Peavey 5150 II

Two channel amp, nothing too fancy about it. It has four 6L6 power tubes and (6) 12AX7 preamp tubes. My particular amp has Tube Amp Doctor (TAD) 6L6's and Tung Sol preamp tubes. I run a TC Electronic G-Major II in the effects loop with an MXR 10-band EQ before returning to the power amp. I have upgraded the output transformer to a Mercury P5150-0 with the Mercury P5150-C choke replacing the standard choke resistor. The amp is intended for Thrash and clean, that's it! Drop D tuning, standard 440, and sometimes one step down. Not crazy, flappy B tunings, etc.

Amp is used with a bunch of guitars... Main ax is Tom Anderson Drop Top made for heaviness with passive, hot pickups made by Anderson. I also use a Gibson Explorer with active EMG 80, 85 pickups.

The amp is a bone-crush bad ass! If you want a heavy sounding amp, this is it. Understand that I make a decent living and have owned a lot of amps. I have a preference for Soldano, Diezel, and Elmwood, but for the money, this amp works very well! Distortion is among the best I have heard and unique. My amp is biased hot and has the bias mod on it, with very good tubes (not Chinese or JJ's). Clean is good enough, and the rhythm channel with the preamp dialed up, sounds vintage. That's not this amps best quality, but it does it decent. Some noise, but not too annoying.

This amp was build for Eddie, but with the right tweaks, turns into a fire-breathing monster. I play Exodus, Testament, Death Angel, Kreator with this amp.

If you are a boutique snob, listen up... The name "Peavey" doesn't make people believe you are serious, but one power chord and a fast Slayer riff will change their mind. There are a lot of great bands still using 5150, and 5150II amps!

It has been perfect even with the bias adjusted to 60mA+! I know more than the average guy about amps, but not a qualified repairman. I've looked at the boards in the amp and have changed caps and replace connectors. This amp is not made like a Soldano or a Mesa. Tube sockets are plastic verses ceramic. Quality is decent with the components. What really counts however, is that it works and is reliable. It does that very well. Feel safe with this amp and make sure you know if it's been modded. If done right (like FJA does well), it will last forever.

Peavey answers the phone every day of the week! Don't talk to them about modding however, they will pass you around. Get your part or ask a specific question and you'll get good information. They get a 9 becasue they didn't like me talking about cheap plastic tube sockets!

Very good amp and all I (or you) will ever need for Thrash and Metal. I played it with a 7 string and it sounded good. Really good with drop D tunings! The amp is very loud, but can get great sounds with the pre dialed to 6 and the post at 1! That's the nice thing about the amp is that it sounds good down low. Turn it up and it makes your pant legs flap around like a fan is blowing on them. Harmonics sing on this amp with the magnetics upgraded!

If this amp was stolen, I would buy it again, but man... the time I put into this amp modding it and making it shiny would make me sad.

i bought this a couple years ago at guitar center. tisk tisk i know but they were the only shop around that had a solid metal head for sale.

I hated 5150's for ever. i was stuck on having something "different" . this is the longest ive owned and used 1 amp.
i bought alot of amps over the years, mostly trendy names i saw on message boards untill i realized they were only over hyped by people trying to sell their own, they are trying to get rid of it. i kept searching out these hard to find and expensive heads but all this time i ignored anything peavey. my bad.

one day i cracked down and talked my girlfriend into letting me use her credit card to buy an amp so i drove to all the guitar stores in a 2 hour radius and i tried out everything. i was looking for a triple rectifier or randall cyclone and hoping some dumbass was selling his voodoo, vht, bogner for way too cheap. after hitting up all the stores my last stop was guitar center. behind a row of cheap new marshall stacks was this head on a new peavey cab. i tried it out in the back room with a used mesa slant cab knowing it was the only good cab in the place. it was listed at 1499.00 for the combo but i told them i only had $900 for the head and used mesa cab and that i was going to just buy something off ebay, and they let it go for cheap.

i cant tell you how it sounds. everyone hears things different and every amp/guitar feels different to every player. i like this amp. its the only amp i have owned that doesnt need anything to help my sound. it does feedback alot but i blame that on my pickups or the fact that my decimator is broken/. its heavy, it cuts through but at the same can blend in with most other amps and a second guitarist. it is very controllable.

ive never had any problems with it. ive changed the tubes 1nce in the last 3 years. i never bring a backup. this is the one piece of gear i have that never fails me.

i had the warentee when i bought it new, im not sure if it ran out or not. i saved all the receipts and paper works but i haven't read them because i never need to. i use it at least twice a week and it gets banged around in cars for shows at least 3 times a month, regularly.

i give it an 8. i have played better sounding amps. they cost 2-3 thousand dollars. thats alot of money. im not rich. i have bills to pay. if i could afford it i would spend my money on a bogner ecstasy or vht or diezel but thats just baloney. i can buy an awesome car for 3 grand. or a kilo of good heroine. i declare the 5150 2 head better than heroine.

You already know the features it has. Let me tell you the features it doesn't have.

This amp does not feature reverb - though it could use one. It also does not feature a built in adjustable noise gate, but it's a good candidate for one (I still don't know why these aren't seen more often).

The amp has a hard-wired power cable - and would benefit from an IEC type plug cable so you can just take it off instead of winding it around the thing - not to mention replacing it because it wore out from being hooked to the amp all the time.

The amp has a bias control but it is quite limited. You have to mod the thing to get much variety there. In addition, the short bias range you do have is quite cold.

Some of the construction in the unit was improved with later models, i.e. the rivets that hold the power stage onto the chassis were replaced with screws. Doesn't mean anything if you don't plan on repairing it, but your tech might appreciate it.

The screen grid resistors on the power tubes are more fragile than most amps. Does your 5150 sound quieter than your friend's? You might be running on less than four tubes and not even know it (they'll appear to all be working). Be especially careful of this if you use Sovtek tubes.

The footswitch on this monster uses a 7-pin DIN cable. This is awful! They are hard to repair, expensive to replace (and hard to find).

The 5150 series has a particular sound that it's known for. It also has a particular gain structure that it's known for. It's not like other amps for the most part, but it has similarities here and there. What I'm saying is that you're not going to hear a wide multitude of different sounds from this amp - if you like hearing/playing it the first time, you probably will always like it.

Some things you may not like: the clean channel sucks. Unless this is the first review you've read of this amp, you've heard this before. Though it is greatly improved over the original 5150 head or combo, it still lacks warmth and distorts way too easy. The one thing I like about it is that you have lots of room for experimenting with adding different levels of distortion into your clean. The amp is good at fuzzing up your clean with shimmering sizzle without sounding like a real distortion.

A fantastic feature of this amp and all in its series is the way it creates a cranked tone at low volumes. Some of the best recordings I've heard of it were at volume settings of 1. Weird for a tube amp, eh?

Many believe that JJ power tubes are the best with this amp. I honestly am not sure why everyone thinks so. Before believing them, get them to back up their assertions. Or better yet, try them yourself. I've used Sovteks, Tung-Sols, JJs, and Groove Tubes in this amp, and JJs were by far the most average sounding of the four types. I recommend the Tung-Sols - huge low end and rock-like break up.

The resonance and presence knobs are nice, use them like hot sauce: carefully. Beware of the strain each puts on the amps tone - yeah you might like the big booms of the resonance on a high level, but what is it doing for your attack? Etc.

Like anyone will tell you, this amp has gain to spare. And then some. As such, it's noisey as hell. However: as you roll the Pre control back from 10, you'll notice that right around 6 or 5, your attack becomes much more pronounced, and the tone depth becomes deeper. At higher levels, the gain on the amp tends to saturate and mask other features of your sound. I play at 5, and I'm in a death metal band. I could get away with playing at 4, and I don't dare go above 6. The character of my sound is destroyed if I do.

The crunch is interesting and very warm - nice for hard rock tones. These amps are great for that. But it is unlike the lead channel's tone - more so than the other models in this series. It has its own character.

It's a tube amp, there are inherent issues with this. Always have a back up. Mine failed at a show once - I plugged into a Peavey Vypyr and set it to emulate a 6505. It sounded absolutely horrible. Emulation still has a long, long way to go.

Fortunately, when a tube amp starts acting up it's usually the tubes. Even if it seems wrong, just try it. Expect to have this happen.

Otherwise, it's built very well, save for two issues: one - the grill on the back is not supported in the center, so it bows with pressure, and two - the small circuit board that holds the preamp tubes is not properly supported in the center, and may crack if you're not very careful.

I have never dealt with peavey.

Overall, I'm really glad that this amp is out there. It and its brothers are my favorite by far for any and all distorted tones. High end amps of the same class can only be found for lots more money - for the value it's fantastic. And it's got its own tone - unique.

They should totally make a 1x12 combo version - under 40 pounds!

It's a pretty basic amps. The Rhythm channel has a crunch button to add some gain, which adds versatility to the amp. The Lead channel is pretty versatile in it's self. It has more gain than you could ever ask for so you can roll back on the gain to get a good Rock gain. It's got a resonance and a presence knob for each channel. Which only perfects already amazing tone. This amp has TON'S of power, I just played my first show with it and I only turned it up to 2. I had an equalizer which adds to the volume so if i didn't have it I would've probably had it at about 3 1/2 maybe 4. So it's LOUD. The effects loop is very handy when you don't wanna press a ton of pedals just to get one sound. Just press the effects button on the 6505+ footswitch and all your pedals in the loop turn on. It's nice.
Very simple, very easy, straight to the point.

I have a Squair Tele with EMG 81/85's in it. And the EMG's compliment the amp extremely well. I have only 2 pedals in my loop, they are a BOSS NS-2 and a BOSS equalizer. The equalizer adds so much to the amp which only makes it better. So know you know what gear i have you can probably guess that I play metal. I play Tech Metal, Death Metal, Hardcore, and I play Jazz as well. Now the amp is AMAZING for metal. Almost perfect, it's low and punchy, the mids are super smooth, and the highs are, sometimes to high. It gets crazy. The amps is WAY loud. As i said I played in a venue mad for 700 people so it is a decent sized place. And I only had it on 2. It's extremely loud and powerful. The clean channel is not the greatest, but it's not made for Jazz, but i can get it to work if i keep the gain around 1 1/2. It's not bad at all. Just not the greatest. I never have the distortion past 8 ever. In my opinion it has to much distortion so don't use a pedal with it unless you just want added tone.

The amp is built like a tank. It ways almost 50 pounds.
This amp should live forever.

The web site is nice.
You can download the manual and everything. It's not really the most helpful but the amp is so easy to use why would you need it?

I've been playing for 5 and a half years and all i've ever played on are Marshalls at the music store and Line 6 solid state amps. And I HATE EL34 tubes so there for I hate Marshalls, and Line 6 has good practice amps but to have a my 6505+ is like having a trophy wife that you actually like talk too. Every time Imagine this amp I smile. If the amp vanished off the face of the earth I would just play on solid state amps because this tube is the best one i've ever heard for the style of music i play. The only this I'm not stoked on about the amp is that the clean channel is not smooth enough. If it had smoother clean tone it would seriously be perfect. If you play Rock, Metal, Country, Hardcore, or almost anything except Jazz it's perfect.

Not a ton of features, but enough for exactly what i need. The best feature is the seprate 5 band eq for the channels. The only thing i wished for is spring reverb for the clean channel, with reverb knobs in place of the res and presence on the clean channel, but it doesn't bother me one bit. I like the the simplicity of the amp, its so easy to get great tone. Knobs are very sensitive, esspecially the volume, but they do their job.

The hi-gain on this amp is as good as it gets, the only way to get better hi-gain is further shape it with graphic eq. Its suits me perfectly becuase the clean is clean enough for me to do third wave ska. The crunch lets me play those creamy blues and classic tones. But the lead channel is where its all at. Its perfect for drop tuning death metal, or EVH lead tone(obviously being designed by the great eddie himself) or anything hi-gain. Its much better than any mesa, thats for sure.

I can trash this thing and it will never die. but i love it and take care of it very well.

every bit of amplification i ever needed for only 500 bucks

You guys all know how many 'features' the 5150 or 5150 II has... not very many, but that's the point. Perfect gain/distortion tone through virtually any guitar and enough power to rattle dishes in your neighbours house! End of story.

Hands down the best gain sound in the whole industry. Mesa amps are good, but I find their distortion fuzzy and distracting. Marshalls are fine, but their weaklings alongside this amp. The 5150 has just the right amount of everything and it really does go up to 11!

I have had my 5150 II for 8 years now and at one point I had some soldering shake loose on the inside... I took it to my local 'amp tech' and it hasn't broke down since. Obviously, I've put several sets of tubes in it, but that's expected with any tube amp... especially ones that tour. My rhythm guitarist had his Dual Rectofier for 3 years and it melted down 3 times... it spent more time in the shop then on stage.

I dealt with Peavey once to get a new foot pedal... it was painless.

I've been playing guitar for 13 years, the 5150 II was my first tube amp and will be my last for rock purposes. I've recorded 3 albums with it, done over 500 gigs and probably triple that in rehearsals and it still brings a smile to my face to hear this amp rip! It is the best rock/metal amp on the planet and granted now they're not as easy to find as they were 10 years ago, but if you do find a 5150/5150II or 6505 and you play in a rock/metal band... buy it.

i'm not sure what year this is but you can emial peavey and they can find out quickly. i had a 5150 brand new straight outta the box and it was a lemon so i sold it for about half of what i paid for it. played thru lotsa amps for a year after that and was really disapointed with my sound. i found this 5150 ll in a pawnshop in mint condition for 350$ with trade. so far so good the sound is the best for metal or punk.

really i've been playing for 25 years in all sorts of bands and you can play ANYTHING THRU THIS AMP -reggea, blues jazz, rock, country-whatever.i use NO PEDALS AT ALL, just plug and play, twist some nobs and your in.120 watts (fuck ya). every guitar sounds good thru this amp and any cab that can handle 120 watts will sound excellent with this head.use 5881 tubes and any good 12ax7 tubes, change em maybe once a year or so and play in a good band ="BADASS"

take care of this thing and it should last at least 20 years or so. if you tour get a road case. if you play around town get a decent cover, and if bought this to play at home (your a FAG).

excellent, why u ask? well i'll tell you a little story. remember the hurricane catrina that fucked everything up? well peavey got fucked up to(in mississippi) and i placed an order for some parts rght after the hurricane hit em, and that shit was at my door in about a week and a 1/2. i was'nt expecting to see that stuff for months. i was gonna put my amp in the closet for awhile thinking it would be a long time before i saw anything from them. phone lines were down,people were injured, and shit was flooded.you tell me how 25$ in parts made it to my door in that amount of time.

if you TRIDE to steal this amp. 1- i'd kick your ass. 2-i'd steal all your shit, and kick your ass, then everytime i see you on the street(IT'S ON).no seriously, some addvice from a pro. if you tour in a van then get a mean ass pitbull or some kind of dog and take her everywhere with you and leave her in the van. and no one will touch your shit. just ask SUBLIME. (R.I.P. brad)

The EVH Business deal with Peavey! Hear today gone tomorrow. The 5150 II came out with an extra switching feature on the foot switch. Loop on or off. Unlike the first 5150.
Features smeatures...lets keep it simple. I wish it was a tad more quiet. Nugent used HUSH by Rocktron with his 5150's. So do I. I love the tone I get with my 10 band MXR EQ running through the Loop! I use this amp in my practice room and on any stage setting. Plenty of power!!
I use 4 5881's and changing tubes is fun actually. Learning how these days is becoming a thing od the past. Peavey told me that they wanted a amp to be user friendly so all that is necessary is to just simply pull your old tubes out and replace em with new ones! No Bias voltage to adjust like on many of the Laney and Marshall amps I have had. Just as long as it is a matter of ONLY needing fresh tubes that is. People also do not realize that Solid state can also burn out. Semi Conductors can also burn out and do the same thing a tube can. Except sound as good. I gave it a 9 instead of a 10 because I think it should have a noise reduction built in of some type. This is a comon problem so why not address it. Krank seemed to! The Krankenstein is quiet!

The sound is awesome! It can produce too much gain. It can be clear if wanted. I play Dean Razorback guitars with a Dime waw and a Digitech Wham pedal along with a MXR 10 band EQ and a Line 6 Uber distortion pedal on the floor. Up above I also have a Rocktron Expression for some reverb Delay and Flange when needed. The HUSH in the Expression quiets things down. Running all of this through the Loop is awesome! Way better than straight in!

ANY Amp can do just about anything at any time it is hot and running. This goes for Solid state too! I have had no problems with this amp. I also have had no problems with any of the amps I have owned through the years for whatever thats worth. Well.. My Laney Toni Iommi Signature head had a blue and red flame inside one of the output stage tubes right out of the box due to a loose wire on one of it's sockets. Check soldier connections with a bright light and make sure that they have not heated up and changed color. Check your tube socket pins and make sure that they are not burnt up and arch or anything. Keep it running clean and cool if possible....Any amp can tweek man! This thing made for a guy like Eddie Van Halen?!,,,very dependable to say the least!

Never needed a repair. I called Peavey and talked to a guy who built em and I told him I wanted to know the Bias voltage because I was thinking of installing a variable in it to adjust the bias for a tube job. He talked me out of it and said we made it user friendly so you didn't have to do that and you want to do what?!...&*$^&%$&
I have 5881's in it now and maybe this is where I get some of the noise I have mentioned from it. Maybe some 6L6's would quiet it up a tad considering the gear I am running through it too.

I have been playing for 28 years. Yeah...I am old. If it got ripped off?!! I couldn't buy another one since they don't make it anymore. Or at least that would change things as far as access to buy one! Eddie stopped endorsing it so it is a thing and model of the past!! A keeper for sure! Way better than my Marshall. I also run it on a Krank Cabinet. Awesome speakers!!
Just wish the amp had some built in noise reduction.
I can only remember the price was somewhere around close to $900.00 something new.

* clean, crunch, lead
* FX loop
* line out
* power amp EQ
* bass, mid, and treble - pre and post gain levels.
* selectable ohms rating 4, 8, 16
* footswitchable clean crunch and lead.
* all tube 6L6GC/12ax7

(i gave it an 8 instead of a 10 because the clean and crunch share the same pre, post and EQ settings.)

i have an ibanez RG320dx with EMG pickups, 81/85. i run this directly into the 5150II, then the 5150II into a mesa boogie 4X12 rectifer cab w/ celestion vintage 30's. i run a BOSS RV-5 for reverb and BOSS GE-7 for lead boost.(very good for creating extreme tones)

CLEAN
i personally find the clean channel to be quite awesome. i play many stlyes of music, jazz and country being included, this amp can handle it with ease. the clean is not as awesome as a fender, roland JC-120, or even a mesa boogie, but it does get really clean, it can sparkle even at high volumes. i dont like any dirt on my clean tones and i dont get that with this amp. it actually has its own sound. no matter what, its gonna be better than a solid state amp because its all tube, and tube tone is the best tone.

CRUNCH
for the crunch, i use it for dirty blues tones and for chord progressions that need a little dirt on them just before then switch into overdrive. it also be used for good oldschool metal tones if you run a tube screamer into the amp, i dont use one becuae i dont like to "tap dnace" when i play.

LEAD
now, for the lead channel, the bread and butter of the amp, it lives up to all the hype. ive played alongside mesa's, KRANK's, even high end botique amps, this thing is KICKS!!! yeah, they only cost like $900 bucks, that doesnt mean its not as good as any mesa or KRANK, it just might not have the features they do. either way, it has its own sound and no otehr amp can achieve the same sound this thing gets. this thing get get a BRUTAL scoop sound that makes you wanna kill, or what i like to do is keep the mids between 5-6 and have a smooth, snarly tone that cuts through the mix.

i have palyed a few gigs with it, ill never gig without a back up, but this thing will always perform, and im not afrad to take this out on the road. this thing is built like a tank, its meant to be handled rough. A+++

never delt with peavey. i got it though EBAY. but they were aweosme!

this amp can get an old jazz sound, or country brightness, or 80's midrange heavy snarlyness, or even a blistering shaved sound thats perfect for metal. the thing is, this amp has its own sound, just because the clean doesnt sound like a fender, the crunch doesnt sound like an old marshall plexi, and the lead channel doesnt sound like a mesa or krank, your right... it doesnt. you cant say it sounds better, but you cant say it sounds worse. you might not sound like other amps, but when you play country, blues, jazz, rock, or even metal, you do sound professional, and can achieve those tones. people are just picky.

