Originally Posted by: ekpVirtually all make this sort of statement, but the reality is that it is solid state and its typical circuitry versus tubes and their typical circuitry. It is possible to make a great solid state amp just as it is possible to make a bad tube amp. The problem that the solid state designers have had over the years is that they did not know what in a tube amp was important to the musicians and being annointed by acedemia, they were not very interested in listening to musicians either.

As far as your amp's problem goes, the more likely problem is that there is a connection somewhere that has gone sour. If the amp uses IC sockets - they corrode over time. Peavey uses tin coated connectors - they too corrode. Since both of these are sliding contacts, they will clean themselves with a little help of moving the connectors in and out - just make sure that if you pull a connector or IC out that it goes back in the same way. Of course there is contact cleaner available at Radio Shack and some electronics stores. Spray some on the contacts to help clean them.

I had a board once upon a time that had a joint that looked good but when I touched with an iron, I found that the solder had been completely disconnected from the printed circuit board by corrosion. So I cleaned it up and resoldered the joint. Of course, some care should be taken while doing this sort of thing - power cord disconnected and good soldering technique...

Have a great day, Eric Pritchard, Pritchard Amps, www.pritchardamps.com

Well, when I said the Bandit was a crap amp, that's an opinion. When I say solid state amps are crap, that was another opinion. I personally have never had any "great" tones from a solid state amp. Maybe there are some out there that do give good tone, but I don't have the convience of being able to go out and try out every model of amp.

Thanks for your input on what may be wrong with the amp, but that's a little too technical for the everyday guitar player to dive in to try to do. I think I'll just throw the Bandit out the window, maybe destroy it at a show for a laugh....