# Peavey 6505+ or Mesa Boogie Rectifier



## Ruined Soul (Jan 30, 2012)

Hey guys!

Today I own a Peavey 6505+ rig.
A couple of days I got a taste of Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier.
Thinking of maybe getting me one of these.

Which rig do you prefer, and which Rectifier if you prefer the Mesa?


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## Choop (Jan 30, 2012)

I've owned about 4 variants of the 5150 now (currently I have a 6505+ 112 going through a mesa cab) and I owned a dual recto 3 channel for quite some time. The rectos are really great amps, and have a full-bodied crushing tone. Ultimately I like the more raw sound of the 6505/5150 though. It feels less compressed to me, and that was probably the only thing I really didn't like much about the rectos. Also I like the natural midrangey tone of the 6505, where the mesa had more of a low mid/lows quality always. Both sound great, I mean I guess it is just personal preference. 

Out of the mesa's the triple probably has the overall best tone via more headroom for the clean channel, and some have even said it sounds tighter. Honestly the difference between the triple and dual for distorted tones is pretty negligible. Also if you get a triple you have to consider it has more tubes that may need to be replaced at some point!


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## groph (Jan 30, 2012)

Ruined Soul said:


> Hey guys!
> 
> Today I own a Peavey 6505+ rig.
> A couple of days I got a taste of Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier.
> ...



They are completely different amps especially as far as dynamics go. The Rectifier is going to respond to your pick attack a lot more than the 6505 is going to, which is something you're probably aware of. You need to really dig in to get the most out of a Rectifier, but if you can get one to sound good (their EQ is also finicky) then my God you're going to have a crushing tone. 

The Triple Recs have a more solid bottom end from what I hear, and that corresponds with the general trend of higher wattage = tighter lows (all other things being equal). Maybe it has a different output transformer or some other component that gives it better lows than the Dual and it's not the wattage difference that matters, but the Triples are allegedly tighter. Also in theory, more watts = more clean headroom so the Triple might have cleaner cleans.

Overall tone-wise, any difference between the Dual and Triple should be imperceptible. I think the Single Recs are a bit more relaxed sounding and not quite as balls-out as the Duals and Triples are.

Compared to the 6505, Rectifiers are sort of smoother, and they have a bit of a "crackle" or a frying sound up in the highs, that's the characteristic Recto fizz that basically makes your tone sound like it's on fire. That's what I like about them so much, and their attack has a bit of a delay in it so your tone sounds more alive, but less tight - they're sort of "bouncy." 6505's are raw, really tight if dialed in correctly, and super aggressive. They also have a much stiffer attack and overall response. Both are two of the best amps for metal tones, I think the deciding factor is a combination of price and how you feel the amp responds to your playing. Since you have experience with both, I'd say try out the Mesa some more and make a call.

Personally, I'd stick with the 6505. I like how they react to my playing style and their basic tone is one of my favorites. My favorite tones on record come from either a 6505 or a Rectifier, but I don't know if I could ever get a Recto to sound good.

EDIT: And yes, a full tube change for a Triple Rec would be probably $200-$300. Open one up and its just TUBES..... TUBES EVERYWHERE


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## fortisursus (Jan 30, 2012)

After going from a 6505 2x12 combo then to a dual recto, I know find myself back with a 6505+. The dual recto had a wider range of styles you could play through it, but it lacked the bite of a 6505. Don't get me wrong, it is a great amp and can get sweet tones out of it. But only channel I ever really found myself playing was through the vintage channel anyway. The modern channel was just too over the top.

Really both are great amps, but I enjoy hearing/playing the 6505 a bit more. The Recto just had too much low end for my liking. Plus it is hard to beat the crunch of the 6505. 

It really comes down to whether you want something heavy and dark(mesa), or a raw crunch(6505).


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## Stealthdjentstic (Jan 30, 2012)

They're both great amps but I prefer the recto series. 

I agree with most of grophs post, although I think it's pretty easy to get a tight tone out of a recto and avoid the high end sizzle if you use the orange channel in tube rectification mode on vintage mode and boosted with a ts9. It sounds like a weird thing to do but I use that for death metal and get along great. It's very clear, tight and super punchy, I just wish the gain was more "saturated" if that makes sense. It seems like all the frequencies are kind of far apart, not sure how else to say it.

But really in the end it comes down to what flavor you like more I guess. Try them both out extensively, you can't fuck up going with either.


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## themike (Jan 30, 2012)

I think if you reworded the title to "Peavey 6505+ *AND* Mesa Boogie Rectifier" would give you what you seek


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## Stealthdjentstic (Jan 30, 2012)

th3m1ke said:


> I think if you reworded the title to "Peavey 6505+ *AND* Mesa Boogie Rectifier" would give you what you seek



Can't go wrong with that, how cool would running a 6505/Rectifier together be? Or a VHT and recto?


