Peavey 6505 Plus Head

08 Peavey 6505+ head purchased new from guitar center.
Everyone reading this most likely already knows all the features this amp has to offer, but just in case you don't here's some of the highlights.
All tube construction w/ two channels, rhythm and lead. Pre, low, mid, high, post, presence, and resonance for each channel. Preamp out, effects loop, tube bias ports, ohm switchable on back panel.
Basically everything you would expect form a solid amp head. The only reason I rated the features of this head at a 9 instead of a 10 is that I would really like to have a master volume knob to control both channels once you have them set. Definitely not a deal breaker in my book but it would make setting up for a live show a lot easier.

Ok, here is the reason you are all reading this review...the sound quality.
So heres the deal. In my opinion this is the absolute best sounding amplifier for the money. Are there better sounding amps out there? Of course there are, but you will pay at least double for them. Consider for a minute that this amp can be purchased new for the mid $900's (I paid $950 at guitar center, trust me, they will deal if you have cash). You would be hard pressed to get a Mesa, Marshall, Randall, Engl, or any other decent sounding tube head for less than $1800.
This amp has a very distinct tone that carries with it a lot of peaveys own flavor. Personally, I like the peavey sound, but I know a lot of people dont. It will never have that ever so sweet dry distortion that a Mesa Rectifier is famous for and it will never have that warm Marshall crunch. What it does has is something in between and uniquely peavey. Somewhat unrefined, a little harsh, but definitely gets the job done.
If the Rectifier was a professional MMA cage fighter who was well versed in many styles of fighting and was refined to the point of appearing graceful and in control, the 6505 would be a bar-room brawler. Not a lot of finance but definitely a heavy hitter in the rock/metal tone department.
Ok, first thing you need to know it that this amp is designed for hight volume use. It is not a good amp for bedroom volume levels. In fact I have found that the tonal characteristics of this amp change substantially as you change volume settings. So make your adjustments at the volume you intend to play. This head really doesn't come into its own until you reach a post volume of 3, which ironically is a perfect mix with a loud drummer. You can get reasonably good tone at lower levels but in my opinion your just waisting you money. You would be much better off getting one of the new modeling amps like a line 6 if you want good tone at low volumes.
Rhythm channel- In my opinion this channel needs just a little more gain to be used for a moddern rock/metal rhythm sound. The clean is passable but just barely. Currently I have this channel set up for a smooth moderate gain lead tone and I use the lead channel for my metal rhythm tone. Try a pre of about 7 with a low of 9, mid 3, and high 5. As with the lead channel this channel has WAY too much high and mid available. I have read that the reason for this is that Eddy V is partially def especially to the higher tone range. This being the case this amp (along with his new fender 5150 III amp) has and excess of high tones available. I find that with this channel I only need to set the high on 5 to achieve a well balanced tone. The brite switch is also overkill in my opinion and completely unnecessary.
The lead channel is everyones favorite and with good reason. Absolute searing tone! Again, way too much high and mid on tap than is necessary for a good metal/modern rock tone. This channel has a pronounced "honk" and harshness that can be overcome with proper adjustment but it does take some time. It has a somewhat grainy sound that can be harnessed into a great tone but it will never be buttery smooth marshall or dry ear-soothing mesa. It also has more than enough gain. Personally I only need to set the pre at 4-5 to get all the gain I need for blistering metal. Any higher than 6 and your into serious death metal-wall of distortion noise.
The low end is flawless, great thud without being muddy. try a setting of 6 with resonance of 4 will get you in the ball park.
Mid adds just enough body at 1, and high only need to be at about 4. presence is overkill on this channel, try around 1.
*keep in mind that all the setting I have recommended are for a post volume of 3 or higher.
All in all this is the best rock/metal tone that can be had for under a grand. Ratting of 9 because it could be better but is extremely good for the price.

Come on guys, its a Peavey. It's built like a brick **** house.
I have owned peavey products before and never had a problem. The one time I had a question and contacted Peavey they were helpful, friendly, and very willing to do what ever was needed to help.
In my opinion this is a great head to take on the road. Tough as nails, easy (and plentiful) to replace if needed, and I've never heard of one crapping out...ever!

