Peavey 5150 - A discussion on settings.

[Delinos]

Greets all-
* *
* * I own a 5150 combo amp and am pretty happy with it but I'm curious about the different tones I can get so I'm wondering if someone else here who has one or has played one or knows something enough to post would be kind enough too. *Thank you very much. *By the way these are my settings.

Lead Pre- 9 *Low- 7 *Mid- 6 High- 9 Reverb- 0 *Lead Post (Volume: I keep mine at .5 to 1 for room playing) *Resonance- 7 Presence- 9

Well thank you all again and I look forward to everyone's input as I want to try out as many different things as possible.

Brandon Empting

[Hitman]

I've never owned the combo, but I had the head. I wouldn't keep the resonance control too high. It sure is grand, but it'll make things muddy quick. Also, I don't think it can be too good for your speakers, having them jerk around and be crazy isn't good.

Your pregain is a lot higher than I ever had on my head. Actually, that is crazy. I can't believe you have any timbre of the original not left after all that distortion. Well, to each his own. Maybe you have really lo output pickups LOL. Just keep experimenting. ONe cool thing about the combo is that its clean channel is superior to the clean channel of the head.

* Good job

[pri0531]

I have the 5150 combo and use a BBE Sonic Maximizer. *It really balances the sound. *My settings are lead pre 6.5, bass 5.5, mid 6.5, treble 6.5, reverb 4.5, res 5.5, pres 6. *Settings vary due to the newness of the strings. *The aforementioned settings are for my VWH. *When I play my UV777PBK the bass and res drop a bit.
Out,
Gregory

[ryan]

Playing live, I run my 5150 head (lead channel) as follows:

Pregain - anywhere from 6.5 to 7
Post Gain - around 2.5 or 3

Low - exactly on 8
Mid - exactly on 2
High - exactly on 8

(the points on the knobs for the eq section make a perfectly horizontal line...)

Power amp controls, with a 5150 cabinet:

Resonance - 8
Presence - 8

If you don't have a closed back cabinet, or are using something equipped with Vintage 30's, the presence will probably split your head open. *The vintage 30's can handle that much resonance, but an open back cabinet (or combo) most likely can't.

For recording, where I double or quad-track quitars, I back the pre gain down a few notches and crank the post gain up to around 4 or 5. *Also when recording, I'm sure to engage the low cut filter on my board and back a little bit of the low EQ off on the channel strip. *If I don't do this, the 5150 eats the bass guitar right out of the mix.

Another note - now that I'm fooling around with Pod stuff, I've gotten the Soldano amp model to sound exactly like my 5150 head (w/o the hiss...) and I'm running it thru the effects return on the 5150.

[Delinos]

Greets-

Thanks for all the help by they way but are you guys telling me that the settings I have now can somehow damage my amp? Also how can I tell if my tubes have become microphonic? *Thanks again..

Brandon

[rgr]

No, your settings won't damage your amp, if they would they wouldn't be there. *I haven't played a 5150 much but I do know they have alot of gain, I think the main point is if you were playing louder you would probably want to turn the pre gain down or your sound might turn to mush. *You might find that it adds more definition even at the low volumes you are playing at now. *

Roger

[strat110]

I have a 5150 Combo and whoa your preamp is on afterburn!! *I have mine at around 4!!! *I have an RG3120 w/ DiMarzio Tone Zone and PAF Pro and a YJM Strat.

My bass is about 5, mids 3.5, treb, 5.
Reverb: 2.5-3.0
Resonance: 4.5
Presence: 6.0

What tubes you have in it will radically affect the sounds out of it - which is prob why alot of people don't like them when they try new ones in stores [Peavey stop putting crappy cheap Chinese tubes in yer amps!!]

If I was you I would back off the preamp a bit and then up the post a little for bedroom playing. *The 5150 is an amp that does sound good at bedroom and gigging levels - unlike all the Marshall's I have owned.

Another thing is if you do not have the amp on the floor then your bass setting will be higher. *Despite the combo being a closed back cab and having a resonance control it sounds at its best when its on the floor.


Make use of the crunch channel too as there are alot of good sounds to be found there. *

EVH's settings are:

Lead: Pre: 5.5-6, B: 7, M: 2.5, Treb: 5, Res: 3, Pre: 5-6

Andy

[Delinos]

Thanks again all!

Well I'm going to be trying out all of these and seeing what I can do. *I don't even know exactly what kind of sound I want to get. *I want to be able to get a great distorted sound but I want to be able to hear every note and have it just sound bitchin. *That said I have two questions...

Question First- *What tubes should I put in it because right now it is stock and also should I put new speakers in it or anything else?

Question Second- *I'm currently in the process of buying a new guitar and I'm curious what you think.. should I go with the RG3120 which I would be able to get very soon or should I wait until February-April and order the John Petrucci Music Man? Thanks.. right now I"m leading towards the JPMM..

Brandon

[strat110]

Hi,

I would leave the speakers as they are as they are designed to work with the 5150 - they are good speakers IMO.

As for new tubes then: *

First off you can try swapping the preamp valves around - these are the tubes in the metal cases on the right hand side. *You have to turn the covers and then pull it off - you can see the direction from looking at the catch on it. *They will be quite stiff. *Next pull out the 12ax7's [straight down - they will also be stif, slightly wiggle them] - REMEMBER TO DO THIS WHEN THEY ARE COLD AS OTHERWISE YOU WILL HAVE NO SKIN ON YOUR FINGERS LEFT!! *Then swap them round, you will find that they sound better in one combination to another.

As for new valves then:

Tesla/JJ's 12Ax7's for the preamp [x5]

Svetlana 6L6 for the poweramp [x2]

For more info and the best tubes go to http://www.eurotubes.com

Here you will find an email address for a dude called Bob and he will help you make the best choice - he is also great if you are new to this kind of thing. *

Hope this helps?

Andy

[tube-snob]

Crap! This is stone age post. I forgot to check the date. HEH!

Delinos, have you tried RHYTHM channel as your crunch/lead? It's odd, but the rhythm channel has much chunkier, thick crunch that, for me, goes well for leads too. The LEAD channel sounds thin when compared to RHY channel.
That is, you max the RHY pre to max, Reso to max...very chunky(with Bright/Crunch buttons pressed in).

The Lead channel is very easy to get too much gain. I usually play pre on between 5-6.5. Bass, mid, high, presence, all on 6. Try the RHY channel gain. You might not go back. This, and, post gain on 4 or 5 would take you to tone paradise, but that's where attenuator come into play.

[Wolfram]

Lol, opps.