5150 DIY mods/upgrades/spare parts thread.

[faisal]

Hello!
Please list your DIY mods, upgrades, maintenance techniques for the 5150.

I plan to re-tube my head and also try the different tube in the PI mod and the Bias Mod.

Any others ? favorite speakers, cabs, pedals for the 5150 ? Also where is a good place to buy replacement potentiometers and knobs for the 5150 ?

Thanks

 

[droptrd]

I just gave my 5150 a cleaning. cleaned all tube sockets, all pots, all switches and all jacks with deoxit contact cleaner. Noise level dropped a bit. lost some mud. better presence. I plan on replacing the filter caps on it soon. as well as a bias mod.

Id like the make the crunch mode footswitchable. Maybe a clarity mod

 

[Tawlks]

I just gave my 5150 a cleaning. cleaned all tube sockets, all pots, all switches and all jacks with deoxit contact cleaner. Noise level dropped a bit. lost some mud. better presence. I plan on replacing the filter caps on it soon. as well as a bias mod.

Id like the make the crunch mode footswitchable. Maybe a clarity mod

It would be cheaper and easier, and probably better to sell it, buy a 5150 II and have the lead channel modded to 5150 specs.

Then you'd have a more usable clean channel, foot switchable crunch and the same lead channel. Oh and independant EQs.

I've been thinking about giving my 5150 a good clean, thanks for reminding me.

 

[droptrd]

I just gave my 5150 a cleaning. cleaned all tube sockets, all pots, all switches and all jacks with deoxit contact cleaner. Noise level dropped a bit. lost some mud. better presence. I plan on replacing the filter caps on it soon. as well as a bias mod.

Id like the make the crunch mode footswitchable. Maybe a clarity mod

It would be cheaper and easier, and probably better to sell it, buy a 5150 II and have the lead channel modded to 5150 specs.

Then you'd have a more usable clean channel, foot switchable crunch and the same lead channel. Oh and independant EQs.

I've been thinking about giving my 5150 a good clean, thanks for reminding me.

It was worth the effort. It only took about 20 min of my time and a tiny amount of deoxit

 

[Tawlks]

Hello!

Please list your DIY mods, upgrades, maintenance techniques for the 5150.

Basicly...

Bias mod - Peaveys are biased very cold (Bias is basicly the amount of electricity pumped into the valves) cold amps can sound a bit sterile, jacking up the bias opens up the amp, makes it feel more warm and natural.

That's the only real DIY mod I would reccomend.

I plan to re-tube my head and also try the different tube in the PI mod and the Bias Mod.

The 5150s and 5150 IIs especially are very bright, mid heavy amps. JJs are very dark tubes, so alot of people like the combination, but I don't rate them that highly, I've also heard (and had myself) of reliability issues with them, more so than other brands.

Winged Cs are great. TAD are too. Electro Harmonix are reliable, but don't sound all that fantastic.

Look into 5751 preamp tubes as an alternative to other 12A_7 variations for, I think it's PI. There's a specific combination of different brands that lots of people seem to like, I don't know it off by heart but I could find it for you easily?

Any others ? favorite speakers, cabs, pedals for the 5150 ? Also where is a good place to buy replacement potentiometers and knobs for the 5150 ?

Favourite speakers. Celestion V30s (Or other copies/similarly voiced speakers) They're alot less muddy and fizzy than 'T75s. Eddie Van Halen used Greenbacks, and the 5150 cabs have speakers modelled after Greenbacks, but are notorious on forums like this. I have no experience with Greenbacks personally.

V30s are the way to go in my opinion for 5150s.

Cabs - Mesa 412. Marshall's are decent for the money but you could do better, Orange, Mills etc etc. Mesa is a good choice and not too pricey.

Pedals - You NEED a noise gate. It's a noisy amp. The Boss NS-2 is the go-to for most people but the ISP Decimater and MXR Smart gate are both better pedals in most people's opinions.

Boost pedals, line drivers, pickup boosters, low gain overdrive pedals, whatever you wanna call them work great.

Tubescreamer style pedals. Ibanez Tubescreamer is a favourite, but most people who have played both say the Maxon OD808 is better, it may even have the same circuit, just better quality componants, the boss SD-1 is a slightly differently flavoured boost and it's what I use, can be modded to the specs of an Ibanez Tubescreamer for about £2 and 10 minutes of your time easily, very DIY friendly.

Run the pedals with the volume on MAX and the gain on ZERO and tone in the middle to start off with, then you can adjust to taste later, the point of a low gain overdrive infront of the preamp is to push the tubes and colour the EQ, tighten up the bass and change the overall tonality slightly, every boost does this slightly differently.

Never heard of someone needing to replace the pots on a 5150, you can get chicken head knobs anywhere. Don't worry about that.

I hope this has helped. Any questions don't be afraid to ask me with my limited experience but particular interest in 5150s.

Cheers,

Torquil.

 

[Tawlks]

I just gave my 5150 a cleaning. cleaned all tube sockets, all pots, all switches and all jacks with deoxit contact cleaner. Noise level dropped a bit. lost some mud. better presence. I plan on replacing the filter caps on it soon. as well as a bias mod.

Id like the make the crunch mode footswitchable. Maybe a clarity mod

It would be cheaper and easier, and probably better to sell it, buy a 5150 II and have the lead channel modded to 5150 specs.

Then you'd have a more usable clean channel, foot switchable crunch and the same lead channel. Oh and independant EQs.

I've been thinking about giving my 5150 a good clean, thanks for reminding me.

