NGD: EVH 5150 III 6L6

[HomespunEffects]

50 or 100w?

I'm going to be honest with you. I don't know which I tried. I'm thinking it was 50 watts but can't say for sure.

 

[deadpool_25]

I'm going to be honest with you. I don't know which I tried. I'm thinking it was 50 watts but can't say for sure.

If it was about 2 feet wide it was the 50. If it was almost as big as the room it was the 100; damn things are huge.

 

[HomespunEffects]

If it was about 2 feet wide it was the 50. If it was almost as big as the room it was the 100; damn things are huge.

50 then.

 

[GuitarBilly74]

I haven't loved V30s. I like 75s better, but unknown which is better with this amp. The XXX is supposed to be Peavey's v30, but its not as sharp as a V30 and sounds like it has more bottom, so not the same thing.

XXX are good cabs. Going to a Marshall is not much of an upgrade, the construction is exactly the same.
The speakers are not bad either, but if you don't like them, just get new speakers. The XXX is a birch ply cab, as good as anything else out there.

 

[KingsXJJ]

With my very limited experience with it, it could have been preconceived bias. I do tend to automatically like EL34 amps (I'm a Marshall guy, deep down).

Thanks. Notice anything tone wise?

 

[KingsXJJ]

All this time in the IR-X/J threads, I didn't know you had a 5153 and a JVM410H. What was the purpose of getting the friedman box if you already have the JVM?

I can see wanting to add some Marshall channels to the 5153. When I ran the IR-X into the Ironheart power section it was smoother than a Marshall, but again it is a 2x6L6 power into a Peavey cab so I dunno.

I really love the 5153 but if I later want to add Marshall tones, I might get a JIMS 800 pedal.

Just exploring the best (for me) direct Marshall tones available. Someday I hope to have the absolute best (to me) Plexi, 800, modified 800 and 900 direct tones available.

 

[Jkist7]

I don't love the EVH cabs. Favorite has been a Mesa 4x12. You might consider a speaker swap instead of a new cab. I've found V30s (ordered from Mesa's site...they're different than others, even other UK made) and Creambacks to be a great combo.

I second this.

The Mesa spec V30s are not as harsh on the top end, and have a wonderful bite in the mids. It pairs very favorably with the 5153, whose aggression can be tricky to tame.

I like this setup more than the EVH cab / speakers for sure.

 

[joezlo]

A JHS Little Black Box through the FX loop is great for 5150's.

(Its just a volume pot designed to lower the volume of the amp without having to use a load box, or any of that stuff)

I call it a passive variac.

Aside from that I've used a Mesa Cab Clone 16 ohm through a 5150 for years to deal with the "load" and have never had a problem.

This is a 5153 LBX ii through a Mesa Cab clone & Behringer Guitar Ultra DI (no mics)



Speaker wise, I'm still using an old 5150 Peavey straight cab with 2 V30's and 2 g12h @ 16ohms, but haven't had the room to mic it in a long time.
A SM57 & BETA 57 were always my goto's though.

 

[spawnofthesith]

I agree with your assessment. At its price point/size/feature set it’s basically the perfect high gain amp

As an added bonus, there’s a lot of modeling folks on this forum and it also serves as an immaculate powers amp for a modelled pre section

Just a very well thought out top notch product all around

 

[KingsXJJ]

For sure. For someone with the ability to play a little louder, I bet the 100W is more satisfying. While the 50W has midi and resonance knob, I think the 100W is probably more complete with a larger bottom. I don't think it has anything to do with it being 50W, I think they just designed it to be a tight little instant gratification machine.

My experience with the 100w head was that without the resonance knob it did not have the low end of either the 6L6 or EL34 50w heads.

It might if the resonance was zeroed on them. But I never compared them like that. It’s a shame because other than the resonance control being removed and it lacking midi, I loved that amp. It was beautiful in person too. Grrrr.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I keep the resonance off in my Stealth. I don't like that woof on top of the core tone.

 

[Jkist7]

The low end is pretty cab / volume dependent. With my 1x12 Mesa Rectifier cab and playing at lower volumes, I would run resonance around 10-11am on my 50w. The 100w sounded fine with the bass knob at noon.

Louder volumes or in a band mix, resonance not needed as much usually.

 

[KingsXJJ]

I keep the resonance off in my Stealth. I don't like that woof on top of the core tone.

I use it primarily as a variable “loudness” at low/home levels for a fuller sound. I’m not sure if I would use it at stage volume since I haven’t had that opportunity recently.

 

[Jkist7]

That's interesting. It could be that when they redesigned with the 50w, they just made it a better amp. It is still tight even with the resonance up, at least by my frame of reference. You just raise the bass and presence and bam there is your perfect metal sound.

I wouldn't spend 2-2.5K on a 100W amp without a resonance or midi at this point, even if it is a better amp.

Yeah I've owned both and guess which one I still own? The 100w head had a fullness to it, but it was subtle. The 50w has way more gain, and is more versatile due to the additional gain and res knob. I kept the 50w. They really are workhorse amps.

 

[joezlo]

The tightness of the low end can change based upon your cabinet preference.

(Any 5150 with some form of cab that has an open part will loosen your low end)

Also, if you want "the extra push over the cliff" for the blue channel, an echo plex booster, or exotic ep booster works really well (the exotic ep booster has more options).

