Yeah, if you're not set on a 6505 it's pretty easy to find 5150s in good shape for around $500 or so.
Metal Guitar Amp Debate
- Thread starter RockGuitarX
- Start date
Totally exchange, that's inexcusable - or actually, I say return for a refund, cuz we're talking THE most popular modern metal amp, with (overall) a fantastic rep. for reliability and low resale value because of the sheer quantity of them out there; why on Earth would you buy new!?!
Yeah, I called musiciansfriend and they already sent the prepaid UPS tracking number. What an experience... lol It was just a pain in the ass to buy something new and have it look like tar and shit was smeared on the logo.. Anyways I bought it new just because it wasn't that much more money after selling my JSX and it came with the warranty and brand new tubes. I thought it was worth it
heheIsn't the 5150 and 6505 the same amp?...
Yep! And all the reliability issues I've heard of are with the 6505's, maybe they just don't build 'em like they used to (though they are the same technically, maybe now they use cheaper parts or something). And the warranty, yeah, that's incentive to buy new, I suppose, but 5150's are so bulletproof and you can bet most tech's are used to working on 'em (not like it's a very complicated amp!), so I don't think the warranty is worth the extra $400 (and they may be new tubes, but they're still not great - hit up www.dougstubes.com for the real good stuff!)
If I could have found a 5150 in really good condition, I would've definatley gone for it but all the ones I scoped out on ebay for almost a month seemed beat to hell and full of scratches. I like my gear pretty when I first buy then I do all the raping.
One other thing I would like to bring up is that the clean channel is not that bad at all IMO. After owning the XXL/XXX/JSX I didn't hear that much of a difference unless I activated the bright or crunch switch. It also had little or no noise coming from the high gain channel. I was pretty happy to say the least.
One other thing I would like to bring up is that the clean channel is not that bad at all IMO. After owning the XXL/XXX/JSX I didn't hear that much of a difference unless I activated the bright or crunch switch. It also had little or no noise coming from the high gain channel. I was pretty happy to say the least.
cobrahead1030
Member
- Nov 16, 2005
- 756
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a decent clean can be had from the 5150's rhythm channel, but it's not great by any means...but in order to do that IMO you have to set the eq so that the lead channel sounds horrible, i'm also one of the many people who think the rhythm channel (crunch engaged of course) is better for high gain stuff than the lead is...which negates clean tones altogether
the best clean tone i got with my 5150 was using the rhythm channel set for a nice high gain tone, and switching to the neck pickup on my eclipse with the volume rolled back with a morely crystal chorus in front...a lot of guys at shows used to ask me what i used to get such a good clean from that amp; i still wasn't really satisfied with it but it worked
it's not an amp you buy for the cleans tho
the best clean tone i got with my 5150 was using the rhythm channel set for a nice high gain tone, and switching to the neck pickup on my eclipse with the volume rolled back with a morely crystal chorus in front...a lot of guys at shows used to ask me what i used to get such a good clean from that amp; i still wasn't really satisfied with it but it worked
it's not an amp you buy for the cleans tho
Also, plugging into the low-gain input so you have more headroom on the rhythm channel (and then raising the gain on the lead channel to compensate) helps a lot!
Weird, I just picked one up in pretty much perfect shape. It had some pretty old Chinese tubes in it, but I was planning on replacing them in any case. I haven't really had much time to experiment with it, but once I set the EQ for loud rhythm playing the clean didn't sound too bad when I switched over. Definitely better than its reputation had led me to expect. I'll have to try that "clean channel on crunch" thing, maybe for recording.
Well maybe it's just the combination of my equipment because the clean channel without crunch or bright engaged sounded pretty descent to my ears. I imagined from everyone's comments/reviews that it was going to be distorted or fizzy but it was very smooth especially with my Duncan Jazz 59'. Just my opinion from my tiny ears.
cobrahead1030
Member
- Nov 16, 2005
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it's not that it's distorted or fizzy...it's just very bland and sterile IMO; it doesn't sound too terrible at lower volumes, but the louder you crank the amp the worse it gets
