napalmdeath
Well-known member
First off, take this with a grain of salt.. It should be noted, (obviously), that cab/speakers/signal chain played a huge role in most of the reviews I've read, (good and bad), and personally, I'm astonished at the ignorance of some, when this isn't considered as a major factor. Case in point; a lot of "thin", and "not big sounding like the 120 watt", well, DUH.. EL84's and transformers less than half the size, you do the math... I read that shit-storm 6505MH thread, and it just got silly.
My 2-3 hour test-run was through my Randall 4x12,, loaded with V30's and G12T-75's, my ESP EC-1000T/CTM with EMG 81'60's, a couple boost pedals were demo'd, and I ran my MXR 10-Band, Boss DD-3, MXR Black Label Chorus, and NS-2 in the loop.
The cleans are ok, but I didn't care about this from the start. Crunch engaged, gain up a bit, it does just that, a nice crunch. Boosted, it gets even nicer, but I found it a bit tubby. I could work with it, but, I decided to dive right to Lead mode, and the magic began! WHAT A BEAST! Thin? Fizzy? Buzzy? Those are the last words I'd use. Most notably, the resonance and low/bass controls work very well. I had more punch out of the gate, (without the EQ in the loop engaged), than my JVM. No shit.. And adding the 10-Band, it just got ridiculously huge, tight, and extremely aggressive. Extremely. Absolutely viscous sounding, in a very good way.
I boosted the Lead channel, (as I would anyway), to achieve maximum results. I tried my MXR GT-OD, TC Spark Boost, Boss SD-1, and MXR Wylde OD. As crazy as it sounds, the Wylde OD just kills with this amp. The NS-2 eliminates the noise this pedal always dishes out, and I tend to back the level off on the OD and bump the gain just a tad. This works well to add some chunk, and kills some of the compression the pedal tends to add a bit much of. Works very well.
I did experiment with tubes. It comes with a JJ in V1, Ruby in V2, and JJ in V3. I tried several combinations, (I have a truckload of preamp tubes of all makes/types), and an NOS EI in V1, Tungsol in V2, and Sovtek LPS in V3 was just a magical recipe. I can't say enough how well changing them out really fine-tuned this thing. Lower gain tubes, (5751, AT7's, etc. to lower the gain a bit), didn't seem to do well. It kinda neutered the tone too much, rather than lowered gain. Like cutting it's nuts off.. I didn't care much for it. FWIW, I'm running lead gain at around 3.5 - 4, and boosting, and it just slays.
Overall, I'm very impressed with this amp. 1 watt mode works well for near silence, 5 watt even better, in terms of tone, (yet plenty loud), but full bore 20 watts is where it's at! What a killer little amp! It certainly has that 5150 DNA, I've owned both the 5150 & 6505, as well as the 6505+. To me, it has more of a 6505+ type of aggression, but I suppose that's just me. And for those who found it bright, fizzy, or buzzy, the presence control is your friend. I found it very effective, less is better, for sure, as well as the whole EQ section. I know tone is subjective, and we all have our tastes, but if you're a 5150 fan, you'll enjoy the shit out of this little beast.
Another tidbit - the overall EQ works VERY well, the slightest nudge makes a difference, whether it's bass, mids, treble, presence, resonance.. The volume taper is pretty good too. At about 2-1/2 - 3, it starts to breath fire! Under that, you're golden for killer tone at acceptable levels.
My 2-3 hour test-run was through my Randall 4x12,, loaded with V30's and G12T-75's, my ESP EC-1000T/CTM with EMG 81'60's, a couple boost pedals were demo'd, and I ran my MXR 10-Band, Boss DD-3, MXR Black Label Chorus, and NS-2 in the loop.
The cleans are ok, but I didn't care about this from the start. Crunch engaged, gain up a bit, it does just that, a nice crunch. Boosted, it gets even nicer, but I found it a bit tubby. I could work with it, but, I decided to dive right to Lead mode, and the magic began! WHAT A BEAST! Thin? Fizzy? Buzzy? Those are the last words I'd use. Most notably, the resonance and low/bass controls work very well. I had more punch out of the gate, (without the EQ in the loop engaged), than my JVM. No shit.. And adding the 10-Band, it just got ridiculously huge, tight, and extremely aggressive. Extremely. Absolutely viscous sounding, in a very good way.
I boosted the Lead channel, (as I would anyway), to achieve maximum results. I tried my MXR GT-OD, TC Spark Boost, Boss SD-1, and MXR Wylde OD. As crazy as it sounds, the Wylde OD just kills with this amp. The NS-2 eliminates the noise this pedal always dishes out, and I tend to back the level off on the OD and bump the gain just a tad. This works well to add some chunk, and kills some of the compression the pedal tends to add a bit much of. Works very well.
I did experiment with tubes. It comes with a JJ in V1, Ruby in V2, and JJ in V3. I tried several combinations, (I have a truckload of preamp tubes of all makes/types), and an NOS EI in V1, Tungsol in V2, and Sovtek LPS in V3 was just a magical recipe. I can't say enough how well changing them out really fine-tuned this thing. Lower gain tubes, (5751, AT7's, etc. to lower the gain a bit), didn't seem to do well. It kinda neutered the tone too much, rather than lowered gain. Like cutting it's nuts off.. I didn't care much for it. FWIW, I'm running lead gain at around 3.5 - 4, and boosting, and it just slays.
Overall, I'm very impressed with this amp. 1 watt mode works well for near silence, 5 watt even better, in terms of tone, (yet plenty loud), but full bore 20 watts is where it's at! What a killer little amp! It certainly has that 5150 DNA, I've owned both the 5150 & 6505, as well as the 6505+. To me, it has more of a 6505+ type of aggression, but I suppose that's just me. And for those who found it bright, fizzy, or buzzy, the presence control is your friend. I found it very effective, less is better, for sure, as well as the whole EQ section. I know tone is subjective, and we all have our tastes, but if you're a 5150 fan, you'll enjoy the shit out of this little beast.
Another tidbit - the overall EQ works VERY well, the slightest nudge makes a difference, whether it's bass, mids, treble, presence, resonance.. The volume taper is pretty good too. At about 2-1/2 - 3, it starts to breath fire! Under that, you're golden for killer tone at acceptable levels.
