Announcement

**jwoods986** · 11-07-2005, 02:05 PM

Re: My 5150 combo just arrived!Yeehaa!

Well I know the first thing that Bill will recommend -lol. [img]/images/graemlins/poke.gif[/img]

Congrats, Nick. I'm kinda surprised because you were just telling me the other week about your new B52 AT-100 combo that you love so much. Of course, nothing wrong with having more than one amp that you love! Congrats again, I played through a 5150 II right before I moved and it was awesome. If I get a tube amp again, a 5150 will definitely be on the list.

**zeegler** · 11-07-2005, 02:27 PM

Re: My 5150 combo just arrived!Yeehaa!

Was I right? Is it heavy? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

**aldog1330** · 11-07-2005, 02:35 PM

Re: My 5150 combo just arrived!Yeehaa!

Awesome, post some clips if you have the ability to!

**kmanick** · 11-07-2005, 03:14 PM

Re: My 5150 combo just arrived!Yeehaa!

Ya it's heavy (so is th eB-52 combo it's about 60 lbs.)
John, I'm going to run them in stereo. Zeegler had posted
a "best high gian amp for under $800.00) thread last sunday and Chuckracer said" just grab one off of EBay , it's like rent to own , if you don't like it turn around and sell it." something to that effect anyway. so I did a
quick search for 5150's and found one at $500.00 with 2 hours to go, threw up a $520.00 bid and scored it.
I figure nothing to lose at that price, if it's in good shape and it's in great shape. So I'm going to ab them now and see wha the difference is and then run them in stereo.
If Idecide I don't want to keep it (only because it may be too loud), I'll putit up here first before I put it back on the bay, but so far I'm really liking it!

**Fragle** · 11-07-2005, 04:19 PM

Re: My 5150 combo just arrived!Yeehaa!

congrats! i briefly played a 5150 combo in a store, and though it sounded MUCH different from the heads. way better clean channel, less gain on the crunch channel, overall even MORE mids, but a smoother sound....iirc [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] i almost bought one back then, but the damn thing was SO heavy [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

**aldog1330** · 11-07-2005, 04:33 PM

Re: My 5150 combo just arrived!Yeehaa!

[ QUOTE ]
congrats! i briefly played a 5150 combo in a store, and though it sounded MUCH different from the heads. way better clean channel, less gain on the crunch channel, overall even MORE mids, but a smoother sound....iirc [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] i almost bought one back then, but the damn thing was SO heavy [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

A lot of people say this because they are biased warmer from the factory than the head versions are. At least this is what I've heard anyways [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img].

**kmanick** · 11-07-2005, 05:05 PM

Re: My 5150 combo just arrived!Yeehaa!

Well I just finished blowing my ears out for the last 2 hours and it's amazing how similar these 2 combos are voiced.
If I keep the 5150 on the rhythm channel with the crunch punched in with the gain around 8-9, and
I set the B-52 on the gain 1 channel with the contour
switch off and the gain on 8, up to a certain volume they
sound almost identical. Once I turn the 5150 up past 4 however, it really kicks in a different voicing.
The B-52 does as well but not by much, here is where they
start to sound a little different. The 5150 seems to get
fatter as it gets louder and the B-52 sounds pretty much
the same only louder.
The 2 high gains channels on these 2 are a different story.
I think the high gain channel on the 5150 sounds way
brighter and thinner than the rhythm channel does.
The B-52 high gain channel sounds just like the low gain channel but with ready........... more gain.
Both get noisy when you turn them up.
I wonder if fresh tubes in the 5150 will make the lead channel sound better.
Clean channels , the 5150 is not bad , but it's a little harsh sounding, brittle may be a better way to describe it, the B-52 clean is very nice, clear winner here is the B-52, but surprisingly enough the clean on the 5150 is better than I expected, just not great.
My poor wife must be absolutely horrified by now (she's been upstairs with my 3 year old this whole time) [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

**mogar** · 11-07-2005, 05:11 PM

Re: My 5150 combo just arrived!Yeehaa!

Strange, the lead channel on my 5150 combo sounds darker than the rhythm channel to my ears. If your loving the rhythm channel, put a booster in front of it to give you your lead gain but with the rhythm voicing. Sounds awesome.

**Fragle** · 11-07-2005, 05:15 PM

Re: My 5150 combo just arrived!Yeehaa!

"I think the high gain channel on the 5150 sounds way
brighter and thinner than the rhythm channel does"
as far as i can tell from my (limited) experience with my 5150 head, +1
the crunch channel definitely seems to have more bottom end punch and a thicker sound in general (and of course it has more gain than many "high gain" amps have on the lead channel!).
having that said, i still need to experiment with it in a band setting. playing alone as well as with only a drummer, it seems like the crunch is better suited for heavy rhythm, whereas the lead cuts better for - guess what, leads!
i really hope this is also the case with the whole band playing, as it would be killer for what i need - no clean channel, but a thick crunch rhythm ("crunch" rhythm...more like high gain metal rhythm [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] ) and a cutting lead channel with more gain and a volume boost all with the flick of a switch.
btw, interesting that you find the clean to be harsh. imho it lacks high end even with the bright engaged.

**kmanick** · 11-07-2005, 05:18 PM

Re: My 5150 combo just arrived!Yeehaa!

Fragle, harsh may be the wrong term brittle is probably a better term for it. it's definitely not warm and jazzy sounding.....at all. the B-52 can get that, this one may not.
I'm going to play with it for a couple of days as is and then pop in the set of JJ's I bought for this thing and see if there is a difference.
My f'n ears are still ringing [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
and it is a heavy mother [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

**Fragle** · 11-07-2005, 05:33 PM

Re: My 5150 combo just arrived!Yeehaa!

dude, you'll be surprised what a quality set of tubes can do! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
and regarding that clean thing....now i know what you're trying to say. the 5150 clean channel is definitely anything but warm and jazzy. much more in the ballpark of marshall jcm800 split-channel or DSL/TSL series clean. always on the edge of breaking up, with a slightly brittle quality. actually i like the lack of headroom, as it allows you to be very dynamic and expressive. soft attack=cleaner sound, hit those strings HARD=crunch.

**jgcable** · 11-07-2005, 06:40 PM

Re: My 5150 combo just arrived!Yeehaa!

The only flaw the 5150 combo has is its weight. At 90+lbs and bulky as all hell, its a real pain in the ass to cart around to gigs. They sound great though.

**DSS3** · 11-07-2005, 07:51 PM

Re: My 5150 combo just arrived!Yeehaa!

My Rhythm channel is darker and thicker, and with the resonance up, can get muddy. It also has a tighter bottom end, which makes it a bit better for recording and quad tracking.

That said, I love the apeshitness of the lead channel!

**kmanick** · 11-07-2005, 09:05 PM

Re: My 5150 combo just arrived!Yeehaa!

Well I threw in the JJ's and there is a major difference in the high gain channel.
It had some cheapass chineese tubes in there (originals from what the seller told me), and now
the Lead channel sounds much fuller, and when I roll back the gain on the rhythm channel it almost gets glassy clean.
(Pretty close it sounds good now).

I put in the low gain option set from euro tubes.
it killed a lot of the noise on the lead channel as well.
It's alot more "user friendly now" and it didn't kill any of the gain from the rhythm channel.
so far So Good!
I like this thing a lot more than I was expecting to. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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My 5150 combo just arrived!Yeehaa!

My 5150 combo just arrived!Yeehaa!

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