Eddie Van Halen Wants Your Money

This year’s NAMM show in Anaheim brought many new and innovative guitars and amps to a music scene that has been evolving at a dizzying pace over the past decade. Not open to the public, this inside-baseball convention caters to those who make their living selling instruments and equipment to the unwashed masses, so those who attended the show were probably quite ebullient about the new EVH Stealth and the EVH 5150 III mini-amp head. Read more

Peavey 5150 II Hands-On Review

Anyone who’s a fan of Eddie Van Halen and plays guitar more than likely knows about the Peavey 5150. Most metal guitar players also know about the 5150. That’s because from EVH raunch to drop C circle picking, the 5150 is an absolute tone machine.

The Peavey 5150 II is a simple amp made up of a clean and lead channel. The clean channel can be switched into a rhythm channel, so you could say it flirts with three simple channels. The clean channel, despite what anyone tells you, boasts a beautiful clean tone that’s full of headroom. Setting the gain knob around 6 or 7 will give you that awesome breakup that accents a clean guitar sound to really give it some shimmer.

The lead channel is somewhat similar to the clean channel, in that it’s absolutely nothing like the clean channel but BRUTAL! The lead channel is controlled by a gain, low, mid, and high adjustment. The lead sound that comes from the 5150 is grimy, raunchy, loud, and… did I say, loud? Setting the gain around 5 will give you a perfect rhythm sound that will deliver a Marshall JCM 800-esque tone while still delivering enough gain for pinch harmonics. Setting the gain any further than this and you’re trying to emulate some ENGLs or Soldanos. Pretty much begging for high gain madness! Read more

Peavey’s Triple XXX II raises an eyebrow – XXX 2

Yes it’s a Peavey. Of course it kicks ass. But is the Triple XXX II truly a new ear blistering apparatus never heard from before? We go inside Winter NAMM 2010, where Peavey unveiled its predecessor to the Triple XXX, to find out the answer to this and more.

Like most high gain amplifiers the Triple XXX II boasts three channels; clean, rhythm, and lead. If you’ve ever played any all-tube high gain amp made by Peavey, this is usually the norm. Aside from the standard gain adjustment, three band EQ and resonance and presence controls, the Triple XXX II boasts a new “FAT” switch to do just that; make your sound FATTER than anything else on stage! Dissecting even further into the amp, the noise gate on the rhythm and lead channels is a really nifty feature. This is not a typical feature onboard most guitar amplifiers, and can be convenient when trying to keep that gain in check or shush a nasty 60 cycle hum. This 120-watt beast is probably more suited for those looking to take the stage in the club or arena, and not the corner of your bed in the bedroom. Read more

EVH 5150III Mini Amp – Big Head in a Small Box

NAMM 2011 — EVH 5150III Mini Amp heads deliver the sound–the incredible tones Eddie Van Halen has chased his whole life. The EVH 5150III Mini Amp is a triple-threat, 50-watt monster: a truly clean channel, a molten crunch-time channel and an off-the-scale overdrive channel you’re simply not gonna believe. In black and ivory, with an unmistakable look and sound that’s pure EVH amplification; a big head in a small box. Read more

NAMM 2011: Peavey Triple XXX II Guitar Amp

NAMM 2011 — Peavey proudly announces the new Peavey Triple XXX II three-channel, 120-watt guitar amplifier.

The Peavey Triple XXX II delivers tones ranging from the Peavey Classic 50 to vintage British to the modern Triple XXX and all tones in between. The versatile and comprehensive control section supplies a master volume pot and independent volume knobs for each of the three channels Read more

Peavey 6505 vs Bugera 6262 – Which is better?

First up in this tube guitar amplifier shootout is the Peavey 6505+ (aka Peavey 5150) – Peavey 6505+ 120W Guitar Amp Head is great for hardcore or metal players. 6 – 12AX7s in the preamp add up to even more terrifying punch and mind-rattling gain. Read more

History of Peavey Guitars

Peavey may not have the most recognizable or distinct guitar models, but they’re still among one of the most popular amplifier and electronics manufacturers to date. Read more

Top 5 Metal Amps: Peavey 5150/6505 [Pick #5]

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Metal guitar players ask a lot form their amplifiers. They also buy a lot of them, judging by how many amps seem to be marketed to players of heavier styles. In that spirit, your ever-rocking staff here at Gear-Vault has decided to bring you our choices for the 5 best amps for rock and metal available today. You may have your own personal list, as all us amp junkies do, but this one is ours, so, if you don’t see your amp on here, play what makes you happy. Read more

Peavey Amp Shoot-Out Video: 6534+ vs 6505+ vs 3120 vs Butcher vs JSX

TheToneKing Presents full video coverage from NAMM trade show. One of my personal favorites sent to us is this really cool (and useful) Peavey amplifier shoot-out video. This video provides us audio samples of the all-new Peavey 6534+ and Peavey Butcher up against the 6505+, 3120 and JSX. To top it off, TheToneKing found a guitarist bearing the Black Label Society colors to demo each amp individually for us. Read more

Peavey 6543+ Guitar Amplifier Head

It’s no secret that we’re fans of Peavey amps here at Gear-Vault. One of my personal favorite amps by Peavey is the XXX. It’s a mean sounding amp. Next in line, for me, is the 6505+ because it’s basically a 3-channel 5150 with much better sounding chimey cleans. I’m excited to see Peavey are active participants at the winter NAMM 2010 show. Peavey are happy to announce the all-new 6534+ Guitar Amplifier Head – the next evolution of the high-gain 6505 Series, which has defined the sounds of aggressive guitar music since 1991. Read more

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