.50 Caliber + VS D.C. 5

How would you guys compare the tone of the .50 Caliber + to the DC 5? I'd like to know for the Lead channel, not too concerned with the clean, I play 80/90's Metal (rhythm guitar), thrash type riffing...

I have a .50 Cal + but would like to explore other options..Do the DC 5's also sound decent at low bedroom volumes as well as cranked? Like the .50 Cal+ does?

The .50 Cal+ is more aggressive than the DC-5 ( I had a DC-10), the DC has a great lead ch, but it's smoother than the .50 Cal.

I had both at the same time. Sitting right next to each other, here is what I noticed:


.50 Cal:
Way better clean if you like warm rich cleans.
Reverb about the same.
Lead channel sounded raw and vintage, like all of my old punk tapes.
I could easily get any tone from Black Sabbath to ZZ Top out of it.
Lots of sustain and great tone!
Mine did not sound good at lower volumes and this is the only reason I don't still have it.


DC-5:
The clean is more spanky and less warm. It really likes fast runs. Not much headroom with the stock output transformer.
Mine now has a Mercury Magnetics output transformer and it has headroom for days.
Reverb is good, but not nearly as good as my DC-10 was or my Twin (kind of goes without saying).
Lead channel is very versatile and much smoother than the .50 Cal.
Lots more distortion on tap too!
The DC has the same amount of distortion on 6 as the .50 did maxed out.
I can get any tone I want out of this amp with a little coaxing.
I usually have it set up for a great Santana type lead tone and back my volume off a bit if I want old school crunch.


I think that the DC-5 sounds better at lower volumes than the .50, but if I had my way, I would have 1 of each!

You must have had something wrong with your .50 cal cause there's no way in hell the DC-5 or DC-10 has more gain than my .50cal. But maybe mine is an oddball.

Everything was up to spec. I also replaced all caps and LDR's while I had it.

That's the only one I've played though, so I don't know if it's a fair comparison.
Also, according to Mike B. at Mesa, the EL-84 model has more "Growl."

Well my 6L6 version has much more gain than my ex DC5.
Ive bought my 50+ just as an amp for few gigs until ill get DC5, when DC arrived, ive put 50+ for half year to basement. Ive also decided to sell it, but before the guy arrived, ive wanted to check if is everything in order. So ive turned 50+ on and from first note, i could say : What have i done!!. The tone was totally perfect, of course ive played it few times before, but i dont know why, it fitted me now sooo much. And well, its my main amp till these days. No i run there NOS 5881 and in preamp combination of lot tubes. And to be honest, ive compared it to lots of amps (MkIII,MkII,DC5,DR,SR,Marshalls, local boutique Rockwell, Rivera etc.) and every time it makes me sure that i should be happy to be owner of such a great amp. Just one weakness is on control for both channels, but you can get use of it and it learned me how to work with volume in guitar or use volume pedal...
i play post-hc/crossover, not these with noise tones, but more melodically, with pretty long passages, i use PRS McCarty Soapbar and im happy every time i play it, it never dissappoinet me...hope it wont...
and to compare with DC the DC had not so much balls, not so raw, not so truthfull :d more modern amp...

That's really interesting. Now I'm wondering about the .50 again.

Mine did not have anywhere near the gain that my DC-5 has. I tried lots of tubes, replaced LDR's, etc.
I know that it was completely stock when I got it. I'm wondering if some part in the circuit had simply drifted way off of it's original value.

It worked really well, so I didn't think twice about it at the time.

Yep, I agree with Citizen1 and I've had many a Boogie, 3 MKIII's (one had the C+ mod done at Boogie), I've had two studio preamps, a Dc10 and my .50Cal had as much if not more gain, definitely more than the studio preamps and DC-10, and it may not have more than the MKIII's but it's darker and more aggressive.

i dont know how you, but i use also a an ECC81 on 4th position, so i have less gain than normal and still ive very much gain, i usually plays about 7-8, but its still ok, its great playable, but also i think the sound i darker than anyone, one guy told me once, that ive really dark sound, even the major chords sounds dark, so i dont know where the truth lies, but i know now that 50+ is lifetime amp.

I use a Amperex Bugle Boy in V-1, a GE 12at7 in V-2, a Beijing Facility 12ax7 in V-3 a 12aT7 in V-4(reverb driver) and a Tung Sol ri 12ax7 in V-5 (phase inverter). and I've got huge amounts of gain. As much as my SLO clone or a 5150? No. But I've gut plenty of usable gain and it's super tight.

Mine had nowhere near the gain of an SLO!

I think I need another one!

Like I said it doesn't have as much gain as a SLO or 5150, but it does have a lot of gain.

:lol: Guess I misread that one! :lol: