First thoughts and second thoughts of my new amp..

[suislidE03]

Ive only put about an hour playing time through my newly aquired 6505+ and I no can hear with great detail the lack of body that the amp has. Has a great crunch, exactly what i was wanting of my Laney when I had it. Unforunately the Laney had the body that the Peavey is missing. It doesnt quite have that chunky/beefy low-end i was looking for in a high gain amp. Cleans are a bit lifeless also.. :smack: Im not terribly worried, not like i gig or anything.

The point of me actually posting this thread is wondering if i should have listened and tried to find the original 6505/5150 instead? I really wish they would have had one at the GC because im almost positive i would have bought it instead. So this brings another point.. with GCs 30 day return policy do you guys think they could round up a 6505 if i agreed to take it in exchange for the 6505+?

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: First thoughts and second thoughts of my new amp..

Before giving up on the amp, I suggest a few tube changes and possibly speaker changes depending on the cab/speakers you're using.

Have you tried EH 12AX7 tubes in the pre or JJ's? Have you tried Svetlana 6L6 output tubes? If not, give them or JJ's a try. This might just add the body you're looking for all by itself. It might not, but that's what I would try first before giving up on the amp.

 

[suislidE03]

Re: First thoughts and second thoughts of my new amp..

It actually came stock with 4 JJ pres and two sovtek 12AX7-LPS tubes. Power are ruby tubes.. dunno how they are relative to JJs and such.

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: First thoughts and second thoughts of my new amp..

What kind of speakers/cab?

 

[StratTom]

Re: First thoughts and second thoughts of my new amp..

I would mess with the settings alittle more (EQ, Pres., Res.) before returning it. You might find something that suits you more. Speaker change is also another option as mentioned above. You could change the tubes, but that may void the 30-day return (not sure but I would check ir I were you).

 

[suislidE03]

Re: First thoughts and second thoughts of my new amp..

Well i had to order some new speakers, so i found a Celestion G12T-75 and am still awaiting an Eminence governor (sorta V30). Im not sure if the governor will do the trick, but i will still wait on it to find out for sure. Right now im just contemplating and finding what my options are.

StratTom- yeah ive been messing with the EQs quite a bit. Unless the lows and the resonance are up over 6-7, the tone is a bit thin. With it up, there is just a massive amount of punch and rumble that comes out of this thing, even with just one T75.

One odd observation I did have is that when i first got my Laney it had two of those T75s in it, and boy was it one bright SOB. Just absolute shrill and ice pick highs at any EQ. This speaker reacts TOTALLY different with this amp. Its actually fairly smooth but aggressive in the highs, and not overly bright either. Thanks guys, I love this place hehe!

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: First thoughts and second thoughts of my new amp..

I personally think the T-75's are shrill and lack body. Maybe a dark amp would benefit from them, but they don't work well with average amps IMHO. A V30 also has aggressive highs and mids with somewhat modest bass response. It's usually a good match with 6L6 metal amps though, so having one isn't necessarily a bad thing. If thump is what you're after, the Hellatone V60 or the G12H30 may just be the ticket.

Try swapping in a different tube in V1 (the first pre tube) and then independantly in the tubes thereafter in the pre. I had a high gain amp come in with a weak pre-tube and it sounded thin also. Adding a better tube in V1 really helped things out a lot. Tubes are fickle little things and are sometimes bad/weak right out of the box.

 

[suislidE03]

Re: First thoughts and second thoughts of my new amp..

Yea I figure it could be the T75, but i just played for a few more mins just now and realize that Im having to change the way i attack with palm mutes and such with my right hand. Before with my Laney and other "classic" high gain amps i choked up a decent bit to get a tighter sound. Now with this thing i realize that choking is choking the bass also. Sounds a little better, but we'll see. I also still have a horde of JJ and sovtek pre tubes, so I will give that a shot.

I was also planning to bias the amp myself with my DMultimeter, because it actually has the voltage test points on the back of the chassis with the pot to the left of the power tubes. Only thing is im not sure what to run the voltage at on 4 6L6 tube amps. Plus I think that may "void" the 30 day policy? Not too worried there though. Thanks again guys!

 

[Mephis]

Re: First thoughts and second thoughts of my new amp..

Get the amp broke in.

I couldn't stand the tone straight out of the box, now that I've had it for awhile I'm fairly certant it'll keep up with alot of botique amps.

