Peavey 5150 212

2 channel, 60 watt, etc....Go to the peavey web site.

When cranked this amp rips death metal, thrash, grindcore tone very well. On the otherside it makes a strat melt especially when taking off the back plate.

Mine has a problem with the presence knob. Seems to cut off from time to time, I guess it's a bad pot or something. Overall built like a tank. (7 layer plywood walls).

A great investment period.

Don't know the year that this beast was made but is made in the USA.
It has 2 channels: rithym (not clean) and lead.
It has one EQ for both channels but i don't care since i don't use the rithym channel.

Ok. This thing is made to blow your head off!.. It's 60 watts all tube amp..it can kick the ass of a 120 watts transistor amp! this means LOUD SHIT!. It's a little bit noisy but it's nothing a noise gate or noise suppressor can't handle.
This sounds heavy as hell. Lots of distorsion.. so if you like metal this is for you!..

It's built like a tank!.. Don't need a backup!..
If it got stolen i would chase the bastard who stole it and hang him from his balls from a cactus plant!..

I've been playing for 5 years. It's not a very long time but i like to lock my self in my room for several hours to practice. I'm using this amp with a ESP LTD M-350 with EMGs. This thing rocks!!... It's the best amp I've ever had!..

Before I review this amp, I will just note that my style is PUNK, ala
Blink 182, Ataris, Fenix TX, NOFX, 10 Foot Pole. If you play punk and are considering buying this amp, my review might be more appropriate for you than the metalhead reviews or bluesboys. If you play anything else, then don't read this reviews as I have used it for nothing but punk so far.

Features are more than adequate for my style so far. It has only one set of EQ's, but I really don't see this as a problem. It has an effects loop (not that I need it), and a footswitch pedal to change from rhythm to lead and for reverb.

I am using a shitty squire with even shittier stock pickups. I will very soon have a SD cool rails in the neck and a hot rails in the bridge, OH YEAH!!! But with my stock pickups naturally feedback is a problem. At level 3.5 on the lead channel the feedback killed when I wasn't playing today, had to switch back to rhythm. This is, however, the PICKUPS FAULT and NOT THE FAULT OF THE AMP. Get some good pickups like the ones I mentioned or possibly the SD Invader. Contrary to what others have said, the clean channel sounded just fine to me and my bandmates. I play punk, punk and more punk, and this amp is awesome for that purpose.

Only owned it for a week. From the reviews from this page and from the band which previously owned it, I would definately gig without a backup.

???????????????

I have been playing for 2.5 years. Used to own a 15 watt squire amp that came in my $600 strat pack. I won't even bother comparing that amp to the 5150 as they are not comparable. I used a Marshall VS100 on hire for two jams, and this amp definately has more balls, heavier, chunkier lead and rhythm. I bought this mainly because the drummer in our band knew the guy who owned it, and they had made a CD (KERB - Nobody Here But Us Walruses)using this amp for recording so I could hear what it sounded like, plus I could sort of trust the guy.
There is, however, one drawback. THE WEIGHT! 45-50 kilos of amp. You don't realise how heavy the bastard until you need to lug it up flights of stairs on your own! If you are not very strong and you neeed to transport your amp by yourself, you will probably want to get a trolley or something. But don't avoid it because of the weight because you would be missing out on one awesome product.

I will write another review in a month or two after more jams and a gig or two, and give a more in depth review. But, on face value, this amp is just what you're average punker is looking for!

Made in 1998, I purchased it used. You can read the standard features on the web site or the reviews below.

I bought this amp because I started jamming with another guitarist and a drummer. My old SS Peavey played valiantly even with the Metal Zone, but it just didn't have the low end and punch that I needed. I play mostly metal, inspired by Metallica, Pantera, Machinehead, etc.
After doing extensive research, for several years, I determined that it had all the features I needed. -1 for lack of 2 EQ's for the Rhythm and Lead channel.

60W all tube is more power than I can use. When I jam with it, I have it on somewhere between 3-5 (and we play with earplugs). In my apartment, it's set on something like 1/4 or 1/3 to please the neighbors.

I play a Peavey Falcon (strat copy) with 3 active single coils, double-locking tremelo.

The amp suits my style perfectly. Everyone has said if you want high gain, you can't beat the 5150 for teh price. I'll echo that one more time. The lead channel has insane amounts of gain. I'll never use my Metal Zone with it. Ever.

Yes, the Lead channel has noise in the background (partially due to my pickups). But think about it. With that much gain, without forking over thousands of $$, you will have noise.

Now, my clean channel doesn't really have much noise unless I crank the volume up. I'll say that my pickups have done an effective job of handling this. Also, if I plug my acoustic electric into it (I know, acoustic into a 5150 is blasphemy), there is no noise.

I absolutely love the sound of this thing. The Presence and Resonance dials are nice functions to enhance the high and low ends.

Only had it for a short time, but I've never had problems with Peavey stuff.

n/a

I've played on and off for several years. Pretty simple rig, I just have a Dunlop Wah and an EH Electric Mistress Flanger. Used to use the Metal Zone for distortion, never more.

I'd definitely find another if I lost it.

Other amps I was looking at:
- Mesa Boogie DC's, Nomads. Didn't go with them primarily because of price.
- Marshall JCM combos - didn't have the gain I wanted
- Marshall Valvestate/AVT's - not enough gain
- Line 6 Flextones - I came very close to getting a Flextone because of the "Insane" Channel, but I wanted more tube fullness.
- Soldano Atomic 16 - too pricey for what I was trying to fullfill
- Randall Warhead - I love Dimebag's sound, but that's the only sound I could get from it!
- I played through my friends Peavey Classic 30 - it has a great sound, but if you want gain, think that the Classic 30's gain at the max = 4-5 on the 5150.

I didn't even consider the Fenders and Crates.

Basically, this thing is very versatile and for more tendency towards metal, it's perfect. Lots of volume, great tone (I'll go with JJ Eurotubes to replace them when I need to) and in a great (but heavy) 2x12 package. Definitely play through it before you buy one, but if you want monster gain, get it. And at this price, it CAN'T be beaten.

