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!

I have an original Block Logo 5150. This thing was awesome. I tried every amp they had and the PV 5150 killed them all. It has all the features I will ever need, since I'm not a Tweak-Freak. This amp can cover anything from metal to blues, just by adjusting the volume on my guitar. THAT alone is worth the price of admission. All-tube, 120-watts, and killer...

I have a Strat Copy with H/S/H: the humbuckers I scavenged from an old 80's Ibanez RG, and the SC is a Seymour Duncan Snark. I play hardcore/metal/thrash type stuff, and this amp is awesome. I've never been really unhappy with it, but I am getting it modded to have an adjustable bias. It can be a tad noisy when your not playing, but who gives a shit, if all you have to do is turn down the guitar and its all good.

This amp is a Tank!!! I would never need another amp, except maybe another 5150...

Ben playing for 2 years, and this is my sound. I am totally happy with it. Long Live the 5150!!!!

This amp is me all over. I went into my local music shop, played with a few amps and then thought I would try the 5150. Got it set up and loved it, bought it the same day. It can be used for every style (maybe not jazz) but very versatile in my opinion. Two channels (clean, lead), single eq (not a problem for me) series effects loop, no headphone jack (much to the disappointment of the neighbours). This amp has more power than the average gigging guitarist will ever need (120 watts of pure valve power). I use this amp everywhere, at home, at band practices, on stage. Everywhere you need an amp I use the 5150. Love it to bits.

this baby sings with my peavey Wolfgang, you can tell the guitar and amp are made to be used together, not that my other guitars don?t sound good because they do buy the Wolfgang just sings, from screaming lead to calm soft cleans this guitar and amp combination can handle them all. This amp suites my style down to a tee, I play loads of different stuff raging form emo core to blues and show tunes. The amp can get noisy on higher gain settings but a good quality noise gate sorts that problem out. The distortion is about a distorted as you can get without your ears bleeding!

this amp is built like a tank, I would never use a valve amp without a backup at a gig but that is just my personal preference (I have a Laney TF300 to use if the 5150 broke down) I don?t think that it would breakdown but it is valve and careless rodies can have butter fingers sometimes. it hasn?t broke down as of yet but I have only had it a month so we will wait and see, if it does then my local music shop will do me a repair job on it (they are very good, they are called Electro Music)

I have not dealt with peavey but I have heard that they are very good.

i have been playing coming up on 10 years now I dont use crap gear because of the high risk. i do recomend the peacey 5150 to anyone wanting a good solid valve amp to reliy on. other gear which i own includes a vaccaro generator X, 2 peaver wolfangs, fender stratocaster, fender telicaster, cry baby wah wah, mxr 115, a boss eq laney TF300, peaver 5150 and 2 engl 4x12 cabs. if it were stolen i would hunt the person down and make them buy me 5 5150s and 10 engl 4x12s and then ram a very pointed B.C.Rich guitar up his arse, play god save the queen and push him off a cliff.

Well this is your typical 2 virtually 3 channel really two head. It has the usual effects loop, bright switch crunch mode on the ryhthm channel. All in all this used to be a lot of features when these things first came out, but now it's lagging.

First of all, the people who are comparing this and the newer 5150 II heads to boutique units like Bogner and the like and saying amps like Bogner are only marginally better, either don't know what the hell they are talking about or truly have no ear for tone. There is no comparison to high end amps with this one. It does what it was designed to do, it offers a decent overall tone for a decent price. This was not meant to be a top notch piece of gear, if it was it would have cost a lot more. You can get a decent clean tone out of them, altough in my opinion they lack headroom, the crunch is the best thing you can get out of this amp. The lead tones are a little too noisey and well they do get that tradition VH brown sound, which was cool then, but now to me just lacks some articulation. This amp covers up some of the tone in your guitar and fingers, although like I said it does more or less what it was designed to do, which is more than I can say for many out there. I have been using these in the studio for many years now, and probably have more hours on them than people who own one. If you are a guitarist on a limited budget and need something that can handle a general variety decently, and want that tube sound, then this is a good amp for you. If you don't need the real tube sound, there are a ton of modeling amps out there in a similar price range that can do a lot more. Back to the tone, I find that the lead channel's gain is more or less useless beyond about 6-7 because the noise becomes a big problem, it's ok I suppose if you're using a good gate or if you have a volume pedal and always roll it down when you are not playing, but otherwise it gets very annoying. It can handle a good amount of volume, surely enough to handle virtually any venue. I don't agree with the players who think this is the greatest heavy sound for metal playing either. Obviously you've never heard any really good high gain amps. Check out the better stuff made by Hughes and Kettner, VHT, or better yet Engl or Diezel and you'll see what high gain is all about. This has a decent gain which can handle most styles of music.

I wouldn't call these very reliable I have seen them go through some abuse and last, but on the other hand I have seen virtually new ones just suddenly stop having output or not channel switch any more.

I have never had to personally deal with them.

Again, this amp does what it was originally made to do, and it does it fairly well for the price. Don't believe the reviews that say that this is the best amp out there, it's far from it, but don't believe the ones that call it crap either. It's not fair to compare an amp like this to a $3000 head because they're not meant to compete. I have been playing for a long time, and now own a guitar speaker cabinet company. I know a thing or two about tone, it's basically what has driven my career, and the best way to sum up this amp is what I have said...it does what it was designed to do. That's more than I can say for many of the poor expensive attempts companies like Marshall, Fender, and Mesa have done. They make a few products that are awesome and then others that just flop which is one reason why they are always introducing new models. That's not to say that they don't make good products too, I love particular products from all of them and other companies, but I'm simply saying that a big name doesn't mean you're getting what you're paying for. This amp does what it's supposed to do for a reasonable price, I am sure if it was meant to do more they would have charged accordingly. If this amp is the budget you are looking in, I suggest that you also look at the modeling amps in the price range, some of them are very good, and much more flexible. If you do decide to get a 5150 then be weary when buying used because these amps have been known to get abused. They are one of the most popluar amps in practice studios and many of the people who have them simply bought them from a studio at a steal got a lemon and then try to resell, so be careful. If you're interested in other tube amps in this or a similar price range a couple of recommendations, look for a smaller Rivera or VHT combo that will allow you to use an extension cabinet, you may also find an H&K head for a decent price or look into the 5150 II which is a little better. Good luck.

'02 or '03 Signature (not block letter) 5150 Head.

The features are few, but useful. Two channels, Rhythm and Lead. Shared 3-band EQ and poweramp-shaping section (resonance and presence). Independant volume and gain. Effects loop. Can run at 4, 8, or 16 ohms. Five 12AX7s and four 6L6s at 120 watts.

The Rhythm channel has two tone-shaping switches. One is "bright" which is pretty standard. It just makes everything a little brighter and clearer. The other is "Crunch" which adds another gain stage (kind of like a channel in between Rhythm and Lead).

You either like a simple set-up or you prefer more tweakability. For my uses, the features are useful and simple, though I would vastly prefer to gave the "Crunch" mode available on the footswitch.

I'm using several guitars with this rig: Gibson SG Special with EMGs (81 and 85), Ibanez RG model with DiMarzios (Tone Zone, HB from Hell), and a stock PRS McCarty Rosewood. Playing music in the style of In Flames, NOFX, old Bad Religeon, Opeth, Muse, and more (All rock oriented).

For my needs, the amp suits me just fine. I would like it if it had a reverb tank, but a good verb pedal in the loop works just as well.

Many have said this amp has no clean tone. That's not entirely the case - it doesn't do pure clean very well, but the Rhythm channel with the "Crunch" turned off at a low preamp gain setting can produce some very cool clean-ish tones that will distort more if you hit the strings hard. You can go from a slightly overdriven bluesy sound all the way to jaggy classic rock with it. This is fine with me.

Turn the "Crunch" mode on, and the Rhythm channel goes right into EVH / early 80's metal territory. It's very clear and bright, and extremely tight and crunchy. This setting is great for punk as well. It contains a lot of musical harmonic content - single notes sound strong and fat, and chords bloom quickly and have a great sparkle on the top-end. The preamp gain turned up can give you a totally convincing modern metal chug, but that's really what the lead channel is for, and since I enjoy the less brutal 80's sound so much on this channel I use it for that.

The lead channel, as many others have said, is the most brutal and punishing distortion I have ever heard/felt. The secret to getting a good (amazing) chug / lead tone out of this channel is to RESPECT THE GAIN KNOB. Turn it much past 6 and it will eat you alive and then go after your band mates, devouring them one by one until only pools of murky blood and shreds of stylish outfits remain. In all seriousness, this amp is capable of producing far too much gain for any useable purpose, even in the most wicked of blackmetal riffery. Keep it between 4 and 6 for huge distortion that is full and easy to control. Many high-gain amps have either one of two advantages. They either have powerful low-end, but can feel flubby, or they have great definition but no balls. This amp definitely seems to have both. Palm mute a power chord at any respectable volume and it's like a fast mule-kick in the chest. No mush, no flubbyness, just tight (SUPER tight) chug with an authoritative low-end punch. This amp is so tight that you could hybrid-pick palm muted chords as fast as you possibly can and hear each individual one. That's awesome.

