6505+ vs 5150 III

[7 Stringer]

What about the 6534+?

Nobody ever mentions that amp. It is really an incredible amp. Think the 6505+ but a bit less compressed, shifted mids(el34) and an awesome clean. Quieter too. When i had mine, I could dial it very close to my BE100. If i ever sell my expensive amps, i am definately getting another one of those.

That said, I currently run an EVH100 and have my trusty 5150 II as my backup. I prefer having the blue channel available at all times on the fly. But either will do my main heavy rythm fine. Prefer the EVH a tad more for that.

Chris

He didn't ask about it, but I've played through a 6534, through a Mesa cab... Bad... Ass! Very crunchy (I like a lot of mids) and the more volume I put to it, the more I smiled. If I remember right the pre was only on 4, but we had the volume at noon and it was kicking me in the chest like a mule! Brutal amp! Like you said... very underrated. There's one here locally, floor model, USA made, but I think they want 1200 bucks.. and I'm broke!

My 6505+ and EVH 51503 sound nothing alike.. There is a crispness that's in the EVH that's not in my Peavey, even when using same guitar/cab. Maybe it's just my amp, but I've tried boxes full of pre and power tube combinations to get them where I want them.. If I try to dial that in on the 6505+.. it just gets too hissy..

yeah i know he didn`t but that`s my point

$1200!!!!! That`s a lot, paid $700 for mine used but new and sold it for the same amount. Bad ass like you say, very much so i might add. Very punchy mids. Would live with only that amp if stuck, or not.

Yep on the EVH. it has that edge and crunchiness i love and is not quite there in the Peavey. Pre tubes do affect the tone in that amp, i swaped some around the other day and had varying results. All good but different.

EVH make some great amps.......And guitars

Chris

 

[gregmusi]

My opinion (which isn't worth much)

5150 III > PV 5150/6505 > PV 5150 II/6505+

I just didn't gel with my 5150 II, it is more versatile than the 5150/6505, but I didn't like the revoicing they did. Love the 5150 III

 

[shane159]

I prefer the 5150 ll/6505+ over the EVH.

 

[sixty-niner]

I was at suhr guitars last 2014 and some of the tech's were talking about the new limited edition stealth and one of them had one and he brought it in to compare it with other amps they had there. they opend them up and said that they are all soldano SLO-100 designs, all of them are basically the same amp but tweaked. Just what I heard that night.

 

[shreder75]

I was at suhr guitars last 2014 and some of the tech's were talking about the new limited edition stealth and one of them had one and he brought it in to compare it with other amps they had there. they opend them up and said that they are all soldano SLO-100 designs, all of them are basically the same amp but tweaked. Just what I heard that night.

That's a badly kept secret. Evh had a boner for the slo, and that's what he'd wanted peavey to make for him back in the day.

 

[f550maranello2]

I was at suhr guitars last 2014 and some of the tech's were talking about the new limited edition stealth and one of them had one and he brought it in to compare it with other amps they had there. they opend them up and said that they are all soldano SLO-100 designs, all of them are basically the same amp but tweaked. Just what I heard that night.

Arent all these amps based off fender designs anyways? and arent fender amps based on old ass tube radio amps? Honestly the platforms are similar thats how these things get created. I wouldnt be surprized that EVH doesnt even use his own amps and uses a SLO. not like there is much difference anyways.

 

[DAMIAN The MAN]

BE-100 guts in a Fender EVH chassis, did you forgot?

 

[shreder75]

I was at suhr guitars last 2014 and some of the tech's were talking about the new limited edition stealth and one of them had one and he brought it in to compare it with other amps they had there. they opend them up and said that they are all soldano SLO-100 designs, all of them are basically the same amp but tweaked. Just what I heard that night.

Arent all these amps based off fender designs anyways? and arent fender amps based on old ass tube radio amps? Honestly the platforms are similar thats how these things get created. I wouldnt be surprized that EVH doesnt even use his own amps and uses a SLO. not like there is much difference anyways.

I'm pretty sure he never used the original 5150. Maybe it was live? Can't quite remember

 

[f550maranello2]

BE-100 guts in a Fender EVH chassis, did you forgot?

OH yea forgot bout that...

 

[Racerxrated]

I was at suhr guitars last 2014 and some of the tech's were talking about the new limited edition stealth and one of them had one and he brought it in to compare it with other amps they had there. they opend them up and said that they are all soldano SLO-100 designs, all of them are basically the same amp but tweaked. Just what I heard that night.

That's a badly kept secret. Evh had a boner for the slo, and that's what he'd wanted peavey to make for him back in the day.

Yup. Soldano wouldn't give EVH free SLOs and pay him to endorse Soldano, so he went to Peavey who paid him and then Peavey tried to clone the SLO. Hence the 5150 was born. So every version after, including EVH 5153s and rectifiers(to a degree) and Framus Cobras are tweaked copies of an SLO. Probably more than that.

 

[shreder75]

I was at suhr guitars last 2014 and some of the tech's were talking about the new limited edition stealth and one of them had one and he brought it in to compare it with other amps they had there. they opend them up and said that they are all soldano SLO-100 designs, all of them are basically the same amp but tweaked. Just what I heard that night.

