EVH 5150 reliability?

[flimz]

Curious about everyone's experience with the reliability of the EVH 50 watt 5150 iii. I've researched this topic a little, and it seems like a roll of the dice with these amps.

I've owned so many high end amps, but never a 5150 of any sort. I know...seriously late to the game. But I might want to add one of the 50 watters to my sound. I like the form factor, and the 3 channels.

So, should I just steer clear of these or what?
Thanks!

 

[Simon Dorn]

Curious about everyone's experience with the reliability of the EVH 50 watt 5150 iii. I've researched this topic a little, and it seems like a roll of the dice with these amps.

I've owned so many high end amps, but never a 5150 of any sort. I know...seriously late to the game. But I might want to add one of the 50 watters to my sound. I like the form factor, and the 3 channels.

So, should I just steer clear of these or what?
Thanks!

I had one for a few years and i also used it live. Never had any problems with it.

 

[Mike Oxhuge]

Interesting. Never heard of anything other than tubes with these?

 

[sandman]

I’ve owned 3 different evh 50w and 1 100w stealth over the years. Never had an issue with any of them. Only got rid of them as i wanted to try other amps.

 

[fusedbrain]

Only issue I've ever heard of ( and have seen and repaired ) is guys sticking El34's in the OG EVH 6l6 100watter, and melting the traces around the fuse holders for the heater circuit. That is not the amps fault.
The EVH line is solid. Don't do anything dumb, and you shouldn't have any issues.

 

[angelspade]

Never had any issues with my 100 watt stealth.

 

[Avi8r2005]

I've had 3 iterations of the 50watters, the only issue I had was one of the concentric knobs cracked. Easily replaced. As far as any other issues, all have been rock solid.

 

[flimz]

This is all good to hear. Thanks everyone!

 

[Findthetone1]

Never had any issue with my 50 watt when I had it.

 

[heath]

I ran one of the version one 50 watters as my main live amp for six years. I averaged playing out at least three times a week during that time. Never had as much as a hiccup out of them.

 

[napalmdeath]

I've had the OG 50 watt, the revision with the concentric pots, and the Stealth. Never had a lick of trouble with any.
They're solid.

 

[Geo]

I have the head which I purchased about 8 years ago and a combo which is about 2 years old, no problems yet.

 

[TheGreatGreen]

Channel 3 of my EVH 50w 6L6 went out one day. It turned out to be caused by a small metal shaving inside the Gain pot that was shorting out the signal to ground. Blowing some compressed air into the pot seemed to fix it.

 

[Techdeth]

I used the same one for 6 years . All over touring in studio . Never had a tube go bad even . One bad thing : led light for power went out . lol and I beat this thing to death traveling

 

[7704A]

A friend owns a 5153 EL34 50W, and so far the only issue I know of is that some tubes died and cooked the board pretty good around the screen resistors. They were JJ EL34's, which per a recent Malcontents episode don't like to be cranked. My friend was regularly cranking it, so presumably that was it.

 

[flimz]

I appreciate everyone's opinions and experience with these amps!

 

[Geo]

I appreciate everyone's opinions and experience with these amps!

It's been a while since I have been inside the head but I remember it looking decently made. Some brands, wholly shit, but the EVH stuff seems to be decent quality.

I would say it's on par, if not better than most quality wise.

 

[PBGas]

I remember them having issues with the early vietnam built models years back.

I've had a 100W Stealth and 100 W EL-34 head through the years and no issues other than tubes. I would assume the 50s would be on the same build level.

 

[DrewJD82]

I’ve got an OG 50-watt 6L6 without the concentric pots, been working without an issue for the 2 years I’ve had it. No clue how much the original owner used it. Haven’t really heard of any issues with these that I can remember.

 

[Nigel]

There’s a vid with Ed saying they put the OG 5150 in a room full blast with a guitar feeding back and let it cook for a month. It was still screaming when they came back, allegedly. If true, the 5150 master builder was certainly fit for a King.