I bought this amp roughly 2 years ago, I got it for 900 seeing as how it was the floor model. All-tube, 120 watts,2 and a half channels, effects loop, preamp out, Original tubes, never been modded, blah blah blah. A really simple amp, but what it does it does well. Loud as all hell!

After my crappy radioshack amp died on me, I decided it was time to get a REAL amplifier. I'm one of 2 guitarists in a metal band, not like that nu-metal stuff but more along the lines of In Flames or At the Gates, with a good amount of thrash influence (old-school metallica, slayer, etc.) thrown in for good measure. Seeking the most badass high-gain sound in all the land, I tried out a dazzling array of Marshalls and Mesas. I had my heart set on a dual rectifier until I gave the ol' 5150 II a try. And quite frankly, it rocked my balls off. Brutal, searing distortion that manages to retain definition and never gets "farty" sounding. I then had to choose between the two. It was a tough choice until I looked at the price tag. :) I'm currently using a Jackson DKMG with the matching 5150 slant-front cabinet, and I like a mid-rangey, defined slayer-esque tone as opposed to that poopy "mids at zero, gain at 10" sound that I hear many local bands using, and that's exactly what I get out of this thing. (But don't worry, if you're in a korn tribute band you can still get nu-metal rumble out of it.) I set the gain at about 6 and a half, and I get all the distortion I'll ever need, for riffing as well as leads, without the use of a boost or overdrive pedal! Speed-picking, grindy riffs sound awesome, every note stands out, which is near impossible to do with some amps. Same goes for leads, your mad chops will be well-defined and huge sounding. However, this also means that it doesn't hide your mistakes, so it forces you to get your shit together if you have a habit of playing sloppy. I love the sound of this thing sooo much. It's the sick metal tone I've always wanted, and it didn't cost me 3 grand! The crunch channel is kinda neat, but I never really use it. The clean channel is the amp's one real weakness. It's gnarly and grungy sounding, and it never seems totally "clean". If you want a nice pretty fender-type sound, you should probably look elsewhere. But I only use it sparingly, and the high-gain sound is so bitchin' that I feel it's worth the trade-off. It's also the loudest damn amp you'll ever play. I could overpower my entire band if I had to.

I have a Boss GT-6 (a really cool thing to play around with at home)that I use as a back-up, but the 5150 II has yet to fail me. I'm still using the original tubes, It's been through some horrific climate changes (I live in Buffalo, our weather is insane), it's been dropped and banged into stuff many, many times, a minivan drove over it's power cord, and it still rocks like a mofo. I'll probably die before this thing does.

I've never had to contact peavey, this amp has yet to give me a problem.

I've been playing for 6 years or so, and this is my only tube amp. If it were stolen, I'd track the asshole down and kick him in the face, and if it were lost, I would certainly purchase this same amp (or the 6505, which is the same thing but with a different name 'cuz Eddie Van Halen's endorsement is up.) I'd put it's high-gain fury up against anybody's, including marshall, mesa, bogner, etc. You can get a bitchin' amp from those companies, with a better clean channel to boot, but you'll pay an extra 800-2000 dollars for it. If you're looking for smoldering metal madness, this amp is a bargain and then some. Some reverb would be nice, but hey, I can use my GT-6 for that. Oh, and the resonance knob KICKS ASS! It adds heaviness without adding gain or volume. I don't know how they do it, it's magical.

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

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.

2004 model made in USA. I Play mostly metal and this is THE metal head...2 channel, the first one is a clean channel : pre, mid, high, bass, post, ressonance and presence. This Channel has a Crunch/Bright Feature..pretty interesting to play classis rock stuff. The Second channel is the monster one!!!...same knob has the first one but ...a large amount of gain...This Channel is a fucking monster..Effect loop is include but I don't use it.It's a 120watt tube power it's enough...believe me. 6 6l6 tubes and 4 AX7....great

My guitar chain:

Jackson DK2-S(with EMG pickup on the bridge)---->Dunlop Cry baby---->DOD Milk Box Compressor---->MXR Smart Gate--->5150 II Head---->5150 4x12 Slant Cab.

This Amp is the perfect amp to play metal but like any other Higain amps you'll need a Noise Gate or you'll kill Yourself. The Clean channel is OK.. I've heard people complaining about it but I don't understand just keep the pre at 2 or 3. The most brutal distortion ever...it's basicly for Death Metal..don't ask why In Flames, Arch Enemy, Children Of Bodom, Chimaira, Anonymus, Opeth, and heaven metallica(they use it in the studio) play with it.

It sure that I'll use it Live...

No Problem with that

The best amp I ever tried for me...I play through Mesa, Marshall,Randall, Line 6, hugues And Kettner, Crate, etc...and no one was close to get that kind of tone.The price is ridiculy low so jump on it!!!

120 watts , 4 8 16 ohms, 4 6l6s, 2 channels with "crunch" and "bright" selections. eq for each channel. foot switch.

i used a gibson les paul classic. this amp is pretty high gain and saturation, you cant really articulate chords well, everything sounds meh.
basically a crappier jcm 900.
if youre looking for a really high end sound, just buy a jcm 800 and get a boost pedal.

i go for a more vintage, "warm", master volume marshall jmp/sound city type sound, so this amp really doesnt do it for me.
dont buy this head, it only sounds good if youre a total burn out from 1985 named eddie

its not very loud, contrary to belief.
ive played louder 30 watt orange heads.
i guess its dependable though, its pretty toughly made.
ill give eddie van wanker that at least.

dont bother.
just get a jcm 800 and put a ratt or big muff on it.

this amp fits me in every way possible, i play, hardcore, metal, jazz/blues, rock, grind it has perfect settings for what i need...i was looking for a good tube head, and i had seen this head and the other 5150 model at just about every show i went to for several years and loved how they sounded, and these were bands such as, between the buried and me, folly, reflux, ion dissonance, the warriors...etc...its lead channel can be brutal or more easy going depending on how you EQ it, alot of people push this head really hard, but i find that maybe gain up to 5 is high enough, plus having it there wont give me as much feedback during full playing...the clean/rhythm channel can be a little rough if not EQed just right, i spent atleast a week perfecting my clean channel, so it sounds pefect for my needs, ive never used the distortion on the rhythm channel, so i cant comment about it

my guitars:
ESP/LTD Viper-400VSB EMG-81 bridge and neck
Jackson JJII scott ian sig. seymour duncan scott ian pickups
Ibanez RG7321, factory pickups
Ibanez SZ, factory pickups

i also have a rack containing the following:
Korg DTR-2000
BBE 362 sonic maximizer
Rocktron HUSH super C

it sounds great with just about every guitar i have, the only problems ive encountered have really only been with the guitars because of the woods being different and different pickups and all that jazz, all i have to do is adjust the maximizer and it sounds just fine

for what i play its perfect, it has the brutal lows and the punchy highs that fit my bands perfectly, i also play through a marshall vs412 140W cabinet, which handles it just as good as a 1960, or any cabinet it has been next to

the clean could be better but like i said before i spent a week on EQ so it sounds dead on for me

heres my story: this is probably the bad part of my review

but i ordered this head through a music store locally from peavey because the store didnt have any in stock, so when they got it in i went and tried it out, worked fine, got it home, wouldnt turn off standby, took it back had it fixed, it was great, sounded amazing working like a fucking CHAMPION, december 23rd, doesnt play louder than volume level 0, took it to get it fixed, got it back a few weeks later, took it back to get tubes changed, got it back for 3 days, on the 3rd day, it went out again just like the last time, no volume above 0, took it back, it is currently AT PEAVEY getting repaired, im getting it back in 2 weeks at the latest

however, i have seen tons of bands use this head and the original 5150 head for years and years on end even my friends that have them have had them forever and they have been solid, ofcoarse the tube changes and whatnot, but theyve been solid heads, so i trust in them

for me the companys ive delt with getting my head fixed have been amazing, ive had it since september 04 and its still under warranty so luckily all my repairs have been free of charge, everyone ive delt with have been very nice and helpful with me to get my amp back into my hands and for them to never see it again, and i thank each and every person who has laid hands on my head to repair it a GREAT deal, because without them id be stuck with shit tone coming from a broken marshall combo computer head and a digitech effects processor....lame...

been playing it since september 04 been in repair for a total of 2 months total, not consecutively

if stolen or lost i would totally get another one if i can find it

i love how its fucking brutal, but has a gentle clean if EQed right, i stress EQing the clean right

i hate how its been in maintenance longer than ive been able to play it

i think it smothers all the other competitors, and i chose this one because every band ive seen in the past 2 years has had atleast 1 of these or the 5150 head

i wish it had a little better clean

if you can find one or a 5150 EVH block...buy it, make sure it works right, and buy it...dont ask questions...itll be rare soon

This is a 5150 II made in 2000. footswitch 2 seperate channels with 2 different eqs. mine has jj tubes in it. i'm also playing out of a 5150 cab as well. like everybody says, the clean channel isn't ace, but it sounds a lot better with jjs. i would give mine a 7.5 but i'll make it 8.

this amp sounds tremendous. i'd been playing out of an avt150H with a marshall 1960A cab, and this thing sounds amazing. its got the wickedest distortion that is fully saturated and just so ballsy and thick. i chose this amp because i hate marshals and mesas, and i can't afford a framus or bogner. i play a lot of metalcore and hardcore and metal, but i also use the amp for classic rock and garage band stuff. i will run down the channels, as well as them compared to other amps i've played; keep in mind that these are only my opinions, based on limited experience with both my amp and the ones i will compare it too.

5150 clean channel: this sounds a lot like a marshall with gain turned down, and i mean like a jcm800 or jcm900. personally i don't have much use for it, i prefer just turning the gain down on the rhythm channel. Compared to the avt, the clean probably isn't as good, but it is more expressive. compared to the mesa i think it sounds a heck of a lot better, but i am biased in that i can't stand the cleans of a high gain amp. they sound like such crap. but the 5150 sounds just like a marshall clean.

5150 Rhythm channel: Once i heard this i was already sold. It sounds almost exactly like an older marshall. Think the vines tone, it sounds just like that. Compared to the avt, the avt blows. That was the avts major vice; there was no useable low gain sounds. the gain 1 channel was useless. no good blues or classic rock tones. Compared to a mesa it is truly a matter of opinion. i like this one better because i like the marshall tone that it gets, and the mesa to me just sounds like its high gain version except with less gain.

5150 Lead channel: After playing on an avt this channel was AMAZING. it just has so much character and tone, as well as a shit of a lot of balls. it really does simply crush the avt. its a very musical distortion in that its easy to manipulate and control just based on pick attack and playing style. i can say that this amp matches my tone almost dead on. the one thing that i don't like much about it is that particularly on lower volume levels with the pre-gain turned up, you get this strange overtone above the actual note that you are playing. you need to listen carefully to hear it, but it is there. it seems almost like a type of feedback. although i wish there were some way to get rid of it, it really isn't that much of a big deal, especially on higher volume levels. compared to mesa, again it is a matter of opinion. it is a lot darker of a sound, especially with the 5150 cabinet. i don't really like the triple rectifier sound, it seems kind of brittle and dry to me, but that is just my opinion. maybe if that amp had a pair of el34s as well as the other 6l6s it would sound better to me. but some people like it so whatever.

i'm happy to say that i've found my tone through this amp. i would like a couple of small augmentations, and for these i'm considering voodoo mods. can anyone tell me about these guys? email me at SA3Zdmvz@gmail.com

as for solidness i really can't attest for it, but it made a trip from illinois without any wear whatsoever. i'll probably post again later.

again, i don't have any experience with customer support so i can't give an opinion.

I've owned an avt150H and i've played countless mesas, bogners, and higher in the line marshals, and for the price this one takes the cake. to get a better high gain amp, you'd have to spend thousands more. there just isn't anything that can compare in this price range. if it were stolen i'd find whoever it was and then beat them to a pulp and steal all their money and use it to send my peavey to voodoo mods.

If you are hoping this one amp will help you cover a wide range of styles and or provide you with a full sound if less distortion(i.e.70'style medium gain slight crunch ac/dc..deep/jimi/zep/cream or u2 /beatles/radiohead/indie rock) is required,then do not bother with this amp.Your ears will hurt and you will go deaf in the fight trying to make this amp do what it wasnt designed to do.Big bulky and heavy in design.Tubes and transformers with insane amounts of gain in the front end and ample clean cold power for the output stage.2 channels with a loop...blah blah blah...Purchased this only to try out because of the blow out price and I briefly owned the first version of this amp(the 5150).Im using it with a 5150 bottom cab that I ve owned for some time and use it with other heads when something other than recto or marshall cabs are needed.Let me just say that I understand why one could love this amp.If someone wants to instantly contaminate the air with amplified hate and brutality...GREAT,Its designed to plug in and shred.No boost or rat pedal required.In terms of availible gain on tap, its amazing that anything can produce this much sheer highgain distortion.I really like the band Rammstein(spelling)?as well as bits of ministry and NIN so I had to see if this amp would at least provide two usable sounds.The features and tone given at this pricepoint all work on a very specific and limited level(which was intended).But you really get what you pay for.Shop around if are picky about your 12ax7 class ab weapon of abuse.

Im using gibsons/hmbkrs mostly.I think I would rather use a pod than play this amp.It sounds as good as it looks,If you are joking around with tapping for laughs its quite funny really but stop wanking with your floyd rose and try actually playing an actuall song with this amp start to finish at a reasonable volume and if you are heard within the context of other intruments,your head and everyone elses head will hurt.Im not a vanhalen freak but this head has nothing to do with anything other than greed for eddy and peavy because its so late 88 -92 bad sounding and cheap.You might as well put a chorus pedal on it and bury yourself in a sea of homophobia.

Its built like a sherman tank unfortunatly.A masterpiece of art to last several lifetimes to consistantly remind us with utter disgust and regret.I would pay good money afer bad to see these amps blown up.This amp is an abortion and a bi-product of bad hair and snakeskin boots.Thank you ed and peavy.I can depend on you.

Great support actually except my endorsement expired when clay spivy was replaced so no more deals for me however there are good peaple at peavy.They are helpfull and care about there customers.This 5150 amp pays their bills and keeps thier lights on.They are an american company.My first peavy was a 1980 classic with the built in phaser.Then a classic 50 1991.A fine amp for the money and beats some marshalls.

I have a diverse background in music from producing and engineering albums(one double platnum) on ampex/studer analog 2 inch 16 track tape machines to protools HD systems with neve,api,ssl mixing desks to session work as a guitarist for virgin interactive,seventh level,activision,video games,and as a recording artist on Warner Bros with two albums.Ive been to eddy's house and played his guitars and hung out with matt bruck(his longtime tech)Eddy has a few hundred amps in storage but he stands by this amp.Its great only within a narrow window at best.

It's been amply listed here, but here's a brief summery for the lazy. A full-tube 120W (4 6L6) amp head that basically offers the usual 2-channel stuff. Clean/crunch on one, lead on the other, seperate eq and post-gain per channel and a bright-switch on the clean channel. A nice Peavey touch is the post low and high (they call it resonance and contour) controls per channel. It comes with a sturdy stageboard that switches channels, clean/crunch, and the fx loop on/off. In short, it's got what it takes, nothing more (who needs more), nothing less.
Two downers though. The fx loop is situated post-post. That's not handy and serves no purpose I can think of. Also, standby takes the load off all the tubes, including the pre-amp. This means you'll need a loadbox if you want to use the amp in a sidechain, or pre-amp only, if you don't want to burn out the transformer.

I play jazz and hardcore metal on anything (PRS, Gibson, ESP, Schecter, Ibanez, Fender, Blade, Epiphone, Godin). Some are equipped with DiMarzios (Tone Zone, Blaze, Evo, Air Norton, Super Distortion), some with Seymour Duncans (Custom and Jazz, my favorite combination on mahogany/maple/rosewood).
The lead channel is, hands down, the best there is out there if brutality is what you're after. It's quiet, considering the amount of gain the amp gives. Mesa Rect, Marshall, Engl, H&K, Peavey (it's unbelievable how much stuff one accumulates when you hang around long enough in show business) blows them all out of the water with a whistle and a poke in the nose. I love Engl's versatility, Rect is nice, I'm not particularly fond of Marshall anyway, H&K gives great value for money... but this amp is the bomb for modern hardcore metal. You'll know why Machine Head sounds the way they do.
Crunch is okay, bluesy, nothing special.
Clean is a bit rough and needs tweaking to mellow it down (if that's what you want) but sounds okay.

You'll want this amp for its lead sound if you want lethal distortion. But here's the bad news: Peavey seems to have discontinued it as per 2005. It's not in their product catalogue anymore. Their marketing division is either senile or moronic because without 5150, Peavey is just another good brand, nothing special.

It's a tank. And it's a Peavey. But it's a tube amp so the inexperienced should take heed of the following:

Allow warming up (power up, standby off) for a minute or more before before switching on tube circuitry (it will make your power tubes last longer);
Allow the amp to cool down for a while after a gig or rehearsal before moving it out (it will make your power tubes last longer);
Make sure you ALWAYS load the power amp outlets, either with a speaker cab or a load box (you'll destroy your power amp if you don't);
Make sure the impedance setting is set right. Note that the specified impedance on the speaker should be divided by 2 when connecting two cabs coz the terminals are parallelled (you'll destroy your power amp if you don't);
And last but not least: DON'T PUT YOUR BEER ON IT (you'll waste the whole amp if you do)!!!

Never had a problem. But I do a lot of maintenance myself so I never really needed them. In other words: Peavey never gave me the kind of problems I couldn't handle myself.

I lay on a semi-pro level, been playing for about 35 years. I own 2 19" racks (TC Electronic, Marshall, Engl, Peavey, H&K) with Celestion and Bag End cabs, a 5150-212 combo and some loose stuff including Koch Pedaltone and various stomp boxes and 15 guitars, summarized above, including baritones and 7-strings.
I'd certainly buy it again if stolen, this amp is a league of its own, deserving the same status as reference amps like Recto or JCM-800. Signal routing is a bit silly to my taste, I'll probably mod it one day.

Conclusion: the best amp you can get if you're looking for brutal, modern distortion. Get it while you still can if that's what you're after because it seems to have been discontinued.

before i go like blablabla please note that im from The Netherlands and that my english can be very fuked up!

My main axe is a ESP MHB-400 Baritone loaded with EMG-81 active pick ups.Im in a band called Gilo and we play brutal down tuned in your face metal. I used This amp in the studio together with my modded Marshall G100R cd top the combination of the two amps are BRUTAL! (I never liked marshall and i still dont but the combi of the 5150 and the G110r kills you) Im the only guitarplayer in the band so I want two different heads for more presure and a thick sound. if you want to check out how the amp sounds just download one of our songs right here:

http://gilo.nl/music/GROW.MP3

I use 2 4x12 ENGL speakercabinets.. they are mid rangy and they keep it tight!! I also use a, BBE sonic maximizer, rocktron prophesy (only for the fx) and a rocktron hush super c. We tune down to A and the mids is were the tone is! lots of guitarplayer make a bigg mistake: they create a metalsound by scooping the mids and use lots of high and low.. thats not the way to cut through the mix! its ok for bedroom levels! thats just my personal opinion.

I give the sound a 8.. in combination with my other head its a 9!

p.s. if you change the tubes it can make a huge difference! I loaded the 5150 with ruby tubes selected by koch and it isnt that noisy and harsh anymore and a lill more compression..

a BBE sonic maximazer in the loop can do miracles (lots of guitarplayers use it.. also Chimaira)

got any question? just hit me up!

This Amp is almost as versatile as they come. The cleans are its only weak point, because its not totally clean. It breaks up just a tad kind of in a Bluesie Way. This Amp Has 2 Channels and the rythm chan can be turned into a clean. It come with a footswitch to work with your effects Loop and to switch back and forth in the chans. This amp has TONS of power and doesnt lose any clarity when turned up. I use it mostly at home and dont go past 1.5 on the volume because of how loud it gets and i feel for my neighbors.

