Peavey 5150 II

This is the one of the last 5150II ever sold in Norway before it changed name to 6505+.

All feauteres has been well covered, so Ill skip it.

It sounds like holy hell! (I mean that in a positive way)
I wanted a raw, high gain, edgy, thrash metal sound and got more than I ever hoped for!
It's a bit noisy when cranked up at the PRE-gain, but show me an amp that isnt?
I play an Ibanez RG2550E Prestige with EMG81 pickup and delivered through a Hughes & Kettner 4*12" it kicks ass. As simple as that. I would recommend it to anyone into metal.
If you can't afford the Mesa Boogie Rectifier, this one it is! (I even think it sounds better than the Rectifier, but that may just be me).
Ok, you can turn the high, mid and low knobs as much as you want and nothing happens. Theres a little effect on the presense knob, but otherwise it's not a very versatile amp. But who cares? You got millions of pedals, racks and modules to give you all kind of effects. And these digital effects that most mid-price amps are equipped with, sounds like crap anyway.
For metal, all you really need in addition to the 5150II and the mics on your axe, is a chorus/delay pedal for lead-work and clean (Yeah, the 5150II has a really crappy cleansound), and perhaps a wah.

And it is loud. Very loud.

Built like a german tank. I would use it without back-up, but only if I had spare tubes and fuses ;) The amp itself will probably last forever.

I cannot blame Peavey for the fact that the tubes in the pre-amp blew at the second rehearsal (they were, of course, replaced free of charge by the dealer).

Flawless.

I wish it came with a roadie. I mess up my back by carrying to and from rehearsals all the time :)
Yeah, and a head-bag would be nice.

I compared it to a Mesa Boogie Rectifier, a Randall RX100, a Peavey XL and XXX (which is a bit more versatile, but still...) and a couple of Marshalls. I have NO regrets what so ever for my choise.
I recommend it to anyone, but be aware! You will need earplugs from 1,5 and up to 10.
And you might want the tubes to pre-heat a good 5-10 minutes before blasting.

I'll never loose it.
If someone steals it? -well, you can run, but you cannot hide.

It's safe to assume you know the amp relatively aware if you're searching user reviews on Harmony Central. You're obviously looking for an amp that either can deal the "brown sound" or crushing distortion. In this vein, the 5150 II delivers. It's a straight forward, two channel beast with the usual amenities: seperate EQs, footswitchable channel changing, footswitchable effects loop, line-in, line-out etc.

I gave this amp an 8 for versatility not because I dislike or am suffocated by the abilities of the 5150 II, but because it isn't a do-it-all amp. For me, that's fine. I bought it because I knew what it was, what it could do and what it was known to deliver.

In short, I chose the right tool for the job.

I play a seven-stringed guitar, tuned to A in a Vegan Straight Edge band. I've been told we sound a lot like Disembodied (if you're interested in understanding the sound for the sake of context). We're incredibly heavy, with a few clean intros and a lot of start-stop material. Because we don't play sloppy open-bar chords, I needed a distortion tone tighter than what the reigning-gain king, the Mesa Boogie Rectifier.

For this, the 5150 II serves me perfectly. I'll probably play in hard core/metal core bands for the rest of my life and this head will probably stick with me for the rest of my life. I've heard this called the "poor man's Mesa," but I think it sounds better--and I've played through the cream of the crop (Dual Rectier Rackmount through a 4x12 oversized cabinent).

As mentioned previously, this thing can get incredibly noisy, especially if you're playing material with pauses or stops in high-gain. The other guitar player in my band bought a Boss NS-2 (noise suppressor) and had limited success. So, I instead bought an ISP Decimator pedal and it's worked wonderfully for me. For anyone who aims to play with heavy distortion and would like their amp whisper-quiet, I suggest it.

The only real point of contention is the clean, and I get the sense that the rythm channel wasn't meant for cleans, as the name of the channel would suggest. That said, you can dial a passable clean sound. Again, I'm not trying to pull of Radiohead or Jazz, but it'll work for minor clean guitar work.

