5153 Impressions

CodePoet

Fractal Fanatic
On first run through of the 3 5153 channels, they all sound great - I dare say they each invoke an EVH character although my brain probably misleads my ear there. They all seem very rich harmonically with great string separation and respond amazingly to pick attack - quite a range of attack. Or maybe I'm getting carried away in "new model hype" that happens with each new model. But it does sound different to me.

I'm curious as to what Cliff thinks about the amp itself now that he's fully analyzed it.
 
IMO, it's a very good amp. The build-quality is great and the design is very good. It is similar to the previous versions but voiced a bit different. Personally, I think all of the 5150's have more gain stages than necessary which just makes for unnecessary failure points but the "OMG, this map has sooo many toobz it must sound awesome" marketing it understandable.

It's incredibly heavy though.
 
Excellent - thanks for the analysis. Glad to hear it's very good and very glad I don't have to carry one around...
 
Seriously, I riffed on Aint' Talking 'Bout Love using the 5153 Red for like 15 minutes straight the first time I got my hands on that model. Sooooo good to do that muted riff, with a few random ring outs, type EVH thing on.
 
I'm blown away by these models!!! The red channel is exactly what I've been looking for in a metal sound. No drive in front just the amp kicking out serious metal tones!!!
 
Very Impressed

The new 5150 amp models are amazing. All 3 channels. This would not usually be my first choice for building a sound but this has really changed my outlook on this amp. Sounds great.
 
Can't wait to get home from work and try the 5153. The EVH III is my favorite amp, it just rocks to have it in the Axe now :)
 
I've been thrashing around on the Red channel since I got home from work a couple hours ago. I am in full on aging metal-head mode right now!

If I was in a hotel room at this moment, as opposed to my living room, I would have already destroyed it...
 
Ive got a 5153 head at home and I really dig the amp through its matching cab. All 3 channels are really very good indeed.
The fas models it wonderfully.
Ive bonded with the amp so it stays, but I don't need to lug it around anymore. (It is a big beast)
 
On first run through of the 3 5153 channels, they all sound great - I dare say they each invoke an EVH character although my brain probably misleads my ear there. They all seem very rich harmonically with great string separation and respond amazingly to pick attack - quite a range of attack. Or maybe I'm getting carried away in "new model hype" that happens with each new model. But it does sound different to me.

I'm curious as to what Cliff thinks about the amp itself now that he's fully analyzed it.

Don't you just stand there, post clips asap!

(I've just been added to the waiting list; i.e. it will take a while untill I can get my hands on this.)

My guess is that for quite a wide range of players, an extremely good sounding 5150-sim could be a main selling point of the Axe. At least, I belong to that group.
 
what's a good cab match in the axe? i tried it through both recto v30's mixed together and it sounds amazing....
 
simeon said:
what's a good cab match in the axe? i tried it through both recto v30's mixed together and it sounds amazing....

I took IRs of my 5150 III cab that matches this head and posted them. This is one rig I kept, even after the Axe FX, and now I think you can see why, it's a beast! This was my first IR attempt, so if you have suggestions on improvement I'm open to recapture as soon as I'm able.
 
simeon said:
aha...found em! thanks!

No problem, let me know if you have suggestions that could improve my capturing. The cab itself is my favorite 'Marshall 4x12 based' cab. It's an early breakup, small scale cab, very much like an old Marshall back when they made smaller cabs that broke up so nicely.
 
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I've been thrashing around on the Red channel since I got home from work a couple hours ago. I am in full on aging metal-head mode right now!

It would seem like quite a few of us did just that... Takes palm mutes to a whole new level for me, I can't help but go back to my thrash metal roots sometimes...
 
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