I'm gonna let you read the multitude of features sections below. My rating is based on my needs. It's got what I need.

I think the good and bad reviews here are kinda funny. There's the "IT'S FUCKING METALLICARIFIC DUUUUUDE" reviews along with the (imagine a sissy French accent) "ah, theese amp, eet hass no soul and eet hass no imagination or character" reviews. I also love to hear all the bitching about the "clean" channel. Ya know what? I own one of these now and, unless they changed something, there is no "clean" channel. There's a "rhythm" channel, but no "clean" channel. Look, if you're in a jazz or funk or country band, then, nope, don't buy this amp. This is a rock n roll amp. The rhythm channel has a nice crunch, not to mention thump (it'll smack you in the face when you're not looking). You can also hit the crunch switch on the rhythm channel if you want it to shred. That's not my thing but who cares, right? The lead channel is great for <pause for drum roll>, single note lead lines. There is a bit of buzz in the lead channel which I'm trying to figure out how to contend with but the harmonics are very nice, very present, and flying all over the place. Remember, alot of the sound also depends on your hands. Vary you're pick attack, especially on the rhythm channel and the amp responds accordingly. I'm thinking that the people who say it doesn't have very little feel in their playing.

This thing is heavy, and, to coin an overused phrase, built like a goddam tank. I think you'd have to drop a nuke on this thing to break it of damage it.

Don't know. Haven't had to deal with them.

I've been playing for twenty-seven years overall (holy shit that seems like a long time!). I have a Carvin Vintage 33 which is not all that inspiring but gets a lot of good sounds at low volume for recording. I write/record my own material and have a home studio built around a Tascam 788. Anyway, I've had my head up my own ass in my studio writing material for the past year and am ready to start gigging again and the Carvin defintely ain't gonna cut it in the clubs. I hate to say "for the price" this is a great amp because that presumes I would buy another amp if I had more money. The thing is, I owned a Mesa DC50 head at one time and I owned a Mesa knockoff (Mitchell amp, made in California, this was about fifteen years ago, nowhere to be seen anywhere these days, it kicked ass) and I've test driven most of the Mesa line as well several Marshalls and Fenders. If you wanna play rock n roll, or rock, or whatever you wanna label it, this amp will deliver in spades. It doesn't make you sound like Eddie Van Halen, or at least doesn't *have* to. On a side note, Marshall quality has gone in the shitter and they sound harsh and brittle, so all you guys who love Marshall amps, enjoy. I think this is an amp I can live with for a long, long time. If lost or stolen, I would buy another one, no looking, no second thoughts, no "well, maybe I should spend a couple grand on a boutique amp", I'd just buy it. And, if you don't agree with me or don't like it, viva la free fucking country and play through whatever moves you.

Go from pristine clean to kick-your ass distortion. Amazingly versatile for any style you may even dream of playing! Sounds great at very loud volumes, just as well when you want it to whisper. People complain that it needs seperate EQ's for each channel... I don't see any point. Use an external one in the FX loop if you're desperate!

Used with an Ibanez S470, a versatile guitar, and a BOSS ME-30 multi-effects you can emulate almost any sound you want from it. Van Halen sounds great, so does Metallica, Pantera, Led Zep, SRV, Aerosmith and basically anything you could think of. The only downside to it is the loud hum at high volumes, but hey, it's a tube amp being driven insanely, so it's expected to happen! A noise suppressor helps a bit in the loop to solve the problem.

Built like a tank inside of a tank. 85 pound monster that will never die! It'll probably outlast you on stage! Never had any problems!

N/A

I would replace it before I'd pay my bills. It's simply an amazing amp for the money. Great distorted tones, equally good clean ones too. Have fun blaring out "Poundcake" on it on your first time with the amp at 5... you won't need it any higher!

1997 model...out of the box this thing is ready for everything from Testament to Machine Head and everything in between. I don't really screw with tying to get ultra clean with this amp. That would be like getting Robert Downey Jr. off smack. It ain't happnin'. I wish this tank had selectable ohm's switch for the extension jack.

I'm using it with a Jackson RR w/emg81's. I tried a boss eq pedal in the effects loop, but I prefered it without it. Pinched harmonics and grinding de-tuned shit is easy with this bastard. I had a Peavey ms 4x12 for a little while as an extension but didn't like it. I'm gonna try a carvin LEGACY 2x12 and re-wire it for 16 ohms(see, selector switch would have been nice). The distortion is superior to any amp I have heard or owned. I've had Marshall half-stacks, Randall Halfstacks, and most everything in between. Guitar Center usually hates to see me coming because I'm usually there to return something. Not this amp..It will never leave my sight.

Tubes went once...it was time. I threw some JJ's in.Great power tubes, but I like the chinese for pre-amp edge(GAIN!) This thing is friggin' heavy! BUILT TO LAST!!.

never dealt with them...

In the 12 years I have been playing, I have never heard an amp that blows me away without a daisy-chain of effects a mile long. This amp preaches distortion and delivers the goods. You don't NEED a halfstack with this amp. This thing will knock down a wall of stacks like dominoes!!!