Overall, there is a very distinctive tonal character to this amp. It has an almost.. well.. It's hard to describe. It's like you can really hear your strings moving - it's pure. You really have to play one to understand. You should listen to newer In Flames or Chimaira to get a good idea of how it sounds cranked. Their albums pretty much capture the sound.

One last thing - this amp is loud as all hell. You'll never need all the headroom it can offer, but it's nice to know it's there.

Have only had the amp for a few weeks, and have not gigged with it yet. It weighs a metric ton and seems pretty bullet-proof, so I would gig without a backup. I would definitely have spare tubes and fuses with me, though. No sense being cavalier about it.

N/A

This amp would be flawless for me if it had a few things:

1. Switchable crunch
2. Reverb
3. Low-power switch (for playing at home)

The sounds it gets are so satisfying that I'll give it an 8 despite these things. Recommended. Try one out.

i think youve all read the other reviews....

ALIRITE this is what i need to talk about...everyone was talking about how awsum this amp sounded...and i decided its time for me to get one...and i thot this thing was gonna be the best..but its just OK...i seem to like the triple xxx peavey better...well i relized i use a stande set up ... i have no special fx or anything..and the 5150 is POWERFULL...and i need help with what i can do to help it...caus i love the power just not the sound...and i thot it wood b more prutal than it is...maybe theres a problem with it:-/...PLS EMAIL ME ABOUT WAT I CAN DO TO FIX THIS..or just make it better...im a gain freak..and i ant seem to have enof..i was wondering any rack equip i could use on it...

Signature (Not block letter) 5150 head and slant cab. Two channel (rythmn and lead).
Works great with a GT6 and a 'real' guitar.
Contrary to popular belief, does not have a 'clean' channel. It was never designed to have a clean channel (unless you think RYTHMN means clean....buy a acoustic). NO CLEAN CHANNEL....DUH!
Reverb would be nice but resonance is better.
Rating.....who cares?

Jackson DK2 (1997), Jackson RR3 (with EMG 58 and 81......58's way better than the 85), Charvel Model 4 (1985).

It's probably my GT6 that gives me the best sound on earth! Definently check it out!

No noise at all.

Sounds better than what you have!

The singer in the band dumped a beer down through the upper vent, I think it's pretty damn durable. Been dropped a couple times as well. Works great!

N/A

Kicks Ass (quit whinin')!

120 Watts RMS into 16, 8 or 4 Ohms
Five 12AX7 preamp tubes
Four 6L6GC power amp tubes
High and low gain inputs
2 channel preamp switchable on front panel or remote footswitch
Rhythm channel: pre- and post-gain, bright & crunch switches
Lead channel: pre- and post-gain
Channels share 3-band EQ, presence, and resonance controls
Switchable post-EQ effects loop
Preamp output

I play with an ibanez rg520qs with dimarzio pickups and a gibson flying v with seymour duncans.The music I play is metal,rock,instrumental rock.
This amp is really noisy,I have to play with a noise gate to shut off the hum and feedback.
Its really good for heavy metal rhythms,very chunky.Sounds like a hot rodded marshall.
The clean channel is garbage,they should have worked more on this channel.

This amp is very dependable,I have gigged with it and never had any problems with it.

I bought this used so I don't know if it is even covered by a warranty.

I play through a carvin 2x12 with vintage 30's in them.
I am not happy with the overall eq,its not very flexable.Anything past 1 sounds the same.I'm thinking about sending it to voodoo amps for the mod,maybe it will make it more flexable and make the clean channel better.Also,thinking about putting in jj tubes in there.

Bought used in 1996, this amp has the old EVH block logo, and believe it was a first year. Veratality: 9, if you know how to twiddle your knobs you can squeeze almost anything out of this amp. Features have already been covered, I wish it had a reverb. It has more than enough power to play in front of 30-3000 people, all of which I have done with this amp over the last 10 years.

I play in a cover band and I can get great tone for songs as varied as Megalomaniac,(Another)Piece of My Heart, Barracuda, Ain't Talking 'Bout Love, and This Love (marooon 5). I listed specific songs vs genre's because genre's don't tell you jack s#%^& about actual tonal versatility of an amp. Although the lead channel will hiss when left sitting with the channel switched on, I don't know many people that perform a silent solo. The lead channel hiss is undetectable when being played. One item of note, you do not need to use alot of gain with this amp, it has more headroom than any amp I have ever used/played through (brew-tell). Most often I use the lo gain input which provides the tonal variety I need. I find I can control the majority of my tone through the use of my volume/tone knobs on guitar, and leave my basic settings on the amp alone. I only use a delay, chorus (maybe a phase shifter) for effects, and the effects loop works them in perfectly. One negative issue however is the channel switching foot pedal, which if stomped too hard can transmit an audible click throught the amp.

I have used it to gig in front of crowds as large as 3000 (at an outdoow festival) w/out backup (which I do not really recommend, there are other reasons to have backup amps, such as power surges, clumsy roadies, other bands looking to steal your sh&*). Those that have "blown" this amp may not understand impedance matching. The only time I have ever had to re-tube was when using a non-rated (homebrew) cabinet which did not allow me to properly match impedance, series/parallel etc. and bascially ran the tubes into the dirt (operator error). Otherwise the amp has been killer for ten years.

Peavey customer support is pretty good but not great. Have used them in conjunction with other products of theirs and found them to be NOT the best, but not the worst. If you rely on email contact, you may be waiting for quite sometime. OTherwise I have no experience with their local authorized service centers, and it was long out of warranty when I bought it.

I have been playing 10 years, I run the 5150 through a 1968 Marshall 1969AV cab. I also own a Music Man HD-130 for nostalgia's sake, but never have to use it the 5150 covers it all. If it were stolen I would go out and buy another immediately. I have played through a variety of amps, Marshall, Dr. Z etc, they are just not as versatile as the 5150.

This is an early 5150 with the EVH block lettering. In it's early life it was not very versatile but really kicked butt for the high gain stuff. This is a 2 channel beast and I do run an early Ibanez rack mount digital delay through the effects loop. The tubes it came with were chinese made 6l6's.

My main guitar is a Parker Fly Classic but I also run an early Gibson SG, Carvin "Kit" Strat (this is a GREAT guitar!, Dano 56-u2, and a Chinese cheap strat through the 5150. I play AC/DC, Creed, classic rock type music primarily. The tone is there for the hyper distorted stuff if I need it. Is the clean channel distorted at high volumes? Who the heck can crank one of these and survive! Distortion is a 9 on a scale of one to ten for brutality!

Here's what made the amp come alive. I had Torres Engineering in the SF Bay area install an adjustable bias and replace the tubes. Holy Cow. They put Svetlana's for the power tubes and JJ 12AX7s for the preamp. This is not the same amp. The warmth is incredible and I can nail many more classic rock tones on channel one than I could ever before. Channel 2 is now more focused and the individual notes now come out...before they were a saturated mess. Spend the bucks for this mod or quit yer whinin'!

This is a tank. Never a breakdown and I trust it

Called with a question and they were helpful and fast to answer.

Been playing for 20+ years and have a Princeton Reverb, Crate practice amp, Silvertone 1430 amp, etc. I love this amp but it is dang stinkin' big, especially with th 4x12 slant cab. Need a roadie and I'm not that good!

Channel 2 is really noisy, hissssssss. Reverb would be nice, I'm spoiled with the Princeton's reverb.

Again, invest in new tubes and the bias mod. It's worth it!

Bought new in early 90's. Not a versatile amp, yes does one thing but does it VERY well. Features have been done - same here.

I am not a metal player usually, I grew up on classic, southern and hard rock but love a good higain amp. The gain on this amp is just amazing, but you DO have to be subtle with the tweaking.

Yes, clean is VERY COLD. Would love a warmer clean - even though I actually don't mind a little gain - just needs to have some warmth in the breakup. But I can get amazing range of gain with this using low input, (guitars of choice are strats w/sc and bridge humbuckers) and go from nice breakup to wailing singning scorching leads with flick of knobs/switch.

Yes, truth is you need to turn up post-gain to at least 4 to start getting good sound (like my Marshall Silver Jub) and I use lead channel pre-gain at between 2 and 5-6. While it is just tone nirvana to me my old ears can't take 120watts for long.

