I heard many high gain amps last night, my impressions

ElUnoAstuto

ElUnoAstuto

New member
I heard a good variety of amps last night at the Darkest Hour show, and actually got to hang out and chat with Kris Norris from DH! :smokin: He's one of my favorite guitarists, and he was so down to earth! At any rate, on to the gear!:6:

Bogner - I don't know what model, I assume it's some sort of 2 channel model, because it had two white bars that lit up, one on the left, and one on the right, the length of the amp, and they seemed to correspond to the channels. The guy was using a Gibson goldtop standard, and his sound was very articulate, but not very saturated. Very dynamic, I loved how you could make out every note in the chords, even cranked like it was. Seemed like a cool amp, but I don't think it'd be up my alley for modern metal.

Peavey Ultra Plus - this is a cool amp, I've never heard one in person. The rythm channel sounded very beefy, with tons of bottom end, and aggressive, punchy mids. This seemed to be a very midrange amp. The guitarist also switched to the Ultra channel for several solos, and it seemed to add a little gain and reconfigure the mid EQ. It was a little harsh at times, but overal, sounded like a decent amp.

Line 6 HD - I don't know which one it was, it had the vertical blue light up panels on either side of the center. It was very crunchy and had a lot of low end, but seemed to be missing something. It didn't sound very organic, and wasn't very articulate. It was a very uninteresting amp, didn't really catch my ear. Just mediocre.

Peavey 5150 II - Loved this amp! Beefy, ballsy, aggressive high gain tones, that just cut through the mix like no other. The cleans on it sucked, plain and simple. It was a great high gain sound, but it didn't "breathe". It sounded like a tone I'd heard a million times before. Too compressed.

Peavey 6505 - There actually is a difference between a 5150, 5150 II, and the 6505s, because Darkest Hour had all of them, and Kris Norris showed me the differences between them. The 5150's distortion seemed to be much more harmonically rich than the 5150 II's, with the II seemed to be lacking some definition, and didn't have as tight low end. The cleans were actually better on the 5150, with more roundess and "bloom". On the 5150 II they seemed very dry, very sterile. The thing that surprised me, was the 6505 sounded the best! It had the most aggressive distortion of the three, with the midrange sounding much more natural, and just an overall organic, breathing, super saturated high gain tone, with dynamics, definition, and note articulation. I was always under the impression that the 6505 wasn't as good as the 5150, but I guess I was proved wrong! Even the cleans on the 6505 sounded really good, albeit nowhere near those Fender cleans, they sounded great, even cranked. They way he had it dialed in, was one of the best live guitar sounds I'd ever heard. It just sounded so wide open.

Well, that's my take on these modern metal beasts, so FWIW, I hope somebody finds this useful.
-Jordan
 
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Re: I heard many high gain amps last night, my impressions

thanks alot man, i really appreciate the info, i've been thinking of getting a 5150, so i'm glad you compared them, i think i'm gonna get the 6505+ instead!

I was thinking of getting a ultra plus too but as i've heard before its not the greatest amp and you confirmed it since you heard it side by side with other good amps.
 
Re: I heard many high gain amps last night, my impressions

Always great to hear a crappy review of Line S*&t product.
 
Re: I heard many high gain amps last night, my impressions

The Bogner you saw was a Uberschall, and I can assure you, it's the best amp you saw last night. That amp has very good cleans and a gain channel that will sound bigger than 2 5150's in stereo. It also has far more gain on tap than he had dialed in, because it's like Chernobl in a box!

I'm glad you got to sample all the sounds from that guy's 3 Peaveys, because I've always been curious myself how they rate against each other. I had one of the first 5150's, the year they came out, just because the hype was big on the new VH amp back then. I liked it and always heard that the new II wasn't as toneful. I've always wondered if the new 6505 was better, and I'm glad to hear that you could tell a difference.
 
Re: I heard many high gain amps last night, my impressions

Wow the Ubershall must be something to check out too, probably out of the price range i'm looking to spend though.
 
Re: I heard many high gain amps last night, my impressions

Yeah, I was surprised at the Bogner, when I saw it, I was expecting some serious mojo, and when he started playing it was like, "That's it?". Maybe he didn't have it dialed in well.

The 5150's surprised me, because it wasn't like a tube swap where you have to go back and forth and listen for that minute difference in how the amp sings, this was glaringly obvious, and he had all three dialed in the exact same settings through the same speaker cab(Peavey XXX 412). To me, if you wanted a more "classic" sound, with lots of harmonics, but not as aggressive, the 5150 would be the way to go. The 5150 II sounded good, but not as good as the 5150, and surprisingly, the cleans on the 5150 II were terrible. Very SS. My thoughts are, if you can swing it, grab a 6505. It seemed to have the best of both cleans and dirtys, and it sounded wide open, and not nearly as compressed as the 5150's.

I mean, they all had the same voicing, that mid range crunchy Peavey bite, but they had very different character, with the 5150 II being the most lackluster. The 6505 sounded like a 5150 with more balls, and more headroom, IMHO.
 
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Re: I heard many high gain amps last night, my impressions

that's pretty cool you were able to see and hear so many amps in one night!

of the metal shows I've been to, the sound was so bad through the PA that they could have been playing through a Gorilla practice amp for all I know. in Phoenix, everyone marches their expensive rigs into the club, set 'em up, and then it all goes through a terrible PA that is then cranked so loud that either 1) I need to wear earplugs that block out so many decibles that I can't really hear nuances of stuff or 2) my hearing becomes damaged trying to listen to a guitar tone through a wall of noise without my earplugs. True, I have been to a few shows where I recall thinking I liked the guitar tone, but for the most part I can't even discern what's going on. often, dudes will rip into a solo and it's like watching a mime, I can't even hear one note of it.
 
