Peavey 5150 II

My 5150 II was apparently the last ones brought to my country before this new 6505 series, so I was lucky enough to grab this baby home with me.I play mostly heavy metal but I also like to play lots of different kinda music -> rock, ballads, a little bit of blues. And this amp does it for me. There are basicly 3 channels -> clean, crunch and lead. All I need. All tube and it?s a killer.

I use Schecter C1 Classic and I think it really brings out the best of this amp. Very versatile sounds with this baby! For the lead channel I should propably get Boss noise suppressor but it goes fine with out it too. I was stunned by the variety of sounds I got from the amp ?cause according to what majority of people where saying about it the amp has only one killer tone. It wasn?t like that at all. I found it to be very versatile ?cause it can produce that killer distortion and it also does the less distorted bluesy sound (crunch). The clean channel seems to get a bit distorted at high volumes though.

In a word the distortion u get from this amp IS brutal.

I?ve owned about three weeks now and I haven?t got any problems with it yeat.

Great! I contacted them ?cause I was building a cabinet for the amp and they gave me some directions what measures I should use. In a word awesome.

I?ve been playing about 15 years now and for the first time I decided to get gear that I would really enjoy playing and have awesome tone. I bought the schecter, 5150 II and build a cabinet for the amp. Now I?m just smiling all the time during our bands rehearsal - it?s just so nice to sound good and play with proper equipments. 5150 II is a great value for the money. I compared it to several different amps like Marshall and Line6. None came even near what 5150 II sounded to me.

Basic 5150 II Amp. No Tremolo or Reverb, but it does have an EQ for each Channel.

This is a good sounding tube amp. I use two Fender American Series Stratocasters with it and it has awesome distortion. However, the Clean channel is terrible. It does not do the clean stuff good, even with a Strat. The Clean Channel even distorts. Awesome distortion, terrible clean.

This amp will take a beating. I like how the tubes and filter caps are all safely tucked behind a steel plate.

I have never spoken with them.

I wish this had a better clean channel, but for distortion, almost nothing beats it.

120W All-tube head
6 x 12AX7 pre valves
4 x 6L6 final valves

My head was made in 2004, one of the lasts to be produced before the split between EVH and Peavey. I was lucky to get the last 5150 ever imported to Italy!

2 channels: rythm (with bright and crunch switches) and lead.
Eevery channel has indipendent bass/mid/treble controls, pre (gain) and post (volume) controls, resonance and presence controls.

Features also:
- effects loop (switchable from foot control)
- preamp out (useful if you use an external effect unit)
- 4/8/16 ohm switch

The foot control enable you to insert effects loop, select clean/crunch on rythm channel, select rythm/lead channel

It has a just a bit more than basical features, but they're enough for my needs.

With this head you can play a lot of different genres. It's been used by a lot of bands, such as Earthtone9, Soulfly, Diecast, Sick Of It All, Burst, Machine Head.. Since it has tons of gain it's good for any heavy kind of music: formerly I was in a hardcore/crossover band, now I play in a posthc/doom/psych and it still sounds perfect.

I have a Epiphone SG with Seymour Duncan JB-4 on bridge position. I use it both passed through effects and straight into the amp and it sounds good in both ways. If you don't use any noise reduction on high gain levels it becomes noisy.
Normally my setup is:

guitar > korg dt-10 tuner > boss ns-2 noise suppressor with dod compressor in the loop > peavey 5150 II

The rythm channel is a bit weak and if you need to use it both clean and crunch the the volume difference is huge. To avoid this problem I use a compressor between the guitar and the head to boost the signal when I play it clean. I like it with pre at ten with bright on, so you can get a warm and coloured sound, as old tube amps.

The lead channel is perfect and very verstile. If you need deftones-like open sound, if you need tight sound for thrash/death metal, If you just need rock distortion, you'll get any of them. With six preamp tubes it has tons of gain, but it never goes out of control (as happens with Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier).
Also, using the resonance control, you can really make your cabinet singing adding more charachter to your tone. I needed a bit of practice to understand how it works and how to use it, but now I think it's one of the most important features of this head.

I never had a problem with it. I own a little Rage 158 since 1996 and I can say Peaveys are built as tanks. I gig regularly without backup (also because I can't afford another 5150)

Never dealt with them. It's good since my amp is only 7 months old.

It's the most important part of my rig. If it were stolen I'd buy another (a 5150 II used or a 6505+ new, since 6505 is the new name of old 5150 serie).
It has the sounds I've always dreamt of, warm clean channel and versatile lead. In fact I bought it because many of my favourite bands use this amp.

