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Peavey 5150 vs. Mesa Triple Rectifier


AlexWade

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Today I took my buddys Mesa Triple Rec. and my 5150 and my VHT cab's and set each head on a cab and hooked them up both through the same rack gear and compared them side by side.

 

The mesa was decent, but the 5150 slayed it in everything except cleans obviously.

 

The 5150 had more and tigher low end, was more articulate, and the distortion was much less fizzy than the Triple rec.

 

The Mesa just seemed to have this crispyness that i couldn't dial out, even with presence and treble. It sounded good, but the 5150 was much better IMO.

 

just a small review incase anyone was trying to decide between the two. :thu:

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Originally posted by AlexWade

Today I took my buddys Mesa Triple Rec. and my 5150 and my VHT cab's and set each head on a cab and hooked them up both through the same rack gear and compared them side by side.


The mesa was decent, but the 5150 slayed it in everything except cleans obviously.


The 5150 had more and tigher low end, was more articulate, and the distortion was much less fizzy than the Triple rec.


The Mesa just seemed to have this crispyness that i couldn't dial out, even with presence and treble. It sounded good, but the 5150 was much better IMO.


just a small review incase anyone was trying to decide between the two.
:thu:

 

exactly the same way i think about the two amps :thu:

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Originally posted by tomresurrection

you should had 2 cabs, playing the two same time.


my band is a 6505+, triple recto deal... we sound balls to the wall.

 

together the amps would sound amazing...the Recto's more low-mids and the 5150/6505's high-mids would blend very well...

 

however, in a single guitarist band id rather have a 5150...:wave:

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Originally posted by AlexWade

Today I took my buddys Mesa Triple Rec. and my 5150 and my VHT cab's and set each head on a cab and hooked them up both through the same rack gear and compared them side by side.


The mesa was decent, but the 5150 slayed it in everything except cleans obviously.


The 5150 had more and tigher low end, was more articulate, and the distortion was much less fizzy than the Triple rec.


The Mesa just seemed to have this crispyness that i couldn't dial out, even with presence and treble. It sounded good, but the 5150 was much better IMO.


just a small review incase anyone was trying to decide between the two.
:thu:

 

I had a similar experience. I got my hands on a Blackface Dual Rec from the first year Mesa made them and my 5150 stomped all over it in every way. That was when my 5150 was stock and I have since gotten it modded into an absolute metal monster (everyone who plugs in offers their entire rig straight up for the head alone). The Mesa was awesome, but I paid half as much for my 5150. Needless to say, I eventually parted with the Mesa and still make sweet metal love to my 5150 on a regular basis!

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i have owned, and like both

 

but there's a reason i still have a 5150, and no longer own a recto :thu:

 

the mesa is hard to beat for versatility, and the clean channel is a lot better than the 5150...if i had to i'd feel ok running a studio with a 3 channel recto being the only head i had laying around (altho it wouldn't be my prime choice)

 

but for all out high gain tones, i like the 5150 better...and they can be had for a lot cheaper

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Originally posted by AlexWade

Today I took my buddys Mesa Triple Rec. and my 5150 and my VHT cab's and set each head on a cab and hooked them up both through the same rack gear and compared them side by side.


The mesa was decent, but the 5150 slayed it in everything except cleans obviously.


The 5150 had more and tigher low end, was more articulate, and the distortion was much less fizzy than the Triple rec.


The Mesa just seemed to have this crispyness that i couldn't dial out, even with presence and treble. It sounded good, but the 5150 was much better IMO.


just a small review incase anyone was trying to decide between the two.
:thu:

 

The 5150 sounds even better with a boost pedal out in front too.

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Maybe the VHT cab is a bad match with a recto.

 

But in my experince after owning both and keeping the recto, for real metal the recto thrashs the 5150.

 

Recto had more deep low end, more gain, more feel, thicker, darker, warmer, and just way bigger.

 

The only thing I like about the 5150 is its tight low end, more upper mids and more clarity/ less fuzz. The 5150 just sounded harsh, lacking gain, sterile, lacking depth, powercords were absolutly pathetic, and of course very trebly if you wanted to get any real amounts of gain out of it. I dunno maybe these things just dont sound good with standard tuned guitars. I guess you have to tune down to Z to get these to sound good.

 

If happen to like the fuzz fo the recto its part of its gain structure, sure if you turn it up real loud it goes away, but I usually end up playing mine lower mic'd up at a gig anyway because thats the way I like my recto tone. And of course if you are looking for something that is S.S. tight you shouldnt be playing a amp that has rectifier tubes in it, because sag and feel is the WHOLE point of the recto series.

