Peavey 5150

You've read a lot of reviews. You know what time it is. I just need to plug it as well because the tone this amp produces is what I've been looking for for a long time. Of course, I have to gripe that you can't footswitch to the clean channel. If you have read all the reviews you have read about the guy that modified his to make his 5150, essentially, a 3-channel, fully-footswitchable amp. I'm trying to contact him for a schematic, etc., but I'm scared as hell to tinker with this amp.

I use a G&L ASAT Special with those "phat" (fat) single coil pickups. It's like butter. It suits my personal style and the band's style perfect. The first time we rehearsed with it, everyone was smiling, they knew I had THE tone. Who cares about noise? What style of music are you people playing that you care about noise? If you do care, get a better guitar, or a wimpier amp. I rarely use a clean setting, but I'd like to be able to footswitch to it when I do. For now I just back up on my volume pedal... kinda cool, crappy clean sound--something a bit different. The payoff is on the crunch and lead channels obviously. It's nice to know I have an amp with TOO MUCH gain. The thing is perfectly smooth at any volume. It doesn't break up and/or get all harsh sounding when it's pushed hard.

Bought it new 2 days ago, so I can't help. I'm so stoked I'm submitting this opinion already. Built solid, 6L6's are what I've been missing.

If it breaks, I'll throw it away and buy a new one. I was amazed how inexpensive it was. (Don't freak, I'd fix it.)

I've owned several amps-- I still own a Peavey Rockmaster preamp and Peavey Classic 50/50 power amp... after my 50/50 crapped out, I bought a '73 Marshall Super Lead... believed the hype and shouldn't have. Sold back the Marshall 7 weeks later. Picked up the 5150 2 days ago. I think I've finally calmed down on the fear that I'd never find an amp that I liked... tone-wise, power-wise. I'll use these until I can't find them anymore... or until I can afford a big, stupid rack with Bogners, Mesas, whatever. This is as good as you need until you're playing arenas. Then you might need a couple more to power your back line of cabinets. Am I boring you? Seriously, loved the Peavey sound... now I have power to spare, which is weird. I'm just plain happy and content. Now I can concentrate on the music... the tone is ALL THE WAY THERE.

Feature-wise this amp leaves a lot to be desired; channel switching is all it has. No reverb. One eq for both channels. I understand EVH doesnt like reverb, maybe this is why that was left out.

Let me start out by saying I have the following: mesa boogie mark III, trem-o-verb, marshall DLS 2000, and a peavey vtm 60. This amp, the 5150 absolutely crushes them in terms of tone. The amp plays WITH you, you can feel the sound; lead passages articulate like nothing I have heard. I had been trying to play one EVH riff and it consistently sounded like shit until the 5150 came along and I found it wasnt me. I do have one complaint; the bass response is kinda mushy, and you just don't get the marshall "knock" and tightness; at least I haven't been able to eq it yet to accomplish this. The marshall 2000 might be better for pure rhythm, but the 5150 will kill it for leads. I dont mean to put down the other amps I mentioned either; they have their own voice and a lot of people like their particular sound. For me, I have always loved Eddie's tone, and now I am as close to it as I probably ever will be. I have come as close to it as I think I ever will.

I have had the peavey vtm 60 for 10 years or so, and it hasnt had a problem. I don't think peavey uses real high quality parts, hence the lower cost.

Some people have complained about peavey's customer support; I have emailed them twice for help (with my Wolfgang guitar, yes I am TOTALLY peavey now) and have had prompt responses both times.

I am in a four piece band, and have to have several different tones. This amp gives me the lead tone I have longed for. Email me if you think I'm wrong about any of this, I'm interested to hear others.

The amp is very cool. It would be great if there was seperate EQ's for both channels,plus there is no reverb or chorus, but overall it's very solid. I love the fact that there is a presence AND a resonance.

I use two Gibson Les pauls, and they sound unbelievable, They are fucking lethal if you crank the gain and scoop the sound. I play a very heavy style of music with lots of palm mutting, so this amp is a dream come true. Beats the shit out of a Marshall any day of the week. It's a little tough to get a clean sound. This is were seperate EQ's would have been perfect.If you want to play clean with high gain pickups, turn the presence and rersonance controls down, then turn the gain down. A lot of people just turn down the gain and don't touch the pres. or res., but they will definently cut back on most of the distortion if you do.The lead channel has a lot of balls to it also, but the rhythem channel is absolutley killer.The sound and the distortion is very brutal.

