Peavey 5150 2x12 60 watt combo amp review - a tonal anchor

I will start out saying I love Peavey amps.  Even when you find the cheap ones that plague music stores, they're still loud and gigworthy- unless they're the wee little practice amps, those are lame.  I used to own a Peavey VTM head which was the grandfather of the 5150.  The only problems I had with the VTM were the weight and the downright attractiveness.  Peavey did a great job making the 5150 an attractive yet rugged looking amp but it's anything but light.

Features - 2 channels, rhythm and lead, with independent pre and post gain knobs.  Shared 3 band EQ, resonance and presence controls.  Built in spring reverb.  Crunch and bright buttons on the rhythm channel.

Sound - Rhythm Channel: While you can get something that resembles a clean sound, you won't want to buy this amp unless you like it dirty.  Real dirty.  Without the bright or crunch switch engaged, you have a somewhat stale clean sound if you leave the pre gain low.  As you crank the pre gain to noon and beyond, you get a tight but mildish distortion.  As you go higher on the gain, you get more and more crunch and meat.  If you roll back your volume knob, it cleans up really nicely and opens up a decent range of cleanish to distorted sounds for you

The bright switch is pretty much necessary in my opinion if you want clarity with lower gain through this amp.  It sounds too dark to me without the bright switch enabled.  To be fair, I run JJ 12ax7 preamp tubes and Ruby 6L6 power tubes.

The crunch button is probably what most people think of when they see this amp.  It tightens up the already tight sound, adds even more crunch, distortion and subtle crossover distortion.  The sound is powerful and really thunks.  If you're not going to be playing clean much at all, leave the crunch switch on.  The distortion sound is better for high gain playing with the crunch engaged but it doesn't respond well to volume knob rolling.  The amount of gain is borderline insane with the crunch switch on.

If you want the super thick EVH sound, the chunky metal sound, etc, keep the crunch switch and the bright switch (if you like it) on.  This is not a "clean channel" and "dirty channel" amp.  What I mean by this is that you won't need the extra gain on the lead channel to get the sounds you hear people get with this amp.

People mistakenly call the rhythm channel on the 5150 combo a "clean channel."  It is certainly not a clean channel and is well named as a rhythm channel.  What kind of clean channel has 5 gain stages?  The 5150.  While the sound never becomes clean, the dialed back or even full on distortion is so tight and retains so much clarity you can play complex chords and runs without ever sounding flubby.

Lead Channel: This channel is also well named.  The gain on the 5150s rhythm channel insane and saturated and thick and everything you could ever want in a high gain amp.  The entire purpose of the lead channel is to pack in more gain and saturation into one of the most gainy and saturated amps ever built.

It should be noted that the lead channel has to be at stage volume to sound "right."  The whole amp really starts sounding great when you hit power tube distortion but the lead channel takes just a little more volume to get going.

The lead channel sounds like the rhythm channel if the bright and crunch switches are on with a LOT more gain and more highs.  It took me a while to understand that the only way to create a lead sound that tops the rhythm was just that: more gain and brightness.  I wouldn't personally recommend using the lead channel for rhythm playing. Think of the lead channel as a MORE GAIN button compared to a the rhythm channel.

Reliability and Usability - This amp, like all Peaveys, was built for the working musician.  The wood panels are thick, the tolex is thick and there are corner guards.  The 5150 combo is built tough to a point I would fear I'd break my stair case if I dropped it rather than the amp itself.  No need to bias the amp in a pinch because the bias is fixed so throw in whatever you want.

I never mentioned that this thing is LOUD.  Possibly one of the loudest 60 watt combo amps ever.  If you bring this thing to a gig, make sure the place is big enough because it'll blow the doors off of a small bar.

I would recommend a dollie, cart, casters or, ideally, people to help you move this amp.  This combo tips the scales at 90 pounds and is as wide as a 4x12 cab.  The 5150 combo squeezes through doorways and will really teach you to hate stairs.

Overall - I've always had a love/hate relationship with this amp.  It has my favorite distortion sound out of any amp but the clean is not clean at all.  I can't stand lugging this 90 pound beast around so its just sinking into the floor at the moment while my JC120 hops up and down the steps.  It broods with it's wonderful distortion until it is awakened.  If I had a truck and was going to a big enough show, I would actually bring my JC120 and the 5150 to a show despite the extreme force of back it would require.  I hate it so much I won't bring it alone but love it enough to lug all 90 pounds of it after moving a JC120.

For the player who likes their cleans dirty, their distortion with really high gain and their leads with too much gain, this amp is for you.  Insane tightness and clarity with any level of distortion in a dense and rugged package.  It truly is a tonal anchor.

Rating - Worth it