Tried an Ormsby and the infamous Peavey Invective

[Edika]

Hi all,

I just came back from a trip with the family in Australia. A really rewarding experience but quite a strenuous one travelling such distances with young children. In any case I managed to go to a music store while in Perth, it was Kosmic if I remember correctly, to see what I could find there. I managed to get there half an hour before they closed so I didn't have time to test many things. There were some new awesome Ibanez guitars I wanted to try but since they had a few Ormsby guitars and I was interested in those, I asked to play one of those. They also had the elusive Peavey Invective so I was able to kill two birds with one stone. Obligatory pic of me playing the guitar:


My opinion of the Ormsby, really weird at the beginning with the multiscale. It took me a about 10 minutes to get more comfortable with it. Nice overall aesthetics but a lot of small finishing details I saw. I'm not sure if these are chambered but it still seemed quite heavy as a guitar. I didn't like the neck carve as much. I don't know if it's thickness, shoulders or carve but it felt thick. Not unplayable by any means but I was expecting a thinner profile. And the satin back of neck was not bad but I didn't feel a positive effect over a good gloss neck.

The pickups were nice but sounded a bit thin. I suppose they are better suited for downtuning as this was a 6 string guitar. They sounded clear and powerful but I would have preferred a bit more meat into the sound.

The store had a Mesa Boogie Dual Rec Multiwatt, a Triple Crown 50 and the Invective as big amps. I thought I'd go with the Invective as it's difficult to find plus I've been playing a 5150II for a while so I thought I could make it work easier. I was mistaken hahaha. I did play it not too loud as I was in the store but I wasn't impressed. I didn't have time to fiddle with all options but the clean didn't sound that great, the crunch setting was meh and the the lead did sound good after a bit of fiddling but not much better than the 5150II lead.
Again I didn't have time to try the onboard boost and the other functions on the clean channel the amp had but I can say that both have cured me of any GAS I had for an Ormsby and an Invective. Well maybe not for an Ormsby all together but it did show me it was not an instant love for the instrument.

 

[ArtDecade]

Hey, it may sound terrible, but just have fun with it.

 

[Flappydoodle]

I played two Ormsby guitars in Japan. One was a normal hype machine, and the other was "master built" and signed by Perry. I really didn't like either. They look cool online, but I also noticed issues with both of those guitars. I also didn't like the pickups much. If I remember correctly, the Perry-built one was 500,000 yen, which is $4500/£3500.

Just goes to show - try before you buy. Things that are hyped online might not be to your tastes. Only someone with more money than sense would buy a £3000 guitar without trying and loving it first.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

I've had 2 MIK ormsbys and they were both very well made guitars for the price point (around 1500 USD). I actually think the ormsby pickups are quite good, especially for stock pickups.

 

[chipchappy]

The one you're playing in that pic is a HypeGTR which are not chambered.

I had one of the 1st run HypeGTRs and liked it enough. The multi-scale didn't take long to get used to but I agree the neck was sort of baseball bat-y. A little round for my tastes. I did like the pickups though but I generally go for a more sterile, processed tone so I guess that didn't bug me much. Had it for a year and sold it, just wasn't my thing... (also as a side note: the thing could NEVER stay in tune. Action was fine and everything else was perfect in how it was set up but it just could NOT stay in tune. )

Played the invective for a minute in my local GC and it sounded sick, although i noticed that the second i started fiddling and changing settings it didn't sound as good. (typical, i make good sounding things worse!). From what I've read and my experiences, it's definitely an amp that'll take some knob work (lel) to get sounding good. Also, Misha seems like the kinda dude who likes options and variety... so i guess thats not a surprise.

Anywho - Ormsby is meh and Invectives r hard 2 lern. That's my story and i'm stickin with it

 

[diagrammatiks]

My ormsby was a mess.

Never played an invective.

The tc100 is the best value to function new amp made this decade. It’s so good.

 

[Edika]

I'm sure if I had more time with both I could make them sound better and I'm figured the Invective would sound better if I had more time to fiddle with it. I did manage to get a good sound out of the lead channel but it didn't have the aggressiveness I can get from my 5150II. I was just expecting the clean channel to sound fuller but I again didn't have too much time with it. This is not bad as it made me more focused to try another flavor of sound. If I can get this sound with a cheaper option I can go for something different sounding altogether. I have been GASing for a Multiwatt Rectifier but the Triple Crown might be another good option.

