NAD and let's talk tubes

[Guitarbilly]

So a few weeks ago I took some pedals to Atomic Music. They offered me around $285 for them.

I saw a PRS MT15 and asked them if they would trade it for the pedals and they did.

Really cool amp, I really liked it. BUT!!! Last weekend I saw on my local CL an ad for a Peavey 6505+ for sale or trade. The guy was saying he wanted to downsize. So I offered it the MT15 and he accepted it!!

So long story short, I got a 6505+ for $285 worth of pedals!!! I'll post a picture late but we all know what it looks like.


Anyway, it's not all great because when I took the amp to practice it was clear that the tubes were shot. The amp sounded a lot quieter than a regular 6505+ and lacked punch and balls.

So I returned it today and it sounds good now. The punch is back, volume is normal etc

But I am looking for some tube recommendations for this amp. For the power amp, I'm using JJs and I think they sound good.

For the preamp, Ifound a tube layout online but it doesn't say what each tube does:





So what does each tube do and what are some good tubes for each position. Right now I have JJs across the board except for a EHX in V1.

[greatmutah]

I’m one of the folks that thinks the 5160/6505s don’t need much outside of JJs but a Tung Sol, EHX or other Russian tube in V1 is a solid bet. V4 should be your PI, maybe LPS there? V6 is primarily for the clean/crunch channel. I THINK V5 is your cathode follower and V3 is your loop.

Also JJ power tubes just work with this amp. Toss em in and forget about em. And congrats! The OG 5150/6505 is one of my all time favorite high gain amps but I do love me some 5150II/6505+ action.

[ninjaraf]

Yeah, I would personally just go all JJs, if you already have them. I always found EHX tubes to add some harshness that I didn't like in these amps. If you want new power amp tubes, Sovtek 6l6wxt is THE power tube for this amp (outside of winged C, but fuck that). But yeah, preamp, I would just go all JJ. I don't know what the slots do. I've owned probably 8 of these amps over the years and never learned what the tube slots were lolol.

[greatmutah]

What’s funny is with Rectos, Marshalls and plenty of other amps I’ve done the tube rolling thing. With a 5150? Fuck no just give me some JJs. I know that shit works

I should try some 6L6WXT+s sometime. Aren’t they more or less the same tube as the 6L6EH? I know with new sensor some brands/types are ithe same just rebadged.

[I'MAPUNKROCKERDAMNIT]

Here's a link to the schematic. The preamp tubes are stung together in an interesting way. It's late but, I'm going to have a closer look at this tomorrow....
Here's the link....
https://www.thetubestore.com/lib/thetub ... ematic.pdf

[Guitarbilly]

Here's a link to the schematic. The preamp tubes are stung together in an interesting way. It's late but, I'm going to have a closer look at this tomorrow....
Here's the link....
https://www.thetubestore.com/lib/thetub ... ematic.pdf

Thanks man!!! This is for the 112 combo though. Not sure if the head is the same since they're very different amps. Could be, idk.

[bonano]

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[bonano]

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[bonano]

Okay, apparently the 6505 is the 5150, and the 6505+ is the 5150 II, if we're talking about the heads and not the combo.
If we're talking about the 6505+ head, then the following link is to the 5150 II schematic:
https://www.thetubestore.com/lib/thetub ... ematic.pdf

Based on this schematic, the tube chart Billy found makes more sense because the 5150 II/6505+ head has SIX preamp tubes!
So, my understanding of this schematic is the following:
Clean Pre = V1a and V6a, V6b
Lead Pre = V1a, V1b; V2a, V2b; and V5b, V5a
Effects loop = V3b and V3a
Phase Inverter = V4a and V4b
Power = V7 and V8

[ninjaraf]

I guess if you're not really a 5150 player, maybe never cared about the 5150/6505 rename. But yeah, they're the same, so same schematic.

Not sure if the Sovtek 6l6s are just relabeled. I'm sure that's a possibility.

I agree about tube rolling in 5150s. I never really noticed a TON of difference...pretty subtle differences overall. Plus, these amps can easily get harsh, so makes sense to use JJs for that reason, too.