New amp day...its here! Stealth time...

[fearhk213]

They are killer amps. Ridiculous amount of gain that's for sure, but I'd rather have the option of too much available than not enough. Though, they could have toned it down a bit to preserve the clean channel better imo. Anyway, the trick is to not go too crazy with it. On the blue channel I keep it at 6, and the red channel 4-5. Those gain settings work for both guitars with lower and med-hot output. I actually prefer to boost it, though. Obviously not to get additional gain lol, but to change the feel a bit. I just dial the gain down to 3.5 on the blue and 3 on the red when I do that. Best of luck with the new amp!

 

[Kevin11]

Can you guys explain something to me?

I see there's Peavey EVH amps, Fender 5150's and I see EVH amps.

I'm assuming EVH was on with Peavey, then went to Fender?

I'm looking at this EVH 5150 mini amp. Watching vids, but it's tough to get an idea of whether the gain is similar to a standard 5150, which I'm told is great for metal / thrash / super saturated tone.

You're correct, Peavey made the original 5150 for Ed. Now he has his own "EVH" branded line of gear made by Fender. EVH/Fender 5150 III/5153 is all the same thing.

Peavey and Fender EVH amps are very different sounding. All of them great for metal as I'm sure you know. The EVH/Fender version works WAY better for me than my old Peavey one did, but I'm not a thrash/metal player, more old-school hard rock and metal. I can tell you that the EVH Stealth, which is supposed to (?) share some preamp circuitry with the 50w mini, is the most brutal high-gain amp I've ever played (Peavey 5150, Mesa Tremoverb, TriAxis/2:90, H&K Triamp II, Bogner XTC & Uberschall). I didn't have a great experience with my 50w, but I am definitely in the minority there. So if most of the other 50-watters out there are indeed just a smaller version of the Stealth, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it, especially if metal of any kind is your thing.

 

[Mailman1971]

Yeah its funny getting a great rock crunch tone on the Green channel. Dime the gain on that and it sounds great.
But I like to just dial it way back on the blue for rock tone. Kick it about noon and its really aggressive.

 

[Kevin11]

They are killer amps. Ridiculous amount of gain that's for sure, but I'd rather have the option of too much available than not enough. Though, they could have toned it down a bit to preserve the clean channel better imo. Anyway, the trick is to not go too crazy with it. On the blue channel I keep it at 6, and the red channel 4-5. Those gain settings work for both guitars with lower and med-hot output. I actually prefer to boost it, though. Obviously not to get additional gain lol, but to change the feel a bit. I just dial the gain down to 3.5 on the blue and 3 on the red when I do that. Best of luck with the new amp!

This is exactly what I do with my Stealth. I found out right away that hot pickups make it a little difficult to tame. Low and mid pickups are the trick. Blue channel gain between 9 and 10 o'clock is about as much as I would ever need or use for hard rock/metal. Totally agree, lower gain blue channel boosted is another killer flavor feel-wise. Doesn't need it at all, but it works so well so why not?

 

[Kevin11]

Congrats Mailman! I was worried I was contributing a little too much to the hype on this thing, so I'm happy to hear you're digging it. You echoed my sentiments exactly. I come from a hard rock & metal background so I always gravitate to high gain amps. But my gig requires a lot of variety and I was worried the Stealth would be too over-the-top. Heck, it probably is, but I don't care because it sounds great and feels great to play. No doubt it's a rock/metal amp to the core, but I've been able to finesse just about any genre you can think of out of the blue channel alone with the right gain settings and guitar/pickup combinations.

I've put all three channels to good use, but I agree with what others have said. If EVH/Fender put out a blue-channel-only version of this amp (maybe with the gain dialed back a wee bit and a footswitchable boost option for it), they couldn't make them fast enough.

 

[glassjaw7]

Congrats man! Told you there's a shitload of gain on tap. I keep the red ch gain on like 10:00.

