EVH 5150 III 50 Watt 6l6 Cabinets

[nhtope]

I currently have the EVH 5150 III 50 watt 6l6 and the matching 2x12 60 watt cabinet. I feel like the cleans are very compressed and just don't sound that great. I know that it is not the specialty of this amp but would a higher watt 2x12 cabinet make a difference? I like the taller 2x12 cabinets but I wasn't sure if there would be much of a difference if I went higher watts and different speakers? Any recommendations would be great! Thanks!

 

[Blix]

I had that rig a few years back, and I didn't feel the cleans were compressed at all, in fact I liked using a compresser with the clean channel.
Maybe you have a preamp tube that's not 100%

 

[Baba]

I had that rig a few years back, and I didn't feel the cleans were compressed at all, in fact I liked using a compresser with the clean channel.
Maybe you have a preamp tube that's not 100%

Same for me, on all accounts.

 

[nhtope]

I had that rig a few years back, and I didn't feel the cleans were compressed at all, in fact I liked using a compresser with the clean channel.
Maybe you have a preamp tube that's not 100%

OK. Thanks. Maybe I need to spend more time tweaking things too. I just wasn't sure if that smaller cabinet would sound as good as a bigger one. My last amp was a Hughes and Kettner Grandmeister 40 with a 120 watt cab. The EVH is still so much louder but in a good way.

 

[la szum]

Yeah, those are some stiff and fairly uncompressed cleans. I'd be like Blix and try a
comp pedal out front for cleans (or some kind of light gain OD) oon that amp before
plunging down the higher dollar cab/speaker hole.

 

[nhtope]

Yeah, those are some stiff and fairly uncompressed cleans. I'd be like Blix and try a
comp pedal out front for cleans (or some kind of light gain OD) oon that amp before
plunging down the higher dollar cab/speaker hole.

Thanks! I think I will try that out. I am happy with the amp overall.

 

[joezlo]

Should be sparkly cleans with that rig on green channel 100%.

 

[GreatGreen]

I currently have the EVH 5150 III 50 watt 6l6 and the matching 2x12 60 watt cabinet. I feel like the cleans are very compressed and just don't sound that great. I know that it is not the specialty of this amp but would a higher watt 2x12 cabinet make a difference? I like the taller 2x12 cabinets but I wasn't sure if there would be much of a difference if I went higher watts and different speakers? Any recommendations would be great! Thanks!

The EVH clean tones aren't really compressed at all, and the cab would have almost nothing to do with compression, unless you're running your amp volume absurdly high, like to the point that you're getting power tube (not preamp) distortion and physically overdriving the speakers themselves, which not too many people really do with the clean tones with these amps.

When you use the word "compressed" what specifically do you mean? I know what I mean when I use that word, but I'm wondering what you mean when you use it.

 

[nhtope]

The EVH clean tones aren't really compressed at all, and the cab would have almost nothing to do with compression, unless you're running your amp volume absurdly high, like to the point that you're getting power tube (not preamp) distortion and physically overdriving the speakers themselves, which not too many people really do with the clean tones with these amps.

When you use the word "compressed" what specifically do you mean? I know what I mean when I use that word, but I'm wondering what you mean when you use it.

I am describing it as compressed incorrectly. I just want to warm the clean tone up a bit. Sometimes the single notes are pretty harsh and the lower sounds are not that pronounced. My last amp was a Hughes and Kettner Grandmeister 40. The cleans were a bit different on that one but I didn't like the distortion. Would a compression pedal help?

 

[GreatGreen]

I am describing it as compressed incorrectly. I just want to warm the clean tone up a bit. Sometimes the single notes are pretty harsh and the lower sounds are not that pronounced. My last amp was a Hughes and Kettner Grandmeister 40. The cleans were a bit different on that one but I didn't like the distortion. Would a compression pedal help?

I hate to be like this, but the word "warm" also means a lot of things to a lot of people. :) Seriously though I'm not trying to be difficult and I want to help. It's not your fault, it's just that a lot of the the words we've all been taught to use to describe audio characteristics aren't really all that well-defined when we can't be there to hear specifically what the amp is doing.

However, I'll say that yes, I personally find that compressors almost always go a very long way with clean tones. A good compressor can remove or smooth out the harshness of the ear-piercing "bang" that happens when you hit notes hard by taking the loudest parts of your playing and quieting them down, and they can also increase the sustain of notes you want to ring out by making the quieter parts of your playing louder.

Another fix in a pinch is that you can simply turn the treble down and the gain and/or volume up. Turning the Treble down can go a long way towards smoothing out harshness, but our brains tend to prefer brighter tones in general so when you immediately turn the treble down, it might sound "worse" to you in that moment, so I'd encourage you to wait after turning the treble down before judging. Play around with that darker sound for a good minute or so before making your decision.

