I received my 5150 combo amplifier today, and there's a bad problem. The actual volume output is significantly lower than it should be. With the pre gain on 10 ( lead channel ) and the post gain on seven on the 5150, my Marshall AVT50 combo is much, much louder. And this amplifier should be cracking the earth at pre gain 8 post gain 2. I think it might be a fuse that needs to be replaced, as I often hear that the fuses in these amps are pure shit. It may be a tube, a fuse, or a bad connection, or something. Either way, the tone sounds sort of thin and the volume is very low.

Does anyone know what the problem may be?

where you get it from?

ebay

It was E-bay.

so you got ripped off.. AND it doesnt work?

poor thing...

make sure all the tubes are glowing....

i'm pretty sure if a fuse blew you wouldnt hear anything.

make sure the speakers are both connected.

what are your exact settings?

how quiet is it?

__________________

Yeah, paying 670 $ total is bad enough, and now to receive it and it not working makes me very angry.

I've been confirmed, that if a fuse is not working then no volume at all will emanate ... so that's out of the question. I've been turning all the knobs every which way, plugging in and out of the high/low gain ( no variance in decibel, sounds the same ) ... Tried different cords, and looked at my guitar.

The tubes are definitely glowing, and plugged in tight ... Both speakers are connected. My only thought now is that it could be the circuit board. As I've done everything short of pulling open the circuit board and having a look. That could be the only thing ... everything else is in tact. Perhaps something was jostled on the way over. If I can't solve this on my own, then I'll have someone from Peavey look at it ( I live in Louisiana, Peavey is three and a half hours away ), and if that does'nt work, someone is coughing up 670$ and fast. I think I could get this fixed for under 100$ if I can't do it myself. Expensive, yes, but then again this amplifier ( when it's working, feces of Horus ) competes with other amplifiers twice its price range. That, and I plan on spending about 500$ worth of mods on it in the near future. As a result I see the effort to fix it well worth it.


Now that I've given this diagnosis, do you or anyone else have any other suggestions?

I've just realized the most blinding irony :

A week ago I was making posts in a 5150 thread asking how to reduce the volume. Well ... as it turns out ...

"Be careful what you wish for"

OWNED

Yeah ... I have to admit I've been pwn3d by an inanimate object.

John I replied to you post in my FJA Mods forum. Try a jumper cord in your effects loop and see if that helps. Dirty effects loop jacks are very common and could cause what you're describing.
Jerry

whoa. you're that guy BLS always talks about.

I thought you where English at first John! Hope everything turns out ok with your 5150.

wow your the infamous jerry p. in the screen(flesh haha get it?)

__________________

You guys have heard of me?
Jerry

The god of all things 5150.


I am not worthy.


Well I put my a cord in the effects loop, in and out of both jacks. But to no avail.

Might I also mention that the "hiss" that comes with high-gain tube amps ... is very pronounced, and that intermittently it becomes more static ridden ... kind of like "snow" on a television.

HAHAHA Stop it! My head is big enough already. Well OK, maybe you can keep it going a little longer.
Jerry

I've heard about your "Engl-esque" 5150 modification ... If it really does what I've read, then I definitely want one of these.

Have you tried swapping any tubes? If you have any other 12AX7's you can try it's worth a shot. Try plugging your guitar right into the effects loop return jack and see if it's any louder that way.
Jerry

I just loaned my 5150 to a local recording studio and as soon as I get the clips I'll let you guys know. They sound KILLER from what I've heard so far. They're just waiting for the bass player to finish up his tracks.
Jerry

How did you deduce that?

It's not louder ... but it's totally "clean" ( What's funny is that its a Fender-esque clean --- there's the clean channel everyone complains that is non-existant ). No hiss, no noise, but the volume is invariable, I can't adjust it at all using the gain knobs on both channels. At about a 15- watt practice amp volume.

I don't have any 12ax7 tubes lying around ... I've heard that I should replace the shitty chinese tubes sooner or later, so I suppose now is a good time. I just don't have the money at the moment.

I don't know, your name sounds very Brtish though!

Hmmm boy it's hard to say what's going on with your amp without hearing it myself. The hiss is normal for a 5150. The lead channel especially when you get the pregain up past 4 or 5. When you plugged into the loop return you were bypassing the preamp and going directly into the power amp, that's why it was clean but it should have been fairly loud. If you can find some other tubes I'd try them, preamp and power and see what that does. Maybe take some out of a friends amp just to test your amp? Other than that it might be time to see a tech.
Jerry

Preamp and power? That's around 60-70 dollars total, methinks. I get my paycheck tomorrow, I'll see what I can do. I've been looking at JJ's 12AX7's, which power tubes should go to match those?

