Differences in 5150 and 5150 II Drive channels: myth?

[Shask]

I agree that the original is a little looser, more low mids and bassy, just overall a wall of pissed off.

The II is tighter, brighter, more upper mid, and not quite a wall of pissed off.

 

[Vrad]

IMO, the 5150 (or 6505) sounds better that the 5150 II (6505+). To my ears it sounds thicker. The 5150II is very bright to me. And you can't really dial out that brightness.

the one thing that i loved about 5150's over my 5150 II (and i have owned both at the same time) is that 5150's dont get nearly as fatiguing at high volumes compared to 5150 II's for this very reason.

i loved how my 5150 EVH sounded in a church cranked up, at band practices lasting over 6 hours, at gigs outside, in bars/clubs, etc. the 5150 II just didnt compare stock to stock. the only thing i hated about my 5150 was how much the tone changed from tube change to tube change because i was gigging so much. i bought a 5150 II because i wanted some stability after tube changes because of the amount of tubes i was going through. not for the seperate EQ - the 5150's clean is actually really good - you just have to know how to operate the volume knob on your guitar.

What cab/speakers were you using with your 5150's?

they dont get alot of love here and arent the best sounding, but sheffield 1200's. one cabinet loaded with the striped-magnet models which have more low-mid emphasis and the standard sheffield 1200's that are brittle sounding/shrill (it evens out with volume, backwards from what you would think)

i only use the slant and straight in band practices, i usually only take the straight for gigs/bars.

i had a third cabinet i used loaded with celestion 65's that was made in the mi-1980's. i used to know the year - forgot it TBH. user overthemountain owns it now. i used it for a bit and cycled cabinets. i liked the 1200's over the 65's though.

i have been wanting a nice 2x12 for at home use and also for bars. if anyone has played corner bars before you would know why

The sheffields sound fine in my kid's 5150 combo. At volume they sound real good. Fizzy and harsh at lower volumes.
Wonder how it would sound with the splawn 4x12 with the SB25's.

it sounds fucking phenominal. it blows away the sheffields. it was a night and day difference, i had the chance to play a 2x12 5150 combo loaded with splawns SB's and it was sick insane

im saving up for four splawn cabinets - two with small blocks, and two more to load with V30's. i gave scott's shop a call recently to get some specs and more info on the cabinets to make sure i was solid on a few details.

im going to stop by the shop and deliver some old style marshall basket-weave material for the V30 cabinets.

just to be clear though the sheiffields arent going anywhere. my ears are tuned to them and i use them as a comparison speaker for everything else. they are underrated IMHO

Wow! I'm really psyched.. LOL!
Can't wait to hear what that sounds like. I heard those amps are great with Greenbacks too. I have a 4x12 with GB's as well.

 

[Vrad]

IMO, the 5150 (or 6505) sounds better that the 5150 II (6505+). To my ears it sounds thicker. The 5150II is very bright to me. And you can't really dial out that brightness.

the one thing that i loved about 5150's over my 5150 II (and i have owned both at the same time) is that 5150's dont get nearly as fatiguing at high volumes compared to 5150 II's for this very reason.

i loved how my 5150 EVH sounded in a church cranked up, at band practices lasting over 6 hours, at gigs outside, in bars/clubs, etc. the 5150 II just didnt compare stock to stock. the only thing i hated about my 5150 was how much the tone changed from tube change to tube change because i was gigging so much. i bought a 5150 II because i wanted some stability after tube changes because of the amount of tubes i was going through. not for the seperate EQ - the 5150's clean is actually really good - you just have to know how to operate the volume knob on your guitar.

Pretty much the same experience I had with mine. Loved the grind of the original and learned to use the volume knob when I had that amp...in fact I'm glad it opened that door for me because I still work the volume knob constantly.

Had a stock II sold it for the above reason and later bought a modded one by Jerry with the lead channel back to the original's specs and other trimmings. Much better sounding to my ears.

Also preferred the stock 5150 cabs with those amps as well. Literally played 100's of shows with that combo and never had a breakdown or bad sound night. And to this day one of the best studio tones I ever got was just a 5150 head and cabs.

Somewhere at the end I just started looking for other things tonally, when I tried to come back to 5150's I was just ready to move onto other things. Still one of the best amps I've ever owned and definitely holds the record for my main amp in number of years.

yeah i agree. i have been around 5150's for about 13 years in music, i owned both models for roughly 2 years during the peak of my gigging stints (not playing out anymore right now so i sold the 5150 for the tube reason) and i have owned my 5150 II for 6 years. the tone is great but you are right in that you start searching for something else. not that what you have does not work, but in that it has its own character that somedays gets on your last nerves, and other days it sounds like gold.

the stock speakers are great, its more that the cabinet construction quality tends to change in the peavey cabinets. i have put identical cabinets side by side and there is subtle differences in each. swap the speakers which are the same model/type/brand, and the characteristics of that cabinet do not change.

i love my setup. the 5150 haters can knock them all day long about the ribbon cables and PCB design but at the end of the day i spent a quarter of what a new SLO or any other model costs and can squeeze some serious tones out of one - its very versatile.

