HeHasTheJazzHands
Well-Known Member
Maggot, if you replace the stock Sheffield with something like a V30 or WGS Vet 30 or Retro 30, you'll have an amazing amp. 
Whats the deal with 5150s?
- Thread starter Drewby
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jvm210guy
New Member
No man, I'm sorry they don't do classic crunch well at all. I've played peavey for years and I've also played a 6505 plus right before I got my Marshall. They are great metal amps that provide a great specific metal tone, and decent cleans FOR METAL.
Trust me, look elsewhere for classic rock tones (Marshall does this the best IMO).
5150's are easy to work on but the preamper's are board mounted.
Maggot Brain
Well-Known Member
Maggot, if you replace the stock Sheffield with something like a V30 or WGS Vet 30 or Retro 30, you'll have an amazing amp.
Yeah, Iv heard quite a few people suggest throwing a V30 in this combo, definitely sounds like a good idea.
I find it odd that so many people claim it can only do metal. Iv spoke to quite a few people that have called it a one trick pony. I just played a 4 set blues show with this amp last night. Slight crunchy blues, I used the clean channel, if I wanted some extra bite, I hit the crunch button. I loved every note that came out of my amp, very fun and inspiring to play. Got some lovely bluesy tones with the 6505/schecter combo haha! I love it.
I can get other tones but they don't excel at other tones. a bias mod helps immensely though. My old co guitarist loved them for blues and rock though. it's all into the personal perspective but i don't think they do anything else WELL asside hard rock and metal/shred and even shred is iffy because they're not bright enough for what I LIKE.
HeHasTheJazzHands
Well-Known Member
The 6505 PLUS (the oneyou have) is a lot more versatile then people make it out to be. Two channels, split EQ, less and brighter gain. What more can you ask for?
But maybe you might like the stock speaker. Remember a lot of the stuff we suggested you and you said didn't work out for you?
KH Guitar Freak
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I think it can still cop some of that later 80s tone if you turn down the gain and fiddle with the controls a bit more. I like my block letter 5150. The 6505 IMO should be the same if you swap out all the stock valves for better ones...
BeardedRetroGuy
Well-Known Member
You want a 5150 to do Classic Rock and 80's metal? I'm suprised no one here has brought up Peavey's 6534+. It's basically a 6505+ but instead of pushing the power stage with 6L6s, they use EL34s, just like most Marshalls.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV8suNgRdXs]Peavey 6534 Plus Amp Review/Demo - YouTube[/ame]
It's been my opinion that Peavey's 5150, 6505+, etc amps were American-voiced like the Mesa amps. The whole point of getting one of these was to get the American tone as opposed to a British tone. People who wanted British sound should stick with Orange and Marshall amps.
And if you want to play metal with a Marshall, get the JVM.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV8suNgRdXs]Peavey 6534 Plus Amp Review/Demo - YouTube[/ame]
It's been my opinion that Peavey's 5150, 6505+, etc amps were American-voiced like the Mesa amps. The whole point of getting one of these was to get the American tone as opposed to a British tone. People who wanted British sound should stick with Orange and Marshall amps.
And if you want to play metal with a Marshall, get the JVM.
HeHasTheJazzHands
Well-Known Member
^6L6's can nail the 80's tone perfectly fine. Look at the Mark series.
And from what I was told, the differences between the 6534+ and 6505+ is minimal.
And still don't see why the 6505 can only be brutal. Maybe if there were more people to demonstrate it's versatility.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsdCsy_onY0[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es3jYZFSBMI[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC2VoL_k4Zg[/ame]
And from what I was told, the differences between the 6534+ and 6505+ is minimal.
And still don't see why the 6505 can only be brutal. Maybe if there were more people to demonstrate it's versatility.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsdCsy_onY0[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es3jYZFSBMI[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC2VoL_k4Zg[/ame]
6505 can do everything it just SHINES at brutal imo.
the 6534+ has a redisgned preamp too but they don't advertise it as much. it was designed differently because well, modern amps get their tone from the preamp so.....a 6505 with EL34's doesn't sound much different than one with 6l6's in short (and Hartley himself was quoted explaining it, i've got it somewhere in a mag)
so he altered it to get a brit style voicing and took some of the noise the regulars have out. so it's SIMILAR but it's been voiced differently in the preamp and has an EL34 power section but yeah the tone it gets that's different is do to the preamp not the EL34's. the EL34's are thrown in there for added measure.....ie marketing. now that's not to say they don't affect the tone, they DO but not a lot. in an amp like this the power section largely affects the feel and response of the amp where the tone's in the preamp.
