Let's talk about the 6505+ crunch channel

[Revson]

I never really gave this channel much love, usually favoring the red and the "clean" settings. I was futzing around yesterday trying to find a decent to good clean tone and dialed in something reasonable. Then I switched over to the crunch setting. The gain was set pretty low and the sound was reminiscent of the Marshall JMP I used to have. This morning I plugged up a Maxon OD820 in front as purely a clean boost and at that point the amp really came alive. It felt like a whole new channel, really.

Anyone else love the green crunch? What are you boosting it with? How do you go about getting a good clean tone with the amp?

 

[tech21man]

I mostly like the crunch channel boosted vs the lead anyway!

About boosts, depends on your guitar, cab, prefference etc. Ts style boosts work very good as is. Boss sd-1 also. OCD as a boost. Depends on the guitar and what you are after.

 

[Anonymous]

My maxon od9 seems to go great with everything so far. Really like it as a boost!

 

[Spaceboy]

I have a pet peeve who talk about the 5150/6505's "clean channel"... because it doesn't have one, there's only rhythm and lead, and they are crunchy. It's an EVH signature, and people expect cleans? C'mon... Anyways, the rhythm channel gets overlooked because everyone wants metal, but with a good boost that channel can sing. The red channel doesn't sound as good when you only need a little crunch. I do think the green could use a little more low-end though.

 

[Revson]

Well the 6505 doesn't, but the plus almost has a usable clean channel. I need to get an EQ pedal to pop in the loop to see if it helps.

 

[Mailman1971]

The 5150/6505 with a EQ in the loop and a boost in front makes for the Crunch Channel damn near as good as it gets.
My best "bang for the buck" vote for sure!

 

[Spaceboy]

The II/+ doesn't have a clean channel either. It can be used clean-ish, but it's a crunchy rhythm channel, and it's damn good at it. I'm just trying to say the common "but the cleans suck" comment that floats around online about this series of amplifiers is inapplicable because the channel was never meant to be "clean" like other amps.

 

[the4thlast1]

I have to disagree also...The 6505+ does have a usable clean that actually sounds good. The 6505 does not.

I also own the Fender Evh 5153 ...Comparing the Fender to the 6505+ . The Fender clean is a bit warmer, the Peavey actually has a nicer top end to my ears. I could dial the clean channels to sound almost identical and I'm talking about a clean clean, little to no brake up.

 

[Shiny_Surface]

The 5150/6505 with a EQ in the loop and a boost in front makes for the Crunch Channel damn near as good as it gets.
My best "bang for the buck" vote for sure!

I miss my 6505 especially with a boost supplanted, brutality "built in".

 

[rottingcorpse]

The 5150/6505 with a EQ in the loop and a boost in front makes for the Crunch Channel damn near as good as it gets.
My best "bang for the buck" vote for sure!

Fja 6505 crunch is great.

 

[Valtyr]

Not in a band, so at the volumes I play the crunch channel on my 5150 2x12 actually can be a "clean" channel.

 

[Skolphy]

I have a block letter and I use the Suhr Koko Boost Reloded..makes the lead channel almost irrelevant.fantastic pedal.

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

the crunch channel boosted is what you hear on a lot of 6505, 6505+ bands that record with them - it's got more clarity than the lead channel and sounds great with an OD9 in front of it

 

[CP5150]

The II/+ doesn't have a clean channel either. It can be used clean-ish, but it's a crunchy rhythm channel, and it's damn good at it. I'm just trying to say the common "but the cleans suck" comment that floats around online about this series of amplifiers is inapplicable because the channel was never meant to be "clean" like other amps.

You sir are correct. I can't stand people who dis the 5150/6505 5150 II/6505+ because the clean channel sucks. Maybe that's a bit harsh. But it gets to me after a while. The rhythm channel is less compressed and can sound really good. I have used it for cleans in live situations with a Strat and got by. I largely ignored the rhythm channel for years. 5150 I'm talking about. I mainly used the amp as a one channel head and rode the volume knob like Ed in the old days.

There's an interview floating around with a guy from Peavey. He says Ed sent his Marshall and SLO heads to them and wanted the rhythm channel to sound like his Marshall and the lead like the SLO. Lead they got right. And the rhythm is better then people say. I don't think it sounds like classic VH. But it's a good rock tone and I find it very usable.

A pretty well known guitar player recently told me the 5150 II rhythm channel is his secret weapon. He cranks the post gain and uses the pre gain as volume. Says it's very Marshally. I only have the OG Peavey 5150 with matching 4x12 and the 5150 III 2x12 combo so I don't know if it's true. Just passing on what I heard.

 

[Stone Heavy Sound]

Love the crunch channel, sounds great on it's own, very soldano like. Never needed to boost it, mine has lots of gain, I have the gain at 6 and the pickups are pretty hot so I guess that's my boost in a way. I also make my own very low capacitance cables, that opens up the tone a lot. It's got enough saturation at that level to play Metallica, very distorted and heavy.

I don't play clean much but the clean channel is really hard to deal with because of the one EQ, and that of course is dialed for the lead channel. Using an EQ pedal in the loop as I think someone else also mentioned is a solid workaround.

 

[prsplayer86]

The 5150/6505 with a EQ in the loop and a boost in front makes for the Crunch Channel damn near as good as it gets.
My best "bang for the buck" vote for sure!

Fja 6505 crunch is great.

FJA 5150/6505 crunch is stupid good.

 

[Revson]

A pretty well known guitar player recently told me the 5150 II rhythm channel is his secret weapon. He cranks the post gain and uses the pre gain as volume. Says it's very Marshally.

I get that kind of vibe out of mine. The real difference I noticed is that the Peavey felt a bit stiffer than the my old Marshall.

 

[DAMIAN The MAN]

The II/+ doesn't have a clean channel either. It can be used clean-ish, but it's a crunchy rhythm channel, and it's damn good at it.
There's an interview floating around with a guy from Peavey. He says Ed sent his Marshall and SLO heads to them and wanted the rhythm channel to sound like his Marshall and the lead like the SLO. Lead they got right. And the rhythm is better then people say. I don't think it sounds like classic VH. But it's a good rock tone and I find it very usable.

Can you give us a link please?