Peavey 6505 20th Anniversary

Peavey celebrates 20 years of the hard hitting 6505 guitar amplifier, a popular amp of choice used in modern metal music.

The 6505 started out as the 5150 amplifer - Eddie Van Halen's signature amp model. It was later renamed into 6505 when artist relations ended.

The amplifier however did not die down with the artist relationship, instead metal guitarists continued to rave the "5150" sound, and opted for the renamed 6505 amplifier.

Van Halen and the Peavey 5150

The 6505 series are high gain amps with Peavey's patented resonance control, allowing the amp to produce punchy and clear low frequencies ideal for drop tuned metal tunes. It became the primary choice for getting that low "chug" metal riff sound and its sound became a template by which other high gain amps emulate.

The Peavey 6505 amp helped define the down-tuned sound of modern metal with big name artists and producers under its banner including Machine Head, Colin Richardson, Andy Sneap and Jason Suecof. These guys produced some of the most prominent and influential metal and hard rock albums of the past two decades.

Machine Head's Robb Flynn has been using the amp since his band's debut album, he was quoted saying: "We were trying to get a modern, heavy tone, and when we came across [the 6505], it was crushing. It’s got a really incredible midrange growl that works so well.” Andy Sneap, a known metal producer was quoted saying: "The 6505 was the first amp you could plug into for that heavier, thrashier tone".

Colin Richardson whose credits include Chimaira, Machine Head and more, was quoted saying: "When you throw in the Resonance, you almost get an extra sub-harmonic that is below where the bass is. They’re some of the heaviest tones I’ve ever tracked." Richardson further established the role that 6505 played in modern metal by saying: "It might be on 60-70% of [metal] releases that have come out in the last 20 years, if you put a metal record on, I’m sure Peavey is over 50% of what you’re hearing."

The Peavey 6505 series currently includes the original 6505 head, the two independent channel 6505 Plus and the 6534 Plus that came outfitted with EL34 tubes had a more British sounding tone. The 6505 Plus has two combo versions - a 1x12 and a louder and bigger 2x12.

You can get this piece of modern rock history starting at $599.99 which is the Peavey 6505 1x12 Combo.

For more information about this hard hitting amplifier, you can visit Peavey.

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