Deadpool_25
SS.org Regular
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2017
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I've posted about having this in a couple threads but am just now getting to a NAD because I wanted to give it a few good workouts.
TLDR:
Pros
- Sounds amazing as expected
- Standout green channel
- Nice reverb
- Sounds great at bedroom through gig volumes
- MIDI is nice to have
Cons
- Heavy and has uncomfortable handles
- Can't use footswitch to turn effects loop on/off
I picked up this 5153 2x12 combo about two weeks ago. I wasn't looking for any more amps at all. I had decided I'd just use my modeling rig and sell all my other amps except for the 50w Stealth.
Then this combo popped up semi-locally for a really good price. I'd read that some people think the 6L6 combo is the best of the entire lineup. I gave it the old "fuck it" shrug and I drove out to get it. For science obviously.
After a quick functionality test I put it in the car. I almost died. It's pretty damn heavy and its handles are the metal flip-out ones which are...not great.
The red and blue channels are exactly what I always expect out of the EVH 5150 III line. I still feel like they have a lot more gain on tap than I need, but I can keep their gain knobs at between 9:00 and 12:00 and be plenty happy. If you know the other ones, this one is the same on the blue and red. Mid-gain Crunch? Mid-focused and tight modern metal? Scooped thrash? Yes, yes yes. Great channels. There's not much else to say.
The green channel is where this amp stands out from the others imo. It seems to have more gain than the other heads. It produces an absolutely glorious sound with the gain, lows, and mids dimed and the treble backed off quite a bit (I don't like too much high end; ymmv). It's not quite gonna do modern high gain but it would be great at up to more classic crunch and high gain sounds. Think Plexi to JCM maybe. I haven't put an OD in front of it but I suspect and SD-1, perhaps with a touch of gain, might even get you close to that modern metal territory.
My first impression was that the green channel wasn't very good for actual cleans but I was too hasty. Even with the gain dimed, it's very dynamic. Backing off the guitar volume a little and picking lighter gets pretty nice and harmonically rich clean to edge of breakup tones. With the gain backed off to noonish and with a single coil pickup it's just a good solid clean with little to no breakup (depending on pickups of course).
My 6L6 50w head definitely stayed significantly cleaner on the green channel even with max gain (I checked it right before it sold). If I remember correctly the EL34 head did too. I just checked my Stealth head and maybe it could get in the same ballpark if I didn't have a 5751 in V1. I don't remember liking its green channel quite this much though.
The footswitch can be used to select channels 1-3 and to turn off the pretty nice reverb, but you can't turn on/off the effects loop. Although you can select channels via midi, I don't think you can turn the loop on or off that way. Not a huge deal but that would be nice.
I've been considering swapping its speakers out for some neo speakers just to save some weight but I'm hesitant to do so because these sound really good. I don't remember liking the separate EVH cabs/speakers this much but I don't think I've owned the 2x12 (only tried them in stores).
I now see why people love these things and I'm glad I picked it up.
TLDR:
Pros
- Sounds amazing as expected
- Standout green channel
- Nice reverb
- Sounds great at bedroom through gig volumes
- MIDI is nice to have
Cons
- Heavy and has uncomfortable handles
- Can't use footswitch to turn effects loop on/off
I picked up this 5153 2x12 combo about two weeks ago. I wasn't looking for any more amps at all. I had decided I'd just use my modeling rig and sell all my other amps except for the 50w Stealth.
Then this combo popped up semi-locally for a really good price. I'd read that some people think the 6L6 combo is the best of the entire lineup. I gave it the old "fuck it" shrug and I drove out to get it. For science obviously.
After a quick functionality test I put it in the car. I almost died. It's pretty damn heavy and its handles are the metal flip-out ones which are...not great.
The red and blue channels are exactly what I always expect out of the EVH 5150 III line. I still feel like they have a lot more gain on tap than I need, but I can keep their gain knobs at between 9:00 and 12:00 and be plenty happy. If you know the other ones, this one is the same on the blue and red. Mid-gain Crunch? Mid-focused and tight modern metal? Scooped thrash? Yes, yes yes. Great channels. There's not much else to say.
The green channel is where this amp stands out from the others imo. It seems to have more gain than the other heads. It produces an absolutely glorious sound with the gain, lows, and mids dimed and the treble backed off quite a bit (I don't like too much high end; ymmv). It's not quite gonna do modern high gain but it would be great at up to more classic crunch and high gain sounds. Think Plexi to JCM maybe. I haven't put an OD in front of it but I suspect and SD-1, perhaps with a touch of gain, might even get you close to that modern metal territory.
My first impression was that the green channel wasn't very good for actual cleans but I was too hasty. Even with the gain dimed, it's very dynamic. Backing off the guitar volume a little and picking lighter gets pretty nice and harmonically rich clean to edge of breakup tones. With the gain backed off to noonish and with a single coil pickup it's just a good solid clean with little to no breakup (depending on pickups of course).
My 6L6 50w head definitely stayed significantly cleaner on the green channel even with max gain (I checked it right before it sold). If I remember correctly the EL34 head did too. I just checked my Stealth head and maybe it could get in the same ballpark if I didn't have a 5751 in V1. I don't remember liking its green channel quite this much though.
The footswitch can be used to select channels 1-3 and to turn off the pretty nice reverb, but you can't turn on/off the effects loop. Although you can select channels via midi, I don't think you can turn the loop on or off that way. Not a huge deal but that would be nice.
I've been considering swapping its speakers out for some neo speakers just to save some weight but I'm hesitant to do so because these sound really good. I don't remember liking the separate EVH cabs/speakers this much but I don't think I've owned the 2x12 (only tried them in stores).
I now see why people love these things and I'm glad I picked it up.
).