The only thing I've ever had to do to this was change tubes because my old one's wore out because I played it so much.

I have yet to deal with the company, so I can't be any help.

I would absolutley buy it again. I would love to see them make a head that is basically ther same, only have a clean channel, and then their killer, brutally awsome rhythrm channel, and then just have a gain boost for when you want to solo, instead of having an independent lead channel. Also, two EQ channels would be very cool. But even if they didn't, i would buy this again.

You can read the other reviews here. Although there are two channels, the EQ is shared, and the rhythm channel really can't get a clean sound. The effects loop works pretty well, but the level is designed for pedal effects, meaning the send level is really low. Someone wondered if Peavey would make a 50-60 watt version of this amp... well you can take out two of the power tubes to halve the power. But you MUST set the impedance selector to half the rating of your cab. If the tubes from the back are numbered 1-2-3-4, you can remove 1+3, 2+4, 1+4, or 2+3. DO NOT remove 1+2 or 3+4. If your cab is 8 ohms, set the selector to 4 ohms. If your cab is 16 ohms, set it to 8 ohms. This amp comes with five Chinese 12AX7s, and four Chinese 6L6s.

A lot of gain for sure. The lead channel is great. The rhythm channel has tons of gain also, and is a little fatter, but not as harmonically rich as the lead channel To get a clean sound, you have to keep the preamp gain below three for single coils, and below two for humbuckers. You won't be able to get a clean sound at high volumes. The gained out tones are great though. This amp really screams. There is a paper tearing, shred quality to the tone that you can't dial out with the EQ. You either love it or hate it.

The build quality of this amp is o.k. The pc board with the preamp tubes is a little flimsy and flexes a lot when you change tubes. The components are pretty cheap - resistors are pretty much all carbon, 1/4W. 5% tolerances. The power amp circuit board is a bitch to service. The circuit layout isn't the greatest, but things are spaced out pretty well and the innards aren't too congested. This amp is probably pretty reliable.

I don't know where some people's comments come from. I got a new manual and schematics in a couple days with one quick phone call. However, they practically never answer email. I asked the techs how Peavey guarantees an acceptable bias from the factory and they never answered. Well, basically the answer is they don't. The bias is fixed, not adjustable, and their Chinese 6L6 quartets are not matched. I think they set the bias cold so that for most tubes you put in, nothing is going to fry.

I think for this price new it is hard to beat this amp for high gain stuff. I modified mine to run two EL34s in the power amp section, and I also put in an adjustable bias. I can switch between 6L6s and EL34s just by rebiasing. This mod doesn't make much of a difference in tone at low volumes. I have had and still have a bunch of other stuff (A couple of Marshall 30ths, a couple of Bogner Ecstacys, a Marshall Jubilee, Mesa TriAxis, Marshall JMP-1) and I still think this amp kicks for high gain at a low price. This amp is really aggressive. I wanted to have an amp around that was relatively cheap and that I wasn't afraid to modify. I don't think I could really gig with this amp due to the lack of a useable clean channel.

This is a basic amp. The biggest problem I have with it is the shared EQ for rythym and lead. It'd also be nice if the "crunch" on the rythym channel was foot-switchable.

I'm using a G&L Climax Plus (basically a Strat body w/ Floyd, 2 HB's and a middle single pole)through a Peavy 4-12 slant(NOT the 5150 bottom) loaded with Sheffields. I've put a custom wrapped Scrazz humbucker in the bridge position. With this guit and amp, I've achieved things I never thought possible, and I've been playing for over 30 years. Right now I'm in a 3 piece heavy progresive band, doing all originals. When I first got this amp, I couldn't get shit but massive distortion from it. Then I couldn't hear my leads. I'm thinking "Whaddaf*ck". My setup was T-10 M-3 B-10 P-6 R-10, lead ch, pre-8 post-4, clean pre-6, post-7 (crunch off, bright on). After going insane trying to get some usability and dynamics from this beast, I settled on: T-8 M-8 B-9 P-8 R-10 lead pre-4 post-7 clean pre-7 post-5 (crunch off, bright on)
HUGE dynamics, rolling off on the guit volume pot to about 6, into the lead channel creates almost a Tom Sholz sound (early Boston), but deadlier and darker, with a slight apparent drop in volume rolling up to 10 (actually melt-down distortion, thus the percieved vol drop).
I also use a Boss MetalZone stomp box through the clean channel. Can you say "Hurt Me, Mistress"?
The damn thing does hum, so what? It's a TUBE amp, it's supposed to!!
I will hunt down the person that steals this amp, and kill him with a pliers. It is far and away the best I ever used, and I've used them all.