I hear everyone talking about how this amp is cheap and you should just go out and get a freakin Marshal or something. And it's true that the 1550 212 is limited in the features dept. but not everyone has $2000 to lay down whenever! It's true that the combo only has one set of controls for the EQ (high, mid, low), and, at first, I was getting way to many highs in the lead channel. I play ska/punk, and need a good clean sound as well as a heavy distortion. But, as I played with the controls (which are limited in number, but not in control), I realised that I could turn on the bright control on the rythm channel, turn down my highs on the EQ control, and I had the same great clean sound, but a hard "thick" distortion on the lead channel. Sorry, no exp. with the FX loop.
Perfect for my style, but limited in overall control, and I really wish it had a line out!:(

I play an Ibanez destroyer, with two humbuckers, and like I said above, it suits my ska style perfectly. as for sounds, the resonance and presence controls alone can make a variety of sounds while I am playing. As for when I'm not, I have been quite satisfied with the absence of white noise, commonly a problem with all tube designs. I am constantly banging on the footswitch, changing back and forth, sometimes when nothing else is happening, so I really don't want some sh... noises cutting through everything.
Great at high volume levels, especially the lead channel. sometimes i turn it up just to remind myself how loud it can really go. It's got a great "fuzzy" distortion, that goes really hard when the EQ gets played with, and turning up the resonance can break windows! I'm overall satisfied with the sounds.:)

I have had My 1550 for about two months (not long, but I play constantly), and have had not a single problem. My band practices for over three hours at a time, and I have not had any trouble, except for the control panel heating up quite a bit. But it's not like it's melting the plastic or anything, just normal tube activity. So I can't really rate this quite yet.

N/A (see above)

If it had a line out, and seperate EQ's, I'd be in love. Great power as compared to many 2x12's, or atleast any I've come across.
If this one was lost, I'd be broke, but, for the money, I'm very happy with what I have. I know someone with a fender deluxe, 112, I think. he plays classic rock and blues. I own a peavey 1550 212, and I like everything fast and hard (don't let the word "ska" fool you). that's really all there is to say. Everyone who wants to whine should try a little thing I like to call "playing it before you buy it" Maybe next time you'll get what you want.
I give it a 10 for hardcore and punk.
A 7 for everyone else.

If you are reading this review you probably already know the features but just in case Ill list them anyway:
-60 watts RMS. Powered by 5 12AX7 and 2 6L6 power tubes. Now since this beast is all tube its not "just 60 watts", tubes are much better than solid state shit. Those 60 tube watts are about the equivalent of 300 solid state watts, so if your jamming with some friends and they're playing through a crate, line 6 or some other solid state digital amp modeling piece of shit, your going to blow them away.
-3 band EQ. The EQ applies to both channels which doesnt really bother me. However it is also a passive EQ so it helps to have a separate 7,9,or 15 band EQ in the effects loop or something so you can do some extra tweaking if necessary, which brings us to.....
-Effects loop. Now I've heard a lot of people trash the effects loop on this thing but really its pretty good. Ill talk more about it later.
-Resonance and Presence controls. Resonance is like Presence for the low end distortion.
-Reverb(Footswitchable). The reverb in this thing isnt all that great but I dont use it anyway because I have my GT-3 in the effects loop.
-External speaker jack, THIS IS NOT A PREAMP OUT, so dont go and plug this thing into a mixer or a multitrak or something!!!
-2 Channels: Rythm and Lead(Footswitchable). Now if you look closely you will notice that I typed RYTHM and LEAD, NOT Clean and Dirty. The Clean channel by itself on this thing is not the greatest. So if you want clean go buy a weak-assed fender or something.
-2 12" speakers custom designed to EVH specs.
I think thats about it.

This amp RULES. It is as loud as all hell. I play this beast with a Wolfgang Special and a Boss Gt-3 in the effects loop. This amp was made for hard core ROCK AND ROLL, GRAB YOU BY THE BALLS, KICK YOUR ASS AND BREAK YOUR FACE METAL. And massive amounts of HALENAGE!!! THATS RIGHT!!! VAN FUCKIN'HALEN BABY!!! I fits my music style perfectly which is kind of a VAN HALEN meets Metallica meets Pantera, or METAL. So if your lookin' to play bluegrass or country or some other weak shit, keep your fairy ass away from my amp.

Now earlier I said that people trash the efects loop on this thing, thats because the effects loop only sends out a -10db signal but it needs more than that in return. So if your going to run something in the effects loop it works best if the unit has an on-board pre-amp built into it. I mentioned ealier that I use a GT-3 in the Effects loop and it works great. The problem with a lot of normal stomp boxes is that they have a -10db output so there is a high possibility that your going to get sound degradation. So whats great about the GT-3 or units similar to it is that it has everything you need built into it. Ive got reverb, delay, chorus, speaker simulator, noise reduction, the list goes on. Its awesome.

Peaple also say this amp generates a lot of noise but Ive never had a problem with it because as I said before the GT-3 has an noise reduction unit built in.

Clean. On its own the clean channel on this amp is nothing spectacular but with some chorus and delay it sounds pretty good.

BEST DISTORTION EVER!!! I love the distortion on this thing its brutal!! This thing is Eddie Van Halen in a box. Once you learn how to tweak it you can coax just about any sound you want out of it. Now theres a lot of shitheads out there that get on here and totaly trash these amplifiers just because they cant handle the distortion on this baby. I also hate it when some dickhead gets on here and trashes this thing just because its not a Mesa, or a Marshall or whathaveyou. HEY PRICK!! If you want a Marshall, BUY A FUCKING MARSHALL!!! Get ripped off see if I give a shit. BUT, dont buy this thing and expect it to sound like something its not and then come on here and piss and moan about how much you hate it. Yeah thats right!! I said it!!

Another thing, somebody in another review said it best: "This a garbage in garbage out amp." If your playing a guitar with shitty single coil pickups like a squire or a danelectro or some other piece of shit, your not going to be inpressed. Buy a guitar with some nice humbucking pickups in it, thats what this amp was designed to be used with. I strongly recommend the Wolfgangs.

TANK. Thats it, this thing is a TANK. It is HEAVY!! So I would recommend going to the hardware store and getting a pair of casters for this beast. I place a ton of faith in this thing I plan to have it forever.

Ive had it for a year and never needed it.