I've never had a problem, and don't expect to have any.

I've never had to deal with them, refer to above.

If you play hard core, or heavier music, forget the Mesa. Get a 5150 II.

ONE OF THE LAST 5150 II'S BUILT FOR EUROPE, IF YOU WANT TO ROCK THIS BABY'S FOR YOU. IF YOU WANT TO PLAY SOME PUSSEY ASS $%^& GET SOMETHING ELSE! TO BE HONEST THE AMP IS NOT THAT FLEXABLE, HOWEVER THATS WHAT I LIKE: 1 INPUT, 2 CHANNELS AND THE MOST ALMIGHTY OVERDRIVEN SOUND EVER! PERIOD!
I PLAY IN A VAN HALEN TRIBUTE BAND AND WE'RE JUST ABOUT TO GO OUT AND GIG SO I GOT THIS SUKKA CAUSE I WANTED THAT BUTTER TONE FROM RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW. IN ONE HEAD, I GOT IT...

I PLAY A WOLFGANG SPECIAL LOADED WITH SD'S, JEFF BECK IN THE BRIDGE AND A PEARLEY GATES IN THE NECK. I ALSO HAVE AN IBANEZ RG LOADED WITH A VAI EVO IN THE BRIDGE. I GO INTO A WAH, OUT OF THE WAH INTO THE 5150, OUT OF THE BACK OF THE LOOP INTO A PHASE 90, INTO A HOLY GRAIL REVERB THEN INTO A CHOURUS AND FINALY A BOSS NS2 (YOU WILL NEED THIS IF YOU ARE GOING TO USE THE HIGH GAIN SETTING ON THIS AMP)BESIDES VAN HALEN I LIKE A LOT OF CLASSIC ROCK (AC/DC DEEP PURPLE, SABBATH, OZZY, ZZ TOP ETC) AND THIS AMP IN PERFECT FOR EVERYTHING I NEED.
THIS MUTHA IS NOISY BUT HEY! THE GAIN IS VOLCANIC! THATS WHY I RUN THE NS 2 WHICH CLEANS UP MOST OF THE $%^&. YOU CAN'T HEAR DICK DURING PLAYING, BUT WHEN YOU STOP IN SONGS IT HISSES. IF YOUR INTO PANTERA/ MEGADEATH OR ANY OF THOSE CATS YOU COULD BE PISSED OF AT THE HISS BETWEEN RIFF BREAKS WHERE YOU WANT THAT SILENCE. GET A NOISE GATE!
CLEAN CHANNEL IS AVERAGE, BUT I ONLY USE IT FOR THE LITTLE CLEAN SECTION IN POUNDCAKE AFTER THE SOLO AND A COUPLE OF OTHER TIMES. IF YOU WANT A NICE CLEAN SOUND GET A FENDER TWIN OR SOME $%^&.
DISTORTION LIKE I SAID BEFORE IS UNCALLED FOR. ITS HARD TO IMAGINE EVER NEEDING ANY MORE, SOMETIMES I DON'T EVEN HAVE TO PICK. HAMMER ONS AND TAPS ARE A CAKE WALK!

GOT IT RECENTLEY, CAN'T IMAGINE IT EVER BUSTING! THE THINKS A TANK!

SEE ABOVE!

