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5150 in a box?

9K views 37 replies 18 participants last post by  Van Noord 
#1 ·
I use a Rivera S120 combo amp. I love the overdrive tones that I get out of it, but need something a little more aggressive at times.

I am looking for a 5150 in a box.
I've owned many Dual & Single Rectifiers (actually found the Rectoverb to be slightly more aggressive).
I've owned Lee Jackson heads.
I've owned an original 5150.
I've owned a couple of Soldanos.

So far, nothing beats the super raw aggression of a 5150. If the rest of the amp had been worth a damn, I would still have it! The clean channel wasn't very clean and the loop was horrible.

Anyway.......
Is there a pedal or rack unit that comes remotely close to the super crunchy, sustain laden, all out ballsy assault of the 5150?
 
#2 · (Edited)
Nope.
Amps sound like amps, pedals sound like pedals and modellers sound like modellers.
They all have their pros and cons.
If you want that tone, only the real thing can deliver it, other stuff will only TRY to emulate it.
Why not having it only to get that tone you love?
What's the problem?
Use it to get that tone and other gear to get other tones, so many guitarists use different gear to get different tones, if you found a tone you love, stay with it no matter what, some search for it their entire lives but never find ;)
In my case, I found mesa as my favorite tone ever but there are no mesa sellers in Brazil, we can only buy mesa from people who travelled, bought and brought them to sell for extremelly high prices, so high that guitarists can't buy them, only lawyers, doctors(hobby players) can :(

BTW sometimes english is a nightmare, Bought and Brought, only 1 letter different, for the love of God(foreigners), don't do that :lol:
 
#3 ·
:lol:English is a pretty messed up language!:lol:

I hear what you're saying. I simply found the rest of the amp to be unusable.
Plus, I don't really want to haul 2 amps around everywhere I go.
I'm hoping there is a decent tube preamp on the market that will get me close.
I thought about getting a Recto Pre and modifying it a little, but they go for almost the same used as they did when they 1st came out!

Maui is the same way with amps/gear. I had to pay $100 to get my Rivera shipped from the next island over! It's hard to find good gear here, and when I do, people want way too much for it.

I checked out the pedal, not quite what I want. I might have to get a Wampler Slostortion or Triple Wreck........

Basically, I only need it for certain parts of songs where we need to be HEAVY. My Rivera covers just about any other territory that I could want.
 
#5 ·
I actually thought about another MP-1. I had one years ago when they 1st came out and really liked it.
Not nearly enough gain for me though, so I gave it to a friend.
I'm very interested in the 3 tube mod for the MP-1 though.......
Of course, now they are going for more than I bought a new one for in the 90's!
 
#7 ·
I agree that it is near impossible to totally replicate the sound you are after without simply getting another 5150 ,,,,there are just so many factors, from preamp design to power amp design, and the mojo of how they just mix together for the end result. I'm way into my Soldano SLO, and although it can be a pain lugging a head and cab everywhere, I know that I will NEVER be able to replicate the sound,,,,,even with the expensive Soldano supercharger pedal. Therefore, I vow never to sell my SLO for some simpler setup that promises to come close.
 
#8 ·
Honestly, something like the AxeFX might be the way to go for you - a great 5150 model, plus the clean amp of your choice.

Funny re: the Single Rectos being more aggressive - I used to own one, before selling it in favor of a Roadster. It definitely was a bit brighter and edgier, at leas tuntil the master volume got SERIOUSLY loud and it started to smooth out a little. However, if you swapped out the 6L6s for a pair of EL34s.... it was an absolute crunch MACHINE. Completely feral, snarling, in-your-face crunch - it was weird how much more pronounced that tube swap was in that amp than it was in the Roadster.
 
#12 ·
Sorry, but I have to reiterate myself. The only real 5150 in a box is the actual 5150 in a box that was made by Peavey for exactly this purpose.

I feel like that really should have been the first thought.

If you want new, they also make a 1x12 and 2x12 6505+ combo. And as we all know, a 5150/II and a 6505/+ are the exact same head.

So, once again, you are litterally getting EXACTLY what you want. A 5150 in a box.
 
#14 ·
Agreed.....to a point, and I appreciate your opinion, but.......
I like to play live.
I don't have roadies.
I like everything about my current amp. It does everything I need, with the exception of the brootz.
I just need super heavy tones for about 5-10% of the music that my band plays.
I'm not dragging another amp around to use for roughly 6 minutes of each hour that we play.

In a perfect world, I would get the 5150 III. Better cleans than the original, and better loop, and I would simply use both amps on stage.

In the real world, I just need a preamp or pedal that will get me close enough.
I only used the 5150 as an example of the tones that I am attempting to achieve. If I wanted another 5150, I would have bought one.
I live on a small island. There is nowhere that I could unleash a 100 watt monster of an amp like that!
I greatly appreciate your opinion, and I did ask for your opinion, but now you have mine too.
I've been playing for over 25 years. I've owned an amp repair shop for over 10. I've worked on and modified just about every amp you can imagine.

So.....in your opinion, is there a preamp or pedal that will get me close? I don't need to nail it exactly. I'm not playing in a Van Hagar cover band.
Sorry for the rant (sort of), but you can tell me a million times and I still won't want another 5150. I just want to get close to that sound.
 
#22 ·
GT10 is midi and could control any midi stuff he could buy.
I guess any smart person will prefer paying $1000 and getting what he wants than paying $250 but get noise.
Than try another $250 pedal = $500 but still he couldn't get what he wants.
So in the end $1000 is better not to mention mesa quality.
 
#29 ·
A mesa Triaxis will get you the sound he needs but a used Mesa is around $1000 while a new Wampler pedal is $250. Also, he would needs a foot midi controller for the Triaxis.
I was actually looking at the Triaxis. Prices are so low that I could pick one up for around $800-$900 right now!
I have a bunch of stuff that I am planning on selling, so the cash wouldn't be a problem.
I like the idea of a 1 rack unit that has numerous sounds.
The guys at the Boogie Board say that the Triaxis cannot get a Recto sound. They say it is like a Mark trying to sound like a Recto.

I have a Ground Control Pro and a GCX, so midi isn't a problem. I almost got the GT-10, but decided that a G Major 2 would be more to my liking. At the time, I was using a Mesa DC-5 and it didn't like high gain pedals in front of the amp, so I went with the processor instead of the preamp/processor.

I've been using a Nova Drive, which sounds pretty cool, and I like the midi feature, but it just isn't heavy enough. I think my amp and my guitar's volume control can basically get just about any Nova Drive sound.
I've been eying a few pedals, like the Triple Wreck. Problem is, they take up 2 rack spaces. I have everything in my rack except my Ground Control Pro, Wah pedal, and tuner pedal (just because I can't see far enough to use the tuner on the G-Major).
 
#33 ·
The AMT P2 is probably closest thing to a 5150/6505 without getting a peavey...

Check out the clips on youtube, you have to order direct from them, but most of the feedback is pretty good, you canlso use it for Direct recording I think...

The triple wreck is more recto oriented, everyhting I've heard fits with that vibe...

Would be silly not to check the AMT P2 out...
 
#35 ·
As it's a preamp it will probably be closer to the 5150 tone also has it's own clean channel I think, normally I think most distortion boxes always lack something these AMT's seem to have more oomph...

Actually it has three outputs a cab sim out for direct a preamp out for going into an amps return or the drive out which I assume is for going into an amps input..



Few other demos on youtube too...

Other option is to pick up a 6505+112 used possibly do a head mod then switch between it and your riviera...
 
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