5150 Iconic

[Crungy]

I went to a local music store yesterday to look at guitars and played everything through a 5150 Classic. It was the 40 watt 1x12". Holy shit I want one now. Everything I played through it sounded great... A couple of Ibanez 6 strings, an old Squier II hss strat, an Agile 8 string and a Schecter Demon 7. The cleans were great and of course various amounts of gain with and without the Burn switch on sounded awesome. I didn't love the reverb but it was alright. I didn't test out the noise gate either.

Some questions for those with experience:

How is the emulated DI?

Does the 15w version of this amp sound just as good? I know it's a 1x10", but I'm wondering how similar or different it is.

How is the noise gate? Does it get very tight or no?

 

[Deadpool_25]

I can't answer your questions but free bump for you.

I can say it took me three tries before I thought the amp was pretty good. I tried the head first and didn't like it much. Tried again (can't remember if I tried the head or combo that time) and still didn't dig it. The third time I tried one it was the 40w combo at GC and I thought it sounded really good.

James Brown posted a lot of info on it in tge big iconic thread. It's probably a few pages back now.

 

[Crungy]

Ahh thank you! I hadn't looked anywhere else yet.

I'm definitely leaning towards a combo. The 40w is more than enough for my needs, maybe even overkill. I only played it at the lower wattage in the store and thought that was killer... I didn't notice if they had the 1x10, I'll have to go back!

 

[Deadpool_25]

I should also clarify that I suspect the cab was the problem when I tried the head. It was a used Marshall cab at GC and I wouldn't be surprised if it had a speaker swap or something.

 

[Crungy]

@USMarine75 I saw a thread on TGP about the 5150 Iconic (thanks @Deadpool_25 !) that you have some iteration of this amp. I'm not a member on TGP and not 100% certain I want to be lol

Can you put your two cents in on the questions I had or any other insights?

 

[USMarine75]

@USMarine75 I saw a thread on TGP about the 5150 Iconic (thanks @Deadpool_25 !) that you have some iteration of this amp. I'm not a member on TGP and not 100% certain I want to be lol

Can you put your two cents in on the questions I had or any other insights?

I’ve only played the 80w head unfortunately.

But I own a lot of small combos with 8, 10, and 12 inch speakers. I love small combos but I think with the 5150 you’ll find that the midrange with a 10” speaker will sound killer but it will lack the bass and fullness of the 12. My reasoning being that 10s are a really good speaker size for hearing the upper midrange bark of an amp. I have the same Supro amp in 8, 10, and 12. And to my ears the 10 has so much character that the 12 doesn’t quite have because of the added lower frequencies. I think the 10 sounds best for leads, but the 12 is all around the better amp especially with higher gain.

Anyways I’m sure most of that is obvious. I personally wouldn’t go smaller than a 12 for hard rock and metal. If the smaller combo has a speaker out then you can always use it to drive a 212 cab down the road? You can usually find steals on Craigslist or FB marketplace if you don’t already have one. And that might be a cheaper way to get a similar result.

 

[Crungy]

Ahh okay, I misread and thought you owned an iteration of it.

Makes sense with the speakers... The 1x12 sounded great and I could add the extension cab if I really needed it.

I do want to try the 1x10 and see what I think. It may have enough low end response for me, I'm not looking for anything super thumpy down low.

 

[USMarine75]

Ahh okay, I misread and thought you owned an iteration of it.

Makes sense with the speakers... The 1x12 sounded great and I could add the extension cab if I really needed it.

I do want to try the 1x10 and see what I think. It may have enough low end response for me, I'm not looking for anything super thumpy down low.

Yeah it’s the 80w head that I own. Fantastic amp… can’t say enough good things about it. Definitely try it out.

 

[Stiman]

Ahh okay, I misread and thought you owned an iteration of it.

Makes sense with the speakers... The 1x12 sounded great and I could add the extension cab if I really needed it.

I do want to try the 1x10 and see what I think. It may have enough low end response for me, I'm not looking for anything super thumpy down low.

