Thinking of new Amp

bombidol

I'm thinking about buying a new amp in the new year at some stage. It will be for heavy stuff. Metal, Punk, Hardcore etc etc.

Im torn between and ENGL, A Mesa or a Peavey 6505 which is a relaunch of the 5105 series which has produced some of my favourite noises on record.

Theres a 6505 and a 6505+ does anyone know the difference between the two and is it worth the 300 Euro difference?

Karl Hungus

bombidol wrote:

Theres a 6505 and a 6505+ does anyone know the difference between the two and is it worth the 300 Euro difference?

As far as I know, the only differences are that the + has 6 preamp tubes and indipendant EQ for the two channels, whereas the standard model has 5 preamp tubes, and a single EQ. I honestly wouldn't think the EQ is worth €300, but that's just me. Not too sure what difference the extra tube makes though, so you might want to find some reviews or articles on it.

bombidol

Yeah im reading over the reviews etc. They way im kinda lookin at it is, that if im spending a lot of money on an amp. I might as well get the best model of the one i want. A bit of EQ is nice though.

Karl Hungus

bombidol wrote:

Yeah im reading over the reviews etc. They way im kinda lookin at it is, that if im spending a lot of money on an amp. I might as well get the best model of the one i want. A bit of EQ is nice though.

Well, I'd see if I could try them out. Actually, I think trying out all the amps you've mentioned would be your best bet, as when you're dropping that kind of money, you can't really go on what other people say, you've got to trust your ears. Drop into Instrumental and have a go at the Engls, and Musician for the Mesas. Not sure where do Peavey, but I can't imagine it being hard to find a place that has them.

What model ENGL or Mesa were you thinking of?

bombidol

Ive played Engl (fireball) before and ive played/recorded with Mesas (triple rec) before. In fact the Peavey is the only one i havent actually played, but the sound from it is legendary. I'm going to go rooting around to see if I can find somewhere to play the Peavey. I dunno if anywhere will let me play it to the volume i'd need to test it out though. I think Musician Do Peavy stuff

Karl Hungus

I don't know about that, I've really blasted out that musician basement trying out a Mark IV and Dual Recto before. I'm sure they'd let you at it, provided it wasn't too busy.

What did you think of the Fireball though? Personally I've fallen in love with the thing, it's just astounding, and I'm getting one as soon as I shift my Mesa.

bombidol

It was damn savage in fairness. Played a gig with one last year. played it for a while before the gig too. Its a real lifelong keeper of an amp definatly. Its super clean and super high gain but clear all the time.
Im looking for something that can do really Muddy chunky Hardcore **** and clean distorted punk stuff so im thinking the 6506. Mainly cause its the amp that Sick of it all use.

Karl Hungus

Well, I'd definetly advocate trying before buying. I never played the Mesa Nomad before I bought it, and it's not really what I wanted, so better safe than sorry really. The Fireball is definetly the amp for me though, having actually played it, it's just full on screaming metal, with no frills. Perfect.

bombidol

Yeah the fireball is excellent. Just reading here seemingly the + version of the 6505 has EQ, Resonance and Presence for each channel while the standard version has one for both channels. Hmmmmm

Karl Hungus

What amp are you currently using?

bombidol

Believe it or not im using a 120 Behringer Vampire head and 4X12. Which isnt half as **** as you'd think. It sounds amazing. but its not loud enough for a lot of gigs we'd play around the country. Its a modelling head so its got all sorts of **** built into it. The distortion options on it are amazing for the price. I've used great amps but never owned one. I have a 100 Watt Fender Pro combo that sounds amazing but its too big to lug around. Have a marshall 80 Watt and an Orange 10 Watt too but they are no use for gigging.
I need a keeper.

Karl Hungus

Certainly not, I've got a Behringer V-Amp Pro here myself, basically for mucking about, but it's far from crap.

bombidol

v-amp's are pretty sweet. I've got one too. We used em in the states that time so we could bring our tone with us wherever.

bombidol

Dude, you've bought from guitarbargains yeah? What are they like?

Karl Hungus

Yeah, I got my Ibanez from there. Good webstore, shipped via UPS, so I had it very quickly.

bombidol

how long did it take after ordering?

Karl Hungus

I think I ordered it on a Thursday, it shipped on Friday, and I got in on Monday.

bombidol

Jasus, thats good. Ill be doing the same. Im gonna take the plunge and buy it. It seems too good to pass up and if i dont like it , ill flog it. but i reckon ill love it.