Peavey 5150 II and Modern metal tone

[refusetofall87]

Yeah, exactly. I dont think you should give up on the 5150 just yet. I really think its your power amp tubes or maybe your pre amp tubes... or both. I would take your head to a gear tech. 5150's and 5150 II's are excellent for lower tunings because of their mid range. Ive played many amps and I love my 5150 signature head. If you do plan on getting your tubes changed, i would recomend JJ power amp tubes and Tung-sol pre amp tubes.

 

[Hyacinth]

I actually don't have my guitar downtuned. I put the top six strings in drop C and it sounded a little more percussive and twangy, but still not what I want, sadly. I'd rather play in Drop E. My low E is already pretty much too flubby and undefined to use, even with a .74 string on there. I have a question posted in the string tension megathread right now, though. So hopefully that issue will get cleared up for me soon.

 

[Philligan]

What's another amp I could look into in my price range that would get a better "djenty" tone? That word sucks, but it's the easiest way to describe it. My price range is pretty much what I could sell the 5150 for which is probably like $500-$600

Honestly, the 5150's really hard to beat for the price. I'd maybe look into some of the Bugera stuff, or a used Randall T2/V2 or a used Mesa. But IMHO, if you wanna stay in that price range, the 5150's probably worth sticking with and putting some money into it over time. That or a POD.

I spent a lot of time with an XT bean, and even though it didn't sound the most organic, the range of tones and EQ options you get with it are unrivaled. From what I read, the HD series is pretty much only better; I wanna get an HD for recording and home stuff to go with my Blackstar HT-5r. On top of that, the PODs can do anything, so you're good to go if your tastes change down the road.

Yeah, exactly. I dont think you should give up on the 5150 just yet. I really think its your power amp tubes or maybe your pre amp tubes... or both. I would take your head to a gear tech. 5150's and 5150 II's are excellent for lower tunings because of their mid range. Ive played many amps and I love my 5150 signature head. If you do plan on getting your tubes changed, i would recomend JJ power amp tubes and Tung-sol pre amp tubes.

This. A retube with what you know are reputable tubes can do wonders. For more money (and more of a commitment haha) check out FJA mods. It's a guy named Jerry who does insane 5150 mods. If his prices are too high (they can get really expensive), you can find mods that do similar things pretty easily online, and a decent tech should be able to do them all.

I actually don't have my guitar downtuned. I put the top six strings in drop C and it sounded a little more percussive and twangy, but still not what I want, sadly. I'd rather play in Drop E. My low E is already pretty much too flubby and undefined to use, even with a .74 string on there. I have a question posted in the string tension megathread right now, though. So hopefully that issue will get cleared up for me soon.

Unfortunately, that's kinda the nature of the beast with low tunings. The .074 is slightly on the lighter end for low E, but definitely doable, and the lighter string is gonna get you a slightly more guitar-like tone (as opposed to bass-like). Try messing with your pick attack and pickup height.

 

[makeitreign]

Try guitar-> OD-> gate-> comp-> amp.

Don't compress before you gate.

 

[Hyacinth]

Try guitar-> OD-> gate-> comp-> amp.

Don't compress before you gate.

Wooooah. I tried it. I think that was the missing link. The fizz is still there but hardly noticeable (Can't wait to see how new tubes sound in it). The crispness and clarity and punch that I wanted is much more evident now! Thanks a lot to everyone in this topic, I hope somewhere down the line a google search leads to this thread and helps someone like me get an awesome tone. =D

 

[refusetofall87]

Wooooah. I tried it. I think that was the missing link. The fizz is still there but hardly noticeable (Can't wait to see how new tubes sound in it). The crispness and clarity and punch that I wanted is much more evident now! Thanks a lot to everyone in this topic, I hope somewhere down the line a google search leads to this thread and helps someone like me get an awesome tone. =D

Glad that you figured it out, peavey 5150's are amazing amps. Hope you get as much joy out of yours that i do out of mine.

 

[WarMachine]

The other guy said having the OD after the gate is defeating the purpose. Typo maybe?

Nope, not if you run the OD in the Send and Return of the NS-2. Done it for years and it works wonders you still get all the greatness of the OD minus all the feedback.

EDIT: Sorry dude, got in a hurry at work with that post lol. What i meant was IIRC, i used to run my NS-2 like this: NS-2 Out - Amp, NS-2 In - Guitar. (just think of it like you're using the top half of the pedal for the amp and guitar inputs since thats basically what you are doing. Then i ran the NS-2 Return to the next pedals Out. Then just chain them like normal. When you get to the very last pedal in your chain, run from the in of that pedal, all the way back to the send of the NS-2. This KILLED all feedback, hum, buzz, etc of every pedal and still cut my guitar out when i needed it to. pretty gnarly pedal man, i LOVE mine!

 

[jeffguy]

I'm in a metalcore band. This is my rig:

Gibson les paul with a Super D -> Boss NS-2 Noise gate -> Peavey 5150ii -> Mesa Recto 4x12 Slant Cab.
In the NS-2's loop:

Send-> TS9 (drive 0/tone 11-12 o clock/level Max) -> MXR 10 band EQ (V "ish" pattern) -> Polytune -> Return.

Amp settings for Lead Channel:

Pre @ 5.5
Low @ 9
Mid @ 5
High @ 6
Post @ 4
Resonance @ 7
Presence @ 6

Just played our biggest venue as of yet (300+ people)on saturday and got tons of compliments on my tone which made me feel pretty good!

 

[r_adkins80]

I got the best tone out if my old 5150II by taking the advice of the guitarist from Quo Vadis: get the meat and cut of your sound by running the presence and resonance near Max and keeping the bass and treble really low. Gain at noon-1:00 and mid depends on cab/speakers. I also ran a tungsol in V1 with gold pin JJ in the rest of the spots with EH 6L6GC and had a bias mod on the amp. Never once had to use an overdrive with that head...ever.

 

[NinjaRaf]

Stock Carvin pickups arent as bad as people make them out to be. But yeah, EMGs would definitely step up your game a bit. And some sort of TS would probably get you closer to what youre looking for. Personally, I ran that amp with a 412 with Eminence Legends, and used all kinds of pickups...and for me, the EMGs didnt make that much of a difference. I never ran a boost, either, and I was getting solid modern metal tones easily. I wont ever really understand why any one thinks they need a boost with that amp, but hey...to each their own. Ive got a buddy that has one and he runs a boost, but I liked all of my 5150s (except the original one) without a boost WAY better.

gain 6.5
Bass 6
mids 3
his 5
presence 5
resonance 6

Done.

 

[Hyacinth]

Necro bump haha Thanks for all the advice guys, but I bought an Axe Fx