Peavey 5150

I got this amp on a trade for a Marshall JMP-1 and some other rack mount stuff. I play mostly Emo, Screamo, Post Hardcore(Underoath, From First To Last, Saosin, etc...) It has 2 channels switchable with 2 button footswitch and effects loop that can be controled by the footswitch Awesome feature! I wish it had a Master volume but, no worries. This thing is loud i use it for Recording, Live and Practice. It is all tube.

I mainly use a Epiphone SG G400, Epiphone Explorer a Epiphone Les Paul Special with the neck pickup out and only a EMG in the bridge sounds sweet and a Lotus les paul model with EMG 81 Pickups. For my music style it is great a lot of people complain about the clean channel but, in my case i can get some really nice tones out of it just play around with your settings and different tubes and let the tubes warm up. As for the distortion it is amazing for me. Notice how i said "For me" The music i play is heavy but, very melodic i love the way it really brings out your tone. Ive played Marshall and Mesa and they are amazing amps but not the right sounds for me. Mesa just doesn't have enough gain for me and Marshall's gain is to Trebley for me. Once i get enough money i will dish out for a Bogner or Orange but, for now the 5150 is amazing. I think if you play a more aggressive style of music the 5150 is for you but, if you like lighter gain and use a lot more clean it won't suit you very well.

Peavey may be more known for their PA's and mics and mixers but the few really good heads they make are built very well. The 5150 is a beast and i would never worry about anything happening to it but, like all tube heads you have to be carefull of the tubes just get a good road case. I had a Peavey XXL before i got the 5150 and it lasted me forever and still sounds fantastic for a soild state head. I have no worries about the 5150.

Never dealt with them.

I have been playing guitar for over 12 years now and i have finally found the tone i have been searching for in the 5150. If it were stolen i would cry for days because im poor and would have to go back to my XXL which is soild state and after playing all tube heads i don't want to go back to solid state.

Pretty basic features, shared EQ for clean and lead channels. Foot switchable effects loop, saved me a few times playing live (when turning off two or more pedals at once isn't possible).
Tube wise: 4- 6L6 Power Amp tubes and 5- 12ax7 pre amp tubes.
Wattage: 120 RMS
Inputs: High Gain and Low Gain.
Basically the only down fall (feature wise) is the shared EQ between the 2 channels, but I've learned to live with it and it doesn't bother me any more.

Guitar: Gibson Les Paul Studio (stock pickups... for now)
Effects: Dunlop Crybaby, Digitech Whammy (reissue), Boss CS-3, Boss GE-7, Boss PH-2, Danelectro Cool Cat, Boss PS-3.
Well I've owned this amp from new for about 7 or 8 yrs and I've pretty much tried everything with this amp as far as sound goes. During my early yrs I was playing things from pearl jam, soundgarden, and yes of course Nirvana. Well the amp did just fine for that type of music. The clean channel lacked what I was originally looking for but leaving the pre gain on 2 - 2 and 1/2 seemed to solve that problem decently, although not as warm as I would've liked. As for the lead channel the trick I found was to back off on the lead channel gain (3) and that seemed to do the trick for Grunge distortion. Next step came when my playing styles changed to those of the drop D world. Bands such as Tool and Rage had influenced my style at the time, and once again I changed my settings by increasing my Gain for my lead channel (about 5) and inceased the resonance channel to about 8 or so (gave a nice low thud for palm muting). Now with the stage I'm at I've been playing a lot of velvet revolver, G n' R, Van halen, and lenny kravitz and I have to say once again this amp is serving me quite well. With the recent tube replacement(Eurotubes (JJ)), this amp has been hitting similar tones, if not exact to the bands I've just listed. I'm Quite happy with the verisitlity.

In regards to the Effects world, I'd say that this amp responds well to effects but keep in mind this is the first amp I've really started adding effects to. So I haven't had much expreience with other amps as far as effects loops go.

