Peavey 5150 II/6065+/6534+ EQ levels

[Dave Sloven]

I don't know how many people here have one of these amps - the 6505+ and 6534+ have the same EQ, even if the tonality of the amps might be different due to the difference between 6L6 and EL34 power tubes - but I am wondering how people set up their EQ, especially the presence and resonance controls.

I tend to set my EQs for the lead channel at 666 and then use the MXR 10-band EQ in my effects loop to shape the sound, with the rhythm channel being set to sound okay with the MXR EQ settings. The presence and resonance controls though I find need to be set at around 9 (10 is a bit much) otherwise it sounds 'choked'.

Is this normal for a passive EQ?  I use the same low, mid, high setting on my Peavey Classic 30 but it does not have the resonance control.  I tend to be a little more conservative with the presence on that one, as it can be a bit shrill.

My cab is an Orange 4xV30 cab but I've found that I need similar settings through the 4xSeventy80 cab at the practice room.

I don't do the scooped thing, I have a moderate scoop on the MXR pedal and no scoop on the amp.  As I play hardcore mids and cut are good to have, we don't have a lot of solos in the band, but rather octave harmonic playing by our lead guitarist over my rhythm guitar and the bass (who copies me or I copy him except for occasional intros or bridges).

[Alex]

I totally "choked" that amp (5150 block letter) when I had one, with presence and resonance set very low (2-4).

Made it sound much drier IMO.

[Dave Sloven]

That's interesting.

Maybe my ears are damaged after 30 years of going to gigs and using headphones but I can't stand listening to mine with the presence that low.  The resonance I mainly turn up to balance out the presence a bit.  That said I don't use any scoop on my amp EQ, and only a moderate scoop on the pedal, so maybe I am scooping the sound with the resonance and presence?

I don't tend to like a dry sound though.

I think a lot of people have a fairly dry sound and then tend to add delay to it, whereas I don't like delay that much.

The 5150 and 6534+ are probably the furthest apart from each other in terms of sound and how they respond to EQ though.  I noticed quite a difference playing my 6534+ back-to-back with a 5150 II (6505+) on the same settings, and expect the 5150 would be further away again.  On the same settings the 6534+ sounded much more 'middy' than the 5150 II.  It also sounded much 'tighter', but I suspect that was due to the different power tubes rather than the changes in the preamp.

[Dmoney]

if you don't like how your amp is EQ'd you can always change it.

the number on the dials don't really mean much. It's just a marker so you can remember where the knob points more easily for a sound you like. using  6 6 6 across bass middle and trebble doesn't mean the EQ has a flat response. All that matters is that it sounds right to you.

As for the EQ in teh loop, no idea.

The Pres and Res controls however vary in effect in proportional the lovel the master volumes are set. Those are Negative Feedback based controls and rely on feeding a signal back from your speaker output into the end of the preamp. If your master settings are low, the signal back from the speaker is low, the pres and res are less sensitive and need to be turned up for the same effect they would have at louder master setting. If you crank the amp you need to adjust those controls because more signal will be going through them. The resonance would make your rig sound flubby and the presence will be adding tonnes of treble. You'll probably get crazy feedback from all the treble etc.

[Dave Sloven]

The Pres and Res controls however vary in effect in proportional the lovel the master volumes are set. Those are Negative Feedback based controls and rely on feeding a signal back from your speaker output into the end of the preamp. If your master settings are low, the signal back from the speaker is low, the pres and res are less sensitive and need to be turned up for the same effect they would have at louder master setting. If you crank the amp you need to adjust those controls because more signal will be going through them. The resonance would make your rig sound flubby and the presence will be adding tonnes of treble. You'll probably get crazy feedback from all the treble etc.

I noticed this the first time I took it to band practice where we could actually turn the lead post-gain up to three (in a practice room rather than our drummer's share house). I had to wind the resonance and presence back for precisely these reasons.  Okay, so it sounds like my ears are pretty normal in that respect!  We did get crazy feedback ...

[CommonCourtesy]

I've recently acquired a 6505+ (as you may have seen in other threads I've posted).

In theory I'm still fiddling around to find my perfect sound but it currently sets up very nicely on what i've dialled in.

Usually using bass on about 5, mids on 6/7 and treble on 7 too. Pre-gain is 5. Post is never turned above 2 for live or anywhere else. Presence and resonance i'm still messing about with but i leave it on 6 and its pretty good.

