Looking at new amps for death metal

[MetalRiffa]

Hey guys. Im new to the forum, this is my first post, so if im in the wrong section let me know. Basically just wanting to get some opinions on a good head for death metal. At the moment i am playing a mesa boogie mark 3 blue stripe, which is really nice, but i just cant seem to get the death metal sort of tone out of it. One of the guitarists in my band plays a peavey 6505 and that is awesome at getting the low end super gain tone we death metallers like! Basically just wanting to get some opinions.. at the moment im mainly looking at a 6505/5150 although i am going to check out mesa dual rectifiers, maybe even single rectifiers. The sorts of bands i like the tone of are nile (new album) suffocation, decapitated, bloodbath and deicide.
Let me know your thoughts..

 

[Episteme]

Is that Mark 3 the 50 watt version, they're very fucking nice amps. If you're looking to get a new amp I'd say go a Mesa Dual Rectifier or a 6505 or 6505+. I'm using a 6505+ at the moment and it's probably my favourite piece of gear out of my whole rig. If you've got more money, I'd suggest trying out an ENGL Savage. :d

But honestly, if you want a cheaper alternative (and try this out before you buy anything else) get a tubescreamer pedal and put it at the front of your Mesa Mark III. Put the drive at 9 o'clock, tone at 12 o'clock and level at 3 o'clock or max. It's supposed to tighten any flabby bottom end you're experiencing from any amp, and it's usually what most live players or recording engineers do to an amp to get a good tone out of it as it pushes your power amp tubes a little hotter to get a more saturated and natural distortion out of it without having to crank it and destroy everyone's ears. If you're still unhappy with the result, then I guess you should get a new amp, but I'd still keep the Tubescreamer.

 

[MetalRiffa]

Cheers mate, good to get a reply from a fellow aussie! My mark 3 is the 60/100w simulclass one, with the grpahic eq and reverb. It is an absolute killer amp, and i love the thing, but i just crave a more brutal compressed type of gain like the 6505. I am currently running a modified boss sd-1 in front of the amp, and it definately makes a difference, but not quite enough. I have the tone more focused towards the lows, level on full, and if im loud the drive on zero, (softer volumes i put it up a little bit)
Is this drive pedal similar to a tube screamer? I know it tightens up my bottom end a fair bit.

 

[Episteme]

Which part of Australia are ya at mate?

The tubescreamer would probably be doing exactly what your SD1 does, I've heard of people using a modded SD1 the same way. How does the amp run at 100 watts?

Thing is I've heard of people using Mark IVs and Vs for Death Metal which I think have a more saturated gain tone compared to the Mark 3. I guess you're better off going for a Dual Rectifier, a Peavey 6505/+ or anything more. I will vouch for the Peavey 6505 series. Serious gain out of those things.

Just a curious question, what cab are you running through? Cabs make a huge difference in sound as well.

 

[overseer]

Hey man, I used to have a triple rectifier but found them and even the double rectifier don't give u enough balls unless you're playing hordern pavillions or something. So i sold them and got myself a single rectifier 50 the tone is amazing and clear with a lot more punch since you can drive it harder.

With my old band we played most venues in sydney like Gaelic, Annandale and even Metro main stage and i didn't even need to drive it past 4 there as the sound guy cranked it up through the PA

 

[MetalRiffa]

Which part of Australia are ya at mate?

The tubescreamer would probably be doing exactly what your SD1 does, I've heard of people using a modded SD1 the same way. How does the amp run at 100 watts?

Thing is I've heard of people using Mark IVs and Vs for Death Metal which I think have a more saturated gain tone compared to the Mark 3. I guess you're better off going for a Dual Rectifier, a Peavey 6505/+ or anything more. I will vouch for the Peavey 6505 series. Serious gain out of those things.

Just a curious question, what cab are you running through? Cabs make a huge difference in sound as well.

Hey mate, i am from NSW central coast area, so my band plays mainly central coast, newcastle and sydney occasionally. I actually do vocals not guitar in my band, but i play heaps and one of my guitarists (brother in law) plays my gear when we gig.
My mark 3 is awesome at 100w when its decent volume, but i switch to the 60w mode when im playing at lower levels. The mark 3 is insanelty loud too! My guitar teacher uses a mark 4, so im gonna have a good fiddle with that soon and see if it gets the gain i am chasing. Thing i love about the mark 4 is independent eq's, so it gets a great clean too! I prob should have mentioned i am using an orange 4x12 with v30s and and esp with emg 81/85. Im going to have a shop around and listen to all the different amps, although i think the 6505 my guitarist uses puts out the sort of tone im after. Btw dude, your band fuckin rules, awesome shit!!

