Peavey 5150

As most tube heads this puppy is pretty easy to use. Just a bunch of knobs and in's and out's

When I first got my 5150 I was a little disappointed with it's sound. Only clean or metal. Nothing in between really. I also didn't like the fact that there was only one EQ for both channels. I played it next to the Marshall of our lead guitarist and was pretty sad because his amp sounded so much better. Then I took my amp apart looked at how it was made and (I'm not a real electronics wizard) figured out how the signal routing worked. Just relais and simple switches.I changed my amp so that I could switch on the crunch instead of the effect bypass with the footswitch and put in an extra pot to lower the volume a little at the same time Finally I routed the effects bypass that effects are only on in clean and crunch mode. In lead I don't use effects. With these modifications I have a three channel amp that sounds extremely good (I also figured out how to set my knobs right) and is easy to use with just two footswitches. I get pretty much every sound I want up to extreme gain. And my lead guitarist wants to throw his Marshall away now. I'm playing my 5150 with humbuckers and simgle coils and through two 4 x 12 cabinets. In this area I could probably do a lot of improvement because one of my cabinets is a Park (Not too well made) and the other is something very old that doesn't have a name. As far a volume is concerned the 5150 is great. It sounds good at low volume if you take out two power tubes (like I did for regular use). That gives you 60 W output and enough for reagular "emy amp is louder than yours' situations. If you really want to be deaf you can use 4 power tubes and fry yourself with 120 W. Some people complain about noise with this amp but I don't agree In clean and crunch there's is no noticeable noise. In maximum gain lead there is a lot of noise when your not playing but that is normal. Listen to a Marshall amp with full gain and two distortion pedals switched on just sitting there. A very clear amp at any gain. Not mushy at all. Very versatile after modifications
by a foot-switch

Very dependent. No problems I've looked at the insides and everything is well done. Damn heavy but also good quality

I would buy it again. If you want something besides the classic british sound that everyone has these days, this amp is good because it can do the british sound pretty well but can do more too

THIS AMP HAS EVERYTHING YOU NEED IN A PURE TUBE TONE ROCK AND ROLL AMP. 2 CHANNELS WITH FOOTSWITCHING, FX LOOP, PREAMP OUT, IMPEDANCE SELECTOR SWITCH, 120 WATTS, RESONANCE CONTROL FOR TIGHTENING UP THE LOW END, AND AN ACTIVE PRESENCE CONTROL. 4-6L6 POWER TUBES, 5-12AX7 PRE AMP TUBES. THERE IS NO REVERB, BUT YOU CAN ALWAYS PATCH IN A UNIT IN THE LOOP.

EVERYONE KNOWS EDWARD DESIGNED THIS AMP FOR HIS MULTIPLATINUM EARS SO OBVIOUSLY THE SOUNDS ARE WORLD CLASS. THERE IS MORE GAIN THAN ANYONE NORMAL WOULD BE ABLE TO USE. THE CLEAN CHANNEL IS OK BUT IT WON'T BEAT A FENDER. ENGAGE THE CRUNCH SWITCH ON THE CLEAN CHANNEL AND SET THE PRE-GAIN ON ABOUT 7 AND YOU'VE GOT ONE THICK HOT-ROD MARSHALL TONE. THE LEAD CHANNEL KICKS BUTT TOO. A LITTLE SMOOTHER SOUNDING THAN THE CLEAN CHANNEL WITH THE CRUNCH SWITCH IN, BUT A LITTLE THINNER SOUNDING TOO. A GREAT AMP FOR HARD ROCK OR METAL.

I HAVE USED ONE FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS WITHOUT ONE BREAKDOWN. IT'S DONE EVERYTHING FROM OUTDOOR SHOWS FOR 10,000 PEOPLE TO LITTLE BARS ON THE BEACH. EVEN WITH ALL THE SALT AIR IT KEEPS RUNNING STRONG.

PEAVEY'S SUPPORT IS THE BEST IN THE INDUSTRY. I HAVE MADE OVER 20 PHONE CALLS WITH VARIOUS QUESTIONS AND THEY ALWAYS ANSWER ON THE FIRST OR SECOND RING, YOU TALK TO REAL PEOPLE, AND THEY ALWAYS KNOW THE ANSWER. TOO BAD FENDER AND GIBSON CAN'T DO THIS.

