NAD......not sure

[Findthetone]

So I bit the bullet yesterday and got a 5153 50 watt head and EVH 1X12 cab after listening to numerous videos and reading threads. However, the amp is pretty stiff and doesn't have much sag. Also, clean channel isn't as nice as some people seem to be raving about. I thought the amp was supposed to be a gain monster but easy to play. What gives?

 

[gbsmusic]

So I bit the bullet yesterday and got a 5153 50 watt head and EVH 1X12 cab after listening to numerous videos and reading threads. However, the amp is pretty stiff and doesn't have much sag. Also, clean channel isn't as nice as some people seem to be raving about. I thought the amp was supposed to be a gain monster but easy to play. What gives?

Its a great amp with massive gain and clean is good but there is volume jump between channels.

 

[crwnedblasphemy]

I agree...tried my other guitarist's 50w head and it was stiff. I have the Combo...which is not at all stiff. Kinda strange.

 

[marshallmel]

I love mine into the matching 2x12 or a 1960A. Blue channel is awesome. I don't know what you're used to, but I wouldn't describe mine as stiff.

 

[Racerxrated]

Try turning the gain down on the blue channel and boosting it with a clean boost, level up but gain down on the pedal. And the Red was just awesome...not stiff to me..maybe yours is somehow different? My SLO is pretty stiff, when I go to my JCM 800 after playing the SLO it really is easier to play. Good luck.

 

[Dimebag11]

Weird, I didn't find that amp stiff at all.

 

[RevolverRT]

Please explain what you mean by "stiff"? I have the 50w head and 2x12, it rips.

Edit: If you are meaning easiness to play, there may a bit of learning and getting used to it. Also, the guitar seems to have a good influence on it. I played the 50w at the store with a EVH Wolfgang and the two played like butter and sounded awesome. When I took it home and used my Schecter, took me awhile to get used to the lower output pickups and less sustain through it.

 

[Findthetone]

Thanks guys. Buy stiff I mean lack of that liquid sustain you can get from amps. A few amps from my past:
VHT Pitbull 50CL
Mesa Roadster
Rivera Ktre
Bogner XTC 101B
Marshall JVM 205H
Marshall JTM45 ri with M/V mod

Of that group, I can say the VHT and Rivera were stiff and I can place the EVH firmly in that camp
I could only play the 50 watt 2x12 combo before I bought and it was fantastic. Nothing like the stiffness of the head.
I also can tell it reacts to pickups very differently. It's not diggin single coils
I've heard they are biased very cold from the factory so I'm going to check that tomorrow

 

[RevolverRT]

Thanks guys. Buy stiff I mean lack of that liquid sustain you can get from amps. A few amps from my past:
VHT Pitbull 50CL
Mesa Roadster
Rivera Ktre
Bogner XTC 101B
Marshall JVM 205H
Marshall JTM45 ri with M/V mod

Of that group, I can say the VHT and Rivera were stiff and I can place the EVH firmly in that camp
I could only play the 50 watt 2x12 combo before I bought and it was fantastic. Nothing like the stiffness of the head.
I also can tell it reacts to pickups very differently. It's not diggin single coils
I've heard they are biased very cold from the factory so I'm going to check that tomorrow

Right, yeah I can see where you are coming from. I think I may have just gotten used to it. However, I find there to be some sweet spots with the gain knob. I find the blue channel is best with the gain at 2 o'clock and red channel with gain at ~10:30 to 11:00 o'clock. Although I haven't extensively tested it, yeah I don't think the amp agrees with single coils too much, unless you play on the green channel and are looking for that fendery jangle-tone.

Again, the more I think back on it, the wolfgang guitar seems to have that liquidly lead feel and tone that made me fall in love with the amp. I think I've probably compensated my playing to try and get the same feel. Although I've tried my best to wean myself off OD pedals, I might throw the ole' SD-1 to see what it does with the blue channel.

 

[Findthetone]

Thanks guys. Buy stiff I mean lack of that liquid sustain you can get from amps. A few amps from my past:
VHT Pitbull 50CL
Mesa Roadster
Rivera Ktre
Bogner XTC 101B
Marshall JVM 205H
Marshall JTM45 ri with M/V mod

Of that group, I can say the VHT and Rivera were stiff and I can place the EVH firmly in that camp
I could only play the 50 watt 2x12 combo before I bought and it was fantastic. Nothing like the stiffness of the head.
I also can tell it reacts to pickups very differently. It's not diggin single coils
I've heard they are biased very cold from the factory so I'm going to check that tomorrow

Right, yeah I can see where you are coming from. I think I may have just gotten used to it. However, I find there to be some sweet spots with the gain knob. I find the blue channel is best with the gain at 2 o'clock and red channel with gain at ~10:30 to 11:00 o'clock. Although I haven't extensively tested it, yeah I don't think the amp agrees with single coils too much, unless you play on the green channel and are looking for that fendery jangle-tone.

Again, the more I think back on it, the wolfgang guitar seems to have that liquidly lead feel and tone that made me fall in love with the amp. I think I've probably compensated my playing to try and get the same feel. Although I've tried my best to wean myself off OD pedals, I might throw the ole' SD-1 to see what it does with the blue channel.