Did you ever end up trying the 15w?

It's pretty awesome, and sounds very huge compared to any/all other 10" combos I've ever tried. Thanks in part to the closed back construction and the resonance knob.

 

[Crungy]

Did you ever end up trying the 15w?

It's pretty awesome, and sounds very huge compared to any/all other 10" combos I've ever tried. Thanks in part to the closed back construction and the resonance knob.

I did try one out and I liked it probably just as much as the 40w. Tough decision for me because I think I'd like the 40w because it has the speaker emulated output so I wouldn't have to mic it. Direct recording generally works better for me at home with all of our pets.

Decisions decisions!

 

[Stiman]

I did try one out and I liked it probably just as much as the 40w. Tough decision for me because I think I'd like the 40w because it has the speaker emulated output so I wouldn't have to mic it. Direct recording generally works better for me at home with all of our pets.

Decisions decisions!

Yeah, feel the same. If I could go back I would get the 40w so that I can have a proper 2-1x12 setup (instead of my 1x10 + 1x12). And I would experiment with a different speaker in the 40w. Maybe one day I'll trade up to the 40w.

Edit: To be clear, I love the 15w, it sounds amazing. But for a few small reasons I would go with the 40w in retrospect.

 

[Crungy]

@Stiman it's a great sounding amp! I think my hesitance is due to not needing a 40w amp, it's way more power than I'd ever need at home. But then the 40w has the other features... It's a tough call. Or I can just keep using my AxeFx and things are fine and dandy lol

 

[MatrixClaw]

I've thought about offering some of my gear in trade for one of the 15w combos I've seen around here locally just so I can try it against my 40, but I really can't imagine what'd I'd be missing besides slightly more space due to it's physical size. Still, maybe I might do it anyway. An amp with a single 6L6 in the power section is so odd yet intriguing to me and my only real experience with a 10" speaker is with bass, not guitar.

 

[Stiman]

I've thought about offering some of my gear in trade for one of the 15w combos I've seen around here locally just so I can try it against my 40, but I really can't imagine what'd I'd be missing besides slightly more space due to it's physical size. Still, maybe I might do it anyway. An amp with a single 6L6 in the power section is so odd yet intriguing to me and my only real experience with a 10" speaker is with bass, not guitar.

Out of curiousity, did you keep the original speaker or did you swap it in your 40w?

I was hesitant about getting 10" speaker, but trusted James' comments regarding it and it turned out excellent. Surprisingly big sounding, and I think the resonance knob has a lot to do with it.

If you do end up trying it, share your thoughts comparing the two, I'd love to know.

 

[MatrixClaw]

Out of curiousity, did you keep the original speaker or did you swap it in your 40w?

I was hesitant about getting 10" speaker, but trusted James' comments regarding it and it turned out excellent. Surprisingly big sounding, and I think the resonance knob has a lot to do with it.

If you do end up trying it, share your thoughts comparing the two, I'd love to know.

I changed the speaker in mine to a WGS Veteran 30. I thought the original speaker sounded good, until I plugged it into my 2x12. The upgraded speaker made a huge difference IMO. The magnet on the original speaker was TINY.

 

[Stiman]

I changed the speaker in mine to a WGS Veteran 30. I thought the original speaker sounded good, until I plugged it into my 2x12. The upgraded speaker made a huge difference IMO. The magnet on the original speaker was TINY.

Damn, interesting. I also find that the stock 10" sounds good, but I'm tempted to buy a G10 greenback and put it in.

When I solo the amp with my EVH 112 (G12H-30), it does sound better. The two combined is even better.

 

[MatrixClaw]

Damn, interesting. I also find that the stock 10" sounds good, but I'm tempted to buy a G10 greenback and put it in.

When I solo the amp with my EVH 112 (G12H-30), it does sound better. The two combined is even better.

I actually just changed it to a Creamback 65 today cause I needed that Vet 30 for my 4x12. Didn't get to try it yet though, we'll see tomorrow!