First post for me!
I've been reading this thread on and off for several weeks, as the EVH 5150 III 50-watt is the core of my tone. I LOVE both the clean and crunch channel tones of this amp, but the volume jump was too much to manage for me.
Additionally I have this pedalboard rig that has a tuner, wah, TC Spark and Devi Ever Rocket before the amp, and a MXR phaser & delay and TC chorus/HoF Reverb in the effects loop. I'd use the Spark to even out the volume, but it was a double tap and the results were never consistent.
I took the plunge and got the GSP 1101 + Control 2 pedalboard ($800 together on Sweetwater.com) and wow, the difference is so insane. As other posters mentioned, the 1101 integrates just seamlessly into the EVH. I've completely replaced my pedalboard, with the exception of my Polytune 2.
This is definitely a winning combo. Here are some pros and cons that anyone considering this combo should consider:
Pros
- Fixes the volume jump! The 5150 III 50-watt is a great amp but that volume jump can be impossible to deal with if you like lots of headroom on your clean channel. This setup completely eliminates that problem as it allows you to set the output level per-preset.
- Never touch your amp settings again, because the overall output level can easily be controlled with the main output level knob on the front of the GSP. This means your perfect relative volume positioning between Ch1/2 and 3 can be preserved and you can still rock out in your bedroom. Right now I have Ch1/2 volume at 12 o'clock and Ch3 and 1 o'clock (but lower gain).
- Integrates seamlessly into the amp. The GSP is smart enough to send some effects (distortion, fuzz, boost) before the gain stage and some effects (modulation, time-based) in the fx loop. This is configuration #7 in the user manual. This is the most flexible preamp I've ever seen.
- The GSP is so easy to use. I hate twiddling around on hardware units, but this is different. Naming, configuring, and storing presets is so easy you can do it in 10-15 seconds.
- The Lexicon reverbs.
- Enough effects, amps, distortions to last you a lifetime. I was happy to see excellent models of actual pedals that I replaced, leaving my overall sound almost identical to before when I had the pedalboard. I also now have access to so many effects that I couldn't justify a pedal for, like tremolo, noise gate, flanger, etc.
- Very easy to navigate banks of presets. I may use 5 different guitar tones in one song, so I use a whole bank for one song, and there are 99 presets which means you could have 5 unique presets for up to 20 songs. If you are still in the world of tap dancing on a pedalboard, this live switching with pre-canned presets makes life so much better!!
Cons
- When switching from a clean channel (usually at output level 99) to a dirty channel (40) can have a momentary huge spike in volume because the EVH switches before the GSP changes its preset. However, this is a really short amount of time and probably not that noticeable in live situations. Just know that you probably want to mute for half a beat when you change this direction.
- I have no other rack gear so I had to buy a rack. I ended up just getting a used 2U Roadrunner rack case from GC ($79) plus a Furman M-8x2 power conditioner for the other rack space ($55) so I can have nice surge protection and plenty of outlets, and only require 1 for my entire rig.
- Since I have no other rack gear, this means I have more crap to carry around. A 2U rack is still pretty heavy.
- Don't know how the GSP would function without the Control 2 floor unit, but I'd recommend them together. The proprietary cable cuts down on extra cables floating around, and they just make sense overall together.
- The wah pedal kind of sucks to engage, although it hasn't let me down yet. I'm just used to that Crybaby *click*.
- The tuner is awful compared to the Polytune.
- At $800 for the GSP plus the control board, it's a very expensive solution to the volume balancing problem. Ask yourself if you need a better system for switching tones and if so, prepare to spend the dollars. If you stay on Channel 2 all day then this is not worth it.
In short, this is a really good option for solving the volume problem, but even better, it simplifies your rig and your approach to live performance so much. It will only improve your tone - not hurt it!! If you love your EVH 5150 III 50-watt but want more stable volume and fast switching, this is the combo to get.
Hope this helps all the other folk out there on Google finding this thread.
