Peavey 5150 II

U.S. MADE 120 WATT OF ENDLESS SUSTAIN ESPECIALLY WITH WOLFGANG GUITAR. 2 CHANNELS, NICE CLEAN BUT NOT A FENDER. HOLY MOLY ON THE LEAD CHANNEL. HIT A G CHORD GO HAVE A COFFEE & A SMOKE AND THEN COME BACK TO TURN IT DOWN. WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE CRUNCH WITH SEPERATE EQ AS WELL MAYBE 5150 III. I PLAY ANYTHING FROM A POLKA TO CLASSIC ROCK. I LOVE THIS AMP MAN.

I OWN A 1999 GIBSON LES PAUL (STANDARD) THIS GUITAR HAS IT'S OWN UNIQUE SOUND WITH THIS AMP. WHAT REALLY IMPRESSED ME IS THE WOLFGANG SERIES TRIED ONE AT THE STORE. IT'S LIKE THEY WERE MADE FOR ONE ANOTHER EDDY + EDDY = EDDY. I AM A REAL CRITIC WHEN IT COMES TO SOUND AND THIS AMP IS AWSOME. TRY THIS AND A MARSHALL TSL OR DSL SIDE BY SIDE AND SEE WHICH AMP LIKES YOU BETTER. DON'T GET ME WRONG MARSHALL HAS THERE PLACE TOO BUT 5150 LIKES ME BETTER.

I HAVE BEEN PLAYING FOR ABOUT 18 YEARS. IN MY THIRTIES, MARRIED WITH CHILDREN AND REALLY A HOBBIEST GUITAR PLAYER. PLAY IN A WEDDING BAND ON WEEKENDS AND OCASSIONALLY FILL IN WITH A COUNTRY/ROCK BAND SORRY I DON'T SPEND 8 HRS/ DAY PLAYING GUITAR. AS MUCH AS I WOULD LIKE TO IT JUST DOES NOT PAY THE BILLS. ALL I CAN SAY I HAVE BEEN TRYING OUT ALOT OF AMPS AND HAVE OWNED ALOT OF AMPS AND SO FAR THIS AMP IS ME. A LITTLE HEAVY FOR ONE PERSON TO CARRY BUT IT IS WORTH IT. ULTIMATE WOULD BE TO HAVE A FENDER CLEAN SOUND WITH THIS LEAD/HEAVY SOUND IN A LIGHT WEIGHT COMBO.

What? No reverb?????!!!!! You gotta be kidding? I was considering this amp as an option to the Marshall JCM2000TSL but this one drawback really tips the scale towards the Marshall.

Also, I really love the perforated grille design of the Peavey but how about downplaying that "5150" name. It's hard to take an amp seriously that has some police code/rock album name so prominently on the face...it makes the amp seem like all it does is blaring metal...like it's an amp made specificly for teenage, thrash metal, garage bands (who will graduate to a Marshall). Otherwise, the perf grille, knobs, etc look great.

Need to spend some time with it (maybe I can borrow one) but from what I heard so far, it sounds good.

Brand new for 2000. I won't go over the features that the previous reviewers have described very well. But basically the changes have included separate EQ for lead and rhythm channels with a footswitchable crunch for the rhythm channel. I'll give this category an 8. Pretty standard features for amps these days.

If you use this amp for anything else than rock you must be crazy. But if high gain sounds mixed in with decent cleans is your bag then this amp is pretty much it. I got to play around with the amp at the recent NAMM show and have to say that it is a much more functional live amp than the previous version. I do have to agree that the high gain sounds are more refined and focused than the original with less low end congestion and thump than the first one. THe clean is actually very good, they added an extra pre amp tube in the first position specifically dedicated for the clean channel. the other five preamp tubes are identical to the previous model. This is nice to know since you will be able to play around with different preamp tubes to vary your clean sounds. The only down side to this is that it will affect your crunch sounds to though. By the way it still sounds very much like the 5150, ie (it will not sound like a mesa!)
so for high octane rock tones it gets a 10. for thrash and other stuff it would probably only rate a 7. so overall I rate it 8.5

I know lots of people who have the first one and have not had any trouble with it.

Never really had to have any previous peavy stuff fixed so can't really comment.

