EVH 5150iii Love Thread

JiveTurkey said:
Also @Whizzinby ; is that 212 a precursor to another acquisition :sofa:love
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secret-meme.gif
 
JiveTurkey said:
Also @Whizzinby ; is that 212 a precursor to another acquisition :sofa:love
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:rofl

Just contributing to the 5153 vibes. That was actually my rig before moving on to a 412. (And the SLO replaced the 5153) I always regretted moving on from the Stealth back when I thought it was only ok to have one amp. :ROFLMAO: Ive considered adding it back (or an OG 5150) but my current flight of fancy is adding a Dual Rec and Mesa 412 if I can get over the mental hurdle of having way more gear than I actually “need”.
 
Whizzinby said:
:rofl

Just contributing to the 5153 vibes. That was actually my rig before moving on to a 412. (And the SLO replaced the 5153) I always regretted moving on from the Stealth back when I thought it was only ok to have one amp. :ROFLMAO: Ive considered adding it back (or an OG 5150) but my current flight of fancy is adding a Dual Rec and Mesa 412 if I can get over the mental hurdle of having way more gear than I actually “need”.
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A plan is a plan! Go for it :love
 
I'd like to get one to have next to my 6505+

Actually, my tastes have been shifting a bit recently. I've not been feeling my Diezel's very much. But I know if I flog them to fund purchasing some other amps, I'll eventually regret it.

I've got the hots for a 50-watter stealth, with the concentric volume and gain pots. I've also got the hots for a Revv 100P or 100R - probably the R.
 
spawnofthesith said:
I feel like the number of 50 waters has exceeded badlanders on the forum…
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As someone who’s owned both here’s my quick breakdown comparing the 5150 III EL34 to the Badlander:

1. The amps sound similar enough that if you like that sound, the feature set, build quality, and price would be determining factors.
2. Do you want 3 channels and MIDI functionality? Go with the 5150 III.
3. Do you want a clean channel that gets into pushed vintage territory without going into a full crunch mode? Get the Badlander.
4. Do you want an onboard Two Notes IR loader? Badlander all day- it’s awesome.
5. Build quality - American made Mesa vs Mexico-made 5150 - you be the judge. I had no problems with either amp really.
6. For the 5150 III EL34 50w - you should really clip the 137 capacitor. It’s a simple mod and it makes the blue channel just as good as on other models. I have a post on this forum showing how to do it, and there are tons of videos up on YouTube as well.
7. The Badlander’s Crush channel could be accused of not having enough gain, the 5150 III red channel has far too much. So most users use a boost or the trendy Mr Scary mod on the Badlander, and I’ve used a 12au7 in the 5150 III’s red channel gain stage to step down the gain to a more usable level.
8. Both amps sound great by themselves or with a boost.
9. Both have super simple controls and you will find it difficult to get a bad sound out of either amp.
10. While both amps can sound very good at low and high volumes - the Badlander has a step-down feature to 20 watts. You have to mess with a very touchy volume control on the 5150 III to get a low volume. The pots are tighter and arguably higher quality on the Badlander.
11. Size. Mesa fit a 100w Badlander into a 17inch chassis. The 100w EVH is absolutely massive and it seems most people go for the 50w variant (myself included) because the size of the amp is more reasonable.

I generally find the EL34 version of the 5150 IIIs to be my favorite, and I generally like running the Badlander with EL34s. Which is odd because I’m usually a 6L6 guy - but for these amps the EL34s just absolutely rule. I’ve played both amps with bands and recorded both. IMO they’re very similar sounding overall and while my preference is the Badlander, you can’t go wrong with either.
 
Desertdweller said:
As someone who’s owned both here’s my quick breakdown comparing the 5150 III EL34 to the Badlander:

1. The amps sound similar enough that if you like that sound, the feature set, build quality, and price would be determining factors.
2. Do you want 3 channels and MIDI functionality? Go with the 5150 III.
3. Do you want a clean channel that gets into pushed vintage territory without going into a full crunch mode? Get the Badlander.
4. Do you want an onboard Two Notes IR loader? Badlander all day- it’s awesome.
5. Build quality - American made Mesa vs Mexico-made 5150 - you be the judge. I had no problems with either amp really.
6. For the 5150 III EL34 50w - you should really clip the 137 capacitor. It’s a simple mod and it makes the blue channel just as good as on other models. I have a post on this forum showing how to do it, and there are tons of videos up on YouTube as well.
7. The Badlander’s Crush channel could be accused of not having enough gain, the 5150 III red channel has far too much. So most users use a boost or the trendy Mr Scary mod on the Badlander, and I’ve used a 12au7 in the 5150 III’s red channel gain stage to step down the gain to a more usable level.
8. Both amps sound great by themselves or with a boost.
9. Both have super simple controls and you will find it difficult to get a bad sound out of either amp.
10. While both amps can sound very good at low and high volumes - the Badlander has a step-down feature to 20 watts. You have to mess with a very touchy volume control on the 5150 III to get a low volume. The pots are tighter and arguably higher quality on the Badlander.
11. Size. Mesa fit a 100w Badlander into a 17inch chassis. The 100w EVH is absolutely massive and it seems most people go for the 50w variant (myself included) because the size of the amp is more reasonable.

I generally find the EL34 version of the 5150 IIIs to be my favorite, and I generally like running the Badlander with EL34s. Which is odd because I’m usually a 6L6 guy - but for these amps the EL34s just absolutely rule. I’ve played both amps with bands and recorded both. IMO they’re very similar sounding overall and while my preference is the Badlander, you can’t go wrong with either.
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Excellent write up!

And hey, did you promote your album here at all???
 
LBXii 15 Watt is my FAV.

I used it on Rise:

&
the entire upcoming record I did which is available next month - here's one of tunes:
 
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Orvillain said:
I'd like to get one to have next to my 6505+

Actually, my tastes have been shifting a bit recently. I've not been feeling my Diezel's very much. But I know if I flog them to fund purchasing some other amps, I'll eventually regret it.

I've got the hots for a 50-watter stealth, with the concentric volume and gain pots. I've also got the hots for a Revv 100P or 100R - probably the R.
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The 50 watt Stealth is a beast that truly covers so many tones from excellent cleans, breakup, classic rock, and over the top gained out metal. Run it in 4CM with your favorite modeller (I use the Fractal gear) or a simple Boss EQ in the loop and you can shape damn near any sound out of it. Since I got mine, my Mesa heads have been in their road cases in the back room.
 
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