I hate being this guy butttt...

[7StringSloan]

I need some advice my buddy wants to buy my 5150 and with the money I could buy a used peavey ultra plus head that one of my local shops has and 2 or 3 pedals to go with it. What my main question is that with an od and gate will I be disappointed in the ultra plus as compared to the 5150? I also can't really get the option to crank the shit out of it to hear it's true potential. YouTube videos mostly suck Soooooo here I am I play an all mahogany guitar with teh EMGs to a 1960 cab. Thanks guys!

 

[TRENCHLORD]

5150 for keeps.

 

[Tones]

I still love my peavey ultra plus. If you want better cleans as well, the plus is slightly better than the 5150. As far as distortion goes, they're pretty close.. I've played both amps. You'll be happy with either or, but I'd keep the 5150 if I were you. Higher resale value for sure, and just overall badass.

 

[blackrobedone]

I never did a side by side comparison but I owned both the 5150 II and the Peavey Ultra Plus. I believe they both sounded great, but they were very noisy. I had reliability issues with both of them. The Ultra Plus has more options (half power on the Ultra Plus 120, etc). I think they sound similar - beyond saturated, tear your face off tone, but a little mushy when cranked. I'd go with the Ultra Plus and pedals (as long as it's about $300-400 worth of pedals, and not 3 danelectros or behringers). Also, if the 5150 is in pristine, collector's condition, I'd keep it. Keep in mind the used values - 5150s can go for about $650-1000, and Ultra Plus about $300-500.

 

[budda]

I'd keep what you have.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

I never did a side by side comparison but I owned both the 5150 II and the Peavey Ultra Plus. I believe they both sounded great, but they were very noisy. I had reliability issues with both of them. The Ultra Plus has more options (half power on the Ultra Plus 120, etc). I think they sound similar - beyond saturated, tear your face off tone, but a little mushy when cranked. I'd go with the Ultra Plus and pedals (as long as it's about $300-400 worth of pedals, and not 3 danelectros or behringers). Also, if the 5150 is in pristine, collector's condition, I'd keep it. Keep in mind the used values - 5150s can go for about $650-1000, and Ultra Plus about $300-500.

People pay $1000 for a 5150?! You can get new 6505s for that. I'd say the range is closer to $500 to $800, with those going for $800 usually having a mod or two and some nice tubes. I bought my mint 5150 for $600 in the used section of Guitar Center.

The Ultra Plus wound up being the basis for the JSX, and it's a very solid amp on its own. While it doesn't have that "5150 sound" that's become so popular it's a great high gain amp, throw a boost in front and you can get some mean high gain tones that stay pretty tight. The cab will also be a big factor of course.

 

[7StringSloan]

Thanks guys! And my 5150 is almost mint just one tiny nick smaller than a dime the guy I bought it from made when I was there picking it up >:O and regarding the pedals they definetly wouldn't be shitty but they wouldn't be super expensive either. I just want to get something a little different other than the usual 5150 everyones got

 

[Tones]

I forgot to mention that the Ultra Does have more options, as blackrobedone said. I love having the half power option, and the resonance switch is a nice option. i always keep it on "Tight". With a TS9 it sounds amazing to me. It is a super saturated amp. The best option the amp has is the light up Peavey logo \m/

 

[Levi79]

I had a 6505 212 combo and an Ultra 120 with a Mesa cab. When I had both my 6505 collected dust. With an EQ pedal, the Ultra could get just as brutal as the 6505 but with more options. At the same time it lacked some of the bite the 6505 had so I had to plug in the 6505 once in a while. I found the pre and post gain knobs on my Ultra really nice to have. I normally ran the pre at like 6 and post around 5. If I wanted to play some more rockish stuff or stuff that required poweramp gain I'd turn the post up to 6 or 8 and the pre down to around 3 or 4. The Ultra had pretty nice cleans too, definitely ALOT better than any clean you'll get out of a 5150.

I'd go for the Ultra. It's not only more versatile, but should be about $200 or $300 cheaper than the 5150.

 

[Moolaka]

The Ultra's a largely underrated amp. I think it's more musically inclined all things considered than a 5150 but if you really only use it to gig extreme metal with your band the 5150's more tailored for that.

You'll never have to tech the Ultra, it's like they just don't die some crazyhow.

 

[Dead Undead]

IMHO:
Ultra > 5150

Better cleans and comparable distortion. All you need is an OD/Boost and maybe a noise gate.
Also will last much longer.

 

[Inazone]

I'm going to play devil's advocate for just a moment here. Has your current amp been reliable so far? Just consider that you know how well your own amp has been maintained and how it has been treated so far. If you replace it with a used amp, you only know what the seller tells you about it, which may not be the whole story or entirely accurate, especially if they bought it used from someone else in the first place, which is pretty typical of older amps.

However, that said, I don't consider the 5150 to be a "one size fits all" kind of amp and passed up a great deal on one because I needed something more versatile. I actually ended up with an XXL because I consider it to have a better soloing tone for my style than the 5150 did, and I was able to get 90% of the 5150's rhythm tone with the XXL. Being able to run it at a lower power setting and in tight/loose mode sealed the deal.

Just make sure to really put the Ultra through its paces before you make a decision, especially the channel switching. Having owned numerous Peavey amps over the years, I am wary of the "high mileage" issues like loud pops when switching channels.

 

[7 Dying Trees]

I sold my 5150, and then bought it back 2 years later as nothing really compares to it. It is just genius for aggression, and modding it makes it. Boost in front and it's utter filth heaven

I have a JSX, and if the ul;tra plus sounds like it then that's pretty much like going from an amp with balls to one that is neutered. Going of the JSX, it's not an aggressive amp, it's fairly middle of the road and I'd definately say that I'd be keeping the 5150. If you want cleans get a pod or something, use some fucked up 4 cable method and use the crunch channel for rhythm (which actually I find sounds better and more in your face than using the lead channel anyway)

I'd keep it.

 

[7StringSloan]

Fuck it! Im keepin it!! lol i might go with the pod and a metric ton of cables and also nothing beats seein that clean 5150 logo! haha i really dont know what the hell i was thinkin

 

[Dead Undead]

edit: nvm. too late.