Ultra Plus vs. 5150?

[Rindgecore]

What is everyone's verdict? I'm a solid 5150 man, but I see the Ultras going for cheap cheap money all the time and I'm curious to know how they stack up.

[rushtallica]

They have a little different sound in comparison to a 5150 -- a more compressed/dark tone, but they get somewhat of a 5150 grind going. I've had both and prefer a little more open sound such as a 5150 gets, but I like having 3 footswitchable channels, 1 being a better clean channel than the 5150 can deliver, though not a great clean channel, 2 being a good mid-gain channel for more classic rock/metal though a little different than the 5150's rythm channel which is also a decent mid-gain channel but can get a little more gain on it than the Ultra Plus' rythm channel, and 3 being the ultra channel for higher gain/more modern metal.

 

Just like with the 5150, I don't recommend playing one without a good eq pedal in the loop, but for a different reason. IMO the 5150 is really bright and kinda' thin sounding w/out an eq pedal in the loop, but the eq pedal is more needed to get the Ultra Plus amp out of being too dark sounding and also helps with the bass just as it does for the 5150.

 

If you're mainly going to play super-heavy music or possibly the rythm's mid-high gain sounds and don't need the best clean channel, then I recommend the 5150, but if you're going to play a mix of that and other styles and like the idea of 3 footswitchable channels, I'd go for the Ultra Plus.

 

If I had a 5150 again, I'd think heavily about having JerryP mod it to make the rythm channel footswitchable for the clean and rythm gains and having its own clean gain (and a better clean sound) so there's not too much of a volume difference when switching between all 3 channels. If I had it set up that way on the 5150, I'd have to say I'd definitely prefer it over the Ultra Plus, but I still think the Ultra Plus works fine and can be boosted for other types of gainy tones.