Can you say "Boat Anchor"? I don't use a backup rig. I've owned it for about 6 months, bought it new.

N/A

Get one NOW. Get TWO. It grinds all the Marshalls I've used over the years to dust. I also have a '62 Fender Bassman 50w, for home pratice use. It would be cool if Peavey built a 50w version of the 5150. If stolen, I would definitely replace it.

No reverb or chorus, guess that's to keep the price down. Shared EQ, it really needs seperate EQs.. It's pretty damn loud (120 watts!), maybe too loud for me..

Using with an Ibanez Solidbody and a Les Paul, I found the tone to be horrible.. very toppy, midrange was lacking even with the control pumped up to 10, I really don't like the sound.. very nasal and thin. Good for squealing harmonics though, and did get better when I used my Boss Metal Zone. The clean channel is total bullshit, i've seen tiny crate 10" amps that can kill this clean channel. Not a versitile amp IMHO.

Blows tubes pretty easily, I wouldn't use without backup. For such a goddamn heavy head, it's kinda fragile.

People at Peavey couldn't really help me with schematics or replacement tubes, and it took over 2 months for a new manual to show up.

I also own a Marshall Plexi Head, the Marshll destroys this Peavey. I had to buy mail order because I couldn't find one, and went on basis of reviews here, I was incredibly disappointed. I will not buy another 5150 again, and would advise other shoppers looking for a high-gain amp (I.E Marshall DSL, Mesa/Boogie, Soldano). More $$$ but better product.

This amp screams when it has to and walks the EV talk all the way. I use an ART 2000 processor and I find myself turning down the gain or even switching over to the clean channel. The reason I bought the amp was for the gain, but you got to HOLD ON FOR THE RIDE if you use it in crunch mode. Two channels - one clean w/ good gain, Crunch- go for the magic carpet ride (super gain). Has effects loop, but no reverb, add that it gets a 10. 8 tubes, count them screaming from hell. 4 preamp, 4 power. Played through 5150 4X12 better than a Marshal.

I am using an LP and Strat w/ lace pickups. The lace pickups make a big difference compared to Strats other pickups. A lot of feedback w/ the non lace. I play EV and heavy metal so this amp was biult for my style. This amp has sustain that goes on forever and I get harmonic on all strings. The distortion if it isn't already, will be world reknowned to the point of scary.

I have had no problems so far. It was purchased in 1995 so it's still green compared to my other amps. I have retired from performing so it does not get a beatting like its peers.

I have dealt with the company's tech "Mark". Very helpful and he gave me great ideas to maximize my effects by the correct order of effects into the effects loop. I purchased new tubes and a cover over the phone through Peavy's Internet Home Page. WWW.Peavy.com

I have been playing 26 years and have alot of gear, but this amp is a hot rod. I have a 75 Fender twin reverb and a Vox 100w amp plus 5 electric guitars. I have an assortment of pedals which I don't use because the ART 2000 processor replaced them all. If that bad boy were stolen I would go right out and buy another. I started out looking for the classic Marshal half stack and ended falling in lover with this MONSTER.

The 5150 features a lead and rhythm channel backed by five 12AX7's in the preamp, one EQ for both channels (needs two), a pressence and a 'resonance' knob. The resonance is like the pressence,but it works to enhance the low frequencies by working with the natural 'resonance' of your cabinet. Works great with the 5150 cabs!

The sound on this monster is awesome! I've heard people complain that the amp has 'background hum' but that has everything to do with your pickups and high voltage electrical devices you are close to (I've tested it). Once you've figured that one out, the chainsaw lead, and the blueslike clean really shine!

I find it to be extremely reliable. Although I try not to abuse it, you get to where you push these things from time to time and 'she' must love me because she takes it without any signs of trouble!

It stands alone. If you want a sound that will distinguish you from any one else and sound good, buy this one! I'd buy another tomorrow if I lost this one. It's great! I've got .wav files of it in action on my website at www.netcom.com/~isaac6/index.htm

I wish it had a seperate eq for each channel. I play it through a Sonic 2x12" cabinet and it will definitely blow away the JCM900 that our other guitarist uses. It doesn't sound quite as blusey, but with the right guitar, it comes close. I also have a Digitech Valve FX that will not work with this amp, there is a ton of feedback when using any of the gain altering effects. This is my first tube head, so it may just be the way that it is supposed to work.