 

[MetalRiffa]

Hey man, I used to have a triple rectifier but found them and even the double rectifier don't give u enough balls unless you're playing hordern pavillions or something. So i sold them and got myself a single rectifier 50 the tone is amazing and clear with a lot more punch since you can drive it harder.

With my old band we played most venues in sydney like Gaelic, Annandale and even Metro main stage and i didn't even need to drive it past 4 there as the sound guy cranked it up through the PA

Im definately going to get my hands on a single for a try. I have heard from numerous people now that they are awesome amps, even more so than duals and triples. I have heard that because they work slightly harder you get a more brutal tone, which being tube makes sense. I always thought that 50w wasnt enough until i played mesa's.. Mine is easily gigging volume (loud as fuck) at 2.5. I have also heard the singles have a tighter bottom end, where as duals can get flabby.

 

[ConnorFromHell]

I would try out the new Dual Rectifier, they've just come out with a new model that magazines are raving about.

Also try out some ENGLs, they have a pretty savage tone. If you're into that kind of Rectifier multi-channel tweaker's paradise then try out an ENGL Powerball or a Savage.

There's a new amp called the Peavey 3120 which looks pretty nice. It's similar in layout to a 6505 but it has separate EQ for each channel. Max Cavalera endorses them, so it's that kind of tone.

Or you could do what I do and use a Peavey Delta Blues with a mound of distortion pedals.

Oh yeah, and to give us a better idea of what you need, what's your budget?

 

[MetalRiffa]

I would try out the new Dual Rectifier, they've just come out with a new model that magazines are raving about.

Also try out some ENGLs, they have a pretty savage tone. If you're into that kind of Rectifier multi-channel tweaker's paradise then try out an ENGL Powerball or a Savage.

There's a new amp called the Peavey 3120 which looks pretty nice. It's similar in layout to a 6505 but it has separate EQ for each channel. Max Cavalera endorses them, so it's that kind of tone.

Or you could do what I do and use a Peavey Delta Blues with a mound of distortion pedals.

Oh yeah, and to give us a better idea of what you need, what's your budget?

Cheers man, so far i think the 6505 is going to stack up in my favour. I can get em a fair bit cheaper than the mesa's over here in australia, same with engl's. My budget is about 2 grand australian.

 

[ConnorFromHell]

Cheers man, so far i think the 6505 is going to stack up in my favour. I can get em a fair bit cheaper than the mesa's over here in australia, same with engl's. My budget is about 2 grand australian.

OK. 6505s are really good, but give the 3120 a try as well if you can, I think they may be slightly cheaper and they have a pretty brutal tone from what I've heard.

Here is one:

They're also coming out with a version of the 6505 loaded with EL34 valves, imaginatively dubbed the 6534.

 

[Episteme]

Hey mate, i am from NSW central coast area, so my band plays mainly central coast, newcastle and sydney occasionally. I actually do vocals not guitar in my band, but i play heaps and one of my guitarists (brother in law) plays my gear when we gig.
My mark 3 is awesome at 100w when its decent volume, but i switch to the 60w mode when im playing at lower levels. The mark 3 is insanelty loud too! My guitar teacher uses a mark 4, so im gonna have a good fiddle with that soon and see if it gets the gain i am chasing. Thing i love about the mark 4 is independent eq's, so it gets a great clean too! I prob should have mentioned i am using an orange 4x12 with v30s and and esp with emg 81/85. Im going to have a shop around and listen to all the different amps, although i think the 6505 my guitarist uses puts out the sort of tone im after. Btw dude, your band fuckin rules, awesome shit!!

Thanks for the compliments dude! I'll check out your band's myspace that you put in the other thread.

Try your teacher's Mark 4 when you get the chance, I would love to play on one of those. They've been my dream amp for awhile, that and the ENGL Savage 120.