I WAS GONNA BUY A BOOGIE, CAUSE I PLAYED ONE BEFORE AND I LOVE THAT CLEAN BUT DISTORTED HEAVEY CLUNK YOU GET FROM THESE TYPE OF AMPS BUT I GUESS THIS ONE IS JUST SO MUCH BETTER VALUE. IT'S HALF THE PRICE OF A ROADKING OR RECTIFIER AND BUILT JUST A TOUGH, OK THE MESA IS HANDWIRED BUT HEY? HOW FAR CAN YOU PUSH IT? I ALSO CONSIDERED SOLDANO WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN WONDERFULL FOR LIGHTER MUSIC BUT JUST DOESN'T HAVE THE HEAVEYNESS OF THE 5150.
IF IT WERE LOST I WOULD BUY ANOTHER ASAP, IT TOOK ME 15 YRS OF PLAYING GUITAR, SEARCHING FOR THIS SOUND!
I GUESS IT WOULD BE NICE IF IT HAD A REVERB, I UNDERSTAND THE COMBO DOES BUT I JUST RAM A REVERB UNIT INTO MY PEDAL CHAIN AND IT SOUNDS GOOD.
TO SUM UP,YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIKE VAN HALEN TO PLAY THIS BABY, BUT YOU GOTTA LIKE IT HEAVEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The amp is really versatile, it really is built like a tank. It's a pretty good price for a really good all tube head. It is meant for high-gain use only (playing metal, hardcore, etc) and not really meant for clean.

I've been using a epiphone SG playing hardcore and metal. It's perfect for high-gain. It is noisy, esp if you don't have good pick ups, so its recommended you use a Noise Supressor with it, then boom.

The distortion is REALLY brutal, perfect for ANY kind of heavey music.

I can really depend on this amp, it hasn't failed me yet.

n/a

Overall, this amp is PERFECT for people play metal,hardcore, or punk. It isn't really great for clean tones, so if you are looking for a amazing high-gain amp, this thing is amazing.

the 5150 2x12 is a streight ford amp. nothing too special. it has 2 power amp tubes and 4 or 5 pre amps. it has an effects loop and a high and low input which is niceand a speaker ext. it has a pre for both chanels. the only thing that i thought that this amps could use was two seperate eq chanels. both chanels share the highs, mids, and lows. there's a pres and res settings too which helps alot to shape out your sound. and dont forget about the reverb that i dont use. the reverbs good but i just dont use reverb with my sound. one thing that i found nice was that you can unhook the 2x12 speakers and hook it up to another cab.

this amps is loud.i have a 5150 2x12 and i plug it up to my hughes and kettner warp7 cab and i get a crushing sound. i use a schecter 006,c-1, and a esp h-120 all loaded with emg hz's and i get a killer tone with it.i play streight up metal and this amp has what it takes to have the amount of clarity and gain you need. the res n pres knobes do the overall trick. when your kranking the gain and volume up all the way this amps could use a noise suppresor.the clean channel is awsome too. its as clear as a whistle.id like to add some rack gear like a band eq and a maxamizer to thicken up my sound some more.but thats just because i like extremely thick sounds. just as a suggestion if the 50150 starts to sound like its breaking out and weak i would get some mesa tubes. i have come to believe their more punchier and have more gain behind them. they also seem to hold the sound together more at higher setings.

this amp is a behemoth. umm. ive luged it everywhere and i know that this amp can take a beating. it's solid.

i've been playing guitar for about three years now and i've gone through acouple amps and rackmout gear and nothing compairs to it.i use to have a randall classic 100,i still have the huges and kettner warp7 half stack,ect.there have been acouple things that i get bumed out about with this amp and i think that its trying to get a thick/high sound. i have trouble getting the two together but that just might be because i dont have it tweeked out yet.but overall i think that this is a killer amp.its cut through. n/e one that wants the whole despided icon,god forbid,unearth feel you should pick up this amp.

Made in 2003. Bought it new in Nov/2004. I play with a major pop star from my country, Serbia And Montenegro, and in a band doing classic/hard/heavy rock covers. The amp pretty much covers it all. It has two main channels "rhythm" and "lead". Bright and crunch switches on rhythm channel. Resonance and presence for each channel. Series effects loop, preamp out (never used this), 4-8-16 ohm switch, bias test points, 6 12ax7 (came with 3 EH and 3 Sovtek LPS' tubes), 4 6L6 (Sovtek WXT+), 120W R.M.S., 3 button footswitch (main channel select, crunch on/off, loop on/off). Never turned channel's master volumes behind 12 o'clock! Very very LOUD!

