Peavey 6505 Head

This is a three-channel all-tube head, but only crunch and lead channels count, as I can't find a clean tone that fits me. Anyway, I bought it because of the lead, so I don??t mind. The crunch channel is perfect for any kind of rock. I play in a death metal band, and this head is exactly what I have been looking for since I play. I really do not miss any feature, appart from a better clean channel, and maybe a slightly more wide E.Q. range. It??s powerful enough to play at small venues, and if you rehearse with the volume at nine o??clock the rest of the band might kill you.....

I own a Gibson flying V, a Dean Time Capsule and an LTD ec deluxe. The Gibson sounds very punchy, whith an awesome high attack, though a bit thin if I play solos with the bridge pickup. When I plug my Dean, the sound is extremely fat and chunky, seems like a strong wind is blowing from the cab(4*12 V30??s). I am really addicted to this combination. Whith the LTD??s EMGs sounds a bit thinner than the flying, though still okay.
I pretty much recommend not to abuse on gain, since over 5 or 6 it could sound fizzy. It??s also good not to elliminate mids. They will give you the desired thickness.
Like most of high gain heads, It is a bit noisy, but all you have to do is muting your guitar between songs.
In a few words, this is, for the price It??s worth, a dream for extreme metal players.
My settings: Pre:5-6 Bass: 6.5 Mid: 3.5 High: 5 Post: 2.1 Res: 7 Pres: 9

The amp arrived to my hands in perfect condition. All I did was re-adjusting the bias a bit. I have been playing it four hours a week for two years, and I haven??t noticed any sound loss. It is very strong and reliable, though the tubes are not the best ones.

I have never needed to deal with them......

I have been playing for 14 years, and I have tested many heads. This is the best in Its price range if you like extreme guitar sounds. There are slightly better amps for a lot more money. Many people hate It, many others love It.My advice: Go, try, and give your oppinion.

I use the 6505 through a Laney GS412LS cab for Extreme Metal from slow Doom to superfast grindcore.

2 channels & a crunch switch. Same EQ on both channels.

I use it to gig in various sizes of venue & to rehearse.

VOLUME! - the biggest feature of this amp is that you can deafen yourself without turning the volume above 5.

It has all the features I need but a 'blend' control on the effects loop would be nice.

I use Gordon Smith Guitars with stock pickups & sold my Laney Tony Iommi signature for the 6505.

This is designed for high gain Metal & it absolutely nails it. There really is nothing else that comes close for the price. I took a long time settling on 'my' sound when I first got the amp because it sounds good however you set it. I'd never scoop the mid because that's where all the really punchy gain is with this amp & the treble gets pretty harsh above halfway. The Resonance control is like a wet dream for any doom fans. Turn it to 10 & you'll destroy the foundations of any building within 100 yards. Also, with a couple of small adjustments of the resonance & presence, I can go from fat Doom to crunchy Grind. The gain can be a bit buzzy at low volume but I don't play at low volume (that's what practice amps are for). However, if you do want to use it in your bedroom, it's not hard to get a good sound at very acceptable levels. The volume increase is surprisingly smooth for a 120 watt amp.
It is possible to get a really good clean tone too but it can take a while to find the sweet spot. I don't use a clean tone with this amp though because I'd rather have great distortion & crunch instead. The clean tone is a bit Fender like with the 'bright' switch engaged.

I've not even owned it for a year yet but I gig a lot & have had no problems at all. I knew they had a great reputation for reliability & I only buy very reliable amps because I often have to play live without a backup. It's very solid & well built. The pre-amp valves are all hidden in a compartment on the back & held in place really firmly. I can't see how a valve amp could be made any more solid than this. It got bashed into a doorframe about 30 seconds after being switched off & I thought a hot valve would have broken as a result. However, everything was in perfect working order afterwards.

Never had to deal with them.

If you have thousands to spend on an amp, you can probably find better sounding amps than this. However, the overall package is unbeatable: Tone, value for money, exeptional quality, stadium volume. My only complaint is that the effects loop could be a bit better. A mix / blend control would make it a lot more versatile & sometimes I get a loud pop when I switch the effects loop on. You might want to fit extra handles so it can be carried with 2 hands. This thing is very heavy & bulky.