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## glpg80 (Jan 30, 2012)

th3m1ke said:


> I think if you reworded the title to "Peavey 6505+ *AND* Mesa Boogie Rectifier" would give you what you seek



This! 

In all honesty in putting one versus the other i would have to say my 5150 II would stay at home. I did not plan on selling mine when i started on my search for a mesa of some sort to pair it with. Just extremely versatile and workhorse amplifiers.

As far as what mesa's, i personally narrowed it down to a recto reborn, roadster, or a tremoverb.

Finally jumped on a 1994 tremoverb and i feel like a kid in a candy store, 6 years since i purchased my 5150 II.

Cant say much from the mesa tonal point of view other than the ones i have played i prefer the vintage mode with the bass dialed way back and presence no higher than 9'oclock


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## Leuchty (Jan 30, 2012)

I sold my Recto and kept my 6505+.

I like simplicity. The 6505 series are just so easy to get along with. East to dial in, add a boost and a mesa cab and you're set.

The recto NEEDS attention. It wants to be touched and fiddled with.


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## ST3MOCON (Jan 30, 2012)

They are probably opposites tonally. When i was choosing between my dual rect and 6505 I choose the Dual rect. Rects are a lot more versatile. A rectifier will sit in the mix of a band and offer a heavy low guitar sound that blends in. A 6505 will offer a sound that cuts through the mix. Both are great amps they just do completely different things. You cant go wrong with either one but both will benefit greatly from a tube screamer type pedal.


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## EOT (Jan 30, 2012)

I currently have both and used them in stereo for my live rig for awhile. The recto is a little more versatile. And they are built better. But the peavey is extremely easy to get a brutal tone out of where the recto can take a little more time to get there. At least to get it brutal and tight because your pick attack seems to play bigger role on the recto. I like both a lot. It's definitely a matter of taste. 

But my peavey is for sale right now. My recto isn't.


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## 7 Dying Trees (Jan 30, 2012)

I like bias modded 5150's, 6505+ was ok, but prefer the 5150. Now, rectifier wise, different flavour, but I love the triple and roadkings. 

The triple was vicious when i played around with a few on tour, just absolutely cutting, does very much benefit from a tubescreamer in front. 

Seeing as i thought the 6505+ was a bit neutered compared to the 5250, I'd go with the triple.


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## Shask (Jan 30, 2012)

I have an original 5150 and a old Triple Recto. I have had the 5150 for several years the the Triple only for a few years. I prefer the Recto.

The 5150 is more of a midrange dominated amp. The Recto is wider and more scooped overall. The 5150 does sound a little more aggressive, but it is that dominant midrange that does it. I do like it, but that mid spike bugs me after awhile. The Recto doesn't have the mid spike, but the highs can stand out more. It is definitely clearer on chords.

I have had the 5150 for years and years, so I think it is about time I part ways with it. It is a solid amp, I have just kind of got sick of the dominant sound it has.

I have a VHT also


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## glpg80 (Jan 30, 2012)

Shask said:


> I have an original 5150 and a old Triple Recto. I have had the 5150 for several years the the Triple only for a few years. I prefer the Recto.
> 
> The 5150 is more of a midrange dominated amp. The Recto is wider and more scooped overall. The 5150 does sound a little more aggressive, but it is that dominant midrange that does it. I do like it, but that mid spike bugs me after awhile. The Recto doesn't have the mid spike, but the highs can stand out more. It is definitely clearer on chords.
> 
> ...



That dominant mid range spike can get to you after a while, there have been times i turned on my 5150 II and thought "damn this tone sounds terrible" or " i dont remember it sounding like this last week" and commense the knob turning to fix it. eventually i turn it on again and all is well.

I have found that the mid-range spike is more speaker dominant as well, for some reason i dont notice it with V30's but anything greenback inspired and it rears its head again. its not a bad mid range voicing spike but it does not make the amplifier balanced in the spectrum at all. really great for the D chord growl, but i do agree it can wear on you at times.


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## goatLuke (Jan 31, 2012)

thanks for this thread!!! I have been trying to fall in love with my 6505+ for about a year (had it for 2). and after a bias mod and all new tubes and tons of tweaking, and boosting, and what not. I just cannot seem to find a tone that I love. I love the agressiveness of the amp i just find it overall a little sharp and bitey. So I have also been looking at picking up a used triple rec. and holding onto the 6505+ and see who wins.


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## blackrobedone (Jan 31, 2012)

I think that the Mesa rectifiers have a more organic feel than the 6505s. I don't think the 6505s absolutely must be overdriven, whereas the MEsas do, for tight metal. I prefer the lead tone on the Mesa by a long shot over the Peaveys. 

In all, I'd say the Mesa, though harder to dial in (the 'all knobs at 6' definitely does not work with Mesas), will crush a 6505.

