Which 5150 and why?

[Iron1]

1. Which of the 11ty million 5150 variations is your fave and why?

2. If you were going to buy one with no more than a grand to spend m, which would you get?

(Yes, I know that’s two different questions, but enquiring minds and idle hands and fudge squirrels and all that…)

 

[JiveTurkey]

Yes

 

[spawnofthesith]

5153 6l6 50 watt v2

 

[MirrorProfiles]

OG 5150 (6505).

The others are cool but have some characteristics I find a little weird, especially as it’s impossible not to compare all the subsequent ones to the original.

5150 II/6505+ has more upper mid bite, which can sometimes be just the ticket, but it makes the amp a bit fussier. The EVH ones all vary a fair bit, especially as often the respective 50W and 100W versions are different circuits. I tend to find them a bit more smoothed out and thick and a bit more plain/generic than the original (which to my ear has more of a distinct character).

The good news is they’re all good amps in their own right, you can’t really get a dud. But if it’s just one, then the original is THE SOUND (Burn My Eyes, Carcass, In Flames etc)

 

[greatmutah]

I gravitate more towards the Peaveys. The original 5150/6505 version, green crunch channel boosted is THE most pissed off sounding amp ever. No other way to describe it. The 5150II/6505+ is a bit smoother but still a solid amp. The original has a bit more grind in the low mids going on. And as said, Carcass, Machine Head, In Flames… it’s an iconic sounding amp.

The 5153 I had was solid but too bright for me. YMMV. Never hurts to try one. They are tighter and much brighter and have less in the lower mids. I wasn’t a fan of the Iconic series amps at all, which is a bummer as I was hoping they’d be closer to the Peaveys than they were. They get that vibe to a defeee but they feel solid state. On the other hand, I have tried and also REALLY liked the 6534+. Those don’t show up in the wild often but they are excellent.

 

[Devin]

If I were gonna get one now I'd get the Iconic head


Still have my gargantuan 5150 2x12 combo which is killer but just obscene to move around

 

[James Freeman]

On a Fractal you can try them all, and I like them all.
OG 5150 is the sound you hear on records, you need a tube screamer or sd-1, it has three gain channels, lol, it is not versatile, in my opinion it's a shitty channel switcher, it's basically a single-channel (with three modes) high gain classic.
5150 III is the chuggiest, gainiest amp (model) I've played, if you want ultra tight mega gain with no aids this is the one, all three channels are great.
5150 II sits between these two, in my personal opinion the III made this amp redundant, but if you absolutely must have a Peavey (brand loyalty) with an okay-ish clean channel and no boosts needed, this is a better choice than the OG.

I am a single person bedroom ensemble, the OG real amp is for me.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

I like them all. Currently my favorite is the 5153 EL34 50w as it suits the music I play. I haven't felt the need to do the C137 mod, since I can just use my 6L6 50w instead. Though for smaller gigs, I use the Stealth LBX with a 5153 30w speaker, since it's so easy to lug around.

The 50 Stealth is next on my list. I should apply for an endorsement.

 

[sleewell]

Happy with my 5153 50w and 6505.

 

[DrewJD82]

EVH 50-watt 6L6. The MIDI switching alone is enough to make the decision for me. And I’d prefer the V2 with the ual concentric pots.

 

[HomespunEffects]

OG 5150 (6505).

Yeah, this one is so great. You can still find a Peavey original for around $1000.

 

[GreatGreen]

I own:

Peavey OG 5150
EVH 5150 III 50w v2
EVH 5150 III 100w Stealth
EVH 5150 III 100w EL34

I have extensively tried:

EVH 5150 III 50w Stealth
EVH 5150 III 50w EL34
EVH 5150 Iconic



As somebody with access to a TON of pre and post effects and who likes to think he knows how to use them, like pre-EQ's, boosts, overdrive pedals, parametric EQ's for loop or post processing, it's hard to beat the OG for its raw nature and how well it takes to being sculpted by pre and post EQ. You can do a lot with it.