Like I said before, the peavey guys stand behind their products.

Very good overall package. Probably the most over looked and under-rated amp available today. Definitely the most bang for the buck out there. Rated at a 9 because its not perfect but all things considered you'd be hard pressed to find anything better for the price.

This is a 2005 model I think. It is a very versatile amplifier. I can get just about any tone I need from it using different guitars and not really changing the settings on the amp very much at all. The only time I change settings is when I use a different cab with different speakers, and even then it is minimal. This amp has 2 channels, but effectively has 3 because of the crunch setting on the rhythm channel. All of these are switchable on the footswitch, along with effects loop on/off. I did use the effects loop for a while, but with the different types of effects I had and some of them not being true-bypass, I found that I had a lot of volume issues with the effects loop, so I went back to in-line with the guitar. I use this amp for live shows with two different bands. It definitely does the job, and I can play just about any type of music through it and play with some very loud drummers and it cuts through no problem. Lead channel post gain set at 4 is very loud with good speakers. Nobody should have to go much louder than that.

I use this amp with several different pickup configurations. This amp, as with any tube amp, will really produce a lot of different sounds based on what guitar and pickup configuration I am using. I am in two different projects right now. The first one is an experimental grindcore/post-punk type band. I use a Fender Special Edition FMT Telecaster with Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates in the bridge and Seymour Duncan '59 in the neck. This is by far my favorite setup with this amp. The Pearly Gates sounds perfect through the lead channel on this amp, and the '59 is great for smoother solos on the rhythm-crunch setting. I also use a 2000 Mexican Stratocaster with Seymour Duncan Alnico-II Pro staggered pickups for a Funk/Classic Rock band. The pickups are a lot cooler and crisper and really turn the amp into a funk/blues sounding amp. The clean channel isn't as warm as it could be for this type of music, but the Alnico-II pickups really help to smooth it out.

I can definitely depend on this head. I do keep it in a NY-Case hard case with some custom extra padding that I added. But even so, it's been bounced around on some pretty bad highways in a U-Haul trailer on several weekend tours and hasn't missed a beat. The power tubes do have to be replaced pretty often with how often I play (at least a few hours every week), even with the cold biasing that Peavey sets it up with (I have it turned as hot as it will go without modifying it). I would say I replace them every 8 months to a year. When the sound starts to get really scratchy, you know it's time to replace the tubes. Oh, and most of these amps come with Ruby tubes in the power section. Throw them away and get some JJs, they sound so much better and last a lot longer. I haven't replaced the pre-amp tubes yet, and I've had the amp for about 3 years now. I will probably replace them the next time I replace the power tubes.

I haven't dealt with customer support at all. I haven't had to, which is a good thing. I think the warranty is for 5 years, but I think I extended it to 10 when I sent in the registration card.

I've been playing guitar for about 13 years. I also own a Peavey Transtube Supreme, which was my first head. The quality was kind of low on that head and even though they were trying to recreate a tube amp's sound with a solid state amp with that one, they just couldn't do it, that's why I bought the 6505 Plus. I still occasionally use the Transtube for practice, but not very often. I tried several other amps when I was looking for a tube amp, including the Hughes & Kettner Triamp and the Marshall JCM2000 Lead Head. The H&K sounded too processed, the JCM2000 had too much bass separation. I like the raw lead channel sound of the 6505 Plus, and the fact that it is so versatile and I can use it for just about any style of music. The only thing I wish it had is an actual bias probe connection on the back and a wider bias adjustment range with the potentiometer, but of course being a warranted product, and the fact that you need to probe across 300+ volts DC to get the actual bias current, probably wouldn't be a good idea in terms of liability for Peavey.

