I Slept On Old Peavey Solid States for Way Too Long

[Harbinger77]

Josh Home’s secret weapon is god-given talent.

Good luck to those paying silly prices for stuff people couldn’t give away for 3 decades.

 

[OmegaWoods]

Josh Home’s secret weapon is god-given talent.

Good luck to those paying silly prices for stuff people couldn’t give away for 3 decades.

I know what you mean but I suspect Mr. Homme earned most of his "talent" the way all great players do. Decades of hard work.

 

[jvin248]

"Redneck Marshalls" -- I like that a lot, haha.

"Mississippi Marshalls" is the term I heard. Country bands all over Texas used them for decades.

I have a pair of Bandits, an old 65 and a more modern 112, plus a Red Stripe 2x12 Studio Pro. Really, don't get hung up on what color stripe is on them. They are all great.
I bought mine all used before Shane of 'InTheBlues' youtube channel talked them up so much that the used market prices doubled over six months. The Bandit 65 I have I got with an Epiphone LP guitar, a couple of guitar cables, and picks or something all for $75.


Here is how to get the most out of them



Use them like a clean PA system and put a cab sim pedal like a Joyo American Sound pedal in front of them to do all your Fender tube amp tones (player here uses a Fender amp set on squeaky clean as if he's running to a PA or a Bandit clean channel. Second video by Shane is a blind A/B test of the Joyo against a Fender tube amp. It's a great pedal.




Segeborn gives them a good run, and recommendation.



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[t-ray]

My first amp was a Backstage 20 that was great. Then I discovered vintage tube amps and it collected dust until I sold it. Wish I had it today. Never sell your first amp or guitar...

I kept mine! Probably because I was too lazy to sell it. I bought it in the 1980's and it sat collecting dust for a long, long time. I pulled it out a few years ago and, holy cow, it sure did sound good. It has a saturation circuit similar to the OP's and the reverb sounds pretty darn nice. Real easy to dial in a good tone.

 

[Boreas]

I kept mine! Probably because I was too lazy to sell it. I bought it in the 1980's and it sat collecting dust for a long, long time. I pulled it out a few years ago and, holy cow, it sure did sound good. It has a saturation circuit similar to the OP's and the reverb sounds pretty darn nice. Real easy to dial in a good tone.
View attachment 928623

I don't recall - is that a 10" or 12" speaker?

 

[t-ray]

I don't recall - is that a 10" or 12" speaker?

Ten.

 

[Gimble]

My first guitar amp. The T-60 that I got at the same time for my 16th birthday (in 1983) didn't survive my cash-starved 20s but I've been toting this thing around for nearly 40 years.

It (recently) spent a decade in a storage unit so it needs a good cleaning and some TLC but it still GETS LOUD!! I'm so glad I kept it.

View attachment 928545

This was my first gigging amp! So cool to see one…

 

[DavidP]

I foolishly sold my Meridian-made red stripe Bandit 112 a few years ago. Great cleans and even the OD was decent; built like a tank and weighed as much!! I've often thought that someone could clean up if they offered a non-MDF cabinet for these amps.

 

[Mowgli]

Welcome to the club of SS Peavey amp lovers. I was a late convert, too!

You may want to see if your model is one that will accept the Burr Brown IC chip upgrade. I updated my Session 500 and Special 130 with these chips I bought from Ken Fox's website several years ago. It made a positive difference.

 

[brindlepicker]

Thanks for posting for some setting ideas. I like my studio pro 40. It’s missing a few controls of the 65.

Anything special added with the recording software? Reading the “get this tone” thread on the Kirk Fletcher clip got me thinking.

I sold my first amp and guitar with no regrets in the late 80’s. A Lotus strat and Gorilla amp. What a combo.

 

[JRapp]

I have been kickin around on old Peaveys since the early 80s; VT Classic 50s, Bandit 65s, Special 130s, the earlier models. Never had one fail in any way. They're not for everything, but with a judicious speaker swap they do a reasonable Fenderish clean tone. Never spent more than 150 bucks for one. I did the chip upgrade on the Special 130 and it's a bit clearer sounding, you might like it, you might not. Lab Series, old SS Randalls, some of the Holmes models (esp. with a Tele/Strat) are pretty good too.

 

[Harbinger77]

I know what you mean but I suspect Mr. Homme earned most of his "talent" the way all great players do. Decades of hard work.

I didn’t think it was necessary to point out the fact that a man who has been making his living as a VERY successful musician since the 80s has been working hard at his craft. The point I was making: one crappy amp sounds good when he uses it because he is a creative genius. The amp isn’t lightning in a bottle, he is.

 

[_MementoMori_]

Josh Homme's secret weapon is a badass ginger pompadour.