I chose this amp after being blown away by seeing various bands using 6505 / 5150's. Also I borrowed one for a gig & was well impressed. I previously owned a Laney GH100s which is a great, tough amp with brilliant overdrive but the Peavey suits the 2 bands I'm in much better & it's more versatile. People remarked on how much better my sound was after the very first gig I used it at. I compared the 6505 to a Marshall JCM 2000 in our rehearsal room & the Marshall sounded flat in comparison. The Peavey has a real edge to it's gain that very few amps can match.

I'd get another if it was broken or stolen. Thing is, it's so solid I doubt if it will ever break & it's too heavy to steal easily.

2006 Made 6505. 2 channels Rhythm and Lead with a shared EQ. There is a cruch button to boost the pre gain on the rhythm channel.
Footswitchable loop
I play iy live 3-5 nights a week.
120 watt all tube. 4 6l6's and 5 12ax7's..

Gibson Les Paul. Original p.a.f. in the neck and a Pat. # in the bridge. I know this review is for my 6505, but I have to explaim how I got there. And I'll NEVER LOOK Back!
I had a XXX for yearsgreat death metal amp with a GREAT clean. That's why you see people touring with 5150's for dirty and xxx for the cleans. Then I started getting a more educated ear. I have played with National acts and been sound engineer on many big oudoor summer festival tours.

After going through many different setups I settled on and went with the Marshall DSL 100.

Sounds Awesome! It is a Marshall that sounds like a true Marshall, actually, 3 different Marshalls. Classic gain sounds like a jtm 45 with it set right. When you push in the button it is very JMP or JCM 800, throw an sd-1 or tube screamer in front of it and hold on. Depending on your settings you get everything you heard back in the day, ZZ, Zep, SRV, AC/DC, Blackfoot, Mollyhatchet, Motorhead...
Go to the ultra gain and you have a hotrodded jcm 800 and with a pedal in front you get the firs 3 Metallica albums, Anthrax, Tesla, G-n-R, again all depending on your settings. Best sounding Marshall I ever owned.
I love it! I hate it!

This thing craps out on me every 8-10 weeks. I play out 4-7 nights a week 4-5 hrs a night. The first time I lost the effects loop, I still made it through the gig. Next time I lost the classic channel, I couldn't switch to it, still made it through the night. Then one night,2nd set, the place is blowing up, we're in such a groove it was out of this world, then, I'm playing air guitar. Still lit up but no output. I did what any rockstar without a tech would do, I gave it shaken baby syndrome and turned it back on and finished the night. My repair shop said it was probably a tube, since we coundn't re create the issue. I retubed it, went to rehearsal before we were gonna open for Marshall Tucker and one of the power tube went nucular! Now I'm 2 hrs. from soundcheck and I have an amp that greenpeace would sue me for. I scrambled and borrowed my friends 5150 (Bulletproof, he hoses it out after every gig and puts it away wet)and it saved me. We went on and it sounded sweet, not Marshall sweet, but sweet in it's own way,,as a side note, it sounded nothing like any Van Halen recored I ever heard, but it sounded great with my Les Paul. I took the Marshall back to the shop and he said that the bias was floating and when it goes away the tube goes Chernobyl. I sold it AS IS and dropped the hammer and bought a brand new one, they are now discontinued by the way. So for $1271.00 out the door I got a five year warranty, YAYYY??? No BOOOO!!!! They only cover Parts, I gotta eat the labor, how do I know you may ask? 3rd gig with the new head, stock power tubes, never touched them The tube ran away again and CAUGHT FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! Kept playing though, It was so Rock n Roll, We wer killing it playing For whom the Bell Tolls and I smelled that smell, you know the one, the smell of electronic DEATH, I turned around and I couldn't tell because of the fog machine, but I could tell because the flames were flickering out from behind the head. I quickly unplugged it and another musician at the gig ran home a brought me his Bogner Shiva (*******) Thanks for kicking me when I'm down. But it saved the gig. So tomorrow morning I am returning this 54 pound piece of fire wood to Sam Ash. I have 6 days left on their 30 day return policy. I hate it. I love the sound but I need the reliability. Iam going back to my old 5150. Everyone can rag on peavey, but, when you hit the standby switch they play and sound sweet too. Not Marshall sweet, but Peavey sweet. Great for getting Skynyrd and .38 special sounds, and on the ultra channel you get moderm Metallica, Godsmack, Lamb Of God stuff.

