Share your methods for improving your clean sound on a 5150 !!

[AceFireForce117]

Hi everyone !

Alright last weekend i played a gig in paris, and there's this one & only part of a song i play a clean verse and what did you expect ?
The sound was terrible, at least a bit disturbing once i switched from an awesome in your face tone to a honky acoustic flat sound. Heard of that story before ?

I'm totally aware that i'm not gonna get a pristine fender clean sound with a 5150 and it's not its goal to offer that kind of sound (it doesn't have a clean channel !). I just wish to make it sound correct as possible without spending shit load of cash or modding the head to hell.

For now i just put pre gain to 0, post gain as far as i can, bright on and use neck pickup.

But i feel like it's not quite enough.
I'm thinking of getting a boss chorus stompbox, the CE-5 seems great with it's hi and low filter knobs.
BUT will i have to plug it in the fx loop ? i'd much rather plug it in straight into the input = less cables and less time eating.

Also, has anyone tried a 5150 with the boss AC-3 acoustic simulator ? combined with a chorus would be interesting to hear. I've searched the web and couldn't find something similar...

 

[TheWinterSnow]

I did multiple tests and came to the conclusion that a lot of the horrid clean tone actually comes from the power amp. The feedback was designed to work for high gain amps. All that PV really had to do was throw a switch in so that an alternative Fender based feedback (with no controls) would be engaged when the rhythm (low gain on the green channel) is engaged.

A lot of the flatness comes from the fact that the power amp is killing all the high end. Also with the tonestack not having as much of a midscoop, the mids are a bit over the top for a clean.

Maybe soon I can finally get around to repairing my 5150 and installing the clean mod kit that I designed, I need to update it with a twin reverb based feedback circuit/switch and see how that turns out. In all honesty, there is no was to get anything usable out of the clean, period. I once ran clean amp sims into the power section of my 5150, it still sounded equally as shit as going through the preamp. The VSTs when ran through impulses sounded amazing.

 

[bryan_kilco]

Never any luck with the cleans on this amp.

Stopped using it about a year ago and went back to my Mesa Mark IV. Haven't looked back.

 

[AllanD]

When I saw Misery Signals, Ryan had a 5150 and he had a great clean tone.


Maybe look into using an EQ pedal in the loop to boost the highs and cut the mids when using the clean channel. That would take a little bit of tap dancing, but I think it'll work well. Cleans are always a little abrasive as well IMO, I'd maybe add a reverb or delay.

 

[hsnyder]

TBH if you throw a chorus on the clean channel to try to make it "sound better" you'll probably just end up sounding like all the other metal bands that do exactly that... and still sound like shit. If the tone shit is indeed from the power amp you're basically fucked. Also worth keeping in mind is that most people prefer different speaker setups for clean than for dirty. Maybe see if you can pick up an old silverface fender - one of the ones that weren't that popular.. It won't be THAT much more expensive than a chorus pedal and an acoustic simulator.

Or maybe a solid state poweramp and one of radial's head switchers?

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

Low gain input?

 

[Charlie E.]

I use a Voodu Valve preamp for cleans. Have it hooked up via a Patchmate so that I can use just the amp for distortion, and amp as poweramp for the Voodu Valve for cleans. Might not be pristine clean but it's sure a heck of a lot better than the 5150 clean.

 

[JakeAC5253]

Yeah don't go crazy with those settings like you have them, gain off and whatnot. Be wary that the "clean" setting of the amp dulls the tone quite a bit, and for that reason I prefer to use the "crunch" mode for cleans, even if it is a little grittier, it still sounds more right. You can just roll back on the guitar volume knob to clean it up a bit. I would try the pre gain below 1.5 and 3, that's where the Rhythm channel sounds best IMO, but it all depends on your other settings. Also, the post gain dulls the high end significantly as it is raised, so keep that in mind as well. Try to use it sparingly.

Personally, when in the studio, I use the settings above, but I roll back the Resonance knob to clean up the lows and tighten the mids. This is probably not very doable for a live gig though. Also, I have tried the Rhythm channel with the presence knob totally maxed out, and it sounded really good as well. There is a lot more dialing potential in a 5150 than a lot of people give it credit for.

 

[EffigyForgotten]

Buy an amp that doesn't have a ridiculously bad clean channel?

Seriously though, whats peavey's reason for not giving the 6505 a good clean channel? The JSX/Triple XXX have great clean channels and everyone seems to prefer the 6505 for everything else, so why not just put the JSX clean channel with the 6505 gain channel? Its completely possible, and will make them alot of money so why not? I personally prefer the triple XXX over the 6505 though so I could care less haha

 

[egan.]

We've always done 4 cable using a GT6/8/10 for cleans and been happy with the results live.

 

[Sweetnothing]

a/b box-->chorus pedal--->DI--->mixing desk.

That has been the best way for me when I used pristine tones live.

 

[Trevoire520]

I personally prefer the triple XXX over the 6505 though so I couldn't care less haha

 

[JeffTD]

Remember that the 5150 doesn't technically have a clean channel.

When I gigged with mine I always used a GT-8 and the 4-cable method. I don't think the power amp noticeably ruined the clean tone using that method.

 

[LBTM]

get an eq pedal.

 

[Nimvi]

I did multiple tests and came to the conclusion that a lot of the horrid clean tone actually comes from the power amp. The feedback was designed to work for high gain amps. All that PV really had to do was throw a switch in so that an alternative Fender based feedback (with no controls) would be engaged when the rhythm (low gain on the green channel) is engaged.

A lot of the flatness comes from the fact that the power amp is killing all the high end. Also with the tonestack not having as much of a midscoop, the mids are a bit over the top for a clean.

Maybe soon I can finally get around to repairing my 5150 and installing the clean mod kit that I designed, I need to update it with a twin reverb based feedback circuit/switch and see how that turns out. In all honesty, there is no was to get anything usable out of the clean, period. I once ran clean amp sims into the power section of my 5150, it still sounded equally as shit as going through the preamp. The VSTs when ran through impulses sounded amazing.

I drew these conclusions too. I've been using the gt-10 with 4cable method with it, and it still doesn't sound so great to me. Usable, absolutely, but I prefer my other amps by far for pristine cleans.

I think the best thing to do is to work with what the 6505 does well, and play a slightly gritty clean tone through it. Use guitarvolume and playingdynamics to determine the amount of breakup. That sounds a lot more convincing to me at least. Bit of delay on top of it, and it's quite nice. That way it has a character that I don't get from my other amps.

 

[MatrixClaw]

What guitar/pickup combo are you using?

I've found this makes a HUGE difference. Cleans on my 5150 sounded amazing with a PRS I used to have, but getting a good clean tone out of it with my Bernie Rico Jr. is pretty much impossible.

 

[thefalloftheheretic]

I creased up

 

[greyskull]

I used to use another amp for clean when i used the 5150 live.

 

[Josh Burgess]

See this thread: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/backline/822788-just-discovered-how-get-great-cleans-5150-a.html

Plug directly into the poweramp and turn the presence way up.

Alternatively, you could use a DI box between the guitar and poweramp to bring the signal up to line level... but it might not sound better, depending on your tastes.

 

[53Crëw]

Another tip is to do the bias mod and run the bias hotter. The power tubes are run really cold stock, and this causes crossover distortion which really is detrimental to the clean tone. That with the LO input helps.