Peavey 5150 MK1 Signature 120 Watt Guitar Head

Description

Here is is my original Peavey 5150 Mark 1 signature version guitar head which is from the early 1990’s .This amp really does everything you could want and more when it comes to gain and crunch and Eddie and  Hartley Peavey really did get this amplifier right.

It has two channels which share a single tone section, as well as resonance and presence controls. Each channel has separate pre and post gain controls. The rhythm channel has bright and crunch switches.The resonance control allows you to add in low end frequencies and has high and normal gain input jacks. Foot switchable lead & rhythm channels and the footswitch is included. It provides 120 watts into 4, 8 or 16 ohms.

Sound wise for a rock amplifier this is the best amp that I have owned and does everything except clean. The amp also records exceptional well and you can get the tone at low volumes. The head has no modifications and sounds incredible. High gain and tone to die for. You can also get a cleanish sort of sound from the rhythm channel. I used the normal gain input quite a bit to get some great classic rock to bluesy sounds.

The Amp is in excellent condition and is not one of the ones that has been beat up and used to death, In my ownership this has been used for recording only. I tried one of the original 5150 when new and knew I had to have one, the problem was finding one in great condition and to find one took several years.

The amp uses five 12AX7 preamp and four 6L6GC power amp valves and the quality of valves is very important. The original first year of production block logo had American made Philips Sylvania 6L6GC output valves that is why they sounded so good and that is the only difference between Block logo and signature 5150 MK 1. This was re valved in 2013 with Svetlana 6L6GC and has had very little use since then. The amp has been full checked over so is ready to rock.

Block signature v script logo heads

Roger Crimm the product manager and the regional service manager at Peavey clarifies the block logo & signature debate.

Roger-The block logo was changed because of a trademark dispute with another manufacturer (this was Electro Voice objecting to the EV on the front panel) rather than litigating it, Peavey decided to just change it. In regards to changing the tubes we still had US made Sylvania’s in stock in the first year or so of 5150 production, By that time however, US tube production had ceased the supply dried up and we had no choice but to go to a different tube. We used a couple of different Chinese-made tubes for most of the 90’s but the standard was hit or miss quality wise, and we had our share of tube failures. Unfortunately they were all we could really get in the quantities we needed at the time. The initial tube change occurred at around the same time as the logo changed from block to script.

So the first issue 5150 had original American made Sylvania 6L6GC, so it is no wonder that people say that these were the best as these output valves were one of the best of all time. In the early 90’s Peavey simply had no choice in terms of 6L6GC as these amps predate the resurgence in valve production. I have had Philips Military 7581A and  Sylvania 6L6GC STR 387 in this amp and can say that the Svetlana 6L6GC runs these very close.

If you want a classic Hard rocking amplifier that has no equal and is ready to go then this is the amp for you