A lot of you've said that a BBE sonic maximizer will do wonders for the tone of a 5150. Can I put one in the fx loop of my combo, or do you have to have a head and cab for those things to be effective? I was talking to somebody about it, and he was skeptical it would work with a combo... started mumbling something about not being able to switch the ohms or some fucking thing. Maybe it was beyond my electronic comprehension, maybe it was all a stinky pile of poo.

Was he right or talking out his ass?

he was talking out of his ass. sonic maximizers have nothing to do with ohms or anything of that sort. if your amp has an fx loop(which it does) then a sonic maximizer will work. hell, you can even put one before the input of your amp and it will work. but i prefer mine in the fx loop of my jmp-1 and my guitarist has his in the fx loop of his 5150 head.
it's just a tone enhancer. any amp can sound better with a sonic maximizer imo. they can really add alot of balls and depth to your lows and still keep tight while you have alot of clarity and sparkle in your high mid area without sounding shrill and brittle.
they arent very expensive either. just go on ebay and type "sonic maximizer" in the search engine and find yourself a deal... hell, the 362's go for like $100 new.
also, aphex aural exciters(the rack version) are pretty bad ass in the same way. but they cost more. they just have more options and controls.

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hmmm this sonic maximizer sounds like a worthy purchase....
im surprized ive never heard of one before

I just got one on ebay Cant wait to see what it can do to my 5150

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sweet, did you get that 422 you were talking abobut?, i've never played the 422, but between me and my guitarist my 462 sounds very similar to his 362. but mine is set to run in stereo and act's like two separate mono sonic maximizers.... it can be handy, but i havent found a use for it yet. the 362 can run stereo, but it only has one set of knobs..... but he uses it in mono anyways because his 5150's fx loop isnt stereo.
i think everybody looking to get "more" out of your amp should look into a sonic maximizer. great tone booster, especially if you run big pedal boards,racks,wireless units resulting in a significant tone drop, or if you're just wanting more. just throw a sonic maximizer in the mix. they're simple and easy to use and some go for about the same price as a cheap stombox on the used market.
by the way bls, what kind of cab(s) are you using?

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I picked up a sonic maximizer a few weeks myself. I put it in the effects loop and instantly heard the difference. It basically allows the "true" sound of your amp come out without being manipulated by how the speakers handle the frequencies. I believe that everyone can benefit from one.

Yeh i got the 422

right now im using a Peavey XXX cab, it as priced fairly and acually sounds pretty good with my 5150. I might sell the Cab or just keep it at my house and buy another cab to bring to gigs and practice,

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im very happy with my 5150 combo, but its a bit cold...should i get new tubes, this sonic equilizer or a biasing

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hehehe, peavey xxx series stuff tries to look soo flashy, even the speakers are all "mud flap chicked" out......i like the xxx head... but i think 5150's sound the best through celestion v30's or g12t-75's....... but sheffields are actually pretty nice speakers.
let me know how the 422 works for you.

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how old are the tubes in it and how often do you play at loud volumes?
the 5150 combo doesnt need a bias mod..... a sonic maximizer wont exactly "warm up" your sound. maybe try changing the types of tubes in it. my guitarist is looking to get his head set up for el34's....
also, do you have the stock preamp tubes in you combo? because those cheap no name chinese 12ax7's that come stock in the 5150's suck ass. it doesnt make sense to me why peavey puts nice sovtek 6l6's in the poweramp but little blank 12ax7's in the preamp that say "made in china" on them.

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The Block Head amps came with quality tubes.. maybe cost cutting?? I dunno.. i rather them put shitty tubes in then shitty parts. And your guitarist should talk to Jerry at http://members.aol.com/fjamods/FJAMods.html hes a nice guy with good prices.. and he knows a 5150 like the back of his hand.

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would a BBE sound good in a marshall too you think?

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It seems a BBE sonic maximizercan only enhance the sound, so yes. But i have yet to recive mine yet... xdx is the man to ask about these things.

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it's sounds good in my marshall jmp-1 preamp's fx loop.
but i'd be suprised if it didn't sound good in any marshall....or any other half decent amp for that matter.

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i dont play very loud at all, 1 or 2.

ill look into the new tubes then

sovteks are good?

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most sovteks are good, i prefer them as preamp tubes, but i'm more of a jj or groove tube kinda powertube guy.

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I have a question
When I play my half stack Solid State 350w Crate amp at low volumes it sounds quite nice. But if I turn it up any more than 2 it starts to sound all wierd and stuff. I was thinking, because its in a small room that makes it sound wierd.
Any suggestions?
Like would this sonic maximizer help that or not?

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in what way does it sound wierd, i had the same problem with my marshall, i think it has something with it being ss and all that, never had any of the problems with the tube amp i have now. or maybe its just your rooms acoustics.

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sounds like to me you need to just readjust your settings for high volumes. most amps have a similar reaction between like under 1 or 2 sounding completely different. from when they're cranked up past 3 or 4. a simple tweak of a couple knobs should do the trick but i still suggest a getting a sonic maximizer anyways .

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Thanks xDx that helped a bit.
U Rulz

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off my nizzo's dude.

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OK since everyone hates new threads im gonna ask a question in here

ok, i have 150-180 canadian dollars and i need to know which is a more worthy purchase.

so i could buy a BBE maximizer right now(which brings me to the question of which bbe maximizer should i get???) or i could put money towards getting a new head to run into my 4x12

right now my setup is looking like this, guitar-line6 distortion-peavey amp into the 4x12

i was thinking that my new head would be a roland jazz chorus head, or maybe ill plus one of there combos into my cab, its really which ever one i can get my hands

so what would you guys say is the better choice?
please not that i will eventually have both

New head, a BBE cna only enhance the sound so much.. its not gonna make that setup sound not crappy. Its not a miracle maker

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i'd say new head, but you arent going to be able to get a jc-120 for $180 canadian.... even a used one in decent condition will be over $250-300 u.s.d. and i beleive american $ is worth more right? like 75 cents u.s. is a dollar in cn?
any sonic maximizer would be good. i bought my 462 for like $60 used but a 482i i beleive is the highest model and they don't come as cheap... the 362 is great and they go new for like $100 and used for way less.
which peavey head do you have? do you have the transtube supreme or whatever? and what kind of cab do you have?
a sonic maximizer will help a shitty amp suck less... but as bls said, it's no miracle worker. a jc 120 will sound great by it's self though...

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i have a peavey specail 130 1x12 combo, right now its doing the job but i know i can sound much better
my cab is some yahama 4x12 that i cant find any info on.


and i know 180 bucks cant buy a new head, but ill be selling my peavey combo so then all have more like 330, plus ill probably be getting around 100 bucks soon, so thats 430

aint that enough to buy a jazz chorus head or combo?

if my calculations are correct about the 75 u.s. cents being about equal to a canadian dollar that means you'd have about $322.50 american. and with that much you MIGHT be able to find a jc-120....

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meh, hopefully ill have a job and stuff soon then i can really get the cash flow going.

so i guess ill wait for a bit to buy a head and the maximzer

it shouldnt be hard, im getting a jackson tomarrow that should hold me off for awhile