My mom bought me this amp about 2 years ago when I got my ESP KH-602. I had the choice between getting a Peavey Valve King 212 Combo, and the Peavey Bandit 112 Combo,and for some reason I got the Bandit 112. I play guitar primarily for a metal band. We're all very young and at the beginning we didn't know very much about being in a band and playing live shows, recording, etc. Mind you, we lacked knowledge of our equipment and didn't really know what we really needed. Well, I found that this is not the greatest amp for metal. It's excellent for blues, rock, and everything in between. But if you want to play metal, the distortion in the lead channel just isn't that generous. No matter how hard I tried, and the hours I spent on it, I could not get a clean metal tone. It was always muddy, and if I did manage to get a somewhat cleaner tone, I still desired more distortion because it was weak, and I was never able to attain it without using a pedal; and being as stubborn as I am, I didn't want to use pedals, nor did I own any. The clean channel is amazing for a solid state; the Trans-tube technology really adds that extra kick. And despite my complaining about the distortion, it is actually okay if you want to play dirty blues or rock like AC/DC and stuff like that. You can add pedals for more distortion and other desired effects; the effects loop is really useful. As I progressed and matured with my band I realized that tube amps/stacks are definitely the way to go for playing live shows and recording. This amp just didn't do it for me. And only after two years, it has lost it's natural tone and just a few weeks ago my speaker blew, probably because I abused the heck out of that thing. Sure it was loud, and is pretty durable, but as you get louder in volume you really start to lose tone, even when you have to power setting on 100%. But never the less, if your looking to just play small clubs/venues or just jam out, this amp is an okay choice. But if you're in a band like mine, touring all over and recording, than something like the Peavey 6505 would be the best choice!

P.S. I hate to sound so stubborn, but throughout the time I have owned this it has given me nothing but hell! I'm impressed, but not blown away.

Ive owned many amps over 30 years,fender,marshall,peavey,crate......this is a very good sounding amp compares closely to my hot rod deluxe,the clean not quite as good but for a solid state close,overall outstanding tone .i use a line 6 pod xt and play through the clean channel.

Ok so heres the deal. I bought this at the local guitar shop because really I just needed a more powerful combo than my 15 watt peavey Rage for practicing. I no longer own any other amplifiers for electric guitar. This thing can do whatever I need it to do. It has amazing lows and crystal clear highs, which most amps $500 and less seriously lack. The distortion options really do cut the need of a stompbox. No Boss Digitech or DOD effects have lived up to this onboard distortion(although that bit is just my opinion). Even so the clean is versatile enough to use whatever effects you desire. All in all an amazing amp. I would buy this 10 times over if I ever had problems(very unlikely because this thing is built sturdy as you would expect from peavey). Any beginners or intermediate players that play at venues or practice with no need of more power should seriously consider this amp. No matter what you play it wont let you down.

i bought this amp about 2 years after i first started playing guitar, the main reason i even considered peavey was for the fact tht Stevie ray vaughan used them, after i plugged in i became hooked i fell in love with this brand. the amp has great gain, espacially for rock, metal, and blues, if you want a heavey gain just buy a distortion pedal and use on the lead channel.

I knew I was going to like this amp! I needed to step away from modeling amps for a while & go to simple reverb and a pedal or two. This amp has a few very cool features like cabinet emulation, pre/post gain controls on the lead channel, 25/50/100% power switch and more.

I bought the used one from Musicians Friend...looks & plays like new...nice!