Peavey 6505 Original 1992 Amp

 

I’ve been wanting a Peavey 5150 on and off for years, and finally jumped at the new Peavey 6505 Original 1992 model. The 5150 is a classic amp in hard rock and metal, and I wanted to experience the real thing after playing through the various digital models of it over the years.

A quick clip of my Epiphone Les Paul through the Lead Channel, first through a V30, then a CL80:

I’ve been focusing my time on the Rhythm Channel, with Crunch and Bright settings engaged, to dial in rock rhythm sounds. The most useful sounds to me  on this channel are with the Pre-Gain at 6-7, EQ at moderate settings, Resonance 5-8, and Presence around 8. From reading various forums, a popular way of running the amp is boosting the Rhythm channel with the Pre-Gain around 6.

The Lead Channel is much higher gain. Setting the Pre-Gain at 3-4 is where I top out at. It is a tighter and thinner sound compared to the Rhythm channel. 

As I dug deeper into the 6505, I wanted to try the ubiquitous Fredman mic technique. I initially thought I would just set up 2 mic stands, but I was too lazy. I ended up buying a mic clip from Fredman Digital to do it the right way. The intended angle of the off-axis mic is apparently 55 degrees. I didn’t have a second SM57, so I used a Shure 545SD instead. I can see why it was such a popular way to record the Peavey 5150.

Fredman mic clip.

I ended up capturing the amp for NAM with settings I would typically use. I set the amp up at 4 gain levels on each of the channels, boosted and straight in. A few sound samples are below.

Although the 5150 is typically paired with Vintage 30s, I am enjoying the recorded tone more with my CL80 and V-Type speakers.