Help needed. 6505 mod to EVH 5150 III

[cyrilMYAIM]

Dear friends

it's been a while since my last post.
I'm currently looking to get my 6505 mod'ed to get as close as possible to the red channel of an EVH 5150 III.

I think the 6505 lacks soms bass that the EVH has. The 6505 does however have a lot more (low?) mids that I'm not fond of at all. It makes everything sound nasal and muddy. Also the high frequencies of the 6505 sound a little like bees, compared to the EVH, which sounds a lot sharper and clearer.

So what I want to achieve is:

- making the 6505 a lot tighter and more modern sounding overall
- Having less (low)mids and more bass that is not muddy
- shifting the high frequencies to have the sharp, cutting high frequencies of the EVH 5150 III

Here's the difference between the two tones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r0LxauEJxU

Any idea of how I should mod my amp? Any contacts that could help me out (someone with TONS of knowledge about amps and their circuits)?

I'm from Belgium, in Europe. So letting it mod in the US or another country is not an option. I'm going to take my amp to my best amp tech and share the ideas that you guys have thought about.

I'm curious to hear what you guys have to say about possible mods!

SHOOT!

 

[TeeWX]

Is it at all an option to not mod it? I would just get the 5153 if that is what you really want. Otherwise, have you tried using a tube screamer in front of the 5150?

I also notice in the comments on the video that he plugged into the "normal gain" input instead of the "high gain" input. Have you given the "high gain" input a shot?

 

[TheRileyOBrien]

Hopefully that video is not the only comparison you are basing this on because it is pretty crappy.

Sounds like you need to find a new amp. Modding would be more expensive and require more effort than just picking an amp that fits the sound you are after. At very least maybe try a tubescreamer and eq pedal with the peavey.

 

[cyrilMYAIM]

Is it at all an option to not mod it? I would just get the 5153 if that is what you really want. Otherwise, have you tried using a tube screamer in front of the 5150?

I also notice in the comments on the video that he plugged into the "normal gain" input instead of the "high gain" input. Have you given the "high gain" input a shot?

I'm actually using the high gain input all the time because it makes the amp hiss less as I need less preamp gain.

It's not really an option. EVH 5150 III's go for not less than 1900/2000 € (which is about 2300 USD if I'm not mistaken). I don't have that money as I already bought new cabs and a new guitar. Mod'ing it is the only option in the near future. (talking about a few years)

I tried the tubescreamer. In my case it's a maxon od808. Makes it sound a little better, but I do have tons of feedback with it, even with a boss ns2. I even tried it in the loop of the NS2, but I still have lots of feedback (gain is only at 3/4...), so I keep it off all the time, except for leads.

 

[cyrilMYAIM]

Hopefully that video is not the only comparison you are basing this on because it is pretty crappy.

Sounds like you need to find a new amp. Modding would be more expensive and require more effort than just picking an amp that fits the sound you are after. At very least maybe try a tubescreamer and eq pedal with the peavey.

It is not the only comparison. My band's other guitarist uses the exact same setup as I do, but with an EVH 5150 III, so I really do know the difference. I just put the video there for people who wouldn't know. It's pretty crappy, but it's the best comparison I have found online... If you have a better one, please post it so other people can hear the difference I'm talking about!

Unfortunately I can't afford a new amp for the next few years. I just bought a new guitar and new cabs. I already tried a tubescreamer. In fact I use a Maxon OD808. It sounds a little better, but I'm having tons of feedback with it. Even with a noise gate and input gain set as low as possible. So I leave the maxon off pretty much all the time.

Thanks for the reply though!

 

[B.M.F.]

Like the other guys said, you may not even need to mod your 6505. Because what you wanted:

- making the 6505 a lot tighter and more modern sounding overall
...this can be achieved by running a Tubescreamer style pedal in the front. When I had a 5150iii I always ran a Tubescreamer style pedal on the blue channel with gain on 4, and on the pedal the gain was either all the way off or at 9 o'clock, output maxed, tone at 1 o'clock. Favorite pedals I have ran into for using as a boost like this are the Maxon OD9, VFE Ice Scream, Maxon OD820, Keeley Red Dirt, Way Huge Green Rhino.
A good noise gate is a must, however. The best one I have used is a ISP G String II in the loop. It works so well you forget it is there. Before that I had to roll down the volume knob constantly when I wasn't playing.

- Having less (low)mids and more bass that is not muddy
... EQ pedal in the loop!
- shifting the high frequencies to have the sharp, cutting high frequencies of the EVH 5150 III
... EQ pedal in the loop!

I could never play an amp without using an EQ in the loop. I always cut out some low end to make it tighter, cut some mids (okay, maybe a lot of mids, I don't like midrange...) and raise some crispy highs, so on a MXR 10-band for example, which goes from 32hz to 16khz, my sliders kinda look like a /\/\ shape.