That's a badly kept secret. Evh had a boner for the slo, and that's what he'd wanted peavey to make for him back in the day.

Yup. Soldano wouldn't give EVH free SLOs and pay him to endorse Soldano, so he went to Peavey who paid him and then Peavey tried to clone the SLO. Hence the 5150 was born. So every version after, including EVH 5153s and rectifiers(to a degree) and Framus Cobras are tweaked copies of an SLO. Probably more than that.

Oh, that evh. What a rascal

 

[f550maranello2]

Oh, that evh. What a rascal

OH well, I love the amps anywayz so he must be doing something right

 

[shreder75]

Oh, that evh. What a rascal

OH well, I love the amps anywayz so he must be doing something right

Right, and agreed. Gear with his name on it has always been great. No complaints here.

 

[Racerxrated]

Oh, that evh. What a rascal

OH well, I love the amps anywayz so he must be doing something right

Right, and agreed. Gear with his name on it has always been great. No complaints here.

Lots of variations of good tones to chose from thanks to EVH for sure. Surprising though that of all the Marshall Artist amps(Slash, Satriani etc) that EVH and Marshall couldn't get together and do an amp similar to 'the' amp that started it all....that would be cool.

 

[shreder75]

Oh, that evh. What a rascal

OH well, I love the amps anywayz so he must be doing something right

Right, and agreed. Gear with his name on it has always been great. No complaints here.

Lots of variations of good tones to chose from thanks to EVH for sure. Surprising though that of all the Marshall Artist amps(Slash, Satriani etc) that EVH and Marshall couldn't get together and do an amp similar to 'the' amp that started it all....that would be cool.

Who knows the mysterious ways of evh? He probably lost out on fuck tons of cash by not doing thr signature gear back in the 80s.

 

[Racerxrated]

Oh, that evh. What a rascal

OH well, I love the amps anywayz so he must be doing something right

Right, and agreed. Gear with his name on it has always been great. No complaints here.

Lots of variations of good tones to chose from thanks to EVH for sure. Surprising though that of all the Marshall Artist amps(Slash, Satriani etc) that EVH and Marshall couldn't get together and do an amp similar to 'the' amp that started it all....that would be cool.

Who knows the mysterious ways of evh? He probably lost out on fuck tons of cash by not doing thr signature gear back in the 80s.

Exactly. If he had done that back then, he'd have owned 25% of every rock related gear sale maybe...or more!

 

[ZachMN]

AHHH! The SLO part of it! I knew he based the 5150 on it...never knew why he didn't just use them but I suppose the endorsement money etc. and for what it's worth isn't the concept of the SLO based somewhat on what Randall Smith did to all those little Fender's and then Boogie's? And what's this about BE100 in EVH cab? I'm not privy to whatever that story is so do tell...

Thanks again for all the responses. I suppose I'll just try the 6505 out and see if I like what it does...bring my geetah and put it through it's paces......I was just wondering if there was a huge difference.

 

[Racerxrated]

AHHH! The SLO part of it! I knew he based the 5150 on it...never knew why he didn't just use them but I suppose the endorsement money etc. and for what it's worth isn't the concept of the SLO based somewhat on what Randall Smith did to all those little Fender's and then Boogie's? And what's this about BE100 in EVH cab? I'm not privy to whatever that story is so do tell...

Thanks again for all the responses. I suppose I'll just try the 6505 out and see if I like what it does...bring my geetah and put it through it's paces......I was just wondering if there was a huge difference.

I think the 'BE in the EVH headshell' thing was pretty much a one person post.....and they never replied after so many jumped on it, calling it bs.

 

[DAMIAN The MAN]

I have owned like every high gain head worth having and the evh 5150iii was one of the worst amps I have ever herd/owned . Lasted three days red chan had just to much gain and blue chan did not have enough gain,boosting the amp would make it sound thin with no thump. The amp really needed a resonance . Must be why Ed has BE100 guts in his EVH head cabs lol. This was confirmed by a GOOD source

Just herd it from a Freidman endorsement friend . I believe him and he showed me pics also. Can't post that here it will start a shit storm with the fan boys

 

[CP5150]

Oh, that evh. What a rascal

OH well, I love the amps anywayz so he must be doing something right

Right, and agreed. Gear with his name on it has always been great. No complaints here.

Lots of variations of good tones to chose from thanks to EVH for sure. Surprising though that of all the Marshall Artist amps(Slash, Satriani etc) that EVH and Marshall couldn't get together and do an amp similar to 'the' amp that started it all....that would be cool.

Ed tried Marshall first. Jim Marshall told him "no thanks. We're Marshall. We don't do signature amps." Then they released the Slash its not a signature amp amp. But it was. I love Ed. By all accounts he's a dick to work with. As I would be. So I assume that's the real reason things never panned out with Marshall. And that quote came from Ed himself.

There's an interview with a Peavey manager who says Ed brought his Marshall and SLO to Meridian and said I want the rhythym channel to sound like my Marshall and the lead like the SLO. It's debatable how successful they were. But that's the story.