5150 III

[Dazza1004]

Curious to know if the guys that think it's overly bright are using it with V30's. My 2x12 is loaded with G12-65's, I have to run the treble and presence pretty high or it sounds dark.

Also, I have had mine about 18 months with no issues.

 

[155]

why the hell does that thing need 8 friggin preamp tubes???

 

[nevusofota]

Curious to know if the guys that think it's overly bright are using it with V30's. My 2x12 is loaded with G12-65's, I have to run the treble and presence pretty high or it sounds dark.

Also, I have had mine about 18 months with no issues.

I use mine w/ Mesa V30's and it is quite bright. I keep my high's and presence around 3. However, I also have found that people who have the JJ's are usually the people that say it is overly bright (victim5150 may be the exception to this though).

 

[nevusofota]

why the hell does that thing need 8 friggin preamp tubes???

Not sure, but I bet thats the reason why the thing sounds great at low volumes

 

[irondeth21]

Go for it! I think they are sick, the blue channel is like an old marshall and the red is like a mix of a xtc and slo. The cleans break up really nicely as well.

 

[amiller]

Curious to know if the guys that think it's overly bright are using it with V30's. My 2x12 is loaded with G12-65's, I have to run the treble and presence pretty high or it sounds dark.

Also, I have had mine about 18 months with no issues.

I'm using Greenbacks and no JJs...it still sounds very bright! From reading different posts about it I get the impression some of them are bright and some not...'quality control...I don't know.

 

[JakeAC5253]

why the hell does that thing need 8 friggin preamp tubes???

That's probably how it gets a good clean/crunch/gain all in the same box. If that's really true, then it's like having 3 amps in one and I think I may need to own one

 

[MYLILSS]

why the hell does that thing need 8 friggin preamp tubes???

That's probably how it gets a good clean/crunch/gain all in the same box. If that's really true, then it's like having 3 amps in one and I think I may need to own one

i think you should own one too ..... i think everyone should own one

 

[nevusofota]

Curious to know if the guys that think it's overly bright are using it with V30's. My 2x12 is loaded with G12-65's, I have to run the treble and presence pretty high or it sounds dark.

Also, I have had mine about 18 months with no issues.

I'm using Greenbacks and no JJs...it still sounds very bright! From reading different posts about it I get the impression some of them are bright and some not...'quality control...I don't know.

I do not like overly bright amps, thats why I'm not a huge fan of the Peavey 5150 combo. My III is less bright and fizzy and much smoother. Where do you have the trebles and presence set? Also, at volumes over 3 the amp does get much brighter so you have to adjust these two accordingly.

 

[Dazza1004]

Curious to know if the guys that think it's overly bright are using it with V30's. My 2x12 is loaded with G12-65's, I have to run the treble and presence pretty high or it sounds dark.

Also, I have had mine about 18 months with no issues.

I use mine w/ Mesa V30's and it is quite bright. I keep my high's and presence around 3. However, I also have found that people who have the JJ's are usually the people that say it is overly bright (victim5150 may be the exception to this though).

Mine is loaded with JJ's

did you re-bias yours when you switched tubes ?

 

[nevusofota]

Curious to know if the guys that think it's overly bright are using it with V30's. My 2x12 is loaded with G12-65's, I have to run the treble and presence pretty high or it sounds dark.

Also, I have had mine about 18 months with no issues.

I use mine w/ Mesa V30's and it is quite bright. I keep my high's and presence around 3. However, I also have found that people who have the JJ's are usually the people that say it is overly bright (victim5150 may be the exception to this though).

Mine is loaded with JJ's

did you re-bias yours when you switched tubes ?

No because I only changed the preamp tubes. (I blew V4 a few weeks back, incidently, the same tube vicitim5150 blew, coincidence?? or CONSPIRACY!!)

