An Owners Comparison: Framus Cobra VS Peavey 5150 II

Steveanders86 · September 12, 2007

Why do you have to have a good effects loop? what is wrong with the cobras?

well i tried my EQ in the loop of the cobra and it couldnt get a 100% wet with it. it hardly did anything at all. and i know there is a mod to turn in into a series effects loop instead of parallel, but i tried to have a freind do it for me, but (i dont know anything about electronics) something was making it difficult to do it. but i really need the loop for effects and eq mainly.

::EDIT:: actually when i stuck the EQ in the loop, things went downhill with the amp. got thin a weak. not a punishing as it had been. so i hit the bypass switch on the EQ, and it hardly changed anything. so i plugged it into the other EQ and same thing. so i unplugged everything out of the loop and all was good!

Chrisjd · September 12, 2007

well i tried my EQ in the loop of the cobra and it couldnt get a 100% wet with it. it hardly did anything at all. and i know there is a mod to turn in into a series effects loop instead of parallel, but i tried to have a freind do it for me, but (i dont know anything about electronics) something was making it difficult to do it. but i really need the loop for effects and eq mainly.

what effects do you run in there? and what do you mean when you say "wet"?

Steveanders86 · September 12, 2007

what effects do you run in there? and what do you mean when you say "wet"?

when i say wet, i mean 100% of the signal is affected by the effects. well, actually since the cobras loop is parallel, i believe that you cant even get 100% effects. how it was explained to me is that with a parallel loop the signal gets split in 2 and one goes though the preamp and into the poweramp as normal, and the other signal goes into the preamp, then through the loop and comes back with effects on it then goes through the poweramp. so you get 2 signals, 1 with effects, 1 without. again, thats how it was explained to me. as opposed to the other, where both signals get effects on them, which would be 100% "wet" i hope that explains it a little.

but as for effects, delay, reverb, im getting a boss multi effects board, and of course my EQ

Megatron_69 · September 12, 2007

depends. the 5150 still has more BARK than the splawn. but tonewise. the splawn kicks its ass. the splawn is very well rounded and has a

decent

amount of bark, amazing mid voicing, not harsh, and a great low end. but what the splawn has that the framus lacked most is turning down the gain, its still sounds great! the framus got thin and weak at low gain settings. but im in a tossup between the splawn and 5150. but thats why im going to get another 5150. because they each have what the other lacks. the 5150 lacks the mids and overall clarity that the splawn is awsome at.

I actually kinda like the Mids on the 5150--I think that's where a lot of the 'bark' in that amp comes from. Bill's sounded great and for some reason Moe's sounds even better(I think he's got some MOJO in his cabinet-me thinks he might have some 100watt speakers in there, someday I'll check). They both have Kevin's bias mod and use EMGs.

I think one of the things I like about the 5150's is the balance between the tightness and saturation. Some times if an amp gets too much saturation it gets spongey(i.e. mesa recto's) which i don't like for metal.

Steveanders86 · September 12, 2007

I actually kinda like the Mids on the 5150--I think that's where a lot of the 'bark' in that amp comes from. Bill's sounded great and for some reason Moe's sounds even better(I think he's got some MOJO in his cabinet-me thinks he might have some 100watt speakers in there, someday I'll check). They both have Kevin's bias mod and use EMGs.

I think one of the things I like about the 5150's is the balance between the tightness and saturation. Some times if an amp gets too much saturation it gets spongey(i.e. mesa recto's) which i don't like for metal.

yea something about the 5150's i just havnt got out of any other amp. but the mids, to me, are lower mids and higher mids. low mids seem to give the bark, and the high mids make that bitch cut through. i love both, but the splawn has a little of both of those, not near as good, but has a midranged mid voicing that LOVE! its got a nasaly snarl to it. EXAMPLE

YOUTUBE TIME!

thats why i think pairing it up with a 5150 will literally eat infants and kill people

Armitage · September 12, 2007

I love to read opinions from guys who actually have the stuff... instead of "I know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who says Brand X is the best!"
Or "All kinds of people on HC who've never owned a Brand X say it's the best!"

Steveanders86 · September 12, 2007

I love to read opinions from guys who actually have the stuff... instead of "I know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who says Brand X is the best!"

Or "All kinds of people on HC who've never owned a Brand X say it's the best!"

+1 on that one! it makes it hard for the rest of us who REALLY want to know the truth.

cobrahead1030 · September 12, 2007

I love to read opinions from guys who actually have the stuff... instead of "I know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who says Brand X is the best!"

