# Valveking vs. 6505 help me choose



## nrwoodman (Apr 15, 2010)

Hey I'm in the process of saving up my money for a nice tube head to go with my Valveking cab. I've read reviews, tried out both amps through the same valveking cab, but I REALLY can't decide which to save for. I play in a melodic death metal band (comparable to In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, Insomnium).

I really love the distortion on the 6505, a lot of balls, but a little messy I don't know if the tubes might have been damaged or what not (it was at guitar center.)

Cleans aren't super important, (got a pod x3 live)

And overall, the valveking is just more in my price range, has a clean but beefy distortion, and cleans.

I'm very torn between the two, help me decide.


----------



## MrMcSick (Apr 15, 2010)

Well I'de say if you plan on playing distorted tones 90% of the time go with the 6505. If you want something more versatile go with the valveking. Many bands like the ones you described have been known to use the 5150/6505. Look for a used one if its out of your price range. I personally LOVE the distorted sound of the 5150/6505's but need something that doesn't do just one thing. My mind is constantly talking myself in and out of buying one.


----------



## Larrikin666 (Apr 15, 2010)

If the 6505 you played on was messy...turn down the resonance and put a TS9 in front.


----------



## nrwoodman (Apr 15, 2010)

Thats also kinda my issue, i don't really want to be limited with the 6505 having just the really good distortion channel, is there any way if i were to get the 6505 i could use my pod x3 live with the 4 cable method to be able to switch from the preamp to the amp modeling without sacrificing overall preamp tone?

I tried the four cable method and it made the 6505s preamp tone sound tinny and weak. I'm not sure if i just had something connected or set wrong or the pod just takes away that tone you get from being plugged straight in.


----------



## budda (Apr 15, 2010)

6505 hands down. you can do the 4-cable method, I believe a few bands do this for their cleans - but the cleans on this amp are OK.

I'd gun for the 6505+ though, shared EQ=blech.


----------



## Leuchty (Apr 15, 2010)

budda said:


> 6505 hands down. you can do the 4-cable method, I believe a few bands do this for their cleans - but the cleans on this amp are OK.
> 
> I'd gun for the 6505+ though, shared EQ=blech.


 
+1


----------



## JPhoenix19 (Apr 15, 2010)

budda said:


> 6505 hands down. you can do the 4-cable method, I believe a few bands do this for their cleans - but the cleans on this amp are OK.



this 

Since the 6505/5150's are rumored to have better distortion tone than the 6505+/5150 II, and you have a pod x3 live, I'd stick with the 6505. better yet, you can find a used 5150 for about the price of a new Valveking if you wanted to go with a used piece.

Whatever you do, don't settle with something you kind of like because it's what you can afford at the time.


----------



## dedoky (Apr 15, 2010)

I was just in the same situation and I went for the 5150 while the other guitarist in my band picked up a Valveking. After our first practice I'm not so sure I made the right choice. Next to the valveking the 5150 had no cut, I just couldn't compete. It had huge bass and a lot more highs, on its own it sounding huge. We swapped cabs and it helped a little but they are both voiced totally different. I find that the valveking has plenty of gain once its nice and loud, maybe try boosting it and see if you get the best of both.


----------



## troyguitar (Apr 15, 2010)

I've owned both and preferred the VK but I'm probably in the minority on that one. If I were buying a Peavey it would be a used Windsor or VK.


----------



## groph (Apr 15, 2010)

I don't think the VK can hold a candle to the 6505. It's not a bad sounding amp at all but for metal the 6505 is pretty much the staple, especially for those melodic death tones. You could probably find a used 5150 for a reasonable price.


----------



## Galius (Apr 16, 2010)

dedoky said:


> I was just in the same situation and I went for the 5150 while the other guitarist in my band picked up a Valveking. After our first practice I'm not so sure I made the right choice. Next to the valveking the 5150 had no cut, I just couldn't compete. It had huge bass and a lot more highs, on its own it sounding huge. We swapped cabs and it helped a little but they are both voiced totally different. I find that the valveking has plenty of gain once its nice and loud, maybe try boosting it and see if you get the best of both.