The 100w Stealth and 100w EL34 feel like the OG but more "studio tweaked" like they come from the factory with a bass cut built into the input for tightness and honestly a better tonestack that sounds more balanced across the frequency spectrum than the OG 5150, but 5150 III's don't have quite as much fat, thudding low end as the OG 5150. The 5150 III can still get very low end heavy, I'm not saying it's thin at all, it's not, but it doesn't have quite the same wallop as the OG 5150. I think this makes the newer amps on their own sit in mixes easier and sound tighter and more articulate out of the box, and they're easier to EQ using only the amp's tonestack, but the other side of the coin is that they're not quite as fat sounding as the OG and their more filtered nature means you have less room to shape them however you want.

They're all great, but the OG feels more "raw" and therefore more malleable I guess you could say. BTW when I saw "raw" I don't mean "more aggressive" or that there's a different quality to the grain in the distortion, but raw as in it doesn't feel like it's already been EQ'd by a studio. Again that's not necessarily an inherent positive or negative, just a difference.

If I had a budget of $1,000, I'd get a new Iconic, no question, wouldn't even think twice about it. I haven't talked about it but I think the Iconic actually strikes a balance between the OG and newer 5150 III amps which makes the Iconic its own thing in that way. They're awesome amps and I'd recommend anybody interested in high gain to try them.

 

[Orvillain]

Fuck it. All of 'em.

 

[FuzzyAce]

The one in HX.

because i'm too cheap assed to get a real one

 

[greatmutah]

If I had a budget of $1,000, I'd get a new Iconic, no question, wouldn't even think twice about it. I haven't talked about it but I think the Iconic actually strikes a balance between the OG and newer 5150 III amps which makes the Iconic its own thing in that way. They're awesome amps and I'd recommend anybody interested in high gain to try them.

I dogged the Iconic I played at Motor City and I blame that on the craptacular stock cab it had. When I bought my recent sig letter, I compared it to an Iconic through an Orange 2x12 with V30s. Could get them awfully close to one another. I was very surprised. Overall, I still give the edge to the OG because that’s the one I’m most familiar with. But the Iconic is a pretty viable option. Having James Brown on board to help with the voicing gets it closer to home.

 

[sleewell]

i dont really like combos but id love to try the old 5150 combo.

 

[Desertdweller]

You can’t really go wrong with the 5150s or the 6505s. I’d steer clear of the Peavey Invectives, and if you’re looking for the Peavey sound, the XXX and JSX should be options for you to try too. I had the opportunity to put a JSX up against a V1 EVH 5150III a few years back and found I liked the EVH more, but you may have a different opinion.

If I had to choose one, it would be the EL34 5150 III. The 100w is going to sound the best, but it’s gigantic. The 50w model with the C137 mod is my #2 for sure, and I’m super interested in trying out the new Iconic model with EL34s. There are a small number of 6534s out there too that sound great, but they’re a bit harder to come by. I’m usually a 6L6 guy, but for 5150s the EL34s just grind in a very pleasing way to my ears.

The 5150 and 6505 combos can be found very cheap and you can always rehouse the amp into a headshell. Lots of guys do this as it’s a cheap way to get an awesome amplifier.

 

[joezlo]

I have played through (extensively)
OG: 5150 ii
EVH: 5150 iii 6L6 50 watt
EVH: 5150 iii LBX 2.

If my money isn't on an LBX (there are enough variations to get which ever channels you want on it) I'd be a fool.

I play it though a 4x12 and it holds up well.

The LBX ii is the only amp I used on this whole record and I don't regret it.

 

[greatmutah]

I think the theme of the thread is: there’s a 5150 out there for everyone. Find yours.

 

[la szum]

I had a Block Letter 5150 I sold for $500 bucks in like 2017. WTF??!!

The 5150 IIIs are way too gained up compressed to my ears.

That said, if I stumbled on an EL34 5150 III for $700 I'd jump on it.