I JUST BOUGHT ANOTHER 5150 HEAD LAST MONTH. HAVING TWO ON STAGE REALLY MAKES ME FEEL COMFORTABLE. IF I HAVE TO DO A GIG WHERE AMPS ARE ALREADY PROVIDED I ALWAYS REQUEST 5150'S OVER MARSHALLS AND BOOGIES. THE ONLY THING DIFFERENT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE ON THIS AMP WOULD BE INDIVIDUAL EQ CONTROLS FOR THE CLEAN CHANNEL.

two channels/shared EQ It is possible to get a clean sound if you keep the clean channels gain on 3, and crunch off and bright in. You then set the post gain on 10 for the volume to match the lead channel. ] This amp also has a switchable effects loop. This is first class. This way, you can tell if any of your effects pedals are robbing tone. You just turn them off via the effects loop and compare. By the way, the effects loop will work with almost any pedal.
This amp is World Class....The lead channel sounds just like EVH. No bullshit. I have an early model with the philips tubes. I hope I can find those tubes when it comes time to replace them. I also use a Music Man EVH Signature guitar. Its the best guitar for this amp,,,,,,,,bar none...its the best guitar for this amp...period
Brad Whiteford of Aerosmith who uses a 5150 finally put his Les Paul away and picked up an EVH Signature guitar. This month he is featured on the cover of Vintage Guitar with a purple one.a
The best thing about this amp is that it gets the tone at any volume. Don't get me wrong, it sounds better loud, but it still kicks at very low volumes
The EVH tone settings are: T-5, M-3, B-7 presence-7 resonance-4.
As you turn the amp up, these settings sound better. At low volumes, i like T-3, M-0, B-10 Presence-10 resonance-10. It sounds like a friggin chainsaw on these settings...I love it...no other amp can cop this tone...nothing else.

What I said about its tone is correct. I had a guitar player from perhaps the best heavey metal band in Baltimore tell me I had the best guitar tone he has ever heard. He was drooling over my rig between sets. You just can't get a better high gain amp, with a tight crunchy sound that is as punchy as the 5150. What you can only get is a different sound via Marshall, Soldano or Boogie. This amp is also a steal at $500-$700 compared to an SLO Soldano at 3K or a $1600 Tremoverb head.
I will never part with my 5150...its just that good.

5 years....no problem

Fair......I think the guys are nice to you, but they really don't understand amps like say the folks at Soldano or Mesa Boogie.

World class Heavey Metal sound....No amp has more gain, a tighter bass response, or can sound like this amp. Its a steal for its price.

For a rock player, this is a very versatible amp a great sounding one also if you like tones that range from Allman brothers to Van Halen to Death metal. Pretty wide range for one amp. You get FIVE tubes in the pre-amp! WOW!!!! Mondo-power!!!! This puppy has sooooo much gain! This amp has two channels; Dirty & Clean Simple is good, But my very first complaint was that there is no footswitch for the crunch/clean feature in channel one. Why have this versatile feature on the head and not on the footswitch. This feature would be great live. But I can live with two channels. Less to mess with, I say! I haven't used this monster live or at practice , but the neighbors in the next state have already started to complain!!! I have only had the amp for about two weeks!

This amp suits my rock playing styles Very well! It does create a lot of hiss, but you've got FIVE tubes in the pre-amp This is expected from tubes, Especially that many in the pre-amp. If you want a cleaner amp. Stay away from tube amps!!! i'm using a Dimarzio "Fred" in a Ibanez RG550 and a Dimarzio megadrive in another Ibanez strat and the sound is very full and thick. When you hit the guitar, it's smacks you right back in the face.The distortion is really versatile. when the pre-gain is turned up to 10 This distortion is sooooo Brutal, it could make freddy cowwer in fear!

I have bought Peavey products before and I can honestly say the customer service department at Peavey must be bored all the time, be case their products are so dependable! My other amp is the peavey classic chorus and in the 10 years I have used and abused that amp it keeps on tickin'. No problem here!!!!!!!!!!

I ordered the amp through a local Peavey dealer in town and they were so slow shipping it, I could have made a trip to hicksvile and got it myself! I never have had to deal with the factory before that. The only thing that ever went wrong with the classic chorus was that I wheeled across the college campus and it made the amp blow a capacitor. $40 bucks to srevice the amp.

I'd buy it again! It's a great amp made by a good american company. What more can I say?