Overall its a pretty BADASS amp. I already said I use this thing with a Wolfgang and a GT-3. I just love the sound and the volume of it, the sustain just lasts forever. What do wish it had though was a pre-amp output jack that would be cool, and separate EQs for each channel. If it were stolen I would hunt down the person who did it and burn them. KEEP ROCKIN'

Ok you pieces of dumba$$es!... This amplifier is made for METAL, hardcore, sweep picking, loud screaming leads guitar players!.. not for blues or gay music.
This amp doesn't have a clean channel so if you want a clean sound go buy a damn fender!.
I don't understand how can a person be so stupid to buy a hard rocking sounding amp to play blues.... jacka$$es!.. How can a smart, intelligent person can buy a HIGH GAIN amplifier to play clean?.. if you are one of those persons, you ovbiously made the wrong choice.
This amplifier is made to blow down your house or building, it's made to bother your parents and neighbors, your wife and kids, your brother and sister, even the rythm guitar player of your band!. This is a VERY LOUD motherf*cker!.
As i said before!.. if you want clean sounds this is not the amplifier of your dreams!.. If you want to play deathmetal, hardcore, blackmetal and that kinda stuff then this amp is for you.
That's all I have to say.
Rock on!

You know the features by now

I use it with Ibanez Jem555 or standard Fender strat. Hm, what style is it suitable for? I really can not think of anything that this amp would do great or better than competition.

CLEAN:
Yeah, the clean is clean as many have said, but I guess these people have tried no or too few
real vintage amps to judge clean sounds objectively. Try class A amps if you want to know what real tubey clean sounds. It sounds alive. This one on 5150 sounds very predictable, there is no soul in it. Also the dynamics fluctuations of your plaing do not come trough or make a great difference in sound. It is a good amp, but you guys, dont forget that this is a midle-priced or midle-market amp.
I really expected that overdrive would be great. A lot of guys have said that it is better than M/B Dual Recto.
First of all, M/B produces many Dual Recto models. From Blue Angel too Triple channel Dual Rectifier head. So tell me which one did you have in mind. When I tried 5150, I had Blue Angel (class A!!!) and Rectoverb (class AB I think) on each side of it. If you want real vintage clean sound, try Blue Angel (but bear in mind that it is a class A amp and that it does not have preamp overdrive. What you get is just clean and some overdrive from power tubes when you crank the amp. Absolutely great amp (for its purpose). Rectoverb is much worse amp than Blue Angel eventhough it has a lot of preamp overdrive sounds that are unavailable in BA. However, BA alone costs almost as much as 5150 costs. So if you want clean, buy Blue Angel or try to find a used Fender VibroSonic 69'

OVERDRIVE:
Rectoverb was not good and 5150 was even worse. Again, I was stupid that I expected great overdriven sounds out of that kind of cheap amp. I suggest you find a Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ (1984) and you will see that there is really no and I mean NO comparison. Yes, you pay a lot just for one overdrive sound, but it is worth it. Forget Dual Recto thing (I mean overdrive), we are talking about really pristine sounds here.

JUDGEMENT:

For the price 5150 is somewhere in 8 maybe 9 neighbourhood. (it cuts trough in live situations very well.

In absolute competition it gets a 5.

I play blues and rock, sometimes I throw i some metal. I own a TUBETECH preamp, Marshall EL34 50/50 poweramp, Marshall 1960AV cab with Vintage 30 speakers. I am planning to buy Mesas Triaxis and Blue Angel head.
The longer I play the more I belive that music industry is all about marketing and amount of money spent for marketing.
When you really try and begin to explore to find perfect equipment, you discover new names, companies ect. that never appear in magazines on the net...
For example: There is a company in Slovenia and Germany that is caled TUBETECH. I know the guy and he has been in the bussines for 35 years. His circuits are very similar to pre 90's Mesa Boogie amps Mark IIC+, Mark I... and to pre 90's Marshalls JCM 800, Plexis...
I tell you, for 2000$ you get a MIDI preamp and SimulClass poweramp with all those sounds that you would normally pay twice as much for.
So if I consider this option, 5150 does not inspire me at all. And it is darn heavy too.

2001 5150 combo 60watts(i think) 6L6 tubes 3 channel amp

I've only had the amp a short time(1 week) however I've had my eye on purchasing one ever since it first came into production. If you want EVH in a box(tonewise) this amp is for you. HOwever I do feel that some people are unfairly judging the amp due to their expectations of what it can and cannot do. If you wanted that clean sounding amp with great reverb then you probably want or wanted the fender. This amp is actually QUITE Versatile contrary to many of the posts submitted to this board. It's in the players ability and the tonal scope of the amp which you can truely achieve( i believe) any sound your hart desires. This IS NOT strictly a thrash metal amp...in fact I literally hate thrash metal with a passion, i dont even consider it music but thats a whole other matter entirely. What I do like about this amp is the rich harmonic overtones and beautiful sustain coupled with the fact you can get a nice dirty blues sound to a heavy richly distorted deep bottom end metallica sound(cant stand the band) Anyhow In the sound category i'd give this amp a 10 in a heart beat

Had the amp a week, couldnt tell ya

again, refer to above

Awesome amp, it delivers!!
More often then not the complaints come from the idiots who impulsively bought the amp assuming it could do something that it was not designed to do. This is not the greatest amp to buy for a clean sound. Notice the majority of people who where familiar with what the amp can and cannot do upon purchase are extremely satisifed with the product.

Has poor effects loop, two channels (rhythm & lead), 2 inputs (high &low gain), presence & resonance. The reverb is crappy (circiutboard sound). This amp also has a useless "bright" button that hugely overloads the highs. THE BOTTOM LINE is that it has enough features to please a tone deaf metal rocker. 5 preamp tubes and 2 power tubes means means 1 inescapeably lame & compressed gain sound that sounds NOTHING like a power tube fuzz gain.

If you like compressed, circuit board preamp gain and you play nothing other than metal, this amp is for you, I play a vintage strat and a les paul with single coils and this amp doesn't do shit all for them. This amp is made for flat neck, double coil pickup, hard rock/metal players with no desire for 3D dynamic tone. It is very loud (60 watts that out-volume a 100 watt Marshall!! Unfortuneately, preamp gain is all you're gonna get ou of this baby. Don't expect anything for a clean sound. It simply doesn't sound good at all. Single coil pickups will sound like poo through all of the preamp gain. I've heard that the 5150 head is much better than the combo. If you play single coils through this amp, I suggest to set up the knobs as follows : Bass-33% Mid-90% High-75-95% Rev.-8% resonance-80% and presence-90%. How much gain you desire will be determined by how you set the preamp level. Usually I put it at 5 so you can have the clean but gaining when you pick it hard blues idead, even though the gain itself is no good.