 

[Les H]

I grew up with Peaveys in the 80s and 90s. My local music store was a PV dealer and back then I never thought anything less of them as they were on every country music act's stage back then. Marshalls were for the rock guys and PV was for the country guys, pretty common knowledge it seemed. Fender amps of the late 80s were kind of a non-event and I don't recall ever seeing one in use back then.

My son in law recently brought me up a 1978 PV Pacer that was landfill bound and I cleaned it up and put a new speaker in it and I have been seriously impressed with the sounds I have been getting out of that little SS amp.

Sometimes I wonder if the biggest part of the bad rap they get is because they were often a beginner's amp based on price and people just associate the sound of them from when they were starting out. I mean I could have made a Twin Reverb or a JCM800 sound like @ss in my first couple of years playing.

 

[Telecaster88]

My first amp was a Gorilla GG 25, from about 1984. Then I got a Peavey Backstage Plus, which I used for years. I still have it. I psychedelicized it with spray paint. I'll have to dig it out and snap some pics. Then I went to a Red Knob Fender Pro 185 2x12 for the duration of my gigging career.

Sometimes I wonder if the biggest part of the bad rap they get is because they were often a beginner's amp based on price and people just associate the sound of them from when they were starting out. I mean I could have made a Twin Reverb or a JCM800 sound like @ss in my first couple of years playing.

I had this exact thought, and now I'm really curious to pull out that old Peavey. It hasn't been plugged in since probably 1989.

 

[Alaska Mike]

My first decent amp was a Bandit 65, which my parents bought me for Christmas. I had been down at the local music shop nearly every day playing it, had shown it to my mother on numerous occasions, and one day in December it was gone. I was destroyed, but the shop guys said they could order a new one and it would be in around February. Of course, it was sitting in the back room with my name on it. I was the happiest kid in the world on Christmas morning. That thing was a tank, and weighed about as much as one. The reverb would fart if you bumped it hard, and would take forever to settle down.

A couple years later I traded it for a Princeton, which was traded a couple years after that for a JC55.

Had a lot of Peavey PA stuff at one time, and even bought a Peavey single humbucker Strat copy because a girl said it was pretty. Honestly, everything I bought with that pointy logo never let me down. Wasn't the most "hip" stuff that would earn you instant street cred, and it never really got the respect it deserved.

Last year I bought Peavey's amplifier emulator, not realizing how far they had fallen. Shame, but I guess the retail model changed and they didn't. I always respected how they treated their retailers.

 

[codamedia]

I worked a Special 130 from '84 - '93....
I still have a Special 130 (not the same one), and I still reach for it more often than I reach for my tube amps. Yes... it is that good!

 

[Maguchi]

Just like the title says, I have had this amp at my disposal my entire life -- it belongs to my father. However, I always passed on using it, instead chasing old tube amps (which I still love too, haha). A few weeks ago, I finally decided to dig it out of storage and mess with it a bit, and I have to admit that I feel foolish for not making more use out of this old Peavey Bandit 65.

This thing has some absolutely fantastic clean sounds!! I'm sure many of you already know this, but better late to the party than not show up at all! Haha.

But seriously, some of those old solid state Peaveys can be really good sounding. Built like tanks, too.

I've always liked Peaveys...where I grew up they were known as Redneck Marshalls.

I got a new Peavey Bandit 65 on sale in 1986 shortly after I first started playing out and have used it to gig ever since. Has held up with no problems for over 35 years and still sounds great with or without pedals, nice reverb sound too. Also got a newer 2015 USA made 80 watt Peavey Nashville 112 too. Made for pedal steel, but works great for guitar too.

 

[dukewellington]

You still see Bandit

Just like the title says, I have had this amp at my disposal my entire life -- it belongs to my father. However, I always passed on using it, instead chasing old tube amps (which I still love too, haha). A few weeks ago, I finally decided to dig it out of storage and mess with it a bit, and I have to admit that I feel foolish for not making more use out of this old Peavey Bandit 65.

This thing has some absolutely fantastic clean sounds!! I'm sure many of you already know this, but better late to the party than not show up at all! Haha.

You still see Bandits and their kinfolk snoozing on the back line at bars across the country, night after night, because they’re pretty awesome little workhorses. Always have been! Enjoy your amp, dude

 

[Phrygian77]

Sounds uncomfortable!

But seriously, some of those old solid state Peaveys can be really good sounding. Built like tanks, too.

It took me way too long to get this, but when I did, you got a genuine chuckle. Haha. Thank you!

They do seem to keep you warming during cold nights too, right?

I took a bottle of rye to a local festival gig one time. The whole band pretty much downed that bottle waiting for our set in addition to drinking beers from the brewery that was there. Afterwards when we were done loading up all of our gear in the back of the truck, I laid down on top and passed out. Drum stands and all poking me in the ribs. I'm pretty sure the bassist's Peavey rig was underneath also.