Also, keep in mind it costs around 1000 euros, which is absolutely affordable compared with other top-liner heads (as Mesa, Randall, Crate). It's in the same price level of Laneys or Marshalls, but I think it sounds much better.

I have no idea what year this amp was made in but I'd say it was recently because this was the last shipment of the 5150's before Eddies contract ended with Peavey and they started making these amps as the 6505+. But yeah this was one of the last two 5150II amps still for sale in the country so I was stoked to get my hands on one. Anyways yeah not too many settings to fuck with your head, just enough to get a really nice metal sound outta it, I'm really impressed with the pressence dial, without it the amp would be really muddy and dull, but it really brings your sound out when turned up. Basically this is pure and simple a brutal metal amp, if your looking for anything less don't look here cause this amp was built for one reason only. Its got all the usual features most amps have nowadays, effects loop, standby switch, etc. The 5150II is an all tube amp, 10 Tubes in total. 6 12AX7 preamp tubes and 4 6L6GC power amp tubes. Its a good idea to maybe turn your amp on and leave it on standby for 2 minutes allowing the tubes to warm up, this way the tubes last longer and its good for your amp. 120 watts power, fuck I've only had this amp on 3 and that was loud enough for me in my place, I would only consider having it on 5 at most gigging venues, its just really loud.

I still can't get over the sound of this amp, its blasts my fuckin' face off everytime I play. I play my 5150II through a Mesa/Boogie Standard Rectifier Cab. I use a variety of ESP's but my favourite is my white Explorer-400 with EMG 81/60 pickups. The combination of these two are just fuckin' mind blowing, the sheer sustain and harmonics are intense, and the gain is just right in your face, it just sounds absolutely huge. I use hardly any effects at all, I just mainly wanted an amp for the gain factor. I rarely use the cleans, but they are okay if you bother to dial in a nice setting. The one thing about the 5150II is that its really hard to get a distinct signature sound, it seems no matter what tone you dial in you always seem to sound like Chimaira, or Machine Head, but I suppose that has to do with tunings as well. But in the near future I'm hoping to add a Boss GT-6 to my rig being now I seem to be writing a lot more melodic riffs and looking for kooky sounds and whatnot to add a new dimension to my music. But also the sound is really warm, its a pleasant sounding amp and each string as you strum it can be heard within the sound, its amazing! This amp is definately for the kind of metal heads looking for a huge sound along the likes of Arch Enemy, In Flames, Soilwork, Dark Tranquillity, Devildriver, Ektomorf, Children Of Bodom, Machine Head, Chimaira, Fear Factory and others. If your a big fan of those bands sounds then yeah this amp is for you for sure. Its a little noisy sometimes, I just run a MXR Smart Gate infront of my signal and it seems to work out real well. Soon enough I'm going to add a BBE Sonic Maximizer in the effects loop and really bring out that sound and clean up any loose ends. Like many other amps it can get noisy without some type of noise gate, especially when the gain is set to 10, having active pickups doesn't really help it either but you get that, overall though it fuckin slays! I'd be lost without it.

I bought the 5150II brand new and straight out of the box, I was so excited to plug in and shred away but I was absolutely devastated when I had nothing but background noise, it took me and my mate a good while to sorta figure out whether it be the speaker cable, the cabinet and so many other little things. The problem turned out to be a valve, which was the last thing I thought would be wrong with it seeming so it was brand new, but within a week the problem was fixed and its been an absolute machine ever since.

Never really dealt with Peavey themselves but the support I recieved from Just Wares was great, still under warranty they fixed me up real fast and yeah like I said before its been working great ever since.

Haven't really owned anything else, I swear by my 5150II and my ESP's to get that real heavy sound. I had tried a variety of amps before I bought the Peavey those being the Marshall Mode Four, AVT150, DSL100, TSL100 and a variety of other Marshalls recognised for their high gain abilities, never got the chance to play any Randalls, although the Marshalls are great amps in their own right, they just didn't produce that tube driven gain I was looking for, and some were solid state. But since I had bought my 5150II the company Krank had introduced the late Dimebag Darrells Krankenstein. I would love to play that amp, but yeah my 5150II will definately be my main source of amplification for quite some years. If it was stolen I would be devastated, but I think I'd pick up the 6505+ and hope that it was just as good.

My 5150 II is a 2001 model, versatile??? My band plays anything from Ozzy to James Brown to The Who to Black Crows and everything in between. Playing in bars around here, its plenty loud, everyone tells me to turn it down!! I run a Rocktron Intellifex Online through the effects loop for a little delay, but mostly for its hush. I run it through a 5150 slant cab, and use a Boss GE-7 EQ for a mid boost on solo's and sometimes my Ibanez TS9, for alittle touch of "hair"(gain) on solos also. This amp can be alittle noisy, but you shouldn't have your lead preamp level above 4-5. Really, you dont need anymore gain than that....come on guys!