BTW - yes you CAN get old EVH sounds out of it - but its mostly up to the player & technique, not just the amp. (EVH tone changed dramatically later, and I can get more of that old 'brown sound' out of this amp than he did/does, though he obviously isn't 'trying' to mimic his old marshall.)

toally reliable - done many gigs w/o backup.

n/a, never needed them for any peavey amp.

Playing 20 years - own lots of peavey's because of Bang for Buck factor. (Classic 15, Classic 30, Triumph 120, even old studio 40) Other tube amps include, Marshall 2550 Silver Anniverary head and Marshall DSL2000, 401 combo. Mostly strats, LOVE the single coil quack, but also like a 'bucker in bridge.

I prefer to gig with this amp over any other for most purposes & would HAVE to replace if I lost it. Bang for BUCK is there!

I don't know what year mine was made, but it kicks all ass. i don't really know how versatile it is... i just found a GREAT sound for me that i LOVE, so i haven't tried fucking around with it too much. it has 2 channels that both sound really really fucking good. i don't wish that this had anything else... it's pretty much fabulous how it is. i'm in a band that plays a lot of loud rock shows, so it's good to have a 120 watt beast backing me up while i'm rocking out. this is a tube beauty.

I use a Gibson SG Special Faded. It sounds so good. i play anything from "emo" to "metal-core". this suits everything that i'm into. seriously this amp can do whatever i want.

I got this used about 4 days ago and it hasn't broken down yet. haha, i don't know it's history though. it seems like a beast though.

i didn't talk to anybody from Peavey, but i this amp a lot so i'm gonna give them a 10 anyways.

I really like this amp. i got the 5150 head and 5150 straight cab for $1,100 used. i like it a lot. it kicks ass. i RECOMEND THIS


this is the band i'm in. we're from NC.
www.purevolume.com/thekeep

yall know this stuff....2 channels...shared eq....high/normal inputs....etc.

so, i play several things...i'm in a melodic hardcore band (somewhere between nodes of ranvier, norma jean, comeback kid, and underoath), a metalcore band (along the lines of somewhere between bleeding through and atreyu), a "noisecore" band (along the lines of converge, psyopus, and between the buried and me), and a praise and worship band. i use an esp (ltd) ex 351 with emgs (hz's until i get the $$ for the 85 and 81 that i want). this guitar has sounded awesome through several amps...the passive emg's are pretty impressive...i mean, they dont stand up to the active ones when it comes to distortion, but they still sound really good. but anyway, like i said, i get awesome sounds out of several amps, apparently this one is an exception. dont get me wrong, it sounds decent....just not defined....even with the bass on 5 it still sounds muddy....i actually got the clean sounding decent, i think that has somethin to do with the fact that i like heavy strings (tuned to standard of course...maybe drop d every once in a while....im no nu metal kid who wants to tune to drop a so i can sound like korn). point is, its a severely limited in what it can do...and it doesnt even do that very well...

well, its alreday broken down twice....that and the wiring in it sucked when i got it....from what i hear, 5150s in general have that problem

peavey has fairly good customer support....they've workded with me every time

the reason i got this amp was the band i was in was going on tour and i needed a better amp more suited for playing shows and i didnt have all that much $$....all in all i beleive i could have done much better....i guess i might have just gotten a bad amp.....either way i wouldnt buy another 5150....maybe a marshall...or a mesa...or a bogner...but def not a 5150

Look them up at www.peavey.com!

I only play a Gibson Historic 57 Goldtop with Burstbucker pickups with this amp. I use no pedals except for a Boss tuner, and Planet Waves cables. I play the whole spectrum of rock and roll and this amp gets any tone I want. I have it loaded with JJ Tubes from Bob at www.eurotubs.com. I mostly use the clean channel with the crunch and bright buttons depressed and use the volume knob to go from Led Zeppelin style bluesy clean to Bon Scott era AC/DC. I only use the low gain input and switch to the lead channel for blistering The Darkness style solos. I never use the effects loop and the shared EQ works great, no need for a seperate one for me. When I'm in the mood I get a great Godsmack sound with the lead channel too. I couldn't be more pleased with the sound and versatility of this rock and roll amp. I have no need to look elsewhere.

Never had a problem yet and I doubt I will. I plan to purchase a 5150 combo in the near future just in case and to get a little more variety of tone, reverb tank, different tubes, etc.

Bought the amp and a matching 4x12 cab off ebay, never had to deal with Peavey.

I'm 27, been playing for 7 years. I have owned a variety of Marshall's, JCM 800, 900, DSL, and AVT. I switched to Peavey for several reasons and havn't regretted it at all. It's made in America, was developed and tested by some of the best ears on the planet, Eddie Van Halen, is played by one of my favorite guitar players ever, Ted Nugent, and is based on a Marshall style head. I couldn't be happier, this one is a keeper!

shoot, I don't know. Sorta like an old Marshall head but I never touched the dials. I just played through this guys rig. It was a 5150 head on a Peavy 4x12 cabinet.

I'll totally agree with Jason down below who gave this a "1" for tonal quality. I'm not going to rate it however. I'll just tell you my experience with it was that the power chord come through real cool like all the newer metal bands sound like but that for soloing it was pretty aweful. I bent up the B string to a high E and all I got was a high E. Well, I want more, I want some harmonics for God's sake! Where was the vasilating overtones? No burn, no scream, no feedback, no nothing....just a high E......

Well, I'm an old dude who grew up learning solos from the greats like Schenker and Hendrix. I've been shredding the finger board for 30 years on a daily basis. I should be someone by now but....fuck, I don't know what happened!

But then, soloing is out of vogue anymore. Modern metal guitars didn't have time to learn how to solo it seems. Who wants to hear 2000 notes ripped out in 30 seconds anymore anyways? People, these days, don't have time solos anymore. "Just verses and choruses, please" is all they say.

Eddie Van Halen?????????? OH STOP!!!! This sounds absolutely nothing like Eddie's sound!

But I do like the rhytym tone on this. It's heavy and clean. Great for all that new NickelBack, Slip Knot, Chevelle, etc etc modern metal stuff

ugh!

There is a few things i miss in this amp,such as chorus and reverb and also a clean channel.
But if you think of the sound you get distorted i really complain,because it is good!!!!

im havin my modified with an extra clean channel to solve one of my few complaints about this amp,and for the rest im going to get some pedals.

Im using a Epiphone Les Paul standard,with EMG 81 in the bridge and im so ssatisfied with the sound im getting.
i have only used it for a couple of hours with my band now but i think i would like to be burried with this amp when i die! =)
I play detuned music,heavily distorted such as machine head,sepultura,slipknot but also a lot of slayer,pantera,metallica and so on.
I have had a lot of feedback and pretty much noise with it,but i have it crancked to a 6 at lead channel with gain set at 6 or 7 so........
As i previously said about the clean sound it isnt to good,but you have to have in mind that it doesnt have a clean channel,only a rhytm channel that you can turn down the gain to get a clean sound out of.
But its all i can afford for now and its ok but not great so..........
I dont use it very much anyway,only on one son in the band.

This amp is so great for me,and im so satisfied!
I can asure you,if you play some sepultura,slayer,slipknot och machine head stuff you will be satisfied with this amp.
A tip,have them adjust the bios,ive heard that it makes great difference and an even greater distortion,im going to get it done on mine!

Dont know,havent even had it for a week so............
But no problem yet! =)

Dont know,never tried! =)

So awesome,i love this amp!
Once i get money to adjust bios and get a clean channel,i think i will keep this amp for the rest of my life!
Couldnt think of anyone better.

Not a lot, really. Is this a one trick pony? Yes. Read this again, YES. Once again, in unison: YES. But I personally will take the trick. Perhaps you should too? Read on . . .

No reverb, no separate eq, no digital effects, no nothing. Meaning the absence of a thing.

Oh, there is an effects loop. But you wouldn't be needing this now, would you? We all know what an effects loop does to otherwise proper tube amps. Sucks tone. Or just sucks. Whatever. Go to amptone.com. It is all eloquently explained by connoisseurs of the vacuum tube. In English, too.

There is one channel and it is called magna cum fucking loude. Clean channel? Wrong amp. Practice amp? Nope. The amp to impress your girlfriend with your EVH licks and overall guitar prowess? Strike three, my friend. Call your lawyer after you receive the eviction notice. Let me know how it goes.

So why on earth would anyone buy this amp unless they will be playing the big Rock Show at Madison Square Garden with a full compliment of burly rodies in tow? Now you are getting the point!

Still interested, aren't you??? I thought so.

Jesus Eddie, what were you thinking back in '94? This amp is almost comical. 120 watts. So I guess it finally came down to: "Sure my 100 watt Marsahll sounded great for the first seven albums, but now I need something louder." How about another 20 watts Mr. James Brown. After all, it's the extra 20 watts that sets a Peavey customer apart from his otherwise pussified Marshall breatheren.