I Use this with A Gibson Flying V and a Schecter C-1+. Both guitars with EMG 81 at the Bridge. This amp suits my style perfectly. Not only can you play Classic rock like some Van Halen , Scorpions , Rush , Deep Purple, ect . But you Can also go to the other end and play Brutal Metal Like Children of Bodom , Arch Enemy , ect. This amp shines in its ability to have so much distortion and bottom end and not mess the clarity of your playing. The cleans arnt the greatest, but if you buy this amp and are looking to play alot of cleans then go buy a fender. This amp was made to be a high gain amp for people who want high gain, and usually dont really use the clean chan much anyway. The distortion can go from Absolutly Brutal like Arch Enemy to a nice Controlled Distortion you would hear in Rush.(With the Rythm Chan)

From what i have read and friends have told me peaveys are built like tanks and from what i have seen so far its al true.

Never dealt with them but have heard good things from their custumer service. Just fill out your extended warranty card and email them with any questions and they get back to you very fast.

Ive Been playing for about 3 Years and a solid state Line 6 Flextone II Plus. Having a tube amp now gives u that little variation that the solid state could nail.(Not to say that the Flextone isnt good becuase i think its a very kick ass amp)If it was lost i would run to my room and cry for a couple of hours before going out and hunting whoever stole it. I would definetly replace it if anything were to happen to it. I loved its brutal distortion and didnt hate anything about it. If i had to compare it to other amps like Rectifiers or the JCM series amps i would say this amp blows them away because it suits my style more. This is more of a metal amp while the JCM is more of a AC/DC sounding amp and the boogie is somewhere in between.

This is a completely stock, new amp.

I knocked a couple points off because of the lack of range available in the bias adjustment. I understand that Peavey may have done this to keep idiots from dammaging their amps by going overboard with it, but it sucks for me!

It apears that since Eddie's partnership with Peavey has ended, this amp will carry as the 6505+. Which is a great thing, because this amp is truly unique!

See previous reviews for more details.

I like the original 5150, but I like this one more!

The first time got this amp dialed in and played it, I got so exited that I had to mosh around a bit, and then damn, I smashed one of the fingers on my left hand so hard against my coffee mug that the knuckle busted open and swelled up bad! I've got it on ice, it's getting better.

I'm using a custom, self-built guitar; mahogany body with maple top, maple neck with rosewood finger board, dual L500s, and a fixed bridge.

I tried it with my other guitar, which is equipped with EMGs, but guitar differences aside, the L500s clearly performed much better. Sweeter, more open, and better harmonics!

My amp came stock with these tubes;
The pre-amp:
V1-V4 12AX7EH
V5-V6 Sovtek 12AX7LPS

Power-amp:
Ruby 6L6GCMSTR (Very sweet sounding!)


I'm going to experiment with some C-9s in a few of the pre-amp positions to see if I get some improvement.


You either love the midrange grind that this amp produces or you don't. I am truly addicted to it! It barks and growls just the way I like.


There are a few things that I would like to see improved on this amp;
One: The fizziness in the crunch mode with the Pre set above 2.5
Two: The hiss in the Lead channel with the Pre set above 5.25.
Three: I'd like palm mutes to be tighter.

I may consider a few minor mods to address these issues, but nothing that would cause a loss of this amps signature bark and growl!

I don't know yet on this one, I just got it, so unlike some idiot reviewers who would give it a "0", and throw the overall ratings off. I will do the intelligent thing, and give it a "No Opinion" here.

I may post an update in the future.

I don't know yet on this one, I just got it, so unlike some idiot reviewers who would give it a "0", and throw the overall ratings off. I will do the intelligent thing, and give it a "No Opinion" here.

I may post an update in the future.

Tone is a subjective matter to a certain degree, and for me, this amp has outstanding tone, and all of the features that I need. If you like it, buy one!

every thing you want out of a metal/rock amp....cept no reverb which makes blues/blues rock tuff....but still possible

holy shit!!! i play mainly hardcore/metal(himsa, at the gates, bla bla bla..) and it kicks the shit out of anything ive played on...for awhile i was playing through a variety of marshalls and mesas and never really found the tone that i was looking for...but now..that has changed ....i love it...best part....i can only play with volume at about 2...everything thing ealse is excess....but o so fun...my only complaint is that on clean....it kinda lacks but after about3 hours of playing i was able to dial in a pretty good clean, just set the bass realativly high and lay off the mid/highs a bit...reverb always helps too...p/s-more gain that you could ever use...or could you?? HA TAKE THAT NEIGHBORS!

never had a problem

absolutely love it....it really is the best amp for what it does...and the price didnt hurt...only complaints are clean kinda lacks but thats what fender and vox are for and no reverb...but thats not a big deal...if i had to do it over again i would pick another one up in a heart beat....best thing i could have done...

2002 model great amp super versatilefor clasic rock to heavey metal.It has two channels but with the foot swichable cruch button it has three IMHO efex loop on the foot switch great stuff and this 5150 II has a bias trim built in You need this in all your tube amps

I use humbuckers(PRS) and single coils(strat) The amp handles both with ease. A word about the clean sound, This amp can do a good clean sound if you dial it in right. To have an amp do a good clean and a super rythm dirt and a super over the top brutal distortion and then don't forget sustain for days in the lead channel, well what hell more do you want. On top of that these amps are cheap and still built well. stop complaining about the clean, its good enough. I use the clean channel for my plexi type gain (split my p/u's and roll back the guitar volume and you got a good clean sound) then I engage the crunch button for a JCM 800 sound and you get a volume bump which I like a lot. You can puch up your rythm parts for dynamics or even use it for leads(good stuff)Then there's the lead channel which is great. I find I go low on the treble (say about three) and then dial in my highs with the resonce power amp adjustment. this is when the amp really started to sing for me (the power amp adjustments are key) I also am running just two power tubes and I switched to kt-88's I'm a Marshall guy and my plexi has more tone but this amp for playing gigs can't be beat. I don't no why people bash 5150's it's a real work horse that does a lot of things very well.

had three never a problemn

playing about 30 years I own a plexi and a fenderI've had Bogner soldano and mesas's don't belieave the hype on the high priced amps. you'll pay 100% more and get about 5% better tone maybe. Save you money and buy a peavey or a Marshall old scholl Plexi The marshall Hand wired series are freakin fantasti but they're big bucks.

I am the recent proud owner of a 2004 120-watt all-tube, all-balls Peavey 5150 II. As far as features, i couldn't give her a 10, just because it doesn't have reverb, but then again, i don't use reverb. With the introduction of the mk.II 5150, Peavey added a third option for you cry baby's who NEEDED a 'clean' channel. The rhythm channel is now a true clean channel, with a BRIGHT and CRUNCH push button to enhance the clean channel.
As far as power and gain, DAMN!!!!! 120 WATTS OF ALL-TUBE POWER!! It's a fuckin beast. I play in a rehersal studio, at my singer's house, and this amp, at 3, can be heard up the street. I love tube amps, and this is the best tube amp on the planet, as far as sound-quality to price. No other amp comes close.

I have two Gibson Les Pauls, both with active EMGs, and a Peavey Wolfgang special. I use 5 pedals, 2 through the effects loop-a Boss Chorus Ensemble and Digital Delay DD-3,- and Crybaby Hendrix wah, Dunlop Rotovibe and a Boss Super Overdrive SD-1 run straight in to the amp. This amp is everything i could ever ask for with my set-up. The RHYTHM channel, with the BRIGHT and CRUNCH buttons in, gives you that classic JCM-800 like tone. With the Super Overdrive kicked in, u get that Zakk Wylde/BLS style tone, a lot of crunch with an insane amount of sustain. For my clean tones, i usually just turn the SD-1 off and engage the CE-5 and roll off the volume of my guitar, down between 2-4, giving me then best late 80s to mid 90s style ballad tone. I always keep the PRE-GAIN controls on my amp at 10, i like to keep the 12AX7 tubes hot. However, sometimes i like the 'chimmey' clean tone. I turn off the crunch channel, leaving the clean pre-amp tone, with the CE-5 still on. It is incredible the nice clean gain tone u get. It is clean, but with the preamp tubes burning hott, u get a nice chime to the tone.
NOW, we get in to the whole reason people buy this amp. THE LEAD CHANNEL. Before i bought this amp, i was torn between the 5150 II and the Peavey XXX. The lead channel on this amp has more balls than the XXX could dream of. It has more gain the a Hughes & Kettner and a MESA/Boogie Triple Rec. It is simply sick as hell. It has gain at every volume, .5 all the way up to 10. Even though as a warning, be careful turning this amp up past 6 or 7 as most amps, or people's ears for that matterm can handle the amp of gain this amp has to offer.

I would put my life up for this amp. It has been nothing but good to me.

I've been playing guitar for 8 years, i play everything from southern rock(Skynyrd, Allman Brothers) to hard rock(Aerosmith, GNR) to metal(Metallica, Slayer, BLS, Ozzy) and i can get just about every tone in between. I have always been a dedicated Peavey player as far as amplification, so maybe i am a little biased. But when the greats in every genre of music, Joe Satriani, Gary Rossington of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Eddie Van Halen play Peavey, you got to know something. I mean, the equipment speaks for itself. So don't take my word or anyone elses word for it. go play one for your self, and bleed the metal baby. BLEED IT HARD. You will not find a better deal than a Peavey 5150 II.

you know them, 2 and bit channels, loops etc. all the usual good amp stuff. the footswitch is the only minor niggle i have, the effects loop is on the wrong side!! when u want to switch channel and put effects in you need to move from one side to the other. the boost/crunch feature in the clean channel is a pretty good additon from the series 1, i dont use it much in my live playing(heavy stuff like pantera/killswitch styles) but its good for ac/dc old school rocking in the bedroom. the independant eq on each channel is cool to.
i use it for giging a lot and ive never needed to go past 4 on the volume.

i use a gibson explorer loaded with emg's and a couple of boss pedals (chorus/delay etc). my main style of playing is heavy, and this amp is simply the best. it kills mesas, marshalls, crates and randalls, it simply has the best distortion tone in the world.
the clean tone is a bit lacking but my pedals more than make up for that.
basically if you want an amp to play any music that needs high quality distortion, this is the one. ive even seen robbie williams backing band use them!!
im currently running a marshall cab with it. it still sounds awesome but im looking to upgrade.

i have no backup amps. its built like a tank, yeah its valve but its still a rock solid amp.

i never spoke to peavy so i dunno. i got it from electro music in doncaster and they were super helpful, i reckomend them.

best amp in the world. works well with my other gear, its just the best.

you know.

I play mainly death metal/tech metal(Ion Dissonance, PsyOpus, Necrophagist..etc) and god damn..this amp tears everything to shreds. A set of EMG's and a 5150 with the matching cab and a maximizer and you're set for life. You need nothing more.

I haven't ever had a problem with this amp, it's a fucking BEAST.

Great people, best forum ever and they make their shit to last. I wish all companies were as amazing as Peavey.

This review isn't all fluff..I have one huge problem with the 5150, and Peavey in general. They lack consistancy in their products. I have owned two 5150's, and for the longest time I felt incredibly unsatisfied with the 5150's. My first that I had, I tried all I could to make it sound good. I changed the tubes many times, I had mods done to it, I seriously tried to re-make this amp to make it awesome. But I failed miserably and ended up selling it for about what I bought it for to a friend of mine. I have many friends that play this amp and basically the same rig that I had. After playing through theirs, I realized that it wasn't even the same friggin' amp. Mine sounded buzzy and thin, and theirs sounded aaaaamazing. The only way I can describe it is, it sounded pissed off. The tone was awesome. I liked it so much I went out that same day and bought another 5150. I don't know what it is, but every 5150, 5150II, 5150 combo, all that stuff..sounds totally different. I don't get it. But what I have found out is just make sure it sounds good before you take it home. If you get it on the internet it's a gamble. Half sound good, half sound like complete garbage. Take two 5150's, put them right next to each other with the same exact gear, same settings, everything and they sound like different amps. It's shit. I am just happy I found one that sounds good, a quality 5150 overtakes any mesa, vht, or bogner or any of that high priced bullshit.

Am I going to add something new here that hasn't been said?

.. no

I'm a 40 year old Basement Rockstar Wannabe... But I live in the country with no neighbors that can hear me shaking the foundation. I play mostly older VanHalen, Randy era Ozzy, AC/DC, GnR ect. I change guitars more often than some of you brush your teeth (Wolfgangs, Jems, Gibson Flying V, PRS CU24, CU22, and Singlecut Trem).. But this amp has been my only amp since 2001. My Buddies play Uberschall, Mesa, and Line 6, and yet I have no interest in changing amps. Someone else pointed out changing the tubes and he nailed it. Want a little more control? .. Just change the tubes. It's cheap and easy, and really made a difference in the sound.

BSH!!

N/A .. Never had to call em for the amp. They were great with my Wolfgang.

I hate reading reviews that are all fluff. You don't know if the person's just justifying dumping a load O cash on something they didn't really need. I can honestly say that for the music I play this amp works as well or better than anything else I've seen, heard, played for my type of music. Someone else mentions this is not the amp for you if you live in a residential area and don't play out. .. I agree. It sounds best turned up (pre 6 post 3-4) But then again if you're in this situation you'll never be happy with a halfstack.

umm rhythm(NOT CLEAN!)channel with bright and crunch features, lead channel resonance and presence controls for each. pretty basic but gets the job done

first of no cleans, you can get somewhat decent cleans maybe. This amp is all about the lead channel quite brutal and full but sometimes i have trouble making it as punchy and ballsy as my single rectifier, the power is unbelieveable though. this amp also feeds back very very easily and is kind of noisy. all and all though the distortion is amazing. just as someone said below though not as ballsy as say a marshall or a rectifier. overall a 7. the clean sound is about a 5 and the distoriton is a 10 so it makes up for the lack of versitility on the rhythm channel.

peavey makes great stuff! very very solid and reliable

havent dealt with them but heard wonderful things

good amp, its not mine im just borrowing it, but it has deffinatley grown on me. It brings the rock hard!

2004 model of the peavey 5150 II. This amp is CRAZYYYYYYYYYY!!! FOr Metal i never seen better..it kick mesa ass!2 channel(rythm and lead)you can switch to clean or distorted on these 2 channel.THe head is really easy to set up it takes like 2 or 3 minute to find your sound.It's a 120watt tube amp(6 12AX6 preamp and 4 6L6 power tube).I Whish it has a reverb include but thats not so bad I just have to buy a reverb pedal.The Footswitch Is include.

I PLay It With an ESP EC custom with 2 EMG-81 and OMFG!!!!!!!!!I was scarred It's loud!!!!!!!THe most brutal sound I ever heard.I Play mostly metal and death metal and this amp his what I Need.I tried It jyust in frond of it like 1 metter so Feedback was there So It's sure it was noisy but I don'T think this amp is noisy like mesa.

Never Use It live but It's sure I Would!

BUy IT!!!!!!!!!!!

Clean, Rythm, Lead, 120 watts and that's pretty much it, really not much

I play a Gibson LP Stuido, PRS Tremonti, and an Epiphone LP Extreme Limited Edition, it's my lead guitarist who owns this amp, but I played through it in stores, and many times at rehearsal, first off yes the clean channel sucks, but u should understand how much it sucks when u buy it, and if u also play in clean channel u shouldnt buy it. Besides that, it's great, better sustain then any amp that has every existed, my lead guitarist held a note and we timed it, once we got to about 2-3 minutes we got tired of waiting for it to stop, the distortion is great, but it has less balls than a marshall, crate, and boogie recto, but it's still crushing rock and roll and metal on distortion, just lacks a ball, so it has one nut if you will.
but damn the sustain can just sell u right away regardless of the clean and one nut.

yea i can definately be depended on, it's been workin fine.

never dealt with peavey nor did my lead guitarist

I been playin about 2-3 years, my lead guitarist about 3, i been practicin 6 hours a day so that can add some years, i dunno how long my lead guitarists practices a day, but he sure does kick ass, and is a good solo man.i own a line 6 HD147, it's thin sounding loud, I'm selling it then buying either a Crate BV150H,Peavey Triple XXX,or a Marshall TSL, as for the 5150 11 the sound is great for under $1000 bucks, but i do believe the Crate BV, and the Triple xxx are more worth the money, but if u got the big bucks, get a Mesa Triple or Dual rec, Bogner Uberchall,or Diezle Herbert, cuz the really rock hard, the 5150 11 has enough headroom for pretty much any venue, but i believe it lacks balls, u dont feel it comin at u, it just doesnt make your nuts sake

This amp is amazing. Thats all I gotta say. I am in a metal/hardcore band that I play drums for. I also play guitar, but I let my guitarist use the 5150 II. Its got the most bruital sounding distortion I have ever heard. It blows all the others away. I have bought many amps, and now I am finally happy.

I didn't get this amp for clean tones! I got it for the bruital high gain lead distortion! Simple plan can have there clean chanle, cause I don't use it. I like running this head with a BBE 482i Sonic Maximizer. It makes a world of difference if you are in metal and hardcore. The chuggs are amazing when you throw on a maximizer, I suggest that everyone use one with it. If you thought this amp was bruital alone, then wait till you throw on the maximizer. It will bring out a sound you never heard before.

This thing is built as solid as a tank, it has never broken yet.

I never dealt with them, hopefully I will never have to.

I give it a 10 because I get everything out of it I need. If you want a clean chanel, get a Fender! Your worthless panzy ass isn't worthy of playing through an amp this bruital, go joing Simple plan and cry about the 5150 II not having a clean enough clean chanel somewhere else!

This amp has all the features i need. a death metal channel and a clean channel. this amp can do any style of music you want it too do as long as its metal, metalcore, or hardcore. probley some other styles too. there is plenty of power with 120 watts of pure tube power.

i use it witha epiphone les paul custom and a cable. my musical style is hardcore and metalcore(as i lay dying, norma jean, fordirelifesake)
and i know for a fact there is no other amp that covers my style better. the lead channel is isane, more gain than ive ever heard b4. ive always dreamed of a rectifier since i started playing guitar and never imagined id end up playing a peavey. but after playing the 5150 II i knew i had to have it. palm mutes are massive. the clean channels is real cool for my taste i love the way it breaks up with the pre on 4, if you want cleans that dont breakup set pre to 1 or something. It kinda pisses me off seein so many poeple complaining about the lack of reverb and the clean channel. first off is if your playing metal like what the amp is designed for y do you want reverb that just clutters the sound. and the clean channel is sweet, what the crap do you poeple buy the most brutal amp there is to get a fender clean. hell no i dont want a fender sparkle, if you want fender get a fender instead of getting a peavey then bitchin about it cuz its not a fender. i dont want to switch from a brutal breakdown to a elton john sparkle clean. i wanna switch from a brutal breakdown to a dark on the verge of distorting clean breakdown. there is no way to understand this amp until you play it. i wouldnt trade this amp for any other amp regardless of price. it has the heaviest distortion i ever heard and has charecter and tone. some of the poeple who complain about bass, i can get alot of bass by turning up bass and resonance, but i leave bass around 6 and resonance on 4. bass players supply the low end. guitars arent supposed too. o and im using the 5150 cab, any other cab i used it seemed like gain was rolled back.

i just got it couple weeks ago, so well see but its heavey as a tank and definatly looks solid

havent dealt with customer servise

this amp destroys everything else imo. marshalls are probley the best for classic rock mesas are probalky berst for nu metal and punk. fenders best for cleans. and the peavey 5150 II destroys all other amps for hardcore.

I think the amp was made in 2003. This is an amp that I have played on many many times because someone I know has one and we are alway's a jamming. I play rock, hard rock, death metal, everything. This amp doesn't cover it. I isn't too flexible. For me, in a band situation, it is alittle to dark for me. You really can put the presence past 8 before it sounds like a buzzy ear-peircing mess. I has 2 fully independant channels, and then the clean shares a clean/crunch channel. It would be 3 fully independant channels but the crunch and clean share the same EQ. I give it a 7 because there isn't much versatility in this amp.

I use a Gibson Les Paul with hot pick-ups. Well it suits for mostly rock and thats it. The clean channel is dark sounding and is really bad compared to the boogies, and also the Triple XXX which is made by peavey. It is very very very noisy. When I have the post on 3, the gain can't go past 4 without it being really noisy. It has a pretty thick tone to it and I like it. Again, not too much versatility. The distortion is brutal. But can't do low-gain rock that I do alot.

I've never heard of my friend having any problems

Peavey is friendly, but no phone number on their site.

