5150 / 5150 II / 5150 212 Combo Comparisons

[AT]

Hi Folks.

I landed a Peavey 5150 212 Combo on eBay for a steal last week (near mint condition for $330 local pickup), and after getting it home and trying the thing out, I must say I was both surprised and impressed.

I've owned an original 5150 head and cab since 1997, and I've been mostly playing a 5150 II through a Marshall JCM 900 as my main rig for the last year or so. (Familiar folks here will also know me as an avid Peavey Wolfgang fan and player.) The differences between the 5150 I and II are slight, but I do appreciate them--separate channel EQs and an improved clean tone on the II. I only bought the 5150 Combo because of the opportunity to get it cheap and the idea that I would maybe use it at home or for "smaller" gigs. (Yeah... right... The thing is still damn big and heavy!) However, I'm completely nuts about this amp right now! The clean channel is awesome--way better than either of the heads! And--hello--reverb! I can't wait to get this thing in the studio tomorrow and see what it sounds like recorded. I'm even considering bypassing my usual "rock standard" rig of a head and one/two cabinets and taking the combo to my next gig instead.

So has anyone else been able to own one or more versions of the 5150/6505 and done comparisons? And, similarly, what are your favorite cabinets to run the 5150 heads through? I tend to prefer recording with the 5150 cabs, because they are "tighter" in the lows and thus have a more defined miked tone, but I like the slight boost in low-mids and "roundness" that the Marshall JCM 900s offer when I'm playing or gigging with my band. Thoughts?

[HipCat5]

I own the 5150 combo and before I bought it I did a lot of in-store comparisons of the 6505 heads and combo. [of course, I wanted to make an educated choice].

From my ears perspective, the combo is different [in a better way] than the heads. I've heard many say that the biasing was done better on the combo and while I can't confirm that, I believe it from the tones i hear.

The one thing I don't like about the combo is the buzz-saw top-end presence from the speaker section. I still can't be 100% sure about the stock speakers, but I've put my amp through many 2x12 and 4x12 speakers to see what I like best. All the 2x12 cabs came up having a buzzy top end. The best tones came from using a 4x12 with Celestion G-75's (I think that's what I've got in there - the typical Marshall 4x12 speaker -whatever that is). In defense of one of my 2x12's, the one loaded with Celestion Greenbacks sounded far better than the stock Peavey speakers, so I wonder if putting the Green into the combo might not be a bad idea?

The heads probably would sound really good with a mod to add a bias control and maybe an upgrade to a different output transformer. From some of my own personal experience building a tube amp from parts, tube selection and biasing makes a world of difference, as does the existance [or lack] of a power supply choke. The 5150 mk II does have bias control but its so limited in its sweep, its hard to call it useful.

I've been considering building a head enclosure for my combo chassis and getting it out of the combo amp enclosure just because as of right now, I rarely use the stock speakers [its always on my 4x12 only]. If I ever do pull the chassis, I think a bias mod and a power supply choke are real possibilities for me.

It would be great to hear what others have to say, esp. about the combo.

[scs5150]

I have a 5150 head/cabinet and a 5150 combo. I like the head/ cab rig because it's a little thicker in tone than the combo. The combo pushes some serious air though. My favorite set-up is running the combo as the head through the cabinet. You get that real nice clean tone that the combo has and the reverb too. It gives out a lot more bottom end with that set-up. Eddie used this set up for the Balance tour I think. I rember seeing a picture of the Wolfgang prototypes in front of the stacks. Those suckers are heavy though!! Try it out and see!

[smme5150]

Andrew, you absolutely have to do the JJ tubes mod in the combo. It gets rid of the mid range nasaly honk that the amp tends to have. Next you must put a BBE 362 or 462 Sonic Maximizer in the loop and a noise gate as it is will piss and hiss all over the place at high gain settings.After these mods this the amp is so freakin sweat you won't believe it. I forget the guy's name for the JJ's mod but he is so cool and knows everything about the combo. He is a great source for any info you want on the Peavey 5150 products; heads, combo, whatever and he is cool as fuck!

[bcgvh]

what do you mean by the JJ mod? won't JJ tubes work as long as you stay with the 6L6 and 12AX7/ECC83 setup???

[HipCat5]

I think what is implied is that the guy at Eurotubes sets aside the appropriate 6L6GC tubes that won't force a rebias of the 5150 head or combo. There's nothing special about the JJ's or Eurotubes. The JJ's are good solid tubes and Eurotubes matches them to each other & to the amp. I have those JJ's in my 5150 combo as well and while I love them, its not a hardship to put in something else (plus it might force me to do the bias mod). The 12AX7 tubes are your choice (JJ or other). V1 should always be a non-microphonic low noise tube (eck ... where's a schematic when you need one) ... and I'd say V2 and V3 should be as well. Some people run mil-spec 5751 tubes in those positions to tame the gain and noise. V4,V5,and V6 should be solid tubes but nothing incredibly special. I am running a few vintage U.S. GE tubes in V4 and V5 right now because the JJ's in those positions started making crackling noises. Again, I can't remember which one is the phase inverter (find schematic to be sure) but don't underestimate the tonal changes from tube rolling the phase inverter.

[Fan4Life]

I biased the tubes on my head (not me, I had it done) and it made all of the difference, alot guys I meet have done it, I always thought that the combos had more crunch to them.