 

[Mailman1971]

Ok.....2nd round with it. Really is incredible.
Just this MASSIVE THICK tone....
"Sorta" got it where I want it but only played it alone with no drummer or vocals. Think I am at the 95% mark dialing it in.
Getting killer Rock tone...great Heavy thrash tone...and the Brutal Chug Chug stuff is off the hook.
Alot is on the Blue channel. But I got the red channel dialed in for the really HEAVY stuff. Not sure how I would say this amp sounds. Mesa...Marshall....whatever.
Its got its own thing going on.
Sorta reminds me of the Diezel Herbert. But not as smooth and refined. More GROWL!!
And its LOUD as all fuck.
Again....glad I got it. Its one bad ass mutha.

 

[Mailman1971]

Still have the Winged C in power ??

No markings on them. But Pretty sure thats whats in it from the looks.

 

[Bato]

I've read that a few times before that the stealth reminds people of the Diezel Herbert.
I have an idea going around my head to by a 5153, too. But I can't locate the amp in no guitar shop to try it out myself. Damn!
And it's pre expensive here. Comparing a German made Diezel and a Mexican or Chinese Stealth.

 

[DAMIAN The MAN]

Still have the Winged C in power ??

No markings on them. But Pretty sure thats whats in it from the looks.

Hmm .... interesting! This is really a first. Not even the rating label ?

 

[chumbucket]

From the clips I've heard on You Tube it sounds fantastic. Congratulations!

Dude....this amp is a monster.

I get good rock tones.....(on the clean channel)
Gonna take some time to get it where I want it. Lots of dials.

I just wish that the clean channel actually got clean. I tried one out at a store and had a guitar with high output pickups and Ch 1 was breaking up even with the preamp gain dialed all the way back.
Ch 3 almost seemed like a moot point. No sense even going there because Ch 2 had tons of gain.
That amp is metal to the core.

 

[fearhk213]

I've read that a few times before that the stealth reminds people of the Diezel Herbert.
I have an idea going around my head to by a 5153, too. But I can't locate the amp in no guitar shop to try it out myself. Damn!
And it's pre expensive here. Comparing a German made Diezel and a Mexican or Chinese Stealth.

I could see similarities in terms of chunk, the way they growl in the low mids a bit, and how they both have that liquidy saturation to the gain structure, but the voicing and feel are pretty different between the Herbert and Stealth. I had a Herbert for a while, but I found it overly compressed feeling and the voicing of the mids was not my thing. The Stealth, while certainly a compressed style of amp, just feels better imo and the mids and overall voicing of the gain channels are much more to my liking. So yeah, I get the comparison, but they are certainly different enough that one could dislike one and like the other.

 

[Mailman1971]

I've read that a few times before that the stealth reminds people of the Diezel Herbert.
I have an idea going around my head to by a 5153, too. But I can't locate the amp in no guitar shop to try it out myself. Damn!
And it's pre expensive here. Comparing a German made Diezel and a Mexican or Chinese Stealth.

I could see similarities in terms of chunk, the way they growl in the low mids a bit, and how they both have that liquidy saturation to the gain structure, but the voicing and feel are pretty different between the Herbert and Stealth. I had a Herbert for a while, but I found it overly compressed feeling and the voicing of the mids was not my thing. The Stealth, while certainly a compressed style of amp, just feels better imo and the mids and overall voicing of the gain channels are much more to my liking. So yeah, I get the comparison, but they are certainly different enough that one could dislike one and like the other.

Exactly!!
I also owned a Herbert. Great amps!

 

[Superunknown]

Have any of you guys had reliability problems with your Stealth? I am considering one but the first 5153 I bought was horrible with noise, effects loop, foot-switch problems, bad pre-amp tubes, etc. Had to return two of them...customer service was great but the quality of the product was not good. Any info would be much appreciated!

 

[Kevin11]

Have any of you guys had reliability problems with your Stealth? I am considering one but the first 5153 I bought was horrible with noise, effects loop, foot-switch problems, bad pre-amp tubes, etc. Had to return two of them...customer service was great but the quality of the product was not good. Any info would be much appreciated!

