Peavey 5150 II and Modern metal tone

[Hyacinth]

So I recently bought a 5150 II half stack with a Basson B412bk cab. It sounds great and is a huge step up from my old amp (Peavey Valveking 212 combo, NOT METAL) While the tones I've been dialing in on the 5150 II sound great and are worlds beyond what the Valveking could do, I haven't found a good modern metal setting for it.

I don't have much experience or knowledge about dialing in a modern metal tone (think Corelia, Periphery, The Human Abstract, Keith Merrow, etc. Mainly Corelia and Periphery, though.)

So I was wondering if you guys could give me some pointers in dialing in a good tone for this type of music. I've seen a couple threads like this floating around the internet but none of them had a very good answer. Thanks in advance.

 

[Leuchty]

Lead Channel:

GAIN: 3
BASS: 5
MID: 7
TREB: 6

Get a tubescreamer.
Drive: 0/off
Level: 10/full
Tone: 5/half


That is the general. Now...

What Guitar? Pickups? Speakers?

 

[Deliverowned]

Cut your bass by half, then remove 10 or so more.

 

[Hyacinth]

Guitar: Carvin DC800 stock pickups
Speakers: Eminence Legends

I have an eminence man o war, and the governor, but they're 16ohm and it's an 8 ohm cabinet. I'm not sure if that means that I can't use them, but I didn't want to go fucking stuff up two days after I got it.

 

[MaxSwagger]

I run a 6505+ through a Basson cab and I run it as follows.

PRE:3.5
LOW:6
MID:6.5
HIGH:6
POST:3.5
RESONANCE:5
PRESENCE: 4.75

I also use some pedals. I run 2 noise gates, one in the loop and one up front. Helps with the bite and is insanely quiet when not playing. I use a TS9 or Fulltone OCD as as a boost.

 

[xCaptainx]

Gain on 4
bass on 9
everything else on 7

Maxon OD808 out front
Gain on like .5 or 1
Tone on 4
Level on 8 or 9

These settings are used by Unearth, Parkway Drive, basically every band that records with Adam D. Works much better with v30 speakers e.g. mesa cabs.

 

[Hyacinth]

Thanks for all the help guys. How important of a role do tubes play in this issue? I was looking around on Eurotubes and saw that the gold pin option for the 5150 II says it reduces grit and fuzz, which also seems to be an issue.

 

[xCaptainx]

I retubed my 51510s (I've had 3) with JJ's each time. Sounded great.

That being said, get the 'must haves' down first e.g. noise gate, ovedrive pedal etc. If it's a brand new head, you shouldnt really need a retube just yet. It would be quite a lot of money for only a slightly difference change in tone.

 

[Hyacinth]

Well I bought the head used, and I'm not sure how long these tubes have been in there. They're ruby tubes though, and I've never liked Ruby tubes. I have a maxon OD808, and the head came with an MXR smartgate, but it has since crapped out and doesn't work any more. I'm probably going to pick up a new noise gate and a compressor pedal, probably the Boss NS-2 and MXR dyna comp. I just want that super tight tone, ya know?

 

[xCaptainx]

yup you're already going about it all the right ways. I used a boss ns-2 for a decade with no problems or faults at all. I've toured/played with Parkway/Unearth a number of times and boss ns-2, maxon od808 and the settings above would get you a killer tone. In fact I got them from Parkway from sharing backline for two weeks haha.

Probably not a 'djent' tone but a great modern tone nonetheless.

 

[Hyacinth]

That is really awesome that you toured with Parkway and Unearth. Super jelly over here. I dunno if there's something wrong with my amp or if I just don't have the volume up high enough, but it seems a bit fizzy, which is why I wanted to go with new tubes.

 

[budda]

It's probably those stock carvin pickups.

 

[xCaptainx]

ah yes,l forgot to mention. EMG 81 pickup all the way.

 

[TheEntheogenEgoKiller]

No one on here can give you definite modern metal tones. It's up to you and your equipment and the room you are in. The 5150 II is a great amp but your guitar, cab, pedals affect your tone greatly. The only piece of advice I can give you is to EQ your amp while it's at gig volume and you want an even spectrum of frequencies coming from your speakers with a mid bump to sit your guitar nicely within a band.

 

[Hyacinth]

It's probably those stock carvin pickups.

Do you think it would be that over the tubes in the 5150 II?

 

[Wizard of Ozz]

Boost it with a Maxon OD808... gain to 9:00, volume to 3:00.

Also jack up the presence to around 2-3:00, and keep the resonance at 12:00.

These two things made the most improvement for me with the 5150II/6505+.

 

[Deliverowned]

Do you think it would be that over the tubes in the 5150 II?

You couldnt hear the difference between a 200$ jackson guitar with the emg 81 and a 3000$ custom PRS with the same pickup as the pick up is so compressed. So im saying, thats the first thing you should do, upgrade your pickups.

 

[Hyacinth]

You couldnt hear the difference between a 200$ jackson guitar with the emg 81 and a 3000$ custom PRS with the same pickup as the pick up is so compressed. So im saying, thats the first thing you should do, upgrade your pickups.

Thank you very much for the info. That's what I'll get first then, thanks.

 

[Deliverowned]

Ill add that any emg 81 user should try it in 18volts as it opens up the pick up a bit giving it a fuller tone on its own losing a bit of compression.

 

[Hyacinth]

So now I'm torn between BKP Painkillers and Aftermaths. They both seem like they'd be good for modern metal, but the Painkillers seem like they'd be better for what I want to do. Anyone have any insight on the pickups?