Or "All kinds of people on HC who've never owned a Brand X say it's the best!"

in this case, it's hard to say either one is the best really...it's a matter of a personal preference

the cobra for what i like has a lot more to offer, but there's a good reason why i kept a 5150 around for so many years...more than some people tho, i really try to look at any piece of gear for what it's worth & figure out what it's good at; if that happens to be something that i'm into & the price is reasonable then i'll buy it, if not then i'll check out something else

Moshaholic · September 12, 2007

I had a "Flame-ass Coke-Bra and I liked my 6505+ way better...

guitarman967 · September 12, 2007

Nothing wrong with the Cobra's Loop in my opinion. It sounds great for a Parallel Loop.. I would have run the EQ in front of the amp if you wanted to shape the sound of the Preamp..After the Preamp, it's not as dramatic in any amp and is usually used to just Filter some frequencies.

If you were to turn the Cobra's MIX to 100% wet, it is very close to a series loop. I know because I run my Prorack in the loop with the Mix full serial and it gates every drop of noise..No bleed thru whatsoever.

Chrisjd · September 12, 2007

Can you fill me in on what the midi on the cobra does? I have now idea what it is, how to use it, or what it is capable of doing?

framuscobrasson · September 12, 2007

I own and love both the 5150 II and the Framus Cobra. I play them both in practice and live. I still cannot decide which one I like more.

What I am going to do is break them down a bit, one trait at a time in an attempt to help forumites form more of an opinion on these beasts.

1. Build Quality: While the Cobra is a prettier, more specialized looking amp, it is not nearly as rugged as the 5150. The 5150 is built VERY solidly. I pick it up and it feels very reinforced. its box/frame is thick, tough, and solidly put together. the Cobra on the other hand, seems a tad bit flimsy.

Conclusion: 5150 is a brick, but treat the Cobra with a little respect and it will hold up without a problem, ie, it aint gonna fall apart.

2. Clean Channel: people like to bitch about the 5150 and 5150 IIs clean channel. being that i own a 5150 II, i will comment on that. the 5150 IIs clean channel is perfectly alright for me. it is not as soft and bell like as the cobra, it is more glassy. A metal clean if you will. Never have I had a problem getting a true clean out of the 5150 II, its CLEAN, ie no distortion.

The Cobras clean is soft, very warm, bell like, chimey, real, etc. very nice clean that is very rich in color. Better than the 5150 II for sure.

3. DISTORTION! This is where things get interesting. Both these heads are notorious for being the most savage, aggressive, and cutting heads out there.

Let me start out by saying that the 5150 II is TIGHT! unboosted it is hardly any looser than the cobra which is known for being about the tightest hi gainer out there, with the exception of MAYBE the VHT UL.

So, cobra= marginally tighter.

Single note riffing is something where the Cobra excells at greatly. single notes are very bold and jump out of the amp. they are very alive and punchy. the amp is very responsive in this way. the 5150 II sounds great for this as well, but single notes arnt QUITE as big sounding, and dont leap out quite as willingly.

Powerchords are where the 5150 II eats the cobra. bar/powerchords through the 5150 II have this mean swirling grind to them that are unmatched imo. they are INCREDIBLY abbrassive, and VERY cutting, VERY barky. powerchords on the cobra sound a touch less pleasing to my ears, but not much.

so, single notes on the cobra=bigger and nicer.

power chords on the 5150= more aggressive and grindy.

Leads are great on both, i am not a corksniffing progressive wanker so both the cobra and peavey do leads great for me.

4. EQ. both eq's are very good at shaping the tone. although the cobra is MUCH more sensative and it is much easier to dial in a bad tone with the cobra, whereas the 5150 II sounds great at most places.

5. Both amps are clear, although i would give the cobra a slight edge as far as clarity between notes and in structured chords.

6. cutting through in band and live situations: both does this VERY VERY well, and while i cant really tell a difference, the 5150II is voiced slightly brighter so I would assume it does this a little better. again though, they are both very cutting i have never had an issue.

In conclusion, I love both amps a ton and will probably never sell either.

dude, you have one of my dream a/b/y amp set ups. When we were a 2 guitar band I played the Cobra, and the other broham played the 5150. The tones complimented so so {censored}ing well...(both being pushed by Esp/EMG of course). Never sell either. Play them mofos together!!!

cobrahead1030 · September 12, 2007

Can you fill me in on what the midi on the cobra does? I have now idea what it is, how to use it, or what it is capable of doing?

basically if you have a midi based switching/FX system (boss gt6, boss gt8, tc g major with a midi footswitch, etc.) you can use that to switch your channels and FX at the same time

so let's say you have a G major in the loop, and a 4 button midi footswitch...you can have patch 1 set to a clean with chorus, patch 2 set to a dry crunch channel, patch 3 set to a dry lead channel, and patch 4 set to a lead channel with delay

the midi footswitch is gonna switch the FX and the amp channel both for ya

guitarman967 · September 13, 2007

basically if you have a midi based switching/FX system (boss gt6, boss gt8, tc g major with a midi footswitch, etc.) you can use that to switch your channels and FX at the same time

