Peavey 5150 Help?
HeavyMetalNyge
Posts: 144
Just curious. I recently bought a used 5150 and want to know if anyone on here uses one and if they're happy with it. After playing thru it I'm not overly impressed and am considering selling. Just seems undefined/general lack of clarity. Should I try new tubes? I know there are electroharmonix 12ax7 and 6L6's in it now. I read one review on Harmony Central where this guy describes being on the brink of selling his 5150 for same reason I described but changed the tubes and now loves the amp.
"Sounds so close to a SLO 100 now it's unbeleivable and as good or better than the 5150 combo. THE CURE: Electro-Harmonix rated for high gain 12ax7's all the way across from V1 to V5 and two Sovtek 6L6 WXT+ power tubes. It is run at sixty watts only."
Anyone have an opinion on this? I'm not sure if I should invest the money to buy new tubes only to find that I still don't like the amp and still want to sell it.
"Sounds so close to a SLO 100 now it's unbeleivable and as good or better than the 5150 combo. THE CURE: Electro-Harmonix rated for high gain 12ax7's all the way across from V1 to V5 and two Sovtek 6L6 WXT+ power tubes. It is run at sixty watts only."
Anyone have an opinion on this? I'm not sure if I should invest the money to buy new tubes only to find that I still don't like the amp and still want to sell it.
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Comments
FYI it sounds nothing like an SLO. Not close, not even in the same ballpark. SLO is quite a bit more harmonically complex.
Changing to new tubes could help the amp, making sure all the bias points are set right etc.
I personally think it's a fine amp. I have a friend who gigged one for many years, but it may not be the character you want. It's not quite JCM 800 or 900 in sound and I haven't heard one for a while.
Personally I'd go with JJ's or Ruby's (rebranded chinese) over the EHX tubes as they tend to work well in that type amp. As for the 6L6's the sovteks are fine or you could go with Svetlana (winged C) or Tung Sol.
Before you spend money, do some shopping. Play a few different amps with 6L6's EL34's EL84's KT88's 5881's etc. to see how you like thier sound first. Then go back to your amp and decide whether it's worth it to you.
IS it a combo or a head? If it's a head, bring it with you, try different cabinets. Speakers make a huge difference
You can also try 5751's in the 12AX7 slot to try and tame it a little bit, it just depends on what you want.
I really want to try something closed back and maybe vintage 30's.
I'm so tired of searching for even a usable tone that I almost don't even want to play electric anymore. I'm sure some of you know what I'm talking about.
What tone you looking for.
Cantrell used those 5150's at times. Maybe a OCD with it, to give you the crunch side of things. Those tend to make everything sound a little marshalish. You might be able to get away with the clean and drive channel, then a couple pedals with it.
Vintage 30's would help out a ton for sure.
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well since it is a peavey it maybe some similar to the 5150..mine is a 60watt played through a marshall 1969ax greenbacks on it 100watt cabinet.
note that i changed the power tube to svetlana's el34 and rebiased.
what i do is use a power attenuator and turn up the master volume to full and the clean channel to half way.. and that way im getting a nice acdc angus tone"old school tone" sounds nice. and same setting single coils to get some similar pearl jam tone with the help of a ts9 for more punch when needed.
in the distorted channel i use the same setting basically master full and volume channel very high to get the more power tube saturation posible and that's the way they sound nice. try it
of course you have to push the speakers very hard to make them sing
if your head is 100watt try cabinets around 120 and 150 watt i think it helps a lot
YOu need to try a Mesa Dual Rectifier with someone who knows how to set it up driving teh knobs.
It will give yo all you need, esp in teh mid-range crunch zone, as well as great cleans, and as much dense gain as you want.
Tone is easy to find, I really don't know what you are talking aboot.
What guitar are you using ??
Here's an example: my friend has a Roland jazz chorus head, and he had a Roland 4x12 cab to match. Sounded muddy with the distortion but OK clean. He switched to a Marshall 4x12 and the sound difference is like night and day. Distortion is crisp and much better defined, and the cleans haven't lost anything.
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You Canadian? Just kidding
Im using an american deluxe fat strat. I also have a Fender Squire les paul style that I put an SD JB and SD Jazz into.
Thanks for the help, I'm going to try out a Mesa in a store and see if I can try a power attentuator, as well as some different speaker cabs.
Yeah, I am a warm Canadian, otherwise known as Australian !! (Doncha know all canucks are just cold Aussies ?)
I thnk a lot of your tone problem is coming from your confused guitars. Fat strat is Fenders attempt to make a Les Paul, and a cheap Tele with humbuckers shoehorned in sounds nice in theory but lacks too many things that make an LP an LP. You are trying to get Rolls Royce tone out of an old Chevy.
If you want LP tone, you gotta go with a guitar that has what you need. I suggest you try some different guitars before you embark on an amp change. Cabs definitely matterthough , no 2 ways.
Tone is a balance between your guitar and amp/cab.
It's easy to think that cheap guitars are as good as dearer ones, but simply they just ain't.
An ESP ltd MH400 or better is gonna rock your socks, as will a Gibson BFG. Those nice SD pups would be better in an SG type guitar of some sort. My ESP ltd Viper would suck em up, and there are plenty of things out there that will.
J&D Luthiers do a nice base model LP copy as well, Canadian i believe, shouldn't break the bank.
Anyhoo, happy hunting !!