I have a 70's strat and a Wolfgang Red flametop special.Its a very versatile amp, you've read above what kind of music I play in my band. I never have any problems achieving sounds. The clean channel is good (but not the greatest) but I still love it, I have my preamp level on rythmn channel at 5-6 at most. Enough gain is never a factor, The lead preamp level is set at 4-5, and thats MORE than enough, above that its too.... fuzzy and sounds like SHIT playing loud. At bedroom volumes I mess with the settings usually turning them up alittle especially in the gain section. I also put new JJ 6L6's and JJ 12AX7's in it too, to give it a warmer sound. I also pulled the 12k bias resistor in the bias section, and put in a 6.8k resistor.Thus making the amp run alot warmer. This amp sounds really good. My sound is Very Ballsy, In Yer Face, BUT WARM. This is kind of unusual But... I also did something else to tone down the Fuzzy characteristics of this amp. I lined the inside of my 5150 cabinet with POLY FILL( ITS LIKE INSULATION, AND THE SAME MATERIAL YOU STUFF >>STUFFED TOYS WITH, but in a sheet form) I know it sounds STUPID!! But believe me.... IT MAKES A HUGE IMPROVEMENT. It makes the speaker think that its in a bigger cabinet or box, THUS..... giving it alittle more warmer, BIGGER, less fuzzy sound.

Never had any problems. and what I have and will... put my amp through, THAT SAYS ALOT, I play out in my band pretty much every weekend.

NEVER NEEDED IT!!! BUT... I do go into the Peavey forums every day, to research, help out, and try to improve my sound CONSTANTLY! AND everyone on there is AWESOME, AND VERY HELPFULL!!

I give it a 10. BUT I put ALOT of work and research into it making my sound, THE WAY IT IS. GOOD TONE SOMETIMES TAKES ALITTLE WORK... But atleast the 5150 II is A VERY GOOD START! GREAT PRICE AND GREAT TONE~!!!!!

Bought this amp with two 5150 cabs two years ago. If you want total gain this is the amp. I have not played the original block letter heads but this has all the power that you need. It runs better with one 4x12 cab at 16 ohms rather than two at 8 ohms. It is kind of average with two cabs. I replaced with JJ tubes in both power sections and preamp, made it even better. It is built strictly for high gain and a specific tone. If you want versatile this amp is not for that.

I use anything with humbuckers. I have over 17 guitars, my Les Paul Standard does really nice with it, and guitars that I have DiMarzio Super Humbuckers on them. Nice chunk with bottom end, and most of all just plain loud. If you want your leads to soar A/B this with an amp that will give you cleans and reverb. You will not find an amp with this kind of gain and have the other options with another amp.
The clean is very average on this amp. It doesn't suck, but it is not the amp's bread and butter.

I have had no problems.

Peavey has the best site, forums, and response from manufacturer out there. But I have never had to have warranty service through them.

Again, for lead and having awesome gain this amp is for you. If that is your style and nothing but, you will love this amp. If you gig with covers and need versatility, I would use this amp for leads and have another amp for your cleans and on some rhythms. It is really worth it to have as an option for its gain and volume though.
You cannot not love it for that!!

2004...probably one of the last made under the 5150 EVH name. It's a 5150 II..with 5150 II specs.

Hands down...
Thisis the best mnpst versitile amp ever made. It's a must for Metal and Hard Rock. Let me put it in pespective...this amp sits in a stack of other amps..a Mesa Boogie triple recto, Marshall 1987X, Marshall DSL100, PV 5150 (old style) Marshall '84 JCM 800 2204, Marshall 2203ZW Zakk Wylde, Marshall 2555 black '88 Jubilee and Marshall JMP-1/9100. I play the 5150 II 90% of the time because it cooks the most. Crazy gain, all kinds of distortion anything I want right down to a pretty decent clean. If there was a fire in my house I'ld wake up the dog and grab this amp and haul ass for the sidewalk! WTF this amp sell for a grand...they could charge $1800 for the thing and still get it all day long.

I got it new out of the box and turned it on and poof it died. Took it to PV tech and he popped new tubes in and never a problem since (2 months). Wouldn't be the first that jiggled something loose in a tube during shipping..won't be the last I'm sure. The amp is rock solid. Not as nice Mesa finish and feature...but much nicer than the chinky feel of a Marshall (sorry I like Marshall amps but they are a little nitsy and cheap for the cash they want)

PV handled the warranty tubes and phone tech support was prompt and friendly.