I like the JJ 6L6 power tubes and the EH 12AX7 preamp tubes. I also like the JJ and Chinese 12AX7's. Give Doug's Tubes a shout and he'll hook you up. Doug has great prices, service, and product. He's real helpful in picking the right tubes for the tone you're after.
Jerry

Hmm ... I just uninstalled the tubes to have a good look at them, and someone had installed GrooveTubes.

And ... I asked the seller of the amplifier about this ... and he said it was playing perfectly. Before he shipped it.

So someone on the FedEx truck did'nt take their job that seriously. It's possible I could be reimbursed, as I was insured for the full amount. Then I'd have a 5150 and about 700$ to repair it with.

or that the seller is lying to you

__________________

I've got him there too.

There are a few cosmetic damages he did'nt mention. So I could legitimately demand my money back.

sounds to me like you have the whole world by the testicles

__________________

Money back might be the way to go then...
unless you can wring it out of fedex.
Either way fuck spending more money on what's really not your problem.

If it's the seller I hope he/she/it dies.

__________________

I'm definitely not spending any more on this. Someone is going to pay for this.

If it's not the domestic version then the power transformer might be set up for 220V or some shit. The amp would still most likely operate if it's all analog, but would be very quiet. Just a stupid guess on my part but worth checking since you got it off e-bay...

http://www.peavey.com/search.cfm?c=3&term=5150

but how quiet is it?

just a thought.. but you were saying your avt is louder than it when cranked.. which could be that you're just overestimating it?

i dunno...

__________________

Oh no, with both Pre and Post gain knobs on the lead/rythm channels on ten, the thing should be too loud for aural comprehension. But, it sounds like a slightly loud ten watt amplifier. And its not quiet at all. I know hiss is supposed to come with high gain amplfiiers, but the hiss is easily as loud as the guitar itself.

Sounds like what happened to mine. I'm pretty sure one of your speakers are blown. And teh way the speakers are wired in the 5150 combo, if one goes, neither of them work. Take it to a shop and get your speaker's tested.

__________________

too loud for aural comprehension? i don't know about that..

as for the operation noise... with the gain at ten it's going to get very noisey. you might also have a ground loop, or a microphonic preamp tube.

hard to say... but you got screwd royaly.

no, his is working. it's just not loud.

__________________

Well, in a small room with a functional 5150 on full blast, you could still decimate wildlife and turn small children into drooling vegetables. It's noisy at all levels.

Yes, when my speaker broke, I could disconect the speakers totaly and believe it or not you can actually hear what you are playing from the amp. Its quite faint, but its there. I'm telling you this sounds exactly like the problem I had.

__________________

I missed your comment earlier that the volume is invariable. Basically that means that your first gain stage is most likely fucked and the guitar is bleeding through a little bit to the later stages that have no gain control. Until you get a new 12AX7, you might try rotating them to see if the failure mode changes...

EDIT - Everyone kept mentioning the hum as being normal on these. Just out of morbid curiosity does anyone know if the three position ground switch shown on the back in the manual actually helps reduce this hum like the manual claims it does?

ill try it tomorrow

but will it kill me? seriously i have 28 inches of titanium in my spine if i get a little shock im DEAD

__________________

You've all been really helpful, thank you for your input. The dealer has offered me a full refund for the 670.00, and I'm shipping the amp back soon. So basically I've got 700$ to buy a new, WORKING amplifier with. Should I stay with a 5150 combo, or look at something else?

I personally prefer the 5150 heads over the combo. A 5150 with a 2x12 would be a nice setup if you wanted something that's not too hard to carry and doesn't take up a lot of space. That would run you more than $700 though unless you scored a great deal. The Peavey Ultra combos are pretty nice and they're still pretty cheap.
Jerry

Hrmmm ... that is true. The 5150 combo goes for 5-600 on E-bay all the time, I paid way too much for mine.


Peavey Ultras ... you mean these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...ssPageName=WDVW

Yeh thats the Ultra, the one I played seemed pretty similar to the XXX.

__________________

Probably not, but John Holland might shoot your ass if he catches you fucking around with his amp. If he shoots you in the back then maybe the titanium will protect you.

you could probably score a 5150 head for about $500 and then find a used 4x12 like the peavey ms412 for like $200-ish.