Ever heard of the Fletcher-Munson effect? This is what happens when you put someone in charge of designing an amp who happens to be stone fucking deaf!

All right, enough of the wattage carcasim. This amp does one thing well and that is to generate loud gobs of complex, sinewy distortion. Kudos to the Creator. Crunch is no longer a noun. It is a verb. The 5150 is to distortion what the Chateau Margaux is to bordeaux. Sexy. Complex. The distortion is so rich. The harmonic content is almost haphazard. I would not describe it as brutal. Wrong musical genre, man.

But! Don't forget to turn this puppy up. Way up. And no. That does not mean to put the post gain on 1.5. That does not mean 2. That means well north of 4. Do not, repeat, do not use an attenuator. This is not how the Creator intended it. No power tubes saturation or capacitor work at anything less than 4, so sayeth the Creator. Oh, and another thing, there is an XLR input into the 5150 cab for a reason. The effects go AFTER the cab, not into the effects loop, and then into a power amp, and then, and only then, into the cabs.

Play digital / solid state? Spend a day with this head (and matching cab) somewhere where people, pets, and other viable life form do not dwell. You shall be converted, and eventually deafened.

In contrast to a Marshall, the 5150 has a fuzzy, bass intensive distortion. Not like a Hendrix fuzz. Maybe fizzy is a better word. When I first played it after playing on Marshalls for years, I didn't like it . . until I kept playing, and playing, and playing. Addicting. And yes, so very, very good.

This reminds me of the joke of the guy who jumped off the top of the Empire State building. Lady calls out to him as he is passing the 43rd floor, "How's it going?" The man says, "So far so good."

Problems: I'll just send this off to Eddie's house COD in a few years after it needs a tube and re-bias job. Probably get it back faster and in better shape than the time I sent my X100 into Jim Dunlop . . . but that is a different story entirely.

This is not a fantastic value at all. It is overpriced, discontinued, outdated, and of use to only a precious few. It is of utterly no use aside from being an unbearably loud distortion maker in early 90s dress. Would I buy it again? In a hearbeat and at nearly any price.

This amp does one thing, and that is to provide the Creator with post 1984 to VH3 distortion preamp. Will this be of use to you in any conceivable application? Probably not. Want to sound like the Creator? This will not do it.

But if you want the mother of all distortion generators cleaverly disguised as an amplifier: you have found it. Neal, pray, and give thanks. Also, I would not be too concerned about cross-over distortion, re-tubing, re-biasing, 12ax7s, and blah-blah-blah. Play with your ears, not an oscilloscope. If jacked up correctly (read loud, loud, loud) those issues will slip into a trivial irrelevancy.

If I may quote: "Nothing exceeds like excess." Enter the 5150.

Where's the beer?

okay.. maybe it's low on it's features.. I really do miss a 2nd EQ, but and I'd want an extra midi input to use with my effectsprocessor to switch channels. I allways use the effectsloop and it works for me.
I use all the possible options on this great amp.
The power is overwhelming and I don't think there's a better amp for me than this one.

dimarzio tone zone at the bridge, the dimarzio evolution at the neck.
This fully carry's my sound to another level of hardcoreporngreat music. My style is like pantera, deftones and tool etc. But very tight and groovy.
The distortion has a maximum punch.. And I LIKE IT!!!!
The great dark DEAD sound of the amp with lots of clarity and warm tone.

never had any problems....!!!

never needed it!

In combination with the other guitarplayer of the band who plays a mesa boogie tripple rectifier. It sounds f*cking great!!!
these two very different sounds fill eachother in..

This is an addition to an earlier post. I just wanted to mention that you can get very different sounds depending on whether you plug into the "normal" or "high" gain jack. If you have hot humbuckers, the "high" input will probably be too fuzzy/mushy, at least that was what I found. I plug into the "normal" input jack and I get more gain than I know what to do with. I play real metal (old Metallica, Slayer, Sepultura, old Megadeth, Suicidal, etc) and I don't go beyond 6.5 on the pre (gain) knob. If I plug into the "high" input with humbuckers I find that I lose definition and it turns into a swarm of bees. If you like that it's there, but for those of us who have chops and need to hear what our right hand is doing, I recommend the "normal" input.

I bought this amp years ago as a backup to another amp. It very quickly became my main amp, and since buying the 5150 I have bought (and quickly sold) various other high end, high gain tube amps. Trace Elliot Speed Twin, Rivera M-100, Carvin Legacy, Mesa DC-5, Mesa Single Recto, Mesa Dual Recto (and others I won't bother mentioning) have all come and gone because they couldn't hold a candle to my 5150. The Dual Rec came close, but the Mesa's are too tight. A tight sound is usually a good thing, but Mesa's are so tight they sound almost solid state. They don't "breathe" the way a tube amp should, very unresponsive compared to my 5150, which has a very "open" sound. With the 5150, the Bass and Resonance combine to give you an incredibly thick sound. With the Mesa's, when you added more bass, the sound didn't get thicker, it got muddy. Didn't matter what cab I played the Mesa's through, they just weren't very responsive compared to my 5150. I haven't played any Soldano's or Bogners yet, but those cost an arm and a leg anyways. If money isn't an issue, there are probably better amps to be had, but if you aren't filthy stinking rich, these are the bomb for high gain metal tones.

lead channel,rythm channel,120 watt all tube amp,effects loop, 2 inputs(high gain and regular gain

I play a fender American strat. This amp has great tone. I play in a metal band and can play gigs with the volume at 4-5. I can get sounds like slayer, maiden, pantera, AC/DC, metallica etc.... The clean channel gets distorted at high volumes but what do you expect, it's a high gain amp. I have 4 6L6's in it. best gain i've heard in an amp. I hook it up to a 5150 4x12 cab.

Very reliable. I have to use to use it without a backup but i trust it.

never delt with them

Great Amp. I compared it to Marshall's, Mesa's, Randall's and a lot of other amps and this is the best sounding amp out of all of them.

This is just a review to counteract the bullshit of the previous review. If 5150's aren't used by Eddie- then why has his tone significantly changed to most people since the 80's? Don't tell me Ted Nugent, Steve Morse, Devin Townsend, Jennifer Batten, Arch Enemy, In Flames, Carcass, (list is endless) all have OTHER AMPS inside their 5150! Most of those guys arent even endorsed by Peavey officially!

Killer amp, brutal tone. DO the bias mod for cheap and its even better. Leads sound like Heaven. I can get Lynch to Petrucci on this amp. Alot more versatile than people think! I use a V amp 2 for clean tones but the tone is not too bad for clean (alot like a Marshall!)

Its a post PTP/Tube mounted to circuit board amp- as are most commercial amps these days. For some reason though, people have told me that Peaveys are actually pretty good in this respect, but obviously not indestructable!

Their website is great and has a wealth of info, however biased the guys who post there sometimes are.

"Jason's" review- is complete bullshit. He says that Peavey sucks, well you know what? Fender and Marshall's modern amps aren't any more reliable (all have tubes mounted to flimsy circuit boards) and Peavey's price point actually makes them better in my opinion. He goes on about a Jcm 800- well that doesnt have very good clean tone either, does it? 5150's can get you close to a Soldano AND Marshall sound- that's what my friend is known as BANG FOR THE BUCK!

I think this amp was made around "94". I've used this amp in live situations and was constantly giving this thing a second chance. It's terrible. And for all these "musicians" trying to buy all these effects to jusitfy it's pooppy tone please listen to this review and save your money. This amp has three channels (which are all terrible). All tube very loud with 6L6 power. Equipped with effects loop and foot switch.

I have a fender strat,Ibanez prestige with emg 85 and 81's,guitar I had custom built (PRS style) made from koa wood with emg 85's. My style is very versitile ranging in between Vinnie Moore to Gary Moore to Allman Brothers and I guess back to Vinnie Moore. This amp is for today's power chording pansies. This is not a soloist amp and for the money you pay for it, it should be. All the channels are terrible especially the clean channel which sounds like an AM radio and the lead channels have this annoying mid frequency you can NEVER get rid of. And I love all you "musicians" trying to justify making it sound better and suggesting buying rack shit to go with it. Please don't listen to these people. You can't make a turd smell better. This amp sucks. And if you think Eddie Van Halen plays this thing your crazy. I used to gig 6 days a week and was a hired gun for several bands I know what I'm talking about when I say you are getting ripped off by Peavey.

This amp has broken down on me before several times. I finally got it fixed then sold for 300.00 (what a relief) to the rhythm guitarist in my old band and it broke down on him unfortunatly.

Peavey sucks. Anybody that has went on tours with these amps know what I'm talking about. Way to inconsistent. The newer amps (satch model,xxx model) could be different and I've heard good things about them but I can't trust this company.