Funny, that's pretty much where I have the gains set. I guess I'll try an OD but man, you should not need one on an amp with that much gain

Something else, why in the HELL did a Fender put power scaling on the combo but not the head?!!!
They would probably sell a shit-ton more if they were smart enough to do it

 

[Stramm8]

At bedroom levels I can see where it might seem stiff but with the volume at 9 o'clock or above? No way. It flat out smokes with some volume. I played two gigs last weekend with a good sound man (who boosted the solos from the board) and I never left the blue channel. Sustain-o-Rama.

I also backed off the resonance control significantly. Just didn't need it and it seemed to open it up a little. I've tried a boos with mine before but I didn't like it...

 

[crwnedblasphemy]

Head came out at least a year before the Combo...maybe a reason.

 

[fretout]

So, would you guys that have extensive experience with the 5153 describe it as dry? You guys say it's stiff, which reminds me of VHTs, Riveras and my experiences with Krank Rev1/Krankenstein, which are some "dry" amps, but is the 5153 similar? How similar is it to the 5150/6505+?

I really like the recorded tones with these, and I wonder if it's similar to the Mesa Mark II/IIIs tracking, where every little mistake is amplified to where you can't "hide" behind the amp, or if it's more forgiving like a Marshall would be.

 

[Anonymous]

Nice to see a NAD that isn't just "Epics" "Congrats" and " " once in a while
Leads to a much more constructive discussion
Now I'm pretty sure I wouldn't really dig the 5153

 

[bananaladonpcp]

Thanks guys. Buy stiff I mean lack of that liquid sustain you can get from amps. A few amps from my past:
VHT Pitbull 50CL
Mesa Roadster
Rivera Ktre
Bogner XTC 101B
Marshall JVM 205H
Marshall JTM45 ri with M/V mod

Of that group, I can say the VHT and Rivera were stiff and I can place the EVH firmly in that camp
I could only play the 50 watt 2x12 combo before I bought and it was fantastic. Nothing like the stiffness of the head.
I also can tell it reacts to pickups very differently. It's not diggin single coils
I've heard they are biased very cold from the factory so I'm going to check that tomorrow

You saying that the VHT and Rivera were stiff leads me to believe that it's the way you play that is making the amp stiff. Not attacking your playing at all. Some players don't agree with certain amps. Also crank that fucker and get it's real tone out there.


-Alex

 

[Rayneman]

I agree...tried my other guitarist's 50w head and it was stiff. I have the Combo...which is not at all stiff. Kinda strange.

Hmm. I think its one of the "easiest" amps I've ever played. It has so much gain, sustain and punch that I hardly need to pick, lol. I wonder if they differ a lot from amp to amp. I had 100 Watter when they first came out, and I couldn't get along with it at all...I thought THAT one was stiff and hard to play.

 

[Shiny_Surface]

What gives?

Don't buy gear solely based on forum opinions. I know that sounds blunt, but it's really a crap shoot regardless of the hype or amount of praise posts.

You never fully know until you get your hands on it to see whether your own opinions align with what your reading.

 

[crwnedblasphemy]

What cab/speakers are you using. Cuz here is a test I did at home 2 days ago:

Plugged my 5150III combo into my splawn 4x12, and it's way different in feel than its own. Didn't care for it...but could live with it.

Plugged my quickrod into the 5150III combo's speaker enclosure, and didn't really care for that. Like their own matching cabs way more.

Point being, if you plug the 5150 into a mesa rec to cab, or say a old Marshall cab, it's gonna react different.

 

[Findthetone]

Thanks guys. Buy stiff I mean lack of that liquid sustain you can get from amps. A few amps from my past:
VHT Pitbull 50CL
Mesa Roadster
Rivera Ktre
Bogner XTC 101B
Marshall JVM 205H
Marshall JTM45 ri with M/V mod

Of that group, I can say the VHT and Rivera were stiff and I can place the EVH firmly in that camp
I could only play the 50 watt 2x12 combo before I bought and it was fantastic. Nothing like the stiffness of the head.
I also can tell it reacts to pickups very differently. It's not diggin single coils
I've heard they are biased very cold from the factory so I'm going to check that tomorrow

You saying that the VHT and Rivera were stiff leads me to believe that it's the way you play that is making the amp stiff. Not attacking your playing at all. Some players don't agree with certain amps. Also crank that fucker and get it's real tone out there.


-Alex

Not sure what you mean. What type of playing can give one an opinion that an amp feels stiff?

 

[bananaladonpcp]

Thanks guys. Buy stiff I mean lack of that liquid sustain you can get from amps. A few amps from my past:
VHT Pitbull 50CL
Mesa Roadster
Rivera Ktre
Bogner XTC 101B
Marshall JVM 205H
Marshall JTM45 ri with M/V mod

Of that group, I can say the VHT and Rivera were stiff and I can place the EVH firmly in that camp
I could only play the 50 watt 2x12 combo before I bought and it was fantastic. Nothing like the stiffness of the head.
I also can tell it reacts to pickups very differently. It's not diggin single coils
I've heard they are biased very cold from the factory so I'm going to check that tomorrow

You saying that the VHT and Rivera were stiff leads me to believe that it's the way you play that is making the amp stiff. Not attacking your playing at all. Some players don't agree with certain amps. Also crank that fucker and get it's real tone out there.


-Alex

Not sure what you mean. What type of playing can give one an opinion that an amp feels stiff?

Tone is in the fingers. Some amps react better to your playing than others.