Marshall VS. Peavey - Hmm...I cant decide...

[ChrisReedSmith]

Orginally I keep planning on using a Marshall JMP-1 and EL34 50/50 power amp for my main guitar tone. But after hearing a bunch of bands who use the 5150's and hearing about how great the new 5150 II is I'm considering trying one out. Now I havent even tried the JMP-1 out yet because there isnt one anywhere around here. So when I make a decison I'm just gonna have to order it and hope for the best. And return it if I dont like it. Here is what makes this difficult...

I like to use ALL rack stuff. I want my rig to have ONE rack (probably a 16 space or so) which plugs into either 1 or 2 cabs. Thats it.

Now with the JMP-1 and EL34, obviously since they are rack units I can just mount them right in. But if I went with the Peavey then I would use one of those things which lets you mount a head into a rack. I dont know how big they are and what not I still have to look into it...but would this be a good idea?

Another thing is, the JMP-1 had MIDI. the 5150 does not. And I always liked the idea of being able to program my presets and change them via MIDI whenever I want. So this would be a big disadvantage to the 5150.

BUT, from what I've heard the 5150 sounds killer compared to Marshall tone. I'll use 2 bands as examples (even tho some of you might not have heard of them).
Deftones (one of my fav bands of all time) uses the JMP-1 for almost all of their guitar work. I love their tone and I think its great. But its not super heavy. Another band, Non-point, and some other bands I've heard who use the 5150, are very very heavy and it sounds real crunchy.

So I might have to comprimise tone for playability and vise versa. Any suggestions??

p.s- if only Peavey made a 5150 MIDI rack preamp...Oooo I would love that.

[Anonymous]

Peavey does make a midi rackmount preamp, with similat features, IE max voltage on preamp tubes, MANY stages of gain, etc.
I've never heard it, but you may want to consider it.
I don't think the 2 dirthy channels on the 5150 are extremely versatile(the 5150 II apparenlty has a clean channel.), but I think most of your tone should come from your hands first, guitar second, amp third.
Listen to a Fantomas song, (not too hard to find on napster, at least pre lawsuit. If a bit hard to swallow) the guitar sound is extremely heavy, but the mids aren't scooped out, the bass isn't overwhelming, and there's not alot of gain. It's all in Buzz's hands.

[ChrisReedSmith]

I dont see any rack mount preamps on peaveys site...is it discontinued? whats the name?

[Jimi D]

I used to have a Peavey Rockmaster pre - huge amounts of gain, pull boosts, decent tone, dual EQs, clean, lead and boost switching. I liked it a lot - it was great bang for the buck 'cause they only run about $100 - $150 used in great shape. I wish I still had it for backup. I'm running a Formula Pre now, so I don't miss it much

[Anonymous]

Quote: from MADWELL on 8:41 am on May 23, 2001
I dont see any rack mount preamps on peaveys site...is it discontinued? whats the name?

Yeah, it was discontinued recently, I think it was TubeFex, ask your local Peavey dealer about it. You might still be able to get them.
After all, there are still plenty of RG7-620s at Ibanez.

[Armitage]

I have four heads, a Marshall TSL, a Soldano Decatone, an ENGL Savage 120, and a 5150. If I could only keep one, it'd be the 5150. If I needed clean, it's be the Marshall TSL.

[Scott of Actual Time]

Quote: from Jimi D on 8:48 am on May 23, 2001
I used to have a Peavey Rockmaster pre - huge amounts of gain, pull boosts, decent tone, dual EQs, clean, lead and boost switching. I liked it a lot - it was great bang for the buck 'cause they only run about $100 - $150 used in great shape. I wish I still had it for backup. I'm running a Formula Pre now, so I don't miss it much

the Rock Master is a great unit, i've used them for 8 years. *all of the tracks my band _actual time_ recorded for both our CDs were tracked with my Rock Master rig - see http://www.mp3.com/actualtime/ or http://www.people.virginia.edu/~sha3u/time/ for sound clips. *the secret with the Rock Master is to use an outboard EQ to tweak the tone.

the Peavey TubeFex was the MIDI preamp + FX unit that supposedly had the preamp section of the Rock Master in it. *i tried a TubeFex for an extended weekend through my rack and cabinets, and it sounded muddy and farty where the Rock Master was lean and crunchy.

definately check out a Rock Master if you can find a used one.

[MadKeithV]

I've posted up an .mp3 file in the uploads section playing my 7-string through a JMP-1 with only a bit of compression.

http://209.25.234.11/uploads/7evendeath.mp3

Have a listen, and ask yourself just how much more crunch *you could handle

[Jupiter]

Originally Posted by Scott of Actual Time

the Rock Master is a great unit, i've used them for 8 years. all of the tracks my band _actual time_ recorded for both our CDs were tracked with my Rock Master rig - see http://www.mp3.com/actualtime/ or http://www.people.virginia.edu/~sha3u/time/ for sound clips. the secret with the Rock Master is to use an outboard EQ to tweak the tone.

the Peavey TubeFex was the MIDI preamp + FX unit that supposedly had the preamp section of the Rock Master in it. i tried a TubeFex for an extended weekend through my rack and cabinets, and it sounded muddy and farty where the Rock Master was lean and crunchy.

definately check out a Rock Master if you can find a used one.

Hey Scott!
I just downloaded some of your band's stuff... Holy $h!t !!! Absolutely class!!!!!!!! I'm listening to 'Crank' for the second time right now. Very, VERY impressive!!! What was your exact rig for recording 'Crank'? See, i've been thinking about getting the Rockmaster myself. I play rhythm and a ton of lead in a prog metal band. I need a really tight, articulate rhythm sound, and a smooth, defined { think: Paul Gilbert } lead tone, too. Think the Rockmaster can handle it?
I'd really appreciate your input! Keep up the great work!
Ben

[Dave Goodland]

I owned a peavey 5150 II. i had to sell it because its not very versitile. Its not bad but i hated the distortion on it and it really doesn't have much more to it. So i bought a marshall JMP MKII 1978 100w head and use it just as a power amp and it rips the peavey apart. I kept the 5150 quad box though.

[Mr Orange]

I'd go with the 5150. Just get it retubed and rebiased and off you go.

Check out www.eurotubes.com for some interestin talk about 5150.

[microdmitry]

Neither. Buy something good. Egnater, Bogner, VHT are possible candidates. Mesa Mark IIC+ or IV if you're shooting for Mesa tone. Egnater and Mesa aren't as expensive as the other two if this is a concern.

[Given to Fly]

I would go with the JMP set up. I played through a 5150 II recently and I thought it was awful. Way to bright and brittle sounding. However I did not get to tweak it much. The JMP sounds awesome though. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it is not a plug in and play amp. But that's mere preference.

[bpd111]

Well, I'm fairly certain that you're not going to get a full-size head unit into a standard-size rack. If rackmount is what you want, I'd go that way. I've heard plenty of good things about the Marshall... You need to decide what features, such as MIDI control, that you absolutely must have and what you might live without.

If you're anything like me, you're going to have to try it for a while, and decide what you really like. I end up buying things because gear because it isn't too easy to find and try out around here. I end up with gear laying around that should end up on Jemsite classifieds, but it takes me a while to get into something and really make up my mind. Of course, that is the expensive way to do it.

Heh, heh - could I interest you in a Carvin Quad-X Pre-amp??

[Jupiter]

How much for the Quad-X ??? I've heard these are great units, too.
Mail me at Mecki213@cs.com if you don't want to post prices!
Thanks,
Ben