Peaveys and ENGLs to me are similar in that they sound great when you first plug in, straight from the guitar to the amp. But after an hour of rehearsal, it becomes grating and annoying.


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## Ruined Soul (Jan 31, 2012)

Hey guys... sorry for the lack of reponding to your great info.
I would love to have one of each... but that would be expensive .

Here is a video where I use the Peavey 6505+, re-amped at Sonic Train Studios (Andy LaRocque)

What do you think of the sound?


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## TRENCHLORD (Jan 31, 2012)

Sounds great to me. I'm not sure I'd change much if I's you lol.
I prefer the triple rec for me, but that sits real nice in your mix as is.


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## purpledc (Jan 31, 2012)

Well even though my current rig is a mesa (mark V) I would have to say 6505 out of the two. And out of the 6505 series I think the best of the series are the 6505 Standard (5150) and if you absolutely need to get a plus I think the better one is the 6534+. To me teh 6534+ puts some of the mid range balls back into the series that got castrated from the original. As far as the mesas go I like the way the Roadster looks on paper but Ive only owned a three channel dual recto. My take on that amp was that it was very finicky. Of all the amps ive owned ( a lot) it was the most unreliable. And I dont mean that in terms of function but of sound. Every single day that amp sounded different. It was super finicky to weather too. If it was damp and raining it sounded like garbage. If it was really warm and dry the thing was killer. The only other amp Ive had that acted like that was a krank I had. But make no mistake when that amp sounded right it was unbeatable. But I think if you want consistency stick with what you got. But who knows man, ultimately its you that you have to live with. If you want a recto get a recto. No ones opinion here should matter on what you get. If it does you should be looking at an axe fx and mackie powered speakers. Or an engl. But if your individual hit up some stores and play some amps and find YOUR sound. Just know that there are many variations of the rectifier series amps out there. Its definitely way more than just single, dual, and triple. You have 2 channel rectos, three channel rectos and now the recto reborn series.


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## Nitrobattery (Jan 31, 2012)

I think they're both great amps. I've had two and three channel Dual Rectifiers, a Roadster, currently have a Tremoverb, and have my second 6505 on its way to me (thanks to a member of this forum). The 5150's/6505's are a lot more compressed than the Rectos with a lot of thick mids. Because of that they record really well. What I've found though is that as you turn them up, they compress even more and aren't very responsive to pick attack. Everything just sounds really squashed. For my style, they don't really work for me in a live environment.

The Rectos however just sound better and better the louder you turn them up. The wideness to the tone is incredible. They're harder to dial in initially, but just dominate a live mix. Way more touch sensitive. Run the gain lower and slam it with an overdrive and it's just a roaring beast with singing lead tones. 

I think it all just boils down to style and preference. I've had 8 or 9 Mesas, Marshalls, ENGL, Framus, Peavey etc....and I always keep coming back to Rectifiers for live use. Though, I've realized that most of my favorite album tones have come from a 5150. So, for me it's worth it to just have both. If that wasn't an option though, it'd take a Recto over a 5150 10 times out of 10.


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## goatLuke (Jan 31, 2012)

i dont want to rob this thread but i went to my local guitar center and played a used dual rect solo head for like an hour I fiddled around with knobs and I got nothing but mediocre results. I also was not boosted and playing through a marshall 1960 A cab. Is this typical? Are they really that hard to dial in or is it the combo of not being boosted and the cab, that made it pretty much well suck.


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## eaeolian (Jan 31, 2012)

If you can afford a Triple, go that rout - however, that's what I use so I'm biased. 

If not, there's nothing wrong at all with a 5150 II, though I do think the "regular" 5150/6505 sounds better. I've heard some great tones out of both.


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## eaeolian (Jan 31, 2012)

goatLuke said:


> i dont want to rob this thread but i went to my local guitar center and played a used dual rect solo head for like an hour I fiddled around with knobs and I got nothing but mediocre results. I also was not boosted and playing through a marshall 1960 A cab. Is this typical? Are they really that hard to dial in or is it the combo of not being boosted and the cab, that made it pretty much well suck.



The cab didn't help - I can't stand the Celestion 75s in the 1960s - but they really are a different beast when it comes to dialing them in. I see them in stores all the time with settings that make me scratch my head. For example: Was your gain above 1:00? If so, it was up too high - in the "modern" mode, anyway.

When people buy them, I tell them to read the manual.


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## JStraitiff (Jan 31, 2012)

Stealthdjentstic said:


> Can't go wrong with that, how cool would running a 6505/Rectifier together be? Or a VHT and recto?



i have been wanting more than anything to run a fryette pitbull with a recto.


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## Nitrobattery (Jan 31, 2012)

goatLuke said:


> i dont want to rob this thread but i went to my local guitar center and played a used dual rect solo head for like an hour I fiddled around with knobs and I got nothing but mediocre results. I also was not boosted and playing through a marshall 1960 A cab. Is this typical? Are they really that hard to dial in or is it the combo of not being boosted and the cab, that made it pretty much well suck.



