Bought EVH 5150 III 50 Watt Head

[Charvel1975]

Hello everyone, after much research and watching videos on different multi channel tube heads, I just bought a new EVH 5150 III 50 Watt Head. My main amp was my Mesa Tremoverb head until now. The EVH is the new one with the concentric pots. Any other owners or users that came from Mesa/boogie?

 

[sleewell2]

I just got one of the older ones. I love it.

 

[JMP2203]

its V2 voicing the same as the old one? just new dual pots?

 

[D-Rock]

I've got a 1st gen, no Fender badge. Fucking kills...

 

[Mikeyboyeee]

Great amp! Havent played mine in a bit but real nice.

 

[sleewell2]

I don't even mind the vol jump. I think it's just another thing bedroom players freak out about on the internet. You want dynamics, the design is great.

Easy to carry, loud as hell, great sounds. I love this amp. The fx loop being footswitchable is great too.

 

[skullfxr]

Sweet! They are nice amps. I don't own one, but I have demo'd a few.

 

[Meeotch]

its V2 voicing the same as the old one? just new dual pots?

I own V2, and the clean channel has been cleaned up a bit compared to V1. More headroom, but less gain on tap in channel 1. Channel 2 and 3 sound identical to me. I've also heard V2 is a touch lighter in weight, but I can't confirm this.

I don't even mind the vol jump. I think it's just another thing bedroom players freak out about on the internet. You want dynamics, the design is great.

Not sure I understand your sweeping generalization with bedroom players here. The volume jump was an obvious shortcoming on V1, which is why they corrected it.

 

[jc986]

If anything bedroom players had the easier workaround of simply adjusting the knob. The real headache with V1 was for gigging players that wanted a three channel amp and the ability to have the channel volumes balanced. It’s one of the reasons I got rid of my 5153 50w v1.

 

[D-Rock]

I agree, the ch1 volume jump was a grievance of gigging players not bedroom players.

I didn't buy the amp to play clean with lol! So I couldn't care less.

 

[skullfxr]

Has anyone a/b'd the EL34 and 6L6 versions?

 

[faisalbaig313]

There are a few opinions i find quite often about these amps......
That Crunch Blue is very "Marshall" sounding. (Good!!)
And that the Red channel can be nasal/cocked wah kind of mids. (Bad!!)
Quality Control and reliability issues!

Can anyone comment on these ? I think with the concentric pots upgrade this would be a killer amp for me but i am a bit concerned about the nasal red channel.

 

[D-Rock]

On the 50w the blue channel is very Marshall but not the classic Marshall Kerrang, more of a modded Marshall sound.

I don't find the red channel has any nasal or cocked wah sound to it. If anything, it's got a lot of gain and compression and saturation but that doesn't bother me because it's there when I want it. Otherwise I play the blue channel a lot.

 

[Beyond Black]

The blue channel is very Marshall but the classic Marshall more modded Marshall.
I don't find the red channel has any nasal or cocked wah sound to it. If anything, it's got a lot of gain and compression and saturation but that doesn't bother me because it's there when I want it. Otherwise I play the blue channel a lot.

I found the red channel of the Stealth to be extremely nasally, but the red channel on the 50 watt, not at all.

 

[7 Stringer]

Just bought one, on it's way as we speak, V2. Bought it from the classifieds from a great dude,MYLSISS, or something similar...lol. Fucking great guy to deal with.

Had a 100 watt for over 10 years and loved that amp big time. Anxious to get this one and pjt it through its paces. It is more for bringing to friends to jam than anything. But we ll see..

Will report when in hand.

 

[Speeddemon]

On the 50w the blue channel is very Marshall but not the classic Marshall Kerrang, more of a modded Marshall sound.

I don't find the red channel has any nasal or cocked wah sound to it. If anything, it's got a lot of gain and compression and saturation but that doesn't bother me because it's there when I want it. Otherwise I play the blue channel a lot.

I get what he's saying though...there's a certain almost 'plastic'/congested quality to something in the mids of the red channel (50W, 6L6). Very hard to describe and 'nasal' is maybe too much, but it does seem to veer in that direction. You can't dial it out, that's for sure. And I find myself more and more using the blue channel for lead playing, because it cuts through better, while retaining a more open sounding tone.

One way to get rid of it I found, is putting a 12AU7 in V3 or V4, but that totally changes the character of the red channel... from Satchel to Gary Moore almost.

 

[misterspockyall]

On the 50w the blue channel is very Marshall but not the classic Marshall Kerrang, more of a modded Marshall sound.

I don't find the red channel has any nasal or cocked wah sound to it. If anything, it's got a lot of gain and compression and saturation but that doesn't bother me because it's there when I want it. Otherwise I play the blue channel a lot.

I get what he's saying though...there's a certain almost 'plastic'/congested quality to something in the mids of the red channel (50W, 6L6). Very hard to describe and 'nasal' is maybe too much, but it does seem to veer in that direction. You can't dial it out, that's for sure. And I find myself more and more using the blue channel for lead playing, because it cuts through better, while retaining a more open sounding tone.

One way to get rid of it I found, is putting a 12AU7 in V3 or V4, but that totally changes the character of the red channel... from Satchel to Gary Moore almost.

I always described the red channel as "coughing" on chugs, the mids were spiked a little too low in the frequency range for my liking. It was a blast at first but wore on me over time and I didn't jive with it.

 

[skullfxr]

I think I need to buy one eventually. I am still collecting vintage fender amps and working on a few builds. It's on my list, along with a Fryette deliverance.

 

[peterc52]

Think I might need to pick one of these up. A lot seem to like them

 

[Racerxrated]

Think I might need to pick one of these up. A lot seem to like them

They don't compare to the amps you've owned...I've had 2, and the blue channel that everyone likes was very sterile, no character. I liked the red best but had to really dial back the gain to gig with. But, the last one I had I also had 2 JCM 800s, an SLO and a C+. The 5153 just collected dust. So back it went.
I think they are decent enough but when you compare them to higher end rock amps they pale IMO.