Peavey 6505+ 1x12" Combo Tube Amp (60 Watt 112 Combo) Reviews

4.7/5.0 based on 9 customer reviews

Write your own review for this product

Sort By Date Sort By Rating

Customer Reviews

Matthew Cain
from Belle Vernon, PA USA
July 11, 2012Music Background:
Hobbyist

Peavey 6505+ 112 Combo

Awesome amp for heavy metal. No need for pedals. Loud as ever. Recommend upgrade speaker to V30. Sounded great to begin with, but the speaker upgrade made it even better.

Joe
from FLORIDA
June 4, 2012Music Background:
Live Musician

One word Amazing

I just purchased this amp and I am completely blown away! The distortion is BRUTAL, you wont need another amp for any high gain application. Whoever said this amp *cannot* get clean must not know how to turn dials and use the appropriate pickup, this can almost get fender clean no Joke just use the NECK PUP!!! and adjust your TONE knob on the guitar. Anyway most dont buy this amp for clean anyway but it is more than capable. I myself am a hard rock/metal player and I will give one tip of advice to get the most absolute killer tone with this amp.... buy a maxon od808/ maxon od9 for even more enchanced harmonic overtones and touch sensitivity, BUY THIS AMP for ANY application, because it can do it all.

David
from Charlotte
April 23, 2012Music Background:
Pro Musician

Best Metal Combo Available

I had played this amp many times at various times and loved it, but I kept trying to tweak other amps I've had to get this sound. I finally gave up, sold the other two amps, and bought this one. Best move I ever made!! This amp is a giant killer. The overdrive and gain is face-melting... The bite of the amp is incredible. The attack is just brutal... It's the one-two punch for any serious metal player. The notes are sooo articulate... make sure the presence is up. The closed back cab makes every muted chord pound your chest. Solos are so sweet-sounding... harmonics fly out at you with minimal effort. And, the amp will give you the most distortion you've ever heard on a stock amp. It's my favorite amp out there. Only Engl's are in the neighborhood (but not in price).

edgar yanez
from texas
March 13, 2012Music Background:
blues, rock

this amp rocks

this amp sounds amazing. its really loud. both clean and overdrive channels are sweet. i use to play on a jcm 900 marshall 100w dual reverb head and loved it but this amp kicks *** too. i play on an american fender strat and the clean channel is nice to play jams like chili peppers songs. i also use a boss sd1 overdrive pedal on top of the crunch channel to get a smooth overdrive tone.

John B
from Brooklyn Mi.
June 14, 2010Music Background:
Pro Musician

Great amp for the money!!!!

I was blown away by this little monster!! Everything you need without breaking the bank. Very clean on the clean channel with a crunch mode for alittle extra boost. And a killer lead channel with tons of overdrive!!!! Great spring reverb and all the other features needed to made this amp a great value!! Just pickup a footswitch and your ready to go.

Carl
from Dayton, OH USA
October 31, 2012Music Background:
Drummer, semi-guitar player, poor and reluctant recording engineer

Excellent Value

Short Review: I needed a practice amp that I wouldn’t feel bad recording with as far as sound/tone was concerned. It was in my price range and it is plenty loud, has more gain than I’ll ever need, and for the two months or so I’ve had it has been solid. I do have some minor complaints about it; if you wish to read those, refer to the long review. Overall, I’m very pleased, have no buyer’s remorse, think it sounds great and would recommend one to a friend should they have the same needs I had, and of course I’d recommend it through Sweetwater. It’s so refreshing to get the support you get here as opposed to every other place I’ve shopped at.

Long Review: Ok, cards on the table -- I’m primarily a drummer. I couldn’t tell you which pups someone was using just by listening to them. I haven’t spent countless hours honing in a tone on an amp or processor. I’m a drummer who composes tunes on guitar and I had just bought a new, nice electric and needed a good, solid practice amp that I could record with. Also, I play primarily metal and experimental stuff. I do know I much prefer the sound of tube distortion to that of solid state, so a tube amp was one of my requirements. I didn’t want to spend more than $600-800 either. Amongst my guitar playing friends, I have access to high quality amps ranging from Marshalls, a Mesa triple rec, and even a DAR-FBM, so I didn’t want to duplicate anything they had. Enter the Peavey 6505+ 112!
To be honest, I did consider the 212: made in America and with two speakers, but the price was prohibitive. Also, it’s heavy. I’m not gigging and prefer to jam at home or in the studio, but the idea of lugging that around was not a good one. So, for the price range and what I wanted, it seemed the 6505+ 112 was the way to go.
I’ll start with my gripes.
1.) The knobs. I think they’re called chicken head style. I do not like these and would prefer simple round knobs. The reason being that if the tails or heads are pointing towards one another, the space between them gets tight and it’s very easy to bump an adjacent knob when tweaking another. I guess if it’s dark on stage it might be hard to see a little white line on a round knob, but I’d rather have the round, traditional knob.
2.) The Presence knob seems kinda useless below 7.5. Again, I’m not a guitar player, but I can’t hear it doing anything until it gets to around 7.5. I usually keep it around 9 when jamming with distortion.
3.) Very, very minor gripe, but I believe it was advertised to provide a control for the light on the front, so you could turn it off or dial it down or up if you wanted. Yeah, that’s not there, and from what I could gather on forums, it was removed at the last minute because it caused humming or noise or something. So, if for some weird reason the tipping point on pulling the trigger for purchasing this amp for you was a dial to control the light, beware.
4.) Once more, I’m not a guitar player, but I find the clean tones a little lacking. However, I play primarily with distortion on electrics and use the acoustic for cleans. Also, I’d probably slap a few effects in the loop if I was gonna use clean tones when recording.