The switchable effects loop is cool, but I still havn't used it at all. Crunch/Bright footswitches would have been a bonus, but i see why they didn't do it. I bought this amp used for $550 Canadian (what a deal) and I didn't get a manual or a footswitch with it, but I made my own footswitch for my old Peavey Bandit and it worked fine with the 5150, same switch design. I like my all metal footswitch better than the plastic peavey one anyways. :)

This amp does it all for me :) I play original rock/grunge/metal type music and this amp has given me any sound/tone I've ever wanted. There is that constant hiss from the amp though that really annoys me sometimes but backing off the presence know gets rid of alot of it. I've been told by Peavey that this is 'tube-noise'... they say you can't run 5 12ax7a's at virtually full gain without SOME noise. and I admit that the noise is only noticeable when it's totally quiet and there is no one playing bass etc... :)
I play a Samick solidbody with floyd rose trem. and humbucker-singlecoil -humbucker pickup config, through a Boss BF-2 Flanger and a FZ-2 HyperFuzz and straight to the amp and out into a 2 x 15" Closed back Traynor Bass cabinet. (So I hanvn't saved enough $$'s for a 5150 cab but I'm working on it.) It sounds so sweet compared to my old Peavey Bandit (which incedently I managed to fry...(50watt combo) :)

I've only had this amp for 3 months now, and I got it used ... I was told it was 4 months old when I got it (who knows really) On the power cord I read the sticker and called Peavey for a manual and they sent me one within 2 days. I've never had a single problem with this unit at all... nothing, nada, except that it was just plain too loud and it almost got me kicked out of my appartement. :)

I read the sticker on the power cord and they sent me a free manual like in 2 days. So, that made me happy for 5 minutes or so. :) Warranty? uh... i doubt it. :) But I really doubt anything will go wrong with this amp... I have a Peavey bandit (solo series) 50watt 1x12 Combo w/Reverb too and it worked for 13 years before I plugged it into a 4x10 bass Cab and fried it :) but it sounded really cool for the 30 mins I played before things got too loud.. I turned it up a notch and smoke... :( hehe.

I would definatly buy this amp again.. and again. I still gotta get a 4x12 Cab for it.. probably the slant one... I hear they really compliment the amp so if it sounds this good with a 20 year old bass cab thats almost shot then i can't wait to pick up the 4x12 :) Again, I wish I could switch the crunch via footswitch... and reverb would have been nice, but I guess outbord digital/reverb delay units such as the lexecon models would be perfect.

While I usually play hard rock through Metal this amp delivers in all, Clean through masive distortion, all foot switchable. Much more versitile then I expected, even after a serious try out. Mine is now 4 years old with 2 Peavey 5150 4x12 Cabs. 5-12ax7 preamps tubes and 4-6L6s, 120 watts!

Of course people buy this amp for it's spectacular distorion. It is truely massive and smooth, but more importantly, you can get a absolutely great sound at ANY volume. I use this amp to gig with, as well as to tool around with while watching TV! I get all the Van Halen, Ratt, W.A.S.P., Nugent, KISS and Judas Priest sounds that I'm looking for. The clean sound is much better then I expected for a high gain amp, (my Strat sings!) I'm also really impressed how different guitars still sound different as I have 20 guitars in my colection, I'm so happy they don't sound identical through this amp like they have through some others. It's also great that the tone controls not only make a difference, from good to worse like a Marshall, they actually help me achive different very useful and tastey tones! I've read about some people complaining about noise...but considering I've owned many other hi gain amps (Laney, Marshall, Modified Marshalls and Boogies), this is definetely the quietest. With Duncan Seth Lover Pickups I get that magic Gary Moore sound too! I guess the main thing here is if this thing got stolen and I got a pile of insurance money to replace it with, I would still buy it again. I'm not one for praising a product, I'm more of an asshole, but this is the best amp I've owned since starting playing guitar 19 years ago!

What can I say, nothing has ever gone wrong with the amp or two 4x12 cabs. I guess I'm due for new tubes...but I changed them two years ago, only because I figured they were two years old, and didn't notice a difference so I'm gonna wait longer this time. Why Not!

I called Peavey to get the scematics and a replacement Peavey Logo and they sounded like idiots, and I was disapointed that I had to PAY to put there ADVERTISMENT back on the front of my amp, but no problems just means I haven't had any other dealings with them

I love it, I'd buy it again, I don't have any complaints what so ever. Certainly worth the money for this kind of tone!

