NAD - Peavey 6505 Mini Head... that's right, I said Peavey

[culturejam]

Pickdropper can tell you that I hemmed-and-hawed over what amp to buy (or whether I should get a new amp at all) for weeks. And he was surprised as I was that I ended up pulling the trigger on a Peavey 6505 mini head.

It's small, it's pretty damn loud, and it's jammed up with all kinds of whizz-bang features, not to mention a lot of knobs.

During the first test of it, I loved the Rhythm (clean) channel, as it can be quite clean or driven all the way to early hair metal tones, but I wasn't sure the Lead channel was all that great. Now that I've had a little more time with it, I've dialed in some excellent sounds on the Lead side, even at very low volumes.

What really shines on this amp is the Resonance (bass) and Presence (treble) controls that are grouped under the "Power Amp" section of the face plate. I have no idea if these pots are actually situated in the power amp section of the circuit, but I suppose that is academic. The real benefit of these controls, from my perspective, is that they can make even very low volume playing sound a lot more like stage-volume tones. I'm getting really good bass response at just above conversation levels of volume. Won't get to fully open it for a few more days, but for me now, quiet-time playing is basically all I have. So this amp is working great for that. Frankly, this ain't a Mesa on the dirty side or a Fender on the clean side, but considering my current situation and other gear, it's a good fit.

Haven't tested the loop yet. I've read/heard the XLR "speaker emulated" output is pretty crappy on its own, but that the USB out with a good cab sim is quite decent. Didn't really buy it for that, but a direct input to DAW is nice to.

There is a switch on the back for 20W / 5W / 1W output. Not sure if the numbers are accurate, but there isn't as much difference between the settings as I would have expected. Even on 1W, the Lead channel is hell-loud turned up. Makes more of a difference on the the Rhythm channel, as far as I can tell.

So overall, I'm decently pleased. This is a bang-for-buck kind of amp, and it's far from a perfect "dream tone", but it has good cleans, more gain than almost anyone could ever need, and it sounds good at low volume. Extra stuff is cool, too.

Finally, a tube amp that sounds as good as my old 1992 Bandit!! 

[flanagan0718]

I love the 6505 series. I totally agree with you. Not perfect but a well rounded amp with all the gain a metal head could want. Congrats from one Peavey lover to another!!!


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[Marshall Arts]

Looks great! A couple of years ago, I was searching for a "lunchbox amp" and ended up buying the ENGL Ironball, which had all of the features (including a actually quite nice reverb) I needed. I am a long-time (25 years?!) Engl-user, so buying this amp really felt like "coming home"  . This peavy thang would have been a good choice as well, damn!

[wgc]

I looked at these too. Ultimately got a used engl gigmaster head, it has a snarling crunch I've not heard elsewhere. Congrats!

[jimilee]

That looks friggin sweet.


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[alanp]

Good to hear you like it (I can't help but think of that Undercover Boss episode...)

[selfdestroyer]

Now that looks fun!

[culturejam]

Good to hear you like it (I can't help but think of that Undercover Boss episode...)

Yeah, I know.   

But still, features! 

[oldhousescott]

I have no idea if these pots are actually situated in the power amp section of the circuit

They are generally in the feedback loop of the power amp. Although, Mesa has been known to use a simple treble rolloff circuit and call it "presence".

Regardless, these little Peavey micro heads (VK, 6505, Classic) look great and certainly fill a niche. Congrats on your NAD!

[culturejam]

Finally got a chance to really open this bad boy up volume-wise. Even with my Blackstar 4x8 cab, I could feel the chugga-chugga in my chest.    The low-end is there for sure. Definitely had to change up the settings when I cranked the volume and switched from the 1w to 20w setting (obviously). And yes, it does sound better on full wattage and loud.

This thing could definitely hold its own in a band setting without being mic'd. I think maybe even on clean, at least at practice. Headroom is very high on the clean channel in the 20W setting.

My ears are ringing! 

What has surprised me about this amp is that the Lead channel responds to the guitar volume control as well as the clean channel. It can go from less than AC/DC to full-on djent with just the volume knob on the guitar in Lead. On Clean, it's squeaky clean to Appetite for Destruction.

Despite my early skepticism, I'm actually enjoying the amp quite a bit. More so as I get used to it.

[jimilee]

Nothing like a new amp for sure. I got a new mic to mic my blackstar so I'm able to give it some volume also. Wish I could play better....


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[GermanCdn]

Nice.  I've been thinking about one of those for a while, as I really want an original 5150 (which is what the 6505 is based on), and they are getting really hard to find in even fair condition cause they've been played out so hard.  But then I remind myself that I haven't played guitar for more than 15 minutes at a time in the last 10 months, and more amps seem like overkill.

I wasn't as impressed with the EVH 5150 III (or whatever variation they're on now), as they sound a lot darker (to my ears), which makes me think Eddie has all but lost his hearing when he's developing new products (which is probably not too far from the truth).  Seems consistent with the Wolfgangs as well, both my EBMMs and my Peaveys sound and play a lot better than their EVH contemporaries.

I'm so glad that we're past the point of everything needing to be 100W, 50 is more than enough power, and most of my micro heads top out at 20 and that's still plenty loud, and you get all the toan with 30% less tinnitus.

I miss my early 90s Bandit as well (though truth be told, I'd wish I'd been smarter about that one.  It was that or an original 5150 combo, but at that stage I was only solid state and was put off by the shared EQ).  I put thousands of hours on that thing, spilled countless drinks on it, dropped it down a number of staircases, and it still kept going. 

[culturejam]

I miss my early 90s Bandit as well

That was my first amp. Scorpion Equipped! That thing had a mean dirt channel.

[Mojo Fandangle]

Nice. I like the option of having it either 1, 5, or 20 watts.
I've been looking for a giggable mini head to replace my Blackstar HT-5.
The 6505 looks like it'd be perfect, and would still be great for jamming at home.
And yay, an FX loop for us tap dance hipster types.

[Marshall Arts]

Nice. I like the option of having it either 1, 5, or 20 watts.
I've been looking for a giggable mini head to replace my Blackstar HT-5.
The 6505 looks like it'd be perfect, and would still be great for jamming at home.
And yay, an FX loop for us tap dance hipster types.

Make sure to try the Engl Ironball as well ;-)