EVH 5150 III

youngthrasher9

New member
I'm GASing so hard for this amp. Specifically the 50w version.
I'm thinking about selling some stuff from my current setup to get one.
 
Re: EVH 5150 III

I wouldnt dump on a EVH amp. They have the worlds worst construction. Aweful circuitboard topolgy..almost incoherent to even a excellent tech, coupled with terrible tube to PCB contruction that runs very hot. Disposable amps ..Pretty much like all PV crap.
 
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Re: EVH 5150 III

Good choice for the tone seeker on a budget.

Not so much if you have more coin to spend than 1K though.
 
Re: EVH 5150 III

I wouldnt dump on a EVH amp. They have the worlds worst construction. Aweful circuitboard topolgy..almost incoherent to even a excellent tech, coupled with terrible tube to PCB contruction that runs very hot. Disposable amps ..Pretty much like all PV crap.

It is made by Fender.
 
Re: EVH 5150 III

For around $1300 for the 5150 50watt head and matching 2x12 cabinet is one of the best I've played through in the 35+ years I've been playing guitar. Sure, a souped up Marshal or boutique head may give slightly better tone, etc. However, the only ones I would be interested in replacing my 5150 with would run well over $2K for the head alone.

This is NOT the Peavey version. I owned a Peavey 5150 combo. It was a great amp. However, the new 5150 version is much better and much quieter. Great tone. I needed this amp back in the late 80s when I was still rocking with the long hair.

I would buy one again if anything happened to the one I have.
 
Re: EVH 5150 III

I have one- the 50 watt, and I love it. I strongly disagree about the poor quality of them- again, Fender is making them, and everything about the amp and its cabinets feels heavy duty. I'm extremely happy with mine, and for the money, it's amazing and gets me what I want.

Sure, if you spend alot more you may get a Soldano or Splawn, or some other boutique manufacturer that costs alot more and may get you a slightly better tone, but for me the law of diminishing returns applies. If a Soldano costs 3x as more, do you get 3x the amp?

With Splawns- which are hot hodded Marshalls- like Marshalls, they really need to be cranked to be appreciated to get the power tubes cooking, so if you're always going to be playing cranked, go with the Splawn.

IMO, Marshalls- particularly the Vintage Modern, have a much richer tone than a EVH 5150 III, but don't have the gain, aren't as quiet, need a booster to get close to the gain, all of which increases noise, and don't have as good a clean tone as the EVH. The EVH not only has very high gain, but is extremely quiet and you don't need a noise gate compared to other amps.
 
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Re: EVH 5150 III

Like I said, the 50 III is a great purchase on a budget. Three channels, gobs of gain, lots of tone for your buck.
Eddie used the 50 on only one song on the new record. I read he said that it sounded....different. But didn't press the matter. Or they didn't print it...
Me personally, I would go with the 100 III, but I already have two 3 channel amps and don't need/want another.
 
Re: EVH 5150 III

Like I said, the 50 III is a great purchase on a budget. Three channels, gobs of gain, lots of tone for your buck.
Eddie used the 50 on only one song on the new record. I read he said that it sounded....different. But didn't press the matter. Or they didn't print it...
Me personally, I would go with the 100 III, but I already have two 3 channel amps and don't need/want another.

Many have said the 50 watt sound different (better) than the original 100 watter... They left the red (lead) channel the same, but had to re-voice the blue (crunch) channel due to the shared EQ with the clean, adding more gain to the blue channel so you don't need a booster pedal to really get the fabled "brown sound".

They also added a resonance control on the back, giving you the option to add alot more bottom end, something that was missing on the 100 watt, that some people modded their 100 watters to add.
 
Re: EVH 5150 III

Well I know of paid gigging guitarists with the 100 III and it definitely does not lack lowend. Then again, they play with bass players, so it's all about mids, and crunch clarity.
The 50 III needed the resonance dial to increase the thump from the amp, so it wouldn't sound small next to the 100. Many players keep that dial at noon anyways. Great feature for the bedroom warrior though because you don't need tonnes of volume to get a thick sound, like the 100.
Someone recently returned their 50 III because it wasn't keeping up with the band. Even with lowered gain and increased volume. He upgraded to the 100 III.
Depends on the players needs. The 50 III is hugely successful and will satisfy many players for years and years.
 
Re: EVH 5150 III

It's also good enough for Misha Mansoor, Eric Peterson... etc
It is definitely good enough for me.

Check out the list of users. It's a freaking huge list with some really good players on there.
http://www.evhgear.com/artists/

No Ted Nugent? Oh: you said really good players! :fingersx: Besides, Ted's still rockin' his Peavey 6505's.

I'm liking the sounds from the EVH 5150 III 50 watters and it has a very good clean channel. But you can also find the Peaveys used for under $500 - although the clean channel isn't quite as nice as that of the 5150 III. Warm clean tones are probably not what most of the guys here on the forum are after most of the time anyway.

My amp tech says not to expect either the EVH or Peavey to last 40 or 50 or 60 years the way real 50's and 60's Fenders, Vox and Marshalls amps have - so I wouldn't look at either the EVH or Peavey amp as a long, long term investment. And in terms of reliability, guys like Eddie probably play through what's essentially a new amp every night.
 
Re: EVH 5150 III

These suckers are plenty loud. May not be if you aren't using a mic. However, if you just need to be louder than the drummer to hear yourself, then it has plenty of juice. I keep mine about 7 o'clock when it is just me playing and about 10 to 11 o'clock for jamming with the band. The tilted 2x12 cabinet is a pretty cool feature, too. Of course, I'm just doing cover tunes of 70s to early 90s Hard Rock. So, the tone is right where I need it to be.
 
Re: EVH 5150 III

100 watters- of any manufacturer- were made to overcome the loudness of a drummer. From what I hear, for most giggers, they can't get anywhere near cranking a 100 watt up, so alot of people are taking smaller amps and miking them to the house PA. That's what the 50 watter is really for.
 
Re: EVH 5150 III

Honestly I've played with a drummer with my Blackstar HT-20 through a 4x12 and I could hear myself fine. I didn't crank it either.
 
Re: EVH 5150 III

Dave from Revocation uses one, if you've heard their new record or seen them live recently you know it delivers.....
 
Re: EVH 5150 III

I'm soooo tired of this "you need a big amp to play with a drummer" crap. It's a lie.

I've played through plenty of small combos with plenty of drummers, and I've never felt like I needed more volume.
 
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