It is an alright amp with about 1 good tone, and thats it. Reminds me of a Marshall, except the Marshalls are alittle bit better imo. Very middy amp even with the mids on 2.

Well, if you bought this amp it was obviously for kick ass distortion. It does lack reverb which sucks, but use the FOOTSWITCHABLE effects loop. The clean isn't too bad, just keep your pre down to like 2-3. The best dist. i've ever heard through my marshall 1960 cabs. LOUD!!! Worth every cent. It gets a 10 because it is a high gain amp, i hate when vintage idiots bitch because( I can't get my fender clean...), if you want that, but a fender!

I play death metal, black metal, grindcore, anything with alot of gain, just not nu metal(no talent). There is defintely a difference between real distortion and synthetic (like a metal zone). When you're not a beginner anymore, you will realize this. But have fun with your toneless crate, and play your blink 183. This is for METAL!

Built for Eddie, so that should tell you!

5 year warranty....no complaints yet.

I have been playing for 5 years now, and have come to conclusion for real sounding shit, and not a crate, this is the best. I wish it had reverb, but the effects loop is for that i guess. If stolen, I would beat the living shit out of who took it, take all of their money, and curb them. Yes a little drastic, but if you've played it, you know!

This is an add.to the review i gave at the 25 of march.I've used it intensively on live gigs,and find the crunch channel awesome.Ihave an ENGL-powerball too.I use a Lehle channel-splitter(ch.A:goes to Engl,for pristine clean and medium crunch. ch B:to 5150II,for real fat-heavy crunch/ pre at 8.5=awesome Gary Moore leadtone. Leadswitch on 5150 for soaring tones: Petrucci,Gambale,....)
Although the lead channel is fantastic,the big surprise for me was the
crunch-option,fat-cutting rock-tone(less compressed then a Marshall TSL)
Again U.S.players,DO NOT let the Boutique- hype overwhelme you.I've played many of these amps at the Frankfurt music fair.
The only amp that was really special,was a Diezel VH4,but it was 30% better at a 400% higher price!!

2 channels, not hot on features overall, a reverb would be useful to some players, i would like to see a 7 band eq on the next 5150 - but thats utopian. Huge power, too loud for house practice. Do not buy this amp for use in the home only, unless you consider getting a power attenuator, or you have no consideration for neighbours... live in a country house etc...

Numerous guitars are used with this, pickups do shape the sound differently... i'm using SD JB's, EMG81's and the KA Ultra Dist.. all worth checking out. This amp has world class tone, especially the lead channel - but must be turned up quite loud to hear it all. I do enjoy high gain rock music, and there is more gain available here than i have ever heard before. Obviously, there is tube noise at high volume. It is not excessive, if you need silence get a noise gate. I dont use any effects at all with this amp. Pure tone is the way to to go in my opinion. There is no clean channel as such, it is a rhythym channel. You must temper your settings to achieve a clean sound here. Crunch button is great, its only usable in the rhthymn channel.

No comment, too soon :-/

The peavey internet forum is useful, still no opinion overall

Been playing over 20 years, but that is irrelevant really when considering an amplifier's tone to your musical requirements. Try the amp out yourself in the music store. Your opinions will vary, but I am not looking for anything else other than this right now.
Second best to VHT Pittbull Ultralead for my money, but I can't justify the large amount of extra cash for that unit right now.

you can read the features elswere. it has not too much for this price. cause there is no reverb and no power switch on it and so on. look at the engl powerball. integrated noisegate. reduktion of power in some different steps i think. 3 channels and so on. what do you say?

the distortion ist very brutal if you want it to be. there is nothing to say about the high gain channal except that it has unlimited amount of gaaaiiiiiinnnnnn!!!!!
i play metal in a band so the amp is perfect for me cause it is really loud and can always be figured out of the whole band sound.
it works very well with effects and allways reproduces a great sound. i think for new metal it is not very well because if you punch in the bass and resonance equalizer then the sound gets very muddy and everytime you hit the strings and then mute it the amp chokes.
i even think the amp has more or less a standart sound. you can move the equalizer knobs around but there is no change in sound, eccept of the bass and a little of the highs. but that is no problem. the 5150 II has a really cool distortion sound where you as player have to set the nuances. understand?

the clean channel you can really send to hell. it is just shit. i never heared such a fucked up clean channal on any class-A amp (i mean amps for that price. sorry i'm a german motherfucker and my english is very bad). it is so cold the high equ. sounds are just killing your ears. even if you take them out with the euqalizer they just scream in your ears. well it isn't that bad but there is no coparision to a fender sound or anything else. many transistor shit amps sound better in clean use. you can fix this problem with effects. i use a zoom gfx-8 to get my effects. this works very well and with a little help of it the clean channal can be boosted to be more warm and dynamic. another shitty thing on the clean channel is that you will never get it really clean. there is always crunch in it. you have to push the pre gain a little up to get more warmth. but the more you push it the more it distorts. that is really fucked up because you never can get a perfect warm clean sound out of it unless you use a pedal or something.

the louder you play it, the better it sounds.

i have many problems with the peavey. when i was on a gig the channal switch pedal did not work properly. the distortion to clean button was broken. when i returned to our practicing room everything was okay. this shit happened a few times. when i went to my dealer he laughed at me cause in those moments it worked fine and told me to fuck off. ich was really pissed off but there was nothing i could do.

then my effect loop broke just a few months after i bought the amp. my daler fixed it but it is shit. there was another mistake too: the amp suddendly lost half of its power and sounded cold like a transistor. i was fucked up go the hell with this shit!!! my dealer told me it was the effect look who killed the signal. but he never gave it to peavey, only screwed around himself. after that it worked but anyway it is not right this way. perhaps i got a monday-modell how we say in germany.
after those two shitty situations i told him to fuck off. motherfucking bastard of a dealer selling me shit!!!

the last thing occured last week. the middle two main tubes (the ones you can see when you look inside from behind; totally 4) glowed red like they will explode every moment. i was afraid and turned of the monster. after i turned it on everything worked fine at all.

can't say anaything to this. cause my warranty goes over my dealer. look at the example with my pedal. it's shit.

eventhough i have many problems with the amp i like it very much. it has a tone, you can't find elswhere (if you look for distortion). i play only since 3 1/2 years but i play very often and i'm already at a level where i can play for example many metallice songs with solos in a proper way. im no greenhorn because i spend all my lesure time with playing guitar and looking at amps and stuff like that.
no matter what i say, you have to find your tone. perhaps you will love the clean channel who knows? figure it out for yourself, cause everything you read in here is just subjectivity. look at other manufacterers. look at the ratings. most of the product get 8 and more. this would mean there is no shit. but that is a lie. give a fuck on comments. nice playing, and kick ass!!!!!!!!!

It's me again to talk great shit about this amp. The foot switch works smoothly. 3 channels, and other fucking shit!

I use the clean with a boss sustain compressor to get out my sweet clean and nothing for the lead channel for the god fucking gain it has. I stop using BICH guitars and now i'm going with Ibanez Jem serious and thank you Steve Vai. I use the Evolution picks up for my lead and rhythm. 7 and 6 string guitars tune to either Low G or A or G#. I no longer like emg cause they aren't great as a passive pick for this fucking bad ass monster.

NO FUCKING PROBLEMS HERE!

Buy one your self you fucks. I would like to give word out to my girl Christina and my name friend Rick that i met from the Music Box. Your nephew is going to bad ass fucking guitar player and keep on playing man!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bought it new in 2002..120watts,blah,blah,blah you know the rest.I love the fact it is very easy to use. just plug in and play.Kinda wish it had reverb though.I use this amp to play out with and it gets the job done and some.

I have a les paul studio ,american deluxe fat strat, and a mexican fat strat with a dimarzio super distortion in the bridge.I play in two bands ranging from classic rock to new rock.
This amp has some serious tone. the distortion is very brutal. it has all the tone i need for every kind of music i play, i really like the crunch feature, and the footswitchable effects loop. If you have a good set of earplugs, you can crank it up to 5 or 6 and it will crush small villages. The amp is kind of noisy cranked up but it's a tube amp.

I did have some problems with alot of popping and hissing in the clean channel, took it in twice for that and still not fixed. I'm not happy about that at all.Other than that i could and have played many gigs without a backup.

Never had a very serious problem.

I have been playing for 17 yrs and i also own a fender deville. although the peavey doesn't even come close to the fender's beautiful clean channel, i would definately buy another if it was lost or stolen.
Bottom line is, if you want a total kickass heavy rock distortion amp for a fraction of a mesa or something like that, then this is the amp for you.I have a buddy with a triple rec and a buddy with a JCM 2000 TSL and mine stands up to it every step of the way. get one, it's worth it.

Very honest 2 ( semi-3)channel amp.
Only backdraw is that crunch channel,allthough supreme sounding,gives to much volume push.

Let me tell you that my main amp is an ENGL-powerball.This is a wonderfull versitile 4-channel amp.For some reason i find it sometimes
"to good" ( not raw enough)sounding.Kind of Gambale's fat tone.
So i tried the "loved aswell as hated 5150 II",in search for the most over the top ditortion.MAAAAAANNNN!!!.ALL discussions closed.It was more than i expected.Choose your eq.setting,pre-gain at 6.75,and blow the roof of.Very raw,but still artic.Noise? Sure,but not extrme.I play all sort of styles,rather heavy(G.Moore,R.Ford,V.Halen,...)Sometimes i use the powerball,sometimes the peavey,i like them both,but do NEVER think that the 5150 is inferior,cause you yanks have them cheap.I payed mine 1400 euro in Belgium(a powerball is 1600 euro)and i dont regret having them both.Main guitars are: Gibby Lespaul with "Harmonic design Z-90" neck and S.D.custom-custom bridge p.u.'s.Second guitar:Yamaha pac.with two Rio-Grande 's "muy-grande single coils and a Dimarzio-breed bridge bucker.Awfull combination!
Do not believe the hype that you need a Bogner or a Diezel to sound like your heroes.I had the chance to meet Mike Stern backstage,while he created the most vicious sounds through a "YAMAHA solid state" amp.
But of course,his name is Stern!

Allthough it has 10 tubes,it seemes build sturdy.To soon to tell

I think peavey has the most solid reputation: 5-year warranty,come on.

In 20 years of playing ( i am 48),i have had all sorts of gear,some good,some bad.I ve heard all the old heroes and saw many of them on live shows( Satch,Vai,Gambale,M.Cusson,EVH,.....)I also listen to the new gods(Petrucci,Andy Timmons,Greg howe,...).
These men all have fabulous technical qualities and great tone,and yes,you can have 85 per cent of that tone with a 5150.
My super hero is ALAN HOLDSWORTH ,and his technique,as well as his tone is not from this earth.Doe not even try to play his 50-note arpeggiated lines,or your gonna bee as frustrated as i was.Still,music is more than that: listen to the great ,missed Rory Gallagher,.....now what i mean???

The 5150 mkII has everything I want from an amp. clean/dirty/dirtier. The crunch option on the clean channel is cool too. And I like the fact it has a switchable effects loop.

The ONLY niggle is that the lead channel isn't amazingly verstaile. It sounds like it has been 'pre-voiced' and the eq controls are just there for tweaking. But im not complaining because it is a great sound anyway!

This amp is WAY loud enough for anyone.

The fact that there is no reverb doesn't bother me much, but the amp would have scored a 9 if it had one installed as i do tend to use reverb on clean sounds.

Into the amp Im running a 1976 Gibson les paul with PAFs, a Gibson Les paul gothic with an EMG 81/85 combination, a 1978 Gibson RD artist with active tone controls and kent armstrong PAFs, a 1973 Gibson L6s pro with stock pickups and a 1980s Fender contemperary strat with a seymore duncan JB.

I mainly play Thrash/speed metal, Hard rock and melodic Metal, so i need an agressive but versatile amp.

I love the sound of the clean channel, no-matter what anyone says! Think vox ac30 tb, sparkly, deep and a hint of overdrive. The crunch option is amazing. It sounds like a jcm800 2203 with more balls. When I first got the amp, i didn't think i'd end up using the crunch switch, but I'm finding its getting used much more than I thought.
The lead channel (what I bought the amp for), is brutal. More balls than a mesa, but with a sharper tone. More gain than ANYONE could possibly need. And Surprisingly quiet. If you think the 5150II is a noisy amp, just try running a heavy distortion box through a marshall clean channel.

After 10 years of tone searching, I have finally come very close to 'my sound' and Its a nice feeling! Im just surprised that it was so cheap compared to mesas and soldanos.

Ive had it two weeks now, but looking at the way its built, i wouldn't worry about it breaking too often. Ive already gigged it and it handles fairly big venues without a problem. Since ive only had it for a short period of time im going to have no opinion on this topic.

Never had to deal with them, so also, no opinion.

Ive been playing 10 years, and owned 3 fender combos and a Hiwatt head. Originally because i'd heard people talking about how HORRIBLE the cleans were, I was going to use my hiwatt for cleans, but now, the hiwatt is redundant and getting sold!

I wish it has a switchable effects loop for each channel, and a switchable master effects loop, but very few people would use this exept me and a handfull of other people, so from a business point of view for peavey, it is impractical.

Although I bought this amp used, IT WAS ONLY THREE MONTHS OLD AND HAD ABOUT 2 HOURS TOTAL PLAYING TIME ON IT!

I would like to start by saying, when i tried this amp i was on tour and at the time playing a mesa dual rectifier, when i heard it, I SOLD MY AMP FOR THIS AMP! i think we all know these by now so i wont bore you. However, I would like to respond to peoples complaints about a lack of reverb on the unit. This monster is already heavy as a tank, to add a decent reverb unit would add even more wieght, and i know any musician (like myself) who tours a lot with a band knows heavy = not fun. As far as features it has everything i need, i dont use any effects other than a dyna-comp anyways so its no biggie for me.

My main guitar (my baby) is an Epi Goth Les Paul with and EMG-81 at the bridge and an 85 at the neck. My backup is a Gibson Les Paul Standard w/ 60's neck. Yah yah yah, u can laff at my baby i dont care. I play metalcore, now before we start dont get me confused with some black metal power chord chugging idiot. I play lead, not rythem guitar in my band and do it well. This amp is the best amp for me and for anyone else who likes heavy music. The distortion is the best iv heard, and i played a Mesa for a while. It's thick and has character, not just some marshall of mesa knock off. The clean is better than people make it out to be. I play a lot of classical in my bands songs, so i need a good clean, i have had no problems with muddled tones or breaking up at high volumes, and i havnt even gotten around to buying new tubes yet. Granted its no fender, but if you want a fender... buy a fender. This amp can be a tid bit loud, not terribly so, but at high gain setting in can buzz a little, but thats no biggie, thats what noise suppressors are for (btw i recomend the boss noise supressor if u need one.)

What else can i say? its a peavey, I'll probably die before this amp does.

I havnt had to use it for this amp, but for the few times iv had some questions about other peavey equipment that i own they've been wonderful.

Iv been playing for 4 1/2 years. I dont own, want, or need much gear, just a dyna-comp, a boss tuner, and a boss noise supressor (which by the way i had before i bought this amp.) If it where stolen id buy a new one as soon as i could, but first id hunt down, and then completely and utterly destroy the datardly fellow who took it. I love everything about this amp and hate nothing. The only thing i wish it had was a mid-scoop, but thats such i minor detail it doesnt really matter. Peace out yall. Stay up playa.

Purchased in 2000, brand new. 6 12ax7 preamp tubes, 4 6l6 power amp tubes. 120 watts rated. 2 channels, although the added footswitch gives the feel of a 3 channel amp. On this head, I do not use a stock 5150 speaker cabinet. Instead, I use a Mesa Boogie recto cab for added natural low end boost.

My primary guitars are Gibson Les Pauls, but I also have a couple strats, and 2 Ernie Ball guitars. A steve Morse and a John Petrucci. Again, the cab is Mesa Boogie, and my effects come from a t.c. electronic G-Major. And, of course, a wah on the floor. Although it's just a 2 channel amp, I'll rate clean, crunch, and lead separately:
Clean - Not the best, but useable if you have some pretty sweet sounding pickups. It certainly will not remind you of Eric Johnson's perfect clean tone, however. But it does have a character that is both punchy and jangly at the same time. I have found a way to get a clean sound that doesn't distort. If I go to the rhythm channel, turn the crunch button off, turn the pre-gain knob all the way down, and the post-gain knob all the way up, I get a pristine clean tone. It's not very loud, but it is definitely clean. Just don't push the crunch button in this configuration.
Crunch - Reminds me personally of a Marshall. My amp prior to this one was a JCM2000DSL50. Very warm tone with a bit of a looser feel to it than the lead channel. It has enough gain to accomodate classic rock to some of the newer stuff out today.
Lead - My favorite. Gobs of gain. This channel is all 5150. It has a pretty tight feel to help with some low end riffing. Enough gain to satisfy the most hardcore death metal band. Although it does tend to hum a bit when not playing, so you have to turn your guitar's volume down.
I've seen bands from every genre of music using this amp in their rig, and not just for guitar but for violin and other instruments as well. So that's enough of a testament to its versatility.

I've used it daily for 4 years so far and have never even blown the first tube.

There's never been a need.

The 5150 II is not a "boutique" amp like a bogner or a soldano. I kinda put it in the same league as a Marshall or a Mesa Boogie. It's the 5150 series that put Peavey in this echelon in the first place. Although when the Peavey JSX (Satriani's signature amp) comes out, it'll probably be up there too. All the sounds are useable, but this amp was designed for hard rock (in my opinion), and it really excels in that capacity. Probably the best thing about this amp is that it's basically a "plug in and play" amp. Right from the start, you can find awesome musical tones out of this thing, as opposed to tooling around with it for weeks and months to find out what all it can do.
If you're on the market for a new amp, and you're stuck between a Marshall and a Mesa Boogie, check out the Peavey 5150 II, and you'll probably wind up saving yourself some major bucks.

I have already written a review on this amp but I wanted to just give a brief update here. Last week at band practice I did something that no one should ever do, I set my ice cold beer on top of my amp, then swung my guitar around and spilled the beer all over the hot tubes. The tubes popped and flashed, and the inside of my amp was soaked. Needless to say I had to replace the tubes. I replaced the tubes with Groove Tubes GT6L6S-2 and adjusted the bias. The new tubes completely changed the amp! I still have all the gain I could ever need, but now I can also get a good clean tone. I can set the pre on the clean channel to 3-4 and the post anywhere and it does not break up. The tubes make all the difference.

The amp drank a full beer and is still kicking ass!!!!!!!(after I replaced the tubes)
VERY RELIABLE!!!!

You know all this already I imagine! I have to give it low here because it just is not very versatile. When they switched to this secodn version, they should have put some more time into the clean. It is impossible to get a great clean tone via the footswitch. Plenty of power! This is my main amp for live use. We average 4-6 shows a month.

All kind sof guitars through this. Peaevy Wolf, Custom Jackson,ESP, Strats, Les Pauls, Wayne, Hamer, and more. They all pretty much get me the tone I need with this amp, nice big and fat 80's rock. It also can get into the newere low-end dropped tuning tunes very well. Tons of bottom. I Have always seeked the EVH tone and this pup has it nailed. Clean blows basically, if it would be switchable, no prob, but you can's switch from the killer grind to the sparkle clean. Use vinatge MArshall 4x12

Never let me down. In and out of hot/cold settings, no troubles.

NA

Been playing 20 years. Professionally for about 15. If you want the fat EVH 80's Meatl tone or the new low-end, grab this. If you want a versatile amp, look elsewhere. I never dreamed I would play a Peavey, but this amp shines for what I do. I have owned every amp there is. MArshall, VHT, Soldano, Boogies, Rivera, and some lesser. They all were nice, but non ever got me that "tone". When I heard one of these, I knew. Sometimes that's all it takes. I also play Blues, which this blows at. My perfect amp would be this amp with a killer Fenderish clean (use an OD pedal for blues), and leave everything else the same. Possibly have a 50/50 power switch to lower the volume. I compensate with a master on my effects, an attenuator would be better, but my rig does the trick decent. BIG FAT LIVE IN YOUR FACE ROCK & ROLL MAN! Price is at the point where you get the quality at a production price.