I'm using an Ibanez S-470 with two HBs and 1 Single Coil. I have read that some people get a lot of sqeal from their amp, I get it ocasionally, but ony when using the singel coil pickup. I play mostly 80s Rock and Blues. I can get every sound that I want, everything from Thrash Metal to blues to a nice Tele sounding country sound (although I really don't use it for that, too often! :-) ) The distortion is incredible!! The other guy in our band with the JCM900 is always complaining that their is too much distortion. (I think he's just jealous!!)

The only thing that i have ever had go wrong was two of the tubes blew. I only run two at a time, to get 60 watts from the power section. This, as I have found out, is really hard on the tubes. I will be replacing all 4 with Mesa Boogie Tubes, in the future and will just play at a neighbor friendly level.

I bought the amp used and emailed Peavey for a manual and some other information. They were excellent!! They sent me a new manual and even told me what date the amp was made and shipped. This help greatly to determine how old it was, before I bought it. I just wish Digitech was that good!!

I have owned this amp since June and would not hesitate to purchase it again. The only amp that I have played that I liked better is the Mesa Boogie Dual and Triple Rectified head, but I don't have $2000.00 for one, so the 5150 is a steal!!

The 5150 has 2 channels (rhythm and lead) and all the rest (the crunch switch, bright switch, resonance and presence controls) are all nice. EQ is good, but separate EQ for both channels would be better, because i want my clean channel brighter.

I use a PRS CE-22 and with the 5150, i can get a lot of different sounds, from the Wallflowers overdrive to Randy Rhoads midrangy lead crunch. It suits my style fine. It can get noisy, but its expected from an amp with FIVE 12AX7s. The clean channels stays pretty clean, the distortion is over-the-top (i never go over 4, and usually only use 3!) As i said earlier i do like the clean channel to be brighter, but a Boss CE-5 chorus makes it a little brighter and wider-sounding, and does wonders for the lead channel...tightens up the distortion, and makes the channel cut through a little more. the resonance control is nice to make a good BOOM with, but i dotn go very high...only to 2 and a half, with the bass up to 7, and presence at 8. Mid at 3, and treble at 5. Pre-gain on lead channel at 3 usually...saturated enough for me. much more than that and it gets too muddy for my tastes. good sustain.

This amp is solid! I was in a car accident and nothing happened to it except that the rhythm pre-gain knob got broken off...but no biggie...it was set at two and i like it there. Not to mention that i can turn the volume on my guitar down too. no tubes broke, no wires dissconnected. its been banged a little against the wall, a guitar or two has hit it. ive had it for almost a year or more and no problems at all! very solidly made. i looked inside it and all the wiring is very clean. very well made...and made in america! Id use it without a backup, no problem!

I havent talked to the company, but i went to the website and sent some email and got replies back the next day. they also sent me literature on their products and their magazine...very nice! all for free! just great for a poor guitarist like me. with service like that, they must be customer oriented.

Ive been playing for 7 years...this is the second head ive owned...first was a Laney AOR 100 mark II...i sold it, kept one of the cabs, and bought the 5150. great amp, cheap, many options, but my Boss Chorus doesnt sound too good through the efx loop...oh well. it sounds good straight into the head. If this amp were stolen i would probably buy the combo...it would be easier to carry places, and not as loud. sides, i could hook it up to my Laney 4x12 and have a good setup. I love it for an all around good amp, all tube, for a good price. I dont like that the clean channel isnt as bright as id want it...maybe i could get someone to modify that for me. I didnt compare it, but i had played through it before, and liked what i heard, so i got it, and it was a good price. I wish it had seperate EQ, and a level control on the efx loop. I like the preamp out. i wish it had a footswitchable option for the crunch switch on the clean channel. all in all, a very good, pretty versatile amp. very well built.

I liked It a lot at first. It has a ton of gain and power to it and some massive distortion. It can blow the hell out of a Marshall. But you cant really get a good clean sound out of the thing. I have a have stack of 5150's and the amp would be so much better if it had to independent channels, each with it's ow EQ settings. Then, use an independent knob for the volume boost, similiar to what the TRamp by Trace Elliot has. Then it would be a great amp. But it has really beefy tone to it and is perfect for heavy rock or metal.

It feeds back a lot if you are using the lead channel, and it has a lot of hiss. Using a noise suprressor for this amp is a must. But it has Massivly brutal distortion.