2008 model: 2 channels (Rhythm and Lead, with footswitchable "Crunch" mode on Rhythm channel), separate EQ/pre/post-gain controls for each channel, footswitchable effects loop, 120W switchable impedance.
Like most 6505 and 6505+ players, I use this amp for the high-gain sounds it produces. The clean is a bit hard to set up, but usable sounds can be gotten from it. Footswitch is clearly marked and intuitive to use, and it's great for switching delay/chorus etc. on and off all at once. At 120W, this thing has more than enough power for any practice or club gig I've ever used it at. Peavey could greatly improve the versatility of the amp by giving the crunch switch more gain, however. With just a bit more gain, the crunch could be used as a main rhythm sound with the lead channel being available for extra volume and as, well, a lead channel. As the amp is now, the gain needs to be pegged in the Rhythm channel to get a good metal tone going, and this can be undesirable if you're quickly switching back to a clean sound.

I use a variety of EMG 81-powered guitars through this amp (Ibanez RGs, ESP Eclipse, etc.), then run the amp into a Marshall 1960A cab at 4 ohms. The clean requires a low gain setting and a light touch to stay clear. These techniques can yield a nice chiming tone for clean arpeggios and when played more aggressively even country snap. Pushing the "Crunch" button gives a solid foundation for crisp hard rock/punk tones. The lead channel seems to be everyone's favorite, and I'm no exception. More gain than most people will ever need (I don't usually run the pre-gain past 6) and all of the EQ dials are very useful for getting the right tone. The resonance and presence controls are quite useful too, although extreme settings can yield harsh tones. It's best to start with a flat EQ setting, then tweak res. and pres. controls to taste. Overall, the tone is tight, focused, and raw, with chunk and grind in abundance. If there's anything the lead channel lacks, it's a more harmonically rich character. I'm hoping a JJ tube swap and bias will help that. The sound only gets better as the post gain goes above 2. For all the gain, the amp will remain relatively quiet. A noise suppressor is still recommended for tight rhythm styles. Overall, I'd say it' s an awesome amp for all styles of metal, including soloing and dropped tunings.

In the year I've had it, I've never had a problem. I've even accidentally left it on for a full day and it never complained.

never had to use customer support

I've been playing for 8 years, and this is my second amp head (the other being a Peavey Triple XXX). If something happened to it, I would definitely get another. I've demoed Marshalls and Mesas, and the 6505+ (for me, anyway) gives off a sharper, tighter tone with less mud and more aggression for a lower price. I don't know if there's a better metal amp that doesn't cost 1000 dollars more than this one. So much power and gain is on tap here; the amp really helps take your playing to another level. Other than the minor versatility issues with the rhythm channel, this amp is perfect!

3 channels, 120 watts 6l6 power, 6 12ax7s. This is a heavy music amp. Forget about cleans, if you're a jazz/light blues player-you bought the wrong amp.

I don't see how naming all of the other amps/guitars you own will make a difference in sound. Got a mesa? A fender too? WHO GIVES A CRAP.

ESP DV8 (Dimarzio Dist.)>6505+>1960A (stock, thank you)

This amp IS distortion. Let it be known that there will never be another sound like this amp, nor will any amp hold up to such high levels of abuse and LOUD. I've modified this amp to get it sounding closer to home. I upped the gain, boosted the bass, brought down the highs and brought the noise down a bit.

This amp cannot be more perfect. I have literally tried over 50 amplifiers in the course of 3 years and have yet to be blown away. I've been disappointed by every amp on the market, every speaker combination, blah blah.

I wanted EVH's early tone, with a bit more bass. I got it. Yep, this amp can do it. Full on saturation, huge harmonic response. No nonsense, cutting tone that's powerful enough to rid of the bassist.

I also upped the gain on the crunch channel to make it a bit more usable, but it's such a difference in tone I hardly use it. The tone on the crunch channel is darker and has less "fizzy" quality to it, sounds alot like early sabbath. Cool.

Forget about the clean channel.

I've owned this amp for 3 years, tons of shows/practices all with volume up around 4-6. Sometimes I swap the 4 JJ's for 2 Winged C's to run it at +-40 watts. (They're rated at 120 watts, it's putting out around 70-80.) Yes, it's biased correctly. I built wah pedals, guitars and amps for the last 3 years, I know what I'm doing.

