The Peavey 5150 is a
vacuum tube
A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric potential difference has been applied.
The type known as ...
based
guitar amplifier
A guitar amplifier (or amp) is an electronic device or system that strengthens the electrical signal from a pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce sound through one or more loudspeakers, which ar ...
made by
Peavey Electronics
Peavey Electronics Corporation is an American company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets professional audio equipment. One of the largest audio equipment manufacturers in the world, it is headquartered in Meridian, Mississippi.
H ...
from 1992 on. The amplifier was initially created as a signature model for
Eddie Van Halen. After Van Halen and Peavey parted ways in 2004, the name was changed to Peavey 6505. The 5150 name was used again by Van Halen in partnership with
Fender under the EVH brand. Peavey's amplifier was renamed to 6505 in celebration of Peavey's 40th anniversary (1965–2005).
Design of the amplifier began in 1990 and it became a flagship project for Peavey and for then lead engineer James Brown (who has since founded Amptweaker), lasting for about 13 years, comprising the 5150 and 5150 II, until 2004.
While the product was designed around a centered
printed circuit board (PCB), an aspect sometimes considered "impure" among audiophiles, its cascading five preamps (actually four
preamplifier
A preamplifier, also known as a preamp, is an electronic amplifier that converts a weak electrical signal into an output signal strong enough to be noise-tolerant and strong enough for further processing, or for sending to a power amplifier a ...
s and one phase inverter) and four
gain stages were implemented in a very simple manner. This design and implementation allowed the individual components to carry themselves (such as by placing the
transformer
A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...
so as to ensure acoustical integrity by minimizing
transconductance Transconductance (for transfer conductance), also infrequently called mutual conductance, is the electrical characteristic relating the current through the output of a device to the voltage across the input of a device. Conductance is the reciproc ...
), in addition to commonizing the system's
ground by way of a multilayer PCB, thereby avoiding a large source of unwanted nuances in most poorly grounded musical applications.
Initially, the Peavey 5150 I shipped with four Sylvania 6L6 Power Tubes; this was later changed to Ruby Tube 6L6 Power Tubes, when Peavey's Sylvania supply was exhausted (per James Brown, "Tone-Talk", Ep. 17), and five 12AX7 Tubes in the preamplifier staging (with one as a phase inverter).
A defining attribute largely responsible for the 5150 sound is the fixed bias. Commonly described as an analog to a car engine and its respective idle, the 5150 bias was set to a lower value (lower engine "idle") which resulted in the Power Tubes running at a lower energy commonly known as "cold-biased." This configuration supposedly resulted in a more controllable gain setting (i.e. having a more forgiving sonic range than similarly "hot-biased" configurations.
While able to stand among modern technology as a relatively "simple" design, especially in comparison to boutique "hand-wired" variants, the reliability and era its inception welcomed helped verify its cultural significance in Hard Rock, later Metal, as a unique product with a unique tone.
Both the 5150 and the 6505 are well known for their high gain overdrive channel, and have seen widespread use by
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
,
hardcore
Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to:
Arts and media Film
* ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film
* ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott
* ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...
and
metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
guitarists. An early breakthrough was its use by
Colin Richardson
Colin Richardson is a British record producer, mixer and recording engineer. He has worked on over 100 albums and is most frequently associated with heavy metal and its subgenres.
Career
Some of the bands he has worked for include:
* 3 Inch ...
and
Andy Sneap
Andy Sneap (born 18 July 1969) is an English guitarist, record producer and composer with over 100 albums to his name, most of which have been produced at his Backstage Recording studios in rural Derbyshire. Some of the most critically acclaime ...
, two "seminal" British producers of heavy metal; especially
Machine Head
A machine head (also referred to as a tuning machine, tuner, or gear head) is a geared apparatus for tuning stringed musical instruments by adjusting string tension. Machine heads are used on mandolins, guitars, double basses and others, and ar ...
's ''
Burn My Eyes
''Burn My Eyes'' is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Machine Head, released on August 9, 1994, by Roadrunner Records. The album's themes generally tie into the social disorder and corresponding inner tension that the band was ...
'' (1994) helped the 5150 gain a reputation for its sound, which "defined a generation of guitar tone".
Other notable artists and producers to use the 5150/6505 include
Jason Suecof
Jason Suecof (born April 3, 1980) is an American record producer, audio engineer and guitarist best known for his work with heavy metal bands such as Trivium, Battlecross, Death Angel, All That Remains, Bury Your Dead, The Black Dahlia Murder ...