Be careful. Bias your tubes when you change them, Circuit board technology will let you down in the long run, but this amp is made strong. Haven't taken it to Peavey once.

I have been playing for 5 years and I own a 50's strat and a les paul standard. I used to play metal and this amp definetely suited my needs. Once my ears fully grew up they made me realize that my desired sound is that of a vintage point to point wired amp with power tube gain and single coil vibrancy. This amp won't allow that. It loves metal and rock and it is very loud.

This combo was made in late 95, early 96. It is fairly versitile with two channels, one rythym and one lead. It has an effects loop which isn't very good. I wish this had footswitchable crunch much like the new 5150II does. However, if you roll back the volume on your guitar it cleans up just fine. That is how I achieve my "clean channel". I mainly use this amp for practice and recording(plenty of power).

My main guitar is an Ernie Ball Van Halen model(i admit it, i'm a VH freak!). I love this guitar with any amp. I play mainly rock music and mostly write on my own. It is very suitable for what I use it for. In fact, it is a great sounding amp! I can't believe how good it sounds. There are only a couple of things that would make this amp better. 1) It is noisy. Of course you need to re-tube right away after purchase because of crappy tubes. 2) These things come with a fixed bias selecter. This can be made adjustable by an experienced tech. I highly suggest getting it done. The amp does sound a little stiff and this mod will probably help to loosen it up a bit.

There really is no clean channel. What do you expect from a high gain Van Halen amp? Ed got his clean tone by rolling back the volume of his guitar. I do the same. So I play my heavy rhythym on the first channel with the crunch on. Then I switch to leads on the 2nd(lead) channel. The resonance knob is an awesome feature which provides a better bass response from the cabinet.

The distortion is great! It can somewhat compete with amps such as a Soldano SLO but it does come up a little short.

Haven't had one problem. Don't really suspect any either. It's built like a brick sh!t house!

Not bad, not great. Called about making the bias adjustable and they weren't very friendly about it. They think it was built perfectly. At least that's the way they made me feel. However, when I asked them to send a schematic, they sent it right away. Go figure!

I've been playing for about 14 years and own alot of quality stuff. If it was stolen or lost I would probably buy another as they are quite reasonably priced used. Can't wait to get my pre-Rocktron Egnater TOL 100 to compare with although it will be tough for the 5150 to keep up!

One of the first combos made. Previous owner equipped it with Groove Tubes so I can't comment on the Chineese tubes that originally came with it.
I like the whole setup. Some complain about the singe EQ settings but it doesn't bother me much.

I get everything out of this amp.
Some complain about too much distortion. For my needs if I want a little less I just use the low gain jack and turn the pre gain on the lead channel to about 1.5 to 2.

Very reliable. I can't believe the handle doesn't tear out of the top with the weight of this monster!

Their wait sucks for parts. I am still waiting on my footswitch and it has been over 3 weeks.

Perfect for my needs. Slash and Joe Perry wouldn't like it but I still play thier covers with it!
Very practical for a club musician. I usually have to turn it down! If you can't do a half stack now get one of these!

Like a dummy, in my last review of this amp I stated the amp was rated at 120 watts. Its only 60 watts. But its the loudest 60 watts I have ever heard. This is an update to a prior review. I have some suggestions about getting a better clean sound. Please refer to the sounds section bellow.

I have to point out after ready every review of this amp, theres a lot of moaning and bitching about the clean sound. Well guess what theres a low cost sollution to getting a really good clean sound! Pull the damn back off the cabinet! This will change the sound so much you won't believe your ears. Did'nt the Fenders come with open back cabinets? Well what are you waiting for, a written invatation?! Go get a screwdriver and try it! There now does'nt that sound better? Its not muddy anymore and it is much more open now right? Now go wake up the town your in.

Im sure glad we cleared the air about that last subject. Maybe now we wont have to read anymore "avante garde" reviews of the clean channel. You know the ones Im talking about. " The clean channel sounds like Kenny G. so I kicked it to the curb.

It sucks! There is no 800 numer that I know of so its your dime. Voice mail hell. Hard to believe such a great product could have such poor customer service.

Ive been playing for twelve years. My only wish is that this amp not be so corpulent. If it were to disapear I would grieve its loss. But the grieving would be short because I would replace it in a second! Coming home to this amp is like coming home to a punching bag after a hard day at work! One cord with the volume set at five will annoy the neighbors more than some jerk letting you know he owns a Harley.

I bought the 5150 in 98 and at first I was pissed that I sold my
Marshall. I didn't know how to dial this thing in. It has so much
gain it's incredible. I find the lead channel useless. Way too noisey
and I like noise! The rythym channel is all that I need. I don't
like the way the effects loop works either. This is a mean and dirty
amp. I find that for a pure tube sound it's one of the best. But it
is not a versatile amp. I know, it's Eddies idea of what an amp is
supposed to be. Fine, but we're all not wanting to sound exactly like
Ed. So, I don't like the features of the amp but for the money you
can't buy a better sounding tube amp. The volume is incredible! One
loud mother-#@#$er! And each note rings load and proud. I hear guys
say they change the tubes but I have'nt even bothered. I get great
tones. I use a boss GT-5 and removed all the pre-amp and distortion
settings and this amp sounds perfect. So you'll have to find a way to
manipulate it to get your sound. But, once there she really drives you home!