The stock 75's in my 1960A are well broken in and make a huge difference in tone. The 6505 cab is tuned for this head in that it reproduces the correct amount of bass frequencies, but I find that the tone lacks in the upper register. The 6505 cab is either too dark or harsh. Vintage 30s make it sound like a wimp and greenbacks can't hang. I've been using Celestion 75's for 10 years. These speakers don't break up and dammit they sound amazing at loud volumes. But I think a lot of that has to do with this amp.

This amp NEEDS to be loud. Can't get a big enough tone at 0? Bring this bad boy up to 2-3 and let it sing. Sustain and POWER for days. I've not played a show where I didn't get a compliment on my tone. No rack space units, No ********. Just the ultimate in tone.

Want mods? YOU GOT IT.

Another issue regular purchasers managed to have was the lack of balls when the gain was brought down to, say 5-6. You'll need to replace the bypass cap on V1 with a 1.uF+ cap (It's .047 stock, I believe.). This will add nuts to your tone when it's around 5 and increase the gain a bit. The bypass cap on my amp is 2.2uF, nice and thick.

For more of a vintage tone, (more mid-range, less bass, a brighter top end and less gain), try something like .22uF, or leave it stock. The lower the value, the "thinner" the tone.

Or add a vintage(.22)/modern(2.2) DPDT switch on the back.

If you really want more distortion and a thicker low end, replace the cathode resistor on V1 (2k7) with a 1k-2k resistor. Lowering the value will take you where you need to go.

Bring down the bright! Replacing the 470pF ceramic cap will bring down the brightness of an amp, especially if there is a 150pF cap in parallel! My amp has a 90pF cap (240pF total), just to give you an idea of how much taming amps may require.

In the tone stack, right up front is an 82K resistor that sort of controls the lower mid-range frequencies (Making it sound a bit cloudy). I added a 100k pot from an old boss pedal (the pot is small and square) so that I can lower the value accordingly from the front of the amp. To tighten up the tone a bit and take a bit of the "flabby" mids out, lowering this value helps a lot.

That's all for now! DON'T SPEND ANY MONEY GETTING THIS AMP MODDED BY "GURUS" ON THE WEB FOR OVER $300!!! These parts cost cents and if you've got experience with a soldering iron, you're half way there! I just gave away a bunch of "secre

I've used this badboy for nearly 4 years without a backup. Yeah, it's TOUGH.

Never needed to contact. Voided the shit out of the warranty.

I wouldn't buy another brand or model amp. This amp is literally perfect. I have been searching for THIS tone since I started playing (10 years ago). I'm 21 and plan on using this amp through TONS of live shows throughout the year. Massive touring will really prove this amps worth.

Other guitars sound the same, this amp has a massive ego, only showcasing it's own tone. A tele will sound like a noisy Les Paul. A vintage Les Paul will sound like a massive tool of destruction. This amp is made for any kind of music that requires high gain, big volume and massive tone. Although the lower distortion settings yield solid results, I don't think you bought the + version of the 6505 series for low gain versatility.

I play hard rock/heavy metal. No jazz, no blues, no funk, no bullshit.

Thank you, Peavey. I hope to get my amp to be your next signature model.

I'm not sure what year it was made, probably 2007.
I play Progressive metal, which means I have to be as versatile as possible. I need to be able to play death, thrash, technical, hardcore, grindcore, and jazz. This amp covers it all very well. The amp has 2 channels, a presence and a resonance for each channel, and effects loop, 4, 8, and 16 ohms. A bright and crunch button for the rhythm channel. So it has all the features that i'll ever need. I don't like complex amps, so this is a good amp for me. I ONLY use this amp during gigs and band practice. This is a 120 watt tube amp, this amp is way too powerful for stay at home practice.