Only had mine a month or so now. Couple of rehearsals and lots of messing around time at gig volume. Not one issue so far. I haven't looked inside yet, but outwardly, it seems built like a tank.

They changed the footswitch on these to a multi-pin config. No more 1/4" cable like the originals. Not sure if they're doing that now with all of the 5153s or just the Stealth. Been working flawlessly so far.

The problems with some of the original 5153s are well documented, but I haven't seen any mention of issues with the Stealth yet. If there are, I either missed them or there aren't enough out there yet.

 

[Kevin11]

I just wish that the clean channel actually got clean. I tried one out at a store and had a guitar with high output pickups and Ch 1 was breaking up even with the preamp gain dialed all the way back. Ch 3 almost seemed like a moot point. No sense even going there because Ch 2 had tons of gain. That amp is metal to the core.

It's a tricky amp if you want to use it for anything other than metal, like me. I need metal and just about everything else. A preamp tube change and a very easy, minor mod can lower the gain if you don't mind voiding the warranty. I haven't done any of that...yet. I keep the gain low, use my guitar volume (only using guitars that don't roll off too much treble) and watch the resonance. It can still get some major chug going, even at low gain levels on blue. On ch 1, for real, actual cleans, gain is super low, ch vol is up, guitar vol backed off a little. Lower output pickups help too. I can see EMGs and high gainers distorting ch 1, especially at full guitar vol., even with the amp gain almost off.

It sounds so freaking good though, every channel, to me at least. I set the red ch to be almost identical tone-wise to blue, but just "more". Works perfectly for that.

 

[stompboxfreak72]

Have any of you guys had reliability problems with your Stealth? I am considering one but the first 5153 I bought was horrible with noise, effects loop, foot-switch problems, bad pre-amp tubes, etc. Had to return two of them...customer service was great but the quality of the product was not good. Any info would be much appreciated!

I have one of the first run Stealths. Not an issue yet and I gig.

Although this amp has a lot of gain on tap I do not think of it as a metal only amp. The clean channel is sweet although you have to keep the gain almost off to get it clean. The blue channel is incredibly versatile. The red channel.....well....not so versatile....

I roll the gain back to 9 oclock on the blue channel and I boost it with an Aldrich Rocket Fuel pedal. I like the feel of a boosted amp. Plus the Aldrich with the 5153 is devastating. I know someone will read this and wonder why in the world you would boost this amp. I did not have good luck with a TS9 or any other boost pedal but the Aldrich is amazing with it.

 

[Mailman1971]

I havent tried the boost yet. Got a Timmy pedal. Might have to dust it off and give it a whirl. But yeah....I was getting some good hard rock tones out of it. Blue channel....gain and about 1 or 2. Problem is I am so used to playing the gain at noon on most amps....its weird to dial it that way back.

 

[Mailman1971]

Just gotta bump this for the sheer goodness.
Good lord.....such a good ass amp. Was doing some Pink Floyd with it....then into Rush...
then upped it to Motorhead.....rolling into Metallica.
Little Slayer then Lamb of God. It was pure crunch goodness.
Just cant dial it in like the 'norm' (every thing at noon)
Its really a sensitive baby.
Gotta dial that shit back son.....

 

[Mailman1971]

From the clips I've heard on You Tube it sounds fantastic. Congratulations!

Dude....this amp is a monster.

I get good rock tones.....(on the clean channel)
Gonna take some time to get it where I want it. Lots of dials.

I just wish that the clean channel actually got clean. I tried one out at a store and had a guitar with high output pickups and Ch 1 was breaking up even with the preamp gain dialed all the way back.
Ch 3 almost seemed like a moot point. No sense even going there because Ch 2 had tons of gain.
That amp is metal to the core.

The clean channel is crystal clear. Just have to dial it weird. Crank the volume to max.....then adjust the amp volume with the gain knob.
It is super clear....and gets loud too. No break up.