THE 5150II I HAVE WAS PURCHASED IN 2002. THE AMP IS ACTUALLY VERY VERSITILE. IT SHINES THE BEST WHEN PLAYING HEAVY METAL. I PLAY ALOT OF BLUES, 80'S STYLE HEAVY METAL AND SOME OF THE MORE MODERN STUFF. THE AMP HAS 3 CHANNELS WITH EFFECTS LOOP AND THE FLOOR PEDAL HAS WORKED GREAT. I USE THE AMP ALWAY'S; PRACTICE AND DOING SHOW'S WITH THE BAND. IT HAS BEEN PLAYED ALMOST EVERYDAY FOR 2-3 HRS FOR THE PAST 2 1/2 YEARS. I USE LINE6 EFFECTS. THIS AMP IS VERY BASIC, NOT A BUNCH OF FU,FU. IF YOUR A TONE FREAK,THATS WHAT THIS AMP IS ALL ABOUT.

I PLAY THE EVH WOLFGANG, PRS-( CUSTOM 24 ) & SRV STRAT. THIS AMP FOR A AWESOME RESPONCE IS DESIGNED FOR HUMBUCKING PICK-UPS. THE ONLY WAY YOU WILL GET A CLEAN TONE OUT OF THE "CLEAN" CHANNEL IS TO RUN A SINGLE COIL THROUGH IT. THE HUMBUCKING PICK-UP'S QUICKLY MAKE IT BREAK UP. KIND'A NICE FOR BLUES. AS I SAID EARLIER, I AM A TONE FREAK. I USE THIS HEAD WITH 2 MARSHALL 1960 VINTAGE STRAIGHT CAB'S AND SITTING RIGHT NEXT TO IT IS A MESA BOOGIE DUAL RECT. SOLO HEAD. THIS AMP STOMP'S ON THE BOOGIE! THIS AMP IS SO EASY TO PLAY ON. THE AMP IS A LITTLE NOISY, BUT THAT IS TO EXPECTED WITH A "HIGH GAIN" AMP. THE REVIEW'S THAT SPEAK NEGATIVE OF THE QUALITY OF TONE AND SOUND AT HIGHER VOLUMES IS TOTALLY INCORRECT. THE SMALLEST ADJUSTMENT ON THE TONE SETTING'S REALLY EFFECT THIS AMP. THIS IS THE KIND OF AMP YOU NEED TO SPEND TIME WITH TO GET THE SETTINGS DIALED IN. ONCE YOU DIAL IT IN, THIS AMP WILL MAKE THE HAIR ON THE BACK OF YOUR NECK STAND RIGHT UP!! THE CRUNCH CHANNEL IS GREAT; GAIN @7-8, BRIGHT SWITCH IN, LOW @ 7, MID @ 2-3, TREBLE @ 5. RESONENCE @ 5-7, PRESENCE @ 5-6 & CRANK IT UP! THE LEAD CHANNEL HAS CONTROLED-OUT OF CONTROAL GAIN! IN A SMALL VENUE THIS CHANNEL IS HARD TO USE AT A HIGH VOLUME. THE AMP GETS A MIND OF ITS OWN AND START SCREAMING, "I'M ALIVE, I'M ALIVE". GAIN @ 6-7, LOW @ 6-7, MID @ 2-3, TREBLE @ 5-6, RESONENCE @ 6-7, PRESENCE @ 5-6. THIS IS A GOOD STARTING POINT. THIS AMP HAS INCREDABLE GAIN, TIGHT, BUT SOUP'Y. EVERY NOTE IS HEARD. YOUR GUITAR WILL ACCTUALY COME ALIVE IN YOUR HANDS! THIS AMP IS TRULY A PROFESSIONAL GRADE PRODUCT.

NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH IT. BUT THEN I TAKE CARE OF IT. STOCK TUBES HAVE BEEN GREAT.

NEVER HAD TO CALL

I'VE BEEN PLAYING FOR 15 YRS. I'VE PLAYED THROUGH MARSHALL; TSL-1OO,GARBAGE. JTM-45, STILL HAVE. PEAVEY CLASSIC 100 HEAD,AWESOME AMP. AND MESA BOOGIE; DUAL RECTIFIER SOLO HEAD & TRI-AXIS, WAY OVER PRICED. YOU WILL NOT GET MORE BANG FOR THE BUCK! EVERY GUITAR PLAYING BUDDY I HAVE, WHEN THEY HEARD THIS AMP, THEIR JAW'S HIT THE FLOOR! 2 OF THEM WHERE BOOGIE PLAYERS. DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU WHAT AMP THEY ARE PLAYING ON NOW? THE OTHERS ARE WORKING ON THE WIVE'S AND CASH. THIS IS STATE OF THE ART AMPLFICATION. YOUR GOING TO START SEEING MORE OF THIS AMP ON STAGE WITH GREAT BAND'S IN THE FUTURE. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE THE 5150 CAB'S FOR THIS AMP TO SOUND GREAT. I HAVE FRIENDS THAT ARE PLAYING IT THROUGH BOOGIE CAB'S & MYSELF AND OTHERS ARE USING MARSHALL CABS. THE KEY IS CLESTION VINTAGE 30 SPEAKERS! THERE IS NOTHING I HATE ABOUT THIS AMP. TAKE YOUR TIME WITH THIS AMP. THIS IS NOT THE KIND OF AMP YOU JUST PLUG IN AND EXPECT INSTANT PERFECTION. YOU HAVE TO BE TONE SENSITIVE AND ONCE YOU FIGURE THAT OUT, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO STOP PLAYING ON THIS AMP. BEST PURCHASE IN GUITAR AMPLIFICATION I HAVE EVER MADE.

same shit as every other review. basically theres 2 reasons i bought this....im downgrading PRICE wise (not tone wise) from a mesa boogie triaxis preamp rack setup and all that crap. because with the 5150II its simple. clean and lead. (with the crunch option on clean)2 channels.. with my mesa i only used 1 setting anyway so it was a waste of money. and by the way this amp fucking blows the mesa/boogie right out of the water.....no comparison. for what i need, i give the thing a 10 in features.....i mean how much can u want 1 amp to do?

Well to start off i'm using an ESP EC1000 with emg 81's in it. My style is mostly metal. i love eveything from killswitch to at the gates, arch enemy, (old metallica is my roots), in flames, soilwork etc. THIS AMP IS PERFECT. i love this thing.....i finally found the sound i was looking for. seriously....i have a marshall jcm2000 tsl100 and it cannot compare....volume wise i have the peavey at barely 4 and the marshall at 6 and the peavey destroys the marshall....im amazed. sound wise the peavey is so much fuller and suits my style alot better. I have the gain at 10 on the peavey. the mesa vs. the peavey. it can compete volume wise (i use a 2:90 power amp for the mesa) but sound and tone...it just cant touch it. the peavey is such a full, deep, rich tone. i love it theres nothin to complain about....as far as the clean channel....obviously dont crank up the pregain and it wont break u as easily... i have mine at about 3 and its a really nice crystal clear clean sound.
Noise wise...yea this thing is a litle noisy but what amps arent when the gain is at 10 and the volume is cranked...i use a boss noise reduction pedal and it works perfect. so i dont really give 2 shits about that "cross over" distortion. and is the distortion brutal???? hah....i cant think of a better word to describe it. it is insane. that all i can say i love this amp...obviously a 10

just got it 2 days ago, built like a tank, i trust it

havent delt with them yet

over all this amp rules...i'd definatly suggest it for it for its brutal distortion and for heavey music purposes. if it broke and i had a choice of any other amp......i'd take this over any mesa/marshall/line6/soldano/randall/etc whatever else there is.. i want to have sex with my amp

Made in 2003, this amp is made for metal. Tube amp 120 watts ect...

This is what I have to work with, Fender American fat strat texas special, Jackson RR3 with EMG's, Jackson Professional with a dimebucker in the bridge, and a Gibson Les Paul standard. I purchased this amp for metal. I already have a Fender Hot rod Deville 2x12 combo and thats what I use for my clean tones. This amp is not for anything else but metal. This beauty has the best tone for gain that I have heard in a long time. It is a bit noisy with the emg pickups, but otherwise fairly quiet. Other reviews state that they can get a clean tone, I cannot get a clean tone. "Clean" channel breaks up very easily. I do not care at all about the clean tone though because I bought this amp for metal. Mess around with the eq and you can get some good "classic rock" tones. Keep in mind, this amp was made for metal. Also i should mention that I am using a marshall 1960a 4x12 cabinet.

I've only had for a week so I cannot say.

I have owned several Peavey products in the past, Good people.

I have been playing for around 10 years and I have owned several amps.I would put this up against a Marshall or a Mesa any day. The best thing that I like is this amp is very articulate, you can hear every note. This is not a muddy amp, if you want to play crappy numetal and muddy everything up go waste your money on a mesa. If you want to actually hear the notes your playing this is your amp. If you remember that this is not a clean amp and that tube amps sound best at high volumes then this is the amp for you.

You've Heard it All already But Again it has 2 channels, and a switchable Crunch (3 Pedal foot switch)I think it's great, and with this amp you wouldn't need rever, but if that's a problem looks like you're going to have to buy a reverb pedal, don't let the lack of reverb drive you away from this amp.

The Distortion is like said 'All the distortion you could ever want and then some", But for this sounds section, Think Children of Bodom, In Flames, Arch Enemy, Kalmah, Soilwork,The Haunted. ETC
Alright the Peavey 5150 II, This I know is a must have of the Melodic Death Metal Guitarist, Like every band I named right now, It works, Uhh It is I don't Know It is It's own, BUT if you wanted it to, How I explain it, It has the tone of a Marshall, the Freedom of a Mesa/Boogie, and the Harmony and wholeness neither has, (In CHildren of Bodom Alexi Laiho (Lead/Vocals) uses the Peavey and Alexander (Rythym) uses the Marshall, Listen to their older stuff Hatebreeder Era. That's if you want to hear a kind of Comparison, and About the Noise, one thing comes to mine HUSH, that's all I have to say

Peavey is Built like an Ox

Never needed to

This amp is just plain awesome, It kills anything else Forget everyone saying Sheer and Brutal, that's not all, It's the Best lead Guitarist amp Ever, People have disowned other Lead heads, with Lead or Solo in the name for this sexy baby, Cough * Marshall, Mesa/Boogie, Soldano* This is What your looking for Melodic Death Metal, anything with Extremely articulate awesome sounding solo's or lead tones, oh about the Extra preamp tube THAT EXTRA ONE IS FOR THE CLEAN CHANNEL, atleast that's what the website says, and The 5150 and 5150 II, Listen I don't Know, People Like the Original but the point of Upgrading something, Is to make it better, and that's how I feel about the 5150 II, Better They sound the freakin same to me, I think this is those Die hard Peavey 5150 Lovers that notice something different and go all out on something, but anyways Even if it didnt sound pretty much the same to me, a Sequal to a movie is never the same, the Goal IS to make it different, or Better, Like Renditions of Movies, Which I beleive the 5150 II is a recreation rather than a Sequal, It's built upon the 5150 ,But again you may dig what ever you want, I dig the 5150 II, and I don't think it deserves to be yelled at by you 5150 Lovers, again there is almost no difference between the amps i don't know why people yell

amp features------
2003 built
6 12AX7 preamp tubes
4 6l6GC poweramp tubes
Cabinet impendance selector switch (16,8,4 OHMS)
Two channel switching between lead and rhythym; crunch channel engagable on both channels
With the right EQ ran, it could cover tones from early 80's hair metal, to Deathy McDeathmetal

I'm currently using this with a BC Rich Warlock loaded with emg81's, and a Schecter omen 6 with stock duncan designed pickups. The schecter sounds perfectly fine, creating a decent balance of distortion and chunk with the amp settings just right, but the Warlock's EMG's kind of drive this amp's preamp stages too much, something you might not want. The 5150II has all the gain you'd need and then some. The lead channel eats babies and shits out pure death metal tone, providing you can get a noise gate to silence the hiss.

It came from Peavey with some of the tubes halfway installed, so before i even turned it on, i had to take the back grille apart to push the power amp tubes in. I havent dropped it, kicked it, or submerged it fully in water yet, so im not too sure how the Peavey will handle that. Sofar so good.

never dealt with them. you do get a 3 year warranty with this shit though, so im a-ok with that.

With no mods or anything, the amp sounds decent. i might be interested in having it modded by JerryP. Either that or i might just trade it+ some cash for an ENGL Powerball (hint hint)

Peavey 5150 II 120 watt tube head. This is the mark II version of the 5150 high gain line of tube amps from Peavey.

First off let me state that I am positivly biased toward this amp. So up front this review is going to be generally positive.
Features are as follows:

*120 watt all tube 2 channel high gain amplifier head.
*6-12AX7 pre-amp tubes, 4-6L6GC power amp tubes.
*Channel one(rhythm) controls include pre gain, 3 band EQ, post gain(master), bright switch and crunch switch.
*Channel two(lead) controls include pre gain, 3-band EQ, and post gain(master).
*Individual resonance and presence for each channel.
*includes 3 button footswitch for effects loop(serial), crunch option(ch. 1), and channel select.
*Back panel includes 4,8,or 16 ohm select, ground lift, bias test terminals, pre-amp out and speaker outs.

In my opinion this amp is an improvement over the origional 5150, having seperate EQ`s for each of the channels. Having said that I`ll also add that I don`t think it is a better sounding amp. Just more feature packed. The first 5150 does sound slightly different than the 5150 II. Not better or worse, just different. Try them both to see which you prefer.

* Also note that this amp DOES NOT have built in reverb. If this is important to you then take it into consideration before purchasing. Although in my opinion the amp doesn`t need reverb. It sounds very full without it.
I give the amp an 8 for features.It`s not knee deep in options like a Boogie Road King, but is more feature packed than the origional 5150.

I bought this amp to replace a Marshall Valvestate head(VS100RH),I had been playing through for years.The Marshall is a great head, but I found that it suited a beginner to intermediate player and I had outgrown it.When it`s time to move up to a tube amp you just know it.

At the time of this review I`ve got the 5150 II running through my two valvestate 4x12 cabs. Suprisingly it sounds pretty good. Running two cabs makes up for the small valvestate cab size.Plus the amp head is the exact same width as the smaller valvestate cabs, so cosmetically it works also.My fiance will be buying me a matching 5150 straight 4x12 cab for Christmas so the Marshall stack will be going bye-bye as a trade in. Two 4x12 cabs are just too much in my current situation(no band,playing for enjoyment).Also I believe the matching 5150 cab will give me better bass responce.

I`m playing a couple of ESP/LTD deluxe series guitars through the amp. An EC-1000 and a Viper 1000, both with the dual EMG 81 pickups.I also use an Ibanez RG421 w/ V7&V8 humbuckers and a Carvin custom bolt with hum/s/s set up. All sound different but awesome with the 5150 II. I plan on putting EMG`s in the Ibanez and Carvin as soon as I can. They just sound so good through this amp.You get a wider more controllable frequency responce out of the EMG`s.They make everything sound bigger and brighter with no muddy confusion.

I`m playing a range of origional metal through the 5150 II. Think 80`s thrash crossed with today`s Nu-metal. Not quite either one but the bastard child of the two combined. Fast syncopated rhythms with grind and flash. This amp suites my playing style to a T. And believe it or not, even makes me sound better than I am. Damn well worth the price of admission.

This amp is awesome. For the first time I don`t have to worry with a distortion pedal. There is more than enough gain available in this head. The lead channel has a quick in your face type of responce. Single note lines are defined and seem to leap out. The distortion is very bell like. Think a palm muted CHANG instead of CHUG. That`s the best way I can describe it. Like all high gain heads there is some background hiss at high pre-amp levals. A noise gate in the effects loop will fix that problem. Also if you aren`t familliar with playing through a high gain tube amp, plan on working on your muting techniques to keep down the feedback. I know I had to. It`s a whole different beast than a solid state amp. And beast is what it is. A big, sweaty, brutal beast.

The rhythm channel is just what it says. Rhythm. Not clean. Especially with the stock pre-amp tubes and limited stock bias adjust. It`s not bad sounding, but don`t expect to get super loud, clean tones out of it.Don`t worry though. Drop a quality set of tubes in her and get the bias mod done by a qualified amp tech. and she`ll come around with a more usable clean.In stock form the amp`s rhythm channel is more suited to a slightly breaking, almost clean sound. This works out well because just about anything sounds clean compared to the lead channels brutal distortion. Plus you get the added features of the bright switch and crunch switch in this channel. The bright switch is self explanitory. The crunch option is just a gain boost. It will put you into modded Marshall territory just with a different voice. I havn`t changed tubes or had the bias mod done yet to my amp so I use the Rhythm channel for the slightly gritty clean and it sounds pretty good.

As far as how brutal the distortion sounds, well you just have to try one out and see for yourself. I think it has the most usable high gain range out there in this price range. That includes the Boogie Dual Rect.,most Randall amps and Marshall DSL $ TSL. None of these amps can compete with the 5150 II for sheer brutal distortion.

I love this amp.

I would like to say that I would never gig without a back up.But I would be lying because it`s all I can do to afford the one amp.Since I`m not gigging right now it doesn`t matter anyway.I`ve not had any trouble out of the amp or footswitch since I bought it. I`m no amp tech, but it seems pretty damn solid.Peavey has a great reputation for dependable gear.

Since I`ve not had any trouble out of the amp, I havn`t had to deal with Peavey`s customer support.From what I hear they are awesome to deal with and are customer oriented.They have a pretty nice and informative web site.It seems to be updated on a week to week basis.

I`ve been playing for around 20 yrs. all the time through solid state amps.I never knew what I was missing. This amp makes every other piece of equipment I own sound better. All my guitars and effects sound huge with this amp.I`m using the above mentioned guitars with a Dunlop Dimebag Custom wah into the front of the amp.I`m running Digitech X-series digital pedals(flange,chorus,delay)through the effects loop.All tied together with Monster cable 500 series rock cables.If you think your amp sounds better then you better think again.Unless you`re running a modded 5150 II you don`t stand a chance.

If my amp where stolen I would definatly replace it with another just like it.As soon as I hunted down the spineless dog fucker who stole it.

I love everything about it.Other than changing out the tubes to a higher quality(JJ?)and getting the bias mod I wouldn`t change a thing.

I compared this amp to a Boogie Dual rectifier before making my choice.I prefered the open, bell like gain on the Peavey.Besides everybody and their mother have a Rectifier now.Doesn`t anyone want to be different?

If you want a distinctive high gain sound, but are turned off by the dark sound of the Boogie Rectifiers. Do yourself a favor and try out the Peavey 5150 II. Some day with the aid of my 5150 II, I will rule the world.

Between the two channels of duplicate controls and a footswitch that allows you to engage the "clean" channel without touching any knobs on the amp, this amp is technically very versatile in operation.

Additionally, unlike the original 5150 head, the 5150 II comes with a bias ajustement already installed in the head. Sadly, the available sweep in the bias pot is pretty narrow, and subsequently the only way to get the power tubes out of crossover distortion is to lower the resistance to the circuit. It's an easy mod, but you would think that if Peavey was going to go through the trouble to install a bias adjustment circuit in this amp, that they'd get it right?!

Off the shelf, the 5150 II sounds very "thick" -- that is, creamy distortion (and lots of it) with lots of low end. However, for my ears, the low end response was too "loose" in sound. I preferred the tighter bass response from my original 5150 heads.

By performing a simple circuit modification to the bias adjustment pot in the output section, I was able to re-bias the amp up to the 40mA range (and thus getting the power section out of crossover distortion). Additionally, changing out the standard power tubes with #40 grade 6l6CG from JJ Electronics really helped give me the tighter bass response I was looking for while cleaning up the top-end of the amplifier's range.

I'm going to give this amp a 6 rating because, in my opinion, Peavey should not have messed with the original gain circuit they used in the original 5150 head. They tout that it's the SAME CIRCUIT, but fact is IT IS NOT!! Heck, the new circuit even features an additional preamp tube! So, while more gain is available, who really needed it? For my ears, a lot of clarity of tone was lost in messing with the original circuit. I much prefer the sound of the original 5150 head. Your mileage may vary here.

I give the amp a 5 rating because after only a couple of months, the 3-button footswitch stopped working correctly -- it was all messed up logic-wise, esp. trying to engage the crunch channel. I've been using the footswitch on the regular 5150 head for 12 years straight without any problems, and the 5150 II footswitch goes south after only 8 weeks time and very little actual use??