Look the 5150 sucks for anyone playing clean overdriven leads. If you want to play like Chevelle or Saliva or bullshit like that then buy it. But if your actually gonna think your gonna get Eddie's tone or anything close forget it. If I were to have had it stolen I would have been happier. I suggest buying a JCM 800 and getting a vintage tube screamer and that's it for that one good "shredd" tone. The Fender twin's and Hot Rodd's also make good versatile amps and after that don't spend no more money.

Ok guys here are just a few things to make your 5150 sound even better!
Get yourself a BBE 362 SW (or a 462). This thing is awesome! Let it sound like a different amp. Brighter and tighter!
To give the distortion channel that really tight metal sound
just change the tubes into Groove Tubes 6550 (that was a tip by Peter Diezel!). Damn, what a sound!
Next thing is: Get yourself a Mesa V-Twin (I bought the 19" version to keep everything in the rack!), Now you have two Preamps in a row! WOW!
Last thing I use is a T.C. G-Major for effects.
With all this stuff you can cover everything from Steve Vai, Satriani, Malmsteen, Romeo, Petrucci, Slash, you name it to Metallica, Slayer, Maiden, Evergrey, Symphony X, . . .
OK, it still doesn't have a great clean channel. For that I use
a POD PRO through a Mesa 50/50. Both setups go through Mesa Rectifier
Cabs. That's it!
Great sound for a reasonable price!

Versatility? This amp does anything from blues to the most hardcore metal you could think of; you just need to know how to tweak those knobs. The only thing I really wish it had was a built-in spring reverb; you can all agree with me on that one I hope. I use this amp in my band (A blend between bands such as: Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Unearth, Bleeding Through, Darkest Hour, etc.). This amp has more than enough power for me; the post gain on my lead channel does not exceed 4 without experiencing near-death.
After a re-bias and fresh set of tubes as well as a good guitar and cab for it, this thing is phenominal PERIOD.

I use a ESP ltd Viper-50 with Tony Iommi signature Gibson pickup in the bridge (Soon I am getting an ltd Viper-400 for the flag inlayers and set neck... but the Iommi is the best pick up I have ever heard and probably ever will hear). This suits my style perfect, has the dynamic response and balls of any of those damned botique amps that are thousands of dollars, you just have to know what the hell you're doing and you'll be suprised what you can get for a tone out of this beast. This is NOT a clean amp. Notice how it is Rythm and Lead, not CLEAN and Lead. Of course it will distort at high volumes unless you are using a very clean neck pickup and you're on the Normal Gain input - it should suit you ok then. The distortion is destructive and harmonically rich and dynamic. Don't dick around with cheap cabs with this amp; if you want to REALLY hear this amp at its peak, run it with vintage 30's and you'll know what I mean. I, personally use a Behringer ULTRASTACK 4x12 slant cab (Because the 2 top speakers slightly slant left and right) With Vin 30's and old original Altecs speakers which are incredibly rare. My bottom cab is a G-Benz George Lynch 2x12 cab (AMAZING) and my stack's tone has alot of authority with this rig. Folks, especially you Mesa Boogie junkies....you guys are really hitting the sauce if you think your precious Triple Rectifier can outdue a 5150. You all just cant admit it because all of you payed 1200 - 1800 for your Rectifiers and cant admit that an amp that costs around 500 used blows the doors off of it; so keep telling yourelf that, nobody cares... except the other Boogie freaks. Sure, Boogies sound good, but 1000 dollars more good??? Hah, I think not! The BOSS Super Overdrive (Yellow) Pedal works wonders with this amp. In the high gain input, I have the pre-gain on 6. The boss pedal's level is at MAX, the tone is at 1 o' clock (To give the 5150 a little slack on the buzzy edge it has while adding some character to the slap of the strings), and the Drive is about 3mm away from minimum. It's perfect, for me anyways.

To you people who seem to find a problem with these amps, don't complain about this amp until you have a guitar and cab even WORTHY of plugging into one of these beasts not to mention the knowledge of how tube amps are used because you line-6 and solid state rejects need to learn how to use one before you complain about it. This amp is not junk.. it's real shit dude.

Definetly, never had a problem with it.

Never dealt with it.

No spring reverb, usually needs a re-bias if you do not want that buzzy "crossover distortion" since the amp's stock bias is biased rather cool(which is part of Van Halens "Brown Sound")

E-Mail me if you want to ask me anything! Have a nice day :)

Not very versatile many my think, but because the sound is so rich and full and smooth, I am able to use the rhythm channel with the crunch switch on and achieve a great thick lead tone for rock and blues via zztop/santana and I simply back off on the guitar to clean things up for rhythm. Single coils help the guitar to clean up even more when backing off on the volume.

When I play lead I want a thick full tone, not a sharp, ear piercing tone, I want people in the audience to hear my guitar sing sweetly, yet scream at the same time, this amp does exactly that! Your solos will take on a violin like beauty, while maintaining a rock edge. I also own a Marshal TSL 2000 head and it sounds thin next to this head.

Peavey equipment lasts forever...

Get on the phone and give them a call, they're waiting to assist you...

I've been gigging since 1983. I've played everything from Black Sabbath, Hank Williams, The Clash, The Rolling Stones, BB King, etc. I own Line Six pods, marshal tube amps, crate tube amps, fender tube amps, over 100 pedals of all kinds including tube screamers rebuilt by analog man, sans amps, and they all help in their own way to achieve certain tones and effects, but now for the first time it's just me, my guitar and my head and speaker cab. My fingers and the volume and tone control on the guitar do the rest.

Amp is about 8 years old. It is very versatile, I just wish that it had seperate tone controls for both the rhythm and the lead channels. I do dig the seperate volumes for each channel, though, really comes in handy for doing lead work. I honestly don't play much hard rock or metal with this amp, i bought it for the rhythm channel. It has a great, darkened crunch tone to it that I wasn't about to pass up for the price I paid for this amp (480 bucks american). HOWEVER, it DOES do a great hard rock sound (think Deftones, Tool, etc for hard rock), but i tend to play things more along the lines of Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Radiohead, Pearl Jam, etc.

I switch between four different guitars. My main two guitars are my Fender Fat Strat Texas Special (two texas special single coils with a Seymour Duncan Custom Custom humbucker i put in the bridge) and my fender Telecaster (with a Seymour Duncan stacked Lil '59 humbucker in the bridge). But i also use a stock Gibson Sg Standard and a stock Rickenbacker 360. Like i said, it is excellent for crunch and with a low gain setting, i use the lead channel as a volume boost. Not EXCELLENT for a clean amp, but it does the job... i usually use my Roland Jazz Chorus for that.

It's been through a lot of shit.. 7 years and still going strong. (If i ever need backup, I'd use my Jazz Chorus with my ProCo RAT distortion, who has money to throw around for real backups?!)

I wouldn't know

My setup goes as follows: Tele, Strat, Sg, or Rick into a homemade pedalboard (Boss Tuner, Crybaby wah, Boss Delay) into a whirlwind A/B amp selector which runs to my jazz chorus or my peavey 5150 and marshall 1960A cab. I've played for about 9 years now, and if this amp were lost or stolen, I would buy another, but I would also look around for Sovtek Migs and JCM800s and such. this amp would get a 10 from me if it werent for the lack of seperate tone controls

The Amp was built in 2003 and it perfect for playing the havier kinds of music. The amp has 2 channels, 1 rythm channel and 1 leadchannel. The rythm channel also has a bright and crunch option. The channels are switchable with a button on the amp or with the footswitch. With the footswitch you can also switch the effect loop on and off.

I use an ESP Horizon with Active EMG pickups and mainly play metallicA and slayer kind of music. The distortion is very good!!! It rocks! The clean sound is also very good altough most people say it isn't

Very solid built. Perfect for gigging. Only the footswitch is made of plastic and isn's very solid built.

Never needed them

I'm very happy with this amp and I don't think I buy another amp ever again.

1995 model 5150 head. the lack of a useable clean does bother me, but the overdrive is seconed to none. you all know the features by now. I re-biased this amp to use the jj's and the thing wails. A note to you guys who want this amp to sound good....re-tube the pre-amp! The stock pre-amp tubes suck. I put groove tube gold 12ax7's in the pre (p.s.-gt12ax7 golds are 15 bucks each and there's 5 of em), and this thing sounds better than ever before. The clean channel does blow, because you can't get it to clean up all the way. I don't think this thing should be a fender, I have a twin.....I just think eddie should have considered throwing a clean like the trippleX.

with ANY pickup the amp is brutal. My style is pretty well covered. I use this amp A/B'ed with a fender twin reverb, and It is the best set-up you can get. The twin does the clean, and this 5150 does the dirty. The amp is Very noisy in the high gain imput. What I do, is go into the lo gain Imput, and up the gain on each channel. Quiet as a mouse.