I play on a Fender Squire Telecaster with EMG 81/85 pick ups in it. The EMG's compliment the amp very well. I've played an Ibanez RG with Infinity 2 pickups in it and it sounds really good to. So Passive and Active pick ups sound really good with this amp.
I play a ton of different metal styles and jazz. The only thing that could be better is the Clean, I sometimes have problems keeping it clean. But i use Active pickups that run really hot so keeping any amp clean with these pickups is a challenge. The amp is very loud. So it has a lot of feed back, so a noise supressor is a good investment. The amps doesn't have load and loads of low end, if you want that get a mesa or a diezal if you have the money. The amp has punchy low end, the high end soar for days, in fact a little to much for me, but more is always better, and the mids give this amp a ton of body and they aren't nasaly or anything. The presence and resonance knobs only make your tone perfect. The Rhythm channel has a a lot of features. It has a crunch button that gives it a good rock tone, and bright button that makes it (big surprise) brighter. It has really good clean if you eq it right. But it's hard to get it just right. I worked on it for days before i got it right. And it's hard to keep clean, but i have active pickups, and the output is really high. So it's hard for me to even keep my solid state with zero drive clean. The Lead channel is where this beast really destroys everything. It was not hard to get great tone out of this amp. It can make every metal tone there is. Getting what you want that is good for you is the tricky part. But it only took an hour for me to find what I fell in love with.

I've only had it for 4 months and played 1 show with it so far. So it hasn't had any neglect.

Never dealt with them, but i heard they are cool people.

I've bee playing for 5 1/2 hears now. And the i've only played on solid state stuff the whole time. Having this amp has opened up so many doors, It actually make you play tighter. If you play sloppy, It will show, So it will make you want to play better. If the amp were stolen:
1. I would find them and scalp them
2. I would take what is mine
3. I would probably buy another one.

I've heard a ton of concerts and did a ton of research and this seemed like the right choice. I find the distortion better then Mesa/Boogies I hate EL34's so I hate every amp that has them except Orange. I've heard ENGL and it just wasn't thick enough and didn't have enough body, and they are to cruchy it seems. I've heard of other amps being better but you have to pay an arm and leg for them. Peavey did an amazing job by giving the people amazing tone for the price they make it for. The amp has the best value on the market, by far.

2 channel 120 watt all tube head, six preamp Tubes JJ/EHX and four 6L6 Ruby powertubes , FX Loop, I think made in 2007, bought second hand but in new condition. I'm using it with a Marshall Mode Four 400 watt cab (The MF400A version), I'm playing in a Pub Band at the moment doing stuff like Metallica, Grinspoon, Silverchair, Foofighters all the usual popular pub Songs, though i'm mainly into metal but this thing rocks for anything with searing distortion and awesome leads... Hard Rock, Death Metal you name it and yes Van Halen haha. It's not that versatile but if you know how to work the EQ good you can get some different sounds.
It would of been cool if the 6505 came with a half power switch to run it on 60 watts to get that powertube breakup earlier cause this thing is insanely loud, I only use it on about 2 when playing along to songs and 3 or 4 at band practices and gigs. I've only had it around 7 or 8 a few times. Having that power under your belt is very reasuring for me haha, knowing that you can obliterate any small animal within a 1 mile radius.
The one feature I love is the FX loop on/off button in the foot switch, this is great if you have multiple pedals in your loop. I'm only using a MXR Carbon copy delay at the moment (Great pedal by the way) and a dunlop WAH in the front, but this is gonna come in handy when I get more pedals, there will be no tap dancing turning them on and off all the time haha.

Man this amp is killer, just brutal distortion, the clean channel is ok but not the best but is still very usuable, this channel is shared with the crunch mode which I don't use much but can be used for stuff like ACDC, Airbourne, Led Zep, Hard rock stuff. Now the lead channel is what my ears crack a fat over, Im running a Gibson Les Paul Std with Seymour Duncan JB and Jazz fitted and it is just awesome, chords are just thick and punchy but still have clarity and the bass response on this is excellent, especially for chugging, You can feel the thump in your chest if you stand or sit next to it close enough. The artificial harmonics just scream out and solos just cut right through anything. The amp I was using before this was a Marshall DSL50, the clean channel on it was great but the Distoriton channel was a little lacking, I had JJ's in it too with a good bias and it was just kinda fizzy and thin at times, the 6505 just has a beter quality sounding distortion, it sounds and feels bigger and has a lot more oomph. The DSL is still a good amp though, If the 6505+ had the clean channel of a DSL it would be perfect.

