Comparing the Archon to the 5150 III to the BFG Double deuce

GuitarGuyLP

GuitarGuyLP

Active member
And the Archon won by quite a bit!!!

The BFG Double Duce could keep up with a boost, without the boost it was too dark, and vintage for my tastes.

The 5150 III seemed to always have a bit of fizz on the high end compared to the Archon which isn't a bad thing, but kind of gets fatiguing over time

The Archon just sounds massive, and the EQ has a pretty decent range. When I first got the amp it had a bad preamp tube causing it to sound very dark, and just meh, but now that is sorted out WOW, big fat, defined, and aggressive. It is what a modern high gain amp should be. I just wish the clean channel had enough gain to get into crunch territory, but I am sure that if it did some of the magic would have to be sacrificed, and that is a great clean channel!!!

So I have been on a bit of a minimizing kick, and that applies to my gear too. I think I am going to sell everything, and buy an Archon 25 watt combo. I just play at home, so 25 watts should be plenty for me, and just a single combo amp, and a couple guitars you can't get much simpler than that!!!!
 
seriously a sleeper of an amp

It isn't a bunch of bells and whistles but what it does it does well . Great sparking, spanking cleans and the best Recto you've never heard IMO
 
Good to hear your enjoying it! I initially wanted to try one but read mixed reviews and steered clear. Might have to add it to the list again.

I didn't get along with the 50 watt or 100 watt EVH 5150 III when I owned them, assuming that's what you compared to. The blue channel was cool but lacked gain for my tastes. Blue was cool boosted. The red channel was too hot; an overly compressed mess IMHO. There was also too much of that "kerang" sound in the upper mids if ya know what I mean.
 
Not sure which Archon combo I played through but very unimpressed by it. It was used in a GC, and didn't have as much gain as I would have expected. But, who knows what tubes were in it, and god knows I have a shit ton of pre/power tubes here..probably needed to spend more time with it. Of course, I thought the same of the Uberschall I played through in the same store months before...I know people here swear by them. Cool that you found your tone!
 
The combos come with G12T-75s :no:
Once I get that combo the speaker will be changed immediately. I have never really liked them for anything.

I like that it is a simple two channel amp with easy controls, and a good variety of tones.
 
Mesa does the same thing with their rectoverb 25 combo. Its strange as a speaker difference can had a massive impact on the overall tone of the amp. All my Mesa cabs have V30s which I really like. I'd really be curious as to why they do the speaker changes with their smaller combos.
 
I would avoid an open back combo at all costs for heavy styles...get a head and a closed back 1x12 or 2x12 cab...my .02
 
To be honest I have had good luck with 1x12 combos in the past, and with my family situation I want small, and portable so that I can move it around the house as needed. I just find 1x12 combos need the right speaker, and need to be positioned right in the room. I usually have to play with the distance between the amp, and the wall, and the resonance to get it to sound right. Worst case scenario I will keep one of my 1x12 cabs. If my house had a basement amp size would not be an issue, but that is a small price to pay for no snow.
 
I have the 100W head as well as the 5150 III 100W head. Very different sounding amps but the Archon is certainly a step above, IMO.
 
I always run a combo into a 4x12 before I judge the amp, and I did try the Archon through a Marshall BV cab. I think the pre tubes were in need of a change, not very fire breathing at all. I know these have plenty gain on tap...
 
I found that I need the bright switch on, and treble up to about 2:00 in order for it to have enough bite to sound as aggressive as I want it to. With the treble lower than that it sounded a bit tame to me
 
GuitarGuyLP":3hrq09zu said:
I found that I need the bright switch on, and treble up to about 2:00 in order for it to have enough bite to sound as aggressive as I want it to. With the treble lower than that it sounded a bit tame to me
Click to expand...

I find the bright switch changes the mids to more of an upper mid bite
With it off amp is definitely darker and mellowed
Turn it on with mids at noon treb 1 and it snarls nicely

Btw let me know on the combo how it work out
I hate the gt75 but when I played the
100 through the EVH 212 gh30 it sounded monster
 
Part of that fizz on the 5150 III I found was the bias pot maxed and glued that way from the factory. I replaced the JJ's with Sovtek waffer bottom 6l6/5881's like in a Soldano and set the bias to the correct setting, and the tone was significantly better..
 
gtr31":2f2sfmmd said:
GuitarGuyLP":2f2sfmmd said:
I found that I need the bright switch on, and treble up to about 2:00 in order for it to have enough bite to sound as aggressive as I want it to. With the treble lower than that it sounded a bit tame to me
Click to expand...

I find the bright switch changes the mids to more of an upper mid bite
With it off amp is definitely darker and mellowed
Turn it on with mids at noon treb 1 and it snarls nicely

Btw let me know on the combo how it work out
I hate the gt75 but when I played the
100 through the EVH 212 gh30 it sounded monster
Click to expand...

I agree completely about the bright switch!!!! I like that snarl, I even boost the mids up a good amount.

I used to have an EVH 212, and I didn't really like it. But there are a few factors there like the room I had it in was pretty bright, and so were my amps at the time. I am leaning towards a Creamback, or a Creamback Neo to make the combo even lighter!!

I have played around with the bias on my 5150 III, and I found that from the factory it was set a bit low, I tried it biased cold, normal, and hot, and found that in the low end of the normal range I think it was about 26mA each tube measured with a bias probe, not the test points was where it sounded best. I also tried a bunch of different preamp tubes to try some darker ones. I am usually a big fan of the Chinese 12AX7B, but not in the 5150 III. I ended up with some tung sols, JJs, and even a 5751 in the PI slot. It is a great amp, and has a wide range of tones, and was my main amp for about 3 years, but for me the Archon is just a big step above!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top