I use a Fender Strat Plus with those Gold Lace pick-ups. This amp
has given me new hope. I was dissappointed with the Lace pick-ups
using the Marshall, but I like the way they respond with the 5150.
It's not a true "Stat" sound. However, I find a much better tonal
experience using the 5150 with these pick-ups. I have'nt found the
noise problems others say they have as long as I stay away from the
Lead channel. I set the low on 3, the mid on 6 and the high on 4.
The presence and resonance I set at half way for both. I usually
run the channel volume around 3.5 and the pre-gain at about 2. And
this still gives alot of bite. You can get a cleaner sound using
your guitar volume control and backing off a bit. It's still has
a bit of distortion but seems exceptable to most of the cleaner
passages. Use alternative reverb, theirs isn't that good!

This is a work horse, always sounds great. It's been dropped (wieghs
a ton) and kicked, knocked over and keeps on ticking! They first day
I brought it home and turned it on the fuse blew! I was sick, I
called the store and thier tech said bring it back, that there were
others that had experienced the same thing. I don't know what he did
but it's been fine ever since.

Never tried

I've been playing 28 years and I pretty much used Marshalls and
Fender Twins. This is a very good amp. It is limited in it's
features but the overall sound is great. You'll have to play
around at first with the pre-gain settings to get the reponse you
want but once you dial it in you won't regret it. Warning, this
amp is for those who have the balls to be heard! And I mean every
note. If you like to hide your playing behind a wall of effects
don't waste your time...go buy a Crate!

This is basically your meat-and-potatoes hard rocker setup. Two channels with a shared eq and reverb. It also has a tube-enhanced reverb, bright switch(much needed), crunch switch, a presence control, a resonance control (think presence for your low end), and a mono FX send/return. Not too complicated, but not too versatile, either. It would be really nice to have seperate reverb and tone controls for each channel as well as a way to switch the crunch on and off (the 5150 II has all of these, I believe). The footswitch cord is really short, by the way, and is encased in plastic. The Resonance control works great for beefing up your sound if you're playing quietly. I've never used the low gain input; This thing is LOUD. I usually play it on 2 and have never had it all the way up. A buddy of mine turned the lead volume up the 6 1/2 as a joke and nearly deafened me.

I've played this with a custom Gibson Explorer, Jem 777dy, ESP Jake E. Lee, and an EVH Wolfgang Special. The amp really sounds quite good on almost every type of pickup/wood combination--except maybe if you wanted it to be a really clean strat or tele. The EQ section could be a lot more responsive for the money. The rhythm channel sounds great from about 4 1/2 up--with the crunch activated, it is almost as good as the lead channel and is very articulate and sensitive to harmonics. The lead channel is even better and has amazing gain. I changed the tubes to Sovtek 12AX7WXT+'s and got an even hotter sound--very cool. I bought this amp strictly for it's lead sound. You can can truly outrageous sustain, feedback, and harmonics. Even at high gain it is very responsive. If you play instrumental or progressive rock, this is a great amp for your distorted tones--use an a/b box to another amp for clean. I use it in a cover band playing everything from Creed to Skynyrd to The Beatles and it seems to work well in most cases. Bear in mind the this amp is very midrange-oriented. This helps your leads cut through and gives you a fat sound, but doesn't scoop the mids as well as I might like--it also shoots low-end like no one's business. The only real problem I have here is that I use the rhythm channel distorted and back off on the volume knob for clean sounds--the distortin on this is too good to pass up in favor of a pedal--the amp does not clean up as well as I would like for this; too much mud. I have alleviated this a bit by using a high-pass filter (??) which comes standard on all Ibanez JEM's and Satriani models; seems to retain a bit more sparkle now. Ohhhh....and it's REALLY noisy at all gain settings. The studios just hate it. So do soundguys. So do neighbors....but I've never met a guitar player who didn't like the gain on this thing.

Pretty darn reliable. I would rather the grille were metal, but it's held up through some really rough situations.

My store warranteed it for five years....we'll see how well they honor it. They've been pretty good to me, though. I've never dealt with Peavey directly.

I've been playing around 8 years and enjoy this amp more than my ADA MP II -- except for the clean sounds. I'd like to see someone steal it....the damn thing weighs a friggin' ton!! But if it was stolen, I'd take my insurance money and buy a Carvin Legacy or a 5150 II. Half stack. Oddly enough, it would be a lot better on my back to have a larger amp in two pieces than this behemoth of a combo. I'll give it an 8 overall rating because 1)Shared tone controls 2)Short-ass footswitch cable 3)Noise 4)Heavy as hell--actually about 90 lbs. 5)Non-expressive tone controls. In all fairness, this is a great amp that does what it was designed to do--rock loudly and proudly.

don't know the year, probably mid nineties, 2 channel 60 watt 2x12 combo with reverb. each channel has it's own gain and volume but shares EQing, reverb, presence and resonance controls. 2 inputs low and high gain. It runs 2 6l6's for the power amp and 5 12ax7's for the preamp, I am mostly a jam at home sort of guy andwas looking for something versatile (which it wasn't origianlly, read below) and easier to haul around than my half stack. I traded in a marshall 30th anniversary 2-12 for this,and like this better (now) I ended up re-tubing the amp and have had some great sounds, I'll discuss it later in the review.

i wish it had a contour control or something for the gain channel, i don't need a whole tone stack for it, just something to change the eq subtly. other than that it does what i want it to.

Okay, here is the scoop, this was one of those "didn't try it enough in the guiar shop" amps. I liked it in the shop, but didn't play withit enough... i got it home and was dissapointed in the stock sound. it was okay for hard core sounds (which i know everyo9ne whol oves this amp says they bought it for) but found low gain and clean channels dull and lifeless, besides the fact that the amp hummed like crazy even with nothing plugged in!

Anyays, i retubed it with Sovtek 12ax7WA's and a JAN 12at7 in the phase inverter (closest to the power tubes) which lowered the gain a little, as well as cleaned upt he noise (it has enourmous amount of gain before, it stil has tons of gain!)

Overall, pre-retubing, i would have rated it a 5 or 6, but afterwards i can now play clean sounds with a nice round tone,a nd when i push the clean channel it still growls, and the gainchannel still roars.. but they are cleaner sounding. the only problem i have noticed is that it has become a great deal brighter, so i have to keep the treble under 4 and the presence around 3. but the tone is there!