As far as I'm concerned, I will forever play these 6505/5150 tanks. Take yor time ,learn the amp and turn the knobs, it's in there, the sound you want, it's in there.

Bulit like a tank in Mississippi. Other then tubes, never had an issue.

They are great, they will talk to you on the phone, e-mail. They'll even return your call.
Try that with Marshall.

Playing semi pro for many years! I have owned everything from SLO 100's to bogner Shivas and Exctasy, to VHto Damn near every Marshall out there. JCM 800, 900, 2000 JMP's, Super Lead plexi's. I've had Mesa mark series, single dual and triple recto's. The 5150/6505 sounds closest to the Soldano. But for near $2k more, I'll keep the Peavey. I actually wish it had reverb, but not too tragic.

If it were stolen, I would get it taken care of, I know people. It's amazing how missing gear turns up whe you tell the right people.

I give an 8 because its only to channels and not very versatile

120 watts (rms) into 16, 8, or 4 ohms (switchable)
Five 12AX7 preamp tubes and four 6L6GC power amp tubes
High and low gain inputs
2-channel preamp switchable on front panel or remote footswitch
Rhythm channel: pre-/post-gain, bright and crunch switches
Lead channel: pre-/post-gain
Channels share 3-band EQ
Presence and resonance controls
Switchable post-EQ effects loop
Preamp output
Footswitch included

I play an Ibanez RG470XL fitted with an EMG-81 pickup in the bridge
Drop c tuning (Low CGCFAD High)
I play Hardchore metal and this amp with my guitar give me the sound im after.
It is a little noisy i use a noise supressor to sort that out.
The amp is still a bit of noisy but that is expected with all high gain valve amps.
My amp only ever see's the dirty channel and for the sound im after
(Chimairia..Machine Head..ETC) it dose exactly what i want of it.
I can't realy comment on the clean channel or how versatile the amp is.
Because im not versatile but i would say the the clean channel is not that good.

The way i see it there a Two kinds of amps

1: Amps that can do lots of styles quite well
2: Amps that can do one style very well

And i think this amp is number Two \../ Metal Metal Metal \../

my amp has never had any problems

I have phoned them to ask about extended warrenty they send me out a pre-paid postcard to fill out.
3 years on the amp 90 days on the tubes.

I have been playing 15 years on and off and i know what i wanted out of an amp.
The Peavey 6505 might not be everyones ideal amp but it gives me exactly what i want.
if it were stolen i would get another exactly the same

2 Channels. Rythm and Lead. EQ, Resonance, Presence, FX loop. There is no clean, but if you want that, go for the 6505+ head. The only thing that lets this amp down is the flimsy footswitch. Actually, it would be nice to have an extra EQ channel for the lead channel,as it would be nice to add some more mid into solos, but thats nothing really to be honest.

Saying how this amp only has rythm and lead, thats not to say that it cant do other sounds. I mainly play metal and rock, and for that, this amp is amazing. but if you tweak, for instance turn the gain of the rythm pre-gain down to 2 / 3 and select the middle pickup settings there is a nice bluesy jazzy bite.

The gear i use are - Digitech Whammy, Crybaby Wah. My guitar is homebuilt with EMG 81 in the bridge and 85 in the neck. For the music I play, this setup completey kills everything else. For cleaner sound i just lower the volume on the guitar, if I ever do need a full on clean sound, I would A/B this with something else.

This amp is a bloody tank!!!
I cant see it breaking down any time soon, I have only had the amp for a couple months, but it looks pretty dam solid, and weighs a ton!

Ive been playing guitar for 7 years now, and this is the amp for me. I spent a good 6-7 months trying out different amps, and for the price it is, this amp is the best in the market.. for me anyway. I had also tried out Kranks and Randalls, and although fantastic in their own right, the price put me off.