Never gig with a backup for the 5150. I have a fender hot rod deville that I use as a backup for the twin, but the 5150 is a tank. I am mainly submitting this review because Of reliability. I was rear-ended with this head in my trunk. The car was toatled, the trunk of the car was in the back seat, and everything else in the car was broken. The peavey 5150 head was banged up to hell and back, and the damn thing works great!!!!!!!!

lots of other gear. I have a Soldano SLO-100 head and a Soldano 412 cab, and I use the 5150 head on the Soldano's cab. I swear!! The SLO-100 has better cleans, but not at the volumes I play at!

1995, versitile as any,3 channels if you include crunch,i wish it had independent eq for each channel but hey what the hell,lotsa power on tap,stock tubes make the amp sound flubby myddy very loose bass with no conmtrol,i change the tubes and voila tight bass reponse and clear smooth highs i love it.

this is were this thing rocks, if you cant dile in a good tone outta this amp you are a moron,keep playing with your ss vamp are your pod..
tube amps are made for guitar players not ss woosies,if a sans amp are any solid state amp sounds bether to you then a tube amp you DONT KNOW SHIT about real guitar tone.......................
ive got jj6l6gc in the power section and tesla e83cc,mullard ecc83,and electro harmonix 12ax7 in the preamp, this amp sounds good now boy,before it was a little mushy now it blows alot of competition away.

built like a tank

i dont know never delt with them

i had a mesa boogie quad preamp with a mesa boogie 50\50 power amp trough a marshall 1960a cab before i sold it now. now i have this 5150 head bias mod,randall rs412w cab loaded with celestion v30,s and i love it.the sound is much fuller than my boogie,the bass is much more controlable then any boogie,s out there,you have to be carfull with boogie to much bass and they start to fart out real bad with my peave 5150 i can put the bass on 10 and it is still tight,i love this amp hey if its good for the man himself evh then it should be good for me

Come on, this amp is really crappy. I have rehearsed with it many times and there's so many other sounds out there, the distorsion is exremely fuzzy, no real crunch n punch wich is my base. the feedback is killing, used it with a GMajor but every effect sounds so muddy with this amp. I'd totally go Mesa or marshall. im using a Tech 21 sansamp PSA-1 nowadays, wich gives me something this unit doesnt, CONTROL. Havent heard it with the bias adjustment though. but i wouldnt buy an amp that needs tweaking out of the box to sound good!

Pretty basic head - early 90's block EVH model, 2 channels (3 if you include the crunch channel). As with everybody else, I wish it came with a basic reverb / separate EQ for each channel. 120watts of tube power, certainly not for bedroom rockers - like me :)
Normal head features like effects loop, 2 inputs - high gain and normal.

Ibanez 540S with breed & evolution pickups direct into the 5150 into a Marshall 4x12 cabinet. I use a Digitech Studio 100 into the effects loop. (The studio 100 sucks but that's another story)

Ok, sounds. I got blown away back in 1996 when I first heard it. The lead channel is just the bee's knees - very, very thick, screaming lead tone that maintains clarity and punch. I can play a Dmin7th chord and hear every note in the chord. It does sound a lot like later Van Halen tones. Not quite 100% there, as I still think he's got a lighter touch, probably due to his use of light pics, but still undoubtedly Van Halenish.

Clean channels are usable but as everyone said, it's not a Fender Clean. Crunch channel is quite a fair bit removed from the searing lead channel, its more like a Marshall amp just breaking up. Overall, it's no one trick pony that many make it out to be.

It sounds very good and clear in the normal input but I notice a fair bit of mud in the high gain input. Not much noise to speak of.

Compared to my ADA MP-1, the 5150 is just a major step up sonically. I thought the MP-1 was great, but it had a very compressed sound, very midrangey and focussed. Good for Nuno Bettencourt stuff, but not much else. It lacked clarity as well, and the MP-1 ONLY sounded good when I used a BBE Sonic Maximizer with it. The 5150 is much hotter, clearer, and what some guitarists would describe as 'open sounding'.

Rumour has it that it is modelled after the Soldano SLO 100 heads. I have to check these out to verify and compare the sounds.

I've been playing for about 10 years, and I play an eclectic mix of rock (Sabbath, Faith No More) shred (Vai, Malmsteen) and recently, Jazz. (Martin Taylor, Joe Pass) This head probably isn't the best for the latter, but it is still convincing.

I've owned it for only 3 months, but it's been a glorious 3 months!
If I were in the gig circuit, I probably wouldn't gig without a backup, not because the 5150's reliability is questionable, but just because its not very wise to do so, is it?

No comment here.

I would probably buy another block EVH head if it went missing, though I suppose I would be tempted to try out a variety of different amplifiers.

Overall, a great amplifier, no glaringly obvious faults, although separate EQ for each channel and a reverb would be wonderful. I think it deserves the Van Halen stamp of approval.

PS: If anyone knows how to nail the later Van Halen tone without spending ridiculous amounts of cash, please let me know!! I've read about variacs, early Marshall heads, Wolfgangs, but I'm talking about easily achievable results without excessive expenditure. Thanks!

Basic features: 2 channels, 1 eq setting, no effects but there is an effects loop. I don't really care about extra effects anyways...so many people are like "no spring reverb." So fucking what? Why the hell do you want spring-reverb anyways? This amp is for goddamn rock n' roll and heavy metal! Much like the basic Marshall JCM 800. Only this is BETTER.

I play heavy metal and this amp just completely fucking rips, it's not even funny. It BEGS for harmonics, and when you do hit one it's like it's sent from the bowels of hell straight for your ruptured ear-drum.
When you're on high-gain and you're not playing the amp will hiss at you, but when you're playing it's gone. I have never turned the volume past 3.5 (well maybe once), and the knob goes to 10.
I have no complaints about the clean channel, I don't want to sound like SRV so I don't care about reverb. There's no button that releases fire-breathing dragons or any of that bullshit, just a basic high-gain ballsy amp.

No problems yet, I've had it almost a year now. I took it to our first gig last week and it performed beautifully.

Haven't talked with customer support yet, thank god. There is a cool web forum on peavey's website where you can ask tech questions though.

At the price I got this amp, I should've bought 2. The only thing I would like to see is a separate eq for each channel, but I guess that's why there's the 5150 II eh?

The 5150 is not a "bang for the buck amp." It's a well build, extremely versatile high gain amplifier. It's only as good as the person using it is. You need good tubes, a good guitar, and knowledge of setting your levels when using a tube amp... This isnt like some cheap solid state crate that you can set all your settings and crank it; tube amps sound very different at different volumes, and the knobs must be adjusted accordingly.

Im using a ESP viper-50 with a Seymour Duncan Dimebucker in the bridge (Compare that to a Gibson SG, and the SG is sadly eaten) The dimebucker gives off this low end background hum with the power chords that bring out the TRUE monster in this high gain amp. Althought I am switching to a gibson Iommi pickup, which is also a wonderful pickup.
Can't get clean? Bullshit my friend. If you have a decent guitar that beholds a neck pickup, and you want a good clean sound.. the normal gain input is your friend. You dont need to plug into the high gain input if you have a decent guitar, the amp has too much gain to begin with -- which isn't a bad thing, because if you have a guitar with a pickup that isn't so sensitive, up goes the gain. I've gotten cleans with it that compare to my 1960's Fender Black Face Champ Amp. Distortion is amazing, no harm in taking out those ruby's and putting in some tighter sounding JJ tubes (www.eurotubes.com). Mine came used with generic chineese preamp tubes and I'm not complaining. 5 gain stages is more than anyone needs. The BBE Sonic Maximizer in the effects loop of the amplifier lets you hear frequencies that the tube clipping gives off that people dont hear without it. Frankly, I compared to a Bogner Ubershall (2200 dollar head), and the style of clipping you hear with the 5150+BBE is extremely similar to that of the Ubershall, especially with the dimebucker. It seriously blew my mind.

It's build very well.. a heavy amp insures durabilty and quality parts.

Never dealt with it.

It's just an amazing amp and anyone who thinks otherwise either has something wrong with their amp, has shitty cords\guitar\cab\etc., or is just a solid state lover.

Contact me at hatenomore2003@yahoo.com

The amp is an original batch EVH block letter from the early 90's. I've owned this amp for almost 10yrs. and still kills after all this time. Basic dial up features make quick work of setting up. The hi gain channel is stadium friendly and shakes neighbors blocks away. I've just discovered the rythm channel. Sweet old school rock blues tones can't be beat for the price of this amp. The first amp I've ever owned to drown out all drummer's incessant crashing of cymbals. Bloody magic!!!!!. To this day I still look for amps that sound tougher so I can put this one to rest and I cant find one.