I'm using this head with Wolfgang standard tremolo and stock EB/MM Silhouette (h/s/h). However, played it with various guitars - Gibson SG, LP, Fender strats, Ibanez, Hamer, Kramer... We are doing Gov't Mule, Zeppelin, Black Crowes, early VH, Grand Funk, etc covers and it suits everything, even though I like to dial in a bit more gain than Mark Farner has, but it doesn't hurt the smokin' guitar solo in "Footstompin' Music".:)
There is a certain amount of noise in lead channel (pre gain on 6) whic

Made in 2003. Bought it new in Nov/2004. I play with a major pop star from my country, Serbia And Montenegro, and in a band doing classic/hard/heavy rock covers. The amp pretty much covers it all. It has two main channels "rhythm" and "lead". Bright and crunch switches on rhythm channel. Resonance and presence for each channel. Series effects loop, preamp out (never used this), 4-8-16 ohm switch, bias test points, 6 12ax7 (came with 3 EH and 3 Sovtek LPS' tubes), 4 6L6 (Sovtek WXT+), 120W R.M.S., 3 button footswitch (main channel select, crunch on/off, loop on/off). Never turned channel's master volumes behind 12 o'clock! Very very LOUD!

I'm using this head with Wolfgang standard tremolo and stock EB/MM Silhouette (h/s/h). However, played it with various guitars - Gibson SG, LP, Fender strats, Ibanez, Hamer, Kramer... We are doing Gov't Mule, Zeppelin, Black Crowes, early VH, Grand Funk, etc covers and it suits everything, even though I like to dial in a bit more gain than Mark Farner has, but it doesn't hurt the smokin' guitar solo in "Footstompin' Music".:)
There is a certain amount of noise in lead channel (pre gain on 6) which is absolutely bearable, because you don't hear it in bedroom playing levels and in the clubs, with the crowd going crazy, you'll probably forget that your amp has any noise at all!
I use it with old Marshall 4x12 slant cab loaded with g-12h30 Celestions. Overally, the sound is punchy, fat, dense and warm with just enough clarity and presence to get through the crowd, because I hardly go thru the P.A. and I'm drivin it pretty hard (master volumes on 4.5 - 5)! This is loud! But in the same time you can stand 6 feet in front of it and don't feel uncomfortable 'bout the high volume! It's simply awesome!
Don't use the clean mode, and I agree with 99% of people who say that it sounds thin and lifeless. It gets distorted easilly at low pre gain settings, but it gets useful in some situations. I'm hardly ever using it...
Crunch ON! Well, you can nail pretty much any medium to hi-gain rock sound with it. It is kind of raw distortion, with a bit more hi mid punch compared to lead, and a bit less top end compared to lead. Very tight!
Lead! Like jumping into hyper-space in star wars! Brutal! Tons of gain! Sustains for days! Great low end! HUGE!!! It's just sounds great, plug in EVH Wolfgang you'll get new era Van Halen, get the L.P. and bring up the mids - Gary #$%^!& Moore with all of his 10 amplifier set-up! Lower the gain, neck pick-up on, there you have it - Mr. Warren Haynes himself! It just blows me away, every time I turn it on. Don't want to mention the sickest, baddest, !@#$%^' metal sounds you can get out of this thing, cause it's not my territory... But I've heard it in action!
However the tone is very subjective issue, and I'm just makin the statement that this is great amp that covers lots of stuff without tweakin' it too much.

After I got it and used it every other day, first preamp tube started to crack and hiss... Just replaced the tube, and continued abusing it on the road:) Built like tank. Very respectable amp, don't need or carry back-up.

Contacted Peavey via e-mail for schematic of the amp, when I encountered bad tube problem. Got reply within an hour or so with .pdf schematic, pc board layout and complete parts list. It turned out that it was just a bad tube.

