My EVH 50-watt Stealth review!

  • Thread starter Thread starter napalmdeath
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napalmdeath said:
Got it last week, and really got to dive in over the weekend.

I LOVE it! It's much better, and much improved over the original 50-watt 6L6. Blue is much more aggressive, more lively, more character altogether. Punchier, and more focused. Badass!!

Red, like the original, has a shit-load of gain. However, it's much warmer, (to my ears), less thin, less abrasive. More low mids, for sure, more low end. An NOS GE 5751 really helps you squeeze a bit more on the gain knob, before getting too insane. I actually enjoy it on this version!

I did switch out the GT-labeled Shuguang 6L6's, (never liked Chinese 6L6's), for JJ's, and in addition to the 5751 I put in V3, I also put a Tungsol in V1, which really gave blue a bit more hair, and harmonics. I'm not a fan of JJ's in V1, I find them dull in a tone stage, unless it's an ECC803S.

The only oddity was that it was biased at 49mA when I got it, which is kinda hot! I'm waiting on my new Pro One to get the plate voltage, but I backed it down to 36mA when I put in the JJ's. They gave it a deeper low end, made it even tighter, and cut a good bit of the high end the Shuguangs seem to exude, IMO.

Killer amp! I LOVE it! In-your-face, aggressive beast!
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I noticed mine gets a little warm back by the power tubes..I will check bias tomorrow and maybe try a new matched pair of JJ's 6l6's I have. But I really like mine a lot. 49mA is pretty high
 
napalmdeath said:
Got it last week, and really got to dive in over the weekend.

I LOVE it! It's much better, and much improved over the original 50-watt 6L6. Blue is much more aggressive, more lively, more character altogether. Punchier, and more focused. Badass!!

Red, like the original, has a shit-load of gain. However, it's much warmer, (to my ears), less thin, less abrasive. More low mids, for sure, more low end. An NOS GE 5751 really helps you squeeze a bit more on the gain knob, before getting too insane. I actually enjoy it on this version!

I did switch out the GT-labeled Shuguang 6L6's, (never liked Chinese 6L6's), for JJ's, and in addition to the 5751 I put in V3, I also put a Tungsol in V1, which really gave blue a bit more hair, and harmonics. I'm not a fan of JJ's in V1, I find them dull in a tone stage, unless it's an ECC803S.

The only oddity was that it was biased at 49mA when I got it, which is kinda hot! I'm waiting on my new Pro One to get the plate voltage, but I backed it down to 36mA when I put in the JJ's. They gave it a deeper low end, made it even tighter, and cut a good bit of the high end the Shuguangs seem to exude, IMO.

Killer amp! I LOVE it! In-your-face, aggressive beast!
Click to expand...
I finally got around to checking the bias,but I used the test points around back..on my DMM on the mA setting it reads and average of 6.58-6.67..as low as 6.33 and high as 6.67..are you using a 6l6 tube probe in the socket to get your mA reading ?

I don't remember what to do or how to use these test points on these things,but if I remember my XXX head had them,or one of my Peavey heads and read that the bias test point settings were much different than using the probes.

My LBX 15 Stealth heads bias test points read 1.54-1.56 mA with my Dmm.

My 50 watter runs a little warm,same as the 15 wattter.
 
riffermadness said:
I finally got around to checking the bias,but I used the test points around back..on my DMM on the mA setting it reads and average of 6.58-6.67..as low as 6.33 and high as 6.67..are you using a 6l6 tube probe in the socket to get your mA reading ?

I don't remember what to do or how to use these test points on these things,but if I remember my XXX head had them,or one of my Peavey heads and read that the bias test point settings were much different than using the probes.

My LBX 15 Stealth heads bias test points read 1.54-1.56 mA with my Dmm.

My 50 watter runs a little warm,same as the 15 wattter.
Click to expand...
I believe you need to set your DMM to mV to measure the test points. Apparently the test point go through a 1M resistor so the mV reading = mA.
 
I just plug mine in and play the heck out of it as is. I was so happy with mine I got another still sitting in a sealed box if/when this one wears out...lol.
 
LCW said:
I believe you need to set your DMM to mV to measure the test points. Apparently the test point go through a 1M resistor so the mV reading = mA.
Click to expand...
Ok..so it looks like the V with the wave looking symbol under it is the correct one on my meter..the manual shows the V,has mV next to it and says "millivolt 1 times 10 with a -3 to the top right of the 10 0r 0.001 volts. I just don't want to fry my meter..its a Mastech MS8268..while not expensive it works great.

I will look online to see if theres info on this DMM and its symbols to find the proper one to use for mV.
 
Man I think I need one of these. I have not really liked any of the 5150III's I have played to be honest. Everyone raves about the Stealth though. They're not super expensive either.
 
I had the 50 Watt 6l6 model and it was ok, then a few years later got the 100W Stealth and was like WTF, overly compressed and the gain on the blue and red channels went from zero to 1,000,000 in no time. The resonance controls were useless. Sold it.
Tried the EL34 50 Watt and was not blown away either. Blue channel was not very gainy and overly bassy/boomy. Red was like the 100Watt Stealth and way too gainy and compressed. Blue channel sounded better after the clipping resister 138 (I think that was the one?) to make it sound like the original 50Watt Blue. Ehhh..

Now I am intrigued (I must love pain) by the 50 Watt Stealth as I hear the gain taper is 100 times better, this isn't overly boomy/bassy on the Blue Channel and both the blue and red is no longer overly compressed. And like JerEvil said you can get these for under $1200 used.
 
BatmansRigTalk said:
The key to this amp is a complete re-tubing and biasing. Maxon 808 is THE boost for it. No other.
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A little dramatic there chum.... Plenty of boosts work well with the blue channel. All a matter of taste. Re-tube, that's icing on the cake and somewhat subtle. I did on mine because I'm a nerd. I kept (although readjust with different tubes) the bias as it came stock. 44-45.
 
LCW said:
A little dramatic there chum.... Plenty of boosts work well with the blue channel. All a matter of taste. Re-tube, that's icing on the cake and somewhat subtle. I did on mine because I'm a nerd. I kept (although readjust with different tubes) the bias as it came stock. 44-45.
Click to expand...
Believe it or not I disagree. I once thought like you did. I have a collection of ODs and it isn't a matter of taste but a matter of the OD type frequency curves. Just like EQing in post production if you push the wrong frequencies then all you do is push uncomfortable noise ranges into ears or even worse also reduce the sweet spots. The lesson here is that ODs for boosting can go wrong and OD selection matters. This amp is one of them. Have you used the green Maxon 808 with it? My guess is that you haven't. If not then try one and get back to us. Not just an 808-type but that one.
 
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