I've only had for about 2 months so I can't really comment, it feels very solid and reliable, I've read other reviews with people very happy with their 6505's holding up to night after night of abuse and gigging so thats very reasuring. I would still gig with a backup but the other guitarist in the band is going to be using the DSL50 so i can't afford another 6505 seeing as they are $3000 new here in australia.

Can't comment cause, i've never had a reason too contact them.

I've been playing for a bit over 4 years and have a small collection of guitars... strats, Epiphones, A gretsch and ibanez and other ones which will never stop growing and yes all guitarists should know you can never have enough gear. I'm extremely happy with this amp, the distortion is absolutely killer and just makes me play so much better and keeps me inspired to practice for hours everyday cause it sounds that good. If it were lost or stolen I would headbutt a brickwall for losing it or hit the person over the head with it if I ever found them cause it weighs a freakin tone. If you are after an amp with unbelievable punchy, searing and chugging distortion haha, check out the 6505+ or the 6505. You wont look back!

First off, just like you-I read these reviews quite often but have never felt the urge to comment until now. I recently purchased a used 2006 model 6505+ head. No mods or anything. 2 channels (clean has crunch select).

I am using a Anderson Pro Am, Suhr Classic, plus a Les Paul Studio through this head. All have humbucker pickups.
This is where the lesson in humility came in. I also own a Mesa Rect-O-Verb, 2 Marshall MarkIII 900 heads with Soldano Hot Mods in them, and a Splawn Quick Rod. THIS AMP SMOKES THE OTHERS! It sounds awesome. No Tube Screamer, Super O.D., Sonic Maximizer, etc... just straight in. I do have a Nano verb in the loop (which is footswitch selectable) for delay. The clean channel is decent,but that isn't what this amp is for.
I play metal/hard rock and this thing sounds terrific!!!

Not too crazy about the power and standby switches, but they may last forever-who knows? Seems like a fairly solid built amp. As good as the Marshalls anyhow. The Peavey products that I've used in the past have been well built.

Never used them but their website is very informative.

I've been playing metal for about 25 years. I'm not a pro, but I can get around the neck. My scores don't average to a 9-but the sound quality of this amp warrants the score. If you play metal,this is your amp!

This is the new version of the Peavey 5150II.

* 120 watts into 16, 8, or 4 ohms (switchable)
* Six 12AX7 preamp and four 6L6GC power amp tubes
* Footswitchable lead/rhythm channel select and effects loop
* 3-band EQ, resonance and presence controls on each channel
* Rhythm channel: pre-/post-gain, bright and crunch switches
* Lead channel: pre-/post-gain controls
* Preamp output
* Footswitch included

Let's be honest here; if you're buying this amp, you're buying it for metal/hard rock. This thing kills with distortion. There is a reason so many metal bands use this amp, and that's because the tube distortion is amazing; there is no need to have a distortion pedal. You want crunching lows or piercing leads with a lot of sustain, this amp will do it.

With that said, there are some flaws.

The clean tone leaves a lot to be desired. It takes a lot of tweaking and certain know-how to get it to "sparkle". Get yourself a good cabinet (I'm running a Mesa/Boogie cab with V30's in it) and either a delay/chorus/reverb pedal and you'll notice a HUGE change in the clean. But, if you want it to just sparkle, get a Fender amp or look elsewhere.

Also this amp is LOUD. I'm talking, turn the post volume past 2-3 and you're piercing eardrums. You'll have no problem cutting into the mix of things. But, with that amount of volume and the amount of gain this amp pumps out a noise suppressor is NECESSARY.

I'm using a Boss NS-2 and I just turn the threshold at about 3 o'clock (I have to have it that high because I also have a Schecter C-1 Hellraiser with active pickups and this thing will feedback like crazy without the right control). Do this and you won't hear a sound for those dramatic pauses when you need to kill the distortion in a split-second.

I use this thing live too, and it's perfect. You'll hear yourself just fine and deafen those who are silly enough to stand right in front of it. It's reliable and has been used to record in studio with stock tubes (there fairly good).