Overall i would rate it 8. But as a rock amp I give it a ten. THings that you should know about the amp. I give thanks to James Brown who helped design the 5150 for the info thaat he gave me. The new amp has an adjustable bias! So you can bias the amp. But he said that the range of the bias was not large so you will need to get tubes that run in the ballpark of the bias that you want. As for the controversy as to whether or not the amp sound better after they are biased, i Cna't really say because I have not personally heard one that had been done to. But James said that It dhouldn't be able to hear much of a differrence because unless you run the amp with the master past 6 you will not clip the power tubes. He says that 99% of the amp's tone is due to the preamp gain and not really the power section. As for which preamp tubes he think sounds best in the amp, he prefers stock chinese 12ax7's. His next choice is the new sovteck LPS which has just a tad less gain and high end. He also told me that he did a minor tweak to the lead circuit to tighten up the low end. For those of you who like the sound and thump of the original version but want the added versatility of the new one Mr. Brown told me that all it would take is a 15 minute mod to return the amp to the original ones specs. If you have any questions his email is jbrown@peavey.com. I myself like lots of low and prefer the sound of the orginal, but I want like the new features of the new one. I really think that these things rock. and this comes from a guy who owns a bogner ecstasy. I love my ecstasy but the 5150 easily eclipses the amount of gain available from the Bogner. But it is really comparing apples and oranges because they have such different sounds. I plan on getting one of these 5150 II's and having the mod done to restore the lead channel to original specs.

What more could you need? You've got your newly voiced (as compared to the old 5150) clean channel which sounds comparable to a Mesa, along with the footswitchable crunch option and bright switch which helps clarity A LOT. Then add the unmistakeable lead channel the 5150's are known for, and you've got a killer amp. Almost like 3 channels in one. 3-button footswitch for FX, crunch, and channels. Cabinet impedance switch, preamp out, bias electrodes, ground lift switch, parallel tube-driven fx loop, and the sound of a solid all-tube amp. NICE.

I am playing a Parker Fly with Dimarzio humbuckers. My band plays emotional heavy music- like the deftones, or staind etc. For this type of music, I couldn't reccomend a better amp. I've had a Crate gx1200H, the original 5150, a Marshall Valvestate, a rocktron rack setup, and a Mesa/Boogie rack setup. This amp is KING! When not playing it is signifigantly more silent than the original, and has a very tight sound which is very responsive to every nuance. This amp is deffinatley geared for the rocker, not a bluesey kind of music. It sounds so disgustingly good, except for the FX loop. I gave this category a 9 because the FX loop and somewhat noisy. That enemy of any musician, hum, was detectable there, but only when not playing. Not bad. Also, they added an extra preamp tube this time around for the clean channel giving it more volume and depth. Anyone who says this amp lasts the bass of the original needs to check their ears. This one offers more bass and eq versatility than the first BY FAR. The only thing is, this amp sounds it's best with a 5150 speaker cabinet.(Duh, they're matched for each other.) I tried the amp with a Marshall JCM900 cab and the 5150 cab blew the Marshall away. So, get the amp and the cab=insane setup.

I would use this amp without a backup easily. Only thing I owuld do, is bring some extra tubes just in case. I have gigged with the old ones itme and time again, and NEVER had a problem. So, this one has to be equal.

Very friendly, and quick when I called for info. Seemed a bit rushed, but hey- they're at work.

I have been playing for 6 years, and have been infected with GEARHEAD SYNDROME many a time. Like I said, I've had crate, marshall, rocktron, and even Mesa/Boogie. Everyone raves about Mesa, and I traded mine for this amp. That's how good it is, not to mention 1/3 the price tag of a mesa. If it was stolen or lost, I'd buy it before another breath came out of my body. I'd take a truckload of these things. It really is an incredible amp. And if you feel this is missing anything, it's not the amp, you just need to buy some effects units or something. This is your balls-to-the-wall 2(3) channel amp that will blow any other out of the water(besides VHT). If you like hard music, I suggest going down to your local music store and trying it with the matching 5150 cab. Seriously.