Detune and drop tune guitars rule the hi gain. I play it thru a Rivera 4-12 Cab. I use Gibson SG and Ernie Ball Axis with a boss delay, chorus and flanger, thru the loop. Cry baby, bad horse wah wah and Rotovibe on the front end. Bone crunching detuned thuds in the hi gain with very little loss of hi end do to the presence and resonance dials. The guitar player in Tool should check this out. Rythm channel displays smooth tone ala Robin Trower Day of the Eagle. I can even dial up a SRV sound in this mode ala Soul to Soul. Once I discovered these sounds I don't even use the Hi gain. I also use a 60's Harmony guitar with a single p/u. I got it out of a garbage can. Cleaned it up and tuned to Drop B. By far the sickest sound I can dial up. It works in the hi gain and the rythm channels. Tom Morello would SH** his pants. On the front cover I stuck a picture of the Exorcist in full glory. It says it all. SCARY UNSTOPPABLE MONSTER.

In 10yrs it only went down once. I turned it over to my amp guy and some new 6L6's and a rebias and it works like a champ. I've roughed it up for a few years and it never let me down. I'm much kinder to it now though.

Never had the pleasure

Anybody who races out to buy a slick boutique amp or a seriously overpriced Mesa or Marshall should check again. Its right in front of you. Reasonably priced, reliable and basic user friendly. Some day the market will bear that these will stand the test of time. Very easy to resell used.

I play old school heavy and hard rock and this amp fits my style ok. It has two inputs norm and hi gain, two cahnnels, basic eq-knobs, two preamp gain controls, two post gains, awesome presence&resonance controls, effects loop, preamp out and two speaker jacks. With the head came also a crappy plastic footswitch for the loop and channel switching but as i said.... it really looks and feels bad to kick that plastic-made little bastard around.... The footswitch doesn't even bother to look reliable... I just strongly wonder why it has no in-built reverb, so i ended up using an ibanez-made vocal echo box with it. I'd give this amp a 9 but with the reverb and footswitch issues i give it an 8

I use various gibson and fender guitars, mostly an -89 LP standard, a flying V and an -83 tele and the amp responses really well to the completely different sounds of those guitars. The amp has great variety of sounds especially dirtorted ones from bluesy slight crunch to a messy mush distortion. Even on heavily distoted sounds it retains clarity and you can actually hear every note even from 6-string open Cmaj7-chord.... The hi gain lead channel is too hot for any kind of rhythm work but it just sounds kicking on cutting wailing leadwork. The EQ and presence/resonance settings give an awesome variety of different styles of sounds. I personally have the knobs arraged like this:
Input: Hi-gain
Rhythm channel:
Crunch&bright-switches in
Pre-Gain: 8
Post-Gain: 5
Lead Channel
Pre-Gain: 8
Post-Gain: 6
EQ
Bass: 6
Mid: 3?
Treble: 6
Presence: 7
Resonance: 4
This setup makes a cool slash-type rhythm sound and a cutting&singing lead sound
Again i'd give 9 but with reverb issues and other crap....

Well... it has served me well.... no probs

never dealt with....

If it only had reverb... something marshall-spring reverb style it would be and ultimate tool for a rock guitarist... but it does not so 8 again

As far as features go it's kinda limited. But as far as I'm concerned, the 5150 has all you need. There are two separate channels... rythm (not clean), and lead. Please take note to the fact that there is no clean channel. People have raked this amp over the coles saying that the clean channel sucks... the last time I looked at my 5150, I didn't see any kind of selector labeled "clean." As a matter of fact I'm also positive that nowhere on the amp does it say "clean." There's a footswitch with a channel selector and an effects loop on/off button. I'm kindof a purist when it comes to sound. I don't really like using effects at all, so the effects loop button is useless to me, but I can see where it would be useful for someone with multiple pedals or processors. I've had my 5150 for about a month now, and it took me most of the month to figure the amp out. It's a very simple amp, but it has no master volume control, which made it kind of tempermental and fussy until I really figured out what I was doing. Down to the nitty-gritty... this thing is a balls-to-the-wall 120 watt all tube gain machine. And that pretty much says it all. The only thing that I can think of that would improve this amp would be a built in spring reverb.

Again, I will go ahead and say that this thing does not have a clean channel. If you tweak on it for a while, the cleanest thing you can get out of it is much like an old Bassman breaking up a bit, but that's about it's limit. The rythm channel is awesome. I have never heard any other amp that comes close. I've played through the Marshall TSL head, and Mesa Dual and Triple Recs, and though they are both badass heads, for my liking it came down to the 5150. The rythm channel has some serious balls. And the lead channel has an extra third ball. I'm not much of a shred-head, so I don't know about all that stuff, but when I do kick it over to the lead channel and hit a lick, my nuts shake out of my trousers. Most definetly the ballsiest amp I have ever played through or owned. Right now I'm using a Texas Special Fat Strat. It sounds pretty good, but it just wasn't made for such a beast of an amp, so I'm looking into SGs. Not a very versatile amp, but they haven't made a high gain amp yet that sounds like anything from my 5150 all the way down to a fender princeton, and I'll bet you that doesn't happen for a long time (not counting Line 6.)

Haven't had it long enough.

No dealings with them.

Peavey makes some really good stuff. I also have a Peavey Classic 50 212 combo, and it's just as bad ass as the 5150 (just in a completely different way.) Anyhow... I wish the 5150 had a built in spring reverb, but nothing is ever perfect. Most definitely this thing is just as good or better than any high gain Mesa or Marshall out there, and for the price difference ($400 to $600), you can't beat this thing.

This is a follow up to me earlier post. I wanted to clear up some of the rubbish I have read in posts about this amp. First of all, the amp is set up with a Rhythm channel and a Lead channel, not a clean channel and overdrive channel. The Rhythm channel with the "pre" jacked and the crunch switch engaged get's more gain than the lead channel of some other supposed "high gain" amps. It wasn't designed to do Fender style cleans, if you bought it expecting that you are a moron and I request that you please refrain from breeding as the world has enough stupid people already. As for the lack of effects, anyone who complains about that should have RETARD tatooed on their forehead. There's this thing called an Effects Loop, learn how to use it!! Everyone has their own taste in effects, so to build effects into an amp is a crapshoot. Rather than put in effects that some people love and some people hate, or put in effects that no one ever uses, they put in an effects loop. Anyone with a brain is happy with that, but the world is full of brain damaged crack babies that want 20 effects built into their amp. I just wish those people would stick to Line 6 and Crate and not waste their time or anyone else's by posting bad reviews for good amps.

Like any good tube amp, you can get some very different sounds out of this amp with different tubes. The first three preamp tubes are for the six gain stages housed in this beast of an amp. If you are hellbent on trying to get a good clean sound out of this amp, swap out the third 12AX7 for a 5751, which has the same pin arrangement, but a third less gain than a 12AX7. This will also reign in the lead channel a little bit, which some people want because it borders on out of control. Likewise, if you want to squeeze more gain out the amp, put high gain 12AX7's in the first three positions. I recommend Electro Harmonix, but EI also does some really musical high gain 12AX7's. Obviously different combinations of preamp tubes will give different levels of gain and different tonal variety, spend some time swapping different preamp tubes in and out and you can cover a lot of different textures. The 4th preamp tube is for the effects loop, I recommend a balanced 12AX7, JJ's do a nice job here. The 5th 12AX7 is the driver/phase inverter for the power amp, I recommend a JJ here also.

As for the power tubes, I have heard a lot of people rave about the JJ 6L6's so I tried them, but for my taste the Svetlana 6L6's put them to shame and then some. My second choice is the Sovtek 6L6WXT, the amp also sounded very nice with them, but didn't have as much bottom as it gets with the Svetlana's.

The funniest thing that I have ever read in the history of the world was a few people saying that this amp doesn't have enough gain. This thing has six stages of gain, that's more than a Recto, more than a Soldano, more than anything I am aware of on the market today. If you are having problems getting enough gain out of this amp, either you have bum tubes in the preamp, or you need to go back to your crappy stomp box set up you are used to. Kids who use stomp boxes never think that real amps have enough gain, but there is a world of difference between the synthetic excuse for gain that you get from a Metal Zone, and the gain derived from cascading tube gain stages, which is much more organic. Unless of course you are a brainless Nu-metal Fag (yes, that was redundant), in which case enjoy you should skip this amp and stick to your stomp box.

One final note, get the bias set by someone who knows what they are doing. Peavey sets the bias too cold so that the tubes will last longer, but the sound suffers as a result. When you get the bias set correctly the amp sounds worlds better than it does right out of the box. I laugh when I hear people call this a mod. Setting the bias correctly is not a modification any more than setting the tire pressure on your car is a modification. A lot of shops will install some sort of external bias adjustment so that you don't need to get into the guts to adjust the bias, that is a mod. Just having a tech set the bias properly is nothing more than undoing the crappy setup that was done in the factory.