__________________

Yup, those amps smoke! You can find them pretty cheap if you shop around.
Jerry

The Peavey MS cabs are the absolute worst sounding cabinets I've ever heard next to the Behringer cabs. Very loose and muddy sounding. The Peavey VTM cabs are a great buy. They have Celestions in them. The 5150 cabs were pretty cheap, I'm not sure what they've been going for lately.
Jerry

i hope you're joking.

i don't know what was wrong with your peavey ms cab you were playing..but i used to OWN one, loose and muddy werent even in it's vocabulary. it was really tight and well balanced in sound.. also built pretty tough. it had sheffeild 1290's in it.
it sounded alot like a 5150 cab.

great cabs, especially for the money.

__________________

No joke, I've never owned one but I have had several customers that had them. Their amps sounded terrible thru them. They weren't buying what I had to say till they played their amps thru a Marshall cab or my 5150 cab. Once they did the MS cabs were up for sale. I have played thru no less than 5 of them and they all sucked. That's just my opinion and the opinion of every customer of mine that ever owned one and tried a Marshall or something else.
Jerry

well, different cabs are obviously going to sound completely different even with the same amp.

hell, i'd prefer a marshall 1960a over a peavey ms too, but then again different speakers and build, you're comparing a different enclosure with completely different speakers. not to mention a used 1960a will go for abot $150 more. even if you play another "high end" cab like a mesa or something to a 1960a it's going to give a completely different sound.

and the way you described them? me being a previous owner, i had to stand up for it because imo the way you described it was completely false. "one of the worst cabs ever"? no way, best cab in the $200 used range imo... "loose and muddy"? pretty much the opposite.

__________________

I'm starting to think of other amps that I've loved but never owned ... like a Marshall Valvestate 8100 or a Randall RG100 ( or Vmax ). I know its blasphemous to choose something like this over a 5150, but a.) To some extent I prefer the sound of a high-quality solid state and b.) A Marshall 8100 half stack will require much less maintenance than a 5150 will.

Well yeah different cabs are gonna sound different, some are good and some are bad. I personally feel the MS is the worst cab I ever played thru. I understand they're cheap but if it doesn't sound good it's of no use to me. I can't see running a killer sounding head thru a cabinet that isn't going to allow the amp to sound it's best. If you like them that's great. Everyone has their own taste in music and just because I don't like something doesn't mean anyone else has to not like it, and just because you like something doesn't mean anyone else has to.
The world would be a pretty boring place if we all thought exactly alike.
Jerry

Yeah, I use a Valvestate with two 1960B's and run it clean. I use external effects. Low maintenance, flexible, less expensive. I don't see any reason to put wear and tear on a high end tube amp at the moment since I'm not in the recording studio or playing major gigs. Besides, you have to crank those tube amps to get a good distortion sound and my neighbors are bunch of nasty old fucks who will call my landlord or the cops before they bother to get off their ass and knock on my door like normal humans would. When I get bored of that rig, sometimes I jack my guitar into the tube amp on my Hammond M-102 organ. I installed a switch to disengage the tone wheel drive motor. It's got a killer spring reverb unit and a very unique sound with the open back. I picked it up for $88 at a piano/organ clearance sale because the stupid fucks didn't know how to operate it and thought it was broken...

I like my Peavey MS, its tight enough for Unearth breakdowns.. and I dont think I need my sound to get any tighter.

Hell for $130 its a great cab, good match with my XXX cab.

__________________

when did you grab that? $130 is a real good price, does yours have sheffeilds?

i think they origionally had them loaded with celestion g12-85's or something, then somewhere along the road they switched em to sheffeild 1290's.

__________________

that's totally fair for you to have your own opinion... i mean, we all have different tastes, but i just thought you were being a little harsh on a cab that is actually pretty good imo by describing it how you did.

__________________

I got it maybe 6 months ago, locally. And yeh it has sheffeilds.. sometime down the road I might throw some Eminence in there.

__________________

Speaking of cabs, I'm thinking about getting an Avatar Two 12/1 15. Then again there's a Randall that has the same features.

That's cool. I call them like I see them, sometimes I guess I can come off harsh. I don't like to beat around the bush and sugar coat things. I'm brutally honest, sometimes too honest.
Jerry

Well, I solved my problem :

I got a full refund for my 5150 combo, went to the music store, and there was a 5150 II head brand new on sale for 699$. Bought it on the spot.

cool

__________________

$700 for just the head? i guess since it's new then that's not to bad. but then again you could buy a used one and have it looked over by a tech, retubed and biased for about that much.

what are you going to do for a cab?