So yeah I think you're on the right track. First, mess around with your amp's EQ to dial the amp to be a bit darker overall and see if that works. But if it doesn't, then yeah definitely try a compressor.

 

[nhtope]

I hate to be like this, but the word "warm" also means a lot of things to a lot of people. :) Seriously though I'm not trying to be difficult and I want to help. It's not your fault, it's just that a lot of the the words we've all been taught to use to describe audio characteristics aren't really all that well-defined when we can't be there to hear specifically what the amp is doing.

However, I'll say that yes, I personally find that compressors almost always go a very long way with clean tones. A good compressor can remove or smooth out the harshness of the ear-piercing "bang" that happens when you hit notes hard by taking the loudest parts of your playing and quieting them down, and they can also increase the sustain of notes you want to ring out by making the quieter parts of your playing louder.

Another fix in a pinch is that you can simply turn the treble down and the gain and/or volume up. Turning the Treble down can go a long way towards smoothing out harshness, but our brains tend to prefer brighter tones in general so when you immediately turn the treble down, it might sound "worse" to you in that moment, so I'd encourage you to wait after turning the treble down before judging. Play around with that darker sound for a good minute or so before making your decision.

So yeah I think you're on the right track. First, mess around with your amp's EQ to dial the amp to be a bit darker overall and see if that works. But if it doesn't, then yeah definitely try a compressor.

I appreciate the feedback! I will try both of those ideas. I know I am not explaining it correctly but what you explained is exactly what I was trying to say. Thank you again!

 

[la szum]

I think you want some more squish and less immediacy on the Clean channel. Totally understandable
given the amp you are using.

Sometimes using less volume from the guitar can help on a really up front and present Clean channel
like on the EVH amps. Just turning your volume down on your guitar and backing off the Tone control
(also on your guitar) can help. I almost never have my volume and tone controls wide open when using
a Clean channel on a multi-channel amp.

Good luck!

 

[la szum]

Adjusting the EQ on the Clean Channel could be challenging, since that is a shared EQ for
since Ch.1 and 2 have a Shared EQ.


Worth a shot.... but it could change the Tone you enjoy on Ch. 2.

 

[Trollbait]

When I switched from my ADA MP2 preamp, (which has two preamp tubes into solid state), to my used crate palomino v32, I thought it sounded compressed also. As I used it more that feeling went away.

 

[Life Eats Life]

I hate to be like this, but the word "warm" also means a lot of things to a lot of people. :) Seriously though I'm not trying to be difficult and I want to help. It's not your fault, it's just that a lot of the the words we've all been taught to use to describe audio characteristics aren't really all that well-defined when we can't be there to hear specifically what the amp is doing.

However, I'll say that yes, I personally find that compressors almost always go a very long way with clean tones. A good compressor can remove or smooth out the harshness of the ear-piercing "bang" that happens when you hit notes hard by taking the loudest parts of your playing and quieting them down, and they can also increase the sustain of notes you want to ring out by making the quieter parts of your playing louder.

Another fix in a pinch is that you can simply turn the treble down and the gain and/or volume up. Turning the Treble down can go a long way towards smoothing out harshness, but our brains tend to prefer brighter tones in general so when you immediately turn the treble down, it might sound "worse" to you in that moment, so I'd encourage you to wait after turning the treble down before judging. Play around with that darker sound for a good minute or so before making your decision.

So yeah I think you're on the right track. First, mess around with your amp's EQ to dial the amp to be a bit darker overall and see if that works. But if it doesn't, then yeah definitely try a compressor.

Brittle

 

[Life Eats Life]

Most Mega-Monster high gainer’s have
HiFi/bright to the brittle clean channels/tones.
It’s in the inherent preamp design.
I’d put a solid RFT or a 5751 in that slot and flip that clean channel the bird.
The Archon is a glowing example.
The Diezel Herbert MK3 etc.
It works in reverse with amps with amazing clean channels.
Two Rock is a glowing example.
Good luck getting a ripping crunch tone with those clean channels.
Me.. I’m a one channel dude.
I want all the ingriedients at my disposal to dial in
for one sound, my hands will do the rest.
(They have to anyways!!!!).

 

[DrewJD82]

I couldn’t comment on this when it was posted, I needed a couple more weeks!

I think this is an inherent issue with the Green/Blue channels sharing the same EQ, and if it’s an OG 6L6 head, no dual-concentric Gain/Volume knobs. I was having this issue as well because getting what I want/need from the Blue channel means cranking the Treble quite a bit, but made the cleans harsh sounding.

Eventually I decided a solid clean tone was more important than a 2nd drive channel, so I just used Drives into the Green channel to add any dirt, which was always a dialed-back dirt instead of what I was getting from the Red channel.