NAD Peavey 6505

MetalManiac

MetalManiac

Li'l Junior Member
Well, obviously the 6505+ is THE amp, but when I saw this 6505 amp today at a pawn shop in San Antonio in like new, i dare say "immaculate" cosmetic and operational condition ( It had just came out on the floor), marked @ 299.00 ( I bought a 6 month warranty for 27.00... actually had them throw it in -they wouldn't come down except a few dollars from their original price of 299.00... then plus tax ... Grand total w/ warranty was 321.00), I decided I'd be a fool not to grab it and so I did ( I did "be a fool" , that is, cause there is no way I should have bought this given my money situation right now).
Now this may not cure my hunger for a Mesa MK, or Recto, this should get me started in the world of High gain amps, then I could maybe sell it to pick up a Mesa .
Anybody have some suggestions for settings? How much better of an amp is the 6505 "+"? How are the 6505 cleans? Can this amp do teh proverbial "BrUtAlZ"?
Also,it didn't come with a footswitch..can I use a regular Marshall 2 channel ( 2 button) switch?


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Re: NAD Peavey 6505

Nice one. I've heard some nice tones out of that GFlex cab.

Cleans shmeans, don't bother. What you've got are two distortion channels.
 
Re: NAD Peavey 6505

I MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH prefer the 6505/5150 family of amps to any mesa Recto. the 6505 just have more of a marshally thing going on in the mids and have a nice beefy but articulate low-mid punch. Pretty much the perfect metal amp for studio or live.

You might find the low end to be a bit flubby, depending on pickups and guitar, but a tubescreamer style boost can cure that. Also the 6505 series tends to have a healthy amount of fizz in the upper frequencies which doesn't sound too great when you're playing by yourself, but in a band, that helps it cut through like a scalpel.

In comparison, Rectos are less articulate, have a bigger, flubbier low end and are less crunchy and much more hollow in the mids/upper mids.


Also yes, you should be able to use any 2 button switch. should switch between channels and switch the effects loop on/off. I don't think the clean/crunch mode on the clean channel is footswitchable, but I can't remember for sure.
 
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Re: NAD Peavey 6505

Never ever seen one used for less than $800 AUD here, goddamn.
The 6505+ isn't 'better' per se. The 5150/6505 and the 5150II/6505+ are apples and oranges really.
The non II/+ is better for all out aggressive tones and a bit looser in the lows (hence why it's common and recommended to boost with a TS) whereas the II/+ is a bit less aggressive and has a higher low frequency roll off point, so there's much less need for a TS style boost IMO, unless playing heavily down tuned and/or very technical intricate metal.
If I had a pro studio, I'd own both, simply because the two amps sound different and have a different voicing. Some tend to prefer the original, some prefer the II/+ and others like both about equally.
The cleans are better on the 6505+, yes, but a 'usable for a live situation' clean if you're willing to tweak. You'd never buy either amp for their clean sound.
 
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Re: NAD Peavey 6505

These are all preamp gain I understand, so the cleans will probably be pretty brittle. Whatevs though. Get a pedal to color it up and you'll be fine. Beast mode.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk
 
Re: NAD Peavey 6505

Duuuuuuuuude... I hate you.

Don't be fooled by the +, you got the better amp.

If you decide you don't like it I'll swap you something for it.
 
Re: NAD Peavey 6505

CTN said:
I MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH prefer the 6505/5150 family of amps to any mesa Recto. the 6505 just have more of a marshally thing going on in the mids....
Click to expand...
Well, Ive heard it said the Rectos were great in their day, but are obsolete now..IDK. We all need Rectos, if for nothing else than analysis.

Now what about the 6505 with the 'Marshally' mids? Dynamic?.. Thick, Organic and Dimensional? .. . "Juicy"? A Poor mans Splawn?
 
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Re: NAD Peavey 6505

Cutting comes to mind with 6505. im bad at desciptions. who needs a clean channel anyway? lennerd skinnerd?
 
Re: NAD Peavey 6505

not sure if I could have passed up that price on that head either Gerald!

what's the warranty all about - if it breaks, they pay for a tech to fix it or have some in-house derelict that doesn't know what he's doing poke around inside your amp? or does that mean they take it back and give you the $299? if it blows up in a week or so they should do that anyway without paying 27 bucks shouldn't they?
 