I think the only downsides to this amp is the fact that the footswitch is a bit cheap looking, and the lack of an extra EQ. Again, If i wanted clean, i would have went for the 6505+.

If this amp was stolen, I wouldnt need to buy a new one, the guy would be still trying to carry the thing down the road by the time i got back!! But if the worst of the worst happened, yes i would buy it again.

you should know the stats on this so im not gonna bother you with that stuff. its a very VERY loud amp with a effects loop and two button footswitch. i only gave it a five because it has only has 2 channels, the effects loop looses volume with long effect chains adn gettin a clean soun is hard as hell (but not impossible just try tweaking the knobs)

Right now my guitars i use are a wasshburn x12 with one seymour duncan'59 pickup in the brige a les paul standard (stock) and a fender strat(also stock) and the effect i use are ibanez boss and electroharmonix delays (each one has a different setting) a ibanez flanger and boss phaser and corus. and with that set up all i can say is THIS AMP IS FRIGGIN SWEET i have tried alot of different amps from marshalls and mesa to diezels and bogners. and i gotta say for the price none of those amps come close in terms of versitility and sound quallity. like i said above the clean is hard to get but not impossible and to tell you the truth once you find the setting your looking for your gonna love it. the distortion is about as brutal as you can only imagine i can get anything from a classic zep sound to foo fighters to tool, lamb of god, vanna, as i lay dying and of course you have to play your favorite van halen riffs. so you can pretty much any sound you want all you have to do is fuck with the knobs for a while.

sorry cant help here haven had it long enough to tell but it is built like a tank so i trust it so far

havent had to work with them yet so nothig here

overall this amp is the best amp out there below 2000 dollars in my opinion if it were stolen i would deffinately buy it again. so if you ever see one in you local music store give it a try you just might be as impressed as i was.

I bought this amp from Guitar Center wtihout a year and a footswitch.(which I did get) There are two channels, one EQ, master resonance, presence, volumes, and two inputs. The clean channel has a bright and crunh switch. (I leave the bright switch on for volume) 4 6L6's in the power amp and 5 12ax7's in the preamp. Effects loop and selectable speaker impendence. I always use the high gain input.

As everyone knows, this amp is made for metal. Peavey really sells you a crunch and a lead channel though.

The clean is ok. A chorus pedal really helps (Boss CH-1) and can boost the volume a little. Because there is so much ditortion, the clean channel gain has to be set at around 3 for a clean sound. This causes an unevenness in volumes. Whatever.

The lead channel is gorgeous. Note this now: YOU WILL NOT GET A SCOOPED SOUND FROM THIS AMP! It is very middy which gives its tone character. The bass response is awesome. It shakes your balls. Easy as that. Plenty of low-end chug and cutting leads. The EQ is very responsive, allowing for any tone except for scooped metal.

I purchased an MXR 6-band EQ to cut some mids and it does the job beautifully. THIS AMP IS ALSO EXTREMELY NOISY! A Boss NS-2 is all you need.

I have owned the amp since last April and have had no problems yet. Only been in my basement and never turned up past 4.

When I had to get my footswitch the lady on the phone was very nice helping me choose the right one. Other then that, nothing. Doesn't have a warranty, I bought it used.

I've been playing for a little over 3 years. I have an Epi LP custom and an Epi LP Special. They both have never let me down and are great guitars. The only thing I wish it has a was a cleaner clean channel with a separate EQ. But thats why they make the 6505+ I guess. I bought this amp as a relativley cheap solution for my need for gain, and was not let down. If it were stolen I would be heart-broken and pissed, and probably get another one unless I could find a Framus Cobra. Overall though, a very hard-rocking amp.

This AMP rocks! I used to get solid state amps and use pedals such as the metal muff to produce metal distortion, but this thing comes with enough distortion i need and because it's a tube amp it's tone is nice and thick, not thin like solid states. It has three channels clean, crunch, and lead and an eq. It has an effects loop too, which i use to put a little 6-band eq in. I used this amp in guitar center and i was blown away, it had the metalcore tone that i was looking for but also has good lead and solo sounds too. I love it, i find myself heading up to guitar center just to play it and as soon as i have enough money, it will be mine.

