5150 II or Triple XXX?

[DumpyWumpy]

I'm thinking about picking up a 5150 II or a Triple XXX in the near future but am undecided as to which one...I think I'm sort of leaning towards the XXX because from what I know it has a much more usable clean channel than the 5150s, but I notice the Triple XXX heads go for a couple hundred bucks less than 5150s do on eBay, so why is it that people prefer the 5150? Soundwise, I'm sort of looking for a Nevermore - This Godless Endeavour style distortion, and a clean sound that works for acoustic style parts...the problem I have with my Flextone for clean sounds is that even on my neck pickup I can't get rid of that 'twang' sound when strumming chords...Anyways! Any help is appreciated!

[Inazone]

I tried the two side by side and prefered the Triple. The 5150/6505 sounds good, but there is something about the tone I can't identify that I don't care for with my playing style. The Triple XXX just seemed to me like it was a bit more versatile in terms of the distortion from one channel to the next.

[jgcable]

The 5150 II KILLS the Triple X in every respect including looks. The Triple X is just goofy looking.
Also.... the 5150II has an excellent clean channel.
Actually, all the 5150's have suitable clean channels for what genre of music the amp was designed for. METAL.
I have a 5150II and an original block letter 5150 head. To my ears they are so friggin close sounding its hard to tell them apart except for the clean channel. the 5150II has a better one.
You should also look at the JSX. Several JCF'rs around here really dig that amp.

[kmanick]

5150! with good tubes you can get the rhythm channel to sound plenty good enough clean.
I second the JSX but if you're looking for a Nevermore sound go Dual Recto.( BTW I can nail the Dead Heart tone with my B-52 At-212 so if you like that tone check one of those out too, great clean channel on the At-100's too)
This Godless Endeavor is dual Rectos and Kranks.

[siggy14]

5150 II hands down, i have owned them all, and the 5150II was ny fav. The XXX was great when i first got it, then the honeymoon wore off and i noticed it started sounding more sterile and solid statish.

But if you want the heavy distortion, defintly get a 5150 and a BBE and you will be in heaven, the XXX can not bring you to the sounds you want, either can the JSX really.

[Sinistas]

A friend of mine plays a JSX in a doom metal band, so it can definitely get the REALLY heavy tones.

[Boxcar Willie 84]

I would check out the JSX if i were you...we have all 3 at work now and I definitely like that one the best out of the three, for having the most useable and musical sounds.

[siggy14]

But what style of music do you play? I agree the JSX sounds great, i am more of a screamo/EMO or Rock person myself, for that i would defintly take the JSX. But for the bands he is describing, the 5150 is the ticket hands down.

I would check out the JSX if i were you...we have all 3 at work now and I definitely like that one the best out of the three, for having the most useable and musical sounds.

[donvandam]

I have a JSX also and it sounds amazing, definitly better than the XXX

[DumpyWumpy]

Awesome thanks for the advice guys...So if I stumble across a 5150 for a good price, should I hold off for the 5150 II...? The shared EQ sort of scares me a bit on the 5150, but I'll take your word for it if you say it's not a big deal!

[Fragle]

well, i think the 5150 is an awesome bang for the buck metal amp, but for the stuff you're talking about (nevermore, good clean channel) i'd say triple xxx all the way. you might need to tweak a bit with different tubes and stuff, but well, same thing goes for the 5150 imho. the 5150 is good if you need a balls to the wall rhythm sound along the lines of arch enemy, machine head "burn my eyes" tone, or kataklysm. the leads are kinda sterile, though, and the clean is....well, forget it.
btw, when talking about the 5150s, the 5150 I is generally considered to be the better sounding amp. apparently (never played the II) the II has a better clean channel, but at the expense of some of that brutality the lead channel is known for - i think less gain and more and higher voiced mids are the main points there. but then again, be warned, the 5150's shared EQ works if you need two dirty channels (rhythm on crunch mode sounds pretty wicked), but setting one clean and one dirty SUCKS, trust me on that one.

while the nevermore guys used to be quite partial to their rectifiers (before the krank switch - they do admit that their kranks are quite bitchy to get a good sound from, due to the sweep control...a tweakers amp), i feel that in a live situation the rectifier stock is just too muddy and fuzzy to make all these weird open string dissonant chords jeff's always using sound good, or be heared to be more precise the rectifiers certainly can sound good, but they take a lot of tweaking and some outboard processing, plus the clean channel is also rather meh if you know what i'm sayin....

the XXX might not be the best looking amp, and it's also supposed to be a rather bright/borderline thin sounding amp if you don't know how to tweak it, but on the other hand it has all the neccessary versality and features to cover all of nevermore's sonic ground. maybe that's why jeff used the XXX before the krank switch

[jgcable]

Yep, the Rectifier is a better choice even though you didn't mention it in your post.

[Endrik]

while the nevermore guys used to be quite partial to their rectifiers (before the krank switch - they do admit that their kranks are quite bitchy to get a good sound from, due to the sweep control...a tweakers amp), i feel that in a live situation the rectifier stock is just too muddy and fuzzy to make all these weird open string dissonant chords jeff's always using sound good, or be heared to be more precise the rectifiers certainly can sound good, but they take a lot of tweaking and some outboard processing, plus the clean channel is also rather meh if you know what i'm sayin....

uh? everyone who has seen them with different set-ups have said that they sounded the best and the clearest with rectifiers
and one of rectifiers strongest points is the awsome sound while playing big open string chords, no mud at all unless you can't tweak the amp right

[Guitardude86]

I don't have any experiance with these amps but when I saw Exodus they were playing XXX.. So based on that I'd say they make some pretty damn heavy sounds.
Then again we all know who play(ed) the 5150

[charvelguy]

I really did not think a XXX is thin sounding. Its been years since I played a 5150 but it had the likeliness to sound more 'thin' than a XXX.

I really can't see the argument of saying a 5150 kills a XXX in the tone dept too but I guess these things are purely subjective to ones ears.

I absolutely love my XXX.. goofy looks and all. Its made to play metal.