EVH5153 vs soldano 50watters

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sixstringking713

sixstringking713

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EVH5153 vs soldano 50watters ?? pros/ cons of each?

EDIT: EVH5153 50W specifically vs soldano 50 watters specifically
 
Without playing experience on either (except Jet City amps) but from a listening perspective at shows, practices, etc:

5153:
- one more channel than every Soldano except the Decatone
- insane amounts of gain
- more "modern" sounding if it's set that way

Soldano:
- more "in your face" type of gain structure
- more raw sounding, "3D" I suppose
- more of a hot rodded Marshall type tone
 
I had an SLO for a year. Have a 5153.

5153 is an awesome bang for the buck. I liked the SLO best of all the Soldano amps. Epic crunch, just had to be very loud

The 50w soldanos seemed more compressed, slightly but similar voiced. Seems like either is good. The 5153 is my fav though.
 
I had a 50 watt Hot Rod Soldano for a few years. Good amp, but the loop was a pain and the lack of a clean channel (didn't clean up that well for me) was odd. I think there are better options these days whether it's the 5153 or something else.
 
I played two different EVH 50 watters last week and they both had a "nasal" like quality to the tone. Wasn't my thing at all! I used to have Soldano HR50 and It was ok. Most all of those have Mercury Magnets which tend to sound a little too smooth for my tastes.
 
I think non SLO Soldanos are equipped with Onetics iron now, but I get what you're saying.
 
Go with the Soldano. It will give you a clearer, less grainy tone.
 
I just serviced a earlier 90's Soldano Hotrod 50. Not the +.
They were originally one channel amps with a high and low input.
Very similar to the first master volume JMP Marshall's in the mid to late 70's. Not the circuit but the layout.
Honestly, I see a lot of amps in a month for servicing and this Soldano blew me away. So much so that I bought one off ebay right after I got this particular amp back to the customer.

Not sure how I hadn't found this amp sooner. I think the key is in it's simplicity and the extra smooth compression you get from pushing the poweramp at 50 watts that make it magical sounding to me.

Contrary to what I read above, these heads clean-up incredibly well, that is, if you know how to set the head up with more poweramp than preamp...This goes for any head however..this one just happens to do it better than most. Again, I attribute that to the one channel simplicity. Most channel switchers don't quite do it as well.
The way I liked the head best was with the master volume on 7 and the preamp around the same or slightly less depending on how much volume you needed.
With the guitar volume all the way up the tone is in the classic marshally type of vein. Pure AC/DC balls with improved string to string clarity and a muuuuuch smoother high-end than any marshalls (especially 800's).
With a moderate roll-off to about 5 or halfway on the guitar volume pot, the head was crystal clear but warm. I might add that this is with my PRS which has the ability to get a singlecoil type strat sound which definitely helps in that department.

I found the gain taper to be exceptionally smooth and usable on this amp.
Add a boost for leads or heavier chording combined with the bridge pickup and you've got a really nice workhorse marshallesque set-up with every shade of gain at your fingertips. Honestly, it's all there, all the classic tones I've heard over the year right through 90's grungier sounds.
Love this amp...
SOLDANOHOTROD-1.jpg
 
I might as well weigh in on the 5153.
I had an early one for a while. First year.
Loved the 3rd channel. Had a "brown sound" on steriods thing going on.
It didnt sound as good as the one I played at GC tho.
I've played several since and I've found the tone to be inconsistent amp to amp with similar tubes.
Not sure I liked the build of the amp. For the flexibility it gives you and the quality of the sound, It's a great value IMO
 
Just bought a 5153 100 watter, gotta say disapointed and it may be going back. Raspy and no warm mids, checked bias, even raised it a bit but still not sweet to me, not brown for that matter either. Sounds more like a metal amp to me, not what I expected from others I tried in the store. Depends what you're looking for and maybe I have a lemon and no experience w/the soldanos. Good luck
 
RG955TT":3n0hcq97 said:
Just bought a 5153 100 watter, gotta say disapointed and it may be going back. Raspy and no warm mids, checked bias, even raised it a bit but still not sweet to me, not brown for that matter either. Sounds more like a metal amp to me, not what I expected from others I tried in the store. Depends what you're looking for and maybe I have a lemon and no experience w/the soldanos. Good luck
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Weird.. I had a similar experience. Seems like you can get either a good one or a real stinker.
 