,
Matt Tuck
Matthew Tuck (born 20 January 1980) is a Welsh musician, best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the metal band Bullet for My Valentine. He is also a singer and guitarist in the supergroup AxeWound, which was formed in 2012.
...
and
Dino Cazares
Dino Cazares (born in 1966) is an American musician, known for being the guitarist and one of the co-founders of industrial metal band Fear Factory. He is also the co-founder of the metal bands Divine Heresy, Asesino, and Brujeria. Cazares pop ...
.
[
]
Versions
Although some players believe that the 5150 (particularly the "block letter 5150") to be better-sounding than the 6505, the only difference is that the original 5150s shipped with a different brand of power tubes. Since vacuum tubes are consumable items, it is likely that the original power tubes fitted at the point of manufacture have since been replaced. It has also been rumored that the bias potentiometer on the 6505 does not sweep wide enough to provide optimal plate amperage to provide the full 35 milliamp 6L6GC
6L6 is the designator for a beam power tube introduced by Radio Corporation of America in April 1936 and marketed for application as a power amplifier for audio frequencies.J. F. Dreyer Jr."The Beam Power Output Tube" New York: McGraw-Hill, ''Ele ...
plate current, thereby increasing crossover distortion.
5150 / 6505
The 6505 is the base model of the series, and is identical to the 5150, with exception of the phase inverter and its name. It has five 12AX7 tubes in the preamplifier. The power amplifier uses four 6L6GC
6L6 is the designator for a beam power tube introduced by Radio Corporation of America in April 1936 and marketed for application as a power amplifier for audio frequencies.J. F. Dreyer Jr."The Beam Power Output Tube" New York: McGraw-Hill, ''Ele ...
tubes in the power section in class AB. It has 120 watts RMS output power, into 16, 8 or 4 Ohms. The effects loop can be bypassed with a footswitch. It features separate inputs for both high and low gain.
The amplifier has two channels, rhythm and lead. Each channel provides the user with separate pre-/postgain control, and the rhythm has an extra crunch and bright switch. The channels share a 3-Band EQ and presence and resonance controls. Switching channels can be done both via the front panel of the amp, or with the remote footswitch.
It is also available in a 60 watt 2×12 combo. The 2×12 combo features 60 watts of RMS output power into 16 or 8ohms. It also features five 12AX7 preamps tubes and two 6L6GC
6L6 is the designator for a beam power tube introduced by Radio Corporation of America in April 1936 and marketed for application as a power amplifier for audio frequencies.J. F. Dreyer Jr."The Beam Power Output Tube" New York: McGraw-Hill, ''Ele ...
power amp tubes. This combo also comes with a built in spring reverb unit that the head model does not have, controllable via the footswitch and indicated by a green LED when active. (Pg 3, button #9 in the manual)
5150II / 6505 Plus
The 6505+ is a second version of the 6505 and is identical to the 5150II. It features an extra 12AX7 tube in the preampstage, to prevent breakup in the clean channel. It features separate 3-band EQ, presence and resonance controls for the 2 channels. It also features only one input, unlike the 6505, which had two. There are bias testpoints on the back, making changes to the tubes easier.
It is available in a 60 watt 1x12 combo (Called 6505+112), of which the internal circuitry is identical to that of the head, with exception of using 2 instead of 4 6L6GC powertubes an additional 3-spring reverb. It is made in China to cut costs.
6534+ Plus
This version is identical to the 6505+, but uses EL34
The EL34 is a thermionic vacuum tube of the power pentode type. The EL34 was introduced in 1955 by Mullard, who were owned by Philips. The EL34 has an octal base (indicated by the '3' in the part number) and is found mainly in the final output s ...
tubes instead of 6L6GC tubes in the power section. It was created as a response to the growing demand of high-gain EL34 amplifiers, previously found almost solely in Marshall
Marshall may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria
Canada
* Marshall, Saskatchewan
* The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia
Liberia
* Marshall, Liberia
Marshall Islands
* Marshall Islands, an i ...
and ENGL Engl or Engl. may refer to:
*England, a country that is part of the United Kingdom
* English
* Engl (surname), a German surname
*Engl., taxonomic abbreviation for botanist Adolf Engler
Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 1 ...
amplifiers, both European brands
References
{{Reflist
Instrument amplifiers
Peavey amplifiers