Oh I almost forgot, I'm playing the head through 2 5150 slant cabs. And I love the sound this amp produces with those cabs. I never thought I'd be playing a peavey hahaha

I've never once had this amp fail me. It's been through hell and back with some of the shows my last band played. It's even been tipped over while on and not on standby (on grass mind you, thanks to a drunk at a party) and as soon as I stood it up again, it sounded just like it did before. Very reliable and I don't use a back up when I do use it live.

hahahaha one more thing that prooves this amp is totally durable, last summer I took it to a friends place to use as an outdoor music setup (plug a CD player up to it, play with the EQ's and it works ok), but I never picked it up until the january after. That might not say much but the amp was left outdoors, under a patio. This thing has gone through changes of Summer, Fall and Winter all outside. When I brought it back to my place mid January and plugged it in, it worked completely fine... hows that for reliability and neglect hahaha...

Never dealt with peavey... Warranty is probably way long gone.

Well if anything were to happen to this amp I would honestly consider looking at other amps just to see what is out there now. But I know I would come back to the 5150, especially since I retubed it with JJ tubes; this thing wails!! I might try the bias mod in the future, but I'm currently happy with the setup now. Why change a good thing.

I would recommend this amp to anyone looking to play most rock/hard rock/metal music. Except I might be bitter suggesting it to any of my friends, I like the fact that I'm the only one I know with a 5150 setup.

READ THIS if you still want to get some REAL clean tones out of this amp.
120 watts all tube, 2 Channels Rhythm and Lead.
I wish it had a switch for the crunch on the foot controller!
Use it live in a hardcore band
TONS OF POWER

I play in a post hard-core band. My style of music has just as much clean channel parts as distorted ones. As you have read before this amp was never designed to have a true clean channel, though you can turn down the gain to 3 and get a signal without distortion. I said "a signal" which sounds more like the teacher on the Charlie Brown cartoons than a guitar tone. I couldnt deal with it so I played a Marshall solid state head for the last 2 years. Im a gear junky and buy tons of CRAP without trying it out enough. The 5150 was just another peice of that gear. It set in my room untouched as I rocked the Marshall to the fullist extent of the law. I was seconds away from selling the 5150 and decided to really work with it before I did. I bought it used and the tubes where old. I changed them and the mud I was getting almost dissapeard from the lead channel. However the clean still sounded like raw un-cut ass!
One more thing to try! Today I Borrowed a new BOSS GE-7 EQ peddal from a music store to try it out on the clean. Needless to say I will have to pay for it Monday because it wont be going back. If you set the "rythm channel" Gain on 4 and put this peddal in your signal chain, scoop the mids boost the highs (on the peddal) I promise you are gonna hear something very familer. I could have swarn it was a Fender amp!
I will have to hit 2 bottons at one time on stage to switch on distortion and shut off the EQ (because the lead channel rocks) but I dont care! Try it!

This is a TANK

Iv been playing for 10 years. This is not the best sounding amp Iv ever heard, but it gets the job done. It has a versitillty rating of a 1 because it was only designed to rock, but now I found a way to make it ROLL!

I have two(2) 5150's that I run in stereo. Each has it's own 5150 4X12 straight front cab. They are mid 90's, back when they were first available. 2 channels sharing 1 EQ which also includes a presense knob(for tuning the amp) and a resonance knob(for tuning the cabinets). This is nice because rooms sound differently and you can compensate. Each channel has it's own pre-amp and master volume.Has an effects loop, but I usually plug straight in the front. Rhythm channel has a bright and a crunch button, which is cool 'cuz I'm hardly ever in the same mood.It doesn't have a headphone jack 'cuz yo head would explode.Does have channel switching with a foot switch that I have hooked into a "y" cord so I can switch both channels at the same time with one foot switch. Reverb would be nice, but I didn't choose them for a bunch of features. I didn't want features, I wanted TONE. I like stripped down simple heads that do just a few things extremely well. I'm rating it a 7 'cuz it's not a feature amp, it's a rock and roll monster with enough head room (120 watts each)to play outdoors and not go limp!!

These bad boys hiss like a pit full of rattle snakes. Reason is the plates in the output section run hotter than a pistol. It's a tube eater. PEOPLE, IT'S A HOT ROD TUBE AMP DESIGNED BY A GUY WHO IS WAY OVER THE "SCHIZZLE" AND IT ACTS LIKE ONE. (And that's why you gotta keep your tubes replaced at least once a year.)But Tone to the bone!!!! Loud hum, to me, is part of good rock n' roll. I can tell how good a band is gonna sound just by how loud the equipment is before they start playin'. When your playing a tune, you don't hear any hum or hiss. I play a Les Paul Jr. with a P-90 thru these babies and it's ON! Harmonics flying all over the place. I also play a Les Paul with humbuckers and it's a wall of rock n roll. Sometimes I use my American Fender Thinline with Texas Specials and it's raw cool!!!I plug my guitar into a stereo delay pedal to split the signal and barely delay the wet signal to thicken things up. It sound like three people playing...an over dub effect. That really works well with these amps! Clean channel sounds like sooped-up plexi, but you gotta barely have the preamp on if you want it crystal clean 'cuz it wants to rumble. Lead channel sounds like a JCM 800 on steroids, ya'll be careful not to hurt yourself!

