Someone school me on 5150 III's

[mchn13]

Years ago I used the block letters for metal and loved them, switched gears, and been using my marshalls for years now. Recently played a friends 50 watt III, and was real impressed with the rock AND brutal tones I got with it. My question is how loud are these guys?
I'm about to work on my old metal bands reunion, write some more heavy shit, but if it would cover my rock band and not be buried by my other guitarists 2204 as well, that would be best of both worlds.
Not to bag on them, but the the old peaveys always got buried in the room with the marshall.

 

[Rick Lee]

A 100w 5150 III will never get buried. They can be super loud.

 

[timeroo]

I had been searching and searching for an affordable amp with quality that could be multipurpose genre wise. I needed it to do punk rock, rock and most importantly metal. The 5153 did EVERYTHING and it did it very very well. I do recommend some type of tube screamer or boost to make things really go the extra mile. This was by far my favorite amp before I quit playing live and went strictly software. My advice is, it's the best and most versatile amp for the buck by a considerable margin.

 

[crankyrayhanky]

They are outstanding! Each version is a bit different: original 100w, 50w, stealth, stealth 34
Originals can be had fairly cheap used and they are awesome

 

[rottingcorpse]

My first gen had switching problems,and I wasn't the only one to have that issue. IMO avoid the first gen.

Other than that,I think they are great amps.

 

[ElectricVoodoo]

I owned one for about 2 years. Jammed with my band regularly.
I never had a problem with it cutting through. My drummer played heavy, we did classic rock/classic metal covers

It was very reliable and honestly never had an issue.
my main and only reason. for selling was that I felt the amp had a very sterile tone to it. Lacked character.

But that is my perception, may not be yours.
Functionally it was awesome!

 

[errrrrl]

It was very reliable and honestly never had an issue.
my main and only reason. for selling was that I felt the amp had a very sterile tone to it. Lacked character.!

I feel like this about my 5153 50w. Nothing really wrong with it but it does seem a bit sterile tone wise to me. Been using a Fortin modded SIB Cuda overdrive with it lately and it adds so much character to it.

 

[Deleted member 22177]

It's a cool amp, but you will get bored of the tone.

 

[mchn13]

It's a cool amp, but you will get bored of the tone.

Good god; the story of my life! Hahaha

 

[mchn13]

My first gen had switching problems,and I wasn't the only one to have that issue. IMO avoid the first gen.

Other than that,I think they are great amps.

What's a good way to differentiate between the generations when looking to buy?

 

[mchn13]

I had been searching and searching for an affordable amp with quality that could be multipurpose genre wise. I needed it to do punk rock, rock and most importantly metal. The 5153 did EVERYTHING and it did it very very well. I do recommend some type of tube screamer or boost to make things really go the extra mile. This was by far my favorite amp before I quit playing live and went strictly software. My advice is, it's the best and most versatile amp for the buck by a considerable margin.

That's what I've been thinking. The features like switchable loop and 3 channels make a strong case for me. I don't play out but every other month or so now, but I keep on getting involved with more projects that require me to have more available tones, and I'm not a collector at all, so having one amp to cover them looks super appealing.

 

[ElectricVoodoo]

A 6505 would be such a better option if a clean isn't that much of an issue to you. There are lots of USA models still out there.

Some may argue that the 6505 has a sterile tone, but compared to the 5153, not so bad imo.

 

[crankyrayhanky]

FWIW, the recent Anthrax discs had a lot of EVH Blue on it as well as live. That is some of the best modern metal tone I've heard in recent years. I'm sure it does other genres fine too, but that Worship studio and tour was amazing tone wise.

 

[timeroo]

I had been searching and searching for an affordable amp with quality that could be multipurpose genre wise. I needed it to do punk rock, rock and most importantly metal. The 5153 did EVERYTHING and it did it very very well. I do recommend some type of tube screamer or boost to make things really go the extra mile. This was by far my favorite amp before I quit playing live and went strictly software. My advice is, it's the best and most versatile amp for the buck by a considerable margin.

That's what I've been thinking. The features like switchable loop and 3 channels make a strong case for me. I don't play out but every other month or so now, but I keep on getting involved with more projects that require me to have more available tones, and I'm not a collector at all, so having one amp to cover them looks super appealing.

Here's how I looked at it for tonal options.

1. Clean
2. Clean + boost pedal
3. Crunch channel
4. Crunch channel + boost pedal
5. Red channel
6. Red channel + boost pedal

All of those worked really well for everything. I used it for country, chicken picking, emo-ish type stuff, skate punk, hard rock, 70s rock, thrash metal and death metal and it excelled at all of those applications. The great thing about the channels on the amp is that they are so flexible and they respond really well to a variety of boost and distortion pedals if you wanna change things up a bit. At different times I ran a dead horse, boss hm-2, a slew of TS pedals, a dark matter and more through it and all of the pedals gave it their own flavor.

