Bad.Seed
Well-known member
It's been a busy few days. Picked up all 3 amps within the last 3 days. I picked up both Peavey amps to flip for a quick buck, but they are both staying because they sound phenomenal.
I managed to score the VTM 60 on ebay last week. It's in mint condition, has the dipswitch cover, and has ALL of the original USA tubes. Pretty damn wild. I've owned a whole bunch of VTM's over the years, and never particularly loved any of them. Awesome amps, but none spoke to me. 5 minutes with this amp, and it was apparent that it would not be going anywhere. This one sounds so Marshally, it's crazy. If I'm being honest, it's like my Chupacabra met a 5150, and it rules. The amp is super quiet, and has no issues. Used it at practice over the weekend, and it cut effortlessly in the mix, and my other guitarist runs a KT88 Loaded Splawn QR. Nice!
The Stiletto Trident showed up today. It's a stage II. Some of you may have remembered me asking about the amp in a thread a couple weeks ago. I pulled the trigger and it showed up today. Also in mint condition, the amp is BRIGHT. Good lord, is it bright. The people who advised me about it's brightness were not exaggerating. It definitely sounds better through some cabs vs others. Not good through a 1960B cab, but really nice through a Diezel RV30 cab and Marshall MF400 cab (Leaning towards the MF400) The amp has a good amount of low end punch, and a ton of punch. Even though it' bright, it seems to lack a little sizzle, but not in a way that I think would be noticeable in a band setting. Super tight low end, full sounding without being muddy, but not as clear as some of my other amps either. What I do like overall, is the grind it seems to have. But I really want to check it out in a mix before I make the decision to keep or sell..
Lastly, I picked up an FJA modded Block Letter 5150 locally for $450. It's had the Metal Mod done, which changes the transformers, adds a choke, has the clarity mod and some other things, I guess. It's also had the bias mod done, with individual bias settings for each pair of tubes. It currently has 6L6's and KT88's in it. This is the best Peavey 5150 I've ever heard. The character and signature sound of the amp is fully in tact, but the can of bees sound, slightly annoying high end and flubbiness in the bass are gone, and the amp is quite a bit clearer than a stock 5150. The bass is now enormous, but now has a punch that none of my other 5150/6505 amps have ever had, and I've also got the resonance and bass levels at about 4.5 each, and the low end is still massive. This amp will also be staying.
Pics below, as well as a short cell video I did of the Stiletto that i posted to IG, and a clip of the VTM in the band mix at practice. Great gear day!
I managed to score the VTM 60 on ebay last week. It's in mint condition, has the dipswitch cover, and has ALL of the original USA tubes. Pretty damn wild. I've owned a whole bunch of VTM's over the years, and never particularly loved any of them. Awesome amps, but none spoke to me. 5 minutes with this amp, and it was apparent that it would not be going anywhere. This one sounds so Marshally, it's crazy. If I'm being honest, it's like my Chupacabra met a 5150, and it rules. The amp is super quiet, and has no issues. Used it at practice over the weekend, and it cut effortlessly in the mix, and my other guitarist runs a KT88 Loaded Splawn QR. Nice!
The Stiletto Trident showed up today. It's a stage II. Some of you may have remembered me asking about the amp in a thread a couple weeks ago. I pulled the trigger and it showed up today. Also in mint condition, the amp is BRIGHT. Good lord, is it bright. The people who advised me about it's brightness were not exaggerating. It definitely sounds better through some cabs vs others. Not good through a 1960B cab, but really nice through a Diezel RV30 cab and Marshall MF400 cab (Leaning towards the MF400) The amp has a good amount of low end punch, and a ton of punch. Even though it' bright, it seems to lack a little sizzle, but not in a way that I think would be noticeable in a band setting. Super tight low end, full sounding without being muddy, but not as clear as some of my other amps either. What I do like overall, is the grind it seems to have. But I really want to check it out in a mix before I make the decision to keep or sell..
Lastly, I picked up an FJA modded Block Letter 5150 locally for $450. It's had the Metal Mod done, which changes the transformers, adds a choke, has the clarity mod and some other things, I guess. It's also had the bias mod done, with individual bias settings for each pair of tubes. It currently has 6L6's and KT88's in it. This is the best Peavey 5150 I've ever heard. The character and signature sound of the amp is fully in tact, but the can of bees sound, slightly annoying high end and flubbiness in the bass are gone, and the amp is quite a bit clearer than a stock 5150. The bass is now enormous, but now has a punch that none of my other 5150/6505 amps have ever had, and I've also got the resonance and bass levels at about 4.5 each, and the low end is still massive. This amp will also be staying.
Pics below, as well as a short cell video I did of the Stiletto that i posted to IG, and a clip of the VTM in the band mix at practice. Great gear day!