My recent favorite EQ is the Empress Para EQ. It's very powerful and easy to use. I can do with one knob on that one, what I was able to do with all the sliders on an MXR 10-band (setting a general EQ curve for tone shaping...)

Like I said I could never play without an EQ in the loop, it's always on, a fantastic and easy way to mold the tone of your amp, you can make it sound completely different.

I say, sell your 6505 and get an 5150iii. And try using a Tubescreamer style boost up front and an EQ in the loop. I never liked the sound of my 5150iii until it was front boosted on the blue-channel and EQ in the loop (I never used or liked the red-channel, even for technical death metal/shred/thrash etc. I felt like it had too much saturation.)

 

[TheRileyOBrien]

The 50 watt evh is arguably better than the 100 watt version and you can get those for just a bit more than you could sell the 6505 for. Definitely cheaper than modding. The evh is a totally different design and it would not be a simple mod to the 6505 to get it to sound anywhere close.

What gate are you running? A decimator would take care of your feedback problems. An always on tubescreamer into 5150/6505 is pretty much the industry standard metal sound.

 

[TeeWX]

It is not the only comparison. My band's other guitarist uses the exact same setup as I do, but with an EVH 5150 III, so I really do know the difference. I just put the video there for people who wouldn't know. It's pretty crappy, but it's the best comparison I have found online... If you have a better one, please post it so other people can hear the difference I'm talking about!

Unfortunately I can't afford a new amp for the next few years. I just bought a new guitar and new cabs. I already tried a tubescreamer. In fact I use a Maxon OD808. It sounds a little better, but I'm having tons of feedback with it. Even with a noise gate and input gain set as low as possible. So I leave the maxon off pretty much all the time.

Thanks for the reply though!

I have tried the Boss NS-2 with my 5150 and it just really doesn't work for me either. Your best bet is an ISP Decimator. (Blasphemy above mentions the G String as well if you really want both fx loop and up front gating) I have no problems running this in front of the amp. I even run distortion pedals in front of the red channel sometimes and the ISP keeps it noise free.

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

I would strongly suggest either selling the 6505 in favor of a 5153 or at least experimenting with different boosts out front and/or an EQ in the FX loop

I own a 50w 5153 head and had a 6505 2x12 combo for a while and while they get similar sounds in a broad sense, they really do have pretty significant differences in character, which have already been covered above.

 

[Dawn of the Shred]

+1 on getting a 5150 III. They are different amps for sure. I've own and owned both and they are similar but definitely more different then similar. You could try a graphic EQ out to see if it can get close to what you want.

 

[feraledge]

The upgrades to a 5153 start with the transformer, which isn't a cheap starting point. You could probably end up dumping enough money into parts to get you close to the used 5153 range.

 

[KailM]

As others stated, an MXR 10-band in the loop can work wonders. Really, you can make it sound like a different amp. I use mine to make it sound even less like a 5150 III though, as I like my amp to not sound like it's been neutered.

 

[7 Dying Trees]

for the 6505:

1 - do the bias mod
2 - get a choke added (not really something to do unless you're experienced, as it involves a fair few changes and gotchas, like replacing the screen grid resistors, moving the standby switch location, and add to that that the output tube PCB is a pain to get out... the choke will tighten the amp up depending on value (5H or 10H, higher value is tighter response)
3 - check out some of the mods on here, includes mid shift mods, taking out the bees and smoothing highs etc, all fairly simple:
Peavey 5150 / 6505 series mods | Audun Melbye

all these mods are basically making it more like the slo it was based on. And the slo is stupidly awesome as an amp.

 

[7 Dying Trees]

oh, and you can order parts (including the choke etc) from Tubetown in germany, they have quality stuff. truth

any questiopns, shoot me a message.

 

[jrui]

you can talk to FJA mods , it can be done easily.

but as you can see above , there're many ways to change the sound.

5153 is looser by the way

 

[7 Dying Trees]

also, forgot to add, you won't get a 5150/6505 to sound like a 5153. Different preamps, different number of preamp tubes, different circuit. Get towards it, maybe, but if you want a 5153, buy a 5153.

 

[TheRileyOBrien]

you can talk to FJA mods , it can be done easily.

No it can't...

 

[jrui]

No it can't...

how come he can't ?
Jerry can do the requests very easily
those're just what he do all the time.

 

[TheRileyOBrien]

how come he can't ?
Jerry can do the requests very easily
those're just what he do all the time.

It cannot be done easily.

He does not change 5150/6505's to evh 5150III specs.


If you were referring to the standard 6505 mods...
None of his mods would be cost effective for op if he isn't even willing to sell his 6505 and pay the difference to get a 5150iii

 

[NinjaRaf]

If you have not tried running the NS2 in 4CM, try that...it kills all noise for me with my Peavey 5150 combo and my 5150II. It works great, despite what many online guitar players say. You already have the 808, so keep using that. Add an EQ in the loop, and you should be good to go.

Otherwise, I agree with everyone else saying that you would be better off getting the 5153 if thats what you really want.