It was worth the effort. It only took about 20 min of my time and a tiny amount of deoxit

Yeah, was it a very noticable difference, or not? It's worth doing it either way in my opinion. I've had problems with preamp valves before, maybe cleaning them will help prevent more?

Also, what did you think of my 5150 II modding suggestion?

 

[faisal]

I love how people have so much love for the 5150! I am very very loyal to it. If it had a great clean channel it would be near to perfection!

The Bias, Cleanup and re-tube is my top priority, then i'll look into changing the speakers in my cab--i bought mine used so it was beaten to death, all kinds of rumble especially on low notes.

I have heard the Bias mod improves the cleans as well. Any experience with that ?

If you could please find me those recommended tube combinations, i'd be very grateful indeed.

 

[droptrd]

I just gave my 5150 a cleaning. cleaned all tube sockets, all pots, all switches and all jacks with deoxit contact cleaner. Noise level dropped a bit. lost some mud. better presence. I plan on replacing the filter caps on it soon. as well as a bias mod.

Id like the make the crunch mode footswitchable. Maybe a clarity mod

It would be cheaper and easier, and probably better to sell it, buy a 5150 II and have the lead channel modded to 5150 specs.

Then you'd have a more usable clean channel, foot switchable crunch and the same lead channel. Oh and independant EQs.

I've been thinking about giving my 5150 a good clean, thanks for reminding me.

It was worth the effort. It only took about 20 min of my time and a tiny amount of deoxit

Yeah, was it a very noticable difference, or not? It's worth doing it either way in my opinion. I've had problems with preamp valves before, maybe cleaning them will help prevent more?

Also, what did you think of my 5150 II modding suggestion?

Deffinately. a modded 5152 sounds like the best of both worlds.

 

[halford]

i need a new pot!

smashed it in half while loading (had no knob on it)



where can i get one from, are they all the same?

Halford

 

[Tawlks]

i need a new pot!

smashed it in half while loading (had no knob on it)



where can i get one from, are they all the same?

Halford

Oh, well I meant I've never heard of one wearing down and breaking, a freak acccident, well that's different!

They're not all the same but as long as it's the same rating and type then you're golden. I live in the UK but you could just google 'amplifier spares' and find potentiometers, I've seen them around, not specific to 5150s though.

 

[Tawlks]

I love how people have so much love for the 5150! I am very very loyal to it. If it had a great clean channel it would be near to perfection!

The Bias, Cleanup and re-tube is my top priority, then i'll look into changing the speakers in my cab--i bought mine used so it was beaten to death, all kinds of rumble especially on low notes.

I have heard the Bias mod improves the cleans as well. Any experience with that ?

If you could please find me those recommended tube combinations, i'd be very grateful indeed.

There is also an improvement of the cleans. Can you post up a pic of your beat up fiddy one fiddy?

This is what I was reccomended. It's for a 5150 II though.

Though a change in tubes will get you closer to your desired tone (Or.. the guy who posted this' desired tone) it won't make the amp something it's not, and if you're new to the Peaveys I'd suggest buying a straight set from one brand then deciding later. Swapping out Pre's is fun.

V4 - Sovtek 12AX7LPS
V3 - Tung-Sol 12AX7
V5 - Sino (Chinese) 12AX7A (I have heard you should not put Russian made tubes here)
V2 - Tung-Sol 12AX7
V1 - JAN-Philip 5751
V6 - Tung-Sol 12AX7

 

[halford]

i need a new pot!

smashed it in half while loading (had no knob on it)



where can i get one from, are they all the same?

Halford

Oh, well I meant I've never heard of one wearing down and breaking, a freak acccident, well that's different!

They're not all the same but as long as it's the same rating and type then you're golden. I live in the UK but you could just google 'amplifier spares' and find potentiometers, I've seen them around, not specific to 5150s though.

ah sweet is that what they are called!

Halford

 

[wIsEbLooD]

you should get the potentiometer from peavey as it is board mounted. you know it will fit that way.

 

[Tawlks]

you should get the potentiometer from peavey as it is board mounted. you know the fucker is going to fit that way.

There aren't too many sizes of pots, as long as he knows the measurements (just measure another one) he should be good.

Not a bad idea, but doing that may take a long time and cost more.

 

[wIsEbLooD]

there are tons of styles, types and sizes of pots. wtf are you talking about?
anyway, i changed a broken presence pot in my old block letter. got it from peavey and it fit perfectly.

 

[Tawlks]

there are tons of styles, types and sizes of pots. wtf are you talking about?
anyway, i changed a broken presence pot in my old block letter. got it from peavey and it fit perfectly.

Really? Not that I'd come across.

Ah, how is the CS over at Peavey? I don't bother because I live on another continent.

 

[droptrd]

a PC mount pot should fit but Im sure there are some out there that wont. Its no problem to just call peavey and order one.

 

[halford]

Found a peavey distrabutor in my city so will all em

 

[fuzzyguitars]

i have two block logo 5150's

one has the bias mod.

one does not.

both are loaded with same pre and power tubes.

they both sound pretty damn near identical to me!

in fact 9 out 10 times, i think that i may actually prefer the distortion sound of the un modded head better.

i guess that i must like cross over distortion!

 

[Tawlks]

i have two block logo 5150's

one has the bias mod.

one does not.

both are loaded with same pre and power tubes.

they both sound pretty damn near identical to me!

in fact 9 out 10 times, i think that i may actually prefer the distortion sound of the un modded head better.

i guess that i must like cross over distortion!

You tend to have land-slide opinions on these things on forums like these, but in the end it's all down to preference. I haven't compared the two, atleast it's an easily reversable mod.