Never contacted Peavey for this product, so I cannot offer an opinion.

I traded in an old Marshall JCM 800 head towards the purchase of this amp, so my "new" price was only 450 - but I remember the going rate at the store was $985 new. Kind of pricy for this head, if you ask me.

When I bought the 5150 II, it was with the hopes I would find the great sound of the original amp in two separate channels. WAS NOT THERE! What I did find was an amp with two NEW (but duplicate) sounding channels. More features, but not as great of an overall tone from the original. I fooled with tweeking this amp's sounds for 2 months before I traded it in on a Soldano. I just could never find a sound I was happy with -- which I cannot say about the original 5150!! If I had to make a recommendation to a new 5150 customer, it would definitely be to buy the original. However, it depends on taste -- if you're a rock guitarist looking for that hot-rodded Marshall sound, buy the original. If you're a guitarist looking for a heavier sound (ala Dual Rectifier) with more gain and low end, then the 5150 II is for you. Personally, I prefer the former.

Yet another update from a previous updated review...

Recently, I rejoined a band I was formerly in called Panda Drive, and I finally got to crank my amp... and you're thinking, "So?"

Well, previously, I was never happy with the amp cranked from 2-4. It lost all definition, and those mids were just HONKIN, but not in a good way. I then decided to retube my amp with all JJs, and GOOD GOD DAMN!!!!

Oh yeah, features....

"B" is for the blood that seeps from your ears...
"R" is for the roar that any "nu"-schooler fears...
"U" is who this amp is coming for...
"T" is for the thrashin' that this amp was made for...
"A" is for the asses who find Rectifiers "so nifty"...
"L" is for my love for the 5150...

In other words, this amp sounds bitchirific.

The amp gave me a few problems, but was fixed by the company. I was two months without an amp, wasn't too fun.

They were alright. They sent the amp back "fixed" supposedly, but it was still broke, so they had UPS come back and pick it up. They got it that time. They also put some some SHITTY tubes in when they sent it back, but I had my JJs. :)

Now with the JJs, this amp is a monster. It stays tight at HIGH volumes, and the overall sound is much cleaner ant tighter. Its fun messin with the EQ... I can get Cannibal Corpses "Gore Obsessed" tone just by EQing "nu"bie style (Pre-10 Low-10 Mid-0 High-10).
If you can find this amp for $500-$600 dollars, GRAB it! Put some JJs in there, and feel the metallic silver brutality speeding rapidly through your fingers.

Well The Peavey 5150 II has Lead, and Rythm/Clean channel. The Lead channel is really the only channel worth playing into, the clean is lacking that cristle clear sound.

I love the Lead channel on this amp, it is brutal, crank it to 3, and it does the rest. This amps smokes. However I was not impressed by the Rythm Channel, It was lacking that tube distortion tone, like the lead. The clean channel, I like it, but it's just lacking the tone I want from a tube amp, I think it could be much improved.

Never have had a problem with Peavey

Very Very trusting support. Anything Peavey will give you this.

First things first, Forget Marshall, FORGET Mesa boogie, for get fender, Peavey is the best, for less. When you have this tuned Machine and the incredible Peavey Triple XXX, my o my.
Well Overall it is a great amp, The only thing it needs to improve on is the Rythm and clean channel, and fix those up a bit, and man, this will kill all who surround it, I'm not kidding, but until next time I have to give it a 9.

...see reviews below. It came with Sovtek power tubes, and didn't open it up yet to see the preamp tubes.

...long story short, it is a simple amp and is way easy to use. I consider that a feature as my (ex) Triaxis was more trouble than it was worth ...clean, rhythm, crunch, and effects on/off. What more do you need? I don't mind manually adjusting the controls if I want to change it up a bit.

...the effects loop doesn't have a level/mix control, but in my case that's ok as I can control that from the G-Major.

FYI I rate this section a 9 as no amp is perfect.

...the only reason I give this section a 9 is the tubes could be (will be) swapped out for some just a tab more focused. But not to worry, the amp still smokes!! I'm picky/neurotic that's all.

I like/play blues, hard rock, traditional/classic heavy metal, and more "melodic" thrash. Old stuff, new stuff.

...this is a versatile hi gain amp. Out of the box, using just the suggested settings the amp sounds incredible!! Start there.

The amp breaths, responds really well (especially when pushed), can be *loud* (doesn't lose clarity or feel, unless you make a bad with the tone controls), has great character, and does not sound cliched. All I can say is WOW!! I'm *really* liking it.

FYI I also don't like clean Clean.

Factor in that I've tried and owned (and suffered through) my share of good amps (Boogie 50W heads, Triaxis, Marshall (50W Silver Julilee, 100W JMP, JMP-1 rackmount, 100W Monoblock), (old) Hiwatt, Ampeg, GK, Hartke, Fender Twin, Peavey 5150, ...so I'm not just rattling off here because I got a new amp.

...don't know yet, but my Classic 50 (4x10) combo never has problems, I take care of my gear to begin with.

n/a

...have been playing (on & off, mostly on) since I was 6 or 7, am 36, have great ears, and love music. I am not SRV, EVH, YM, ...but I'm no slouch either (hehe).

FYI I use a 2000 Fender American Deluxe, '85 Kramer Baretta, and a '67 Yamaha hollowbody. The cab is a Mesa Traditional 4x12 slant. **BTW the guy below who said "...the only cab that does this amp justice is the 5150..." is *wrong* :)

...as far as comparing to other products, it doesn't. This amp is well worth the money. Period. I'm a happy man.

2002, All tube head still with stock Sovtek 6L6s and EH 12ax7s. Rhythm and Lead channels with crunch option on the Rhythm channel.

This review is an update from my last one, since I've had a little more time to evaluate the sound.

Well, this amp is brutal. Thats a term used a lot to describe this amp, and I hate to use cliches, but thats the only word I know of to describe this amp. I play metal, hardcore, swamp metal, anything tuned down low (no Nu-metal here, folks), and this amp has that perfect "growl" that I've been looking for. Right out of the box, it will have that signature sound thats only found on a 5150. I bought a Danelectro Fish n Chips 7-band EQ to put in the loop for some experimenting, and WHOA!!! What a difference that little fucker made. If this amp has too much sizzle for you, throw that $30 pedal in your effects loop and turn the slider farthest to the right (thats your highs) DOWN! This will get rid of this sizzle, darkening up your tone a lot. I did this for a long time, boosting the upper mids to counteract the lower mids thats in the amps voice, and the sound is like having a crowbar bashed into your head...

But, after a while, I missed the "over the top" sound and feel of the amp's drive without the EQ, so now I rarely use the EQ unless I plan on playing in a band situation (which currently I'm not) because those upper mids CUT!! I love the feel of the amps distortion. Its very round, the notes bloom as you pick them. This amp is the SHIT for alternate picking, the notes come at you faster than you can pick them! HA!! The EQ sorta takes that feeling away, and the sound is kinda... stiff... but still way more responsive than other amps I've played.

Clean is still.... eh... THERE IS NO CLEAN TO BE FOUND!!!!
But why the hell did you buy this head for clean anyway?
Look at the front pannel....
Does it say.... clean and lead? No... it says Rhythm and Lead. The Rhythm channel is made for lower gain, but sure as hell not clean! I'd rather have a dirty chunk than a clean anyway.

Built very tough. Never had to have it serviced. Since I'm broke, I'd probably have to gig without a backup. But I wouldn't worry.

Never dealt with them.

Been playing for 5 years. I use this head through a Peavey MS4x12. I own an Esp LTD MV-200 with an EMG 85 in the bridge, a Washburn
BT-8 with a Dimarzio X2N, and a Samick Les Paul copy with a Duncan Distortion. All sound pretty bitchariffic through the amp. All in all, if you want a brutal-assed distortion with some dirt-assed overdive sounds, pick you up a 5150. If you want clean, why are reading this? Ha ha. Keep metal alive people, but don't turn the gain to 10. Have some restraint. :)

hey, i want to say is that fuck the rev if you pussies needed it, to hell with the crush channel, clean is ok if you don't have the pre-gain to loud, but fuck it cause i don't use it. it's all about the lead channel for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Crush and Clean BLAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lead Channel in the words of my best friend Stone Cold Steve Austin "OH HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The the lead channel is all what i use for the mother fucker monster and still i don't give a fuck about STOCKTON CA POLICE DEPARMENT CAUSE THEY ARE ALWAY SHOWING UP AT MY DOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(it isn't the weed my axe grinding friends and peavy 5150II fans) It's because of my amp cause i have the Pre-Gain at 10, Bass 10, Mid 4, Treb 10,Post-Gain 4 to 5, Resonance 10, and Presence 10. Oh well fuck those mother fuckers who are bitching at me!!!! it's no worse then hearing that fucking rap, pussy ass pop culture, and r&b music being blasted from a car and going down my street at night!!!!!!!!!!!! Hell, i'm playing during the for day for like 30mins to an hour at the most with my band in my BED ROOM cause the garage gets very hot in summer and cold during winter, but we play from anywhere from 1pm till 5pm during the day. Plus i use 3 B.C. Rich Customes and i set fire to my washburn cause it needed it. my guitars are 7-string and i tune them down to G and use EMG actived pickups. GHS STRINGS ARE THE FUCK SHIT MOTHER FUCKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLAYING BRUTAL BLACK, THRASH, AND DEATH METAL at 12/8 per messures, and at 250 to 270BPM!!!!!!!!!!!! Dunlop 500 2.0mm picks that hare a cute turtle on them.....?! I use to used a Mesa/Boogie Duel Rectifier, but it use to get very muddy, the gain wasn't heavy enough for me, and plus too many fag punk rock, nu-metal, rap-metal, and other pathetic and talentless bands are using them and i hope they all have their mesa's shove up their fucking assholes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

no problems with it yet cause i haven't let nothing happen to it yet.

i had it for year now and it has never let me down like the women i have been with. i would buy another one or fucking steal another one if i have to replace it.

You know the features from other reviews. I give it a nine because it would be good with a solo boost button and perhaps a reverb for all you srping heads.

I use this with a gibson explorer, and les paul models. with emg 81's and 5150 strate 4x12 cabs. This amp is excellent i have them all. Triaxis, triple rect vhts and so on. This amp has tight bottom end with high end the cuts threw the mix. The clean channel is not the best but its good enough. the effects loop is useful. I get a great metallica ish tone with this amp. Has great gain, can go from inflames to jazzy type of dist. ANd all in between. THIs IS NOT MESA BOOGIE SO IF YOU WANT MESA MUSH AND FLOPPY SOUNDED BOTTOM END GO GET A BOOGIE AND SPEND TO MUCH MONEY. this amp is great for the money HANDS DOWN,

ITs Not the best, After i dropped mine off the top of 3 speaker cabs stacked into a pool/ (we where playing at a pool party) It only worked for 3 shows after that then i had to change the tubes :-)

NEVER CALLED THEM

Great amp peaveyt 5150 II all the way If your a metal guy you will love this tone and will be able t o build off of it,

This amp was made in 2002. Two channels with effects loop and bias test terminals,which is a great way to check the voltage of the power tubes using a multimeter.This is a straight ahead rock and metal amp,if you want reverb or crystal clear clean sounds buy a fender.

My guitar is a Carvin Bolt model with a Seymour Duncan JB humbucker in the bridge and two Carvin single coils in the middle and neck.I have been in a rock and metal cover band for the last 4 years,this amp covers all the bases. The crunch channel is perfect for anything from AC/DC to any 80's hair band rythms,lots of clarity and definition.You can also roll back your volume knob on your guitar and get some great semi clean tones.The lead channel is absolutely killer!No need for a distortion pedal here,just tons of gain with clarity and great attack.This amp has a great feel to it when you attack the strings,it has a very fast response.This channel would cover any 80's shredder stuff or any of this nu-metal crap that is out there.For all you gain heads out there,this is an amp you need to check out.

I have only owned this amp about 3 months,I have gigged on it about 6 times and I play on it nearly every day and I have not had a problem. I don't have a backup when I gig,just some spare tubes. It looks like it is built like a tank,I'm expecting no problems,but I haven't had it that long yet so I'm not going to rate for reliability.

I called Peavey to ask them a question about the bias terminals on the back of the amp,I had someone on the phone right away and they were very helpful,thats more than I can say for some other companies I've tried to contact.

I've been playing over 20 years,I've recently sold my Marshall JCM2000 dual super lead.This amp just flat out beats it for rock and metal.If your looking for a high gain amp check out Marshall,Boogie,and any other brand,then check out the peavey,I don't think you will need any convincing that the peavey sounds better.Make sure you play it through a 5150 cabinet, no other cab will do it justice.I own a Marshall vintage 30 cab and a 1960A cab and neither sound as warm and articulate as the 5150 cab.The only thing I didn't like about the amp was that it came with Sovtek 6L6 power tubes which I think are junk.I replaced them with Svetlana 6L6 tubes and the amp sounds even better.The preamp tubes are Electro Harmonix which I think sound good, no reason to change these.Overall I would say that this is a great amp for any type of rock or metal and you can't beat the price,plus it's made right here in the states.If it were lost or stolen I would definitley buy me another one,nothing else in this price range even comes close,and I've tried marshall,boogie,carvin and some others.Go check out this amp with a 5150 cabinet and be done with buying amps.

This amp was built around 2000, it was a floor model in the store for some time Im sure.
This amp is very versatile for what I play because Im a shredder, it covers Satch, Vai, or anything that warrants a crisp tube sound But it also covers Metallica, Ozzy, and even some nu-metal stuff, but paying the extra money for a tube amp is a waste if you're one of these three chord detuned baritone guitar players.
It has two main channels but there is an extra tube in the rythem channel that coincides with a cruch switch so its like a 3 channel amp but since its in the rythem channel only it might scare some metal heads away. There is also a standard effects loop wich is fine if you have pedals or a processor with a volume control wich most do. the only other I/o's are the main input, the speaker outs (stereo) and a preamp out, which isnt really good for much Ive found. I have my own studio and I can really say as much as I love the amp that it needs a line level out. The preamp out is simply not enough to record with even in the digital world, and slaving to a power amp would change the whole sound of the amp. I have gigged with this amp and it is hands down the best on the market for a shredder. I used it through a crate cab and a marshall 1960a both were good but to capture the true nature of the beast the 5150 cab is the best ive heard.
It has plenty of power for what I need, 120 wts RMS. At 16ohms

I currently use an Ernie Ball Music Man Axis with custom Dimarzio Humbuckers in the neck and bridge. (Used to be the EVH signature series wich they dont make anymore.) This amp fits my style wonderfully, although I am an eddie fan I would buy this amp even if I wasn't. People I dont care what youve heard about peavey this is a high end amp, I would put this up against any Mesa or Marshall for sure. It is kinda noisy on the high gain settings and in the effects loop if you use a lot of chorus when the guitar volume is rolled all the way off, but at full volume you only hear those howling 12a by 7 tubes. On 5 or 6 is when this monster roars, but it is so easily adaptable to a practice enviroment, Ive actually turned the post gain all the way down and played and its still pretty loud. The clean channel is clean but not crystal clear, but this is not an acoustic amp! It was designed to do one thing ...ROCK!!! Last but not least the distortion is insane! Throw away your overdrive pedals, they just cloud it up. Since it doesnt have a master volume (much like a Plexi) you have to make use of the pregain settings but 6 or 7 and its crunchy like a gravel road.

So far its been great. No complaints here, But I also dont tour on the road much either, but Im willing to bet that it would hold up to years of road abuse. Its very rugged,built like a tank. Not very flashy, more military looking. Its built very close to a Soldano or a Laney vs. a Marshall. Never changed the tubes either but if i did Id go back with the factory Peavey tubes. I sold my back up.

Never had to use them. But usually Peavey products are sold in small stores, mom and pop type places. And the place where I bought this one is great with customers. The warranty is five years if you send the paper work back in time! But ive never had to use the service. Give it a 5 to be fair.

Ive been playing for 12 years now, I ve owned crate combos, crate stacks, peavey combos, and Ive played and thought about buying almost every high end amp out there. Also have a SRV signature strat and several acoustics. I use the Behringer Vamp as an effect unit but I never use the amp sims or the gains. I love the fact that this amp inspires me to play and practice more and I fall in love with the sound everyday. I hate the fact that people seem to Diss Peavey which includes this wonderful piece of gear. Trust me I guarantee that it will stomp any Marshall's Butt or Mesa for that matter. I definatley buy it again if I lost it.

I would say that this amp has definetly impressed me. I come from a long line of hardcore/indie rock/emo/hard rock type bands and have used different amps in every one. This amp has three channels and really works for my style of music, not that great low end but I make up for it with EQ. (I got it used so I dont know the date) this amp came out of no-where for me because I never considered Peavey amplification

I use a Gibson Les Paul studio with EMG's 81-85 as my main guitar for touring and recording. But I have run a schecter through it and an Esp. Again the amp works for my style of music. But it does get kinda noisy at high volumes and tends to need an extra EQ. Although many people don't like the clean channel on this amp I think it sounds really good. It cuts through in a live sound situation and is bright and yet warm. All in all not a very versitile amp but it is still good

I haven't had it for long but the footswitch has already taken a crap on me. Luckily a friend of mine works at a guitar store and I got another one the same day for like 40 bucks

never deal with customer support people...they DONT CARE ABOUT YOU!!!!

I would give this amp an 8 overall. because it sounds good for the money and holds up to the road

go over the other reviews or check the peavey site!

but reverb? whats with people wanting reverb on this amp? are you some sort of faries or something? reverb is horrible! expecially for an amp like this! this is made for raw heavy music!

anyways... i gave 8 to the features.. i don't need a lot in an amp but i'd like it more if it had 3 separate channels.. but its not far from it because of the crunch option on the clean channel

this is a rock amp... rock, metal... whatever.
it's great for that sort of thing.
TONS OF GAIN. i like putting the gain all the way up when i practice quietly, and i get all the gain i need. most amps don't have enough gain when you play them on low volumes but this one does.
when i practice with the band or play live i turn down the gain to about 6-7 because you get tons of natural distortion on those high volumes. also, when i have the distortion only on 6-7 in doesn't really feed back when i stop playing. oh and i don't think i have ever played with the volume past 4.5? it's pretty loud.

the clean is much better then the first 5150... the separate EQ's are great.

I just got mine. however I have been using my friends 5150 II for a long time now and haven't had problems except for his footswitch is now messing up. but we have dragged it to a lot of shows so it got beaten up... we probably broke it

And I never had backup heads at shows. always used this and never died at any shows.

haven't dealt with them...

I have been playing about 7 years now and so far this is the only amp I have played that has a good sound for heavy music... I always had to rely on distortion pedals which usually dont' sound good at all when you crank up the amp.

If you play heavy music, the I recommend this amp. Just remember you don't need to turn the gain up to 10 (like on other amps) when you're playing loud.

I was looking at a mesa boogie but it was a bit too pricey for me and then it was either this or the Marshal JCM2000 TSL100. the marshal didn't have enough low end and the distortion was sort of weak. palm mutes didn't sound powerfull on it at all. the 5150 II had more BALLS.

the peavy 5150 II is one of the best made and sounding tube amps with a great clean tone, crush distortion, and heavy lead channels that are great if you know what your doing. oh yea to hell with the canandian whinner. it's a good thing that you have a effects loop that works and i don't care if itdoesn't have reverb

it's great with low and high volumes. just dont' crank it above 3 or the cops with show up. i'm a death metal musician and i feel the amp is right for the job.at least i don't have to use any sustainer systems with this amp

i am using the damn thing right now in my band to do my job and it kicks ass!!!!

I will get anyone if it gets stolen or breaks on me. i handd 2 guitars a washburn with emg's it and 3 B.C. custom 7-strings with emg's in them as well.

not too many, not too little... check the peavey web site for features...