Speaking of SLO comparsion.
Did you ever see this video from Thump?

Or this one?

 

[glassjaw7]

IMO, the 5150 (or 6505) sounds better that the 5150 II (6505+). To my ears it sounds thicker. The 5150II is very bright to me. And you can't really dial out that brightness.

the one thing that i loved about 5150's over my 5150 II (and i have owned both at the same time) is that 5150's dont get nearly as fatiguing at high volumes compared to 5150 II's for this very reason.

i loved how my 5150 EVH sounded in a church cranked up, at band practices lasting over 6 hours, at gigs outside, in bars/clubs, etc. the 5150 II just didnt compare stock to stock. the only thing i hated about my 5150 was how much the tone changed from tube change to tube change because i was gigging so much. i bought a 5150 II because i wanted some stability after tube changes because of the amount of tubes i was going through. not for the seperate EQ - the 5150's clean is actually really good - you just have to know how to operate the volume knob on your guitar.

Pretty much the same experience I had with mine. Loved the grind of the original and learned to use the volume knob when I had that amp...in fact I'm glad it opened that door for me because I still work the volume knob constantly.

Had a stock II sold it for the above reason and later bought a modded one by Jerry with the lead channel back to the original's specs and other trimmings. Much better sounding to my ears.

Also preferred the stock 5150 cabs with those amps as well. Literally played 100's of shows with that combo and never had a breakdown or bad sound night. And to this day one of the best studio tones I ever got was just a 5150 head and cabs.

Somewhere at the end I just started looking for other things tonally, when I tried to come back to 5150's I was just ready to move onto other things. Still one of the best amps I've ever owned and definitely holds the record for my main amp in number of years.

yeah i agree. i have been around 5150's for about 13 years in music, i owned both models for roughly 2 years during the peak of my gigging stints (not playing out anymore right now so i sold the 5150 for the tube reason) and i have owned my 5150 II for 6 years. the tone is great but you are right in that you start searching for something else. not that what you have does not work, but in that it has its own character that somedays gets on your last nerves, and other days it sounds like gold.

the stock speakers are great, its more that the cabinet construction quality tends to change in the peavey cabinets. i have put identical cabinets side by side and there is subtle differences in each. swap the speakers which are the same model/type/brand, and the characteristics of that cabinet do not change.

i love my setup. the 5150 haters can knock them all day long about the ribbon cables and PCB design but at the end of the day i spent a quarter of what a new SLO or any other model costs and can squeeze some serious tones out of one - its very versatile.

Speaking of SLO comparsion.
Did you ever see this video from Thump?

Or this one?

I love this guys' vids. He has a pretty nice sounding Diezel Einstein video as well. Also digging his bogner 212 with Warehouse 65's

 

[NinjaRaf]

I much prefer the +/II version. The tightness was the main thing lacking in my 5150, and my 6505+ has that. Bye bye 5150.

 

[jabps]

IMO, the 5150 (or 6505) sounds better that the 5150 II (6505+). To my ears it sounds thicker. The 5150II is very bright to me. And you can't really dial out that brightness.

the one thing that i loved about 5150's over my 5150 II (and i have owned both at the same time) is that 5150's dont get nearly as fatiguing at high volumes compared to 5150 II's for this very reason.

i loved how my 5150 EVH sounded in a church cranked up, at band practices lasting over 6 hours, at gigs outside, in bars/clubs, etc. the 5150 II just didnt compare stock to stock. the only thing i hated about my 5150 was how much the tone changed from tube change to tube change because i was gigging so much. i bought a 5150 II because i wanted some stability after tube changes because of the amount of tubes i was going through. not for the seperate EQ - the 5150's clean is actually really good - you just have to know how to operate the volume knob on your guitar.

Pretty much the same experience I had with mine. Loved the grind of the original and learned to use the volume knob when I had that amp...in fact I'm glad it opened that door for me because I still work the volume knob constantly.

Had a stock II sold it for the above reason and later bought a modded one by Jerry with the lead channel back to the original's specs and other trimmings. Much better sounding to my ears.

Also preferred the stock 5150 cabs with those amps as well. Literally played 100's of shows with that combo and never had a breakdown or bad sound night. And to this day one of the best studio tones I ever got was just a 5150 head and cabs.

