds fucking sick. Couldn't really get it loud enough for band practice but for a home combo it's great.


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## zilla (Jun 29, 2021)

FWIW James Brown's signature is on the signoff box on the original Supreme 160 (same preamp as the bandit) schematics. 

If you play a bandit-stype amp into a 2x12 or 4x12 closed back cab with v30's it sounds *very* modern.


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## wheresthefbomb (Jun 29, 2021)

Teal Stripe=TRVE KVLT

But any bandit should get you there. Peavey's whole line of transtube amps are great, though the white stripe ones tend to have cheaper plastic pots and the like. I got a $10 white stripe Rage 158 from Value Village that has no business sounding as good as it does.

Also saw a Rage 158 red stripe on local CL that someone had cut down to a head, they did a really nice job and I almost bought it but I couldn't quite justify $100 for what is basically a meme.

Edit: PEAVEY


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## Necky379 (Jun 29, 2021)

I’m in the process of resto-modding this one. I smashed the baffle out, the amp is going to get rehoused as a head and I’m going to make a new baffle with a front facing shelf port (is that a thing, you get it, a rectangular port) on the bottom. So the space on top that the amp would normally occupy will be on the bottom and act as a port. The speaker might be trashed but I’ll look into repairing that when I get there.


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