Absolutely Bulletproof. Never had the slightest problem.

Never had to deal with them.

This amp is not for everyone, but if you are looking for a amp with tons of gain and tons of tone, look no further. This thing could make a mouse fart sound like an atomic explosion. I use a BBE to tighten up the low end and a Hush to shut it up when I am not playing. I play real metal. Old Metallica, old Megadeth, Slayer, Sepultura, Suicidal, etc. When its set up right, this amp absolutely slays everyone else's rig. You could get a better amp if money is no option, but if you are on a budget and are looking for a high gain monster buy one of these.

fuckin balls to the wall heavy metal amplifier. 3 channel EQ for both channels. theres a good solid rythm channel and a great lead channel. you can tweak some cleans out of it but its not really made for cleans. no reverb. resonance control is awesome. this amp is made for rock/metal, so get your fancy effects somewhere else.

this amp is gold. sounds are perfect. i cant say it enough. from good ol fashion rock n roll to blazing metal, you can get it all inbetween. this amp is loud as shit too! sometimes too loud.
this is the perfect amp. ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

bought it used. it was made in 92, its 2004 now, and it sounds like a dream. never had a problem with it, owned it for a few months now. my friend has had his for years, and he's even dropped a MEsa 4x12 cabinet ON to this amp head, with no damage. his amp still performs like a champ.

peavey has a reputation of reliability that cant be beat

N/A

this amp is gold. i swear it will be a collectors item one day. i wouldnt sell it for twice it's value. if it were stolen i would cry, plus its the original issue with the EVH block letters, no the signature.
this amp rules. you will NOT be disapointed

this amp has all the features i need for what i play, simple, plug in and play with maybe 5 mins of tweaking tops, and it sounds absolutly amazing, i have friends that own basically every brand.. marshall, mesa, line 6, carvin, crate, you name it....only thing that comes close is a marshall JCM 900 or 2000 . and for all you idiots that say there is no way to get clean out of this amp thats bullshit. i have to get a new cab beause my ampeg 4x12 cant handle the sheer power of this monster...i cant even turn it up past 3 without my cab cutting out

this is a newer model 5150 with the signiture instead of the block lettering. i have a gibson les paul so of course this combo is going to sound awesome...when i first plugged into this amp i was using a shitty cable and it was noisy as hell and was acting up, so i switched to a monster cable and insantly it sounded great with no feedback or noise. so for all you guys that say this amp is noisy and gives alot of feedback JUST GET A MONSTER CABLE!!!! it seems like all you old guys that have been playing for decades have no common sence there are simple ways to fix the noisyness without spending extra hundreds....and another thing my 5150 loves cheap china made tubes they seem to sound as good if not better than a set of mesa tubes or groove tubes believe me ive played through them all. i would choose this amp over almost any amp on the market, i love it.

i bought mine used off ebay, when it came the box was totally thrashed, even halfway open with the amp sticking out. i opened it up and it looked and sounded new.i would play without a backup these amps are built like tanks ive seen friends drop these things straight on concrete and plug it in and sounds fine.

never had to deal with them.

no amp is a perfect 10, but this one comes in close, for the price you absolutly cant beat it, why not get awesome sound, relibiality, quality(it doesnt say handcrafted and designed in the USA for nothing, and hell even looks for aroung $400-1000 dollars. i have buddies with mesa boogies that have been playing them for years and say its not worth it....if you want the best distortin with BALLS behind it not just raspy noise, if you want tone tone and more tone with endless possibilities that is a fuckin monster off ALL tube power look no further than the 5150.

Cant give it a 10 here 'caus it does not do fender clean but thats is not what this amp is for!.. This is a rock amp.. everyone knows the features by this time.. but it is very flexible for getting a variety of hard rock tones.. I am very impressed with the amount of tweaking available.. reverb and all that other tone sucking crap is not required here.. effects loop is very functional as well.. My modle is a 1992 block front model - mint condition (poor stiff was selling off his studio peice by piece and needed cash)..

Peavey Wolfgang (very nice guitar to my surprice), 86 ESP Mirage Custom w/EMG's, 62 Reissue SG, when it comes to AC/DC, Zakk, Zep, etc.. they can all be done justice here..Have to admit.. when i bought this amp used.. I had my doubts as I am a vintage Marshall guy.. but I wanted to see what the modern amps were like and needed back-up for my early 70's Marshall gear...At first glance I was pissed off.. but upon investigation I found one 6L6 tube socket was cracked and after a quick call to JJ tubes.. we got this baby sounding sweet.. A further improvement was adding an EQ in the effects loop.. can scoup mids with the best of them now.. and the amp projects well also.. now for my next revolution and the reason I am writing this review.. The amp was making nice distorted sounds and plenty of power.. but like every idiot out there.. I was strickly using the HIGH GAIN input on LEAD channel.. as the RHYTHM channel had too many buttons to screw around with.. I was happy, but the clearity for this amp was not quite the MARSHALL clarity I was used to.. indivudual notes were not ringing as clear as the vintage Marshalls.. One day I decided to plug into the NORMAL GAIN input.. and (BANG).. that was it.. MARSHALL clarity and punch.. notes were exploding off the strings.. this is with Pregain at 6 and post at 4.. plenty of balls.. I am now a believer.. I put my standard rig together of Dunlop Wah, Tube Screamer (for Zakk tones), and Boss Chorus.. with my EQ and BOss DD-3 for a little echo in the effects loop.. and viola!.. their is the sounds I was looking for..!!! I dont even mess with the HIGH GAIN INPUT any more..

Have had not one single problem in 1 year of ownership now..

Have not tried to use Peavey yet.. but they have been very helpful on other subjects to date..

I am definitely looking at purchasing another or even the warmer biased 2x12 combo.. I will look into the variable bias pot as if their is a chance that this amp can sound even better.. I will try it.. I love my 100W super leads and my 2 Marshall Majors.. but lord knows when they will crap out on me..

This is 1992 block letter head, 120 watts of all out loud! Same
specs as all the other 5150's. Has no reverb,dont need it. Has
all you need to get the job done!!!

Ok when I first got this amp I thought it was lame. And then thought
I was crazy for trading my triple xxx for it, but then came the modification plan. Out came those crappy ruby tubes, and in went
the JJ's I got from Eurotubes.com and I also had this amp biasied.
Now this amp sounds KILLER! Get the JJ's and have the amp bias modded
it is worth it! My style revolves around heavy metal core stuff and
this amp dishes it out like no tommorrow. For the money it I dont
think you can do any better, and actually I prefer this beast to
some of the more expensive amps out there. The gain is very thick and has some serious grit to it. Im playing a gibson les paul gothic
that I had a gibson500T bridge pickup put into, it's tuned CGCFAD.
From there it goes into a randall XL cab with vintage 30's in it.
My only effects are a boss noise gate and a boss super chorus and yea
of course the footswitch. IMO this sounds great and I'll add that this
amp is very very very LOUD and has no problem cutting through the mix.
Watch the presemce and treble as you go up with volume, cause it can get piercing and the volume can touchy to,meaning to little or probably to much but no big deal, it sounds good kranked! The rythmn
channel can get a usuable clean tone with the pregain set around 2
and the crunch button disengaged, sounds great with the boss chorus.
Without the pedal it has a slight break up to it but oh well you want
that great of a clean buy an old musicman or an ampeg. Pushing in the
crunch button and dialing up the gain gets you killer hot rodded overdrive sounds that I' enjoy playing around with when Im not in
a metal state of mind, a channel definetly full of dynamics and a good
channel to jam some hard rock on. This amp isnt that bad noisy either,
but it can be noisy with higher gain settings but thats alot of amps.
Thats what that Boss noise suppressor is for anyways! This 5150
does what I need it to do and has no problems keeping up with a
drummer! Crushing!!

C'mon it's a 1992 model and it's going strong! This has given me no problems what so-ever. I dont expect it to, It's PEAVEY!!
Well built stuff, and then I'll mention this amp is highly rashed too!

If you need it, they try hard to help you!

I been playing for 11 years and tried lots of amps. This is about
the only one I can get some great crunch out of!
This thing weighs a ton but there's nothing
I really dont like about it. Not perfect but to me, it does it's purpose!If it got stolen Id definetly get another one, I already want another one!! I traded my peavey triple xxx for this and like this
amp much better! This amp kills for metal and hardcore sounds, just use a good cab a guitar to complete it further. I dont miss the triple xxx anymore.....GET THE BIAS MOD AND JJ's- you probably wont believe it!! Use a good guitar with it!!!