Somewhere at the end I just started looking for other things tonally, when I tried to come back to 5150's I was just ready to move onto other things. Still one of the best amps I've ever owned and definitely holds the record for my main amp in number of years.

yeah i agree. i have been around 5150's for about 13 years in music, i owned both models for roughly 2 years during the peak of my gigging stints (not playing out anymore right now so i sold the 5150 for the tube reason) and i have owned my 5150 II for 6 years. the tone is great but you are right in that you start searching for something else. not that what you have does not work, but in that it has its own character that somedays gets on your last nerves, and other days it sounds like gold.

the stock speakers are great, its more that the cabinet construction quality tends to change in the peavey cabinets. i have put identical cabinets side by side and there is subtle differences in each. swap the speakers which are the same model/type/brand, and the characteristics of that cabinet do not change.

i love my setup. the 5150 haters can knock them all day long about the ribbon cables and PCB design but at the end of the day i spent a quarter of what a new SLO or any other model costs and can squeeze some serious tones out of one - its very versatile.

Speaking of SLO comparsion.
Did you ever see this video from Thump?

Or this one?

Good example of the similar tones...even though I'm not a fan of recordings like this Thump's comparisons are very accurate. Also it's the reason I sold my SLO100 back in the day when I had the 5150's...covered alot of the same ground and a 1/3 cheaper...course alot of people thought it was blasphemous, probably still do. However selling my SLO bought me alot of other gear that I needed back than that I could not afford at the time. So it paid off well.

 

[jabps]

IMO, the 5150 (or 6505) sounds better that the 5150 II (6505+). To my ears it sounds thicker. The 5150II is very bright to me. And you can't really dial out that brightness.

the one thing that i loved about 5150's over my 5150 II (and i have owned both at the same time) is that 5150's dont get nearly as fatiguing at high volumes compared to 5150 II's for this very reason.

i loved how my 5150 EVH sounded in a church cranked up, at band practices lasting over 6 hours, at gigs outside, in bars/clubs, etc. the 5150 II just didnt compare stock to stock. the only thing i hated about my 5150 was how much the tone changed from tube change to tube change because i was gigging so much. i bought a 5150 II because i wanted some stability after tube changes because of the amount of tubes i was going through. not for the seperate EQ - the 5150's clean is actually really good - you just have to know how to operate the volume knob on your guitar.

Pretty much the same experience I had with mine. Loved the grind of the original and learned to use the volume knob when I had that amp...in fact I'm glad it opened that door for me because I still work the volume knob constantly.

Had a stock II sold it for the above reason and later bought a modded one by Jerry with the lead channel back to the original's specs and other trimmings. Much better sounding to my ears.

Also preferred the stock 5150 cabs with those amps as well. Literally played 100's of shows with that combo and never had a breakdown or bad sound night. And to this day one of the best studio tones I ever got was just a 5150 head and cabs.

Somewhere at the end I just started looking for other things tonally, when I tried to come back to 5150's I was just ready to move onto other things. Still one of the best amps I've ever owned and definitely holds the record for my main amp in number of years.

yeah i agree. i have been around 5150's for about 13 years in music, i owned both models for roughly 2 years during the peak of my gigging stints (not playing out anymore right now so i sold the 5150 for the tube reason) and i have owned my 5150 II for 6 years. the tone is great but you are right in that you start searching for something else. not that what you have does not work, but in that it has its own character that somedays gets on your last nerves, and other days it sounds like gold.

the stock speakers are great, its more that the cabinet construction quality tends to change in the peavey cabinets. i have put identical cabinets side by side and there is subtle differences in each. swap the speakers which are the same model/type/brand, and the characteristics of that cabinet do not change.

i love my setup. the 5150 haters can knock them all day long about the ribbon cables and PCB design but at the end of the day i spent a quarter of what a new SLO or any other model costs and can squeeze some serious tones out of one - its very versatile.

I bought 2 straight front 5150 cabs at the same time as my original 5150 block head. Heck my amp had Sylvania's in it...I was lucky. Those cabs were from the first run so I don't know how the quality changed through the years. I do know they never failed once, never farted out...didn't even bust a caster in all those years. Literally 100's of shows too. Really hated to part with all that stuff.

Also owned a vintage Marshall 4x12 with real GB's in it at that time...and the amp sounded great on that cab as well. Plus borrowing friends cabs or sharing at gigs...always sounded great no matter the cab IMO but I preferred the stock cabs.

I don't really know why people even criticize the 5150/6505 series...that amp has stood the test of time...nearly 2 decades running. Sure it may not be for everyone tonally but you gotta respect the fact that it's hung around all these years. I've always disliked the Dual Rect. but hats off to Boogie...they hit on something that alot of people love. Can't say that about alot of amps.