Re: I heard many high gain amps last night, my impressions

DankStar said:
that's pretty cool you were able to see and hear so many amps in one night!

of the metal shows I've been to, the sound was so bad through the PA that they could have been playing through a Gorilla practice amp for all I know. in Phoenix, everyone marches their expensive rigs into the club, set 'em up, and then it all goes through a terrible PA that is then cranked so loud that either 1) I need to wear earplugs that block out so many decibles that I can't really hear nuances of stuff or 2) my hearing becomes damaged trying to listen to a guitar tone through a wall of noise without my earplugs. True, I have been to a few shows where I recall thinking I liked the guitar tone, but for the most part I can't even discern what's going on. often, dudes will rip into a solo and it's like watching a mime, I can't even hear one note of it.
Click to expand...


wow that sucks!
 
Re: I heard many high gain amps last night, my impressions

I'm guessing all that gear was used by other bands, not just Darkest Hour?
 
Re: I heard many high gain amps last night, my impressions

The Bogner and Peavey Ultra were from a band I didn't get the name of, same thing with the Line 6 HD whatevers that were bland. Kris Norris of Darkest Hour's rig was super simple. He ran a guitar with EMG's into a wireless unit on his pedalboard, that ran through a Boss Noise Surpessor, a Boss Tuner, and a Morley wah, with a cable from the pedalboard to the 6505 input. The other guitarist had a 5150 II. Soilwork was using the 5150's through Marshall cabs. It was one of those intimate venues, with the singer in the crowd, and the guitarst, you could see everything. I got to help them get gear packed up, it was super cool. Even got to have some of Ryan Parish's fried chicken(it was his 21st birthday).
 
Re: I heard many high gain amps last night, my impressions

Not again...this misconception has been going around everywhere.

The 5150 and the 6505 series of amps have the exact same circuitary and design. Nothing were changed except the name (for obvious reasons). Peavey has gone on record many times about this. Amp techs have seen both and can confirmed they are indeed the same.

The sound differences you heard could have just been attributed to either different tubes or different bias.

Correct bias makes the biggest difference with 5150 and 6505 series of amps. All of them came from the factory bias way too cold.

The only one that came from the factory bias right is the combo version.

I read an article about how Van Halen actually love the tone of the combo version so much that he requested the same modification (the combo has updated circuit design) to his original 5150 head.

Long story short, this lead to the birth of the 5150II. Hence most will tell you that the combo version sounds a lot more like 5150II than 5150 actually.
 
Re: I heard many high gain amps last night, my impressions

I think 5150 and 6505 are the same.But different cabs can make a big difference!
 
Re: I heard many high gain amps last night, my impressions

The topic creator did mentioned the same cab and settings were used for all three heads. My bet is really either different tubes or bias or both.

Heck, there were even rumour going around on how the first year 5150 head (block letter) sounds so much better than the later ones (signature) because they supposedly have different components (once again disputed by Peavey).
 
Re: I heard many high gain amps last night, my impressions

Darkest Hour are a great band, with decent tone. I always thought Norris wes into the XXX or the JSX?? He plays great solos,and has pretty good sound.

What was Schliebaum using?? from what I know he uses LPs w/ a JB into a Krank Chadwick..
 
Re: I heard many high gain amps last night, my impressions

Schliebaum was running a 5150 II, and everytime I've ever seen Darkest Hour, he always uses an HH Tele with EMG's, I'm absolutely positive. I've never seen him with an LP. Kris Norris always uses ESP/LTD guitars with EMGs(active and HZ's) into the NS2, TU2, Morley wah, and then into the 6505. It was unreal hanging out with Kris, he gave me some great gear tips. I remember asking him at the show if he had anything done to his 5150's/6505's, and he said he just plays them like they are from the factory. I'm not saying it couldn't be the bias/tubes that made a difference, but the difference between the two was glaringly obvious, and if bias makes that big a difference, than point me to the nearest amp tech! :D
 
Re: I heard many high gain amps last night, my impressions

DankStar said:
that's pretty cool you were able to see and hear so many amps in one night!

of the metal shows I've been to, the sound was so bad through the PA that they could have been playing through a Gorilla practice amp for all I know. in Phoenix, everyone marches their expensive rigs into the club, set 'em up, and then it all goes through a terrible PA that is then cranked so loud that either 1) I need to wear earplugs that block out so many decibles that I can't really hear nuances of stuff or 2) my hearing becomes damaged trying to listen to a guitar tone through a wall of noise without my earplugs. True, I have been to a few shows where I recall thinking I liked the guitar tone, but for the most part I can't even discern what's going on. often, dudes will rip into a solo and it's like watching a mime, I can't even hear one note of it.
Click to expand...

:laugh2: Been there!
 
Re: I heard many high gain amps last night, my impressions

There's absolutely no difference between the 6505 and 5150, FTR. Any difference you heard was in the tubes.
 
Re: I heard many high gain amps last night, my impressions

If he never bias the amps before, it must be the tubes. 5150, 5150II, and 6505 all came from the factory with different tubes.

And yes, bias makes a huge difference. The 5150 head to me always had this almost cold solid state-ish grind and tightness to it and the overall tone not as warm as how a tube amp should be but this characteristic really contributes to the brutalness the 5150 is known for.

The combo (or those head with the correct bias) sounds a lot more warmer, the cleans usable, cleans up much better, more dynamic, yet is still tight and brutal. The overall voicing becomes slightly more classic (which is not a bad thing really). That said, with the presense and resonance to high, it will still sound very solid state.
 
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