Voodoo Amps Peavey 6505 212 Combo Mod

This is a follow up to the review I left back in March. I've been jamming on this amp for the last 6 months, and I'm a little more familiar with its strengths and weaknesses as well as its reliability. Features, y'all know the deal... 5150/ 6505 with half the power in combo form w/ a closed back. Features I wish it had... seperate E.Q.s. and a tube buffered effects loop. I'm told there isn't room for any additional mods inside these amps. The effects loop seems to suck the tone out of chorus, phaser and flanger pedals so I'm gonna go oldschool Eddie style and try and run them b/w an attenuator w/ a line out and a seperate power amp.

This amp is capable of some serious chunk, although the E.Q. is actually voiced pretty high ( I have the bass on 10, mids at 3 and highs at 2.5- not a nu-metal setting... its just voiced that high). I'll probably be sending it back in to Voodoo to have them tweak it a little. However, part of that is due a speaker and cable change which really brought out the high-mids and highs... but oh man does this thing have some serious bass (also due in part to the EVM-12Ls/ monster cable I put in). Also, for those of you with 5150/6505s, MXRs 10 band E.Q. (run through your effects loop) will really help you fine tune your sound and tighten up your bass... although the Voodoos mods are very tight to begin with, it helped out quite a bit on mine. The Voodoo mods really brought out a lot of clarity and tightened up the sound considerably, but the 10 band is just iceing on the cake. Also, check out a BBE sonic stomp for a little added clarity... subtle but nice!
Tonally, "kick you in the head" metal sounds are where this amp makes its money. The gain channel's distortion is just beastly; I can palm mute and feel the pressure coming off of the amp from across the room. It doesn't sound boomy or woofy either; this sound is tight as a drum and rich with warm harmonic overtone. Some like that loose Mesa Rec sound, but I'll take this any day. Your playing doesn't get lost; you still sound like you and your guitar still retains its own unique vibe, even through heavy distortion. One thing however, although it does sound a lot better at lower volumes then it did before, as with most tube amps,you don't start getting in to the really good tone until you get this thing pretty freakin loud. You've still gotta crank it to get to the good stuff... especially on the crunch channel, which has some great rock tones. I tried a Marshall Power Brake and it absolutely sucked the life right out of my tone... those things suck period! I'm looking into a U.A. Pro or a Weber Mass right now so my neighbors wont hate me. Bottom line from rock to metal, you can't go rong with this, unless you suck, because you can't hide behind the distortion... you still sound like you.

Works just fine; no problems.

I Called em up about adjusting the EQ; super cool as always.

If you like the 5150/6505, I can't imagine that you wouldn't like the Voodoo mods. It might be a little more in the vain of an Engl Poweball now, but it's full of some great tones... minus the clean channel, which is greatly improved but still mediocre at best.All in all though, this is a great amp that has its own funky vibe.. If it were lost or stolen, I might get something different, but I'd really miss this amp.

I bought this amp new about two months ago from a shop in Fayetteville N.C. Its pretty much the same setup as the 6505 head with just two 6L6 power tubes instead of four, for a total of 60 watts. I'm not sure why peavey doesn't offer the 6505+ in the combo, or at least give each channel a designated e.q. section. The first day I had it, I blew the main fuse with the lead channel volume at about 4.5. The amp was noisey, sounded like crap, and the clean channel... if you could call it that was a joke. Also, the gain past 5 on the lead channel was fuzzy, nasty sounding and completely useless. Needless to say, when I blew a fuse again the next day, I was pretty pissed. Considering the fact that I bought the amp new, and paid too much for it... approx. $1200.00 (and the music store I bought it from had it stacked under a couple of amps in the back two weeks after I took it in)I was seriously considering getting rid of it, or using it as a 1200.00 boat anchor... are you reading this peavey... I hope so.
Well, I'm glad I didn't; I had read about different companys that modded amps, so I noodled around the net to see what I could find anyone who could salvage my brand new worthless amp... are you reading this peavey.... I read a bunch of reviews on voodoo mods, and thought that initially it was mostly hype. Hell, if I'd just paid $400-$800 bucks to have my $%^& modded, I'd want to think it was the baddest thing on the block too. To make a long story short, I antied up the cash and sent it off as a last resort.

After putting the tubes in and reinstalling the chassis, I sat down and plugged my guitar in thinking, well lets see if I just blew a bunch of money for nothing. I cranked it up and let it rip, and I have to say; I wasn't expecting what I heard. That thing flat out rocked. When these guys in the other reviews talk about how tight the lows are, they aren't $%^&*! you. The low end hits like a hammer, and it does not get muddy, even tuned way down. There is no fuzziness to the gain in the lead channel, and the rhythm channel may just be my favorite now- like a brown sound on steroids. This amp really responds well, to player input; if you play harder, the amp sounds more aggressive. If you back off, the gain smoothes out nicely. There is still an amazing amount of clarity at maximum gain settings, and yes, if you suck it will show. You cannot hide behind this distortion. If you need to work on your chops, go get a line 6. If you want a tone that is chunky, smooth and brutal as hell, this is it.

Haven't blown any fuses yet... So far so good

I called a few times and I'm sure I annoyed the hell out of these guys with all of my stupid questions. They were cool as hell, and got me my amp back in about 2 weeks.

I've played bass for about 7 yrs now, but mostly I just noodle around on my guitar now and jam with some buddies when I can. I've got a garz chambered body electric that I play most of the time and a peavey wolfgang special... thats actually pretty descent... Imagine that.
If it were lost or stolen I'd get a Rivera Knucklehead Tre. It's pretty much the ultimate rock/metal amp ever made, but I'd deffenitely miss this amp. It's got a funky vibe that's just cool as hell... especially for a combo. I've never heard a combo that can go toe to toe with this for a flat out kick you in the head metal sound. My only gripe is that the mods are a little pricey, but hey, would I pay it again.. you bet. Coincidently, if you can get a good deal on one of these used, this ain't a bad way to go at all.