NAD..... Peavey 6505+ 1 x 12 combo

[jgcable]

It seems this amp has a reputation and is known in certain circles as "The Beast". Well... I can't argue.
Mine is brand new and unmodded except for a replacement Celestion Creamback speaker.
For those that don't know... here is a quicky on this amp...
60 watts running 2 6L6's and 5 12AX7's
1 x 12" speaker
Crazy heavy for a 1 x 12. This amp weighs 65lbs!!!
Closed back construction and size is why this amp thumps so hard!!
2 channel which when using the footswitch is really 3 channels.
XLR direct out which works perfectly for sending your sound to the mixing board. No need for a mic out in front.
Basic effects loop.
Independent EQ's for both channels. Separate resonance and presence controls
Shared spring reverb.

So... how does it sound?

Channel 1 clean (no crunch engaged). Its a perfectly acceptable clean suitable for any kind of rock music.
Channel 1 crunch. High gain Soldano. Similar to the Hot Rod 50. Perfect for metal rhythm. Enough gain to play solo's if you wanted to. Tons of girth, a touch of compression and PLENTY of thump.
Channel 2 Lead. Good Lord. Nobody needs this much gain. You can play any genre of metal with the gain on 6. Yes.. it goes to 10. Its easily the loudest most aggressive 1 x 12 60 watt combo I have ever heard. It truly is the beast. NAILS the brown sound. Yea... its hissy at high gain settings but you will never hear it live.
You could gig with this combo with a loud drummer in a metal band with no PA if you had to.
It really is a beast.
One nice feature is the fact that it takes a standard TRS jack for the 2 button footswitch so you can use any 2 button footswitch with it.

[Jackson8090s]

Nice review, glad you're enjoying that, I have the full on assault version volume on 1 will make your ears SCREAM BLOODY GORE! upping the gain for Capt'N CRUNCH!

[Larz]

That amp definitely seems to be among the better bang for the buck amp options out there.

[outlawten5]

I have the head and half stack. I use a bad monkey pedal in front with the gain on 3 ( out of 10 ). Awesome sounding amp. My Laney AOR might sound a tad better but I like having access to clean with a footswitch.

[horns666]

John, that is LB for LB THE best , lightest baddass tube combo I ever had. Mine will NEVER leave. Everything you said is absolute! My distant second choice would be the 60 wt Blackstar...or maybe the JVM. But that Peavey RULES!

BUT..dude, see if you can try any old simple cheap Peavey 300wt 15" Black Widow PA cab as an extension cab. it WILL hang with the Uberschall with any pounding drummer! That's the key..Dime did that with his SS Randal BITD simply because it was there and and to hang with his bro with prestine low end! The PA cabs I have are ozite, gold logo, metal grill, w' horn. You can bypass the horn. This also brings the Shefield/knobs to almosr ear level. I paid 150 bucks for the pair a while ago. They look great together , same width, same corners guards, same logo. Just a couple inches deeper for the 15".

That's a keeper! unlike the original back breaker 2X12 combo..the crunch, cleans, and gain are 100% usuable. The crunch ch always make me do Led Zep riffs..with that reverb. It just sound like that. That amps handles all styles easily. The old 5150s are great..as you know, but their gain mush up just past 6.5. and their cleans, and crunch ch kinda blew I like these much better! I'm sure they refined them..they had to.

Peavey are always best bang for buck. Then I'd say Carvins. Very affordable and worth it!

[horns666]

Oh, I haven't played Laney forever..there not ever around here.

I use nothing in front of the Peavey...except a cord. They're pretty quiet considering the gain, but a gate for recording or live wouldn't hurt.

[LaoWai]

I have the 6505+ stock. The amp crushes.
I get a bit of ice-picking though.. I wonder if I should do the speaker swap..

[jgcable]

I have the 6505+ stock. The amp crushes.
I get a bit of ice-picking though.. I wonder if I should do the speaker swap..

Mine has a Celestion Creamback in it. Perfect speaker for this amp.

[horns666]

I have no issues. "Ice-picky" ?? Something is wrong. That's a loud Engl powerball. I like stock amps. I find no need to mod them. If you don't like it, find one you do. The Freyette was dark and dead. The JVM great but noisy needs NG. The Blackstars seem nice @ store. The 6505+ rule...IMO!

Any nice stock tube amp biased properly should deliver the goods you're looking for in three minutes. If you're fiddling with knobs for more than 30 minutes and not satified. Try another amp. It should be a pretty instant thing. Considering the vast, endless choices out there.

[jgcable]

Did my first gig with the 6505+ 1 x 12 combo mic'd with an SM57. Live and loud metal band playing for about 100 bikers in a fairly large club. It sounded killer. I got compliments from the other band members all night with comments like... "fat", "heavy", "sounds amazing!". I was filling in for their lead guitar player for this one show only. The other guitar player is using a Splawn Hot Rod+ head and a Marshall 4 x 12 1960A bottom. The 6505+ 1 x 12 combo truly lives up to its name... "THE BEAST". Its a gain monster. I had the lead channel gain set at 7. The clean channel is outstanding. Everything about the amp is great except for the weight of it. Its one heavy mutha! Anyway.. for any of you metal heads looking for a 1 x 12 high gain combo that can hold its own with a high powered 4 x 12 half stack the 6505+ is the answer. It has everything required for the metal player. It sounds MASSIVE turned up.

[Hotrod]

Has anyone tried using the MSDI microphone-simulated out yet? Does it sound decent?

[jgcable]

Has anyone tried using the MSDI microphone-simulated out yet? Does it sound decent?

I wanted to try it but the soundman didn't want to take the chance and already had a 57 set up on a stand on my side of the stage.

[Hotrod]

I wanted to try it but the soundman didn't want to take the chance and already had a 57 set up on a stand on my side of the stage.

Ah, I've been thinking about trying one of these and think it's a great feature if it works good.

[LaoWai]

I'm having a hard time with this amp, I love and hate it at the same time lol.
I was getting icepick highs so I swapped out the speaker for a vintage 30.
Its got crazy amounts of mid, too much, it sounds nasally, honking..
if I scoop it, I seem to loose something.

can someone post their settings to I can get an idea
mine red is T6 M4 B5 G5.5 P6 R5

will running an eq in the loop tame the mids?

[DRM]

I would recommend running the Sheffield speakers with a 5150/6505. They were voiced together, and I've never liked a 5150 on anything but the stock speakers.

As for the ice pick highs, the first thing I would look in to are changing out your preamp tubes. Shoot an e-mail over to the crew at Eurotubes and explain what your amp sounds like now and what you're hoping to achieve.

An EQ pedal in the loop can shape your sound quite a bit, but that Vin 30 is not helping the amp much.