 
Me and my other guitar player have these amps as well and we never have a problem with either one cutting.


----------



## sami (Apr 16, 2010)

VK's sound great, especially with an OD in front. For the style of music you want to play, a 6505 is calling you.


----------



## Harry (Apr 16, 2010)

Melodic death?
Definitely the 6505


----------



## warlock7strEMG (Apr 16, 2010)

6505/5150 and call it a day . u wont regret it. like it was stated previously, a used one can be found for about the same price as a new Valveking. Valvekings are great amps, esp if your on a budget but if you really want a distorted tone in the vein of the bands that u mentioned, then get the 6505......but id consider upgrading cabs in the future. the VK cab will do fine, but you ll get a much better tone from a higher quality cab, like a Mesa Oversized 4x12

u mentioned the distortion bein a bit messy on the 6505.....it can be with the wrong settings(too much gain or presence/resonance usually) and if the volume is too low(these things shine with the volume around 3-4). for a tighter, less messy but heavy 5150/6505 tone, i recommend boosting the lead channel with an OD pedal(Maxon OD9/OD808, BBE Greenscreamer, etc) with the pedal set to "clean" boost(drive:0, tone:5-6, level:8-10) and with the amps EQ and Presence/Resonance all at 5-6 and the gain low(4 or less)

heres a good example of a OD pedal boosted 5150 tone using the lead channel with the gain set low. not sure how high the volume is, but all his amp settings are around 5 except his gain, which i think is set at like 1.....sounds fucking killer!!! http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/gear-and-equipment/113345-5150-youtube-video.html


----------



## Valserp (Apr 16, 2010)

ValveKing has a voicing that I refer to as "strictly rock-ish". You can get a good amount of gain out of it, but there is a specific hump somewhere in the upper mids, that you just can't get rid of. So better try one extensively, to see if it works for you.

For what you listed - I'd say 6505 is a safe bet. As others have already said - this thing doesn't need it's gain to be above 4, maybe that's why you thought it sounded a bit messy.


----------



## MrMcSick (Apr 16, 2010)

Wow, I saw a local band last night and was Sooooooooo impressed by the 1 guitarists valveking halfstack. 3 bands played and my favorite amp of the night was deffinetly this even though there was also a carvin v3, line 6 spider valve and a freaking orange( im not firmiliar with their head models) wow. The other guitarist in this band used the v3 and it sounded muddy and lacked any presence. The valve king dominated the mix, it cut right through everything and sounded great doing it. I talked to the dude afterwards and he was running the 4 cable method using a boss noise suppressor and a tubscreamer with the drive on 0 and tone in the middle to boost it. He said he always gets compliments about how much better it sounds than his bandmates carvin. Thuroughly impressed.


----------



## Sang-Drax (Apr 16, 2010)

My favorite metal tones ever come from 6505's... incredible amp for crushing tones.


----------



## Brandonlame331 (Oct 26, 2011)

I use a Peavey Valveking with a TS9DX and a Boss Noise Suppressor into a Behringer BG412s (looking to upgrade to a Marshall 1960b or Mesa 4x12) My other guitarist plays an EVH 5150III through an AxeFX Ultra with some other rack pieces into a Mesa 4x12. Despite the thousands of dollars he's put into his rig... I keep right up with him. 

My biggest complaint with the Valveking is the feedback however with a noise suppressor I don't really have much of a problem. I am looking into getting a second Noise suppressor to put directly in line with the other and get an eq pedal to shape my tone some more. [suggestions of good EQs would be nice] but, right now I am keeping up with him quite nicely. 

My band plays Melodic Hardcore or metalcore or whatever you want to call it. I use a Schecter C-1 Hellraiser which has EMG 81-89s he has an ESP/ltd EC-1000 so we have a generally similar tone. 

