What Peavey 112 is preferred?

Jon Snyder · From: Nevada, USA

I've seen posts about 112s but never sure which one is being discussed.

I see a Bandit 112 for about $500 and a Nashville 112 for about $750

Both 80 watt and 1x12. What's different between the two?

Are there any other versions of the 112 ?

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

My experience is that most posts about pedal steel amps on this forum referring to the "112" refer to the Nashville 112, which is a pedal steel amp. But it would definitely be better if people were more specific.

There are some other Peavey amps over the years that have had a 112 denotation of some sort. Of course, the Bandit 112, but also the Peavey Classic 30 112, and maybe a few others. These other amps are guitar amps, although I have used Bandits for steel. But they are very different amps than the Nashville 112.

To confuse things more, there are multiple variations of the Bandit 112. Those started in the late 80s or early 90s and continued for some time with various variations. More here - https://forums.peavey.com/viewtopic.php?t=14177 - there are definitely significant differences between the versions.

Of the Bandits, I personally like the original 50 watt Bandit and the Bandit 65. They are straightforward amps that sound good, can be tweaked, and are built very solidly in the USA. You look inside of these older Peaveys and you can see how well built they are.

There are some variations in the Nashville 112 also. The first are silver-stripe, made in USA, and had socketed ICs. At some point, they moved production to China, stopped socketing the ICs, and the latest versions have white chicken head knobs. The socketed ICs are definitely better from a servicing standpoint, since it's much easier to replace ICs, either if an IC goes south, or one wants to try a different variation of the IC. Many here prefer later, low-noise ICs.

I think one can fairly routinely find used Nashville 112s in the $300-500 range on this forum, and old Bandit/Bandit 65s in the $100-150 range various places, including Craigslist.

Jon Snyder · From: Nevada, USA

Dave Thanks for the info.
I thought the Nashville was probably the one and I was using new pricing to help define the different models I was seeing.

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

I don't know what other differences there may be inside or what speakers but the sweepable mids of the Nash 112 are part of what 'define it' as the steel guitar amp. I finally got to play one after all these years and it's a nice amp.

Karl Paulsen · From: Chicago

If you're looking for a steel amp, the Nashville 112 is the one and is likely what folks here are referring to. If you can find a Nashville for $300 jump on it, $400 and up seems to be the norm.

In these 2 cases, 112 is basically just a designation for a combo with one twelve inch speaker. They might share the same power section, but the preamps are likely completely different and as had been said above when dealing with a Steel amp, preamp voicing makes all the difference.

A lot of folks like the various Bandits for 6 string guitar or Guitar and Steel. I've seen it referenced here as a pretty good for steel at a low price and 20 pounds lighter than a Nashville 400 or any of the other Peavey Steel amps of the same era. You can find a Bandit for around here for 150-200. However Peavey Steel amps of similar Vintage such as the Nashville 400, Vegas 400 and others often go for around $300. If you can do $100 dollars more and 20 pounds heavier I'd look for one of those steel-specific amps.

All that said, if I was looking for a new, 12", lightweight amp for steel and had a tight budget I wouldn't look to a Bandit. I'd look at a Fender Rumble 100 Bass amp. 12" Speaker, 100 watts, good tone (though you need a reverb pedal), a preamp and speaker better suited to the wide range of PSG and only 23 pounds for $350.

Best of luck whatever you decide.
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Tim Whitlock · From: Colorado, USA

$500 is way too much for a Bandit. I see them all the time for $200 or so.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

I agree that the Nashville 112 is a good pedal steel amp. However, I'd make the same caveat about not expecting it to blow down the doors in a really, really loud band. I mean, 80 watts is 80 watts, which is plenty loud if the stage volume is not ridiculous but not enough if it is.

