Any Tips To Get A EVH 5150 III To Sound Closer To A Peavey 5150?
- Thread starter Kyle-Vick
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NinjaRaf
Well-Known Member
Sell it and get the Peavey. Thats what I did. Its just a tamer amp, and I dont think its capable of getting that aggressiveness. The Stealth came VERY close, but the 50 watt didnt cut it.
I have the 50-watt 5153 head, and an "OG" 6505 head, FYI. Both are monsters, IMO. With the EVH, I primarily use the red channel for gain, and do not use a boost with it. I set the gain at about 35-40%, and all tone knobs at roughly 60% (I dial the presence back though, to tame the brightness). I run the resonance on the back almost all the way up, which really helps introduce some sag like the original 5150.
I also run an MXR 10-band EQ in the effects loop of both rigs. This is really important for my sound. Specifically, I boost a little at 125hz (bass/lowmids thump), cut 500hz (honky mids), boost 2khz a little for grind, and cut 16khz by 6db to get rid of fizz. I run the pedal exactly the same with both amps.
When I play my 6505 (red channel), I use a boost pedal (MXR M77). I find that it really needs a boost to tighten it up and bring it into focus for my tastes. I run the gain on that channel at 3-3.5/10.
With all that said, my tone is not terribly different out of either head. Honest to God, they are both just amazingly brutal which is what I need/want for black metal and death metal. The 6505 can technically get a little louder and still keep the bass together, but that is at a volume point way beyond ridiculous, IMO. The 6505 still has an element to it that is more gnarly though. I don't know what it is. It's not more gainy; as I dial them in both to have pretty much the same amount of gain. It has a grind in the low mids that is just a little more pissed-off I think. All-in-all, the 5153 is the better amp, because it also has great cleans. Some people love the blue channel as well; I haven't seen what all the fuss is about with that one though. Red channel is legit.
I am about finished with a new song in which I used my EVH entirely; it's sounding really good so far. Maybe I'll post a sample of it in this thread soon. Pretty much all the rest of my recordings are with a 6505 or 6505+.
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TheWarAgainstTime
"TWAT" for short
I own both an EVH 50w head and a Block Letter 5150. The Peavey is inherently more aggressive/brutal, but I can get a pretty good approximation from the EVH. I boost the front end of both apps with a Maxon OD-808 or Mesa Grid Slammer.
Keep in mind the EVH is voiced to be comparatively brighter, slightly notched in the mids, and has a smoother gain structure, so you can't just use one-for-one settings on each amp.
On my Block Letter, I use a 5751 in the V1 position for a bit more controllable gain. I also put a 5751 in V1 of the EVH, but also a 12AT7 in V4 to control some excessive gain/fizz.
On the Block Letter, I set the gain to 3.5, volume as needed, then bass, mid, treble, presence, and resonance all to 7. To get a similar sound from the EVH, I set the gain to 4, bass to 6, mids at 7, treble at 4, presence at 4, and resonance at 10.
Keep in mind the EVH is voiced to be comparatively brighter, slightly notched in the mids, and has a smoother gain structure, so you can't just use one-for-one settings on each amp.
On my Block Letter, I use a 5751 in the V1 position for a bit more controllable gain. I also put a 5751 in V1 of the EVH, but also a 12AT7 in V4 to control some excessive gain/fizz.
On the Block Letter, I set the gain to 3.5, volume as needed, then bass, mid, treble, presence, and resonance all to 7. To get a similar sound from the EVH, I set the gain to 4, bass to 6, mids at 7, treble at 4, presence at 4, and resonance at 10.
This thread got me wanting to A/B the two amps some more. My wife and kids were away for a while yesterday so I had a chance to run the amps properly (I find that it's just best to not run my 6505 above "1" when my wife is home). It's been a while since I ran the 6505's post gain above 1.5ish. Up until about "2" the EVH keeps up with it. Then the magic happens...
Starting at 2, the tone starts to get more clear and authoritative, with a massive, detailed roar. I kept going past that to 2.5 and it just got positively EVIL (As a side note, I've heard of people running their post gain at 4-5. I don't know if it's the speakers I'm running being extremely efficient or what, but 2.5 seems enough to bury a drummer). As I put my guitar away I was laughing out loud. The EVH cannot touch it at that point. Maybe the 100watt version could get closer.
Anyway, that's not to say the EVH isn't amazing in it's own way, and it certainly sounds better at lower volumes, plus the fact that it has actual cleans. But, if maximum destruction is what you're after, and you're in a situation where you can play with some legitimate volume, the original 5150/6505 head is what you need.
Starting at 2, the tone starts to get more clear and authoritative, with a massive, detailed roar. I kept going past that to 2.5 and it just got positively EVIL (As a side note, I've heard of people running their post gain at 4-5. I don't know if it's the speakers I'm running being extremely efficient or what, but 2.5 seems enough to bury a drummer). As I put my guitar away I was laughing out loud. The EVH cannot touch it at that point. Maybe the 100watt version could get closer.
Anyway, that's not to say the EVH isn't amazing in it's own way, and it certainly sounds better at lower volumes, plus the fact that it has actual cleans. But, if maximum destruction is what you're after, and you're in a situation where you can play with some legitimate volume, the original 5150/6505 head is what you need.