 

[Bishop5150]

It is kind of strange we both blew the same preamp tube. I use the 5150 III cabinet in my setup. Also something else to think about in the treble talk with these things is the color. I'd be curious to know what color everybody is using the black or the ivory. I have the ivory and it's not high endy. I keep the treble at basically noon and the presence right about noon on all 3 channels and it is anything but high end ice pick to the ears. I'm probably going to switch out the power tubes in a few weeks. I'm leaving for Indy next Friday. We're doing a show with .38 Special. WooHoo! I wouldn't have my amp back in time if I took it to the shop to have it rebiased so I'll do it when I get back. To me this amp is like having 3 amps and I love it. I use a TC Nova Drive with it as well hooked up to my G-System. The Nove Drive has 18 user presets so I can have different amounts of drive and tone in each preset that I can use on the Clean, Rhythm and Lead Channel on the amp basically making it like a 21 channel amp! Oh, what do you guys recommend for the power tubes? It's got JJ's in it right now. I hear the JJ power tubes are descent and I like the sound but I'm open to suggestions for trying something new or should I stick with the JJ's? Any suggestions?

 

[amiller]

It is kind of strange we both blew the same preamp tube. I use the 5150 III cabinet in my setup....


Also something else to think about in the treble talk with these things is the color. I'd be curious to know what color everybody is using the black or the ivory. I have the ivory and it's not high endy. I keep the treble at basically noon and the presence right about noon on all 3 channels and it is anything but high end ice pick to the ears.

When I was blowing preamp tubes it was due to bad preamp sockets...I had all new ones put in and the problem is solved.

Miine is ivory. I have the treble and presence at 9:00 and I still find the amp to be too bright. If I set those settings any lower the amp starts to sound like crap.

 

[nevusofota]

It is kind of strange we both blew the same preamp tube. I use the 5150 III cabinet in my setup. Also something else to think about in the treble talk with these things is the color. I'd be curious to know what color everybody is using the black or the ivory. I have the ivory and it's not high endy. I keep the treble at basically noon and the presence right about noon on all 3 channels and it is anything but high end ice pick to the ears. I'm probably going to switch out the power tubes in a few weeks. I'm leaving for Indy next Friday. We're doing a show with .38 Special. WooHoo! I wouldn't have my amp back in time if I took it to the shop to have it rebiased so I'll do it when I get back. To me this amp is like having 3 amps and I love it. I use a TC Nova Drive with it as well hooked up to my G-System. The Nove Drive has 18 user presets so I can have different amounts of drive and tone in each preset that I can use on the Clean, Rhythm and Lead Channel on the amp basically making it like a 21 channel amp! Oh, what do you guys recommend for the power tubes? It's got JJ's in it right now. I hear the JJ power tubes are descent and I like the sound but I'm open to suggestions for trying something new or should I stick with the JJ's? Any suggestions?

I doubt that the color of the head has anything to do with the amp sounding bright. But, I guess you never know. Mine is black tolex. I would think the main chassie of the amp is made in one assembly line and then the line is split and some are sent to a line for black tolex and some white. I wouldn't think that they would be made by totally different hands/machines from the onset.

I would try the Sovtek 6L6's since you liked the EH/Sovtek preamp tube combination, you may like these. Mine came with the Sovtek power tubes.

Have a great show this weekend, sounds like a pretty cool bill. Maybe you can do a cameo with .38 on "Hold on Loosely"

 

[Bishop5150]

Yeah, I know I was reaching on the tolex color but just wanted to throw it out there. I will give the Sovtek 6L6's a shot. Our show with .38 Special isn't till next Friday. The only song I know from them is ''Hold On Loosely' LOL! My singer is from Indiana so he's got some connections with the peolpe who run the event. It's a bike rally called the ABATE of Indiana Boogie Festival. It's a 4 day deal that starts next Thursday and will run through that Sunday with about 25,000 usually in attendance. It's got a huge stage. We've opened up for several national acts there before. Blue Oyster Cult, Three Dog Night, Cheap Trick and Edgar Winter. I'm looking forward to it. We only get to play the nice big stages a few times a year. Mostly it's small club stages through out the year so we really look forward to the bigger shows. Here's a pic from a few years ago.

