A 6505 like head with great cleans?

[scottro202]

what about adding a combo amp to your rig? it would be more gear to carry but not as much as a halfsatck. you could a/b with a jc-120 or something and have squeaky cleans and 5150 distortion.

Well, I suggested 2 heads because (At least from my experience), venues only wanna mic up one cab, so 2 heads in the same cab would make things easier in that sense.

If you don't mic your cabs or can mic 2 cabs easily, then this would be a good option as well

 

[Key_Maker]

Get a 6505+ and a multi fx unit with verb, delay & chorus and run it in the loop.

great clean tones, imo.

better still: Get a POD X3 live and run it in the four cable method.

Stompboxes + 1 5751 or 12ay7 in the clean preamp tube, clean even with EMG pus.

 

[budda]

here's my two cents:

I would not buy the axe fx if I were up for just two good tones that thing is just too complex and you won't profit from more then 10% of it's potential....ever.. however i still think that there's just too much hype about it (heard it twice live and i must say that recordings sounded better to me)

I'm calling bullshit for two reasons:

1. You can't say what he would and wouldn't use on the axe-fx; it's constantly getting updated, and his tastes will change
2. the axe-fx is not complex. I've actually sat down with one and made a new patch in 5 minutes from scratch - it gets as complex or as easy as you want it to.

 

[op1e]

Peavey Ultra Head I was using had fender like cleans. Crunch channel was sick with a boost, but Ultra channel was too dark to cut, so used it mainly as a Lead boost.

 

[AeonSolus]

for 2000 bucks... hmmm, 500 bucks Carvin TS100 poweramp, 600 ENGL E530 Preamp, and 400 Digitech rackmount thingie unit for efects and such...and of course, a rackcase for like 130, leaving enough for a hamburger or two

 

[xCaptainx]

I'm calling bullshit for two reasons:

1. You can't say what he would and wouldn't use on the axe-fx; it's constantly getting updated, and his tastes will change
2. the axe-fx is not complex. I've actually sat down with one and made a new patch in 5 minutes from scratch - it gets as complex or as easy as you want it to.

Would have to agree there. I havent used it myself, but I know lots of people who have and most of those opinions are similar to what people think of the Vetta. I managed to get a workable tone with my vetta after a few minutes, based on previous rigs/knowledge.

It can be as complex, or simple, as you want it to be. Personaly I love having the option of adding additional eq/compressors/pedals to the mix, and it's a cheaper way of dealing with your 'hey what if I added this pedal/compression to my rig' GAS we all develop after joining guitar forums

 

[xCaptainx]

have you thought about ENGL? I've heard some amazing things from a Powerball + Boss GT10 using the 4 cable method. No idea how popular ENGL are in america/canada.

 

[Forced Chaos]

here's my two cents:

I would not buy the axe fx if I were up for just two good tones that thing is just too complex and you won't profit from more then 10% of it's potential....ever.. however i still think that there's just too much hype about it (heard it twice live and i must say that recordings sounded better to me)

if you like the 5150.. get a 5150.. and get a cheap old peavey classic 30 and an A/B pedal... thats what i would have done (and probably will as i have a 5150 and keep struggling with the same problem- glassy, unusable cleans) ..there are many gutarists who are running more fancy and expensive rigs and use just one channel of lets say the stiletto.. one channel of recto.. or one bogner for leads and one fender for cleans..etc.. I'd stick to the classic 30 i love the tone and it works wonders with almost all stompboxes you put in front of it so you've get a nice clean a great crunch and when you switch to the 5150 you got the balls..

Never really checked out the Classic series by Peavey before just because I've always been into high gainers but lately I've been wanting another amp that has good cleans and classic gain for when I feel like playing some blues or rock. Just checked out some clips of the Classic 30 and fuck they sound great man. Alot of tones in that little amp and I have a 5150 myself so that would def be the ticket to A/B for cleans.

 

[Fiz]

If you haven't tried this yet, do so.

Get your hands on a 5150 II or a 6505+ and take out the V6 tube and replace it with a tube that is milder than a 12AX7. Try a 12AU7 or 12AT7. It really makes a -ton- of difference. Get a good vintage NOS tube and it's like a totally different amp.

Crank pre/gain all the way up and then use post to dial in the volume you need. You'll be hearing bell-like, warm bodied full cleans. Add a little reverb and people will be wondering what amp you're having behind your stack.

I did a little A/B testing while in studio once and people couldn't tell the difference between my 6505+ with reverb and a Vox AC.. Of course it's not -as- good, but it's good and the test is superbly easy to do.

The only downside to this is that you won't get anything useful out of the crunch channel, because to get the best clean sound means cranking up the gain and if you then switch to crunch, it'll be LOUD because the sound isn't really breaking up due to the milder tube but instead the volume increases quite a bit.

 

[Zehailiu]

That kinda defeats the purpose of having a 5150 eh? But in the studio it's definitely useful.

 

[Fiz]

The lead channel still functions totally normally, as the lead channel doesn't involve the V6 tube at all.

 

[Zehailiu]

OH shit sorry, forgot about that.
Sometimes I don't know whether I have the brain of a 4 year old or a 80 year old.

 

[Razzy]

I like Fiz's suggestion the best. It makes sense, and is probably the most cost-effective.

Other than that, get an axe-fx.

 

[OrsusMetal]

I skimmed through this whole thread and didn't see this mentioned anywhere. If it was, remember I just skimmed. Whynot get the 6534+? It's the 6505 with EL34s. Didn't Bulb review it a bit ago and say it was a better 6505 with insanely better cleans? That might be right up your alley, as well as leaving you with quite a bit of cash left over.