The big feature change in this amp from the original 5150 is the separation of eqs for the rhythm and lead channels. You also have separate resonance/presence controls as well. There is now a bias access on the back panel. There is only one input, as opposed to the 2 on the original. The effect loop remains unchanged as near as I can tell, serial. The bright switch now works and engages a significant tonal change. The rhythm channel also now allows a footswitchable crunch/clean option, while the crunch button on the amp only affects the rhythm channel and not the lead, so now the lead channel is unaffected at all by rhythm eq or the crunch button. All in all a big improvement in versatility over the 5150; still not as many options as a lot of amps out there, but pretty flexible.

The basic gain of the amp remains unchanged from the 5150; however it is now voiced quite differently. Where the 5150 had a huge, deep, distinct bass, the II now seems to lack in this regard, now matter how I eq'd it I could not get the same thumping incredible bass of the original. In its place is a much more midrangey sounding amp, and this tonal change is the aspect that you notice first, the midrange/nasal predominance. The bright switch produces a dramatic increase in bite, and this with the overall tonal change gives the amp a very British/Marshally type of sound, ie a muddier bass but distincter highs. The high end stops short of the iciness of a Marshall. What this amp does best, is give you this amazing articulation, better than any amp I've ever heard. At searing gain levels, the note to note definition remains unbelievable; the notes themselves are not terribly rich or complex, and again the overall gain of the amp is pretty much like the original, it has that inherent buzziness of the 5150. But I can't stress enough how amazing the articulation is. The amp works very well with the wolfgang, the midrangeless/bassier aspects of the wolf pair well with this amp, in contrast to the 5150 which seems to work better with the axis guitar. The clean channel is passable, but this amp was made for aggressive single note playing, really a lead guitarist's type of amp; if clean is really important I wouldn't waste time on this amp, but if (like me) you only need occasional clean, the II will do just fine. So, in summary, the amp has now been voiced to be more midrangey and pairs up better with the wolf than the original, but you still don't have that full, rich, deep bass of the original, and in trade you get unmatched note articulation with the same brutal aggressive buzzy distortion of the original.

Have only had it a week, but my 5150s just keep going and going and going......

Peavey seems very interested in after sales support, although you can't really call anyone directly, but the website usually answers questions promptly

I can't say that this amp is a major improvement over the 5150, and I'm assuming most, if not all, purchasers of this amp will have a 5150 or be comparing it to that. It is definitely different, and is made for aggressive rock tones, and has been redesigned to be more British in its basic sound, ie more bitey, less bassy. I like the bitiness of this amp, it manages to give you the bite without the icepick tone of most marshall type amps, but I really miss that bass of the 5150. It might be expensive, but a good option would be to consider running the two amps together to get a good blend of both. And finally, if pure note articulation at high gain is your dream, I've not heard another amp (soldano, marshall, bruno, bogner) do it better, albeit without the complexity or richness of the more expensive amps.

OK, I finally got the amp I put a deposit on in June and I'm happy to say it was worth the wait. This version of the now famous 5150 has the same power(120 watts) but lot more features than the original. For one, and probably most importantly, it has separate EQs for each channel. That included high, mid, low and resonance and presence which really opens up the tonal spectrum. it also comes with a really cool 3 botton heavy duty footswitch which allows you to go from very clean( and I do mean very, its the best clean sound I've heard from a high gain amp) to a crunch type of distortion much like an AC/DC or 70s rock sound, to the famous scorching, fat, creamy,punchy ballsy 5150 lead tone. Essentially its very much like Peavy's Ultra plus head which I've also owned except the distortion is obviously different. it has all of the other bells and whistles including a decent sounding effects loop. All but reverb but this amp is made to be played live( more on that later) and a rack unit will take care of that, especially since most high gain amps with reverb lose a bit of tone when you turn the reverb up...