Changing the tubes is the only thing I've had to do. Pretty reliable.

no problems

If you like distortion, forget Marshall. This amps for you.

See my previous review

This is a update to my previous submission. Just when I thought that my 5150 could not sound any better, I decided that I would sell my Peavey 4x12(which I loved) and purchase the Mesa Boogie Recto 2x12 cab. I had always wanted the Recto cab because of its sound qualities and relative portability. Additionally, I also changed to new Mesa tubes. What a difference!!! The sound is so dark, so thick, and so AWESOME! My friend and I did a side by side test with his 5150 through a Marshall 4x12 and my setup. The difference was huge. After that he went and purchased the Recto and is also in love with the sound. Great head! great cab!

Awesome

Fantastic

The features of this amp have been stated in many of the reviews, so I won't go into it. The only think it lacks is reverb, I WANT MY REVERB. I guess I will get some kind of reverb unit to go along with it.

I play a type of Progressive/Death Metal and this amp has the best gain for that sound (I don't have to use any pedals at all!!). The distortion is heavy, thick, smooth and saturated. I cannot think of a better metal amp out there (and I have tried a lot).

I have only had it for a month. It seems sturdy and my best friend has had his for a year with no problem.

Never had to deal with them. It has a 1 year warranty though, and there is a service center near my house.

I would definatly buy it again. The only thing it needs is reverb. Other than that this is the best metal amp out there, bar none.

Well there isn't much to it. 1 eq for both channels. It has a mono effects loop which i run my delay pedal thru. The GAIN is like a monster. I don't use my distortion pedal anymore. Clean channel is also great. Has PRESENCE and RESONENSE knobs. No reverb. LOUD AS HELL. The loudest Head I have every heard.

The GAIN is great. The Clean channel is also very warm and FAT. If any thing, it is too loud. To get it to sound proper(like most tube amps) you have to turn it up to a volume that the neighboors will dislike. You also might want to invest in a feebback eliminator if you get one of these.

Never have had any problems. I got it used too. The guy before me never had any problems either.

Never dealt with company.

It is great. But not the best. It is a very good all-purpose, not so costly, GIG amp. Rugged.

This is a straight forward rock and roll amp. This amp features 120 watts of all tube tone. It has two channels, 3 band eq, pre amp and post amp controls, presence and resonance controls, high gain & low gain input and crunch and bright switches. There is not a headphone output. Channel switching can be done either by the footswitch or on the amp face. Effects (on/off) can be controlled by the footswitch also. Being a huge Eddie Van Halen fan, I use this amp with a Music Man EVH original guitar. The amp sounds awsome with this guitar. I also use a Steinberger (graphite with transtrem) with emgs, this guitar also sounds great through the 5150. The 5150 is a seriously loud amp. I usually use a Scholtz power soak (similar to a marshall powerbreak) with this amp. This allows me to be able to crank the power amp to any level that I want, but I am able to keep the amps overall volume bearable. Also, taking 2 power tubes out and lowering the wattage to 60 is a nice way to keep the volume levels down while keeping tone intact.

This amp usually suits my style very well. It has great distortion and enough gain to hurt somebody. Plenty of power, and just monster sounds!!! My 5150 is an early model and I have not experienced any noise problems. I however do not use extreme settings on the preamp side. With ver high gain settings you will get hiss, but that is to be expected! Usually my settings are very low(3-4), however the poweramp gets cranked to anywhere around 8. There is not much of a clean channel, it's there, but this amp is meant to rock! You can decent volumes on the clean channel by setting the post on 10 and bringing the pre up to the volume that you need. When on the clean channel and with the crunch on, you can get some nice in between sounds. Real crunchy! What low end this amp has!!!! HUGE!!!! I run my 5150 through a Peavey 4x12. I used to also have a 1960 Marshall 4x12, but I sold it because it does not sound as good to ME as the Peavey 4x12.

This amp has been awsome for me reliability wise. I have had it since 1991/2 and it has been flawless. I have never had a problem, NOTHING goes wrong! I have gigged much with it and it has never failed. I would use it without a backup(I wouldn't say that for my Marshall gear, but thats's another story!)

It is a tank! I never had to call them.

I absolutley would buy it again for a rock/heavy rock style of music. If you need a sparkling clean channel, you are in trouble with this amp. If you want paint peeling power and huge awsome tube tone, this is the best value going.

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.

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.