Peavey 6505 Mini Head

This would be simple to review. This one is a fantastic amplifier, and the fact that Peavey stuffed so SO many features in this tiny unit and at this price point (made in China) is nothing short of unbelievable.

How it sounds? Like its big brother. Period. If you do not know by now, better check that sound out prior to even think about this one. This one is distorted as hell. Raw, crude distortion. Even brutal. But no one will be fooled since its heritage is present here.

Everything you might desire to record devastating guitar tones is here (XLR out, USB out, multimple ohm out, volume attenuation down to 1 watt, power amp EQ, REVERB!!!) and probably more. In addition, you might probably be well covered to fiddle your way with a drummer in a practice/small gig situation, which again renders this very small box into something extraordinaire. And, trust me, you will be doing so wailing with the traditional 5150 tones, with a box that is smaller than a regular shoe box. Is nothing short of amazing.

The range of EQ is superb, the fact to add presence/resonance for the power tube section is nothing short of genius, the internal dummy load (something I only did see before in my much more expensive amps) is a much welcomed luxury (which these days is an urgent necessity with personal studios environment). The USB out (which carries the emulation existing in the headphones out of the amp) is usable as well, and the unit popped up in my PC Sonar DAW with no issues. Even when not perfect, it provides a clean slate to work and EQ until you reach what you want without a messy process. Again, hats off to this little unit.

Something I would like to stress here as well is that this amp takes effects pedals (front and loop) extremely well (even better than its original big brother, which I also own). If metal is your ONLY thing (more on this below) this might be a perfect partner for recording.

Cons? Well, let?s start from the beginning. This amp is marketed as a 2 channel. It also came with a foot switch (much welcomed, even if of poor quality) which changes those channels so, yes, they are (theoretically) there. However in practice, that is not entirely true. The amount of distortion this amplifier brings is M A S S I V E. Brutal. Raw. Nothing wrong with that (I love it, actually) BUT (and a big one) is that this amp has no cleans whatsoever. As simple as that. Probably getting the rhythm channel at full 20w for headroom (of course neither crunch nor bright switches engaged) you (might?) get somehow clean as soon as you gain control does not cross the 2/3 point threshold. And even then your cleans will be crunchy. In short, getting an undistorted tone out of this box is impossible. So if this is a 2 channel amp, might be hot crunch/hell distortion. Do not expect otherwise.

Quality is very good. Just one star less than perfect cuz this is a mass made appliance, and as that I expect to see minor issues from one to another. But is on par with similar alternatives.

The looks are something conservative and I never liked Peavey amps. This one looks dull. Then again, almost all Peavey amps (with the probably exception of the JSX and the magnificent, forgotten Wiggy) look conservative, old, dull and bland. But it?s all about how you sound, right?

And now for the grand finale: is this loud enough to play with a drummer? No one will ever know! Introduce me to the drummer in question, let me see the venue, how many people and things inside the room and the list goes on and on. 20 Tube watts is loud, Very loud. But I do not know if that will suffice for your needs. What I DO know is that 100 watts is ridiculously overboard. Unless you play clean and need the headroom but, if that is the case, what are you doing reading this long review on this amp?

If you?re the "gimme metal or gimme death" type of guy and you need a reduced version of hell, this is the way to doomsday. Full throttle.