One last note, NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER use the low gain input... it is less bright, but it loses it's nice tube roundness of tone, especially clean!

IT's peavey, they can take a shit kickin! the thing is built like a tank, which is why i put wheels on the darn thing, it weighs a ton! Eddie has roadies... i don't.

Peavey doesn't have the greatest accesablilty, i asked htem about the noise and any fixes and they sort of shrugged and said "there's nothing wrong, it's just noisy." but every person i know who does tube work agreed that it was a screwy design with just too much gain! after the simple mod (you could probably just replace the phase inverter tube and get a similar sound) I am 200% happier!

I've been playing i for 3 months or so, wanted to really get to know it before i rated it.

Overall a godd little amp. I have been playing around 10 or 11 years, I am picky as all hell though, My main amp, theo ne i love is a marshall JCM2000 DSL50 head and a fender 4-12 it sounds better to me, but i wanted a combo for playing out. If it was stolen iw ould replace it with the new traynor YCV 40 (i may replace it anyways, the traynor kicks for lower gains ounds, and i don;tplay as much metal as i used to.) I am constantly comparing products ( I work in amusic store) and would rate this am pretty high... over anything i have ever tried by fender (not as nice a clean but waaay better OD) and better than riviera (they have a great clean channel but i don't like their british channel) and just under marshall (I AM A MARSHALL GUY!) Pre changing the tubes i would have slammed the amp hard and given it a 4 or something, but now i can give it an.....

as has also been said by others, this has been described by others. fairly limited features, the only difference being the "resonance" knob that isn't present on other amps.

i use a hamer special with a seymour duncan "invader" pickup installed (same as meegs in coal chamber). or i use a schecter cello blaster 5 string guitar (see my review of the schecter cb-2000).

the band i'm in right now has been compared to metallica meets pantera meets godsmack meets helmet meets creed meets whatever else is heavy out there. my job is rythm guitar & "noise"...so i've got an interesting arsenal of fx pedals..

i have absolutely no problem with noise. other reviews here complain about excessive noise in the lead channel, all i can say is invest in a bad-a$$ humbucker pickup...

other reviews complain about the clean channel -- if you've got a problem with the clean sound, go buy a combo amp & an a-b box & switch between the two. quit your griping. myself, i just turned the clean gain down under 2, & it doesn't break up at all...

i don't quite understand how people get an EVH sound outta this monster...but then again...i don't play that style, so its kinda irrelevant. others say its a cross between a marshall & a boogie, & i think they're wrong there too. it is its own distinct sound...i guess some could say its kinda sludgy, but i don't think so...

i recommend getting a good rackmount processor to run in the fx loop. i use a digitech quad-4. with that, i can tweak sounds to sound like synth runs...or any delay, or any graphic eq i want. its the way to go. hands down...you can sculpt your sound to your taste. try it. you might like it.

well, its pretty new...ask some more experienced people.

well, its pretty new, yet again, ask some more experienced people.

i'm 25 & have been playin for about 6 years, but only a few in an actual band. previous to this i was using solid state gear, eg a boss metal zone...in fact, i had tried out a metal zone compared to this before & preferred the metal zone. thats attributable to absolute stupidity.

i was feeling guilty about spending so much money until my girlfriend, who doesn't even like heavy music, described the sound difference on our recordings as "like going from a basement to a radio ready tune."

feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

The 5150 has two channels. The first being a rythem channel, and the second being a lead. Both channels have pre and post gain with the post gain acting as a master volume. It also has a presense and resonance setting, effects loop, and reverb. The tone controls are bass, mid & treble. The player also has high and low gain inputs.

. If anyone out there is considering buying one, an understanding neighborhood is a must. At 120 watts this is the loudest amp I have ever owned. That aside the amp can be very versatile. The amp is made to simulate a closed back stack. My style of playing ranges from 70's & 80's rock to twang & funk. With the back closed it sounds too muddy. The first thing I did was remove the back. Removing the back gave it a much more open sound and helped note definition. My main guitar is an G&l ASAT. The only channel I ever use is the rythem channel. With the pre gain set at 5 or 6 I can get AEROSMITH, GARY MORE, or ROBBEN FORD type sounds. By dialing the pre gain down to 4, and the presense & resonance down to seven I can play Duane Eddy type twang with more stones than any amp. I hate the lead channel. The rythem channel has all the gain I need. When this amp was making it rounds with all the guitar mags most of the reviewers put it down as a one trick pony. With a little minor tweaking and experimenting the sounds are endless.

I have had no problems as of yet. But I have never gigged with this amp either and cannot rate how road worthy it is.

My main guitars are Telecaster type guitars. I have been very happy with the combination. That said here come the cons, it weighs in at a corpulent 97 pounds, it has no casters, and it is very difficult to
move. The day UPS delivered it, the driver would not bring it in the house. My poor wife had to drag it inside. Upon the unveiling my wifes jaw dropped and all she could say was that I had been a bad boy. She also thinks it looks too big next to the television. I bought this amp because for the money nothing comes close to this kind of distortion. I would recomend this amp to my mother.

I love my 2 channel, crunchy as hell, Peavy 5150. For a 212 combo it blasts, destroys the valve state Marshalls. I run it through a Epiphone SG, great feedback.

The clean ditorts, but I am punk rocker and its brutal distortion matches the crunch of the Warhead and Boogie Dual Rectifiers. The presence settings expands the midrange and adds a compressed tone to the monster crunch.

It has broken down, but I think it was because I would cracnk without letting the tubes cook at all. The problem was that it would feedback almost white noise when I had the presence up too much. I replaced the factory tubes and it has benn ripping ever since.

I bought for 600$ at a liquidation sale; while it is listed at 1200$ in Musicians friend. Never dealt with dealer, was worked on at mom and pop guitar reapi shop.

I've been playing it for a year. I even run my bass throught it, sounds ultra compressed. If it were stolen I would definitely buy the 300 watt head and see if i actually run it through a 215 cabinet. If your looking for a monster crunchy amp for live performance and want the best value for your dollar find a used 5150 212 for about 800$ and you won't regret it. I would spend the 1200$ for a new one if it came down to it.