Now what I like about the amp.
It has great, warm distortion tones! I play much more guitar now that I have a good amp to play through. I’ve recorded a little bit with it, using a Heil PR-30 and have been very pleased. I have not used the direct XLR output that simulates a Sure SM57 off-axis yet, so I can’t comment on that. I tried the built in reverb once and never touched it again, so I can’t comment on that either.
The gain is ridiculous on this thing. I couldn’t see me ever turning it all the way up, even for an over-the-top effect. On my seven string I keep it between 4.5-6 and for my six string I might bring it up to 8, but usually just under. I’m guessing it’s the pickup differences? Not sure, but I’ve found those gain settings to work for me with those two guitars.
I’m not sure it’d be loud enough for a full on band rehearsal on its own. For the stage though, mic’d up, no problem. I’ve yet to turn it past 3.5 on the volume. It’s plenty loud and since I use it mainly for practicing, I keep it civil with the volume. I’ve read some people complain about the speaker that comes with it. I have to say I like it just fine, but did hear a noticeable improvement when I ran the output from the amp to a Marshall half stack cabinet and to a Mesa half stack cabinet. So if you have access to high quality, external speakers, you’ll have some options.
Looking over the review, I see it seems I have more gripes than compliments, but this thing really is solid. It sounds great (best, if you ask me, after warming up for 10-15 minutes). For the money I’m hard pressed to see what else you could get if you’re a metal jammer. My guitar playing friends spend this much and more on just effects processors, so I don’t think it’s too much money for what I’m getting, and they’ve all been impressed with the tones it produces when they checked it out.
So, for what it’s worth, this drummer/basic guitarist really likes it. I have no regrets with the purchase and would highly recommend it to anyone with the same needs, desires, and budget.

Joshua smith
from New Bern
May 25, 2012Music Background:
guy that wants to make money shredding my guitar

glad i bought this one

Fantastic amp for hard rock or metal. Even tuned in some nice dirty bluesy tones. Worth every penny. Buy it. Buy it now!

Jonathan
from Indiana
April 21, 2013Music Background:
Guitar Teacher, Home Recording, Live Gigs

Awsome, if you get a good one.

I went to the sales outlet to get one of these bad boys. I have always LOVED the USA made 6505+ heads and cabs, so I figured this would be a good home sized amp. It sounded Great! But, I had to try 3 different ones before I found one THAT WORKED PROPERLY! The first one was fine for about 5 minutes, then the lighted Peavey logo went out. The sales guy had another one brought in, and that one wouldnt power up unless you wiggled the power cord just right, and even then the lighted logo didnt work right from the start. The sales guy had 3 more brought from out in the warehouse and the next one worked fine. Sounded great and had no issues at all. That's the one I went home with. The sales person was very apologetic and reassured me that it was covered for 2 years by Sweetwater's own warranty in case something went wrong. So that took the fear out. But man, shame on you Peavey for not having better quality control. I had a super cheap Valveking 112 that I beat the heck out of for over a year and never had a problem. These 6505+ 112 amps are supposed to live up to their USA made big brothers, and they do in terms of sound, but not in quality. So try one out before you get it. Otherwise you might be sending it back. But If you get a good one, this amp is AMAZING for the money.

victor gonzales
from denver coloardo
July 17, 2010Music Background:
pro to hobbyist

great amps

this is a amps that made to rock to metal the clean is mooded that why i gave it a 4 not like the ather clean sounded anps that are tube but if you play blue to metal this is your amp it is loud. In time i will change the tube. I order the footswitchable that help from moving the channel overall so for the prece and not made in usa it will do the jub