much like crossing a DSL with a 5150 it seems.
the 6534+ has a redisgned preamp too but they don't advertise it as much. it was designed differently because well, modern amps get their tone from the preamp so.....a 6505 with EL34's doesn't sound much different than one with 6l6's in short (and Hartley himself was quoted explaining it, i've got it somewhere in a mag)
so he altered it to get a brit style voicing and took some of the noise the regulars have out. so it's SIMILAR but it's been voiced differently in the preamp and has an EL34 power section but yeah the tone it gets that's different is do to the preamp not the EL34's. the EL34's are thrown in there for added measure.....ie marketing. now that's not to say they don't affect the tone, they DO but not a lot. in an amp like this the power section largely affects the feel and response of the amp where the tone's in the preamp.
much like crossing a DSL with a 5150 it seems.
there's another difference. the 6505's have a MUCH colder factory bias and the bias RANGE is less (shittier components) than the originals so this is largely what affects the tone other than tubes plus wear on a 20 year old amp can seem appealing to the average guitarist that's not technicaly inclined. swap tubes and a few resistors and you have the same amp and will get the same tones.
my 6505's were at a staggeringly low 12 and 19 factory ma rating from combo to head. my 5150's were a bit hotter but pretty cold too at around 25ma stock. so, bias mod is great!
I dont know, My 5150 was very cold biased and very uninspiring to play when I first bought it, its from around 2000 (I got it in november 2004), a complete revalve (JJ) and the bias mod installed made all the difference, now the 6505 is an extremely popular amp, and of the many I have heard I never heard anything that indicated they were any worse or any different to a stock 5150. With that said most of the 6505 heads I see are the 6505+ model which is based on the 5150II.
In a live (turned up loud) situation even if a difference existed it would not be hearable (atleast not without recording equipment for playback). My bands other guitarist back when I used my 5150 live, he was using a Peavey Valveking, also through a Marshall 1960A cab and he was able to get the exact same tone as myself. When we went into the studio in 2009, we used our own amps and aside from very slight difference in tone from our guitars (he used a high end Prestige Ibanez RG with bareknuckle painkillers, I used a 1994 Ibanez Jem7V with the stock Dimarzio evo pickups) we also had the same (or close enough that you could only differentiate if you specifically listened for and searched for it) sound on record.
So if you can achieve the same sound with a Valveking, I'm pretty sure that the current 6505 amps (which are identical, even though the parts sourced are very unlikely to be exactly the same as 20 years ago) are so close in sound to the original 5150 that it would be nigh on impossible to tell the difference.
In my experience, apart from differences in the guitars being used and the fact that my 5150 is biased very hot, there really is no tonal difference between the old 5150 amps and the new 6505 amps.
Also, why do half my posts on this forum need to be moderator checked? I'm still waiting on a post from 2 days ago to show up.
In a live (turned up loud) situation even if a difference existed it would not be hearable (atleast not without recording equipment for playback). My bands other guitarist back when I used my 5150 live, he was using a Peavey Valveking, also through a Marshall 1960A cab and he was able to get the exact same tone as myself. When we went into the studio in 2009, we used our own amps and aside from very slight difference in tone from our guitars (he used a high end Prestige Ibanez RG with bareknuckle painkillers, I used a 1994 Ibanez Jem7V with the stock Dimarzio evo pickups) we also had the same (or close enough that you could only differentiate if you specifically listened for and searched for it) sound on record.
So if you can achieve the same sound with a Valveking, I'm pretty sure that the current 6505 amps (which are identical, even though the parts sourced are very unlikely to be exactly the same as 20 years ago) are so close in sound to the original 5150 that it would be nigh on impossible to tell the difference.
In my experience, apart from differences in the guitars being used and the fact that my 5150 is biased very hot, there really is no tonal difference between the old 5150 amps and the new 6505 amps.
Also, why do half my posts on this forum need to be moderator checked? I'm still waiting on a post from 2 days ago to show up.
jwebb1970
New Member
I've had a ValveKing 112 combo for a few years. I have always thought the dirt channel was very "5150-ish". Glad to know someone else has heard that...I may be less likely to be called crazy.
well, some of you said, the 5150 can´t do classic rock sounds?
if this would be true, why did Steve Morse use four of these amps with Deep Purple?
isn´t Deep Purple one of those bands, how uses a classic rock sound?
a lot of guys who talk about the 5150 (using for metal) use the lead-channel or push the dirty channel with an OD808 (or something like that) to kick the amps a$$.