I got this amp NEW for $750 closeout.....steal all day long!
If you have $1000 to spend on an amp...buy this amp (6505 Plus)
If you have $2000 to spend on an amp...buy this amp & put $1K in the bank. PV 5150 II is HUGE! What was Eddie thinkin'?

You've heard all about the spec. of this amp before, but I wish it had a damn reverb. so it gets an 8. The footswitchable effects loop is great feature.

I have two 5150II heads, running into a peavey angled cab and a marshall straight cab, both loaded with a mix of vintage30s and g12t-75. Im using a 70s les paul with EMGs.
The clean channel sounds decent, but clears up nicely if you put an eec82 in the v1 slot rather than the standard eec83. Unfortunatley, this makes the clean channel quieter than it would usually be. Various people offer mods to clean up the 5150II clean, so I can recommend you do this if cleans really matter to you.

The distortion channel is great, but can sound to buzzy/grainy, so I suggest putting a boss ge-7 in the loop. On the amp, boost the bass and the resonance, set the mids just over halfway, and set the treble and presence to taste. On the ge-7, take out the 6.4k band completely, ans boost the 3.2K band slightly. Leave the rest of the EQ flat. Even at low volumes, this makes the 5150II sound immense. It takes out the cheap buzzy overtones, but retains the high-end agression.

I find that this amp is not noisy at all if you know how to use a gain control. Don't turn it up past half-way, and you'll have all the gain you need minus the noise.

It isn't as 'plug and play' as a lot of amps, ei. you can dial in a bad tone easily. With a little bit of tweaking and know-how you can make this amp sound incredible.

Not had either of them break down yet.

Never had the need to call them up.

Ive been playing quite a while, and have owned Fenders, Hiwatts, Laneys etc. Each amp has been good, but not quite what I was after. The 5150IIs are great amps, and with a bit of tweaking, can sound immense. Also peavey tend to make quality products at much lower prices.

If they got stolen or lost(!?) etc, I'd definatly get a couple more.

2002
Head is somewhat versatile. I play classic Metal (Maiden,Priest, Slayer etc.. NO numetal)

and blah blah you all know enough about this head

I have 2 guitars a Standard Les Paul with stock pickups and a fender (USA) fat strat with S.D. pickups.

Its ok for some Metal (nu and grind) but it kinda sucks for real metal (whatever that is).
This thing is noisy as fuck it never shuts up.

The clean fucking sucks so bad... nevermind to many things wrong with it.
The distortion is the only selling point . With a Sonic Maximizer the dirty chan. cleans up nice. I bought this head because it was the most bang for the buck.

things built like a tank.

i have been playing for 10 years in a few bands that have toured all over the US.
if you have the extra money just buy a Marshall JMP-1 Tube MIDI Guitar preamp.

I'm sure you all know the features by now, 2/virtually 3 channels, 120watts of brutal all tube power, effects loop etc.... Not exactly a TSL in the fetures department but it does what you need, built to be easy to get a great tone not confuse you with hundreds of knobs.

WOW. I love it. When i found this amp I was out hunting for a half stack, and was leaning towards a TSL. Then I found this baby which blew everything else out of the water. I use a Fender American Deluxe Fat Strat and a heavily modified squier with Kent Armstrong 'Motherbucker' and 'Hot Rails' pickups and the sound just rocks. I play it through a Marshall 1960A cab. This amp is made for metal, although it will do pretty much anything you want it to with some EQ adjustment. The clean channel isn't world beating, but with the single coils in my Fender it's fine, although humbuckers through it will distort it. But then again you can't expect everything from an amp. This amp is great for getting that Metallica tone, they use it too, watch the 'Some Kind Of Monster' film and play spot the 5150MkII. With the resonance and bass up high this amp makes it feel like you are being punched in the stomach, amazing tone. All the gain you could want and none of it looses clarity.

This thing is built like a brick sh*thouse, and weighs a tonne. It's gonna outlive me.

The site is good, the manual leaves a little to be desired but don't they all

I have been playing this amp for a good four months now and love it more every day. I go to small venue gigs regularly, and have seen pretty much every rock/metal amp in action and this one beats them all in my opinion. It's got all the gain you could ever need, unbeatable clarity and insane volume levels. Even the store worker I bought it from was selling his Mesa Boogie dual rectifier to get his hands on one. If it was lost (hmm, a bit big to loose) or stolen (bit heavy to steal) I would be seriously gutted and get a 6505+, as Eddie Van Halen stopped endorsing them. With my guitars, GT6 and this amp I belive I have a world class, professional sound. My advice, get one.