There’re some great guitar amp brands out there, and these days we have more choices than ever. Some brands are best at making gear for certain genres of music and certain types of guitar players. But what about Peavey? Well, if you’re a heavy rock/metal guitarist, then Peavey is one of the best amp brands you could look at.
With that in mind, let’s compare two of Peavey’s most popular models, the 6505 MH and Invective MH.
| Features: | Peavey 6505 MH 20W Mini Head | Peavey Invective Mini 20W Head |
|---|---|---|
| Price: | £479 | £649 |
| Preamp Tubes: | 3 x 12AX7/ECC83 | 3 x 12AX7/ECC83 |
| Power Tubes: | 2 x EL84 | 2 x EL84 |
| Max Wattage: | 20W | 20W |
| Channels: | 2 | 2 |
| Weight: | 14.59 lbs | 16.5 lbs |
Peavey 6505 MH
Coming across mini amps and micro heads is a familiar sight these days. They’ve become popular enough that a shadowy, but loud subculture of high-gain micro metal amps has risen. The Peavey 6505 MH is one of the newest additions to the “baby metal amp” tribe. It’s a scalable, 20-watt, two-channel, dual-EL84 take on one of Peavey’s most iconic amps, making it a brutish little beast.
Design
Peavey’s 6505 Mini Head is based on their flagship 6505 design, with the same gain structure and similar front panel features.
These include separate lead and rhythm preamp and master volume controls, low, mid and high EQ, a bright switch on the rhythm channel, power stage presence and resonance, together with a foot-switchable crunch mode for the rhythm channel.
The rear-panel features are identical to the other two mini heads, with the same speaker, DI, loop and foot switch functions. Despite having significantly distinct sounds, all three heads have a similar look, as the cabinets are all the same size and share Peavey’s commonly high build and finish quality.
Sound Quality
It’s no surprise that the 6505 is even more focused, aimed squarely at modern rock and metal players. It’s an up-to-date version of Peavey’s 5150 amp, a popular choice for rock and metal users all over the world.
The 6505 produces a bone-crushing thick distortion, which is the product of a lot of preamp gain stages and a powerful resonance control that boosts the low-end response. While it has less than half the preamp valves of its bigger brother, it still sounds remarkably similar, with the same full bass response and OTT crunch sounds that shroud most players’ notions of a good metal lead sound.
The amp’s lead channel squeezes out, even more, sustain and grind for a supreme rock and metal sound, although like the original, it can take some dialling in to achieve the best results.
All three amps in the Mini Head impress with their similar back panel features: the MSDI output sounds quite realistic, delivering a good clean signal to live or studio situations. A good word needs to be said about its built-in reverb, which sounds a lot more expensive than it is and easily frees up an outboard digital effect.
Peavey’s design and manufacturing expertise has been fully leveraged with these three heads; they sound impressive and look great, with power and clean headroom to handle smaller gigs, and studio-friendly features making a huge difference when it comes to getting tracks down fast.
Pros
- Provides a great sound for modern rock and metal, tons of distortion and feedback at conversation level.
Cons
- As it’s a smaller power stage, it won’t provide as much dynamic punch.
Peavey Invective Mini
Misha Mansoor has been a true pioneer of modern metal guitar tones. Through his work with Periphery, Mansoor has inspired a lot of today’s modern guitarists with his trademark tight and technical riffs. Mansoor relies on some very particular gear in order to achieve his distinctive sound.
His signature guitar amp, the Invective MH, is a key ingredient to getting his massive yet precise tone. Originally unveiled at the 2019 NAMM show, the Invective MH Mini Head is the little brother of Peavey’s Invective 120.
Design
Peavey’s invective MH may be housed in a mini head configuration; it’s nevertheless packed with more features than a lot of full-size heads can boast. At its core, Peavey’s invective MH is a 20-watt, two-channel amp that’s driven by a pair of EL84 power output tubes and three 12AX7 preamp tubes.
The amp’s Clean channel provides Gain, Low and High controls, while its Lead channel offers Pre-Gain, Low, Mid, High and Post-Gain controls plus three switches for Gate, Tight and Boost functions.
The invective MH’s Master section controls consist of Resonance and Presence for fine-tuning bass and treble characteristics. It has a pair of LEDs that provide double duty as indicators for the Standby and Power switches and as Tube Status Indicators for each of the power output tubes, and will change from green to red when the tube performance is not as strong as it should be.
You’ll find that the amp’s rear panel is similarly feature-packed, having a voltage selector switch, an attenuator switch for 20, 5 or 1-watt output power, a single quarter-inch speaker output jack along with an 8/16-ohm switch, the sophisticated Mic Simulated Direct Interface section with an XLR output jack, speaker engage/defeat switch, ground/lift switch and 1/8- inch headphone output, buffered effects loop, two-foot switch jacks for controlling channel switch/tight and boost + gate/loop functions and a USB Type B jack, providing mic-simulated digital audio output.
Peavey provides a single two-button foot switch unit that’s included with the head for use with either of the foot switch jacks.
Sound Quality
With the unit being just 16.6lbs, the mini-head version of the Invective is a lot more portable, and given its size, there’s no quarter shown when it comes to performance. It translates its big brother’s exceptional gain stage into a smaller and more manageable format while offering a Clean channel that gives a super pedal platform and is impressive in its own right.
Fans of Peavey’s 6505 amp should find a lot to like about the Lead channel, as its preamp was designed around the 6505’s and it, too, has everything a rock/metal player could need. Even without the boost engaged, its Lead channel has a generous amount of dirt. The gain it has is abundantly rich in harmonics and it’s a truly great channel for hard rock and metal players looking to split the atom with their solos.
If you’re looking to lay down a rhythm piece, then the Tight switch can come in useful. It takes a little bit off gain, but in adjusting the EQ, it helps to bring out all the details in power chords, adding a sense of three-dimensional oomph to your rhythm playing.
The invective MH’s MSDI tech remains impressive, making silent headphones practice a joy rather than the lifeless chore it can be with lesser emulated outputs. The technology of the invective MH is moving apace, with digital modelling amplifiers pushing the envelope of what is possible.
Pros
- Impressive levels of gain, along with nice cleans
- Foot switchable effects loop is provided
- Suitable for stage, home and studio
- Good price.
Cons
- No user controls for the noise-gate.
Conclusion
So, which one is right for you? Well, the basic high-gain channels should be pretty similar. The Invective MH provides the additional tight/boost/gate buttons, which will give you a tighter, more modern sound. On the other hand, the 6505 has reverb. By changing the preamp tubes to lower gain, you can get a nice clean tone from the rhythm channel.
It really comes down to whether you need the extra features that the Invective MH has and whether you want to pay extra for them.