5150 Pack – 36 Studio/35 Merged Profiles

The 5150 came out in 1992 and it marked a departure for Eddie from the Marshalls he had used for years.  It was unlike any amp Peavey had made and had cascading gain stages that gave it more gain than any other amp on the market at the time.  Its cold biasing kept it from blowing itself up from all the power and saturation on tap.  Other high gain amps have come and gone over the years but there's still something really cool about these original models.

This particular specimen has seen a lot of work and probably melted a few faces in its lifetime.  It just goes to show how bulletproof this little beasts can be.  I profiled it my usual 3rd Power 212 cab as well as a matching, old 5150 412 with its original Sheffield speakers.  The two cabs give a nice bit of variety.  Not known for their clean tones, the 5150 is predominantly a rock beast.  The Crunch channel has more than enough gain for rock rhythms while the Lead channel goes more into the super-saturated metal world.  Even country(ish) guys like me can find some workable tones in it and it has a nice clarity that I've even used on some recordings already.

The 5150 Pack was creating using the latest 5.x firmware.  Please forgive the playing in the audio samples as many of these weren't exactly in my wheelhouse.  Thanks!

Although not widely known, these amps are loved by the few that stumble upon them, including Jon Herrington, from Steely Dan's band.  They are truly unique in that they use two complete sets of power tubes (el84 & el34) in series.  This gives the amp it's unique tone and lots of options for tone tailoring.

The two-channel amp has basic controls for each channel (gain, volume, and tone) and then the 100w el34 power section has an entire eq section, not just a master volume and presence knob.  I highly recommend you check them out in person if you can.  Graydon at Guytron was kind enough to get mine up and running after the 2010 Nashville flood to which it fell victim.  I think it sounds better than ever now.  I tried to get a variety of tones from shimmering cleans to over-saturated lead tones.  Check them out.

The Diaz CD100 is one of those amps you don't see every day.  The CD100 is a 100w beast based (a little) on the high powered tweed twins but with added reverb and some pull knob options for getting unique higher gain tones.  It stays bluesy no matter where it is (since Cesar Diaz was SRV's guitar tech), but can cover a great range of tones from country cleans to searing lead tones.  You can see why this is one of Warren Haynes' go-to amps.  I had a CD100 for many years on the road and eventually parted ways but I found another recently to bring those tones back to my KPA.  These profiles cover many of the amp settings along with some gain pedals in front.

Diaz Pack requires 3.0 firmware and while most amps were profiled using my trusty 3rd Power cabinet, the new separation algorithms make it easier to get more great sounds by switching to your favorite cabs as well.  These clips were recording into ProTools 10 using a Propellerhead Balance interface with no plug-ins or processing using my red Tom Anderson Cobra with 3 P90s (pictured above).  Check out the soundclips below and as usual please excuse the sloppy playing...

As most of you know I play in a country band, and although I can muddle my way through a couple of different styles, playing metal is not something I'm intimately familiar with.  That's why I did a little consulting/custom profiling with my buddy Paul.  He sent me this beautiful oversized-lunchbox beast and I have to admit I had never heard of this amp.  He sent me some suggested settings and beta-tested my results and I profiled some more.

I profiled with a couple of different speakers and tried different mics and combinations.  I dialed in and refined the profiles using a Les Paul and a Knaggs Kenai.  The profiles  have a lot more gain and more edge than I'm used to and they aren't something I can use on my gig, but they are kinda addicting to play.  Also included are 5 DI profiles.  Check them out.