For the bias don't use a meter. You can max it out without hurting anything... You really only bias these amps by ear, a meter would be redundant. I did a write up on bias differences on the 6505+ awhile back, search for it.

Also the EQs are funky to work with... I find myself boosting the highs(8) and level the mids and bass around 5. Use your presense to roll off any excessive highend.

 

[suislidE03]

Re: First thoughts and second thoughts of my new amp..

I couldnt find that thread you are talking about. Searched by your name with 6505, peavey, and bias and found nothing.

Also, Im still very curious about the last question in my first post. Anyone know?

 

[Mephis]

Re: First thoughts and second thoughts of my new amp..

They should do it if you twist some arms.

I checked for the thread and apparently it has been purged...


Anyway with the stock cold bias the amp is very metallic, brutal, and hard sounding. It also distorts the cleans more and makes them sound cold.

The hotter the bias gets the further away from that tone you get. With the bias maxed I thought mine sounded like a hotrodded marshall. The cleans still wern't great but they were usable.

Since then I backed it off about a 1/4 turn and I'm pretty happy with it there. I never really run the amp without a slight delay either, it needs some type of modulation IMO.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: First thoughts and second thoughts of my new amp..

My advise is to spend this Saturday driving to a store that has both versions, and do it before your return policy is up.

And yes, GC can get ANY Peavey within a week. On their computer, it tells them how many 6505's there are at all the stores. They'll do an interstore transfer, pulling the amp from another store and delivering it to your local store.

 

[iekobrid]

Re: First thoughts and second thoughts of my new amp..

Well i had to order some new speakers, so i found a Celestion G12T-75 and am still awaiting an Eminence governor (sorta V30). Im not sure if the governor will do the trick, but i will still wait on it to find out for sure. Right now im just contemplating and finding what my options are.

In my family room at home I have essentially three versions of the same Randall RG-G2 amp: a 1x12 combo, a 2x12 combo, and a head. The combos both have the stock Celestion Seventy 80s, which I find a bit too boomy and inarticulate. When I got the head I put it with a Carvin Legacy 2x12 cab I used to use with a Peavey JSX. It has a pair of Celestion V30s that make the Randall sound much crunchier than the Seventy 80s do, but lack thud.

It was okay for a while, but then one day, on a whim, I switched the V30s out for a G12T-75 and a Governor that had been laying around gathering dust, and that pairing made a world of difference. Thud, grit, chunk, grind... now the Randall was giving me a little of everything I was looking for (in a s/s metal amp, anyway). YMMD, of course.

 

[suislidE03]

Re: First thoughts and second thoughts of my new amp..

Looks like ill mess with the bias before i do much of anything else then. Mephis the tone you described is exactly what im hearing. Hopefully kicking those tubes in the nuts will help then.

Joneser, good to know that they can do that. Only bad thing is there arent any 6505s or 5150s in this town that i know of. Another bad thing is that Lubbock is basically secluded from any large town within a 250 mile radius. That means i would have to drive to Fort Worth if I even wanted a chance to play a 6505. I still have 27 days to figure this out, so if after the addition of a Governor and a bias change im unhappy, ill talk to the GC guys again. The guy thats been helping me is really cool, so im sure he can work it out for me. I appreciate the help guys! Any more tips appreciated too.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: First thoughts and second thoughts of my new amp..

i've heard the 5150II or the 6505II can lack a little.... still can't imagine it not having enough low end thump.. But maybe it is the drag... i find the responce time to be slightly slow on the 5150/6505 series, compared to say a Marshall...

 

[suislidE03]

Re: First thoughts and second thoughts of my new amp..

OK, so I just cranked the bias knob as far as it could go while monitoring the voltage which maxed at around 68 volts. When I first took the reading it was set at 52 volts. I have no clue what the normal range is for running 6L6 tubes cool/hot. Anyhow, I ran through master of puppets with my friend on drums because we had to go soon and there is a BIG tonal difference. The amp gets much warmer, there is some beef to it, and the mids/highs arent quite as aggressive. There is also a huge increase in the lows. I had to set the lows at 7 with the resonance at 6 for some bass, now i set the lows at 5 with the resonance at 3-4 to get the same tone. Keep in mind this is still with one speaker.. thanks Mephis!