Peavey 6505+

[Rhino]

Hey iv recently started getting back into playing guitar again and bought a 6505+ stack, I'm looking to toughen up my sound a bit, well alot actually! At the moment it sounds a bit to heavy rock for me. Does anyone have any suggestions on eqs settings for this head and pedals etc? I'm thinking of getting a maxon808 and a decimator? I use drop C, B and A tuning. I really just want to try and get the heaviest brutal distortion I can out of this head, as I no they have huge potential.

[goat]

ive got a 6505 without the +, i also have a maxon 808. I dont even use it anymore, i like the sound of the amp the way it is straight in.
I use an Ibanez Thermoin quad box tho, not sure if that makes a huge difference.

when you say heavy it up more, what do you mean tho. more distortion?:

Not sure if the 6505+ is that much different from the 6505 but i wouldnt want anymore dist on mine. i only go to about 7 max. usually about 6.5

mids on about 4 bass about 5, and trebs is a matter of taste, i keep the presence at about 4 to 5.

To dial in a good sound, i usually turn all that shit down a bit, then turn up the amp to a decent vol, then gradually dial in the bass, trebs, mids, and presence from there, so im driving the amp harder for the sounds before adding al the other stuff.

A good guitar is just as important with the right gauge strings. too fatter strings, sounds like, fat strings, shit IMO. But its up to the user i guess.
But dam it do as i say! (Jokes)

Im no guru, i just know what i like. There's plenty you can do to amps if you have the coin, ask Mr, Ormsby he'll tell ya.

[erecshyrinol]

This was one of my favourite pieces of gear before I had the chance to trade it in + a little bit of cash for my Framus Cobra.

As with all stacks, a good live amp is never great in the bedroom levels(unless your bedroom is the size of a live venue). You'll need to crank it quite abit to be able to get a decent sound.

Make sure that your pre-gain is not more than 7 like goat said, as this'll make your tone fizzy and fairly thin. Play around with the EQ, post-gain is your volume channel. And make sure that you're using the lead channel (not the crunch, even though with the right settings and overdrive pedal you could possibly get a good enough heavy rock tone with it, but we're talking about br00tal deth metuhlz here). When I was using this amp, I was actually running through an Ibanez TS9 tube screamer modded by analog man although the amp is already beast enough without an overdrive pedal. All the overdrive pedal does is merely tighten the bottom end abit, but not add to the gain.

I'm pretty sure my live settings on the 6505+ were as follows:
*red(lead) channel*
pregain: 6.5 low: 4 mids: 7.5 high: 6 presence: 7 resonance: 5 post-gain: 3.5
and through my TS9 (optional):
Drive: 2 Tone: 5 level: 8

Also, what cab are you running through? Cabs really shouldn't that much of a difference but they still do. I was running mine through a Marshall 1960A cab with Celestion GT12-75 speakers back then which was pretty versatile and had plenty of low end.

edit: Given the chance in the future when I have my own place and alot more money, I'd buy a 6505 just for the hell of it. Fucking great amps for metal.

[cdtBEAST]

Any of the tubescreamer pedals will sound good if set right. They tighten the bottom, bump the mid & add more volume @ input. Try setting the pedal to 0 yes zero distortion, have the tone neutral & use the volume pot on the pedal to push those pre tubes 
Also bias the amp hotter, this will get rid of some of the fizz & give you more drive in your tone.
DO NOT scoop the mids, the mids are where it's @ with these amps. Don't overcook the pre gain either.
The 5150 series is sensitive to tubes & gets a lot of it's gain from the power section not just the pre section.
I like the Tung Sol tubes in the pre section & either groove tube GE 6L6's in the (make sure they are the GE models the regular ones are shite), or if you want a kickass tone then spend the extra on a set of Wing=C= 6L6 tubes. They are fucking awesome. All tubes need burning in before they sound good as well, esp power tubes

What cab are you running it into?

[Rhino]

I'm just using the 6505 cab I was told it is based on the original greenback. I'm not really looking at getting a new cab and if I was I'd prob get a Genz Benz coz they're ported.

Does anyone know if you can bias the tubes hotter by cranking the pot I side the head without changing out the resistor?

And iv also heard to get the brootlst tone ever you have to bi-amp the 6505+ with a krankenstien? But I can't seem to find anything about this on any site, is it just a myth? I no IKTPQ do it and The Red Shore do aswell.

[cdtBEAST]

The Genz cabs are a nice choice.
Talk to Jim @ "Blue Glow" in regards to your biasing question. He is my amp tech & kicks ass & is not too pricey. He modded & serviced my 5150. He modded, repaired & serviced my Pittbull & gets me my tubes cheaper than dougs tubes most times. Bonus is he tests all the tubes before he sells em to ya.  I can pm ya his number man. 

[JohnnyC]

Does anyone know if you can bias the tubes hotter by cranking the pot I side the head without changing out the resistor?

yes you can. but without changing the resistor, but its "range" is limited.

[danielanastasi]

Hey Rhino,

Most of the boys have hit it on the head.  I've owned 2 6505's and a 6505+ in my time and to be 100% honest with you; the + just doesn't have the same punch as the 6505...

No matter how I set it or what I put in front of it, I could never get a really crushing gain out of it.  With my 6505 and a Tubescreamer it's easy - Problem is too much gain 

Ended up selling it to buy another 6505...  You can change the tubes but I don't know if that will necessarily end up giving you the tone you want.  Could be a costly exercise if it doesn't result in the gain you are after.

Sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear mate but as a guitarist who's been there before, all I can do is offer my experience.

Cheers mate and good luck