I've been gigging without a backup for some time, and this thing has never crapped out on me. (Though I need to get a backup pretty soon, because you never know when something weird can just happen.) I'll tell you what HAS crapped out on me: not having good cables.

But, this amp is amazing. I haven't had the money to get an ATA case for it yet, so I've been lugging it around to gigs with no protection on it AT ALL. And it works just fine. It's built like a tank, tubes are completely covered and it has a metal grill where the pre/power knobs are at.

My only complaint is that this is a heavy head, and having one leather strap to carry it by makes me nervous. I wish more heads had the carrying handles like a Genz-Benz El-Diablo.

This amp won't break unless I purposely do it, nuff' said.

Haven't had to deal with them, and I've had this head for about a year. That's a good sign.

Been playing for 13 years and I've tried Mesa's and Marshalls, high-end Crates, Randalls and Laney's and this is the sound I wanted. We don't play "death metal" like a lot of bands on here do, we're much more a Sevendust sound. But for metal, no matter your subgenre, this thing will work for it.

If it were stolen I'd buy another in a heartbeat, and then hunt down and murder the person who stole mine.

I love the distortion and I love it's reliability. The clean tone is very "meh". And I wish it had a hard ATA case it came with, but that's okay. I'm also a fan of the power plug being attached to the head and non removable (this keeps people from walking buy and ripping out the cord and killing a show!).

I wish it had a reverb effect on it somewhere.

For the price of this head, you won't find better. And hell, you won't find better for double the price either. This is one amazing amp.

Not sure the year this was produced but it was a floor model from the music store I currently work for. This 2 channel beast acts as a three channel if you consider the crunch feature on the rhythm channel. Pre and post gain as well as three band eq on each channel plus resonance and presence for each channel, crunch and bright switches on the rhythm channel. Mine came stocked with a pretty nice tube selection, 4 Ruby 6L6GC's in the power section and 5 JJ's ecc83 plus an Electro Harmonix 12AX7LPS located second from the left if looking at the preamp tubes from the back. Comes with a three button footswitch for channel, crunch and fx loop switching. Switchable impedance 4, 8, or 16 ohms, bias testing and adjustment, etc. The last amp I owned was a Mesa Boogie Mark IV and after I had spent a considerable amount of time (roughly 1 month of tweaking) I finally got a tone I was happy with on all three channels. I'm not fond of tweaking and like ease of use...this amp has it. I didn't have to spend much time dialing in a tone I was pleased with and it didn't seem to vary from use to use as I had experienced with the Mesa.

I use this amp for all three projects I'm currently involved with. The first is a southern metal/hardcore project which I use an older LTD KH203 with a pair of EMG HZ's tuned to dropped D. The sedond project is more of a dirty rock project and I use an LTD EC300 with HZ's tuned to standard. Both projects play original material and I had a different set up for my tone relying mostly on the lead channel. The third project performs mostly covers ranging from Wilson Pickett to Alice In Chains which is where the versatility comes into play with the 6505+. I have heard people say this amp doesn't clean up which is a misconception. The rhythm channel has a nice "tube" clean sound, it's not a solid state clean which sounds overprocessed to me but instead a true warm clean tone. From what I understand, this is a throwback to the first generation of 5150 heads. Over time as Eddie's hearing diminished he lost the ability to hear higher frequencies which is the reason for the brighter sound of the following generations of the 5150 series. This amp has a killer range of tone and for what I play is the perfect head. I didn't find the amp to be very noisy at all although I have heard that from many people. My suggestion, replace the tubes, I think mine is less noisy because of the 12AX7LPS which has a tighter coil to reduce noise. As far as gain...this is one brutal head. I had use the rhythm channel at a show because a resistor failed in the preamp in the lead channel and was able to get very close (pre dimed with the crunch pushed in) to the tone I get on the lead for my southern metal/hardcore project. The lead channel blows my mind...sick overdrive and very easy to dial in. Mine was a floor model so the tubes were very nicely broken in but a brand new head will sound harsh until you reach that point. Also, I play out quit a bit from small clubs to theaters and was able with only using a 412 cabinet to meet the demands of every location.