I LOVE THE SOUND OF THIS AMP. IT'S THE FIRST TUBE AMP I'VE OWNED, AND I LOVED FROM THE TIME THE GUY PLUGGED ME IN AND TURNED IT ON. I PLAY HEAVY METAL, AND THIS AMP SUITS ME VERY WELL. THE CLEAN CHANNEL IS A LITTLE NOISY. THE AMP HAS A GOOD RANGE OF SOUNDS, THE DISTORTION IS AS BRUTAL AS I NEED. THE GUITAR I'M USING IS A SOLID-BODY IBANEZ ARTIST WITH DIMARZIO SUPER-DISTORTION HUMBUCKERS

I'VE ONLY HAD IT FOR A MONTH, SO I CAN'T BE OF MUCH HELP HERE

AGAIN, I CAN'T OFFER ANYTHING THAT MIGHT BE OF HELP

I WOULD DEFINITELY BUY THIS AMP AGAIN. I LOVE IT BECAUSE IT TICKLES MY EARS. HATE : IT IS TOO POWERFUL FOR MY STUDIO APARTMENT THE RESONANCE FEATURE MAKES THE GROUND SHAKE!!!!!!

This amp is excelent!!! It is very versatile, (if you don't mind a little knob tweaking), and a sound for almost any situation can be found. It has two channels with a crunch button an the clean channel for some wonderful unique overdrive. It has a good effects loop, which I use a digital reverb through, and a button on the footswitch to turn it on and off. I wish it had a button on the footswitch to turn the crunch button on and off. This would give you three sounds at your feet, (clean, crunch, and sizzle), rather than two. I use this amp as my main stage and studio amp. I use Les Pauls with Dimarzo super distortions, Semyor Duncan pearly gates and cool rails, and assorted fender single coils in the neck position. The combination of these (amp, guitar, pickups), works very well and I can get the most out of them 120watts (loads of power)!! This things got nine tubes!!!

Ther could be no better amp to suit my needs than this one. I play psychedelic southern rock with a heavy edge and with this amp I have defined my sound. When I first got this amp I got real sick. All I could get was noise and squeels. I was using a Les Paul with PAFs in it. I stuck a Dimarzo super distortion in it and cured my problem. I have read about people having problems with hum using this amp and I want to tell these people that it's their pickups. You need good replacement pickups designed for volume and mindblowing gain. I use a Duncan cool rail for neck position on one Les Paul and you can turn the lead channel master up to 8 and stand right beside the damn thing with no hum, feedback or anything. It is hard to get a crystal clear clean sound, but it is possible and its a good one. A lot of knob twisting is done on the volume/gain knobs including your guitar volume. Guitar volume is the only way to achieve crystal clear. But Hey! This is a fucking rock and roll machine!!! If your playing country, get a fender. The lead channel has the best distortion I have ever heard (SIZZLE!!!) I keep its gain on four (one of the many breaking points) and It sounds like Zack Wylde meets Warren Waynes with a little hint of Hendrix and old Van Halen. Its got this natural swirling effect when you bend strings or change your attack that sounds real cool! One more thing about the hum people experience is try hooking up a string ground. I often think while I am onstage that Damn! This amp is unusually quiet. The hum ain't the amp people!!

So far no problems, (1 year into it.) The only thing I have problems with is one time I ran it off of a generator and I lost gain and channel switching ability. It did this one time after this using regular wall power and I turnd it off and on and it straightened up. I think it may be sensitive to power fluctuations.

Well, I had this amp ordered from the company and they were slower than a constipated cat turd. I really haven't had to deal with the company for repairs but I will say this, PEAVY MAKES RELIABLE, DURABLE, PRODUCTS!! I have used their stuff for years and it'll outlast damn near anything. The warranty is for one year.

Hell yeah I'd buy it again!! I'd buy it again and again and again. I love the sound. I love how fat and snarly it is and all the rich harmonics you can get. I love the resonance control that controls how much your sac shakes and your pants leg blows in the wind. The pressence is wonderful too, much like a Marshall's. I would run this amp against any amp on the market and it would blow 95% of them away and would parallel the best amps, (like those outrageously priced Boogies). This amp is simple and basic. It takes time to bond to it and understand in, but once you do, you'll be buying it a wedding dress!

