EVH 5150 III 50 watt - anybody else tried this thing?

GreatGreen

GreatGreen

Power User
The amp has been around a while so I'm sure a few of you guys have tried it, bought it, sold it, etc... but I've kind of had my head under a rock lately as I've been so happy with the Axe-Fx that I haven't really given tube amps much thought, probably in several years. Anyway, as these things tend to be cyclical, I've been interested in tube amps again lately. I'm never getting rid of the Axe (until the next one), but as you guys probably know, there's just something really compelling about a tube amp's analog tech, simplified controls, and the smell of hot tubes. :D

Anyway, I've been playing the 6L6 version of the EVH 5150 iii 50 watt at a local store lately and I think it's an absolutely phenomenal amp. I don't think I've ever played a tube amp that had both an absolutely top-shelf tight, crushing white hot high gain channel that can absolutely hold its ground against any other high gain amp on the market AND that has a totally viable hard rock Brownish channel that sounds huge, while also being as extremely dynamic and articulate. Even the clean channel sounds great.

So I'd like to ask a few of you guys with a better handle on the amp market these days... is this amp really that good? Is there another amp as good at both super high gain metal and hard rock as this amp for anywhere near the price?
 
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If you think it's that good, it is. The main reason to get the 5153 is for all the 5150 brunt you love, and a Fender clean.

5150's of any sort are just hard to beat. Try the EL34 model too.
 
The 5153 is phenomenal and so many people have that amp around now. However I owned a pre-concentric 50w model and that was unusable. I don’t really like the red channel very much, but blue is just amazing.
 
5153 Blue 50w is the model I use most of the time in the Axe because of all the stuff you mentioned. I haven't had the opportunity to play through a real one, but it would be high on the list if I were to buy a real amp just based on how good the AxeFX model of it is.
 
I went and bought one about a year ago just because I thought I needed to have a tube amp around. When I got it and a\b’d it with the model in the III, I quickly found just how authentic the Axe is and sold the 5153. :)
 
So I'm playing in an upbeat pop/rock covers band, using the 5150 III in a 4CM setup with the Axe-Fx II MKII, and controlling with an MFC-101 MKII and three Mission Expression pedals. My cabinet is a 212 Budda cab I got used, removed the Budda speakers and loaded it with a G12EVH and a V30, @ running 8 Ohms series. I bought a $12 movers dolly and screwed it to the bottom to defeat coupling.

We are a 4 piece, and I'm the sole guitarist. We cover a fairly diverse set of songs, in which I also use the Axe-FX's "effects" here and there... Synth, Rotary, pitch shift, all kinds of stuff, and it's fabulous. I only use 4 presets, and then 8 scenes each preset, and one expression (spring loaded) for a wah, and the other 2 for morphing into a synth or a rotary/vibe.so a clean green, a green with drives for dirt, a blue for everything from light rock to hard rock, and a red for when I need a searing lead.

However the focus in this project is to just keep it simple and beneath the vocals.

I don't claim to be anything more than a weekend warrior at this point in my 45 years on this earth, but I've been doing this since I was 13, and have used everything from practice amps, combos, full rack systems, half stacks, dual 100 watt Marshall full stacks, digital modeling, pedals, you name it, I've used it (and I mean live, not just trying stuff out at home or in a store).

32 years later and I think this current setup is the best sounding, feeling, and fun to play setup I've ever had the pleasure.

The only thing that would make it better is a smaller footprint, and it's why I'm patiently waiting for the FM3.
 
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Old thread, I know... Just adding that I got this amp last month and it is indeed amazing, with no need what so ever to sound like EVH just because you play it. Every channel is really good at what it was intended for with simple ways to dial in anything from classic Fender cleans to crushing Metal chug and everything in between. - In a plug-n-play format. Honestly, it's the amp I've been looking for for over 30 years now. ...Better late than never.

Have to say, comparing it to the 5153, 50 watt model on my AX8 really doesn't match up. They simply don't sound the same. I don't care for the modeled version - too dark, muddy and the eq doesn't adjust similarly.

The preset I made with the Fractal Brown amp sounds remarkably close to my 5153 blue channel though. fwiw
 
I agree, the models in the FM3 are the same as the III now, and I've had the FM3 since June last summer.

I'm not saying real vs modeling, or anything, more that this amp I have is just not the one that's in the Fractal, and it's a joy to "play" the amp I bought.

Ymmv
 
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