So let's say you have a G major in the loop, and a 4 button MIDI footswitch...You can have patch 1 set to a clean with chorus, patch 2 set to a dry crunch channel, patch 3 set to a dry lead channel, and patch 4 set to a lead channel with delay

the midi footswitch is gonna switch the FX and the amp channel both for ya

True.. You can also assign the 2nd Master volume of the Cobra as a CC message as well, which I love. That means that inside any patch that you create you could assign that function to a switch and instantly toggle the master volumes. Regardless of what master was assigned during the creation of the preset.

CC messages are basically access to a certain parameter at any time. So for example, in a FX processor, if you have a Patch that had some chorus, delay and reverb, w/ continuous controllers, you could esentially edit what you want those effects to do in real time as well as defeating individual effects without writing any additional Program changes...

MIDI makes interfacing all your gear possible and is essential if you're running a nice effects processor.

With CC messages though, the sky is really the Limit.

You could always use the Cobra's MIDI interface to just switch channels on the Cobra too with any Dumb MIDI controller of your choice but I dont see the point because the Cobra has it's own FS.

Chrisjd · September 13, 2007

great, thanks cobra and guitarman.

guitarman967 · September 13, 2007

great, thanks cobra and guitarman.

No problem man.. If you ever want to go in that direction or if you have any questions just let me know

cobrahead1030 · September 13, 2007

yeah, joel knows a lot more about that stuff than i do...i figured out how to get the SAVE button to work with my gt6, and that's about it

guitarman967 · September 13, 2007

yeah, joel knows a lot more about that stuff than i do...i figured out how to get the SAVE button to work with my gt6, and that's about it

It's been out of necessity for me. I have big dreams LOL:thu:
Actually, the Funny thing is I figured out the Framus MIDI channel Chart in a Dream... Let my subconcious work on it! I literally woke up and knew what I had to do because I was studying the Graph in my dream...{censored}in wierd

Kyle DiSanto · September 13, 2007

cobra=metalcore. period

While I agree with some of your statements...Are you serious about this one?

Johansolo · September 13, 2007

yeah, joel knows a lot more about that stuff than i do...i figured out how to get the SAVE button to work with my gt6, and that's about it

i was the same! was really frigntenned when i read the midi manual of my gt3.
i just decided to plug it in the cobras fx loop...make a patch with no effects (manual mode assigned to work like stompboxes) and saved whatever effects i wanted ON on the GT3 ...picked a channel on the cobra...and hit the save button on the back of cobra... worked first go.

i love being able to control the amp channel+fx thru midi...why didnt i have this setup EARLIER!!!

Â¤ Matt Â¤ · September 13, 2007

I used to have a 5150II and loved it.

For some reason I sold it and since then I've had a Rocktron Prophesy with a mesa 2:100, a mesa studio pre, an Engl Powerball, a Savage, a Randall RM100 a Triple Rec and I've currently got a Savage SE. To be honest I don't think any of those amps suit me as much as the 5150II did.

I found the Prophesy to have some great effects and good tones but just didn't have that "valve" feel in the dynamics.

I hated the studio pre. I thought it was buzzy and un-defined.

The Powerball was great. A really good metal amp and I quite liked the clean channel too. It has a totally different feel to the 5150, it's is much harsher/dryer. One of my favorites.

The Savage was a good amp and could do a huge range of tones. However I didn't get on that well with it. The powerball was much better for me.

I really liked the Randall, It was so versatile with a great power amp section. My favorite preamp module was the recto so I bought a triple rec. I have never been so disappointed with an amp. The triple rec is one of the most overrated amps ever. I found it to be a saggy, loose, muddy piece of crap. All the channels were total {censored}. So I swapped it for an Engl Savage SE.

The Savage SE is just brilliant. It's got a tone similar to the Powerball but it can go tighter and has sooooo many tonal options. It has a great clean tone and the low to mid gain sounds are great too. However, I only really use channel 4 and I need some money so it's going and I'm getting a 5150II again!

I think that all the Engl's I've had have been great but I find them to be a little harsh sounding. The same goes for the Randall. When I had the 5150II it had all the cut and all the balls of an Engl but there was something very "smooth" about it.

What cabs suit the 5150II? I've got a Genz-Benz gFlex 4x12 which has been great with all the Engls but some amps really don't like it. Are the 5150 cabs any good?

Chrisjd · September 13, 2007