Six years old, the first edition. It's a good amp with a good distortion, but I was unhappy with the limitedness of the tone.

I use a BC Rich NJ Virgin Supreme w/Widow Headtsock, pretty good for low-end hardcore. The amp is quite noisy on both channels, and the clean channel just sucks.

Very Reliable, 5 years and still kicking.

Been playing for 6 months, bought used from a guy I saw on classifieds, put on ebay for trade, and traded it for a Johnson Millenium Stereo 150. Not a bad amp, but too limited for me.

Everyone knows the features, 2-12" closed back speaker cab, 60 screaming all tube watts, 2 channel footswitchable, Effects loop, Peavey must read these reviews because mine has 2 more handles positioned sideways on the top by the ends. I don't need or want a lot of features on an amp. Separate EQ for separate channels would have been nice but I can live without it. Reverb is weak. Would have given a 10 if "crunch" was footswitchable.

I have a 70's Strat that has been modified too many times, Had a Les Paul too, but sold it and bought a Wolfgang Special, and yes it is, Very. The Wolfgang is just fantastic though this killer amp! The Strat sounds good too, but The Wolfgang is my all time favorite. (I felt more at home on the Wolfgang is 10 minutes than I did in 20 years on the Strat. Anyway this is not a guitar review) I think this amp is very versatile! I don't think some of the dudes that say this amp doesn't have a clean tone must not know how a master volume amp works. I can make it sound as clean as a Fender or as nasty as a Soldano, and everything in between. It has such a tight low end thunk, too. I used to have an old half stack Marshall, Half plexi and half aluminum, Guy that bought it from me, (Jerry from Vintage Rockers) said it must have been during a tranition period at Marshall, Early 70's maybe, Anyway this 5150 puts that "Vintage" amp to complete shame! I can get the same AC/DC tone with the 5150 that I could get with the Marshall and much more. About noise, in the lead channel that is very high gain there is noise! Duh! Try using it for lead and then go back to rhytem channel! That was an easy fix! Most younger, inexperienced players tend to play with too much distortion. Try playing with some dynamics. When you pick softly, your tone should clean up. This is only a noisy amp if you are on the lead channel. This amp rules. Hartley Peavey Rules, Eddie Van Halen Rules.

Had it for three months now. Am I qualified for an opinion? As heavy as this amp is, (a good thing I think) it should be the last amp I will need to buy. Note; power up on standby, wait one minute, standby off and wail, turn on standby one minute before shutting down, tubes last much longer.

Never had the pleasure. Warranty is for a year, I think. Warrantys never fix anything though, it's alway your fault it broke, or wore out. Web site has lots of cool stuff though. Manuals, Videos, Etc.

I've been playing almost a quarter century, Jeez, I'm old. Since I got this I sold everything I owned, Mesa Boogie Studio 22, Marshall half stack, Gibson Les Paul, Epiphone Explorer, I kept my stomp boxes though, Still need a bit of Boss delay and some ADA Flanger sometimes, and a bit of digital reverb. If it were stolen I would miss it. Then I would cry. Then I would go get another one just like it. I love the tone this amp has. It sounds almost as good quiet as it does loud, and it is loud. It sounds like a half stack to me. I stole this amp for under $600. I think the store had this amp in stock a long time because there is a lot of misunderstanding about Peavey. They have a great product and have priced it reasonably to get the product out where people can hear it personally. Do yourself a favor, listen to one today! Also, you should check out The Wolfgang Report, found at www.van-halen.com, Go to past reports and check out (The father of the modern guitar) Hartly Peavey's interview, The guy knows what he is doing! These amps have come a long way since Lynard Skynard used them!!!!!!!! If you e-mail me, I will tell you where I bought it so cheap. Maybe.

The features have been listed a multitude of times,basically this is a very easy amp to use. 2 1/2 channels - the first channel is split between clean and crunch and is not footswitchable, and then the second channel is the lead one. It has a v.basic effects loop, reverb, and a prescence and resonance control. Its is a VERY loud 60 watts and the 2 x12" speakers kick some serious butt. The features are enough for me as you will read a little later on. It is all tube with 5 12AX7 preamp tubes and 2 6L6's in the powerstage.

I play Strats exclusively so that may be a bit odd for some of you that think of the 5150 has a humbucker only amp. My main style is neo-classical metal with blues and hard rock influences thrown in.

I swapped my 5150 head for this amp as it sounded a lot more alive to me, but as time has gone on my playing has changed and it no longer really delivers what I want. When I got it I basically ran the lead channel gain on 7, Bass on 7, mids 3 and treble 5, this gave me agood sound or so I thought at the time. Instead now looking back it was too much dirt with no clarity from the Strat or string definition in chords [it was good on powerchords though]. Now I use the lead channel exclusively with the gain on 2 and the master pumperd to get the power amp stage working more. This is a better much cleaner sound and it is coupled with a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive pedal for my main distortion sound.
What I am trying to get across here is that for that full on metal sound ala Pantera, Metallica etc the amp is great with the preamp well up. Unfortunatly this is sound I have grown out of and I feel that my playing has improved because of the MUCH cleaner sound. It really made me examine my technique as the brutal distortion saort of blurred the edges making it sound good when in fact it wasn't as good as I thought. The latter day EVH sound is in the amp, but I am selling it and getting a Marshall non master volume head for the ultimate in clean tube power.

A good amp for the metal player. The clean channel is not really clean while the crunch channel is too clunky for my liking. Originally I would have given this rating a 9 but now it must be....

Very reliable, no problems at all.

Peavey are one of the best out there, their forum is excellent.

I have been playing for 10 years, I own 3 strats and a few stomp boxes, I prefer to get the sounds outta the guitar.
If it were stolen I would use the insurance money for a Marshall 1987X head. I compared it to a load of stuff when I bought it and it suited my needs then, now it doesn't.