I think the best quality of the Ormsby, at least the particular one, was the fretwork. The action was so low and there was almost no fretbuzz. I'm not saying it was a bad guitar but it seemed I had different expectations. I really wanted to try a 7 string one as I didn't want to try and down tune it and mess with it too much in the store. I mean the neck wasn't as thick as my Les Paul but it did remind me of the BC Rich JrV Deluxe I had.

It was a good experience because I managed to try two things that if I bought blindly I would be happy with but not ecstatic and probably would sell after a while.

I also think I made a wise choice not trying the Ibanez ones as I might have actually have bought one. Then my wife would kill me and I'd had to deal with an additional piece of luggage to lug around for 24H+ hours of travelling with two really tired kids.

And to make the Invective/Misha joke, I did have fun with it but not as much as I thought I would. Maybe if there was no hype in my mind I would have enjoyed them more.

 

[USMarine75]

You should have gone with the Peavey to the left instead!

 

[Edika]

You mean the classic 30? I tried one of those in the past and was surprised how much gain they had.

 

[Eptaceros]

I bought an Ormsby secondhand online and I instantly fell in love with the thing as soon as I got it. Took me 10 seconds to get used to the multiscale, and the neck profile is my favorite I've played so far. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[Edika]

I bought an Ormsby secondhand online and I instantly fell in love with the thing as soon as I got it. Took me 10 seconds to get used to the multiscale, and the neck profile is my favorite I've played so far. Different strokes for different folks.

Oh yes I agree, a lot of people are happy with their Ormsby's and I'm not knocking them down quality wise. I didn't have a lot of time to play with it and I did use an amp I wasn't that familiar with and aside of some finish flaws that I've seen on most guitars at that price range. Maybe a bit more as it has some upgraded specs that might take away from the QC. In terms of playability the fretwork did make up for the neck profile. I mean everyone has been raving about these so I was expecting something different in terms of profile. I mean when I played my first Jackson USA soloist I instantly fell in love with the neck profile so I understand the preference thing.

Honestly if I had bought it and brought it he with me I would have paid quite a bit less than what I would get it here as I wouldn't have shipping costs and I could get back the VAT from Australia at the border control so I'd have to worry mostly about VAT at the UK. I'll have that in mind next time I go to Australia.

What I did notice is while the prices are expensive in Australian dollars and for people that live in Australia, when I converted the prices in GBP they were comparable with UK and EU prices.

 

[narad]

I totally get not being particularly impressed by the invective clean / crunch, but it's kinda gotta sound great on the lead channel, right? Just by virtue of its 5150-ness. If not, I have to worry about how they had things setup there, or maybe the Ormsby was just so far away from what you like that it was tainting the amp experience. Gotta isolate those variables!

 

[Edika]

I totally get not being particularly impressed by the invective clean / crunch, but it's kinda gotta sound great on the lead channel, right? Just by virtue of its 5150-ness. If not, I have to worry about how they had things setup there, or maybe the Ormsby was just so far away from what you like that it was tainting the amp experience. Gotta isolate those variables!

Yeah there were a lot of variables in play and time was limited. Truth be told the amp was setup like ass on all channels. I mean the middle were on 2.5 and just getting that to 6 made the amp sound better. I messed with the resonance and presence knobs as well as gain and treble and bass so I got a good sound. But with the 5150II it's so much simpler to get a great sound out of it. I mean all my guitars with different pickups sound great through the 5150II. And yes the Ormsby pickups were not what I would call ideal for my tastes but they weren't bad by any chance. Just as you said too many variables in one go.

I think the reason of not being impressed by the Invective has to do that the sound on the lead wasn't that much better than the sound on the 5150II. I was considering selling my 5150II and getting the Invective as a better overall amp and I thought the clean and crunch would seal the deal. But I like the crunch a lot more on the 5150II and the price I got the 5150II would not justify selling it and getting the Invective.

