Peavey 5150

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.

This amp is killer ! I have one of the originals which came with Sylvinia tubes. The amp has 2 very versatile channels, which can give you some awsome tone for playing rock/metal. I have heard some people complain about the noisy high gain settings but if your careful with the treble and presence settings noise is not a problem. I would have liked a better clean channel. In my opinion this amp out performs any new Marshall,Soldano,Laney,ect.. I think the only new amp that outshines this one is the Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier but those things are real expensive.

As stated earlier, if you take your time setting the amp up, noise in the high gain mode is not a problem. The amp is perfect for those who play a variety of rock cover tunes. Yes you can sound like VanHalen but you can get alot of different tones as well. The distortion is in my opinion second to none. I play all original music rock,metal, progresive,blues, and this amp does it all. I do however switch over to my Fender Twin to cover my super clean tones.

This amp could have been called the 5151 "Maytag" Need I say more ?

No problems yet.

This is one of, if not the best amps out there. Edward VanHalen has a great ear for tones and Peavey took advantage of it to produce a killer amp. I will be another 5150 in the future.