I'm playing Wolfgangs and Ernie ball music man guitars thru the amp and they all sound great. Peavey revoiced the amp somewhat so it doesn't sound exactly like an original 5150, especially in the crunch mode. I've found this "middle" sound very interesting. When you set the pre gain around 6 and the post up to 4 or 5 you have a very close tone like an old Marshall 1959 crunchin out. Perfect for that "Beautiful Girls" tone; a bit clean and not really distorted but crunchy and punchy enough to make it known you ain't screwin around. Switching to the lead channel you will be in familiar territory if you've owned a 5150. Its pretty much the same only I think the tone is a bit fatter!! I know that sounds impossible but you be the judge. Especially in single notes..they really jump out. All of the harmonics and low end and wild gain are still there, and everything gets better and better when you open up the post volumes. Eddie designed the amp for himself and he plays loud so we mortals will have to deal with eviction to experience the true character of this amp. Most people don't buy a 5150 for the clean sound but I am very impressed with what peavey has done with it. The only drawback is that to get a really clean sound you have to have the pre gain below 5 and to get that great old Marshall crunch tone you have to keep it over 6 so you have to decide which is more important for your playing applications and set it accordingly. Another thing that I've noticed about all of the 5150s I've owned( both versions of the old hed and the combo) is that when you start throwing stomp boxes in front of the amp you lose gain and high end. I've found a great solution which is to run a BBE sonic maximizer thru the effects loop. i posted a review of one a while back and once again I'm amazed at how this amp sounds with one. think of everything you like about a 5150 then multiply it by 10...that is what the BBE will do. I've tried it with other heads and it really seems to like the 5150 most of all. It will allow you to compensate for any loss of bite or growl and I STRONGLY recommend getting one to achieve the best tone from the 515011.

All of my other peavey amps are built like bricks and I'm not concearned about this one

I've talked to Peavey a number of times and although they are very courteous they are also a bit confused sometimes. I couldnt get a straight answer about a shipping date for te 515011 and all of the sudden my dealer, Brian Meader of Chuck Levin's Washington music center, called me and said that Santa must have thought I was a good boy this year because he just recieved the first shipment of the heads......My Amex card was out within seconds to complete my destiny

Ive been playing for 17 years and admit Im an Ed-head and have owned every piece of signature gear he has made, and Im happy with this one as well. Was it something I needed since I own 6 other amps ? No, but I bet those of you who share my love of red, black,and white stripes will be running to your nearest Peavey dealer to do what you have to do.

The way you get sizzle out of a 5150 (either a 5150 or 5150II) is to set the mid to zero, turn the presence all the way up and turn the treble somewhere between 0-3.
Guy

this is an update to my previous review. I had been complaining about the fact that the crunch option was not footswitchable, preventing the head from having a three channel type of set up .I spoke to someone from Peavey today and apparently the production models will have this feature incorporated in the footswitch. cool, now and very psyched to get my hands on one. I dont know why they said otherwise at the Namm show but whatever...

This is an updated version of the famous EVH 5150 head that so many of us have come to know and love. It has essentially the same two channels, but with separate presence, resonance, low, high, and mid controls for each channel. No reverb, and the clean channel has a crunch option like the original head. One of the most annoying things about the head is that the crunch option wasnt footswitchable. If it was then it would be like a three channel amp, which would be cool. I have read several reviews of the original head where this was a complaint, so you would think they would have incorporated a footswichable crunch in the new head...but they didnt, and that really sucks.

The sounds that come out of this head are ferocious! The lead channel is very similar to the original 5150, and I was told the circuit design was the same but I heard more of a nice sizzling high end response in the new head, it probably didnt hurt that the person playing through the head was Edward himself( This was at the Namm show in LA) and he is obviously capable of coaxing most any sound out of any amp and guitar, but this new head seemed to have more punch than the original. The 5150 I have seems to get a bit muddy or muffled sounding if you dont have the prescence knob pretty high up, but this new head had it set on like 5 or 6 and it was scorching. The rhythm channel was supposed to have this amazing shimmering clean sound but it sounds pretty much the same as the original, and the crunch option was predictably crunchy when engaged...but no damn footswitch option !!!! why the hell not Eddie?????

didnt buy it, just got to hear and check it out

I give this a 7 and im being VERY generous with that. the rating is more for the basic high gain sound this amp produces, which in my opinion shatters anything availible on the market today, but this new version left out two important features that would had made this head way more versitile; reverb and footswitchable crunch. I mean lets face it, the majority of people who are going to use a 5150, Ed included, are going to be using the lead channel 98% of the time, so the cares if there is a whole separate eq section for the rhythm channel, the amp would have been much cooler with the above mentioned options. Eddie said "this amp can sound like whatever you want" which is true if all you want is Van Halen, im not saying that as a negative, but I think Ed is looking to cash in on this latest marketing scam to make up for the money lost on thier last tour. The most hypocritical part of this whole review is that in spite of all this, I have already put a deposit on one.