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Re: NAD Peavey 6505

DankStar said:
not sure if I could have passed up that price on that head either Gerald!

what's the warranty all about - if it breaks, they pay for a tech to fix it or have some in-house derelict that doesn't know what he's doing poke around inside your amp?
Click to expand...

Thanks. The Warranty is a 6 month no questions asked exchange for pawn shop credit. No cash back. I don't think I will need to use the warranty though...the amp is just so clean..looks almost unused. I was really happy to swing that part of the deal ( warranty) though, cause they didn't want to budge on anything off the price , since it came out on the floor today. This amp is beyond clean, but just in case , I've got six months to exchange it and pickup up some different junk.
 
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Re: NAD Peavey 6505

Start out with everything on noon, and tweak the bass, treble, presence and gain up, and turn the mid down. :D
 
Re: NAD Peavey 6505

MetalManiac said:
Well, Ive heard it said the Rectos were great in their day, but are obsolete now..IDK. We all need Rectos, if for nothing else than analysis.

Now what about the 6505 with the 'Marshally' mids? Dynamic?.. Thick, Organic and Dimensional? .. . "Juicy"? A Poor mans Splawn?
Click to expand...


I dunno man, I've never been able to get into the recto sound. To my ears, Rectos sound like a big messy fecal splat with flies buzzing around. Too fat in the lows, absolutely nothing tasty in the mids, and just harsh buzzing everywhere else. They're not obsolete - a lot of people find a use for them, and I do have to admit, somehow, they sound really good if you play really simple stuff and just need a big heavy low end without much articulation, but I rarely if ever do that. I just tend to gravitate towards the family of marshall-voiced high gain sounds. Thick, crunchy, crispy, plents of mids. And the 6505 definitely has that.

The organic/dimensional/juicy parts... that'll vary from amp to amp, and Splawns and most classic Marshalls (800s, TSLs) have perhaps a bit more of than than a 6505 or a JVM, but it's definitely in a similar family in terms of voicing. I do believe that the 5150 family is descended from the Soldano circuit, which itself has some heritage drawn from modified Marshalls. So you're still in the same sorta family, but in a more modern, higher gain arena.
 
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Re: NAD Peavey 6505

^ Thanks very much.There are so many great high gain amps ( and expensive). Hot Rod Marshalls, VHT's, Diezels, Bogners, Mesas, etc. I think I should be glad to have this as a starting point.
I'm not expecting extacy..., or for this thing to be some kind of Pitbull, or a great hot rodded Freidman Marshall Plexi though. Again, just happy to have a good reference point for High gain..heck, I may actually even play this one day.
So No one answered..does this do the Brutalz?

This kid seems to be liking his;

 
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Re: NAD Peavey 6505

Dude, there is few other amps that do te br00alz like a 6505. Start with everything at noon (maybe not the volume...) and adjust from there.

You might never want another high gain amp because this one is so great, you never know. The only thing that makes a 6505 better is a bias mod and a retube. Even those aren't necessary, though.

Mind this is all what I've heard, so your experience may vary.


I have an AMT P2 that emulates the 5150/6505 sound and it's so good it's ridiculous. I keep the gain at noon but I keep the mids and treble at like 8 and it's like a very marshally style of brutal with a TS in front. Think At the Gates of Sethu era Nile. It's just insane.
 
Re: NAD Peavey 6505

That is a great amp. I had a similar setup, except it was the head and a 2*12 cab. It would peel the paint off the walls. The only time I've ever been seriously complimented about my tone by a drummer was with that amp. I think I'll get another one in the future.

I didn't use any pedals with mine. Paired with an EMG81 equipped guitar was instant thrashland. The crunch channel also sounded surprisingly good with low output humbuckers. I didn't care for the cleans, but I didn't really buy it for them.
 
Re: NAD Peavey 6505

Start with a set of ear plugs, preconceive the notion of ignoring any neighbors, set the pre-gain to "0", set the post-gain to "11", EQ with B/M/T/P at ~4/10/~6.5/1, and slowly work the pre-gain up to taste. That'd be my approach.

As for cleans, I think they're very passable. Not an AC30 by any means, but they work.

...Now give me one of your Marshalls. I'm on a HUGE Judas Priest kick. :D
 
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