BTW - the Peavey Special 130 was designed for guitar, but has a mid-shift control. That is an advantage over the same-era Bandit 65, but otherwise they're very similar. A bit heavier, but not like the double-wide 2-12" or 1-15" behemoths, and of course a lot more compact. And 130 clean RMS watts is a lotta watts if you don't have to blast your way through a way-too-loud rhythm section. Hell, I've seen guys running pairs of Session, Nashville 400s, or other 200+ watt steel amps just so they can stay clean over a too-loud band. But I don't have to deal with that kind of stuff.

Both the Bandit 65 and Special 130 feature a 12" Scorpion speaker. They have a pretty noticeable high-midrange peak which I really like for Tele, but I am not as thrilled with for pedal steel. I stuck a flatter-frequency-response 12" neo speaker in mine when I used it for steel, which reduced the weight and sounded better to me. The amp disappeared from a rehearsal space several years back - apparently someone else liked it too! I paid $100 for it, so I didn't get too excited - that's why I left it at the rehearsal space.

Another candidate in a medium-power Peavey is the Studio Pro 40 or 50. Mid-80s, I have one of each and I really like mine for double-duty guitar and steel if I don't have to be ridiculously loud.

I wouldn't pay too much attention to the phishing prices for this stuff on reverb. I don't generally see people actually getting $250, 300, and up for early Bandits or Specials. An awful lot of guitar players don't want loud and clean these days, and there's a lot of amp snobbery out there which renders these old solid-state Peaveys undesirable to many. But getting a deal requires patience - if you gotta have one TODAY, it's likely to cost more.

BTW - here's a Special 130 and an old, I believe, Magnatone-made lap steel for $250 for the pair, but you'd have to get to Sacramento to get it. Not too bad if you're up around Reno/Tahoe in Nevada. But that lap steel is probably worth $250 by itself - https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=375782

Jon Snyder · From: Nevada, USA

Karl Paulsen · From: Chicago

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

A pair of Nashville 112s on the forum for $350 each - he'll pay shipping if you take both of them - https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=375943

He says that these are from 2005 from Bobbe Seymour's, exactly where/when I got mine - he apparently changed the knobs to chicken heads. But if all that is correct, these should have socketed IC chips like mine do.

As far as I'm concerned, these NV 112s are pretty much "standard issue" for pedal steel these days unless you really need to be loud. They get the job done without a lot of muss and fuss. I had a solder joint come loose on a filter capacitor a few years ago. The amp worked but hummed like crazy. Easy to diagnose and fix - bim, bam, boom, done. Only issue I've ever had with it.

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

I borrowed this Nashville 112 so that I could side-by-side this Quilter TT12 with it. This was my first time with an N112.
I had someone coming over to buy the Quilter and I wanted to give him something to think about re: getting a good amp for almost one third of what I was asking for the Quilter (and screwing myself out of a sale but I was more concerned about him making the right choice).

The Q has a glassier high end and an overall cleaner clean. But the PV had a ton of versatility with the mid circuitry. You could shape the sound a lot.
I tried my best to be neutral. He went home with the Quilter (my new Quilter was delivered while he was playing with these....maybe he took pity on me.)

Interestingly -- the 200W Q was cranked quite high to match the output of the PV -- like, 9 on the Q equaled 6 on the PV . Most curious.

Jon Snyder · From: Nevada, USA

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

Yeah -- power and/or loudness....a whole subject that is a mystery to me.
I have loved my Quilter Micro Pro Mach 2 12HD -- it has been my gigging workhorse for 3 years. I got the TT12 because of all I've read about it. Somehow I never fell in love with it. I got lucky that a friend and steel guitar workbench customer needed a better steel amp than the very disappointing DV Mark he had. So he bought the TT.
And I bought an Aviator Mach 3. Their latest & greatest. I can't say enough about this amp. I am absolutely loving it. The features would be total overkill for a straight-ahead country pedal steel player. But I have a large pedalboard and I split my time between traditional steel and overdriven and FX'd steel and the Mach 3 brings switchable two-channel features to the moon and back.
Most important -- the simple clean blackface voice is big and beautiful. I have liked the Micro Pro's blackface voice a lot. This is better.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Karl Paulsen · From: Chicago

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

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