WVH Mammoth 5153 Live Tone

Junk Yard Dog

Well-known member
I watched a few videos of Wolfie playing live & his tone rocks. He’s also just a great all around musician.

I had the first run of 5153, non-concentric pot, and loved it at first but later moved on to Splawns & Friedmans thereafter.

Thinking of giving the 5153 another shot. I read elsewhere that WVH is using the first version; non-concentric pot? Anyone confirm this?

Or, what is the difference between the original 5153 6L6 vs the Mk2 with concentric pots in terms of tone, gain, etc.

Thx.
 
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50w? And do you know if it was mk1 or mk2?

not sure, this was 5-6 years ago and it was the smaller head, others have chimed into other threads knowing what it was. he had a midiverb i believe sitting on top of it as well along with a small pedal board
 
I watched a few videos of Wolfie playing live & his tone rocks. He’s also just a great all around musician.

I had the first run of 5153, non-concentric pot, and loved it at first but later moved on to Splawns & Friedmans thereafter.

Thinking of giving the 5153 another shot. I read elsewhere that WVH is using the first version; non-concentric pot? Anyone confirm this?

Or, what is the difference between the original 5153 6L6 vs the Mk2 with concentric pots in terms of tone, gain, etc.

Thx.
That's the one I have and I am not letting go of it.
 
Supposedly there were no circuit changes just concentric pots so you could better balance ch's 1/2. If you dont use the clean channel hunt down the original version..

So you do think the original has some extra mojo that concentric doesn't? ...And I never play clean. Always 'dirty' clean using a low-ish gain setting and boosting that to get some hard rock, metal-ish type tones.
 
The one thing I did notice with mine was that it was biased really cold. I bumped it up a little although it was not giving any trouble the way it was.
 
The best live metal tones I’ve ever heard were from Unearth and Killswitch. Absolutely crushing chugs. They were both using OG 5153 100w. I need to upgrade my 50w stealth to a 100w LOL
 
When I saw Mammoth WVH, he had two additional guitarists with him...the 3rd (or 2nd I guess) being Frank Sidoris from Slash's band. Anyway, Wolfgang used the 6L6 50 watt amp, Sidoris used the Stealth 50 watt and the 3rd guy (who does most of the great background vocals) used the EL34 50 watt.
 
When I saw Mammoth WVH, he had two additional guitarists with him...the 3rd (or 2nd I guess) being Frank Sidoris from Slash's band. Anyway, Wolfgang used the 6L6 50 watt amp, Sidoris used the Stealth 50 watt and the 3rd guy (who does most of the great background vocals) used the EL34 50 watt.
I read that somewhere else, too. Pretty cool approach.
 
I watched a few videos of Wolfie playing live & his tone rocks. He’s also just a great all around musician.

I had the first run of 5153, non-concentric pot, and loved it at first but later moved on to Splawns & Friedmans thereafter.

Thinking of giving the 5153 another shot. I read elsewhere that WVH is using the first version; non-concentric pot? Anyone confirm this?

Or, what is the difference between the original 5153 6L6 vs the Mk2 with concentric pots in terms of tone, gain, etc.

Thx.
Keep the Splawn.
 
Keep the Splawn.
Ha! It's not going anywhere. Love my Comp. My friend has a 50w Stealth he's going to let me borrow. If I could find a used 5153 cheap, I may snag it. But trying to find out if the MK1 has some 'mojo' MK2 doesn't. ...I win either way with my Splawn and BFG modded firebreather.
 
When I saw Mammoth WVH, he had two additional guitarists with him...the 3rd (or 2nd I guess) being Frank Sidoris from Slash's band. Anyway, Wolfgang used the 6L6 50 watt amp, Sidoris used the Stealth 50 watt and the 3rd guy (who does most of the great background vocals) used the EL34 50 watt.
I remember when Sidoris sold off his Wizards. I wonder how he likes the EVH, and what else he's been playing through.
Ha! It's not going anywhere. Love my Comp. My friend has a 50w Stealth he's going to let me borrow. If I could find a used 5153 cheap, I may snag it. But trying to find out if the MK1 has some 'mojo' MK2 doesn't. ...I win either way with my Splawn and BFG modded firebreather.
I dig the 50S. I def like the updated voicing, gain on the blue channel and concentric knobs vs Mk1 50 watt. It's my understanding that the Mk2 50 and 50S are nearly identical in sound.

I found some inconsistencies when trying the stealths at different stores. One at Lewisville was perfect. One at Arlington was too hot on the gain channels, prone to wild feedback on the red channel. Probably down to a preamp tube.
I noticed that the amp cleans up well with guitar volume, and reacts differently to different pickups. It reminds me of a Soldano Hot Rod 50+ I had.
Like Techdeth said, very articulate. Even all gained up, you can really hear each note in a chord.
 
I remember when Sidoris sold off his Wizards. I wonder how he likes the EVH, and what else he's been playing through.

I dig the 50S. I def like the updated voicing, gain on the blue channel and concentric knobs vs Mk1 50 watt. It's my understanding that the Mk2 50 and 50S are nearly identical in sound.

I found some inconsistencies when trying the stealths at different stores. One at Lewisville was perfect. One at Arlington was too hot on the gain channels, prone to wild feedback on the red channel. Probably down to a preamp tube.
I noticed that the amp cleans up well with guitar volume, and reacts differently to different pickups. It reminds me of a Soldano Hot Rod 50+ I had.
Like Techdeth said, very articulate. Even all gained up, you can really hear each note in a chord.
I honestly hear some of that Soldano in it too fr
 
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I have the 50 watt 6l6 and was one of the first back in the day to get the 5150-III. I did not like that first amp I had and couldn't jive with it. I absolutely love this 6l6 50 watt. Great for pedals and every channel is just great as well. Lower volumes kills, at band practice kills too.

I have owned Splawns and have a Friedman JJ and used to own a Friedman modded Marshall. I'm a Marshall tone guy and with that said, 5150-III is an amp I really dig.
 
I have the 50 watt 6l6 and was one of the first back in the day to get the 5150-III. I did not like that first amp I had and couldn't jive with it. I absolutely love this 6l6 50 watt. Great for pedals and every channel is just great as well. Lower volumes kills, at band practice kills too.

I have owned Splawns and have a Friedman JJ and used to own a Friedman modded Marshall. I'm a Marshall tone guy and with that said, 5150-III is an amp I really dig.
Nice. Does your 50w have the concentric pots or you still have the first run?
 
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