__________________

That's awesome! The 5150II was like $949 new and they go for over $700 used. $699 is a great price. Congrats!
Jerry

Have you seen the prices on ebay??

__________________

holy crap... i'm looking now.. not to many there. but the prices are retardedly high...
it's all just hype about them being discontinued and people for some reason think it's all of a sudden worth more.

a good price for one though is about $600.

i guess there is a sucker born everyday.


yeh, but the musician's friend blowout prices were $750.

still though. $700 isnt to bad.

__________________

That's the predicament, I simply could'nt find a better price anywhere. E-bay is very reliable, but you can't really beat walking into a music store, and buying a 5150 II head that you've played numerous times, for 700$. Knowing that it sounds great and that the damned thing works, it was a very good deal in my opinion. And of course, a few hundred dollars of modifications ( I'm going to have JerryP service this very 5150 II someday. Don't you die on me! ) will put in in another league all together.

And we do know these items are not going to become any cheaper over the years.

If I'm a sucker then I'm a happy sucker.

well yes you can beat a $700 price tag.. maybe not on a new one. but there are still plenty of used ones in the $500-600 range, in alot of stores and websites like harmony central.


once the 6505's come out... all will be normal. the 6505's are going to end up costing the same new price the 5150's did, and then the used costs are going to follow. then the 5150's will also have a price decline, why? why buy a used 5150 II for over $700 when you'll be able to buy the same amp(just different appearance) for $500-$600 used.

i'm not saying YOU are a sucker... i was reffering to the idiot on ebay spending $820 on a USED 5150 II.

__________________

Musicians Friends blowout was $699 the JSX's were $750

Now I guess I have a "Vintage Block Letter 5150 Head"

and the 6506 will be a bit cheaper than the 5150

__________________

BLS is bossing the shit out of XDX

nope, the 5150's and 5150 II's were going for $750. they were just trying to empty out the 5150's they had. that jsx deal was very very temporary.

if the 6505's do end up being cheaper, it'll only make my point stronger. why by a used 5150 for so much when you could buy a new 6505 at the same price, or a used 6505 for much less?


bossing?

__________________

I don't see the price of a used 5150 going down for a while. Ebay and the whole EVH thing will keep the prices up in the stupid range for a while. When I got into 5150's they were $200-300 all day long, now you're lucky if you can find a used 5150 for under $600 and then it usually needs $100-150 worth of tubes.
Jerry

Bossing is the new internet term for Owning or Pwning, use it

read my explaination of why they'll go down once the 6505's have been out for a little while.

my buddy bought his 5150 in mint condition for $475 just a few months ago. nothing wrong with it, tubes were fine. that was the price range they were going for several months ago.

now everybody is deciding that they're worth more just because they changed the name? pointless. i wouldnt even consider 5150's to be discontinued. it's just a name change. it's like slapping an epiphone sticker on a gibson headstock.. same thing, different name.

anyone who will buy a used 5150 for over $600 is a sucker in my book.

__________________

that's gay... and i don't see how i was "bossed".

__________________

He bossed your ass, thats how


Really if you think about it it makes as much sense as owned

anyone want a jerryP modded 5150 for $600?

harmony central classifieds.


oh, okay, it all makes sense now...

__________________

[QUOTE=xdislexicx]anyone want a jerryP modded 5150 for $600?

harmony central classifieds.
[QUOTE]


Now I have a bit of "buyer's remorse", seeing as how I easily could have afforded that.

Either way, my new amplifier sounds great ... today the neighbors were away so I was able to crank it to 1.5 ... I was playing Steve Vai's "Giant Balls of Gold", and I'm amazed at just how rich the lead channel's distortion is! That it could traverse the entire spectrum, from disembowling grind to the refined tone of Vai's leads ... to me this amplifier is worth much more than 700$.

oh wow, 1.5

be a man...

in my old band, the guitarist would bring his 5150 up to 6 pushing two 4x12 cabs.

it's a pretty good head. i'd never own one... but then again i'm looking to spoil myself.

__________________

I don't have a cab yet. So I'm pushing it through a slaved Marshall AVT50, and I really don't want to do anything to damage the speaker. And by yourself 1.5 is still pretty damned loud.

wait til you get a real cab... then you'll like it even better.

__________________

I know a thing or two about you

your bullshit attitude

your fucking weak, let me tell you it shows right through.....

Oh, certainly. I'm thinking of getting an Avatar cab, loaded with two 12 inch Celestion Swamp Thangs and one Eminence 15 inch Legend.