Did you look at the back of the amp? People are usually surprised how many more tone changing features are on the back of the head (Bold/Spongy, Tube Rectifier/Silicon Diode). The Rectos are incredibly versatile, and because of it, often take some getting used to. The EQ controls are infinitely more responsive that say a 5150. Another factor is that the Rectos can be buzzy in the top end if not dialed in quite right. That coupled with the GT75's in the Marshall could result in a pretty sterile tone. Plus being used, who know how old the tubes are.


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## goatLuke (Jan 31, 2012)

Nitrobattery said:


> Did you look at the back of the amp? People are usually surprised how many more tone changing features are on the back of the head (Bold/Spongy, Tube Rectifier/Silicon Diode). The Rectos are incredibly versatile, and because of it, often take some getting used to. The EQ controls are infinitely more responsive that say a 5150. Another factor is that the Rectos can be buzzy in the top end if not dialed in quite right. That coupled with the GT75's in the Marshall could result in a pretty sterile tone. Plus being used, who know how old the tubes are.


 
no i did nothing with the back of the amp because it was kind of hard to get to in the store and I didnt want to mess with it too much and have it fall over or something hehe. I guess the only way to really tell is to bring 1 home and try it ill get 30 days hehe. Is there that much difference between the dual and triple? Honestly if I picked 1 up I dont want to buy all the tubes for a triple, and my local store has 2 used duals right now.


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## purpledc (Jan 31, 2012)

goatLuke said:


> i dont want to rob this thread but i went to my local guitar center and played a used dual rect solo head for like an hour I fiddled around with knobs and I got nothing but mediocre results. I also was not boosted and playing through a marshall 1960 A cab. Is this typical? Are they really that hard to dial in or is it the combo of not being boosted and the cab, that made it pretty much well suck.




You arent alone. The rectos are very sensitive to speaker choice. When I do a side by side of my marshall cab to my mesa cab with my mark its a dramatic difference. But it makes sense marshall cabs have scooped mids to balance the mid heavy sound. Mesa cabs seem to have more mid range emphasis to ensure you are heard with peoples tendency to scoop them. As for you guitar center experience I think you nailed it. The rectos dont necessarily need a boost but if your not going to use one you would benefit from some high output pickups to get the preamp working. 

I simply dont think you can judge any amp simply by trying it at the store. Even at levels that are irritating to the store clerks its not loud enough to get an idea of the amp. I tried the mark V a bunch of times in GC stores and never was really wowed. Then I saw one for a good price and just had to give it a try base on videos and soundclips I heard. Im really glad I took a chance on it. Its by far my favorite of the amps Ive played. But that is no thanks to my GC demos by any means.


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## Shask (Jan 31, 2012)

I hated the Rectos for years because of store results. I would not say they are hard to dial in, but it is definitely easy to get mediocre results. A boost helps a lot also...


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## Choop (Jan 31, 2012)

All of my best distorted tones with the recto were with the orange channel boosted (on the modern mode for teh brootalz, and even the vintage mode is pretty good). It's just tighter and less fizzy sounding. The red channel was hella heavy but always had this sort of metallic fizzy quality I couldn't quite get rid of. The red channel also felt more scooped, and I personally like more mids in the voicing.


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## Leuchty (Jan 31, 2012)

I think the video sounds fucking wicked, OP!


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## Nitrobattery (Jan 31, 2012)

goatLuke said:


> no i did nothing with the back of the amp because it was kind of hard to get to in the store and I didnt want to mess with it too much and have it fall over or something hehe. I guess the only way to really tell is to bring 1 home and try it ill get 30 days hehe. Is there that much difference between the dual and triple? Honestly if I picked 1 up I dont want to buy all the tubes for a triple, and my local store has 2 used duals right now.



The Triple has another duet of power tubes and is 150watts instead of 100 as compared to the Dual. The Triple isn't really audibly louder (3db) but because of the added headroom it's a little tighter due to less power tube saturation. Honestly though, I've had several Dual Rectifiers and 100 watts with a boost is plenty tight.


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## Nitrobattery (Jan 31, 2012)

Choop said:


> All of my best distorted tones with the recto were with the orange channel boosted (on the modern mode for teh brootalz, and even the vintage mode is pretty good). It's just tighter and less fizzy sounding. The red channel was hella heavy but always had this sort of metallic fizzy quality I couldn't quite get rid of. The red channel also felt more scooped, and I personally like more mids in the voicing.



The Red and Orange channels have different presence pots which is what makes them sound so different. A pretty cool and incredibly easy mod is to call Mesa and have them send you a 25k pot like is in the orange channel to replace the 100k pot in the red channel. Then you can have two orange channels.


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