IT makes metal sounds and rock sounds with some tweaking. the distorion is brutal and can choke a donkey. The guitar sounded really good with a schecter hellraiser with emgs in it. I'm sure my guitar would sound good too (esp m400 w/emg actives). it suits my style perfectly which is metal /hard rock. It does make some noise but definitely not as much noise as my pedals those things are too loud.

It looks solid and sounds solid and tubes are nice and umphy. It looks like it will last as long as you don't drop it off a roof. I would probably gig w/out a backup, but that's because i can't afford another one right now.

never dealt with them.

I've been playin for three years and own a esp m400 and several effects like chorus, wah, and delay. I would be sad if it were stolen cuz i couldn't afford another one so i would prolly settle for something else. I love the gain but i hate the price, if it were cheaper i pick it up now! It has all i need.

Made in 2007, got it brand new from the store. I play metal, hardcore sometimes some indie/emo stuff, once in a while some blues. I think the amp is versatile enough for these styles, you can go from clean to crunch and there's more than enough gain. 2 Channels, shared equalizer works fine, bright and crunch switch in the first channel. Footswitch (made of plastic :-( included. Panels are rather simple to work with, that how i like it!

Like i mentioned the amp IS versatile, although there might be better amps for straight blues players oder indie/emo-heads. But the sound has got so much punch and clarity, the distortion doesn't get fuzzy oder muddy at all. I use the low gain input and there's enough gain for the parts i play in my metalcore/hardcore band. Sqeals come out easy. I'm still waiting for my BBE Sonic Stomp, but the amp on its own has, like i said, enough clarity, definition and punch. Somehow i think it likes the emg81s more than the 490Treble Gibson Pickups. But both work fine with this amp. Great Metal-Tone. I also use a ISP Decimator, so there's not to much noise, at least no hum, so hiss on palm muted, but this is easy to handle.

Never broke down, people say it won't. At the shows i am playing, there are always at least two or more peaveys, so if mine broke up, someone would help me out, i guess.

Been playing for 15 years or so, owned different gear through the years, i like gibson, engl, peavey... i think it has a little more punch than the engl fireball/powerball, but this also might depend on the cabinet one is using. i love the rather simple concept of this amp. But i still like the design of the 5150 much more, the central peavey logo on the front of the 6505 somehow sucks... but the sound is enough excuse for that, i guess.

I bought this February of 2006. I belive that Peavey had just released it. Since then the price has gone up so lckily(if that's what you call it) I bought it when I did.

The amp is NOT versatile, but anyone who is buying a 6505 should know that already. Metal, hardcore, anything that involves a lot of distortion. How much versatillity can you need?

It technically has two channels, but who are they kidding? It has two distortion channels. One that sounds like crap, and the lead channel which is LOUD! Has an effects loop. It never worked too well for me though.

Now my sound has changed so I am getting a Marshall JCM2000 DSL100.

I played shows with my band for over a year, inside, outside, out of state, everywhere and it had plen T of power. First of all, 120 tube watts is not even in the realm of necessary, but I was always heard.

This amp can make one sound, and one sound it does. High gain metal!

What is a clean channel?

I played an Ibanez sz320 with stock ibanez/seymour pickups in it. Very warm and brittle sounding. I never got a very strong, fat, piercing sound through it. Maybe a different guitar would help. It worked well for what I was doing. hXc.

It was super noisy!!! Had more hum and buzz than I thought was ever possible.
I got a noise supressor and it did wonders.

This thing is a tank! Never had any problems with it breaking down. Blew a fuse once, but about $1 later that problem was fixed. It is really heavy, and really sturdy.

None

I have been playing for about 3 years, playing shows for a little over a year now. My set up was an Ibanez sz320 through a Korg tuner, Boss NS2, and a BBE Mazimizer Stomp Box.

If you are thinking about buying this amp... Don't! Just ebay the 5150 and you can get one for around $350 and it will be the exact same thing only three times cheaper.