Never had any trouble. One of the reasons I chose Peavey is 'cuz they're pretty tough. It's time to replace the power tubes. The gain has dropped and the tone has changed. It's cuz those plates are so high voltage. But tube amps require replacement of expendable parts, it doesn't mean it's a bad amp.

Pretty good. Found out that 5150's are self biasing from Peavey tech.
They have a good web-site, You can download some manuals if you need to.

One head I bought new for $600, the other used for $300 (so I entered the average). I spent a lot of time researching and playing amps before I decided. At the time the 5150 was a little ahead of the curve(this was the mid 90's) I was looking for a simple rig that did in your face rock music, no fancy stuff. This amp isn't for everyone. It's SPICY. If I were to half to change to something else it would have to be a Red Bear MK120 or a Sunn Model T, but they don't even make those any more. I used to have a Peavey Butcher, I'd do that again. The 5150's are were I'm at tonal....rowdy....like the audience being humped by rottweilers

Well all know the goods.

Kudos to peter a few posts down on the NS2 tip. You MUST do this. The 5150 is a noisey amp! With the noise supressor placed in the proper place this noise gets removed. The lead channel on this amp is amazing.
Very full and clear. One thing that helped was putting a tube screamer infront of the amp with 0 drive and 10 volume. I know it sounds crazy but it works. I am playing through a 1960a cab and things are nice. Dont really care for the Rythm or clean channel. But I didnt buy this amp for those.

Peaveys are solid. This is my second high gain tube amp from peavey and Im sure it wont be my last.

I'd give it a 10 if not for the clean channel. Some people who review this amp must be totally on drugs. Yes this is a 800-900 dollar amp (new). Does it sound as good as some botique amps..Definately yes. I have played everything thats out there. To each their own but peavey hits one out of the park with this unit. They are cheap as hell used and they are everywhere..for a reason. If you can actually play, you can get any sound you could ever need from this amp (exception....super fender clean). Tone is not just from an amp...its a total tonal package. A bit of advice...price doesn't make any product better than another. To each there own.....my 2cents.

no problems

n/a Never called

10

120 watt two channel amp. Clean Channel has no equalizer.

I use an Epiphone Les Paul with stock pickups. The sound that emerges from this thing is gorgeous! One thing to keep in mind, and it's something I've learned from tube amps over the years, is that this is the sort of amp that will project all the naunces of your playing. It will give you a perfect projection of what YOU sound like! Dont think circuitry based, DOD type distortion that you can hide behind of. If youre not too skillful with the guitar chances are you will found yourself blaming the amp! I play mostly metal with this thing(In Flames, Soilwork, Meshuggah, Slipknot, Sepultura, etc). I rarely use the clean channel and with no EQ theres no way to dial in the "perfect" sound. Also, for those who have been saying how muddy the amp sounds try lowering the gain ok? Set it at 5 that should be enough.

The amp it's actually my brother's. He bought it used from a local band's guitar player. If you're from Puerto Rico you may be familiar with Sol D' Menta, needless to say the amp has seen plenty of action. Some of the knobs have been replaced. Power tubes were also replaced. The amp has been serviced once, but nothing serious. At the moment it's working in perfect order. I can see it handling more abuse in the future.

I've been playing for 12+ years. If youre looking for a more affordable alternative to a Marshall JCM 2000, that is if youre more interested in the lead channel with even a possibility of acheiving superior tones, I'd would definetly recommend this amp. It's weakness being the clean channel, will have many believe it's not worth the price($900 - $1000 new). But for the lead channel alone, it's worth it!

*************PLEASE READ THIS NOW BOSS NS-2 USERS***************

This amp is amazing.But the hiss it creates is unacceptable.i got a boss ns-2 noise gate pedal and hooked it like this

guitar->-pedal input-->-low gain input(i have emg's)

This does not work,sure it does block sound from your guitar but all the noise is coming after the pedal from the amp.

