[Stitch]

I currently have a 6505. Seriously dude, its a fucking stellar amp. If you can stretch to it, then look at the 6505+.

It all depends which way your budget falls - you can get an Engl Fireball for a touch more than a 6505 new, a Powerball for a bit more than a 6505+, and you can get a 5150 or 5150II for about half the new prices of the 6505/6505+.

[777]

damn stitch u rule, your knowledge is most appreciated

[warlock7strEMG]

i personally love the 5150/6505 amps. i actually prefer them over many of the much higher priced amps on the market. while they arent the most versatile amps in the world, they are very very good at the tones that they do generate. they sound especially good with something other than the matching peavey cab. i prefer the mesa cabs for these amps, or really anything with v30s.

the rhythm channel, though it doesnt make for the best clean channel, does great with the crunch and bright button engaged for pulling off the marshall plexi tone...has a pretty huge sound to it. some metal guys even use this channel for their main rhythm channel by turning the channel gain all the way up and adding a boost of some sort, usually an ibanez ts9 tubescreamer or a maxon 808.

the lead channel is what most metal guys use these amps for though, has gain for day, also has a very raw, ballsy, aggressive and tight tone, makin for a very clear articulate metal rhythm tone; also sounds great for leads. this is my favorite channel on these amps, it sounds great with my EMG 707 equipped warlock 7 string. these amps work great for 7 strings and low tuning in general.

one of the many things i love about these amps is the presence and resonance controls of the power amp section. the presence control is good for adding articulation to your tone and shaping the highs but you have the be careful not to turn it up too high as it will make your amp sound too trebly and shrill, esp when the treble is turned up a decent amount. some people turn the presence all the way up and the treble all the way down or vise versa, which u can easily get away with doin either but i find its best to find a balance between the 2.

the resonance control is good for thickening up the low end and controlling how tight it is. just like the presence, this is something you have to be careful with, as turning it up too much will make the lows somewhat muddy and loose feeling. its best to find a good balance between the amount of bass and resonance used. dialed in correctly, the resonance helps give these amps a huge ballsy tone.

if you get one of these amps, i would definately recommend the 6505+/5150 II over the regular 6505/5150. the +/II rhythm channel actually works as a usable clean channel when the crunch is not engaged, also the rhythm and lead channels have their own independant EQ, presence and resonance controls making for maximum flexibility. some people say the lead channel on the +/II doesnt have the tone of the regular, but i think its pretty close. it doesnt quite have as much gain, but it only a tad less, still has more than enough. dialed in correctly, the only real difference i find is that the +/II is a bit tighter sounding overall the regular. the +/II also has an adjustable p0wer tube bias so u can have an amp technician bias the tubes hotter for an ever better tone whereas the regular ones have to be modded to have this done, as the bias on those is fixed.

[Stitch]

Originally Posted by warlock7strEMG

i personally love the 5150/6505 amps. i actually prefer them over many of the much higher priced amps on the market. while they arent the most versatile amps in the world, they are very very good at the tones that they do generate. they sound especially good with something other than the matching peavey cab. i prefer the mesa cabs for these amps, or really anything with v30s.

the rhythm channel, though it doesnt make for the best clean channel, does great with the crunch and bright button engaged for pulling off the marshall plexi tone...has a pretty huge sound to it. some metal guys even use this channel for their main rhythm channel by turning the channel gain all the way up and adding a boost of some sort, usually an ibanez ts9 tubescreamer or a maxon 808.

the lead channel is what most metal guys use these amps for though, has gain for day, also has a very raw, ballsy, aggressive and tight tone, makin for a very clear articulate metal rhythm tone; also sounds great for leads. this is my favorite channel on these amps, it sounds great with my EMG 707 equipped warlock 7 string. these amps work great for 7 strings and low tuning in general.

one of the many things i love about these amps is the presence and resonance controls of the power amp section. the presence control is good for adding articulation to your tone and shaping the highs but you have the be careful not to turn it up too high as it will make your amp sound too trebly and shrill, esp when the treble is turned up a decent amount. some people turn the presence all the way up and the treble all the way down or vise versa, which u can easily get away with doin either but i find its best to find a balance between the 2.

the resonance control is good for thickening up the low end and controlling how tight it is. just like the presence, this is something you have to be careful with, as turning it up too much will make the lows somewhat muddy and loose feeling. its best to find a good balance between the amount of bass and resonance used. dialed in correctly, the resonance helps give these amps a huge ballsy tone.

if you get one of these amps, i would definately recommend the 6505+/5150 II over the regular 6505/5150. the +/II rhythm channel actually works as a usable clean channel when the crunch is not engaged, also the rhythm and lead channels have their own independant EQ, presence and resonance controls making for maximum flexibility. some people say the lead channel on the +/II doesnt have the tone of the regular, but i think its pretty close. it doesnt quite have as much gain, but it only a tad less, still has more than enough. dialed in correctly, the only real difference i find is that the +/II is a bit tighter sounding overall the regular. the +/II also has an adjustable p0wer tube bias so u can have an amp technician bias the tubes hotter for an ever better tone whereas the regular ones have to be modded to have this done, as the bias on those is fixed.

All of that was correct except your last two points.

Rep for knowing what you speak about though!

[Roobubba]

I have a 5150-II, which I got second hand a few months ago.

I absolutely love it! Just sorting out some kick-arse speakers to go with it, as the stock 5150 cab speakers (Sheffield 1200s) can't quite handle the low A tuning at very high volumes. I'm talking about VERY high volumes here, and it's not a major issue, just a very mild slackening of the bass notes. At any standard volume (I'm the only guitarist in a LOUD band, and it's USUALLY fine!), they are great, really tight and controlled - but the amp itself is just superb

MySpace.com - 13Gauge - Oxford, UK - Hardcore / Screamo / Healing & EasyListening - www.myspace.com/13gauge for our stuff. It's not 7-string, but it is downtuned 6 string in A-E-A-D-F#-B, so it might as well be 7 string

I do use the clean channel a bit, but not a huge amount. That said, I'm glad I got the 5150-II, as the cleans on the 5150 aren't as good.
Oh, and if you're in the states, you can get fjamods.com to mod your 5150/5150-II in a variety of ways. With a decent set of preamp tubes and some killer speakers, you really shouldn't *need* to do this

Roo

[budda]

stitch, you have a 6505:

you like your crunch tone on the rhythm channel right? do you get a good clean if you back off the guitar's volume?

[Choop]

I have a 5150..whether you get a 5150 or 5150II (6505 or 6505+) just depends on how much control over the two channels you want, really. When the crunch is engaged on the rhythm channel, you won't get a total clean by rolling back the volume. The rhythm channel can actually get quite clean, it's just not a very warm or full clean as compared to some other amplifiers. I think if you throw some reverb or chorus on it, it fills in some of the 'empty space', but it doesn't bother me so much just dry. I really have no problem with it myself. I love to turn the crunch on the rhythm channel and squeeze just enough gain out to get a raunchy texas blues sound out of it. If the clean isn't a BIG deal to you, the 6505 or 5150 should be fine, but neither have a GREAT clean channel. They sound pretty similar, just on the II and + you can tweak the rhythm channel separately. and also there is no high or normal gain inputs, just 1 input on the II and + models. I have just the plain old 5150, but then..I got it for like $600 on ebay..great bang for the buck. If I were you though, I'd try to snag a used 5150 or 5150II. Like I said, mine was $600 used. My personal opinion..I don't think the extra eq really justifies spending more when the clean isn't outstanding in the first place, but that's just me.