Which 5150 and why?

[James Freeman]

I wonder if Peavey did the 50K mid pot thing because Ed’s Plexi had a 50K mid pot?

I've read that too, I would think so.

 

[James Freeman]

I will order some 12AU7 tubes to try and tame the beast, the og 5150/6505 is fucking loud and has some bleed through signal from the fx loop even with MV at 0.

Trying to make it usable at bedroom volume.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

some block letter tones at the end.

5150>SLO for me, Clive

 

[MirrorProfiles]

some block letter tones at the end.

5150>SLO for me, Clive

listening on monitors, and the differences in the midrange are more obvious. SLO has a kind of distinctive midrange crunchiness , both 5150's have a kind of razorblade sharpness by comparison. That's not to say that they aren't similar in a lot of ways too, but the character the distortion is distinct.

I do prefer the clarity of the 5150, I think the midrange bloat of an SLO can be a bit more hit and miss depending on what you're going for and probably lends itself more to rock than it does metal.

 

[Orvillain]

Not really a good video for me to judge the differences. I would've liked more riffs, and drop-D, drop-C, or drop-B tuning. But that isn't really what he does. But the SLO sounds a bit undergained to me in that video too.

What I can say is that the SLO100 is one of the amps that I've played in the studio and compared to a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, and honestly I loved the SLO and I thought it sounded every bit as good as my Recto does. Not quite as flexible as the 3ch MW Recto I have though.

Definitely a great amp.

 

[bikescene]

I will order some 12AU7 tubes to try and tame the beast, the og 5150/6505 is fucking loud and has some bleed through signal from the fx loop even with MV at 0.

Trying to make it usable at bedroom volume.

Could you share your findings when you do the tube swap? I'm curious if it will lower the volume a bit or give you a different usable range on the pre-gain controls.

 

[CorrosiveMatter]

Could you share your findings when you do the tube swap? I'm curious if it will lower the volume a bit or give you a different usable range on the pre-gain controls.

The 5150 III EL34 50 watt head C137 mod, and taming the red channel

So I did a couple of mods to the 5150 III 50w EL34 a couple years ago that really make the amp quite a bit better. I posted this on another forum then, but it's a dead now so I figure why not update it and post it here? Blue Channel C137 Mod I have yet to hear anyone that truly likes the stock...

thegearforum.com

In case you didn't see this older post.

 

[bikescene]

The 5150 III EL34 50 watt head C137 mod, and taming the red channel

So I did a couple of mods to the 5150 III 50w EL34 a couple years ago that really make the amp quite a bit better. I posted this on another forum then, but it's a dead now so I figure why not update it and post it here? Blue Channel C137 Mod I have yet to hear anyone that truly likes the stock...

thegearforum.com

In case you didn't see this older post.

Thanks. I didn't see that post before. Some preamp tube shopping might be on the horizon. I've got the Peavey version myself, but can see a 12AU7 having the same described effect on it's lead channel.

 

[GreatGreen]

some block letter tones at the end.

5150>SLO for me, Clive

I've always liked the OG 5150 more than the SLO as well.

The SLO has this hard, harsh treble and upper mid emphasis that I've always found kind of grating and abrasive. The 5150 sounds much more evenly distributed through the spectrum and more full overall without losing any aggression.

 

[Elric]

I've always liked the OG 5150 more than the SLO as well.

The SLO has this hard, harsh treble and upper mid emphasis that I've always found kind of grating and abrasive.

Absolutely do not get why some people think the SLO has a lot of/harsh high end. My first impression was that the high end was way suppressed and smoother than the Marshalls that were my point of reference. I run the Treble and Presence both at or above 7 on mine. I don’t doubt these folks are being honest but it is amazing how perceptions differ. It almost straddles the line for being a ‘dark’ amp for me. Like an Ecstasy or something.

 

[Mongillo19]

Absolutely do not get why some people think the SLO has a lot of/harsh high end. My first impression was that the high end was way suppressed and smoother than the Marshalls that were my point of reference. I run the Treble and Presence both at or above 7 on mine. I don’t doubt these folks are being honest but it is amazing how perceptions differ. It almost straddles the line for being a ‘dark’ amp for me. Like an Ecstasy or something.

Yeah I find the SLO30 to be less harsh than a 5153 for example

 

[GreatGreen]

Absolutely do not get why some people think the SLO has a lot of/harsh high end. My first impression was that the high end was way suppressed and smoother than the Marshalls that were my point of reference. I run the Treble and Presence both at or above 7 on mine. I don’t doubt these folks are being honest but it is amazing how perceptions differ. It almost straddles the line for being a ‘dark’ amp for me. Like an Ecstasy or something.

I wonder if we're talking about two different things. I do not think the SLO is an articulate amp, necessarily. The amp allows too much low end into the front of the preamp to be super tight and articulate out of the box, not unlike a 101b like you mentioned. I could see how it could be called a dark or saggy amp in that respect.

I'm mostly talking about the post-gain voicing of the amp. The overall EQ curve to my ear always seems to emphasize upper-mids much more than any other frequency when compared to other modern amps, which sort of gives it a "coarse grained" distortion sound. That's the part I find kind of abrasive or harsh.

 

[greatmutah]

I need to get at least a SLO30 to compare the two. I love having a 5150 back in the stable but a SLO would be an endgame amp alongside my Metro.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

[…] I’d steer clear of the Peavey Invectives, […]

I’d like to know why you advise against the Invective. Sound? Features? Build quality?

 

[mavrick102000]

I like the 5150 II Stealth 6L6, blue channel is great sounding. Hit it with a boost is all the gain I'd ever need, and it feels good on the fingers.

The EL34 model is good also, but the 6L6 seems a little more to my preference in this case. Which is odd because I tend to prefer most EL34 amps to 6L6 unless we're talking about Fender combo's.

 

[joezlo]

A quick reminder that the OG 5150 has a 50k mid pot instead of the typical 25k like in Marshall, Soldano, etc. so the equivalent of Mids on 5 will be Mids on 2 with the 5150.
A 5150 with 5,2,5 EQ settings will sound like a Soldano with 5,5,5 settings, confirmed on the AxeFx, real amps, and a Tonestack calculator.
The EVH 5150-III has a standard 25k mid pot, so it doesn't apply to it.

View attachment 27541

This is the kinda thing I like hearing about on here.

 

[greatmutah]

I did mess with a SLO30 at GC today. Wasn’t bad but I didn’t care for the matching Soldano 112 cab with a V30. Probably more that I just don’t like the V30. I think the only V30s I ever liked were the Mesa OEM ones. Anyway… cool amp but definitely more bottom heavy up front than even my OG 5150. I liked it, but I’d probably be boosting it if I got one. Which to be fair, I boost everything anyway so not much a matter there. The clarity was cool and I did dig the clean and crunch modes, but I came home shortly after, fired up my 5150 through my cabs and enjoyed that more. I’d really need to hear the SLO through my own cabs before I can pass proper judgement. I won’t rule it out because the last time I liked an amp in store and brought it home was the 5153 50 watt. And that didn’t work for me at home and I ultimately got my script logo 5150. And I don’t play quiet at home. I play loud. Like volume between 3 and 4 on my 5150 loud.