Evh 5150 iii or prs archon

[Whatamada]

I recently spent a large amount of time in the studio tracking guitars using only Archon and 5150III (50w).
They both sound really good, takes pedals well and for metal/rock they are serious players.
I personally think the Archon is the better player here. It's more versatile, more organic, a much better clean channel and the lead channel can do pretty much anything. On top of that, in the high gain area I prefer it to 5150 III, Mesa recto and other amps of that character.

In the end, it's your choice. I bet that there are other guitarists that say the opposite of what I just said.
They are both great amps that will do metal great.
It's all taste and value in the end

 

[sleewell2]

i really want to play an archon and have a 50 watt 5153 incoming.

 

[Norton666]

I greatly prefer the tone of the 5153 , but that trade is way upside down. The Archon is bringing significantly more on the used market than a 50 watt 5153. That being said , I would take the 5153 over the Archon any day , regardless of value

 

[PSGuitar]

Archon just sounds better to me and feels better to play, which is key!

 

[Techdeth]

Do it !

 

[vmbarrera]

Almost three years later... did you?

 

[romanianreaper]

I just came up from the basement where I was playing my EVH 5150-III 6L6 50-watt that I got on Christmas Eve. Best decision I made. Cleans are awesome, blue channel with a pedal is chug city and red channel chugs. The 5150-III is perfect for my Keeley pedals.

When I have my El Rey Dorado going into the clean channel, I can almost get it to sound like the blue channel. Using my other Keeley overdrive pedals (Oxblood, D&M), just sounds killer pushing the blue channel.

 

[PSGuitar]

100watt archon its noisey and pops when switching.... All the early ones had the issue most guys just lived with it... I mainly record so extra noise is a no go

Mine is silent.

 

[PSGuitar]

I much prefer the 100 EVH heads. They just sound so much bigger and meaner and thicker than the 50 watter and volume doesn't make a difference. It's about the muscle and size the 100 watt tranny does to the sound. Notes and just bigger and fatter. 50 Watters are still sweet though!

Archon 100 is a monster though. It even does nice medium gain tones by rolling back guitar volume.

Archon gain is smoother and I prefer it for leads. I don't have any lack of low end. With bass and depth up, it's hot monster lows wirth my 412 and Redbacks/Mesa V30s.
In fact, at gigs, I got several comments that my low end improved when I switched to the Archon. It balanced better in the band mix.
Plus, it's also easy to mod if you want even more low end.

 

[PSGuitar]

I recently spent a large amount of time in the studio tracking guitars using only Archon and 5150III (50w).
They both sound really good, takes pedals well and for metal/rock they are serious players.
I personally think the Archon is the better player here. It's more versatile, more organic, a much better clean channel and the lead channel can do pretty much anything. On top of that, in the high gain area I prefer it to 5150 III, Mesa recto and other amps of that character.

In the end, it's your choice. I bet that there are other guitarists that say the opposite of what I just said.
They are both great amps that will do metal great.
It's all taste and value in the end

The lead channel can do a lot, but you really have to utilize the guitar volume to get rhe most out of the gain channel.
Rolling back guitar volume can yield medium gain crunch all day long. You don't need a dedicated crunch channel.
I also think amps that have less channels have better pure, organic tone. Archon.

 

[alund]

I traded my archon 100 for a Mesa 50/50 stereo rack and an ax fx 2. It was worth it to me. I did not get along with the archon. I also have the EVH and it i ls waaay better than the archon 100 for my needs.

 

[ultimatemetalguitartones]

EVH 5150 all the way