I haven't tried those 3120s, but I'll hassle my local music shop to get em in stock for me to play around with I doubt they'd do it just for me though. Unfortunately being in Australia, the prices of Mesa amps are pretty ridiculous. I was initially after a Dual Rectifier before I purchased the 6505+. I bought the 6505+ for $1350 aussie 2nd hand, and the cheapest Dual Rectifier was about $2300. Ouch.

I have played on a single rectifier and I thought it was only okay compared to the dual rectifier. The "flabby" bottom end on the dual series can be fixed with that overdrive pedal technique I was mentioning before. I found the Single Rectifier to be a little thin compared to the Dual rectifier funnily enough, and I know of a few people who actually sold it to get something else. But to each his own. Definitely try the amps out and see what you feel best with.

Those Orange Cabs are really good, v30s are fantastic speakers. I'm running my 6505+ head through a Marshall 1960A cab that has gt12-75s and I feel that it's a little too scooped in certain situations and I'm thinking that I'll get the 1960V cab much later in the future. I think you're pretty set on the guitar and cab, just get a good head and it'll sound brutal.

 

[Dehumanize93]

I'm currently playing a 6505+ and Ampeg VH140C (Suffocation used these) in stereo, and it's thick and beefy. I'm going to save some cash to put towards a Bogner Uberschall and Mesa Dual Rectifier though.

 

[MetalRiffa]

I was just watching a bunch of stuff on the 3120, it seems pretty fucking impressive. I have heard its basically just a re shelled xxx though. I figured if i get a dual rectifier the sd-1 pedal i have will tighten up the bottom end so i wasnt real concerned about that. So far i think the 6505 is coming out on top though, they are cheap in comparison to the mesa's and i honestly cant see any amp significantly bettering it for the death metal sort of tone i want. Is the 6505+ much better than the ordinary 6505 or 5150 for that matter? My guitarist has the standard 6505 and it gets a decent clean tone with its shared eq, its alot better than the clean on my mark 3 anyway..

 

[MetalRiffa]

I'm currently playing a 6505+ and Ampeg VH140C (Suffocation used these) in stereo, and it's thick and beefy. I'm going to save some cash to put towards a Bogner Uberschall and Mesa Dual Rectifier though.

Dude, you rig would wake the dead! And the rig your saving for while cause the fucking apocalypse

 

[Episteme]

People have said that the 6505+ has a very very slightly fizzier tone compared to the 6505. I got the 6505+ because it opens more options for me, because even though it does metal very well, I do still play other genres of music and the crunch channel is fantastic for jazz fusion and blues and if I turn the crunch off, it gets a decent clean tone.

 

[MetalRiffa]

People have said that the 6505+ has a very very slightly fizzier tone compared to the 6505. I got the 6505+ because it opens more options for me, because even though it does metal very well, I do still play other genres of music and the crunch channel is fantastic for jazz fusion and blues and if I turn the crunch off, it gets a decent clean tone.

Yeah i heard something similar to that. I will prob just go with the standard 6505, we have very minimal clean parts in our stuff, and my guitarists 6505 does a good job of that.

 

[MetalRiffa]

Anyone experienced an engl fireball 100w? They sound fucking awesome for death metal from what ive seen on the net, although not sure about the cleans

 

[Episteme]

Heard meh things about the Fireball, I think it's the cheaper option to a Powerball or a Savage. Powerball and Savage >>>>>> Fireball imo. Played on my mate's Powerball once, that thing had so much thud it made my balls drop. Savage is versatile and has amazing distortion and cleans.

A band that was playing on the same bill as us, one guitarist had a Fireball 100 and the other had a Hughes and Kettner Triamp. The Triamp slayed the Fireball, it cut through perfectly in the mix and the Fireball just sounded thin compared to the Triamp.

 

[ConnorFromHell]

Anyone experienced an engl fireball 100w? They sound fucking awesome for death metal from what ive seen on the net, although not sure about the cleans

It's kind of like a Powerball but with less controls IIRC.

You get a shared EQ and there's only two channels, but it's a lot cheaper than a Powerball and if you need different EQ settings for clean and distortion just buy an EQ pedal on top for not too much extra. Does look like an incredibly good amp though.

 

[MetalRiffa]

From what i have seen the engl's are definately an option. I will keep em in mind, and if a good deal comes my way might just snap it up.