Hello all,
I purchased a new crate flexwave half stack a few years back and have since been trying to upgrade without breaking the bank.
I play alternative metal/hard rock.
I've replaced the head with a Peavey 6505 (with a tube screamer in the front) and it already sounds way better.
But I've been hearing that crate puts garbage speakers in their cabs and they don't do the 6505 justice. So I'm looking at the Veteran 30s or maybe doing 2 veteran 30 and 2 retro 30s.
How would this combo sound?
How would I install them? X pattern?
Should I do 3 vets and 1 retro?
(My favorite cabs are the mesa rectifiers but I don't want to spend a $1000)
Thoughts?
There's no doubt that combo would work, as would many others. Hopefully someone with more experience with the amp will chime in. I'll tell you what, though. You may have noticed the very cold power tube biasing of the 6505 heads makes getting a loud clean sound virtually impossible. The crossover distortion at high volumes turns complex chords to mush, like a Fuzz Face pedal. There's absolutely no need for that with all the preamp gain on tap. AAMOF, EVH's famous Variac'd Plexi was biased very hot -- too hot, actually. You might see about getting it rebiased to ~70% with a lower plate voltage to eliminate crossover distortion and offer the option of a loud clean sound in the clean channel. That should only cost ~$50 at most from any reasonable amp tech who knows the issue. See this article for details: http://www.eurotubes.com/store/pc/peavey%20amp%20page.htm
You don't need new tubes to do a bias mod, but I might try a pair of JJ 6CA7 with some 5881 whether you rebias the amp or not. The 6CA7 and 5881 are both tight/non-resonant tubes. The 6CA7 has big clear lows, while the 5881 has more-compressed lows like an EL34. Both break up thick and sweet. It should be a very nice mix if Eurotubes approves. A KT88/5881 mix would be great too if you want that aggressive KT88 midrange crunch. There are also some better newer JJ preamp tubes if you want a bigger/fuller/less-mushy sound with a fatter/sweeter overdrive and better touch response. All the tube changes with a rebiasing charge might be ~$200. Addressing these things along with better speakers should make a big difference in dynamics, punch, gain "clarity" and overall versatility.
To elaborate:
-There are many 5150/6505 mods around. Voodoo Amps offers 6505 mod services ranging from a $60+shipping adjustable bias mod to over $1k for circuit component changes with a full (overpriced) "iron" replacement that totally transforms the amp into something deeper, clearer, and more punchy & harmonically dynamic.
-The tube replacements with bias mod I recommend should total ~$200. It won't have as dramatic changes as the standard $295+ship Voodoo amp mod, but is probably the best bang-for-buck option. A bias pot mod is ~15 minutes work and maybe ~$10 in parts, so a $50 fee is adequate. You can easily do it yourself with the pdf link in this thread, or just bring it to a competent amp tech: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/threads/6505-bias-mod-instructions.51...
A good amp tech may know some simple circuit mods that might not add all that much to the initial charge. Replacing a few resistors or caps is cheap and easy once the amp is opened up.
The 500V/23W JJ 5881 should bias up very close to the 500V/25W JJ 6CA7, which have virtually the same plate resistance. They can both handle 70% at ~450V without excess strain and should last years of moderate playing. The only caveat is whether the internal EL34- style 6CA7 pin 1 to grid 3 connection is OK in the 6505 with the 5881. Again, Eurotubes might know that. You could fall back on the KT88 or maybe the cheaper KT77 if you can't get confirmation. A matched pair each of 5881 & 6CA7 or KT77 totals ~$80.
-The preamp tubes I recommend are the long-plate JJ ECC803S in the PI slot, a few ECC83MG in either gain stages, and maybe an ECC832 (or 823) in V1 if you want to reduce the lead channel gain a bit. Four tubes like that totals ~$60.
You may want to replace the OT (Output Transformer) at some point with an appropriate Classictone model, which might cost ~$150 installed by a tech. Classictone are quality paper & lacquer transformers with performance on par with those costing 2~3x the price.
I had a 6505 in my shop a year or so back ... and to me it sounded great when played DIRTY ... since you play "alternative metal/hard rock", you should be in hog heaven :-)
Speaker wise ... Crate has been all over the map, the flexwave is one of Crate's better cabs ... but I just don't know what speakers it's loaded with!
The Ret 30 & Vet 30 pair will give you a very traditional Mesa/Marshall 1960 sound, but with added extension on both the top end and bottom end ... it will be a very loud and hard hitting cab, with lotsa thump. Is that what you are after?