I played it through a Godin LG, Les Paul, Ibanez RG and some epiphones.... and I played everything on it from soft rock to hard rock to hardcore to death metal...

this amp sounds fine when I'm sitting in my room practicing at low levels. nice thick and heavy distortion, sooo powerfull. the cleans not too bad... when I crank it up at band practice or shows its really a pile of crap. horrible muddy sound. I turn the distortion way down when i have it up loud but it still sounds very muddy. if anyone buys it, look into getting some sort of EQ's or something to hook up to it because the sound is really a big piece of garbage when you turn it up...

the footswitch started going crazy after a year of use, and its like $100 or something for a new one.

for quite some time the amp volume would just die when I played it at high volumes, but it magically fixed it self.

nver dealt with the company.... so I don't know

if it was stolen or lost it would suck because thats losing something thats worth a fair amount of money. I'd definately would replace it with ANOTHER amp. If I only planned to play in my room at like volume 1 or 2 I'd love this amp... but I like playing shows.

look around, try other amps out...
if you're trying this one out before buying ask if you can turn it up to even like 4. you'll probably turn it off and look at other amps unless you love the sound for some strange reason??

this amp does everything i want it to do - just a straight up rock amp - 3 channels in essence, rhythm(clean), crunch and lead. Resonance is a great feature on it, as well as presence, but no where near as effective as resonance. read below for what i really have to say!

ok, heres the story - so i started off by buying a marshall tsl 100w head and marshall cab, after a few weeks, i realised that this wasnt for me, it had a big lack in bottom end and sounded like a 70's radio running out of batteries most of the time - very tinny, even with bass on full! so i decided i need a new amp, and put that on sale, my budget was #2000, i tried the 5150 (1st one) and hated it, thought it was very fuzzy. and after many amps, i got down to either a mesa boogie single rectofier with marshall 1960 a cab, or a peavey 5150 mark II head with peavey 5150 cab!
after hours of trying them in the shop, i realised that the mesa had a much better clean channel, and also a very nice overdrive - but the marshall cab didnt do it justice and that was where my budget stopped! the peavey 5150 mark II doesnt have a great clean channel, there always seems to be a slight crunch there, but i dont use much clean, so its all good, but you can keep the crunch to a minimum by turning down the gain and putting up the volume, sounds ok to me! then i tried the overdrive!!!!! bloody hell, i nearly creamed myself! as if the mesa wasnt good enough already! this took it to another limit! when the mesa was on 10 gain, this matched it at about 5 or 6! it has massive head room! the 5150 cab matches perfectly! i dont think u could buy a nicer sounding cab to go with it! the resonance control on the amp is amazing - you can tell your bass how to respond, i have mine on around 9, so when i palm mute, the room shakes! plaster basically comes off the walls!
All in all, this amp has the perfect overdrive for rock or anything harder, from punk to metal to hardcore
not recommended for a ska band as the clean isnt great, but its still there and has great bite to it if you want it to!
i was searching for my ultimate overdrive - and i have found it in my 5150 mark II head equipped with 5150 cab

no problems so far, but always have back up, you never know, i carry around a spare marshall avt 100w just in case. i doubt anything will happen though unless i blow a tube coz its built like a brick!

not had to deal with them yet

all in all - this amp is my perfect amp, as i was searching for my perfect overdrive and have found it hear! it might no tbe other peoples cup of tea, but remember - always try it for hours if needed first! you dont wanna part with #1658 (for head and cab) if its something you wont like in a few days (like my tsl)

Made in 2001
I use play though my 5150 II in my heavy rock band (threadline) and on Sunday mornings at my church for light worship. I also lend my 5150 out to local hardcore bands beacause there is no amp better for hardcore then a 5150. This is a very versitile amp, although the clean tone could be better. The sound is very customizable with the separate eq for each channel (presence and resonance). Having the bias switch is nice however it has a very narrow bias spectrum.

I play 2 EVH Wolfgang Speacials and a Fender Telecaster.
The 5150 sounds amazing with its parter (the wolfgang). Even though the clean channel isn't great the wolfgang seems to make it sound cleaner and brighter. Good enough to play a Sunday morning service and sound good. Also this guitar/amp combo is incredible for hardcore and heavey rock seeing as the wolfgang pickups as such high output and the 5150 has a ton of gain.

I was in a highspeed car accident where I hit a concrete divider with my car going 150 kph (95mph). My 5150 II head was in the trunk by it self and on impact the head busted right through the truck and ended up over 200 feet from the point of impact. I though it was done for. When I took it home, I plugged it in and to my suprise there was no change in sound. I didn't even break a power tube. Also in that accident I had a peavey 4X12 cabinet in the back seat which kept the roof from squishing me in the accident. I thanks God for saving my life in that accident and also to Peavey for their high quality constructed equipment. Now after having the amp for 2 years (a year from the accident) did 2 power tubes blow. (and I've been touring accros Canada with my amp play at loud volumes)

The warranty on this amp is 5 years. You can't complain about that. My footswitch had a loose connection and I took it in. They said it would be 2 weeks to fix, so I fixed it myself (a simple saulder connection).

I love this amp! I am so happy with my purchase. I play in a band with another guitar player running a mesa boogie triple rectifier and a EVH Wolfgang and my 5150 II rivals his tone for 1/3 the price.
If I lost this amp I would buy another immediately

The amp has plenty of features for what I use it for. I play mostly hard rock/metal. Reverb would have been nice, but an Electro Harmonix Holy Grail reverb pedal does a beautiful job. Overall the amp seems fairly versatile. It covers a wide range of overdriven sounds; from a searingly brutal metal distortion to a nice Marshall-type crunch. The crunch feature on the clean channel adds to the versatility, although it takes some tweaking to set it so that it works well for both clean and crunch. This amp is F*&%ing loud! I was overpowering my band with the volume at 3, and they are very loud. At 4, I couldn't stand in the same room for fear of my hearing.

This is with out a doubt the best sounding amp I have ever owned. Before deciding on this amp I tried several others, including a Mesa Boogie triple rectifier, a Line 6 Flextone and several Marshalls. The 5150II sounded the best, and was actually the least expensive. The distortion is amazing. Very warm, with every note well-defined. I am a gain freak, and I don't turn the gain much beyond 6. The clean channel is fine. I find it to be clean even at high volumes.

Seems to be built like an Abrahms. The thing weighs a ton.

Never dealt with them.

If this amp were to be stolen or lost, I would replace it.

im sure you already no them.

im using assorted ibanez rgs from the late 80's and early nineties as well as a universe into a jcm 800 cab.thats it. the type of music i play is a mix of noisecore/jazz/indie/deathgrind/prog/etc .......... king of like watchtower meets lightning bolt meets human remains. i have been tweaking with this amp for about a year and i couldnt be happier. there are alot of tones in this amp. ive gotten some great cleans and distortions. however, i find myself using the clean mode with the crunch engaged. it is biggest, thickest, crunchiest, warmest sound this side of a jcm 800 and still has plenty of gain for your grindcore explosions. i had the chance of picking up a mesa triaxes with a strategy four hundred but i sat down and really thought about it and guess what, im still using the peavey. so basically, check it out.

when i bought this amp i took to a friend who does amp repair and had him go over it. he said that some of the soldering was kind of shotty and proceeded to clean it up. aside that, no problems. it has survived one death metal tour and is actually kicking harder i think. who would have thought peavey could have done so right.

great amp. very versatile. i was trying to learn the first 3 zz top albums and i wanted to recreate their tone and i was pretty much able to nail it. it amazes me that it can do that as well be good enough for the several death metal bands using them now. versatility .... yes!

120 watts RMS - all tube

The clean sound is a raunchier sound than most amplifiers.
However it is harmonicaly rich and still quite usuable for most rock/hard rock applications.
A drawback however is that the crunch channel is just the clean channel when boosted. The EQ , Resonance, and Presence, controls are the same for both. There is also a bright option for the clean/crunch channel.
The Lead channel has plenty of gain and yet again seperate EQ, Presence and Resonance controls.
Standard FX loop, Bias Test and 16, 8, and 4 ohms of resistance available.

I give the clean/crunch features - 4 (due to limitations)
Lead Channel features - 8

I am using a Gibson les Paul Studio with stock pickups through this amplifier.
I play heavy rock but I DEMAND the most balanced tone because both guitars play complex chords and alternate voicings. Without a balanced tone, you will only hear the 1st and the 5th of the chord (Ie power chord) That is why power chords sound best with distortion, because the root and the 5th always come out the clearest. I was using an early 80's marshall JCM 800 and it was the limitations of low gain, no FX loop, and one channel that turned me on to the 5150 II. The marshalls clarity on complex chords was asounding, however I did use the Boss SD-1 pedal through the low-gain input to achieve this fantastic clarity. But that HUGE bottom end distortion could not be achieved no matter what pedal I used. However Im not reviewing the JCM 800 I just think it best to compare the two before I rate the Peavey. I also found the 5150 cab to have a really harsh buzzing sound to it. The cab is built of a high quality, but none the less there is a buzzing sound in the tone that I found unacceptable. I used my JCM 1960B Cabinet loaded with 75 watt Celestians instead and I found the tone far more pleasing to the ear and smooth.

The Clean Channel - Like I said before it is not a true clean. It is rather crunchy and dirty sounding. However it is harmonicaly rich and is quite usable for most applications. Ironicaly I found IMO that it sounded cleanest and fullest when the pre-gain was set around 4 and set the post afterword. It is quite a bright sounding clean too so to remedy that I turned the resonance and bass up until I was satisfied. This setting may be what Peavey intended because at this pre and post setting, the crunch and clean sound best when toggled back and forth. Not very versitile, but none the less is a ballsy, usable tone.
Live situations it is fine, however I would use a different amp to record clean sounds in the studio. I give it a - 6

The crunch is tied to the clean and I can get some very warm, rich sounds out of the channel and I would find it useful for a lot of classic rock and roll. Though I find if I want that classic 1960's-70s rock tone I use a BOSS DS-1 through the clean channel to accomplish this, and the slight break-up from the clean compliments this quite nicely. Its attachment to the clean channel will give you some limitations if you wish to use both in a live setting, but on its own it can be VERY satisfying as a crunch sound. I give it a 8.

The Lead Channel. This is where I beleive Peavey spent its most time with the amp. The lead channel is HUGE!!! with more gain than anyone could ever use. I find the sound comparable to the mesa boogie Dual Recitifier. The mids give this high gain channel a growl and sustain that is absolutely fantastic. For all you high gain lovers out there, this amp is a must try before you shell out 3000 grand for a mesa head. or anything else comparable. The range of sound you can get is not very large, BUT it is a fantastic sound so that is usualy not a huge issue. My only beef with this channel is that the presence control does not do the slightest thing until you go past 8. This may just be my amp, but that is the problem I find with this although its not a huge deal. I like to use the pre-gain anywhere from 4-6. Anything more than that and it will comprise the clarity of the chords I will play. However Ive never tried another amplifier where I can get that much gain and still have clarity like that. To get a great tone the post should be past 3. So in the store make sure they let you try it past this level to get the true character of the amp.

Great job Peavey!! I give this channel a 9.5!! But I really want to give it a 10 but I know there are better amps out there. I am just EXTREMELY happy with the way this channel sounds.

Ive owned/worked on a lot of Peavey stuff before. It is VERY tough stuff. I would not be worried about reliability in the slightest. I think 90+ per-cent of people could agree Peavey is durable.

I work at Colosimo's Music in Thunder Bay, Ontario and we are the Peavey dealer. I know for a FACT that Peavey has one of the best customer support systems of any company. They are extremely friendly and helpful.
5 year warranty if you fill out the extended warranty/survey.

Great support

Ive been playing 8 years, 4 professionaly. I have owned various other amps but my preference being a JCM 800. I just use my Les Paul and my main axe and I find it sounds really great for what I do.

If it were stolen or lost I would be F'in pissed! but would probably get another JCM 800 (cause its cheaper) or get a used one to use until I can buy another one. Or tinker with other amplifiers to find the ultimate amp.

I wish it had a tighter clean sound with less break-up , and a REAL separate crunch channel with seperate EQ. I would gladly pay more if Peavey could just do this. I also wish it came with a 50 watt option cause this amp is REALLY REALLY powerful. Its hard to rehearse with that great tone which requires it to be running near half volume.

Other than that it is a satisfying amp. The distortion and FX loop is what I bought it for.

I got this monster factory fresh last Wednesday, so I guess 2002-03 model. Contains 6 12AX7 preamp tubes and 4 6L6 power tubes, EQ for both channels, blah blah... not that many features, but....

This amp is EXTREMELY versatile. Can go from crushing, thick, brutal distortion to shimmery clean and everything in between. The articulation is unbelievable. You can FEEL your chunky palm mutes quake through your very SOUL!!!! Lead tone is also awesome, but I'm a rhythm player and don't solo much. I use a Samick Les Paul copy with EMGs (81 and 85), AWESOME guitar for $500.

I write riffs that are infuenced by Carcass, Slayer, Crowbar, Down, and C.O.C., and this amp fits in perfectly with my style, but I didn't always feel like this. When I first brought the amp home and fired it up, I was greeted with a weak, thin, buzzy distortion. I thought, "Well, I just got this amp... gotta tweak the knobs for a while."

Well I tweaked all damn day, and I still didn't like the sound. I was really disappointed in it.

Slowly but surely, I started finding the sound to be getting better and better. Yes, it still has a little "Fuzz", but I've grown to love this amp. And it's LOUD! The clean can't get really loud ( I mean CLEAN clean), and you gotta put in a little pre gain to get it to a good volume. And its not near as bad as people on this board will tell you. Its a very good clean tone, much better than I'll ever need, thats for sure. Its fairly noisy, as any high gain amp will be. If its too noisy for you, get a noise gate.

I've only had it for about a week, but it feels very sturdy. Its heavy, so as long as you don't drop it, it'll be fine...

Well, my bass player was in a band back in 98, and his guitar player played through a 5150, and they dropped it, spilled shit on it, and it STILL kept going strong, no busted tubes or nothing. Peavey is known for being TOUGH, and tough these things are. But, you never know what will happen...

The amp arrived within one day of ordering it. They seem like friendly people, and their website is helpful.

Been playing for 4 or 5 years, self taught. I'm not the son of rich parents, I don't drive a nice car, and I didn't beg for a Triple Rectifier and a PRS only after playing for a few months of holding a guitar. I played with what I could find for cheap. This is my first REAL amp, and I think it will be with me for the rest of my life. This is a great amp if you love metal. If you work with it, you WILL find your sound. I have my sound now, and I'm ready to swamp ALL of you with my crushing riffs!!! Mwa hah hah...

I just got this monster, but not sure on when it was made. I went out looking for a new half stack because my (very) old head ceased to function and sounded shit anyway. I didn't try anything else because it was the only head/cab unit in the store but upon trying it out I didn't need to! This monster blew me away! I play in an extreme metal band, mostly a mix of speed, death and black metal. This amp does everything I need and nothing more. You know the features from the other reviews. I havn't needed the crunch feature yet. Basically in my band I'm either playing melodic clean parts (albeit fucking rarely) or distorted as fuck black thrash. The clean channel is fine so long as you don't turn the pre-gain up too high (but that's a no-brainer). I don't use reverb, chorus or anything else on my tone live so I don't miss not having that shit (and not having to pay for it), and that stuff can be added later in the studio. Basically this amp is LOUD. That's what it's made for, and it's brilliant at it. You know you're playing the spawn of Satan when your in the store and your previously non-existant conscience starts bugging you when you only have it cranked to four. I managed to dial exactly the sound I wanted on the EQ, and the Resonance and Presence controls make a shitload of difference to tone... it gets a 7 because obviously other amps have more features. But this one does everything I want it to do.

I've got two axes but one of them is currently only a backup (pending replacement of the shitty stock Jackson 'buckers) so only one has gone through this amp so far. The guitar in question is a Godin LG with Duncan humbuckers. I'm not sure what model pickups they actually are - but they sound pretty sweet. Like I said I play some pretty heavy fast metal in my band and this Amp suits it perfectly. Previously I was using a Digitech RP7 through an ancient Australian Strauss head and cabinet that I picked up for next to nothing... I was never happy with this sound. Now with only the 5150 II my balls spurt the second I start to play. It gives me exactly the sound your parents have nightmares about. Brutal! Also, like I said it's loud as all fuck... I only have it set between 3 and 4 at rehearsal and it totally drowns out the drums... but fuck him - he should be playing harder! I'm gigging with it for the first time this week and have total faith in it. I only use two sounds like I said, a melodic clean sound and a super high-gain distortion. This head has quite a good clean sound so long as you back off the pre-gain, even when playing full chords. Ofcourse this makes it's crunch feature next to useless - but I don't use it. On higher settings the crunch sound is quite ballsy, but then the clean channel dirties up aswell. The lead channel is where I'm playing 99.9% of the time, and it's my new God. I've got the pre-gain set to 10 for guaranteed skull-crushing heavyness... but it thickens up way before that. I also have my resonance set to 7 and presence to 6. I hate to use nu-metal terminology (cos nu-metal is gay) but this tone is FAT and the evil just grows the more you crank the volume (you can tell by the rivers of blood that'll start running from your ears). BRUTAL! BRUTAL! BRUTAL! is all I really needed to say here. An excellent amp for any kind of rock but especially metal. 10 here for the length my cock grows every time I switch this monster on.

Amp seems rock solid, and I've never gigged with a backup because I've never had one... I might take my old amp on tour with me just in case but for local shows when it's just me and my trusty wagon I don't have the space. I've never owned a tube amp before, but having replacement tubes would be as common-sense as having replacement strings. Then again when you only play 40 minute sets replacing strings is impossible (but then I -DO- always take a backup axe). I think so long as I take care of it it's gonna take care of me. It's the start of a beautiful friendship *sob*. hehehe... 10 here guys.

I think the warranty on this beast is 2 years but I'm not sure... I've never dealt with Peavey because this is my first piece of Peavey gear (probably not my last) but the guys I got the amp from are Peavey authorised and they've been taking care of me for years. So here they get a 10 based on the other reviews and my dealings with my local dealer.

I've been playing for 8 years now I think... most of that time I was playing through a Laney GC50 and then when I joined my band 4 years ago I got the Strauss amp for the extra volume. Distortion wise I went between the Digitech RP-7 grunge distortion and a metal zone/EQ combination... Now the only reason I'm keeping that shit is to play at low volume or if I need to get the 5150 II serviced. I love everything about this amp, and hate not a thing... probably I'll get some rack gear to add some diversity and effects etc... but then I guarantee I won't even use em! hehehe... Metal is about beer, speed and fuckloads of distortion, and this amp is all about metal. I'll love it to the grave (and quite possibly after). 10

rhythm channel(with crunch option), lead channel. i give it a 6 for the lack of reverb on clean channel

I use an ESP ltd mh-300 with stock hz p.u's(i'm thinking about changing to an emg 81 in the bridge), i play in B, E, A, D, F#, B. I play melodic metal/hardcore influenced by bands like at the gates, in flames, killswitch engage, the haunted, soilwork etc. etc. I used to have a marshall jcm2000 tsl head, but i wasn't happy with how it handled the low tuning/high gain, it came out sounding rather farty and coarse. I exchanged it for a 5150ii and kept the 1960A cab. having played the marshall and a mesa dual rectifier i can say with confidence that this is the ideal amp for any technical/aggressive music especially with low tunings, there is no way that this amp is not "bassy" enough unless you want to go korn style and have so much bass in the frequency it sounds like your quad is vomitting, the sound is very tight, full and defined, similar tones to the artists i mentioned above are attainable. Considering i'm just going guitar straight into the amp the tone is pretty damn impressive, but i plan on adding a few things such as a BBE sonic maximiser to enhance the tone. The worst aspect of the amp is the clean channel, it's not terrible, but it's pretty flat and hard, but you can work with it, just select your front pick up and drop the volume on your guitar a bit to soften it up a bit, but it'll never sound like a fender but i decided the distortion is so good i wont let that take the score down

very reliable, had it about a year, and it had been sitting in the store as a display model for like half a year+ haven't even changed the tubes yet

never had to deal with them

overall i think it is as good a back bone to build a professional sounding rig out of as any you will find for heavy music, get an A.B for a nice combo and you don't have to worry about the average cleans.

If you are looking at this, chances are you want some fart-arse distorted tones, well look no farther! This amp is versatile enough for me, Carcassy distortion and a decent clean channel. You know the features, 6 12AX7's 4 6l6GC's-- I swapped the originals for a matched quad of JJ's and more JJ's in the preamp. I think the stock pickups were HORRIBLE to my ears, and with the new tubes it really shows what this amp can do.