If I didn't have the experience with the 5150II I would have been more impressed with the lead channel. And I don't personally need all the options the amp has. But I can understand why people would prefer it. It just didn't add something of value to me. I mean the clean channel on my Laney VH100R is a lot better than the sound I got from the Invective plus I just received an AMT F1 to try what @Deadpool_25 suggested on the 5150II.

 

[Strobe]

My band mate owns a 5153 Stealth and a Peavey Invective. Honest, the Peavey sounded a little bit better with gain and I thought the cleans were good. Gain sounds were similar, but I liked the Peavey slightly better both with and without boost.

I stress the fact that they were similar, because I do not understand how someone can like the general 5150 sound and not like the invective.

 

[Edika]

My band mate owns a 5153 Stealth and a Peavey Invective. Honest, the Peavey sounded a little bit better with gain and I thought the cleans were good. Gain sounds were similar, but I liked the Peavey slightly better both with and without boost.

I stress the fact that they were similar, because I do not understand how someone can like the general 5150 sound and not like the invective.

I haven't had an opportunity to try the EVH 5153 but I heard they are a bit more refined sounding with more high end.

I think I might have not phrased my thoughts correctly. It's not that I didn't like the Invective but in terms of what it was adding to the table for me personally it isn't worth investing. I was also expecting to be wowed by the clean channel as there has been a lot of hype of how good it is but with the limited time I had it just sounded decent.

A nice amp for sure and you can get the classic crushing 5150 sound but personally I prefer the ease of use and aggressiveness and rawer sound of the 5150II. Maybe if I had more time with it I would change my mind but I'm not complaining that I managed to stave off my GAS for a piece of gear.

 

[Strobe]

It's OK to not like it. Also, if I had a 5150-II, I don't think I would buy any of the other flavors. Unless you really need a pristine clean, there is no reason to spend so much money for what is very minor differences. Buy a boost, call it a day. I mostly see the innovation as the boost is built in and MIDI controllable. That's useful, and could save someone from needing to also pack a pedal board.

 

[Edika]

It's OK to not like it. Also, if I had a 5150-II, I don't think I would buy any of the other flavors. Unless you really need a pristine clean, there is no reason to spend so much money for what is very minor differences. Buy a boost, call it a day. I mostly see the innovation as the boost is built in and MIDI controllable. That's useful, and could save someone from needing to also pack a pedal board.

Well I got a great clean on my Laney and I just got the AMT F1 that should take care of the not so great clean of the 5150II. So I guess that was my point. I just felt that the hype just didn't hold up for me personally for the Invective and the Ormsby.

 

[KailM]

From what I’ve gathered, the Invective is not as easy to dial-in as a 5150/6505/II/+, simply because it has more tonal flexibility and features. It stands to reason you may not have had time to dial it in just right.

5150s/6505s can be dialed in whilst wearing a blindfold. Just set the dials all to noon and good things will happen.

Also, the 5150II/6505+ has the best crunch tone (green channel w/ crunch boost) out of the whole family. This includes the EVH blue channel as well.

 

[Edika]

From what I’ve gathered, the Invective is not as easy to dial-in as a 5150/6505/II/+, simply because it has more tonal flexibility and features. It stands to reason you may not have had time to dial it in just right.

5150s/6505s can be dialed in whilst wearing a blindfold. Just set the dials all to noon and good things will happen.

Also, the 5150II/6505+ has the best crunch tone (green channel w/ crunch boost) out of the whole family. This includes the EVH blue channel as well.

Yeah that's what I figured, especially with @Deadpool_25 giving insight with the master volume and channel volumes. By the way @Deadpool_25 can you pm me some details of how to set up the AMT as a clean channel in the loop? The pedal seems to have a lot of options and functionality in ways of connecting it and there is a booklet that I haven't had time to read but if you can save me some time and send me how to set it up I'll be greatfull. My brain is like mush now due to the jetlag but I'm impatient to try it out all the same. I know you mentioned it in a thread but I can't seem to locate it and made the mistake of not following it.

 

[Cynicanal]

5150s/6505s can be dialed in whilst wearing a blindfold. Just set the dials all to noon and good things will happen.

Setting the EQ knobs (other than Resonance) all to 6 is better. Setting B/M/T to 6/6/7 is better still.