I get the impression you just like to argue. I said you'd be lucky to find one for less than $600.....your buddy was lucky. Like it or not Ebay sets the prices these day and if you look they're going for much more than what your friend payed. The price of 5150's went up long before EVH left. It's all about supply, demand, and what people are willing to pay. As long as people are buying them for $600 or more they will continue to sell for that. If someone wants a 5150 they either have to be real patient and search for a good deal, or they pay the going prices. If I have it and you need it you're gonna pay, welcome to America.
Jerry

BTW an Epi Les Paul is NOTHING like a Gibson, don't kid yourself.

i get the impression you like to missread things. or not read them at all.

i'm just stating FACTS, i don't know what 5150's you were looking at several months ago... but i'd see em' in stores, on ebay, and other classifieds for under $600 all the time. that's just what they went for before getting discontinued. physics i guess... but it's a fact.

and i guess you still didn't read my explanation because you're still ranting about how the prices wont go down.

i understand the supply and demand. you just need to realize, the 6505 is pretty much the same exact thing as a 5150, but with different looks. and they going to probably sell for the same new prices that the 5150's did(even less if bls is correct). and from there, once you have enough of them hitting the used market. WHY BUY A USED 5150 FOR A COUPLE HUNDRED MORE???

it's logical. beleive what you want, but that's my theory as it makes the most sense.


omg are you joking?

seriously, if you're not, i just lost so much respect for someone held in such high regard. because that was probably the most thick headed thing i ever read you say. most newb's around here usually read the posts before they comment, i'd expect you to do the same.

i never said an epi lp is the same thing as a gibson lp. nowhere near it.

i said if you took an epiphone(per se) sticker(you know what that is right? s-t-i-c-k-e-r) and put it on a GIBSON les paul... would that make any difference in how the guitar sounds and plays? hell no... it's the same kickass guitar, just a little change in apperance.

same thing going on with the 5150-6505. it's the same exact amp(so says peavey) but a couple minor changes in cosmetics.

not trying to attack you personally... i just don't like know-it-alls twisting things around or trying to make the facts i state look like lies. so things need correction.

__________________

xthrowdownx

__________________

theres no way in hell you'll ever find one for 600 bucks over here... how much are they new over there? (I've seen used ones go for about 800 here)

Know it all? Yeah that's what I am. Like I said, you just wanna argue. I happen to know a thing or two about 5150's. I get a ton of emails everyday from guys looking for them so I constantly watch what they go for. If you can find them for less than $600, good for you.
Jerry

if you were right about this, i wouldnt argue, i'd agree.

we all know you're mr. hotshot peavey mod guy... it's cool, you do your thing and you get alot of respect for it. but you don't need to bring that up because it's not important in this thread right now..

facts are facts. you of all people then should know what 5150's were going for several months ago. ask bls, and anyone else looking into them at the time. find some of the old threads suggesting 5150's to kids wanting awesome high gain tube amps for a good price... some ebay links were included... the prices were under $600. sorry, but that's the real world.

you don't know me, please don't pass judgement. you come in here and expect me to treat your word as law just because you're practically famous for your work with peavey stuff? i'm no well respected tech, but i know a thing or two aswell. please don't act like you're superior. we're all just gear nerds hanging around here. and if someone is right, don't argue with it.

__________________

well, you guys get jipped on alot of american stuff over there.

and the under $600 is only talking about what they were going for several months ago. now that they're discontinued people decided they could sell them for more. and they're currently up at about $800 used now. but i still some honest people selling them for the prices they're worth.

they went for about $900-$1,000 new.

__________________

this is getting hot

Very.

Congratulations on your new amp man. If it's any consolation I usually get ripped off on price because I'm always in a hurry. Once I set my mind on buying a particular piece of gear, I expect to have it by the end of the day...

I know what you mean.

I just received my EMG humbucker I bought for 40$ ( after about two weeks after I ordered it ) and it looks great. Now I just need all the pots.

Throwdown fucking rule

i dont fucking care what metalheads think of me liking them

you can hear lots of agression in there music which i like, plus they say GO in everysong

yeh, they are pretty bad ass... but what does this have to do with 5150's again?

__________________

nothing

Don't make me get my Crew to kick your crew's Ass

Are we done now?

__________________

yeah i gotta type a language project........

Whats funny is xdx did the same thing to me way back when. He made his bullheaded know it all argument and refused to see my point. Than a month later he jumped ship and was suddenly telling everyone what i tried to tell him. I can't wait for him to start repeating what JerryP is saying in not to long.

__________________