# Peavey 6505 USA vs China



## wheelsdeal (Nov 24, 2015)

Hey all.I am thinking of getting a 6505 or 6534+ and since Peaveys are very rare in the used market in my country i will propably get a new one.

As you know new Peaveys are made in China.Now i am not a snob for Chinese made products but i did owned the 6505+112 and it was kinda $hit comparing to the head in many aspects (noisy,fizzy,thin sounding,terrible loop etc)

My question is are there any differences between the previous USA head and the new Chinese made in sound or quality?Anyone got the newer heads have any complains or are they identical?Thanks.


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## Edika (Nov 24, 2015)

Interested in this myself and also has there been a price decrease due to the move in China or are they the same price?


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## Alex79 (Nov 24, 2015)

Individual parts can always have small variances, even if they are produced in the same country. It really matters how strict Peavey is with quality control and how much variance they tolerate.
The country of origin shouldn't make a difference if QC is on their job. I'd argue that ROHS regulations probably made a bigger impact, as it forced some companies to use different parts.


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## MYGFH (Nov 24, 2015)

The 112 sound was prolly due to the speaker, possibly open back cab. I have a 6505+ and bought the Peavey 112 cab because I was in an apartment. Now I have a Carvin Legacy 2x12 w/V30's and it sounds completely different/better. Who's to say how much of my 6505+ was "made" in USA? The pcb could have been made somewhere else and shipped to USA for install. Good luck!


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Nov 24, 2015)

MYGFH said:


> FWIW, pretty sure the 5150/5150II/6505/6505+ combos have always been made in China.



Only the 6505+ 112 was MiC. The 2x12s were all MiA before the switch.


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## glpg80 (Nov 24, 2015)

There is a huge impact.

When I worked in the field building prototype PCBs for a security company, all boards were made overseas. The shortcuts we saw were beyond unbelievable. Traces on the board were turning green from fake copper, parts substitutions that we didn't allow, soldering was done without flux, the list goes on.

I would not want a chinese made anything that will cost as much as a tube amp. YMMV.


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## glpg80 (Nov 24, 2015)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Only the 6505+ 112 was MiC. The 2x12s were all MiA before the switch.



Those 2x12's are beasts. One of the best sounding rigs I played was a 5150 2x12 loaded with splawn small blocks. It's part of the reason I did splawn small blocks X V30's in one of my 4x12s


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## NinjaRaf (Nov 24, 2015)

5150 212s are still my favorite amps in existence.


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## robski92 (Nov 24, 2015)

I really like my 6505+ Combo. As for the FX loop, yeah it made it sound super fizzy, but the mod I did makes it sound much better now. Look up FX Loop mods and you'll see it's pretty easy to do and makes the loop sound worlds better!


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## jc986 (Nov 24, 2015)

There was a $100 price drop on both the 6505 & 6505+ when they moved production to China. I haven't had a chance to see one of the new China made heads, but I would probably try to find a used USA made model if I were looking for one. There is no question to the reliability of the USA made models, and we won't likely know if the Chinese built models have reliability issues until a year or two down the road once people have had a chance to use and abuse them. 

I know you mentioned that they don't show up often in your used market, but I would bet you could find a seller willing to ship internationally, and with the prices used 6505's can be had you would probably still come out a bit cheaper even with the shipping expense than purchasing new.


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## KailM (Nov 24, 2015)

robski92 said:


> I really like my 6505+ Combo. As for the FX loop, yeah it made it sound super fizzy, but the mod I did makes it sound much better now. Look up FX Loop mods and you'll see it's pretty easy to do and makes the loop sound worlds better!




 X 10

The 112 combo gets a bad rap because of a couple issues -- it's not because it was made in China. But people attribute its problems to it being made in China. While I certainly agree that the build-quality in China probably isn't up to the standards of its U.S. made brethren, I can't say mine has given me that many issues in the 4 years I've owned it.

The biggest flaw of the 112 is indeed its effects loop. And that's not even because they cheaped out on it; it's because they attempted to put a buffer in it to account for long leads and multiple pedals. Consequently, that buffer sucks out most of your low-end and adds TONS of fizz. A hard-wired effects loop with no buffer would have been cheaper and would have sounded 10X better. Thankfully, it's a 5-minute job to fix it with a 25 cent capacitor.

Secondly, the speaker is cheap and doesn't sound good. They had to do something to get it at the price-point it's at.

Other than those items, the 112 can kick ASS as soon as they are dealt with. I've done the effects mod to mine as well as converted it to a head and run it through a 412 cab with REAL speakers -- and the thing will blow houses down. Definitely on-par with any of the U.S. -made 120 watt heads I've played.


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## ESPImperium (Nov 24, 2015)

I have zero issues with my 6505MH and its MIC.

Bloody great amp, its my #1 over my Mesa F30 now. However my F30 will be sold sometime in the new year i think when i will get a Mark V25 to give me two awesome amps and total versatility.


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## vick1000 (Nov 24, 2015)

The later US made Peavey amps were not made all that great, compared to the '90s and pre '07 stuff. Their production line control and quality checks were overstressed, and under staffed for several years leading up to the move overseas.

I would try to find a pre '07-'08 model, and go with that. 

I had the 6505+112, and build quality was fine. But the problem with Chinese built amps, is quality control and consistancy. There were a ton more lemons allowed down the pipe with the 112 combo, than any of the pre '07 US product line.

I doubt the new Chinese built amps will be horrible, just make sure if you get one that you can return it, or buy that stupid replacment warranty that you should normally pass on.

I would have liked to see PV redesign the 6505 line, and raise prices to keep factories open here. After what I saw on "Undercover Boss", I will never buy another PV product.


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