I've been playing for 19 years. Had mainly Marshalls, and always dreamed about hi-gain heads, and I got my hands on this one! There are not much amp dealers in this part of the world (mainly Fender and Marshall) and it is very hard for a guitar player to even try some of the amps which are on "every other corner" in United States or so... I had the luck to play thru VHT Pitbull, Mesa Dual Rectifier (didn't like that), Triple XXX, JSX, Crate BV150 (lots of tubes:), Hughes&Kettner Tri-Amp (that one was very dissapointing) Engl Richie Blackmore (sounds awesome) and in the price range of 1000 euros> there's simply no better amp for me out there. Period. Would be very sad if stolen or lost, because I would have to wait for at least 3 months before my dealer gets the damn thing! Still I'm very interested in trying other amps, still gettin chills when somebody says: Soldano or Bogner, though I never had a chance to play thru it.
This is a great amp for the money you'll pay, and it's definetely worth checking out!

I bought the amp head and cab new two years ago. I play mostly death metal/melodic death metal/thrash/power metal etc and this amp is suited perfectly for playing those styles. It's got plenty of gain but if you eq it right now matter how much distortion you throw on you wont lose harmonic clarity. Within those generes it is a very versatile amp, splitting lead tones with high end to boot and more than enough mid range crunch for riffing. However, when i play jazz, this is not my amp of choice, the clean channel is basically shit, it sounds dry and has no feeling. I generally use this amp in small to medium size venues (those of you in the midwest thing The Rave in milwaukee) and it has plenty of power and presence for those places as well as smaller places such as my bands practice studio or the occasional legion hall of vfw.

Right now im using two Music Man John Petrucci Signiture models and the tone I get out of this amp with those guitars is just fucking amazing.It suits my style perfectly, in that i need to have the ability for a brutal riffing tone and also access to cleaner high end distortion for playing leads/solos in the same amp. The amp can be a little noisy on about any setting with the gain past 4 or 5 but i have a sonic maximizer ,graphic eq, and a feedback ferret, so i have zero problems, its quiet as a mouse. Within the realm of high gain sounds you can get basically any sound you want out of this amp, but if you're going to be using the clean channel a lot or you want a more low gain crunchy distortion, i would not say this is the amp for you. and basically, like i've said repeatedly, the distortion on this thing is brutal as fuck.

I tour a lot, which means my equipment can sometimes take a beating, and even so i have no qualms about using this amp without a backup. the only time i have ever had a problem with it was one time (before i had it in a head case) it got tossed around in hte trailer and all the power tubes broke, but that would happen to any amp.

never had to deal with them, but from what i hear Peavey is excellent in this area.

I have been playing guitar for 5 years, and for 3 of those years i have been playing at least 6 hours a day. I also own a bbe sonic maximizer, a graphic eq, a korg rack tuner, a furman power coniditioner, and a peavey feedback ferret. Like i said, this amps clean channel is shit, so i also own a fender '65 twin reverb. If this amp where stolen or lost i would replace it without a second thought. Before i bought it i compard with with many other amps (marshall jcm 2000, mesa boogie dual rectifier and road king, peavey xxx, marshall m4) and this amp basically trumps all of them if you're playing metal.

i have had this amp for about half a year and i have to say it is one of the best amps iv'e ever played. This amp is very versatile i can get a variety of sounds from it...from 80's crunch to the heaviest metal. This amp has three channels..channel switching, and effects loop but no headphone jakc. I do wish this amp had reverb but as one person had mentioned up top that it would make it even more heavy, which does make sense. I use alll the features on this amp its awesome.
(GEORGE (SHITTIEST PRES EVER) BUSH PLEASE EMAIL IF READ

I currently am playing a schecter c-1 with a emg 81 in the bridge and 85 in the neck. I am in a band who played technical metalcore(just like the guy on the first comment. This amp can get noisy at high levels and if you have the gain all the way up you will get feedback. The 5150 can make pretty much any type of sound you want like i said before up top but the clean isn't all that great you might want to look into a small fender and get a a/b switch if you perform.