[Dave Sloven]

That's interesting.  What I have found on these amps - both my amp and my friend's 5150 II - is that the character of the amp only comes out once you go above 2 on the post-gain, especially on the lead channel.  When you go up to 3 you start getting all the bass that these amps put out, and as Dmoney says above that's when I back off a bit on the resonance and presence.

FWIW the settings my friend uses seem to be the following (I only remember the lead channel):

Pre 7
Bass 10
Mid 1
Treble 10
Res 9
Pres 9

In other words, Cro-Magnon Man scoop setting. I did notice though that when he used these settings on my 6534+ the mid was still quite evident, although these settings seemed really scooped on the 5150 II.  Given that I set mine on 666 I must prefer a lot more mids.

His cab is different though, a Peavey 5150 cab with Sheffields, whereas mine is an Orange cab with V30s.  That said, my cab is much brighter sounding than his.  I think a large part of it was the post gain.  Both amps sound fizzy with the post down too low, and the overall sound is just very different.

Try cranking the post a bit and see what you think of it.

We used 3 on the post at our last practice but it did make my ears ring a bit.

[Alex]

I also used to run my EQ very flat, all at 12 o'clock and then only adjusted the treble a bit to fine-tune the sound.

I probably sounded horrible.  :D

I used a Marshall 1960AV though, which sounded quite trebly with lots of upper mids. I also never used the amp for recording, only in a band context, so I had to cut the mix, not sound nice. Our bass player used to run a 1K-Watt rig with a 5-string, there was no way of beating that. Hence I always had the resonance very low.

With my Marshall I just set all EQ dials to maximum. Really works with them. :D Have you tried maxing all EQ dials on the Peavey?

[Dave Sloven]

I might try that again.  I remember trying it before but something sounded off; but that was before I got the MXR 10-band EQ.  As the Peaveys use passive EQs (all cut, no boost) I figured that it made sense to put them on ten and then cut as necessary.

The pre though definitely needs to be around 6 or less.  Past 7 it starts to sound bad.  I use boost pedals to push into the front end, I find that works better than increasing the pre once you get to a certain point.   I run an MXR Custom Badass Modified O.D. with the level maxed and the gain on zero, and ocassionally use a MXR/CAE boost pedal for a lead part.  I don't really have a setting for that, I just move it around with my toe but I tend to have it around 3 or 4 when I do use it

[Toe-Knee]

What you need to do is get a good base sound first without a boost or EQ.

Once you have achieved that add the others in to fine tune.

If you can't get a good base sound just using the amp + guitar the amp itself is the issue and maybe it just doesn't do what you want it to do.

[Dave Sloven]

I maxed out the EQ on my lead channel and backed off the resonance and presence a little.  I think it sounds better.  Some more tweaking to do with the EQ pedal etc and it's possible that I might need to cut one of the frequencies (bass, mid, or treble) but basically using them flat out and then shaping with the EQ pedal seems a more precise method than using the three EQs on the amp.  Bringing the treble up allowed me to back off the presence a bit.

[Dave Sloven]

You can hear my A-bomb and 6534+ in this very short video of me playing some sloppy, random stuff as I am warming up before recording a video of the new riffs I've written for my bandmates.  I didn't share that stuff publicly because these new riffs are so brilliant and all :lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY_qC3JW2rc

That was recorded tonight after I adjusted the EQ as mentioned above

[Dave Sloven]

For those of you interested in the sound differences between a 5150 (6505) and a 6534+ here's a comparison video of the two amps without any pedals that seems pretty representative of the two amps, although when we A/B'ed at 5150 II (6505+) and my 6534+ they seemed much closer, although the 6534+ did sound a little tighter and more middy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAMqnUtMuCE

[CommonCourtesy]

I must be the only guy on here who turns his mids up past 6!! It just gives me extra body as i don't like that scoopey metally sound. Also my treble is quite high to cut through, bass on 5 as the 6505+ is a very low end amp.

As i said i'm still experimenting but it still sounds pretty good know the Aftermath is in the bridge and i've sorted out the pre-amp noise and feedback.

Guess every amp sounds different in a different room, so my next challenge is dialling in the same tone for 3-4 different venues, hard as it may seem i will give it a go.

[Dave Sloven]

I've got my mids turned up all the way to 10 in that video above, but my bass and treble is on 10 too, with any EQ being handled by my MXR 10-band pedal.  I did back off the presence and resonance a little too though, plus I used only 6 for the pre grain.