So, I know everyone and their mom uses the 5150's/6505's, and theres been many posts on them on the boards(I've been reading alot of them), but I am getting one and have a few question I want cleared up cause I read alot of different things. I've been playing guitar for almost 6 years and am getting my very first real amplifier(i've been shamefully playing through a Berhinger V-Ampire combo all these years), and my first band has been together over a year now, and I'm tired of borrowing other people's amps for shows.

I was originally going to get a VTM 120 but decided I needed the second channel for "clean" stuff.

I'm thinking of getting a 5150II or a 6505+, but want to know exactly what the difference is, or if there is one, and if theres a major difference between those and the 5150/6505's. I don't have any local music shops around, or have any friends that are musicians, so I can't really try any thing before I buy them. I have to do the e-bay thing. I have played through a 5150 at shows before from borrowing the amp of a friend who's band was playing, and my band also recorded with his 5150, because we don't have any of our own equipment(we is po'!) as far as guitar amps go. I ejoyed playing out of it alot, and thus decided to get one, being not too expensive, and after hearing its like a VTM 120 with 2 channels! And I really love the sound of VTM's.

Also, are the 5150II's and 6505+'s really worth the extra EQ settings? Are they exactly the same as their non-extra-EQ models? I hear the 6505+ doesn't have as much gain, is that really true?

I'm basically wanting to know which of the Peavey 5150/6505 family would best fit me, the 5150, 5150II, 6505, or 6505+??

I've been leaning towards the 5150II and 6505+ the most, but only because of the extra EQ, really.

To get an idea for the kind of music I play, you can check my bands recordings from the link in my sig. I also fiddle around in Sludge/Doom/Stoner metal, death metal, and black metal, but mostly just Crust and hardcore punk.


Oh, and what is a good cabinet to get on a budget that would be good for me. I've been recommended the Marshall 1960 by someone I really look up to as a guitar tech wiz, but they are kinda of expensive.

Please no "i've had it with these mother fucking Peavey 5150 posts on these mother fuckin' forums!!!" posts, please


Oh, by the way, heres the specs of my guitar if that helps at all:
ESP LTD EX 351 with EMG-HZ pickups. I usually play Ernie Ball strings(though I like Vinci better, I just can't find anywhere that sells them). Not sure what wood the guitar is made of. No pedals, 'cept for an Ibanez Weeping Demon.

__________________

if you would have used the search function you'd have your answers.

but anyways. the 5150 and the 6505 are the same amp. and the 5150II and the 6505+ are the same amp.

the difference between the 5150/6505 and the 5150II/6505+ is that the 5150II/6505+'s have independant eq's. the way the tubes are setup for gain stages is also different, so in the 5150II/6505+'s you have 5 gain stages on the lead channel and the 5150/6505 have 6... but honestly, 4 gain stages or more is enough for even the brutalist of brutal. the 5150II/6505+'s are also a tiny bit brighter in their voicings.

i like 5150II/6505+'s more personally.

__________________

thanks much for the reply! I found it very helpful :]
If anyone else has any input that'd be great

__________________

Well since you need a clean channel, the 5150's are not what you want. They have wickedly sterile and cold clean channels which some people like, but for the genuine soft clean tones that everyone loves it's pretty much useless. Maybe throwing in an assload of reverb and chorus may help but if you need good cleans I strongly advise against the 5150.

The 5150 is a great amp but I don't think it's going to satisfy your needs for anything but excessively grindy tones. If you want a bit more versatility look into Engl Fireballs or 2nd hand Marshall JCM900's as given by what you play it seems to me you want a rawer "oldschool" sound rather than a modern 5 preamp tube high gain amp.

Also, ditch the EMG-HZ's because you're never going to get good cleans out of them(I had a DXMG with those pups and they sounded horrible with cleans, and boxy sounding with distortion), so I suggest upgrading to some better passive pickups(ask away for reccomendations) as EMG actives are useless for cleans too(I have an 81 and 85 set and they blow for cleans, maybe an 89 tapped or a 60 would be interesting). Given the style of music you play I would suggest something like a Duncan/Dimarzio Super Distortion or Invader in the bridge, and something like a Dimarzio PAF Pro, Air Norton or something with similar output in the neck.

Used Marshall 1960 cabs can be had for very cheap man, check ebay or your local classified ads. Also check www.avatarcabs.com , cheap cabs with high quality parts and good build quality.

When I have gigged with a 5150, I liked the clean sound I got out of it very much! I'm sure its not the best clean but I found nothing wrong with it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU0TrQBNqSY
theres a clip of how the cleans sounded when I played through one(i'm the one starting the song off).

I think it sound just fine, aside from our horrible playing and bad audio quality.

That avatarcabs link you gave me doesn't work. Is this is? http://www.avatarspeakers.com/
My bands bassist has an avatar cab and he says he doesn't really like it. But thats a bass cab.

__________________

Maybe his cab just has shitty speakers, or he doesn't know how to EQ/know jack shit about cabs. If you buy a new one with good speakers like Vintage 30's or other higher end speakers you won't be disappointed. It's easy to get 2nd hand Crate/Marshall/Framus/other V30 equipped cabs on ebay for cheap nowadays, but shipping is pretty expensive.

__________________

Thanks for the info. Where can I hear one of these Engl Fireballs? It doesn't look like I could afford one but I would like to hear one.

__________________

Listen to the last Cannibal Corpse record "Kill", Powerballs were used on that one(Powerball is basically a 100W 4-channel version of the Fireball, 2 channels and 60W). Also listen to Hate Eternal's "I, Monarch"(a JCM800 is also in the mix though), or Necrophagist or something like that although they don't play Powerballs/Fireballs, but SE's or Savages I forget which one.


Fireballs are about 1200$ new shipped(mine cost me 850 euros), you can buy them at www.rocksolidamps.com in the United States, and maybe find them at some big guitar stores, but definately not stores like GC or Sam Ash. There are some decent sound samples at that site but obviously the tone generally sounds better on the records I mentioned because of the studio production.

__________________

Sorry if I get of topic, but since you guys been talking about the Peavey 6505 head, I thought I'd ask some questions. My XXL amp fucked and I'm getting rid of it so I thought I'd try out the 6505. Is it a good amp for like pretty gain saturated tones, with not too much mid? I am going to try it out myself but since you guys know more of amps than I do, well....

And also, how do you control the volume on the head? Is it controlled by the pre gain knob?

its a very cold and sterile amp... and the mids are pretty subtle... listen to In Flames, Arch Enemy (burning bridges album), Between the buried and me, Splatterhouse, Immortal... If you want to further scoop the mids, put it ontop of a marshal 1960AB cabinet with the celetion G12T-75's in it.
And PREGAIN is distortion numbnuts, post gain is the volume. Jeeez you should know this by now.

__________________

Alright....thanks for the help that was really helpful....



....no seriously it was

that was your 666th post... badass

__________________