This amp is reasonably versatile as long as you're not looking for a much cleaner tone than say...Allman Brothers. If you are looking to blast your listeners with pure ballsy crunch, you can't do much better than this monster. The channel switching is very handy as is the effects loop. I don't think th E.Q. has enough control though. An external E.Q. is a better bet anyway. The Peavey guys put more than enough power in this beast!!!

The distortion cannot be beat but we all have experienced that background noise that drives you nuts! I play industrial metal and cannot think of a better amp for me! If you want to be a Cure cover band maybe you should get someting else.

I have had work done on my amp just because I wanted to get my tubes changed and my style of play blew a plate resistor(whatever the hell that is!) But I would positively use this amp for all my main gigs and studio work. I had my tech put 5881's in place of 6L6's to get a little cleaner signal-to-noise ratio. I'm not saying you should but it is a thought!

I didn't deal with Peavey when my work was done for two reasons: 1) I bought it used and the warranty was over. 2) I have a tech I'm comfortable with already. I've heard that the Peavey amp guys can be a little slow to help though.

I'm already planning to but another because they suit my needs. Marshalls just don't match up ball-wise and you can get them pretty cheap. I wish it had reverb but it would probably suck anyway! A signal processor by Lexicon would round it out nicely.

PRETTY STANDARD SETUP: 2 CHANNEL, 1 CLEAN, 1 DIRTY. THERE'S A BRIGHT AND CRUNCH BUTTON FOR CHANNEL 1 THAT'S KINDA COOL. THE FOOTSWITCH CONTROLS CHANNEL SWITCHING AND EFFECTS LOOP. IT ALSO USES A CONTROL IN THE EQ SECTION CALLED RESONANCE WHICH CONTROLS THE "TIGHTNESS OR LOOSENESS" OF THE BASS OR SO THE MANUAL SAYS, ESSENTIALLY IT ALLOWS YOU TO CONTROL AMOUNT OF MUSH IN THE BASS END WHICH IS A REALLY NICE FEATURE. MY BIGGEST GRIEVANCE IS THAT BOTH CHANNELS SHARE THE SAME EQ WHICH IS NOT A GREAT THING WHEN YOU WANT TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TONES FROM EACH CHANNEL, BUT BOTH TONES MATCH UP PRETTY WELL. I THINK THERE COULD HAVE BEEN MORE OPTIONS EQUIPPED WITH IT BUT IT DOES DO WELL WITH WHAT IT HAS.

I'LL SAY THIS LOUD AND CLEAR SO EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS: WHAT'S UP WITH THE BACKGROUND HUM ON THIS BEAST??? BOTH CHANNELS HAVE A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF HUM IN THEM WHICH IS REALLY DISSAPPOINTING CONSIDERING THE TONE IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE SWEETEST ON THE MARKET. THE CLEAN CHANNEL IS CRISP, BUT WARM AND ROUND, NOT HARSH. ON THAT SAME CHANNEL IF YOU CRANK UP THE GAIN YOU GET AN UNUSUAL BUT PLEASANT SOUNDING OVERDRIVE. THE CRUNCH CHANNEL IS WHERE THIS AMP REALLY SHINES. THE TONE IS REALLY WET AND JUICY LEAVING LOT'S OF ROOM FOR COOL HARMONICS. THERE'S ENOUGH GAIN HERE TO BLOW AWAY AN ARMY, IT CAN GO FROM HARD ROCK DIRT TO HEAVY METAL TO THRASH TO GRUNGE, YOU NAME IT THERE'S LOT'S OF APPLICATIONS WITH THIS ONE.

I'LL TELL YOU RIGHT NOW 5150'S ARE BUILT TOUGH, THEY'LL TAKE ALOT OF ABUSE. MY TUBES LASTED QUITE A WHILE, ABOUT A YEAR WITH REGULAR PLAYING, WHICH IS NICE CONSIDERING THE PRICE OF TUBES THESE DAYS.

CAN WE SAY HICKSVILLE, USA? THE COUPLE OF TIMES I CALLED FOR INFORMATION NO ONE KNEW THEIR OWN NAME AND CERTAINLY NOT ANY INFO ON THEIR PRODUCTS. THEY DID HAVE CERTAIN FARMER CHARM THOUGH.

SOLID BANG FOR THE BUCK. IF YOU CAN FIND A WAY TO GET RID OF THE UNBEARABLE BACKGROUND HUM IT'S A GREAT AMP.