2nd attempt!

guitar-->-low gain input-->-amp send to pedal input-->-pedal output amp f/x return.

This also doesnt work as the pedal cant distinguish the difference between hiss and the actual note you are playing.you have to have the threshold so hi you get the loss of high end and the delay at the beginning of the note.

THIS IS THE ANSWER!

guitar-->-pedal input--->-pedal output to amp f/x return-->--amp send to pedal return-->-pedal send to amp input(low/high doesnt matter)

THIS WORKS!

It cuts out ALL the hiss even turned up full volume,its amazing,its like the amp aint on.
Basicall the boss ns-2 is designed to be run with effects/distortion through the pedal fx loop.hooking up this way puts the pre-amp(noisy) part of the amp through the fx loop of the pedal.It states in the pedal instructions that this is how the boss pedal distinguishes the difference between noise and the actual sound you are playing.
If someone has already posted this somewhere then sorry for posting,just havent got time to read thru all reviews.

Hey this is an OK head. I play stuff like Between the buried and me, glass casket, and through the eyes of the dead and I couldnt get the sound i wanted out of it. I found it to be realllllllly muddy or to dry. It really had one sound and that was it. The clean chanell was really baddddddddd! If im gonna pay 1000 dollers for a head I at least want a decent clean chanell.hahhaha I dont want to sit here and bash it bcuz it really isent that bad of head and if ur looking in the 1000 doller range and u dont play much clean stuff then this is the head for you. But please make sure you try it before you buy it. Ive heard 5150s that sound like complete SHIT!! and ones that sound pretty damn good. When I was searching for a head I was deciding between the 5150. a mode 4, and a dual rectifier. I got the rectifier bcuz it fit my style better.

no comment

Mine is a block logo 5150. Versatile enough for what i use it for which is covers and original metalgigs. I use it live and in studio. It is way to loud an amp for it to be practical for home/practice use!

Shared eq, fx loop, preamp out and footswitchable. I dont use the footswitch but control it with a GCX controller.

I have to start this by saying to all of those saying it lacks tone/versatility/definition or whatever else - you are the defining factor in your sound not the amp. Try using your guitars volume/tone pots to add colour, try not maxing the gain out (anything past 7/8 only compresses), try working on your playing and practising more rather than blaming the amp for your shortcomings.
Also if your using an ibanez rg series guitar with active emg's or anything else of that ilk then im sorry you have no claim on knowledge of tone! I use Gibson Les Pauls (customs and standards)with the original pickups and electronics.
The cab you use plays a huge part in your sound. I love the 5150 amp but the cabs suck balls. Try a nice orange or mesa cab with vintage 30's in them.
Good cables and your picking attack help mould the sound but the most important thing is your brain and fingers.

I run les pauls > GCX ground control system (w/stompboxes) > 5150 >orange ppc412 and orange ppc212. I play covers gigs 3 nights a week and play in a progressive hardcore band that gig once a week or so.
Its no noisier than any other high gain amp out there and with the use of my guitars controls it can be very versatile.
The clean may not be the best but are you getting this amp for clean sounds? It does clip when i attack hard.
The distortion is thick and hard lets say that! its a solid rock/metal sound. If you wanna sound like vai or satriani then this may not be the amp for you.

I would and have depended on it without a backup. I service it fairly regulary and its never broken down on me yet. Ive heard horror stories from other owners but so far ive escaped any problems (ive owned this amp for 5+ years).

I live in Austalia so trying to deal with the company itself is useless. I take it to my favourite amp tech for repairs and service.

Ived been playing 15 years and am a full time player. If it were lost id be pissed, angry but i dont know if id buy another one. I love my 5150 to death but id be sceptical about findidng another that sounded as good. I'd maybe look around a bit.
I do wish the clean channel was better and it doesnt work very well with dist pedals. Also the fx loop is in a weird place in the signal chain (post master volume) which means if the unit in the fx loop is even slightly noisy then it will be magnified and become a big problem.
Having said all that i do feelthat for my needs this amp is a solid rock amp that covers not only rock but metal and pop as well.
Just be smart with the other equip you choose to use in ur rig as well, everything counts!