my band will be starting to gig later this year and i need an amp head that will give me a good death metal sound on stage. i plan to pair it with a Vader cab. my limit is probably about £400 or $800 (im am in the UK and if im buying from the states shipping will have to be taken into account), and i would prefer not to buy used, although i will if i have to. are there any amps in this price bracket that will do the job? i have my eye on an Engl Powerball long-term, but i need something that will do me until i have the money.

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with that budget you will be going used indefinately. You say you're in the uk? Dont spend all the money on shipping for a vader, get a custom built cab from the matamp guys with some eminence v12 speakers or maybe a mix of celestion v30's and g12t75's. It will be much cheaper for you, and you could probably have them oversize it.

Anyways, for head, maybe a marshall 8100, or peavey 6505... maybe even a used engl fireball if you can find one. Just try not to buy from the states, it really kills your budget with shipping.

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when you say marshall 8100 you mean a valvestate? yeah ive been looking at those and if i can find one used i will go for it. if i could find a bit more to add to my budget would the peavey or the fireball be a better bet?

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bit out of my price range but i can get a used 5150 with the 4x12 cab for £700. is this a good enough deal for me to stump up the extra money?

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options -

used peavey 5150 w/ 4x12 cab - £700
used engl fireball head - £650 (would have to buy a cab)
used marshall valvestate 8100 - around £200-£250 (would have to buy cab)

advice?

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i'd say go for the 5150 personally. The fireball has this problem when you crank it up, it gets really nasty sounding in a bad way. Harsh treble.

5150 is quite the mainstay metal amp. Also sounds heavier than the 8100... although the 8100 can get quite heavy, the 5150 has a more raw grind to it. the 8100 still sounds marshally (as it should hahaha)

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cf...riendID=1146378
theres some 5150 grind.

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thanks for the reply, im leaning towards the 5150 as well.

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Honestly, go play one. Make sure the volume is near yelling volume because the brutal gain wont show through if its playing at a whisper. I guarantee you will find it suitable for metal.

Also, they come from the factory with a VERY cold powertube bias so you should probably mod it for a variable bias to warm up them tubes, which will make it sound worlds better than it already does.

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I'm looking into getting a new head, too, as my Marshall amp doesn't seem to have enough gain. (I could get an overdrive pedal I guess but maybe it's not worth spending the money. I'll try and part-exchange the two Marshall amps I have for a Peavey 6505 head.)

What I wanted to ask was: The Peavey 6505 is the re-issue of the 5150, right?
And there's the 6505 Plus which has an extra 12ax7 tube in the preamp section. Sorry if this is a stupid question but what difference would the additional tube make to the sound, if any?

had my heart set on getting a 5150/6505 but i saw this.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MARSHALL-VALV...id=p3286.c0.m14

if it stays like this do i go for it?

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I'm personally not a fan of the amp, but from an economic standpoint, you could buy it like that and sell it for more
But hey, if you get it, and plug it in, and like it, whats to stop you from keeping it?

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Don't bother with a Valvestate unless its an 8100. I'd reccomend a 5150 if you're dead set on tubes. For anything else, a crate Shockwave or if you can find one, an Ampeg VH-140c.

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