EVH 5150III Hypersonic 6L6: the EVH Tonemaster

[paisleywookiee]

First thing I looked for was the weight. One trip crew + generic 5150 III tone without the tubes = a big no thank you.

I bet it boots fast tho

 

[DrewJD82]

Even being a modeling fan, I’m having a hard time seeing the benefit of this particular amp at that cost. These already sound great at bedroom/living room levels, my 50-watt head/2x12 has been my living room rig for a while. The power scaling is cool, but these amps definitely don’t need to be pushed to sound great. At $1700, well, I got my head/cab for $850 used and while that’s a crazy good deal, you can buy the tube combos for $800-$900 used all day long.

The XLR out/cab sims are it, I suppose?

 

[paisleywookiee]

Even being a modeling fan, I’m having a hard time seeing the benefit of this particular amp at that cost. These already sound great at bedroom/living room levels, my 50-watt head/2x12 has been my living room rig for a while. The power scaling is cool, but these amps definitely don’t need to be pushed to sound great. At $1700, well, I got my head/cab for $850 used and while that’s a crazy good deal, you can buy the tube combos for $800-$900 used all day long.

The XLR out/cab sims are it, I suppose?

This is a $999 head, $1199 combo, MAX. The BluGuitar Amp 1 Iridium will crush this thing for much less, even when accounting for a cab.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Even being a modeling fan, I’m having a hard time seeing the benefit of this particular amp at that cost. These already sound great at bedroom/living room levels, my 50-watt head/2x12 has been my living room rig for a while. The power scaling is cool, but these amps definitely don’t need to be pushed to sound great. At $1700, well, I got my head/cab for $850 used and while that’s a crazy good deal, you can buy the tube combos for $800-$900 used all day long.

The XLR out/cab sims are it, I suppose?

Hopefully the cab sims are analog tech from 2007 and can't be swapped out

 

[spawnofthesith]

 

[Iron1]

These are made in China? That’s some big balls, charging that much for an MIC amp.

They’re charging $1400 for the oval badge on the front that says EVH. The amp itself is just $300.

Hope that helps.


Us -> <- Fender

 

[JiveTurkey]

The 5150III isn't even that remarkable of an amp. The 50 watter is great because of it's size and feature set. It is pretty much generic AF high gain tone post 2010 V1 and that's about it.

 

[paisleywookiee]

Hopefully the cab sims are analog tech from 2007 and can't be swapped out

Nah, they're IR's at least. There are two, don't know if they're swappable.

 

[Iron1]

The Fender modeling combos are pretty cool initially, but definitely prone to dumb/premature failures. Can’t imagine paying nearly $2k just to have the pcb take a dump a week after the warranty ends.

 

[Sidler72]

Wasn’t the Iconic part solid state and a lot cheaper?

 

[Baba]

Wasn’t the Iconic part solid state and a lot cheaper?

Right?

 

[greatmutah]

The 5150III isn't even that remarkable of an amp. The 50 watter is great because of it's size and feature set. It is pretty much generic AF high gain tone post 2010 V1 and that's about it.

Give me a Peavey any day for that sound. Had the Fender/EVH 50 watt. Wanted to love it but couldn’t. Took it back and came back home with a sig letter 5150. THAT is the 5150 tone in my head.

 

[Desertdweller]

Wasn’t the Iconic part solid state and a lot cheaper?

That’s because the 5150 Iconic is named after the iconic amplifier 5150 instead of the iconic guitar player EVH, who played EVH 5150 6L6 IIIs like this amp, but not this amp, though this amp has the same name but costs more than the tube version somehow. Maybe they should slap a “Series X” on the end, it’s refreshing to see another company failing this hard to name their products actually worse than Microsoft.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Give me a Peavey any day for that sound. Had the Fender/EVH 50 watt. Wanted to love it but couldn’t. Took it back and came back home with a sig letter 5150. THAT is the 5150 tone in my head.

I like the 50 watter. But it is an instant forget all about the minute it leaves my possession type of amp. The OG is something special for me, even if it is it's own generic thing as well.

 

[Iron1]

. Maybe they should slap a “Series X” on the end, it’s refreshing to see another company failing this hard to name their products actually worse than Microsoft.

Ibanez: “Hold my beer”

 

[Desertdweller]

Ibanez: “Hold my beer”

Fair point, though at least Ibanez usually makes sense!

RG - roadstar guitar
S - s series
RGT - neck thru
RGR - reverse headstock

Etc

Of course I say that and I own an Ibanez 7 string with "six" in the model name

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Definitely needs a head version.

Nah, it definitely needs to be dropped on a head. The head of the person who decided on the name and, above all, the price.

 

[Jarick]

Already posted that.

Thanks for the confirmation. Big fan of Sweetwater for looking up the specs.

I just don't get this at $1700. I'm sure the build quality and components are going to be way better than a Katana or the cheap Iconic amps, but $1700 for a 1x12 combo solid state 5150 is just way too niche.

Again, if there were a head for $1000 I could see that being a seller. The Orange Super Crush is really popular although that's only $600. But in theory a solid state yet accurate 5150 III with power scaling and an IR direct out could be really useful.

How popular are high gain 1x12 tube combos anyway? Seems like a weird product. Half stack was the standard years ago, and even now a head with a 2x12 is really popular.

You know what else is weird, the EVH Hypersonic brand was previously used for an FRFR speaker. This combo amp has nothing to do with the Hypersonic speaker, which still has no other EVH associated gear that you would use with it. What's the point?

It's like they probably should have released a preamp pedal or even a floorboard amp instead.

 

[paisleywookiee]

I just don't get this at $1700. I'm sure the build quality and components are going to be way better than a Katana or the cheap Iconic amps, but $1700 for a 1x12 combo solid state 5150 is just way too niche.

Again, if there were a head for $1000 I could see that being a seller. The Orange Super Crush is really popular although that's only $600. But in theory a solid state yet accurate 5150 III with power scaling and an IR direct out could be really useful.

How popular are high gain 1x12 tube combos anyway? Seems like a weird product. Half stack was the standard years ago, and even now a head with a 2x12 is really popular.

Agree on all of that. It's not necessarily a terrible product. It's just really too expensive for what it is. And yeah, high gain combos outside of Mesa Marks are weird.

You know what else is weird, the EVH Hypersonic was previously used for an FRFR speaker. This combo amp has nothing to do with the Hypersonic, which has no other EVH associated gear that you would use with it. What's the point?

I think they're trying to position "Hypersonic" as stuff generally related to their digital solutions.

 

[Whizzinby]

$1,700?

For that money I'm buying a fucking big boy amp.

Super Crush head is awesome for only $500 new. Why not take that approach and shove the digital model in front of a SS power amp and sell a potentially cool head?