5150 III Ivory is the Best Fender Revision

[NinjaRaf]

These amps are awesome. I also got my 100w 6l6 for $1k, as was my 50s. My 50w 6l6 was $375. My 100S was like $1800 or something. I vastly prefer the 100S. It really depends what you want. Playing death metal, you get a little more smear, gain, and weight on the 100S. The 100w 6l6 has a more crunchy kind of sound. Less weight and depth to the tone. Still awesome, and perfect for one of my bands. The 50 watters are hard to beat for size and convenience. But the size of the 100 watters comes with a matching size in tone lol.

 

[cobrahead1030]

I’m always on the lookout for a used local one.

 

[SonVolt]

I assumed 5150's were everywhere, but I've had a hard time finding good deals on FB. Especially the 100 watters. Those rarely pop up.

 

[Techdeth]

I had stealth 6l6 on for like 8 hours and that red channel is tighter than while super rich in harmonics if set right . Just a beast
I’ve had every version and the ivory is my sec .

 

[Geo]

I assumed 5150's were everywhere, but I've had a hard time finding good deals on FB. Especially the 100 watters. Those rarely pop up.

Keep an eye on https://www.proaudiostar.com/.

I got a deal on a 50w combo "open box" for about $950. I looked brand new to me.

 

[dooredge]

There's a great deal on a 100 watt ivory for any Ohio fellas looking... Very tempting.

https://columbus.craigslist.org/msg/d/williamsport-evh-5150iii/7903428531.html

 

[glpg80]

These amps are awesome. I also got my 100w 6l6 for $1k, as was my 50s. My 50w 6l6 was $375. My 100S was like $1800 or something. I vastly prefer the 100S. It really depends what you want. Playing death metal, you get a little more smear, gain, and weight on the 100S. The 100w 6l6 has a more crunchy kind of sound. Less weight and depth to the tone. Still awesome, and perfect for one of my bands. The 50 watters are hard to beat for size and convenience. But the size of the 100 watters comes with a matching size in tone lol.

I think the trick with the ivory ones is to boost the snot out of them more like a Marshall. I hear you on the 100S but I vastly preferred your mark videos for that tone over the 100S. The boosted ivory red channel is all kinds of nasty here especially cranked up. I regret only playing an EL34 and not giving an OG ivory a chance.

 

[Detroit1973]

I have the Black 100 watt 5153 OG 6L6....i Like but haven't been able to spend much tiome with it.

My current situation at home makes it harder to play.

 

[jasonP]

I still think the 50S is the best amp for the money for what you get and it really doesn't need any boost, however boost the green or blue channel and it is awesome. I've played the 100S and that fucker brings the cheese whiz on the red channel and I feel like it has a little more aggressiveness in the upper top end and sounds wider while the 50 sounds sweeter in the mids. The 50 has 525v+ on the plates and really like how it balances the tone better across all 3 of the channels, get a nicer clean on the green channel. MIDI is a plus as well.

 

[NinjaRaf]

I think the trick with the ivory ones is to boost the snot out of them more like a Marshall. I hear you on the 100S but I vastly preferred your mark videos for that tone over the 100S. The boosted ivory red channel is all kinds of nasty here especially cranked up. I regret only playing an EL34 and not giving an OG ivory a chance.

I never liked what boosting an amp does, so that wouldn't work for me.

Honestly, though, they're so close in tone overall that it's super minor anyway. I think you could make any of them work.

haha yeah, lots of people preferred the Mark tones, but the Mark doesn't have the massiveness in the low end that the 100S has, and I need that for what I play. I do still love the Mark tone, though.

 

[jasonP]

I never liked what boosting an amp does, so that wouldn't work for me.

Honestly, though, they're so close in tone overall that it's super minor anyway. I think you could make any of them work.

haha yeah, lots of people preferred the Mark tones, but the Mark doesn't have the massiveness in the low end that the 100S has, and I need that for what I play. I do still love the Mark tone, though.

Oh man, with the graphic eq on the mark series amps I feel like you can have so much bass it will make a 4x12 speakers explode.

 

[Avi8r2005]

I've had 3 5150 50 waters, the original without the concentric knobs, with the concentric knobs and now the 50 watt stealth. The stealth is my absolute favorite. I've played a lot of other amps and I haven't found anything else yet that brings me the satisfaction that it does. I've kicked the idea around of the synergy 20IR, several of the modules sound great but at the end of the day, I'm probably going to dial it in to get a comparable sou d to what I already have and still spund the same playing the same 4 riffs I always play. I think I paid $1000 for the stealth when I got it a few years ago, still the best bang for the buck.

 

[Geo]

I've had 3 5150 50 waters, the original without the concentric knobs, with the concentric knobs and now the 50 watt stealth. The stealth is my absolute favorite. I've played a lot of other amps and I haven't found anything else yet that brings me the satisfaction that it does. I've kicked the idea around of the synergy 20IR, several of the modules sound great but at the end of the day, I'm probably going to dial it in to get a comparable sou d to what I already have and still spund the same playing the same 4 riffs I always play. I think I paid $1000 for the stealth when I got it a few years ago, still the best bang for the buck.

Is there any sound difference between the OG and the concentric knob one?

 

[Avi8r2005]

Is there any sound difference between the OG and the concentric knob one?

Its been so long ago since I had the concentric one that I can't recall but I'm pretty sure it sounded the same other than being able to dial in the volumes and gain separately with the concentric knob version. I did have the regular 50 watt and a stealth at the same time. To my ears the blue channels were slightly different and the red channel seemed more aggressive on the stealth. The green channel is what it is, but does anybody really buy this amp for the green channel?

 

[Geo]

Its been so long ago since I had the concentric one that I can't recall but I'm pretty sure it sounded the same other than being able to dial in the volumes and gain separately with the concentric knob version. I did have the regular 50 watt and a stealth at the same time. To my ears the blue channels were slightly different and the red channel seemed more aggressive on the stealth. The green channel is what it is, but does anybody really buy this amp for the green channel?

Funny, it's the red channel I never use, way more gain than I would ever need. I like the green channel.

 

[sandman]

Funny, it's the red channel I never use, way more gain than I would ever need. I like the green channel.

Green and blue channels were it for me. The red was just overkill to me

 

[Shask]

Oh man, with the graphic eq on the mark series amps I feel like you can have so much bass it will make a 4x12 speakers explode.

Mark series bass is much tighter than 5150 bass. It doesn't have the same type of chug bloom.

 

[SonVolt]

Oh man, with the graphic eq on the mark series amps I feel like you can have so much bass it will make a 4x12 speakers explode.

Yeah, but even then Mark's still feel "small" to me... like a razor blade. They don't have that heft in the low end even with the EQ cranked, IMO. I stupidly sold my Peavey 5150 when I got my Mark IV years ago. I still have the IV, and love it, but am currently looking to add a 5150 back to the arsenal.

 

[jasonP]

Yeah, but even then Mark's still feel "small" to me... like a razor blade. They don't have that heft in the low end even with the EQ cranked, IMO. I stupidly sold my Peavey 5150 when I got my Mark IV years ago. I still have the IV, and love it, but am currently looking to add a 5150 back to the arsenal.

I know what you are saying and I agree. I owned a couple mark series amps and now own the JP2C and all the mark series amps have this "metal" or like shaped tone quality about them that you describe that I've played.

 

[Exo-metal]

This is local 6l6 version. Does this compare with the best versions discussed...not a 100S from what I can tell.