need help building a 5150 setup

[Fragle]

right now i'm using a framus cobra for all live shows. while it's a great sounding head (not to forget the convenience of having 3 independent channels), i somewhat miss the 5150 grind....the framus is very articulate and hifi sounding, to the point that it's almost *too* polite sounding, whereas the 5150 is very in your face and just DOMINATES the stage.

the problem is, with the band i'm playing in right now i NEED a decent clean channel, and the 5150 doesn't do that. moreover, i also NEED a volume and gain boost (i use very little gain for rhythms, not enough for lead playing), but i prefer the voicing of the 5150 lead channel for rhythms, and due to the shared EQ the crunch sounds too dark for lead playing (imho).

now, i was looking at the in flames guitar setup, and noticed that they're using pod xt pro's for their clean sounds.....while i don't want to buy the expensive xt pro for that, i thought the idea was pretty good, so right now i'm considering using a behringer v-amp pro for the clean sounds.

my questions are:
- is it possible to achieve a volume boost (plus maybe also some slight fx) for lead sounds
- most important, how would i wire this up? and how would i switch channels?

any information would be helpful here. i'm really missing the 5150 grind...my perfect 5150 setup would be like this:
some kind of digital or whatever unit for clean sounds, the 5150 with a tubescreamer in front for rhythms (switchable with only one tap on a midi switcher or whatever), and at least a volume boost for leads.

any suggestions?

[Cleveland Metal]

Hmm... same reason I left the 5150s for racks... Never liked the lead sound I got after dialing in a seriously cool rhythm sound. And cleans were well less than great...

Although my stuff is seriously cool. I miss the 5150 grind and authority that my CAE3+se lacks.

I like your idea... Wish they made a 5150 preamp!

[horns666]

Hmm... same reason I left the 5150s for racks... Never liked the lead sound I got after dialing in a seriously cool rhythm sound. And cleans were well less than great...

Although my stuff is seriously cool. I miss the 5150 grind and authority that my CAE3+se lacks.

I like your idea... Wish they made a 5150 preamp!

That would be kicks ass..they should!!

But Racks seem sorta Unpopular..things seem to go full cirlce with heads and stomps..but you must go which ever fits your needs..

Fragle, the 5150 has more "grind" than the 5150?..hmmm I didn't know that...I never played one but always heard good things about them

You seem to be kicking more ideas than I at this time..

um..this is off the wall...but have you tried the JSX yet? I thought it has a very nice clean and high gain channel..and rythm channel too..

[Fragle]

no, i haven't tried it. does the crunch channel have enough gain for lead playing? because going by the internet reviews the lead channel seems to be the only one that can get into modern metal rhythm territory, which would leave me without a dedicated higher gain channel for leads.

the framus IS a great amp, no doubt. way tighter and articulate than a 5150 can ever be, that's for sure. the thing is, it's so hifi sounding that even with the mids cranked i sometimes find myself turning the stage volume up way too high because i can't quite hear myself. i NEVER had this problem with the 5150, actually i remember gigs where i had problems with hearing anything BUT the 5150 there's more stage presence to it basically.

[horns666]

Cool Fragle..

Yes the crunch channel does have enough gain on tap for leads..'bout as much as the 2210..but with it's own voice of course..I dimed the ultra channel's gain eveytime I played one and it's ALL usuable gain and that's where I like it, it's perfect for me without a stomp and responds well to pinch harmonics like crazy..it's tight and defined..more than the 5150..IMO.

it may be the missing link between your Framus and Peavey..I'd check one out..I played one w/ EL34s and it sound good..Pete said that it sounds even better with 6L6 which I can see...well, that's what's in the 5150!

I'd would check one out if I were you..I think we are on the same page as far as style and tone..from what I gathered so far...and I really like it!

[DSS3]

JSX! I absolutely fucking LOVE mine, and you know how much of a 5150 guy I was before!

[Evol]

I've been a 5150 player since the first ones came out,and I've been more or less in the same boat you're in. The clean channel isn't all that wonderful,especially since it's a shared EQ. I too prefer the lead channel for rhythm and lead playing,but with the gain up too high it doesn't sound as good to me,so...

I roll the gain back to my amps sweet spot,which is right between 6 and 7,with the volume around 3....it varies depending on how loud or quiet it needs to be,but it's all a close variation around those marks.

Now,what I do for leads is put a Boss compressor/sustainer (CS-3,the blue tank) pedal in front of the amp,after my volume pedal. It gives an excellent boost to the sound and tone,without adding distortion as a distortion pedal would anyhow. They sound like ass in front of a 5150 imho. Anyhow,you can shape your lead tone,and get some really singing sustain depending on your amps volume and the pedal gain level.

A word of warning though,it can get a little noisy depeding on how your settings are,so it takes some getting used to at least to control it and a little tap dancing should you play stops in your lead playing,but I wouldn't trade it for the world.And the nice thing is you don't ever have to mess with your volume to cut through for leads,with that pedal you WILL cut through.

For clean sounds,you either have to live with it ,or just A/B to another amp,I did that for years as well,using a Fender amp for the cleans.On some of the more less sounds the 5150 is passable,esepcially with a good FX rack in the loop,but some stuff it's just to gnarly for,but then again that's why it was made,to rock so hard that even your granny will bang her head

[1trussell]

Let me pose this question:

Since the 5150 clean is known to be so bad, what did Ed do for a clean tone while he was using the 5150?

[Inearthed]

Guitar -> Signal Splitter of some sort, ABY box, whatever.

A Output-> Booster pedal -> 5150 front end
Set one channel for your rhythm, the other for your leads (with adjusted volume / gain setting)

B Output -> POD XT / V-Amp 2 / J-Station / modeler of some sort running into the effects return of the 5150 with a dummy cable plugged into the send.

5150 Footswitch sitting at the front of the stage.. Your "Channel" switch switches between your rhythm and lead settings and the effects switch will change you over to clean.

This should work, but it also kills your ability to run any effects in the loop for your rhythm / lead sounds.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

what pickups and cabinet are you using with the cobra?

[Inazone]

I know it's not identical to the 5150 preamp section, but how about a Peavey Rockmaster for rhythm tones and another preamp for lead and/or clean tones, into a stereo power amp? I'm using a Rockmaster for rhythms and an ART DST-4 for leads and cleans, one into each channel of a Carvin T100. The Rockmaster comes *close* to 5150 gain, but is so similar that my likes (rhythm tone) and dislikes (clean and lead tone) are the same as on the 5150.

[Fragle]

laney 412 or marshall 1960A, main guitar is a dean vendetta with a dimarzio tonezone in the bridge.

[markD]

i used to run a morely ABY box to switch from a fender to a marshall. i got horrible loop hums and stuff. if you end up going that route get the BEST ABY box you can get your hands on....something with buffered opamps or something. that radial tonebone switcher seems to be good.....

[Endrik]

dude, check out the Boss Fender Deluxe Reverb Amp pedal, it's brand new shit and sounds great, It dunno if it works with 5150, but I've seen it work with other amps to get a nice warm Fenderish clean sound.

Also you can use Boss or MXR or some other EQ pedal to get the right lead tone and boost.

[Cleveland Metal]

Anyone ever use one of the acoustic simulator type of pedals?