I ran my head through a Kustom which had Celestion V30s in it and it did have much more cut and crispness than through my behringer so I do look forward to upgrading my cab. I'd suggest you get something with V30s in it for best results or maybe try a few different high end cabs to find something that suits you.

There's PLENTY of gain to play with on the Valveking and I can get a good tone straight out of it however, I generally drop the gain to 1 or 2 and use my TS9 to get the gain and finalize the tone where I like it. I don't use a lot of bass in my tone and lean more toward mid and treble to not sound staticky but, give it a crisp higher end tone and rely on our bass player for the real low end. The clean channel I haven't messed with A LOT but I found a beautiful clean tone and it's good for what I need. The natural spring reverb although it sounds nice it'll leave you with an annoying buzz so I wouldn't bother. I drown my cleans in delays and effects so it does the job without a problem AT ALL.

Overall what my point is, is that you can buy the Valveking and over time put more and more money into it and in the end get what you really want out of it. You don't have a lot of money right now so maybe that's what you need to do and put the rest of the money in effects to get the tone you really want over time. 

If you buy the 6505 you'll have a good natural tone however, regardless you'll probably end up buying a noise suppressor and maybe a ts9 to adjust your tone. You'll probably hate your clean tone and end up drowning it in effects or using a pod to fix that tone so you're still gonna end up buying those if you use your clean channel. You're gonna want a better cab regardless of what head you buy however, maybe the Valveking will sound really nice with the Valveking cab I don't know I'm no expert. I like my Valveking personally. After reading other people's comments and writing my own I've come to realization that my head suits me beautifully and I don't really want to buy a different one as of now. If you buy the valveking you'll have to buy other stuff and if you buy the 6505 you may have to buy less stuff but probably still have to buy some of the same stuff. 

I got my Valve king almost new from some dumb kid for 150$. I got a gooood deal on mine. I also got my TS9DX for 70$ and my Boss Noise Suppressor from a friend of mine for 10$. I got lucky on most of my equipment and bought it real cheap so because of that even if I buy an eq and another noise suppressor if I add my delay pedal for clean channels. I still only spent 500$-600$ on a great sounding head which easily keeps up with a 1300$ head with an 1800$ amp modeler (or whatever). 


Take this post as you'd like. I am Very happy with my Valveking and for the amount I payed for it I'm even more happy. See how much you can find everything you're gonna want and compare the long term expenses. Either head is a great choice. Try the heads out, try some different pedals and effects and see which one works best for you.


----------



## Albionic (Oct 27, 2011)

theres a guy on here i talk to who has tried both the the 6505 and the xxx in an effort to match the tone his bandmate gets from his valveking halftack.

have you considered the xxx/jsx? to my mind they are more versatile than the 6505 and cheaper used.


----------



## Crank (Oct 27, 2011)

definitely 6505. as one said that before put the TS at the front of the amp and you'll get really fine sound, sound that exists in lots of metal recordings


----------



## xCaptainx (Oct 27, 2011)

is this thread serious? 6505 ALL the way. 5150s/6505s are amazing. SO many great albums and huge tone. 

5150 + Maxon OD808 + cab with v30s = best metal tone ever.


----------



## Albionic (Oct 27, 2011)

xCaptainx said:


> is this thread serious? 6505 ALL the way. 5150s/6505s are amazing. SO many great albums and huge tone.
> 
> 5150 + Maxon OD808 + cab with v30s = best metal tone ever.



lol yes lets all buy 6505's maxon od's and v30 cabs and all sound the same i'll go make a big bonfire for all the unworthy amps/pedals 

hmmm we gonna need a lot of big wooden crosses for all the unbelievers though


----------



## xCaptainx (Oct 27, 2011)

Well I've owned 3 5150's in the past. They are great amps and sound huge. 

Every time I've heard a Valveking it has sounded terrible. This decision is a total no brainer for me to be honest.


----------



## sugarman (Oct 27, 2011)

6505


----------