Are there better amps out there? Yes absolutely but do I hear $2-3K difference in quality between a Peavey 5153 and a super pricey boutique amp? No. I owned an ENGL savage, ENGL powerball, Bogner Uber, Fortin modded marshall and 10 other amps and I settled on the 5153. That said, there are guys in here wish disposable incomes that will come in here with their brand snobbery and superiority calling me an idiot for saying that but for under a grand, you can't go wrong.

 

[Rick Lee]

I had a 2007 5153 100w and loved it. It was in mint condition and I got in eBay for around $900 delivered. I flipped it locally for a profit when I got the Stealth. But then I kind of missed it. I had my Stealth modded to make the green channel crystal clean, gigged with it a while, but then strayed to Marshall and that's where my tastes lay now. I flipped the Stealth and haven't looked back. Still kind of miss the stock one I had before the Stealth. I had a few of the 50s too, but the 100s always sounded bigger to me. At this point I just have no more room in the house for more amps, but would be tempted if I came across a total steal on another 100w standard version.

 

[riffermadness]

I have had mine since brand new for 8 months now,I run an Xotic EP boost pedal in the effects loop to bring out the best overall sound I can get out of mine,and it gets brutal and loud as could ever need..I just checked the bias and ran it up to 30ma per tube,thats what the Fender guy Howard recommends and it does sound its best at that rating..No problems ever from mine either..I also use a reverb pedal to moisten it up a little bit so overall the small EP boost pedal on all the time and light on the reverb when needed.

 

[ElectricVoodoo]

FWIW, the recent Anthrax discs had a lot of EVH Blue on it as well as live. That is some of the best modern metal tone I've heard in recent years. I'm sure it does other genres fine too, but that Worship studio and tour was amazing tone wise.

What was driving that blue channel?
I doubt it was straight in without a boost.
I could be wrong but I don't think so.
I also drove the blue channel because it was more natural and less compressed with the OD in front than the red was.

 

[Bishop5150]

I played the 5153 100 watt from 2009 to 2016. The blue channel on the original 100 watt with a good boost pedal is gold. It's a very versatile amp as a whole. I had an early 2008 version and a 2013 version along with the stealth and 2 50 watts. I liked the 100 watt original the best. I've gone the Fractal route now and sold them all but I still use the 100 watt blue amp sim with a boost in the Fractal.

 

[crankyrayhanky]

FWIW, the recent Anthrax discs had a lot of EVH Blue on it as well as live. That is some of the best modern metal tone I've heard in recent years. I'm sure it does other genres fine too, but that Worship studio and tour was amazing tone wise.

What was driving that blue channel?
I doubt it was straight in without a boost.
I could be wrong but I don't think so.
I also drove the blue channel because it was more natural and less compressed with the OD in front than the red was.

Ian was using a CAE for a boost on all his high gain tones into his 800ish channel in the Randall. I'm guessing that into EVH Blue would be great.

I've been rocking the MXR CBAOD with just a sliver of gain into blue and love it. Sometimes the fx8 with a mild mid cut in the loop around 400 and a Ride the Lightening 160 boost/hi pass 60. That 160 boost/hi pass brings the punch!

What do you use?

 

[nevusofota]

My favorite tone of all the inceptions is the original 100w blue channel with a boost. It was my main amp from 2007 until about 2012. I had no issues with the amp except for a blown preamp tube. Most problems with the early amps were from a poorly made proprietary foot switch cable, which was never an issue for me since I always ran midi (using an RJM mini amp gizmo). Also, the first 1000 or so amps built used a mix of EHX and Sovtek preamp tubes with Sovtek power tubes that I think sound better than the later amps which come with all JJ's.

That being said, I wound up trading the 100w head, something that I never thought I would do, for an SLO (plus cash) The deal was great and I couldn't pass it up as the SLO has always been a bucket-list amp. I still have my 50w EVH which I really like, but my main gigging amp now is a Bogner Shiva 20th. I guess I was ultimately just looking for a change and was re inspired by the Bogner. Also, the 100w EVH is HUGE! I got tired of lugging it around.

Even though the 100w blue channel may give the best tone (boosted), I think the 50w may be the way to go as it sounds huge and loud with tons of gain. Very similar to the 100w with the added benefit of smaller size, resonance control, and on-board midi. I didn't mind the shared EQ of channels 1 and 2 of the 50w. This was an issue for many however.

EVH amps have to be one of the best deals going in the world of guitar. Especially in the used market.