Peavey Solo Bandit Speaker Question

[Barley Henton]

Hi, I recently picked up a 1982 50w Bandit. I like it, but the more I try to dial in a tone I realize that I can’t get a sound where the highs aren’t shrill and piercing. I have played around with the eq and tried other peoples suggestions, including the manual. Is this just how this amp is, or would changing the speaker from the stock scorpion help? I know some love the scorpion, but maybe it just doesn’t work for me. Is there a speaker with a tighter bass and less ice picky highs? I know it’s the player and not the gear, but I need all the help I can get lol. I’ve heard the WGS ET-65 was nice, but any suggestions appreciated. Also, I’m using Pretzel pickups. My classic vibe 50’s Tele with the alnico 3 are not as spikey through the bandit. Style of music and sound I’m looking for is classic to 90s country. Thank you

 

[mexicanyella]

I don’t have any speaker swap suggestions, but I think the Scorpion 12 is known to be pretty flat response, heavy duty as 12” guitar speakers go, which is why some of them were also installed in PA monitors and little PA cabs.

My experience with Peavey amp EQ of that era has led me to end up with some pretty counterintuitive settings. Sometimes setting all the knobs fairly low and just cranking the amp up more to compensate can get some warmer, fuller sounds. One old early 80s Peavey SS amp I have works best for me with the bass, mids and treble all in the 2-4 range, depending on which guitar I am playing. Also, it sounds fuller, smoother and better to me with a compressor pedal in front, compressing a little and boosting a fair amount, into a low enough amp gain setting that the amp would be clean by itself. Having the extra push coming from the compressor pedal makes for grit that I like better.

(I think the “pull thick” control was mislabeled, and was supposed to be “pull suck,” or maybe “pull yuck”—YMMV.)

Another thing you could try, since you have a presence knob like my late 80s Special 150 combo...pretend the clean channel is an old Marshall or something and you want to crank it hard to get it into the rock zone. Dime the mids and treble. Bring up the bass and presence to taste. On the Special 150 this makes a pretty cool pants-flapping classic rock rhythm sound, with the caveat that as you change the volume level, you need to readjust the bass and presence to suit.

Having the treble wide open seems counterintuitive, given your issue, but that part of the EQ is passive/cut only. The presence is active cut/boost though...so having that at a lower setting with the treble and mids full up is more about aggressive upper mids, and the presence cut tames the “teeth” and “spikiness” as needed.

Might not work for your tastes as it did for me, but it’a cheaper than speaker swapping and worth a try...

 

[Barley Henton]

Thank you so much for your advice. I will definitely try that tonight. I am glad you mentioned it’s ok for the knobs to look a little odd. I think I second guess myself and think “that can’t be right” and it’s nice to have someone with more experience say that it’s ok. And I agree on the “pull suck” ha

 

[mexicanyella]

I meant to add that when I’m cranking on the Special 150 clean channel as described, I usually have my bass knob around 2, no more than 3, mids and treble end up wide open or just below, and presence is pretty far into the left (“cut”) half of the rotation. -6 to -9, thereabouts. This leaves enough upper mids to seem bright and rockish but the low presence setting keeps it from tearing my face off or shattering my molars, and the low bass setting is just enough to sound full with zero flub or woof. This is on a hardtail Squier strat with a single bridge humbucker; with single coils you may find you want more on the bass control...but start low and bring it up gradually and try to err on the side of “less,” and live with it for a bit and see if you can find something you like in there.

Also, this is all referring to clean channel. if you venture into the pre and post “Sat” controls, the dirt channel stuff, try keeping the pre settings low and the post settings high. Old Peaveys can get some pretty cool sleaze grit going that way that still cleans up when you play soft, but in my experience there’s a point in that pre control that once you pass it, you’re in harsh land no matter how hard or soft you play.

Also, the whole dimed mids and treble thing will probably be a whole different uninhabitable planet once you’re in the dirt channel, but at that point you may have a better sense of what you can achieve with weird settings and find a dirt channel configuration you like too.

Later 80s ones like my Special and I think the Bandit 75 have the EQ controls other than presence bypassed when on the dirt channel, and a preset EQ curve designed for hair metal soloing. I think of it as “perma-Dokken.” I have not found much use for it. But the clean channel is great, tons of slam.

 

[mexicanyella]

Post a follow up after you play around with it...interested to hear how you get on. Meanwhile If I think of any other stuff I’ll suggest it.

 

[Maguchi]

Hi, I recently picked up a 1982 50w Bandit. I like it, but the more I try to dial in a tone I realize that I can’t get a sound where the highs aren’t shrill and piercing. I have played around with the eq and tried other peoples suggestions, including the manual. Is this just how this amp is, or would changing the speaker from the stock scorpion help? I know some love the scorpion, but maybe it just doesn’t work for me. Is there a speaker with a tighter bass and less ice picky highs? I know it’s the player and not the gear, but I need all the help I can get lol. I’ve heard the WGS ET-65 was nice, but any suggestions appreciated. Also, I’m using Pretzel pickups. My classic vibe 50’s Tele with the alnico 3 are not as spikey through the bandit. Style of music and sound I’m looking for is classic to 90s country. Thank you

If you can get hold of a Scorpion speaker from an old Peavey amp or cab those should work well. I have a Scorpion that came in my '86 Peavey Bandit 65 and it sounds great. None of the shrill and piercing sounds described above.

 

[dukewellington]

Are you using the foot switch? Try going into the back of the amp. Dial in some reverb.

I like to use the normal channel on the back of the amp. Here are my settings. I use an eq. The speaker is a Celestion G12M-70 from 1982.

 

[NoTeleBob]

Legend 1258 might give you tighter bass and tamed treble. Or the Cannabis Rex. The hemp definitely cuts highs.

Try to find one used so you can resell at cost if it doesn't give you what you want.

 

[Telecastoff1]

Those are great amps and I really like the 12" Scorpions.....most of the time. Make sure your Bright switch isn't pulled on. Be sure your pots are all cleaned, to be certain you're getting all of the EQ you need and where you need it. What guitar are you running thru that amp? I'll second the suggestion of upgrading the speaker to either a Cannabis Rex or a Swamp Thang.....if you're certain the Scorpion is your culprit.

 

[PhoenixBill]

Have you had all of the electrolytic capacitors replaced? Peavey used them as coupling caps as well as power supply caps and by now they are way past their “best by…” date. If they have dried out and changed their value, they may no longer be passing low frequencies, leaving the sound shrill and trebly. It’s like driving a sports car with 40 year old shock absorbers and wondering why the ride is lousy.