Anyone here get there 5150 bias modded?

[rock234]

Had mine Bias Modded, and here's what it sounds like:

CLICK HERE FOR SAMPLE

"less brutal?" hmm... I don't think so.

That tone is incredible. I'm thinking of getting my 5150 bias modded and was wondering what guitar/pickups, cab/speakers you used and what your amp was biased at.

 

[JeffTD]

LUPUS. YOUR KIDS DESERVE IT.

 

[MatrixClaw]

That tone is incredible. I'm thinking of getting my 5150 bias modded and was wondering what guitar/pickups, cab/speakers you used and what your amp was biased at.

 

[Max Morton]

Honestly, I really prefer mine biased colder. I bought my 5150 biased hotter (not knowing that) and always felt like it's a bit too oversaturated/muddy, no matter what tubes I put in the poweramp, including KT66's.
Not long ago, a fellow engineer of mine kindly helped me by modding it again. Now I have a knob to regulate bias for any set of tubes I have in it. And with most tubes, except for KT's, I really prefer it a bit colder. Sounds more detailed and clear to me - solid bass, clear (unfizzy) highs, great definition on palmmutes.

 

[MatrixClaw]

Honestly, I really prefer mine biased colder. I bought my 5150 biased hotter (not knowing that) and always felt like it's a bit too oversaturated/muddy, no matter what tubes I put in the poweramp, including KT66's.
Not long ago, a fellow engineer of mine kindly helped me by modding it again. Now I have a knob to regulate bias for any set of tubes I have in it. And with most tubes, except for KT's, I really prefer it a bit colder. Sounds more detailed and clear to me - solid bass, clear (unfizzy) highs, great definition on palmmutes.

Interesting.

I've had the exact opposite experience. I've owned probably close to 15 5150s and all its variants (5150 II, 6505, 6505+), and my bias modded 5150 I have now is significantly more brutal, much more defined and the annoying fizz in the high end is completely gone. The lowend might not be quite as tight, but the amp definitely sounds MUCH "bigger."

I've fought for a while with 5150s on whether I like them or not, and after finally trying the bias mod, this 5150 has been the amp I've kept the longest of any; which is a huge feat for me, as I usually keep amps for about 2 months and get bored of them. This one I've had nearly a year and a half.

 

[acalaf]

I just picked up a 5150 that is not bias modded but the stock tubes are running at 35ma, so its the same value as it would have been with a bias mod. It is not fizzy at all and sounds smooth and brutal at the same time. It is the best 5150 I had a had. The low end is not as tight, but I guess you can just turn the bass down. A great sounding amp indeed.

 

[Max Morton]

Interesting.

I've had the exact opposite experience. I've owned probably close to 15 5150s and all its variants (5150 II, 6505, 6505+), and my bias modded 5150 I have now is significantly more brutal, much more defined and the annoying fizz in the high end is completely gone.

Well perhaps it's also a matter of personal tastes, cab preferences and even personal choice musical instruments (mine were always a bit bass heavy, so I do tend to aim for more "focused" amps to tame that all that fat).

Interesting.
The lowend might not be quite as tight, but the amp definitely sounds MUCH "bigger."

I totally agree with that - both in the room and from the mic, it sounds "large" when biased hotter.

 

[JeffTD]

I will say that since posting in this thread I've ended up bias modding the 5150 I have now (6th one... Not sure which I had 5 years ago) and like it better. Then again I usually play through the 'normal' input with passives, too.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

Had mine Bias Modded, and here's what it sounds like:

CLICK HERE FOR SAMPLE

"less brutal?" hmm... I don't think so.

That tone is incredible. I'm thinking of getting my 5150 bias modded and was wondering what guitar/pickups, cab/speakers you used and what your amp was biased at.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

I bought mine bias modded. I've never owned or had one unbiased or modded in my presence.

I've recorded the Voodoo modded one (with the merc magnetics etc... shit) and you DON'T need a boost with it. Tightens the amp right up.

 

[acalaf]

So after writing about my hot tubes, I changed them with a quad of old tubes that I had lying around that biased at 11Ma, super cold. and guess what? It sounded tighter. I prefer the sound. Could not really tell what the crossover distortion was doing butI could hardly notice it. At least it did not bother me. If anything the amp sounds angrier now. The 5150 is not really a head for clean sounds anyway, it has an excellent distorted rhythm channel and a great lead channel. To try to use it for cleans is folly. I think I am going to stick with these colder tubes in there.

Also, I discovered the the stock hot tubes I had in my 5150 are peavey labeled sylvania str 387's, which are amazing tubes. I am put them in my rivera kr100, biased them to 40 Ma and it sounds glorious. I feel that both amps were upgraded in one lucky discovery.

 

[RandomAwesome]

Aaron from Legend had this done to his 5150 right before we reamped all the guitars. I've recorded a buttload of Peavey heads in the past, and I don't really know what exactly the bias mod does, but it just sounded good without a whole lot of fussing around.