EVH 5150 III 50w or Pod HD Pro/500X

[UnattendedGolfcart]

Hey everyone, I'm finally about to make a purchase this week for new gear. I'm pretty much set on getting an EVH 5150 III 50 watt head and an Avatar 2x12 cab, but I'm also slightly thinking about a Pod HD Pro/500 X. This will be my first ever amp upgrade from my tin can of a Spider IV.
I plan on buying a few pedals in the near future if/when I get my EVH head, like a delay, gate, and reverb. I'm just starting to wonder (again) if I should just get a Pod so I'll have all of the effects available. I don't know how much I'd use it, but I know I could gig with either piece of equipment if I wanted to.

Basically what I'm asking is should I go with the EVH 5150 50watt or a Pod? I have access to recording studios on campus so I'm not really too concerned with going direct in vs micing cab, and I've never had a tube amp before. Should I go the route of getting an epic tube head and buying the pedals I feel to be essential on the way, or go with a Pod and have effects all there, even if I don't use them much immediately?

 

[Veldar]

EVH all the way.

 

[Djentliman]

In your situation, I would definitely choose the 5153. When you mic it up in the studio, you have so many possibilities of FX that you can choose from just in your DAW. I chose the 500 because if I try to mic up a cab in my house, my neighbors would brutalize me into a pulp. Living in the city sucks for micing a cab.

 

[UnattendedGolfcart]

In your situation, I would definitely choose the 5153. When you mic it up in the studio, you have so many possibilities of FX that you can choose from just in your DAW. I chose the 500 because if I try to mic up a cab in my house, my neighbors would brutalize me into a pulp. Living in the city sucks for micing a cab.

Yeah, there are at least three solid recording studios on my campus to work with. I won't be out of here for another 2 years anyway so I'd have plenty of time to work with them. If I want a 500 down the road they're not that much money in the scheme of things.

 

[Phantom]

I, and maybe it's due to being biased since its the way I grew up doing things, say go with the head and cab as your "core" sound. I do have a multi effects processor, but that was because I got tired of doing the tap dance live.

 

[UnattendedGolfcart]

I, and maybe it's due to being biased since its the way I grew up doing things, say go with the head and cab as your "core" sound. I do have a multi effects processor, but that was because I got tired of doing the tap dance live.

I've never even owned a pedal besides the basic footswitch I got with my amp! I need to experience that using a 500X for FX would be a good idea in the future, but right now I don't mind a few pedals.

 

[Phantom]

It's really just one of those things that you have to figure out if you even need it. I mean, why spend all that money if you can get away with just one or two for a fraction of the cost. Start with a few standalone pedals and go from there. I actually still have most of mine, the ones I really liked anyhow, but I made the jump to the processor because it was worth the cost with how many effects I was using at any given moment. My main sound was pretty dry, but my clean tones had delay, reverb and chorus, my lead was usually just delay, but I had some special ones that had a phaser or whatever else.

 

[UnattendedGolfcart]

I'm officially going with the EVH.

 

[MetalDestroyer]

You will not regret it man. I spent every penny I made last summer on mine. My mom was pissed until I turned it on. Then she was really pissed.

 

[UnattendedGolfcart]

You will not regret it man. I spent every penny I made last summer on mine. My mom was pissed until I turned it on. Then she was really pissed.

This is getting sigged.

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

I'm officially going with the EVH.

You'll love it I just got mine this past Wednesday and I've scarcely been able to make myself stop even to sleep or eat

 

[TheShreddinHand]

Yup, EVH all the way...then just save for the POD and throw it in the loop for all your effects and use the midi capabilities to do channel switching. Case solved!

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Yup, EVH all the way...then just save for the POD and throw it in the loop for all your effects and use the midi capabilities to do channel switching. Case solved!

Or a Boss GT-10/GT-100, which will have better effects.

 

[JoshuaVonFlash]

^ Yeah Jazz is right about the Boss GT10-100's having better effects. I finally got around to using my Pod Pro and the fuzz sounds like broken electronics. Gotten much better fuzz tone buy switching to the neck pickup and letting the audio clip a little.

 

[UnattendedGolfcart]

Or a Boss GT-10/GT-100, which will have better effects.

I'll keep that in mind for the future, thanks!

 

[GreatWhiteYeti]

5150 III all the way.

 

[Lifestalker]

5153!

Although you already made your mind up.

 

[MrYakob]

Having owned both the POD HD and the 5153, the EVH is far and away the better choice.

 

[UnattendedGolfcart]

Having owned both the POD HD and the 5153, the EVH is far and away the better choice.

Good to hear. I know there's a ton of love for the Pods here so I figured this would be the best place to ask. I'm super psyched to get it now

 

[Tones]

Don't forget that the HD500 will need a power amp of some sort. It can't be plugged directly into a cabinet. So consider a new amp in your budget if you're thinking of going that direction. I have to say though, the HD500 has very impressive tones. Very versatile for that price. Never played the 5153 but I've only heard good things about it.