I like the 5150's, but there seems to be alot of reviews about problems with them.
 
RG955TT":2ka3f3yh said:
Just bought a 5153 100 watter, gotta say disapointed and it may be going back. Raspy and no warm mids, checked bias, even raised it a bit but still not sweet to me, not brown for that matter either. Sounds more like a metal amp to me, not what I expected from others I tried in the store. Depends what you're looking for and maybe I have a lemon and no experience w/the soldanos. Good luck
Click to expand...
Just curious as to how you tried the EVH. For one it's very pick-up sensitive so different guitars/pu combos sound different. What cab/speaker? Did you spend any time on channel 2? That is where the amp shines for me, especially when boosted. Did you buy a used one? Someone could have replaced the stock tubes or damaged it. For me the EH/Sovtek mix is the best.
 
Just curious as to how you tried the EVH. For one it's very pick-up sensitive so different guitars/pu combos sound different
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I would weigh in on this and add that speaker selection plays a huge part too.

I have the 50w and playing it through different cabs it sounds like a different amp every time. My own preference is for my Mesa 2x12 v30 cab must this may not be to everyones taste.

I have been using the 50w 3 nights a week since Jan and have serial number 10, shipped directly to Thailand from VN rather than through the US where they do some QC. I did have QC probs earlier on but to be fair they were very minor and resolved by Howard Kaplan from Fender over email very very quickly.

For the money its a great amp no doubt but I wonder if I'm starting to come out of the honeymoon period.

Despite what has been written about the Clean to channel 2 issue and when the gain is above 1 O'Clock the volume issue dissapears, I would dispute that. Yes, it does reduce the problem but its still there AND with the gain at 1 Oclock you are going to be turning the volume knob on your guitar WAY back to get anywhere near clean. The only way I've found around it, being midi-less is with a boost in front, gain turned down volume turned up.

The other issue I'm having right now is with it cutting through the band in a reasonably loud pub gig with a loud drummer and noisy crowd. Especially on channel 3, even with the gain turned down and the volume up a bit. I will go back to the Mesa cab this weekend and see if that's any better.

I want it to work out.....great amp in the man cave
 
Mine was brand new just shipped last week to GC from Fender (100 watt), played thru 5153 Cab used and well broken in. Raised the bias to 30 mA and it helped but not enough I think for me to keep it. Lacking bottom on channel two, the one I played in the store even at low volume sounded way more full and had FAT mids , channel two had plenty of bottom end. This amp does not sound like EVH in my opinion at all and I love EVH!! Sounds like a metal amp to me, no thick rich mids, too scooped and raspy top end. Its going back! I'll try another if they order one for me but it also sounds plasticky and cheap and I know others sound great so this one must be a dud.
 
I had a HR50 and it was one of my least favorite amps. Loop was ehhh and it had a gross fizzy high end. Mine also had a really bad ground hum. I brought it in twice. First retube did nothing second helped a litte but not enough to keep it. Sad thing is I hear clips on YouTube that actually sound good. I think I had a bunk unit. :dunno:

I'd pick a 5153 over a HR50 anyday.
SLO's rule but that's a whole other class of amp.
 
I owned a Hot Rod 50 in the 90s, and I currently own a 5153 100 watter. The Soldano was definately drier. By today's standards, I wouldn't consider it a mega high gain amp. While the Soldano definately has "that" sound, I always found it needed to be very loud to get it. I have a much easier time getting good tones at realistic gigging volumes that the soundman doesn't give me the stink eye about. Just my two cents...
 
SFW":bmfatx8m said:
I owned a Hot Rod 50 in the 90s, and I currently own a 5153 100 watter. The Soldano was definately drier. By today's standards, I wouldn't consider it a mega high gain amp. While the Soldano definately has "that" sound, I always found it needed to be very loud to get it. I have a much easier time getting good tones at realistic gigging volumes that the soundman doesn't give me the stink eye about. Just my two cents...
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To me that all boils down to the argument of what sounds better, preamp or poweramp distortion.
You wont get even a shade of poweramp coloring on the 5153 at reasonable volumes. I have a harder time nowadays getting tones I'm happy with on a amp with a super hot front end tho. To me they always sound worse as the volume goes up with too much preamp gain.
 
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