I have only had one problem with the head which was a faulty resistor. It had been the floor model and had been on display for almost a year prior to me purchasing it. I work in the music store where I purchased it and had seen the abuse it took from some of the knuckleheads who tried it. Anything from turning the power on without running the head in standby first as well as turning it off without letting the tubes cool down to running a bass guitar through it and using a speaker cable as an instrument cable. This head took some light abuse from our customers but our service tech said the problem with the resistor had nothing to do with use and was covered under warranty. I feel I can depend on this head and wouldn't see the need to bring a spare as a backup. I usually have it in the trunk of my car (which has crappy suspension) to transport it to my various projects' rehersals and know Peavey products can take a beating and still work like new (I still run my Peavey 412 stero cabinet that I purchased roughly 10 years ago with the stock speakers and it sounds great). The only thing not covered under Peavey's warranty was the tube that went along with the resistor and shipping to our service center.

I have dealt with Peavey customer support on different repair and purchase situations and they are top notch. For those of you who have been forced to sit through 2-5 minutes of on-hold music...well Peavey plays nothing but rock haha. I did have it serviced for a faulty resistor and it was covered under warranty but tubes and shipping will not be covered. I believe the warranty is 5 years.

I have been playing for 15 years and own a small Tubeworks 7100 practice amp as well as my two LTD's and a Taylor Big Baby acoustic guitar. Like I said, I did own a Mesa and although I liked the sound it was very stressful taking so much time to dial it in and had to sell the Mesa to cover gas bills when I wasn't playing in any projects. To be honest, I don't miss the Mesa and when I realized I needed to purchase an amplifier I tried a number of heads from Marshall to Fender to Bogner to Peavey. I was down to a Marshall JCM 2000 TSL and the Peavey and kept coming back to the Peavey. I have also played through a Framus Cobra and a Bad Cat and wasn't very impressed to be completely honest. I love the overall raw tone and miles of gain as well as the versatility of this product and wouldn't say I hate anything but it would be nice if they included reverb on the unit as I had to purchase a Holy Grail to cover the aspect of my playing needs.

2 channel, rhythm and lead. Has the most tonal characteristics since the Marshall JCM 800 hit in the 80's. I've tried every amp under the sun, had a 5150 II and came back full circle to this amp b/c you can't match the sizzle and personality of this amp. Amp only good for hard rock and metal IMO. So loud that you really can't turn volume past 1 in a home/practice situation.

Here's how I ended up with this amp:

2005 bought a 5150 b/c the tone and sizzle blew me away.
2006 got rid of it b/c i was frustrated with the noise while not playing and the fact there's not a lead boost.
2006 bought a Krank Revolution but returned 2 weeks later b/c of crap sound and microphonic feedback.
2006 bought a new Engl Powerball of the web b/c of the 4 channel and built in noise gate. Sold two months later b/c tone had no personality and it lacked bottom end punch.
2006 bought a Mesa Dual Rectifier b/c of the sound features and lead boost-great amp but the tone was not me.
2006 Fell in love with a Marshall JCM 2000 but then struggled to get the gain needed for metal. put Boss SD-1 in front and held me over til now but I never matched the tone of that 5150 and kept thinking of trying again.
2008 decided to do a side-by-side on the new Fender EVH and the Peavey 6505+ and hands down the Peavey won out. 1/2 the price (has one less channel and the clean is mediocre but who cares!). The 6505+ is kinda noisy but not nearly as noisy as the 5150 and it's only when not playing so just kick off the lead channel during idle times and there's no issue at all. I cranked the gain to 10 and still have unbelievable note definition and clarity. There hasn't been an amp with this kind of signature tone since the JCM 800 (and perhaps Mesa in the 90's). this amp stamps your name all over a bands sound and for me having a notable tone is the key to being a player. No wonder a slew of great players from Nugent to Steve Stevens and many new metal bands prefer this amp!

brand new but don't anticipate probs

No experience here

By far the best amp for the buck on the market today providing you're looking to play rock or metal. I played side-by-side with the new Fender EVH but couldn't justify the added cost. The Peavey had more personality as well.