Will the 5:50 do metal with a boost?

[polaris20]

I played the 5:50 with my guitar this time, and really liked it, but the only thing that worries me is that for metal, it's not quite there. Almost, but not quite.

Will it get metal with a boost, either a clean boost or dirty boost like an OCD or SD-1?

I went in there thinking I'd like the Ace, and I do, but I think in the end I'm a 6L6 kinda guy.

 

[NuSkoolTone]

IME no. You'll get more gain, but it's a pretty flubby amp on the dirt channel IMO.

 

[MrMason]

It depends on how you define metal. It'll do 80's metal and most Metallica fine with an overdrive.

 

[Newysurfer]

The 5:50 doesn't have enough gain to do any kind of metal unassisted IMHO. A clean boosting pedal won't give you extra gain either.

All you need for the 5:50 to do great metal of any kind is to run 1 good metal pedal thru it's clean channel. Or run a high gain distortion pedal like a Crunchbox into the clean channel and then mid scoop it with a good EQ pedal.

Or run a Tubescreamer pedal like a TS-808 thru the 5:50's burn channel and then mid scoop it with an EQ pedal.

All those options will give you great metal tones cause the clean channel on the 5:50 is superior IMHO to any other Mesa amp except the Lonestars.

I don't recommend ruining any decent amp with an SD-1 though. Would you mix Coke with Bollinger ? An OCD is a good mid gain distortion pedal but to get metal you'd have to run it into the 5:50's burn channel to get enough gain. Stacking mid gain on high gain just gives you mud. A TS-808 or a Fulldrive Mosfet 11 is a much better, cleaner gain driver. You still need to mid scoop it though to get metal tones. The 5:50's Contour pot is handy for that but I've got unlimited tone options with an EQ pedal to get any flavour of clean, OD, distortion or metal tones I want. That's one reason why the MXR EQ pedal always stays on my board

 

[MrMason]

...
I don't recommend ruining any decent amp with an SD-1 though...

That's what I'm using, through the crunch channel. I wouldn't say it ruins the amp; I've heard better overdrives, but with the right settings it can a pretty good gain boost. I turn the tone and gain on the pedal to about 9:30 and the volume up to around 3:00, it's a good solo boost like that without adding too much harshness (the SD-1 WILL add harshness if you're not careful).

 

[Steve P]

It depends on how you define metal. It'll do 80's metal and most Metallica fine with an overdrive

+1

Super high-gain, down-tuned metal ... probably not. These amps aren't voiced for it. That's what the Rectos are for.

More moderate-gain 80s' style metal (e.g. Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, maybe Metallica) and classic hard rock it does very well.

 

[MrMason]

Just a little something to showcase the 5:50. The kicker is that this was played in 5 WATTS; it sounds fuller in 50 WATTS, I just wanted to see what it would sound like as it is. It won't do super high gain, but it definitely does moderately high gain. Excuse the playing, I wasn't trying to do more than just do a quick recording. I'm in drop D for this (tuned down a half-step), but I normally play just tuned down half step standard. I'm playing in Crunch mode, Burn will give you something heavier without using an overdrive, but I think the Burn mode is too bass heavy. I could get close without the overdrive if I turned the gain up, but I like being able to have 2 different gain platforms to play with. The bass is set low too, there's a LOT more bass available on these amps.
My unmodded SD-1 is set to have a high output but low gain; with the tone turned down to cut down on the fizzy nature of the pedal but still have plenty of dynamics. I have the channel set up to do a pretty good AC/DC style rhythm tone without the SD-1, and my typical lead sound with the SD-1 and contour engaged; it does a pretty decent moderate high gain sound too.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=455412&songID=6579155

 

[Newysurfer]

I just think you'll get much, much better results if you use some high quality distortion and OD pedals. One's with great tones, low noise and don't tone suck your amp. For distortion ditch the Boss pedals and try a Crunchbox, or Fulltone OCD, a T-Rex, or a Rat and for OD try Keeley or Analogman mo'ded TS-808's or the Fulldrive Mosfet 2 pedal. These OD pedals are also much better boosters than any thing Boss make.

 

[benlink]

I have a BB preamp from xotic......
if I use it on the burn channel, will I be able to get a metal sound that would work well for Metallica, Hatebreed, Down, Pantera maybe....?

 

[clantz]

I have an Express 5:25 and can get ok 80s thrash tones just using a 10 band MXR eq in the loop. One thing I noticed is if you want to max the gain out, you have to keep the bass really low, like between 9 and 10 o’clock. Otherwise the amp will sound really flubby. You need to you the contour control and EQ to add extra bass. The express amps can easily do classic metal like Maiden and Priest.

 

[MrMason]

I never said the SD-1 was a great pedal lol, but it's not CRAP either. How does the Keeley 5-Star GE Stacked SD-1 mod sound? I can't afford a better OD right now, but I might look into that if it's any good.