EVH LBX vs EVH 5150III 50W EL34

[Guitarjon]

I'm back with another comparison.
This one is all about the EVH lbx vs the 5150III 50W EL34.
The LBX is quite small with it's EL84 15W power amp but it sounds absolutely HUGE!
The 5150 III 50W EL34 is quite a bit bigger and heavier but does it also sound bigger?
Both sound great imho and just as with my recent Laney IRT Studio vs Ironheart 60 comparison you'll notice that the smaller amp has a little bit more mids but the differences are small on the red channel.

The blue channel is known for being a bit looser than the other blue channels of the EVH amps but I quite like having this option.
It reminds me a lot of a Mesa Recto or Soldano.
Because of this the blue channel on the LBX sounds a little bit tighter and mid focused.
The LBX has no clean channel so I chose to just go with a low gain blue channel part for that bit.

What do you guys think?

 

[Deadpool_25]

I think both sound excellent there. Good job. I always say if my old 5153 50w had had the concentric pots I’d probably still have it.

 

[Guitarjon]

I think both sound excellent there. Good job. I always say if my old 5153 50w had had the concentric pots I’d probably still have it.

Thanks!
Don't the newer ones have the concentric pots?

Btw, has anyone ever tried the LBX II?
How's the gain channel?
Good for metal?

 

[MrWulf]

I had the original LBX. The LBX II is ok but it lacked a preamp tube so it is not as gainy as the first one and also it is more expensive. When I talked to Jens Kruse about which one is better he suggested the LBX and I'd agree. Just set your gain low so that you can have a pushed clean sound on blue, good tight rhythm on red, and if you want to have more gain for solo tone, put an OD in front of it. Boom, now you got a 3 channels set up that all controllable.

 

[Selkoid]

Making me miss my 50w 5153 I dig the channel man, keep up the hard work!

 

[Guitarjon]

Making me miss my 50w 5153 I dig the channel man, keep up the hard work!

Much appreciated!

 

[Deadpool_25]

Thanks!
Don't the newer ones have the concentric pots?

Btw, has anyone ever tried the LBX II?
How's the gain channel?
Good for metal?

Yeah the new ones do. And you can even upgrade the old ones to have them. I’d gotten rid of mine before that was a thing though. Still, the Super Kraken and Invective get it done.

 

[Guitarjon]

Yeah the new ones do. And you can even upgrade the old ones to have them. I’d gotten rid of mine before that was a thing though. Still, the Super Kraken and Invective get it done.

Oh yeah that's right!
I imagine the Invective is pretty good indeed but I've never tried a Kraken.
Is the super Kraken also a victory amp?
I've only heard of the regular Kraken.

 

[Deadpool_25]

Oh yeah that's right!
I imagine the Invective is pretty good indeed but I've never tried a Kraken.
Is the super Kraken also a victory amp?
I've only heard of the regular Kraken.

Yeah the Super Kraken is the 100w version of the Kraken, both by Victory and both built with input from Rabea Massaad. I just did a little a/b between the Invective and the Super Kraken and posted it in the Super Kraken thread.

 

[Guitarjon]

Yeah the Super Kraken is the 100w version of the Kraken, both by Victory and both built with input from Rabea Massaad. I just did a little a/b between the Invective and the Super Kraken and posted it in the Super Kraken thread.

Very cool!
I was watching a few demo's of the Kraken the other day and it does seem like an impressive little amp!
If it was more affordable I might have gotten one but it will have to wait for now...

 

[Guitarjon]

Good news!
Looks like I'll be doing a Mesa Rectifier 25 vs Dual Rectifier video soon