Im using a 90 Jackson custom shop Rhoads(rr1) with Dimarzio Tone Zone and a PAF Pro in the neck and run it through a 5150 STRAIGHT cab tuned down two and a half steps to B. I play metal( morbid angel, Carcass, Bal-Sagoth) and it does it well, and handles the low B very nicely. I have yet to hear another amp that sounds as good as this. After playing 2 different triple rectos I was really disappointed, Marshall DSL's and TSL's are blown out of the water in terms of sheer brutal metal tones. It is not noisy unless, and turning the distortion past 8 is overkill, I leave mine at 6-7 and it is VERY SUFFICENT for the heaviest of all distortions. If you play metal and want superlative tone look no farther, it is voiced perfectly, some say more bass would be better, but it has ENOUGH for anyone not venturing into Gnu-Metal territory. It CUTS through with craptial letters, works very well with another guitar playing! I keep mine set at____________
Bass-6.9 Pres-8.0
Mid-7.3 Res-6.7
Treb-6.2

It seems dependable! I bought it secondhand from someone who tours extensivly with it, other than a couple scuffs, it performs as if it just left the factory. Knobs nice and tight, no loose connections. I have taken it back and forth to jam with, and it always comes home alive!

I bought it used so I dunno!

I have been playing 9 years and own 5150II head + 5150 straight cab alongwith the RR1, I prefer the no bullshite setup where my only accessory is a planet waves cord and a monster cable speaker cable. I compared this amp to a Marshall DSL, TSL, and a 2x12 combo. Mesa Reco's, as well as a Peavey XXX(the xxx was better than the mesa's and marshalls BTW). This thing flat out smokes for people who dig on the gain! So much balls and beastiality to boot! The only thing I would like to have had on this amp was a reverb unit, but I was happy enough with everything else I soon forgot about that! This amp is a fantaztick value with no compromises in the tone department. Buy one now!

Well, since they upgraded the original 5150, they have nurtured a bitch of an amp here. The eq, presence and resonance controls on the two seperate channels make life easy for the tone freak. Hey, it does the Van Halen thing just fine... pity about my playing. Since i usually never use the clean channel (I bypass the distortion from the rack) it is probably a little too flexible for me!

Erm... Dunno where to start... Ok. This amp rocks, yes indeed. The boys at peavey and Sir Edward of Van Halen got it right here. There's a ton of gain here. It kicks ass big time, and any tipe of music requiring sweet tones and crushing gain and distortion will be just fine here. My music style is as close to Van Halen as I can possibly make it, and is a lot closer with the use of this amp. The volume pot is a little sensitive here. One breath and it goes from being inaudible to putting you through the wall of your studio. The amp actually does the low gain, 50's ablues thing rather well too. The tone on the clean channel with moderate gain is rather tasty.
The amp can handle anything I throw at it, and i've got a ton of rack equipment and pedals in the front end... It's a joy..

Don't connect the speakers, turn it on, and no pop. :)
Play the amp for year's, no valve replacements, kick the shit out of it, and no pop :) Who the haell needs a backup?!?!?!?!? I use three of the bloody things on stage!!!!!!!!!

Never neaded it, the amp is that bloody good.

Well, you can have an orgasm to the sound this thing gives out.

This si a follow-up review.

O.K. When I wrote my first review I had never gigged with the head and had only had it for about a week or less. I wrote about how it should have less mids and more bass.......BOY WAS I WRONG!! This thing is SOO mean, I gigged with it about eight times since then and it ripped my head off and spit it out every night. The bass is HUGE and the midrange is usable enough to dime all the time. NO KIDDING!
Ive had this thing up to about 7 and I almost moistend my fruit of the looms. MAN what a killer amp! The mids are throaty and the bass is always tight, the highs soar with the eagles and the presance control can cut you in half! This is the embodyment of loud as well, I bet they redefined the word after they played this amp. I love all guitar oriented music, but am partial to two specific genres. One is really BruTiLE metal-core and the other is total eighties shredder big hair style monster ballad play as fast as you can bands,and this amp does both to PERFECTION!! I know that Paul Gilbert plays Laney but I can nail ALL of his tones to a "T". With some delay and reverb you can hit Vai head on,and with only the clean w/crunch you could swear that Kerry King lives inside of your cabinet! All That Ive ever heard about is how insane(hence the 5150 name)this amp is at metal but I wanna tell you that if you know how to use your guitar volume then you can play superior blues and country as well. Never played a boogie but I bet that I'd still favor this amp over all others. I can also nail the solo tone from metallica's "nothing else matters". I play this head through a peavey MS412 cab with a digitech mps-4 in the loop for reverb and delay and I've never in my life been more happy with my tone. Never turn it down and never play nu-metal and always play from your heart with a reason for doing what you do. Stay a virgin till you get married and NEVER quit playing guitar.
In the immortal words of Dee Snyder....I WANT TO ROCK! I can with this amp and my chops. Forget about being macho, wear your guitar where you can reach it and turn it up......!!!!! sorry I had to give it a TEN!

As hardcore as they come. Too tough for me to break........Maybe a drummer could get the job done....?...maybe.

Dunno

Worth every Penny. Peavey has got an instant classic that will never die and never stop rockin'!

Pretty good features. Clean/crunch rhythm channel and lead channel as well as fx loop, all footswitchable. Both channels have fully independent eq's featuring pre and post gain, high, low, mid, resonance and presence gontrols. They're not hugely responsive though, which is probably a good thing because most people don't like hearing huge changes within 1 increment adjustments; basically it makes it easy to find a sound. They're not unresponsive, but I've just played a few amps that are way too touchy.

No reverb was an issue at first, but I got a pedal, so it's alright. Back panel has impedence settings of 4, 8 and 16 ohms as well as a preamp out among other little bits and pieces. All up it's a very solid package.

The lead sound is what I bought this amp for. I played about 6 other amps from Mesa Triple Rectos and Nomads, to Marshall JCMs and an H&K amp or two. This was the first amp I played and after a few months of deliberating, I finally decided it was the best amp especially for the money. If I could've afforded, I'd have got a Dual Rectifier, but couldn't and this was the only option with as much (if not possibly more) gain. The lead channel is insane!!! I play mainly Metallica, Pantera, Ozzy... you know, the good stuff, but I rarely set the gain past 7! I also play a fair bit of radio rock, and this amp does it all. I play it through the 5150 slant cab and with the bass and resonance turned up to 9, this thing seriously chugs. It has to be played to be believed. Basically, this is THE sound if you want metal and anything with lower gain levels.

I would've loved to have given it a 10, but the clean channel just doesn't have enough headroom. That was one thing I liked about the Rectifiers, is that they didn't break up in clean when I was playing thru the humbucker on full volume (on the guitar). I use an emg 81 in the bridge, and it just makes the channel fart. I have to turn the volume way down and switch to the middle pickup setting and eq the sound just to minimise the breakup - once I start strumming though, it's all over. The lead channel however more than makes up for this, so it gets a 9.

I've only heard good things about the company and their reputation for building quality instruments. It's very solid (and back breakingly heavy). I've only had it a couple weeks... no troubles yet. There's a one year warranty which can be extended online for free; extended by how much, I'm not sure, but I doubt I'll ever need the warranty.

No contact with them, can't say. Again, I've only heard good things.

My thoughts are, if you can afford a Rectifier, get that, if not, this thing can pull off 90% of what the Rectos can. I don't really like comparing amps that way, but those are just my thoughts. It is a great amp, but the clean may put some off. It should be fine with most guitars, as long as the pickups aren't too high output. Again though, the lead channel is HUGE!!! I can't stress enough how much this makes it worthwhile. If Peavey sold the amp with only the lead channel, they'd still sell like hotcakes (and good hotcakes too).

I'd like to say, this amp has all the features one could ask for in an amp. I mean, separate channels with separate gains and eq's is genious. The option to hook this baby up in stereo really helps too. Who cares that there's no shiny little gimicks like built in effects, it's not a line 6 and a good thing for that matter. If there was one thing that could be made better it would be more control over the crunch channel.

I am currently running this baby with a '02 brian moore i9 with seymour duncans and a '97 gibson sg into a boss gt-5 (hooked up in a way that allows me to use the 5150 as a power amp with a loop mode to get the 5150's preamp) through an 11 band eq into the 5150. I must say, this is the cleanest setup i've ever heard. Even at ear-splitting volumes, there is no feedback.

The amp itself is definately there when it comes to power. I play mostly progressive, shred, and straight up metal (symphony x, pantera, paul gilbert, and testament). The clean channel is wayyy warmer and rich than that of my former jcm 800 cab. The lead channel has an amazing preamp tone, however it does have a few weak points. I notice the amp really lacks dynamic response, by that i mean it's not sensitive enough to what your doing with the guitar. As well, it lacks sustain. I am running this with preamp at 8.2 lows at 6.7, mids at 7.4 and highs at 2.8.
There isn't much variety to the tone, it pretty much takes one form no matter how much you try and tweak it. Luckily, the tone it takes is sweet.
The overall sound is definately solid, especially if you have the 5150 4x12's. However i am not content with the lack of response, but that's just my opinion.

I would use this thing at a gig without ever fearing it breaking down. As long as your not stupid enough to turn this on without hooking it up to the proper speakers like a friend of mine did, your looking at 'industrial strength' at it's best

They provided me with a two year warranty, however i don't think i'll ever have to deal with them

I've been playing for 10 years now, i take my guitar playing seriously and tone is a crucial part of it. Nothing i've owned before has been as suited towards the heavy music i play as the 5150. If you really want it to sound decent, make sure you hook it up in stereo, i rewired my 5150 cab so it is in stereo, it makes a hell of a difference. I've got the stock tubes in it now, and they seem to deliver quite a punch. Overall, i'd say this is a decent amp and well worth the money i paid for it.

the only other amp I would use is the hughes&kettner triamp which is not even comparable in reliability.....only tone.....or the mesa triple recto........which is a tough guy amp........ but twice the price as the 5150 and not twice the tone at all. the tri amp is also too expensive

if you want brutal heavy sizzling pantera or bluesy broken up sweet tone or crisp crunchy ACDC rhythem or middle-y as all fuck thick phatness but dont have thousands of dollars........
GET the 5150..........or look into the peavy ultra series for a less brrutal warmer and more versatile tonal range(ultra's have active eq's the 5150 is passive)
the 5150 is huge at 3
scary at 5
dangerous at 7 and
eddie van halen at 9
its Kiwi Ben at 11 by the way !!!!!!!!

this is my amp for ever and ever, i wouldnt changefor anything.
EVEN MONEY!!!!!!
I love this head, thanx peavey!!!!!

never one problem...... I would go for some svetlana tubes from czech republic or some general electrics.........
But after 2 years of playing every day........the 5150 is solid as a kiwi ben.............thats me and I'm solid bro.

no worries dont need support (touch wood.....thehun.com!!!!!)

I dont like that peavey use 7 pin plugs for the footswitches tho, no sharing.

played for 10 years, I own a bc rich virgin with an emg 81 in the bridge and some duct tape in the neck.......an epiphone les with a duncan tonezone in the bridge and paf pro in the neck......a yamaha apx 5 acoustic electric, a 1952 "president" electric acoustic mandolin (all IBANEZ products from Japan PRE 1955 were exported under the name PRESIDENT.......I own a 1956 all SPRUCE solid top, back n sides acoustic dreadnaught.......like all the best boss pedals (dd5, ns2, auto wah, eq, compressor/sustainer, power driver, metal zone (yukky mosquito tone buzzz nasal buzzzzzz) and
A jim dunlop 535 wah
jim dunlop rotovibe
New Model digitech Whammy......

and a few million other gadgets........

Anyway the 5150 is the best part of my stuff........it is the ultimate amp tonally, surpassed ONLY by slash and his SPECTACULAR illusion 1&2 tone......'civil war' solo......'Estranged' harmonics....the knockin on heavens door intro chord strums......God Slash has the greatest tone in his fingers........he is the man....

But as far as Marshall amps go....I find them watery and thin.....too crisp and polite to really get my insides moving like the sheer presence and power of the PEAVEY........

SO IN SHORT, TAKE IT FROM KIWI BEN.......TONALLY THE 5150 COMPARABLE TO AMPS LIKE 'RIVERAS' 'HUGHES&KETTNER TRIAMP' THE TRIPLE RECTIFIERS....AND THE pEAVEY ULTRA SERIES (HEAD IN PARTICULAR)

hOWEVER THE 5150 IS CHEAPER THAN ALL OF THEM AND SOUNDS BETTER, IS AS RELIABLE AND ABOVE ALL............IS CHEAPER. lEAVING MORE MONEY TO GET THOSE GREEN BACK SPEAKERS, THE WIRELESS, THE NEW PICK UPS....ETCETCETC

TO HEAR WHAT THE 5150 DOES LISTEN TO.......
POISON THE WELL, "THE OPPOSITE OF DECEMBER" on trustkill records...
or CARCASS....'HEARTWORK' ....ON EARACHE RECORDS.......
OR ANY VAN HALEN CD.


IN CLOSING.

thankyou Eddie, thank you Peavey.

This is an update to a review I made a year ago. Year made...2001 I guess. Possibly 2000. My band's style hasn't changed. Metallica, Van Halen, Motley Crue etc... Your average run of the mill 80's hair metal. Features of this amp are posted throughout this page so I'll stay away from this one. Reverb would be nice as would a separate jack for active pick ups.

Guitars being used through this amp. Notice from my last post that they have changed dramatically. With that said:

99 Wolfgang Special Maple top with EVH designed pick ups.
91 Fender American Standard Strat (USA) w/ Duncan Hotrail in the bridge.
89 Fender Strat Plus (USA) w/ DiMarzio Fast Track 2 in the bridge.
02 Music Man Silhouette Special w/ DiMarzio Tone Zone in the bridge.

As I said before we play 80's rock/metal. This amp, with these guitars, sounds like a gold mine. I started out with this amp running it through a Marshall JCM cabinet that was in the studio that I practice at, don't recall what model. I've since purchased a 5150 slant cab. 110% improvement on tone. The clean channel isn't anything to write home about but it doesn't suck at all...and I hardly use it so it doesn't matter. The rhythm channel is warm but I find that you can tweak it to match the lead channel if you try. The lead channel has so much gain that it's not even funny. In my first post on this I commented that I wanted a Dual Rectifier but couldn't afford it. Well, I still can't afford it but a few months back I had a chance to take a test run on a Recti. I have to say that to my ears that Rectifier doesn't have any more balls than my 5150II. At least not enough that makes me want one. I've basically given up on that idea. The 5150II is a solid amp for any type of rock/metal. If you've got the guitar to back it up you can do almost anything on this.

I've spent countless hours of practice on it and have gigged quite a bit. Hasn't let me down yet. I bought a spare footswitch off of the auctions and one of the switches petered out on me recently but my original footswitch is still running strong. I haven't had any problems with the head at all ie tubes, knobs etc... but the cabinet gave me some heartache a few months back with a rattling noise that was driving me up a tree. But that's another review. Let me say though that the vibrating noise was taken care of with a little bit of spongy material put right inside the cabinet to keep that piece of wood from rattling on the back cover. If you'v ever seen the inside of one these cabs you'll know what I'm talking about. Anyway, this amp has been dependable and I wouldn't even think about gigging with anything else. I don't have a back up but I don't feel I need one.

Haven't had to contact them.

I've been playing quite a few years. Don't have any other amps. Don't use effects other than some chorus or delay. I don't feel the need to get any type of distortion pedal for this beast. I run the chorus and delay through the send return and plug straight into the head from my guitar. If this amp was stolen.....I'd probably buy another one, but maybe not. Only because I'd want to try something different. Or maybe I would because I've got the cabinet. hehe!! One thing I don't like about the amp is lack of reverb. It would also be nice if there were seperate jacks for high gain and low gain in the event that you have active pick ups. I don't use actives so it's not a real issue.

I got my 5150 II head yesterday plus two slant 5150 II quad boxes. This amp is excellent, it covers all the syles in our band. The amp states it has three channels, but it only really has two. The clean channel has a crunch option to give it abit more bite. Te only feature i wish it had was reverb.

I havw not played this amp live yet, but i cannot wait. I had ht volume on 1.5 yesterday and my 14 month old son was crying because of the volume so needless to say my wife was not impressed. But who cares....THIS AMP IS BRUTAL.

Guitars...well i use a few. 2 x Peavey Wolfgang's one with a standard bridge, the other with a floating tremelo/drop d tuner. 1 x PRS Tremonti Model. 1 x Ibanez S Series and 1 x Maton Acoustic. The amp definately suits our style which is basically balls to the wall rock. So far at low volumes the amp has performed perfect. I have not tried it at louder volumes, i just hope she doesn't scream and moan. One thing i did notice was that the clean channel got a little distored, so that was kind of cool to break up the usual sound. did i mention it before, that this amp is ABSOLUTELY BRUTAL. :-)

Have not tried the amp live yet. i will take it to rehearsel and see how the goes. But i am assuming it will go hard.

I have never dealt with Peavey sutomer support, but i am sure they are a well organised business. If i need help i am sure ill be avaliable.

I have been playing for 17 years. The only the other gear i have is a Boss ME 30 effects board and a Carvin Legacy head and quad, (which i will now sell due to this amazing amp). I would cry if this was stolen and then hurt the person who took it. I love it, this amp has so much gain, i never thought i would say that about an amp but it simply does. I am not a big fan of knocking other products they are all god in the own right. All i can say is i own a Carvin Legacy. I also sampled Marshall's, Messa's, Hughes and Soldano's. This amp was my choice, and the coice of the guitarist in our band which is why he got one too. :-)

Thanks peavey for making a fine product.

this is an update to my review. i saw something about modding this amp to have more low end (here on h.c.) and i emailed james at peavey with my questions. HE RESPONDED WITH THE SCEMATICS IN LESS THAN 30 MINUTES!!!!!!!!!!!!OH MY GOD. if 10 is the highest peavey is 10+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

2 channels, on the crunch channel you can switch to screachong lead, resonance, presence for both channels, the 1 downer for some people maybe that it has no reverb. chose 8 as it dont have many features, but the features it does have are exceptional.

(i dont own this amp) but i used it with the satriani ibanez JS2000CG with dimarzio paf-pro (h) neck pu, dimarzio fred (h) bridge pu, this amp has the absoulute perfect sound for my style, unbelievably brutal, (thrash, black, death, hardcore, metal) its waaaaay to heavy for any pussy-ass (nu) metal shit, linkin park, papa roach (dont really hate papa roach) but that stuff is to soft for this amp. very good amp for gigging, wont need to go through PA for smaller venues, but you would probably drown out the rest of the band as this baby is so loud. only two channels on this amp, but dont be fooled, it can make a wide range of sounds, on the clean channel it breaks up to fast so you wont get a glistening clean tone like a fender, but used with an acoustic simulator you may be able to make i sound cleaner.
The crunch channel is slayer sounding on its own even with the distortion at 12 o'clock, lead - the most brutal crunch you will ever hear, I mean, it puts the boogie dual rectifier to absoulute shame, and probably the triple aswell. it can get the huge cannibal corpse tone, but probably closer to the Killswitch Engage tone.

CLEAN = I would give it a 5 to 8 as the clean is not great, dont get me wrong it's not awfull, but its not it's main feature.

CRUNCH = I would give the crunch a 9 as its just really heavy and could blow your head off. deffinately slayer, but it's to crunchy for the smooth My Dying Bride sound or ...and justice for all tone, but i'd say it's better.

LEAD = I would give the lead 10, as it is unbelivably brutal, e.g. over the top dimmu borgir (puritanical euphoric misanthropia) sound. and you can get a squealing solo's, just dont kill yourself by having gain up FULL.

it's built like pure lump of lead, reinforced with a 4 inch titanium shell, just not as heavy as that.

have not dealt with them.

ive treid the JCM 2000, the Marshall AVT'S, Boogie Dual Rectifier, Line6 Spider, Flextone, and one i can't remember the name of, Fender twin something or rather, im gonna buy it, but im only 15, and ive been playind for 3 years, but im obssessed with this stuff so you can trust what i am saying. perfect for shredding brutal metal and at lower gain volumes good for hard rock, not good for jazz, blue's, BUT THATS NOT WHAT IT'S MADE FOR. I will only rate it for metal then. Please contact me if you dont want yours any more and ill see if i can afford it.