This amp is highly reliable..ITS extremely heavy but built like a tank. I always play gigs with this amp without a backup and hasn't failed me yet.

Never dealt with peavey

I have been playing for about 4 years, i used to own a marshall avt275...it had great tone but it just couldn't deliver the volume and tone that the 5150 has. If it was stolen i would probably try to find a 5150 but if i couldn't i would just buy a 6505. I pretty much like everything about this amp exept for the no reverb thing(I understand why they don't add it for heaviness)

Bought this used a few months ago. Went to the Peavey site and found out it was made in 2000. Bought the matching cab that was made in 1999.

If you want to know how versatile this is, listen to the guitar tone on these 3 albums:
Soulfly - Soulfly (1st album)
Superjoint Ritual - Use Once and Destroy (1st album)
The Haunted - any album
*That right there will tell you how versatile this head can be and then some. To me, that's true versatility....and this is before mentioning that EVH used this for recording "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge"

A lot of people will tell you the cleans are bad. You can get them to sound pretty decent, but there are other amps out there that have better cleans.

I've used this amp in practices and on small stages. It has way too much power that I need to buy a THD hotplate with it. Until then, I turn up to 3 and I'm in a very LOUD metal band.

Another thing that makes this a very versatile amp is the # of pre-amp tubes. Since this head is mainly for distortion, the 12AX7's make a difference...NOT a big difference, but it is audible. Don't rely on tubes alone for tone. You need to look over your whole rig and deal with the major components (and keep it simple at the same time).

My current setup:

Guitars -> Wireless -> Wah -> Amp -> FX loop (Holy Grail and soon a Boss EQ-20 Advanced) -> 5150 slant cab/Homemade 2x12 with Celestion V30's.

It suits my metal style really well.

Some people may complain about noise or a "hiss." To me, it's either their setup, their tubes, or that any high-gain amp HAS background noise. If you're in a room with a HUGE P.A. setup and you turn the volume up with nothing coming out, you're going to hear a hiss. That's power to me.

As said in the previous section, the clean channel can be set good. It does distort a little at higher volumes, but you just gotta turn down the pregain a little.

The distortion is so brutal. Here's a quote I love: "6L6GCs are for the more modern metals with detunings, and lots of chug-chugging. These would be good if you want to cave in your chest."

Since I bought it used from a person, not a store, I asked about the history of the amp. No one's pushed it as much as I have. Point being, this thing IS built like a tank, but I opened it up to clean it. Some screws were loose, so I just tightened them down after dusting off the area.

I've had it for 6 months now. It's defintiely past its warranty. Inside looks like there were no previous repairs or mods. I think this thing will last for awhile. I'm definitely going to buy a new 6505+ (same thing) and keep it in the box until this one fails (if it ever does!)

I cannot give an opinion on this section. I've not dealt directly with Peavey, although I'm on their message boards everyday now. One Peavey employee is on there often and he's totally friendly and often gives non-biased opinions.

I started off with really bad equipment when I was younger (haven't most of us?). I sold my Marshall DSL 50 for this since I had to use a rack setup to get the distortion I wanted. The Marshall was great, but it does not have the built-in distortion or half the volume this thing does!!

Some may refer to this as a "Poor man's Mesa." I don't believe that's so since you cannot get them to sound exactly alike. They are differently voiced. If you talk to a Mesa owner, they'll bash Peavey and vice-versa. I am very happy with this and will always be behind Peavey and I think Mesa's are great. My choice of Mesa is the Tri-Axis with a 90/90 or the MK4 over the Rectifiers.

I hate rating everything so high, but I love my 5150 better than anything I've owned, which was not every amp, but a lot, including rack stuff