5153 users, some help please

[Dazza1004]

I am interested to know what cabs you are using, what your settings are and if you are using any boosts up front. I have recently started playing with a band again after about 12 months on the side line, I am finding the amp sounds dark and doesn't cut as well as the other guitar players marshall, we play 80's / 90's rock.

I have the treble turned way up, the bass down, mids and presence around noon, running thorough a Diamond op spec cab with 2 V30's and 2 G12M anniversarys (the cab is new). If I am not using a boost I have the gain around noon on both channel 2 and 3.

I don't think there's a tube issue, there's no noise or anything to make me think it's the tubes (JJ's). At the last practise I ended up running channel 1 with the gain up and boosted with my maxon 808 to get the cut.

Could've just been the room or placement of the amp I guess.

cheers

 

[rupe]

I've heard from a few friends who have the amp that it sounds the best through the matching cab...by a long shot. I've only ever played it through the matching cab so I can't back that up with any personal experience. I did think it sounded great though...I could easily gig with that amp.

 

[Lance-a-not]

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[Laura]

I have one and I have not played it with the matching cab. I mainly use it with my Kress 4x12's (one has an X pattern of G12T75's/V30's and the other has 65 watt Scumback M75's/H75's in an X pattern). I use channel 3 and I have no problem with the tone cutting through. It sounds incredible (the guys in my band love that amp). Mine has all JJ 12ax7's and a mix of JJ KT66's and 6L6 power tubes (I bought it used with those tubes). My settings on channel 3 are bass, mids and gain around 1:00. treble and presence around 10-11:00. No boost. I like it better without a boost personally.

 

[Bishop5150]

I have the black one and ivory one both with matching cabs. I use a Mesa 2X12 Recto cab when needed for really small club gigs and it sounds really good. I have no problems cutting through with the 5150 III cab or the Mesa 2x12. I do have a TC Nova Drive in a loop of my G-System that I use to boost the clean channel and blue channel and occasionaly kick it on while I'm on the red channel to hold out long feedback. Blue channel I have the gain set at noon Bass varies between 12 and 1 o'clock, Mids vary between 10 and 12 and treble and prescence around noon. Same settings for the red channel.

 

[aftec]

I have black one with a matching cab. That cab is dope. It sounds great with any amp, but as any cab and speakers it needs to be broken in. Approx 70-80 hours of rehearsal and you're good.
I found the EVH III quite bright with G12HAnny loaded Marshall and Mesa recto cabs.
CH1 gain 1/2 5, Bass around 1, Mid 12, Treble 12
Ch2 gain 2, Bass around 9-10, mid 3, treble 1
Ch3 Gain 11, Bass 11, mid 3, treble 2
O'clock on everything.

No boost, an MXR Carbon copy for leads in the loop.

 

[nevusofota]

Hmmmmm....You just don't often hear people calling this amp too dark. It has been my main gigging amp since 2007 and I find that it is a little too bright. This could be due to either the V30's in my Mesa 4x12 or that this is an early model with Sovtek and EH tubes. I also find that channel 3 doesn't cut as well as channel 2 because of the added compression of channel 3. My main sound for rhythm is channel 2 boosted with a Maxon OD9. I am in love with this sound. It is punchy, clear, and very full sounding. I get compliments by the other bands after every sound check and half of them can't believe its the 5150 III. I only use channel 3 for leads boosted slightly with a BB preamp. I keep the volume slightly higher than channel 2 to get needed lead volume boost. I think that boosting either channel increases sustain, more so than just cranking the gain of the amp alone. For example, if I max the gain of channel 3 without a boost the sustain is ok and the feedback is terrible, but if I put the gain at noon and add a little BB preamp I get a great amount of sustain with less feedback. The sound is bigger also. This goes for channel 2 also boosted with the Maxon. I also use a Sonic Maximizer that is always on in the loop. This gives me a quick way to adjust for the room or if I am running another cab other than my Mesa.

Here are my settings give or take an hour or two (all settings are in clock hours
Channel 1: Gain 8 Low 11 Mid 12 High 12
Channel 2: Gain 12 Low 11 Mid 10 High 9
Channel 3: Gain 12 Low 11 Mid 3 High 9

 

[supersonic]

I was running mine at around 12:00 on all the dials, (before I sold it). I found it too dark, but if I tried to bighten the tone it would sound harsh. The std cab sounds dark, I had 2x V30s' in the bottom, which helped.

 

[Dazza1004]

My main sound for rhythm is channel 2 boosted with a Maxon OD9. I am in love with this sound. It is punchy, clear, and very full sounding. I get compliments by the other bands after every sound check and half of them can't believe its the 5150 III. I only use channel 3 for leads boosted slightly with a BB preamp. I keep the volume slightly higher than channel 2 to get needed lead volume boost. I think that boosting either channel increases sustain, more so than just cranking the gain of the amp alone. For example, if I max the gain of channel 3 without a boost the sustain is ok and the feedback is terrible, but if I put the gain at noon and add a little BB preamp I get a great amount of sustain with less feedback. The sound is bigger also. This goes for channel 2 also boosted with the Maxon.

How does the BB sound compared to the maxon ? I have been thinking about getting one for ages. How do you have the pedals set ?

Thanks to all for the info, maybe I just need to turn it up more !!

 

[nevusofota]

My main sound for rhythm is channel 2 boosted with a Maxon OD9. I am in love with this sound. It is punchy, clear, and very full sounding. I get compliments by the other bands after every sound check and half of them can't believe its the 5150 III. I only use channel 3 for leads boosted slightly with a BB preamp. I keep the volume slightly higher than channel 2 to get needed lead volume boost. I think that boosting either channel increases sustain, more so than just cranking the gain of the amp alone. For example, if I max the gain of channel 3 without a boost the sustain is ok and the feedback is terrible, but if I put the gain at noon and add a little BB preamp I get a great amount of sustain with less feedback. The sound is bigger also. This goes for channel 2 also boosted with the Maxon.

How does the BB sound compared to the maxon ? I have been thinking about getting one for ages. How do you have the pedals set ?

Thanks to all for the info, maybe I just need to turn it up more !!

The BB is more punchy, has more gain, cuts better, and is brighter. It's just an overall hotter pedal. To me it can be used as a stand alone distortion pedal, not just an overdrive. I run both as a boost with the gain low (9:00 or less) and the levels max'ed. When ran like this, the BB tends to push the amp more. I also like the treble and bass controls on the BB to tweak my lead sound even more.

The amp shines when turned up to band levels. I run my channel 2 and 3 volumes between 10:00 and 11:00 in this setting (unless the sound man gets pissed than I put it down to 9:00 )