5150 with boost pedal good for lead work?

[Jupiter]

Seeing as how there's tons of 5150 users here, i thought this would be a good place to ask this!
I'm still in the market for a new amp... the 5150 is looking mighty nice. Out other guitarist in our band uses a 5150 combo. He plays mostly rhythm, and i play rhythm and lead in our prog metal band. He also uses an MXR eq, and his tone is brutal! It really doesn't sound like other bands that use the 5150, though {i.e. Van Halen, Arch Enemy, In Flames, etc}. His tone has insane compression and lots of bite. It's also a bit on the fizzy side. But i still like it lot! So, with those examples in mind, i know that the 5150 can score some great rhythm tone. But for lead....
I find the amp to be too thin-sounding for lead work. Lead sounds that i like include Paul Gilbert, John Petrucci, Steve Vai, and Mattias Eklundh. I like a lot of really hot, smooth, responsive gain that will really sing for my leads. The 5150 doesn't really sound smooth enough to do these kinds of leads on its own. But how would it be if i put a boost pedal in front of it? All of my faves tend to favor the Boss DS-1, how would it sound with this amp for lead work? Like i said, my two biggest problems with the 5150 lead's sound is that it is thin and unsmooth. Would the DS-1 {or similar pedal, Tubescreamer, whatever} remedy these problems? Maybe i could have the lead channel as my rhythm tone, rhtyhm tone as my clean, and rhythm+boost pedal be my lead. How would that be?
However, if i bought a 5150, i'd also get an MXR dual 15 band EQ, some kind of rackmount multi FX {probably a Rocktron Intellefx} for delays, chorus, etc. and eventually a BBE. Having some delay on my leads always sounds nice. Would i be happy with this kind of setup? Please help!

[vai n maiden]

you might be better (if you do need one at all!) with a boss SD-1 super overdrive... to thicken/smooth your sound out.... or the DS-1 with the tone rolled back quite a bit... but the 5150 is a killer amp... you can tweak it for a smoother tone if you want to cut over the rhythm player's extreme distortion... or get him to punch out his EQ when you're playing lead, many many possibilities there

[screamndemon69]

i just simplified my live rig from rack gear to some pedals, a 5150 head and a custom 2x12 cab Peavey made for me. i LOVE the 5150 and the tone is VERY adjustable. i am now doing the classic/southern rock thing with a little modern rock mixed in and it works GREAT! i had used it in an original HEAVY ROCK band with the rack gear and it was swell except for there was too much stuff to lug around and set-up and trouble shoot if something went wrong.
the "simplified" pedal set-up i'm using with the clean channel on the 5150 is as follows: DS-1 (smoooth), TS-9 (boost & sustain), DD-20, Digitech Synth Wah (gets a great "talk box" type effect ala "Rocky Mt. Way"), Sabine pedal tuner and an MXR Phase 90. i sold my Cry Baby and am adding a PW-10 Boss Wah (awesome pedal for the $!).
you can use the 5150 gain to really open things up if you need to get some serious gain - i don't need to, i'm doing mostly classic rock.
i would recommend trying the Carvin Legacy - i would purchase that amp if my 5150 was stolen and will probably still buy the combo version this year anyway.
my 2 cents.
Todd

[Jupiter]

Although the Legacy seems like it's an amazing-sounding amp, i don't think it has enough gain for the kind of stuff my band does. I've never played one, but the general consensus seems to be that it doesn't do metal.
So what kind of lead sounds can you get using the DS-1 with your 5150? I'm really looking for something like a cross between Petrucci {Dream Theater}, Gilbert, and Vai.

[BCShredder]

Just buy a mesa and get that nice warm sound. The 5150 are fizzy sounding just like you said and the way the bands using them get them to sound good is cranking them on stage. Michael Amoot even said at their show out here the reason they sound good with theirs are the different components inthe european ones make the tone a lot different. I'm not th eelectrician but I guess it basically runs the amp hotter if you have it how they do over there.

[screamndemon69]

the DS-1 seems to smooth out a nice distortion for what i'm doing. if you turn the gain down to around 4 or 5, and the presence down to 5 or 6, you can dial in some nice tones.
i think you could try the Legacy or the 5150 (the Mesa is great- just expensive) running a MT-2 or other high gain distortion to get the thick sounding gain you are looking for.

[JerryP]

Having the bias circuit modified and adjusted hotter will help with the thin tone. A tube screamer type overdrive pedal works nice if you don't have the gain cranked up too high. I have a bunch of clips of modified 5150's on my page. FJA Mods
Jerry

[vai n maiden]

5150s are only fizzy when scooped, you'll get lost in the mix scooping the mids anyways...... dial up a nice middy sound with a lot of gain and KILL!

I find its the opposite that mesas are fizzy (the recto series i mean, Mks seem to be creamier) and unpleasant.... maybe its how theyre done in the UK, ya never know

[BCShredder]

I use mids and always give my friends hell cause they scoop them out and wonder why they can't be heard on leads. The 5150's are really fuzzy and the mesa is a lot smoother, but if you put too much gain on a recto it's going to get a little grit. Still nowhere as bad as a 5150 they sound thin on every channel the clean sounds like a lifeless fender.

[Ralph khoury]

So the 5150 isn't warm sounding??? damn! but the 5150 emulation on my GT3 sounds gr8 and warm

[The_Grindfiend]

I'd recommend, before anything else, going to JerryP's page and giving those samples a listen. I do not like the sound of 5150s. However, I liked the sound of Jerry's 5150s. He also has some killer sounding wah mods.

[vai n maiden]

i for one really like the sound of the 5150 combo, and if there's one thing i cannot STAND it is fizzy amps so maybe the european ones DO sound different

[BCShredder]

Yea cause the combo's over here are the worst of the batch. They feedback like no other and are extremely fizzy sounding. The one guitarist in a band out here had one it lasted about 2 week he traded it back and got a marshall 4 and those things sound like crap but it was a big improvement.

[JerryP]

Originally Posted by The_Grindfiend

I'd recommend, before anything else, going to JerryP's page and giving those samples a listen. I do not like the sound of 5150s. However, I liked the sound of Jerry's 5150s. He also has some killer sounding wah mods.

Thanks! I'm glad you liked them. The 5150 gets a bad rap. It's much more versitile than people give it credit for. I hated the first one I played. I'm a Marshall man but I'm really diggin the 5150 now too.
Jerry

[Texter]

You need a good EQ unit...Even with a cheap Boss GE-7 pedal you'll get skullgrinding distortion and terrific leads.