 

[GuitarBilly74]

The standard 100w 6L6 is even more of a rock amp than the 50w 6L6. The blue channel on 100w has considerably less gain than the blue on the 50w. And there's no Resonance control.

On the other hand, the 100w Stealth and EL34 are monster amps. Plenty of gain in the their blue channels and 3 Resonance controls in the back (1 per channel). Killer amps.

But still, I think the 50w heads have the right balance between price, features, size and tone. If I bought an EVH head again, it would probably be the 50w.

 

[joezlo]

Ugh... The seeds of doubt are forming and rather quickly. I'm starting to fall out of love with this amp. Chances of keeping it are below 50% now. The only things really keeping me from sending it back today are that I don't want to abuse the MF return policy and because it does ONE thing very well.

I spend all my time doing Paul Gilbert and Andy James style playing. So the most important thing is the pick attack and the sound of the solo notes. The problem with the 5150III, is that the individual notes oscillate to the n'th degree. Everyone who plays distorted lead guitar knows what this is (and I can probably look it up on google and with 30 minutes of research pretend to be an expert on the topic -- it is probably intermodulation distortion). But the 5153, maybe more specifically *this* amp (maybe they vary?), does it to a distracting degree. You hang an individual note and it pulses and oscillates in way to distract from the fundamental tone, almost demanding and forcing me to play vibrato to hide it. And of course every note does it to a different degree and speed. This is with the red channel with gain on half.

I have thought it might be poorly intonated guitar but I'm cycling through all the guitars within reaching distance and they all do it to the same degree.

The other thing, and probably related, is that the pick attack is not as clear and definite. It seems to take up more volume, but also it is not well defined. Its more of a thud than it is a click. I like that the notes are more saturated, but they also have a ton of jank in them.

Also, going back and forth between the Ironheart and the 5153, its clear that the 5153 has one tonal signature. The ONE thing the 5153 does well is saturated metal POWER CHORDS, no one can deny. But there is a mid "honk" that gives it this ability. Its always there, even when you scoop the mids. So its great when you are chugging power chords, but it is ALWAYS THERE when soloing or playing anything.

I can get the Ironheart to do the 5153 thing with an SD1 and right EQ settings on the lead channel, but its not built in like it is with the 5153. I can also loosen up the Ironheart and I can't do that with the 5153.

And then also, the amp is just lacking creature comforts. Its a 2/3rds size amp that needs concentric pots, has tiny channel selectors that interfere with the channel volumes, doesn't have a master volume, the resonance is on the back. It has midi but that doesn't make up for all the compromises. Its 1/2 the price of most current amps because it is half an amp.

It may be that this particular amp is suffering more than normal from the oscillations. The fundamental problem for me is that the solo notes sound janky and that makes it difficult to put up with the compromises. The Laney shows its possible to have clear and defined high gain lead notes.

I feel like an asshole for wanting to return this, but I also wasn't expecting it to have so much jank built into the notes. I don't remember this shit from the JSX. I don't think its an unavoidable feature of high gain amps with layered distortion. The reason I sold the JSX was because it lacked versatility, not because the solo notes were lacking.

You shouldn't need to put the gain on a 5153 red channel to half.

You probably already mentioned, but are you playing at regular volume?

Never have I ever needed more than 4 on gain for a 5150 amp playing at 1/2 or more volume naturally, nor had oscillation issues.

-I do play some Mr Big with the amp-

I can say this: if your power sources / electricity suck - a 5150 will tell you in all sorts of ways you never knew were a thing.

 

[joezlo]

I've never had oscillation issues with any 5150.

(5150 ii, 5150 iii 6L6 50watt, 5150 ii LBX ii, 5150 OG @ a studio & a 5150 iii 100watt @ a studio)

I do have an outlet tester because 5150's do not like ungrounded, or out of phase outlets at all.

If you run pedals or anything through the amp that also is running through subpar electric those amps will let you know.

I play on 9's and have a moderate touch? (guessing on touch)

Never had issue with anything above a 12th fret. (25 1/2 inch scale fret boards though passive humbuckers and a locking trem)

I usually do tell players, there is no where to hide on those amps; they catch everything in your hands.

You might want to try without the transformer, check the outlet (or any pedals?), pull the gain back a bit, or see if it acts the same way in another environment entirely : you might have gotten one with some kind of issue.

PS - what kind of cab are you using?

 

[Jkist7]

All amps do it to a certain degree. Do you know what I am referring to? Its just very pronounced with this amp.

Might be your pickups are too high, too close to the strings. This can cause weird artifacts like you describe because the magnet is affecting the vibration of the string.

 

[EOengineer]

You can't hear the note pulse/ oscillate? When you play distorted notes above 12th fret, it doesn't pulse at all? It could be the intonation on all my guitars is off? Other amps do this a little bit, but the 5150 does it alot.

When I see the word oscillation, I think of an unintentional, solid, prolonged, pitched tone accompanying whatever sound you are intentionally making? Are you sure its not ghosting (weird intervaled tones that move with your notes) or perhaps abnormally pronounced intermodulation distortion where you might hear notes "beating"? The later two COULD be tube or bias related.

Oscillation is pretty unusual but I suppose could be a factor at the gain levels you are using.