The Official Guitar Thread

Given than a 6505 isn't a block letter 5150 head you are basically one step above a crate

I've almost pulled the trigger on a 5150 a couple times in the past few months. Two of the nicer ones on eBay have been local pick up only though, and I don't want one badly enough to drive 14 hours.

They're harder to find nowadays. Back when I had mine I was basically tripping over them until I found one that looked cosmetically decent.

I've always been a big fan of Marshall 4x12 cabs (the real ones, not shitty ones - I use a 1960A or something). Mesa and Bogner cabs are really good as well. If you want to go trve kvlt metal you could get a Vader, but I always thought they looked tacky. Splawn cabs are really great too.

Any time I've ever shopped for a cab I bring my head with me and try it out on them. Just make sure you know what speakers it has in it. I've probably owned like 10 4x12 cabs but I always go back to Marshall.

Edit: Finally got the OK to buy a new amp. I sold all of my amps about 7 years ago to fund school while working a shitty job. I've owned Engls (Fireball 60, Powerball v2, Blackmore), Mesa (Mark IV, Triple Rectifier), Marshall (DSL, TSL), Peavey (5150!!!), VHT (2/90/2), etc. Not 100% sure what I want to get yet but I'm leaning towards a Fireball 100 or a good ol' Peavey 5150. Plus side of the 5150 is you can get them for like $600. Plus side of the Fireball is it will give you the biggest pair of balls in the world. Not sure.. Price difference is about $1200, for a used fireball maybe $700 difference.

Double Edit: If you buy a brand new cab, you'll need to break it in. A lot of guys will put the cab face down on their mattress and setup their guitar in a way that it just keeps playing feedback through the speaker. I forget how many hours you need to do it but I remember new cabs sound really stale until you break them in.

Great speakers. I prefer the Alnico Blues overall I think, but they're both very good. My AC-30 has blues in it just driving it to the razor's edge by just barely overdriving it is amazing.

Is Seventh still around? Can you recommend any shops in the Boston or southcoast area that can dress some frets (file them, level, etc.)?

I went to Ray Mullins music because a friend said the guy was a pro at doing setups and when I received my guitar back parts were falling off (literally) - so this is when I started doing my own setups. But I don't think I want to try my hand at dressing frets on my beloved RG550.

Also decided I'm buying a 5150. Let the metal commence.

I bought some new strings and now my guitar is going out of tune all the time. Maybe I just need to break them in a bit. I really like the strings though. Ernie Ball Heavy Bottom strings. I greatly prefer these to the overguaged strings I was using previously. The bottom 2 strings are still pretty heavy gauge but the others sound far better IMO.

Tenks_sl said:

I bought some new strings and now my guitar is going out of tune all the time. Maybe I just need to break them in a bit. I really like the strings though. Ernie Ball Heavy Bottom strings. I greatly prefer these to the overguaged strings I was using previously. The bottom 2 strings are still pretty heavy gauge but the others sound far better IMO.

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Everytime I restring my guitar I do it like this, one string at a time:

1. Take off string to replace
2. Put on new string
3. Tune the string
4. Pull the string upwards and slam it back and forth to 'stretch it out'
5. Retune
6. Do steps 4 and 5 a total of 3 times.
7. Do 1-6 for every string
8. Tune guitar

This will stop the guitar from going out of tune so much after a string change, although it will still happen for the first hour a little bit.

Also if you're changing string gauges be careful that you may need a setup. I don't know what kind of guitar you have but you may need to add/remove tension on the neck and bridge. If you have a floyd rose it's a pain in the dick.

Slaythe_sl said:

I'm sure that 5150 will make a great place to stack mail on top of.

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I made her clean that shit up. I made her go through the filing cabinet too. She's keeping bills from 5 years ago like someone is going to come find her and ask about the rent payment she made in April 2011

Its a Schecter. I doubt I need to adjust something its probably just the strings need to be broken in. If it keeps happening after a week or so I'll just restring it. I didn't do the best job giving it a bunch of slack so I'm concerned there isn't enough excess on the bolt.

What gauge did you go from/to? Just curious. Standard tuning?

Usually when I string a guitar I like two full loops around the peg

I like to set the bend in the string at the next peg.

Noodlemod_sl said:

What gauge did you go from/to? Just curious. Standard tuning?

Usually when I string a guitar I like two full loops around the peg

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I can't recall my previous guage but my new ones are lighter on the high strings and about equal on the low ones. I think I only have maybe one loop on the peg. I didn't do a great job its been a while since I've strung my guitar and I was trying to do it quickly.

Yeah thats basically what I got. 10-52.

Usually going to 10's you don't need to do a setup, but I don't know if your guitar was ever professionally setup

Noodlemod_sl said:

Is Seventh still around? Can you recommend any shops in the Boston or southcoast area that can dress some frets (file them, level, etc.)?

I went to Ray Mullins music because a friend said the guy was a pro at doing setups and when I received my guitar back parts were falling off (literally) - so this is when I started doing my own setups. But I don't think I want to try my hand at dressing frets on my beloved RG550.

Also decided I'm buying a 5150. Let the metal commence.

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Closest place I would trust is all the way up in Manchester.


Tenks does your guitar have a trem system in it? If so what type?

Manchester, NH? or Manchester by the Sea, MA? Never heard of the second place.


I'm dropping my RG550 to C Standard or B Standard this week, not sure which. It'll be good because it's been several years since the guitar got a setup.