if you use the first channel of the amp in crunch mode, it is a cool open sounding classic rock style sound with a modern character to it - and it´s not automatically a high-gain sound. this amp has a knob on it, which says "pre-gain" (or something like that) turn it up to 9 or 10 and you have a nice crunch sound for most of classic rock and 80s rock sounds.
personally i would prefer the 5150II/ 6505+ over the 5150/6505, because of the second EQ and the switchable clean/crunch function on channel one.
if you want a more brutal sounding amp as the 6505+, try the 6534+!
yes, it is more brutal due to the midrange distortion coming from the EL34s and the revoiced preamp section.
this amp rocks in crunch mode!!!
set up the second channel for lead-tones. yes, this channel is compressed, but that´s what you are asking for good singing lead-tones - compression.
i wouldn´t use the lead channel for rhythm playing - i found it was too compressed for rhythms, but other guys like it.
i´m more a guy who likes classic sounds with a modern touch to it, this is why i like those amps a lot.
but i still don´t have one - i decided to go with the new EVH 5150III Mini (50 watt) head.
and no, it doesn´t sound like a Peavey 5150/6505(+), it´s a different animal.
the crunch channel sounds different, the lead is not as compressed (but still is) and it only has 50 watts and is housed in a nice little box to carry away.
if this would be true, why did Steve Morse use four of these amps with Deep Purple?
isn´t Deep Purple one of those bands, how uses a classic rock sound?
a lot of guys who talk about the 5150 (using for metal) use the lead-channel or push the dirty channel with an OD808 (or something like that) to kick the amps a$$.
if you use the first channel of the amp in crunch mode, it is a cool open sounding classic rock style sound with a modern character to it - and it´s not automatically a high-gain sound. this amp has a knob on it, which says "pre-gain" (or something like that) turn it up to 9 or 10 and you have a nice crunch sound for most of classic rock and 80s rock sounds.
personally i would prefer the 5150II/ 6505+ over the 5150/6505, because of the second EQ and the switchable clean/crunch function on channel one.
if you want a more brutal sounding amp as the 6505+, try the 6534+!
yes, it is more brutal due to the midrange distortion coming from the EL34s and the revoiced preamp section.
this amp rocks in crunch mode!!!
set up the second channel for lead-tones. yes, this channel is compressed, but that´s what you are asking for good singing lead-tones - compression.
i wouldn´t use the lead channel for rhythm playing - i found it was too compressed for rhythms, but other guys like it.
i´m more a guy who likes classic sounds with a modern touch to it, this is why i like those amps a lot.
but i still don´t have one - i decided to go with the new EVH 5150III Mini (50 watt) head.
and no, it doesn´t sound like a Peavey 5150/6505(+), it´s a different animal.
the crunch channel sounds different, the lead is not as compressed (but still is) and it only has 50 watts and is housed in a nice little box to carry away.
Maggot Brain
Well-Known Member
Bingo, you explained it exactly how I think of it. You CAN get a classic rock sound but the amp does have its own unique modern character to it. I dig it, some might not, makes sense but definitely worth checking out. Ive been playing for 10 years and cant believe I'm just now finding out about the 5150s and the 6505s.
I also feel this amp does low volumes extremely well. Iv had no problem jamming on this amp all hours of the night!
I didnt say it couldnt give you classic sounds, but it won't give you oldschool Van Halen sounds, because those are Marshall sounds, and it doesnt sound like a Marshall, completely different voicing, the EQ of the amp sits in a completely different range. When you record the amp it sits in a different place in the mix, it compresses differently, the dynamics are different.
Its a great amp and if you know how to use it, its not a one trick pony, but it wont make you sound like oldschool Eddie Van Halen.
Its a great amp and if you know how to use it, its not a one trick pony, but it wont make you sound like oldschool Eddie Van Halen.
HeHasTheJazzHands
Well-Known Member
^I don't think it was directed towards you. I think it was directed towards the people who said that a 5150 can ONLY do metal and decent cleans, and nothing else.
Oh, fun fact; The Peavey 5150 is based on a Soldano SLO platform.
Oh, fun fact; The Peavey 5150 is based on a Soldano SLO platform.
yup, that´s right.
jwebb1970
New Member
^I don't think it was directed towards you. I think it was directed towards the people who said that a 5150 can ONLY do metal and decent cleans, and nothing else.
Oh, fun fact; The Peavey 5150 is based on a Soldano SLO platform.
Prior to his getting in bed w/ Peavey, I recall several studio pics in the guitar mags showing EVH with a combination of Marshall & Soldano heads lying around post-1984. IIRC, he may have been using Soldanos during 5150???? Not sure.
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