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you do have to match them up with the right cabs as well

 

the recto is a bit scooped sounding, so something with v30's are a similar mid heavy speaker is generally ideal (unless you want a more scooped sound...but assuming you don't)

 

the 5150 is a pretty mid-heavy amp, so a slightly more scooped sounding speaker like the gt-75 works well with it...of course if you want even thicker mids the v30's can go good as well, but that's something to be taken with a grain of salt if you're comparing to a recto

 

the mesa does have a bigger low end by all means, probably due to the active eq

 

they both work well with boost pedals also

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I own and love both. If had to choose only one...I would go with the Peavey 5150. But comparing the two is somewhat pointless. About the only thong these heads have in common is more available gain than you could ever posssibly use. As far as voicing, responseand overall tone?...apples and oranges. Just my opinion.

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Originally posted by cobrahead1030

y
the mesa does have a bigger low end by all means, probably due to the active eq


they both work well with boost pedals also

The recto has a passive EQ. :)

 

It really doesn't matter, but I was curious why you'd think it was active?

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To clarify -- for some folks, the Rectos are the ultimate amp.

 

Consider the fact that for my style, I like gain w/o compression, super-tight bass response, and a fast transients. While the Rectos are made very well, I just cannot warm up to the inherent gain structure or tone stack. The low end is way too loose for my tastes and I can never seen to get the kind of articulation I'm looking for. But - as with most things - it all comes down to personal style and taste. Not to say they suck, per se, I'd rather say they're not for me.

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Why the {censored} are you trying to compare apples to oranges?!!? Both the 5150 and the Triple Rectifier are great amps for their intended design. I have owned several examples of both, and there have been pros and cons to both amps. If you prefer the 5150, then that

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Originally posted by BOOGIE666

But in my experince after owning both and keeping the recto, for real metal the recto thrashs the 5150.


Recto had more deep low end, more gain, more feel, thicker, darker, warmer, and just way bigger.


The only thing I like about the 5150 is its tight low end, more upper mids and more clarity/ less fuzz. The 5150 just sounded harsh, lacking gain, sterile, lacking depth, powercords were absolutly pathetic, and of course very trebly if you wanted to get any real amounts of gain out of it.

 

 

There had to be something wrong with the 5150 you had if you are saying that a Recto has more gain. My 5150 has more gain on tap than anything I have ever plugged into in my life. I plug into the "normal" input (vs the "high" input) and I keep the pre gain on about 6.5 and get WAY MORE GAIN than I could ever get out of the Recto. My Mark III has more gain on tap than the Recto had, but both pale in comparison to my mighty 5150. I know someone else who owns a 5150 and a Recto and says his Recto has about a third of the gain of his 5150.

 

The problem I ran into with the gain on the Recto is this: At truly high gain setting, the attack turned into a mushy mess. If you backed off the gain the attack got better, but the gain structure is such that the amp doesn't sound dark and huge unless the gain is jacked, which brings you back to the mushy excuse for an attack that I mentioned previously. If you are just going to be banging on power chords at Nu-Metal tempos (slow to mid, never fast) the Recto's rock, but everyone I know with any real chops sold theirs, if they ever bought one in the first place.

 

There are a few things about the 5150 that go ten feet over the head of most people who try to play one. First of all, keep the presence on zero. The amp has plenty of high end, I keep my presence at zero and my treble on 5 and I have all the top end I need (EMG pickups, Marshall 1960b cab). The presence adds a Tinny quality that is just awful, but most peole don't have the god given sense to turn it off because the assume every knob should be maxed or close to it (usually because they grew up playing Marshalls).

 

The other thing about the 5150's is that running stock the amp has a TON of crossover distortion, which translates into tons of odd order harmonics, which our ears perceive as harsh, shrill, etc. Once the amp is biased correctly (very simpe and cheap mod) the amp sounds HUGE and very warm. In stock mode the tubes are pulling about 10-12 mA each, whereas they need to be pulling about 32-33 mA to perform properly. Why Peavey did this is a mystery to me as it gives an otherwise awesome amp a bad name.

 

Also, the 5150's are very sensitive to tube changes, both pre and power. Because the 5150 has a high mid voicing, I stay away from JJ's in the power section (they have a high mid spike, which combined with the voicing of the amp is too much). Svetlana's are a great match because they are more concentrated in the lower mids, which complements the general voicing of the amp to provide a more balance voicing to the mids.

 

In the pre I use Electro Harmonix in the gain stages (they sound warmer than the JJ's or other Sovtek made 12AX7's), and JJ's in the phase inverter slot. The V4 tube is for the effects loop and I find that it doesn't make as big of a difference as the other positions.

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