 

[nitro]

Can the 5150 III achieve the van halen 1 sound(first album sound)

 

[snowdog]

I don't know if any of guys get Guitar Player Magazine, but when they review an amp they generally take some under the hood shots. That amp looks poorly built with loads of misc circuit boards and at least a half dozen or so junky ribbon cable connectors. Add that to fact that its made in Mexico which they try and hide, seems to me that money would be better spent elsewhere.

A friend of mine has the 2 Peavey versions of the 5150 and I haven't heard one VH sound out of either one of them yet. I'm not trying to offend anyone that has one, just my opinion on the matter. I would rather get a Marshall and have it modded or a Splawn or Bogner or something.

 

[nevusofota]

I don't know if any of guys get Guitar Player Magazine, but when they review an amp they generally take some under the hood shots. That amp looks poorly built with loads of misc circuit boards and at least a half dozen or so junky ribbon cable connectors. Add that to fact that its made in Mexico which they try and hide, seems to me that money would be better spent elsewhere.

A friend of mine has the 2 Peavey versions of the 5150 and I haven't heard one VH sound out of either one of them yet. I'm not trying to offend anyone that has one, just my opinion on the matter. I would rather get a Marshall and have it modded or a Splawn or Bogner or something.

Have you played one (5150III)? Just curious, because a lot of people suggest "spending money elsewhere" when they haven't played the gear in question. I believe the amp may look different under the hood (i.e. ribbon bands) because of the way the amp switches channels (not associated w/ the sound of the amp). From what I understand it's not your standard switching mechanism. Whatever it is, it works, because the amp switches in high gain settings w/out loud pops. For me, I could care less what the electronics look like, it's all about the feel one gets when playing an amp.
As for early VH, check this out: www.youtube.com/user/sinasl1#p/a/u/1/uerlqcAYMSo . Then again, Pete Thorn could get the early VH sound from any amp, he rocks He's using a 5150III.

 

[MYLILSS]

the more i look into these amps the more i find they are very versatile amps ... from what i can find out the clean channel is way better than any of the other 5150's in the past, and it has a much more refined lead channel, and the footswitching is supposed to be awesome on these amps ... i cant wait till this thing gets here. thursday isnt coming quick enough

 

[aftec]

Just picked up one. Great amp.
The best Marshall tone from an amp in a long time. And it's a Fender

Channel 1 is neat, nowhere near the Custom Audio clean but nice. You really have to keep the gain under 3 with humbuckers for completely clean sounds.
Channel 2 is the best Marshall sound in a long time. From Plexi to hot rodded 800 by turning up the gain. Wide open, lots of sustain and note definition. Talk about dynamics. Insane. I usually stay on this channel.
Channel 3 gain mayhem. This amp can do serious metal tones. If you want, but the 3rd channel is quite compressed compared to channel 2. Gain needs to be set moderate unless it chokes the sound.

Really quiet even at the high gain channel, channel switching is very fast. It has a good fx loop. Incredible sustain, really outstanding. Harmonics are effortless even at low gain.
Tone controls are working a lot better than on many other amps. Sound best with it's own cab. Tried it with a G12H loaded 412 and a 2x12 loaded with V30s too. It can be set to sound good with any cab, but you have to tweak it with your ears not with your eyes. Settings can seem weirdo, but if it sounds good, be it, definitely not a beginners amp.
Too bright? Work on those tonestack and presence pots. It's a giging amp, and cuts through like a knife. It can sound muffled and buzzy on bedroom levels, but come on, it's a hundred watter.
It's a keeper for me.

PS.
Dave Friedman recommends to set the bias at least 120ma. I did it, and sounds even better.