Need Help Deciding: Peavey 5150 or 5150 II

  • Thread starter Thread starter Charvel1975
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Charvel1975

Charvel1975

Active member
Well I'm pretty much ready to buy a Peavey 5150 head with footswitch but keep wondering if I should get the 5150 II, maybe Lord Toneking can chime in here as he got a 5150 not long ago.

Right now I've been using my Mesa Tremoverb head thru marshall 1960a cab stock speakers but I just ordered 2 WGS retro 30's to x pattern with the celestion g1275's but I'm looking for a different sound and thats why I keep coming back to the 5150. I've never owned either but have played thru both versions though it's been awhile! Our band plays modern metal in drop b and were starting to do a lot more shows so the 5150 would see a lot of live use. We do have some clean parts in our songs but not a lot and I'm wondering if having the Crunch footswitchable on the II is really that important or not? I know from reading there is a lot more gain stages on the original and I'm also wondering about reliability too and not looking to spend a crazy amount on one maybe at the most around $500 or so.
 
Go with an original 5150. It'll sound great through the 75's. Not familiar with those WGS speakers.
 
Also, if anyone on here has a Peavey 5150 for sale let me know, thanks!
 
chumbucket":3o88cmko said:
Go with an original 5150. It'll sound great through the 75's. Not familiar with those WGS speakers.
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Do you think it'll sound better once I get the WGS ET65's to x with the retro 30's?
 
You should just go with the 5150 prototype amp known as the SLO100! :D
 
i've had all version of this head kept the evh 5153 and honestly i couldn't tell if there was any difference between them on the lead channel... never had them next to each other though
 
I liked my 5150II more than the original. Has a "useable" clean. Definitely play both and then make your decision.
 
Can't compare it to the 5150 But I really liked the 6505+ I tried. Liked the separate deep knobs and thought both channels sounded great
 
Swing over to our practice tomorrow night and check it out if ya want. Im jammin with Paul and Pat from Fisticuff and a long time friend John on bass. Good times! :yes:

The 5150 definatley does the metal thing really really good :rock: I still favor my Quickrod but like the saturation of the 5150 when jammin with these guys
 
I have WGS Retro 30s. Played my 6505+ through them today and the tone was glorious. I scopped the mids and played along to Master Of Puppetts and I was in thrash heaven.

Try LTks 5150 through your WGs retro 30s.
 
I have said this before, but 5150's need to be cranked to give up the goods. That saturation really goes away when you start to open them up. They really do not start giving up the goods until around 3, i prefer either of them at or around 4. The 5150 is based so much on preamp gain that re-tubes will drastically change the character/attitude/tone of the amplifier. There is no dedicated clean EQ or clean resonance/presence knobs on the 5150. the crunch channel sounds great on both, but the 5150 II is much more useful in a band setting. seperate EQ's for clean/lead, separate resonance/presence knobs, and more control over amplifier character when time for a retube due to a dedicated preamp tube stage for the clean/crunch side.

Having owned both and gigged both for over a year extensively i offed the 5150 and kept the 5150 II. Still own it today - great workhorse i can depend on. Not saying the 5150 sounds bad, but the II was definitely more gig friendly, user friendly, more EQ options, and tonally more balanced.
 
Lord Toneking":1g6x3yob said:
Swing over to our practice tomorrow night and check it out if ya want. Im jammin with Paul and Pat from Fisticuff and a long time friend John on bass. Good times! :yes:

The 5150 definatley does the metal thing really really good :rock: I still favor my Quickrod but like the saturation of the 5150 when jammin with these guys
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There was a guy last night on Akron/Canton craigslist that has a 5150 II with the bias mod, 2 footswitches w/cables and 2 complete sets of JJ preamp & poweramp tubes for $500 but it was gone before I could even respond to the ad, was that deal? I'd love to come over tomorrow night but our band Invengence has 2 shows back to back this weekend, were @ Chuck's Steakhouse in Akron, OH tomorrow opening for AudioMatrix and then were playing Saturday night @ The Carriage House in Louisville, OH with Ashes Of The Damned and Sons Of Burden, sorry shameless plugging of our shows there!! Let me know the next time you guys are gonna practice though and I"ll try to stop on out!!
 
5150 is 6505, 5150 II is the 6505+...IMO there isn't going to be a night and day difference among the lead channels, and if you feel there is, it's a super easy mod to take the 5150II/6505+ to regular 5150/6505 specs.

I know some dudes who want a "clean" clean will use rack preamps or POD's or something and run those straight into the loop, deriving their clean tones from the POD and the dirty from the head. Since the loop is footswitchable, it makes it easy to do.

I've owned a 5150, 6505+ and now I own both the 5150 III 100 watt and 50 watt. For me, the III's totally win out. MUCH MUCH MUCH better cleans all around and I prefer the tone of the III's.
 
Charvel1975":1ppnet3v said:
Lord Toneking":1ppnet3v said:
Swing over to our practice tomorrow night and check it out if ya want. Im jammin with Paul and Pat from Fisticuff and a long time friend John on bass. Good times! :yes:

The 5150 definatley does the metal thing really really good :rock: I still favor my Quickrod but like the saturation of the 5150 when jammin with these guys
Click to expand...


There was a guy last night on Akron/Canton craigslist that has a 5150 II with the bias mod, 2 footswitches w/cables and 2 complete sets of JJ preamp & poweramp tubes for $500 but it was gone before I could even respond to the ad, was that deal? I'd love to come over tomorrow night but our band Invengence has 2 shows back to back this weekend, were @ Chuck's Steakhouse in Akron, OH tomorrow opening for AudioMatrix and then were playing Saturday night @ The Carriage House in Louisville, OH with Ashes Of The Damned and Sons Of Burden, sorry shameless plugging of our shows there!! Let me know the next time you guys are gonna practice though and I"ll try to stop on out!!
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That's cool. Everytime you guys are playing my cover band is usually playing or something else is going on. One of these days we'll get it together
 
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