The EVH 5150 III Owners Thread

[quassarmetal]

Hello there!

Thanks for your answers, I finally bought a EVH 2x12, it is brutal! I have not lost any volume, also sounds a lot better than my old Blackstar 4x12, the tilt-back legs are a great invention, big sound in a small space!

 

[TheWarAgainstTime]

I picked up some Mesa power tubes and a Tungsol 12ax7 for V1, dropping them in tonight! Lately I've found that channel 2 has low or no gain to it, not like it used to.

Havent changed power tubes in 3 years, suppose its time lol.

I dropped in some Mesa power tubes and a Tung Sol V1 in mine a good while back and really like them; more clear and defined than the stock all-JJ setup. I've been thinking it's about time to replace my power tubes, though, but will likely just swap in some Sovteks since they're the same but usually cheaper to find. I may also try an EHX and/or 5717 in the V1 spot for giggles, but I still think the Tung Sol is a great fit.

How are you liking the new tubes?

 

[RustInPeace]

Seems slightly less fizzy. I still roll back the presence to about 10 oclock, but it definitely sounds great! Very subtle but its there.

 

[EdgeCrusher]

I swapped in the "low gain" eurotubes set from my 6505+ combo into my 50 watt head yesterday. JJ ecc82 in v1 and v2, ecc83 in the rest. This dropped the gain quite a bit. I'm actually liking the gain cranked up to around 3 o'clock on the red channel now, when before I didn't want to put it above 9 o'clock with the stock tubes. Mine also came with unlabeled tubes, are these Chinese or unlabeled JJ's?

I also tried plugging the 5150 iii into the 6505+ 112 combo speaker, which is an Eminence Swamp Thang. This speaker suits the amp MUCH better than the G12K-85's in my Peavey 412MS. This cut down on the fizzy highs that were really keeping me from liking the EVH, and the low end is also much fuller and tighter. The combination of the low gain tubes and the Swamp Thang is sounding really nice now! I also figured out the popping noise when changing channels is due to a bad cable on my pedalboard.

 

[op1e]

I ran mine with Swamps and Legends. It still had a ton of presence. I kept my highs close to noon and my Presence below 11 o'clock. I never did get to try some lower gain pre's in it. The red channel fattened up at around noon on gain, but was uncontrollable above 11. I may get another one of these and go another round. First off, a 12au7 in the PI as recommended, a pair of Mesa 6L6's or Sovtek WXT+ for power, then roll the first 2 tubes as you did.

 

[chopeth]

Hi mates!

I just got a 5150 50w, I'll post pics later though mine is the normal ivory one, no mods and cool stuff you're showing here. I have two quick questions:

1. I don't have a cab yet and could resist trying it with headphones yesterday, a friend told me not to do this again because I could destroy the transformer since it ALWAYS has to be connected to a cab to allow the energy steming from it go out of the head, is it true? In that case, I won't switch it on again until I get the cab.

2. My friend told me the sound out of the cab is much better than that of the headphones alone, which made me feel a big relief, because I thought the third channel sounded overwhelmingly trebblish and hissing. True too, I hope?

 

[Inguilles]

you never connect a tube amp without cab
.unless this has built-in load box inside. but this is not normal,and yours does not carry
and you do not worry with the cabin, it sounds much better

 

[musicaldeath]

Guess I am part of the club now. Got this last week. It is awesome.

 

[Emperoff]

Hi mates!

I just got a 5150 50w, I'll post pics later though mine is the normal ivory one, no mods and cool stuff you're showing here. I have two quick questions:

1. I don't have a cab yet and could resist trying it with headphones yesterday, a friend told me not to do this again because I could destroy the transformer since it ALWAYS has to be connected to a cab to allow the energy steming from it go out of the head, is it true? In that case, I won't switch it on again until I get the cab.

2. My friend told me the sound out of the cab is much better than that of the headphones alone, which made me feel a big relief, because I thought the third channel sounded overwhelmingly trebblish and hissing. True too, I hope?

Dude, you're lucky the amp is still working

1. You need something that can handle the load (be it a cabinet, dummy load, etc), or you can indeed blow the amp.

2. Headphone outs always tend to sound crappy. Remember that's the poweramp output, not the sound that comes out of the speakers (or mic'ed), which is the one you're used to hear.

So yeah, both are true. Now I just need to get one

Saludos

 

[jc986]

Dude, you're lucky the amp is still working

1. You need something that can handle the load (be it a cabinet, dummy load, etc), or you can indeed blow the amp.

2. Headphone outs always tend to sound crappy. Remember that's the poweramp output, not the sound that comes out of the speakers (or mic'ed), which is the one you're used to hear.

So yeah, both are true. Now I just need to get one

Saludos

Actually it is perfectly safe to run the 5153 50w with the headphones without a cab. This is per the designer of the amp, Howard Kaplan.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/evh-5150-iii-50w-part-ii.1052359/page-32

Look at the quote in the third post in that link.

 

[chopeth]

Actually it is perfectly safe to run the 5153 50w with the headphones without a cab. This is per the designer of the amp, Howard Kaplan.

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/evh-5150-iii-50w-part-ii.1052359/page-32

Look at the quote in the third post in that link.

This is what I read in the manual (stupid me, went unnoticed the first time):

"A speaker must always be plugged into one of the speaker jacks when the EVH amplifier is on or damage may ocurr. Switch the amplifier off or stand by while changing speaker connections or impedance settings"

 

[chopeth]

Well, I finally am IN the EVH 5150 III owners club. Here are some pics I posted somewhere but consider they should be here:

I also own a Digitech RP1000 and I'd like to use it for effects only with the 4 cable method. Anyone has experience with the effects loop of this beauty?

 

[RustInPeace]

I run a Pod HD 500x in the loop with 5cm (the fifth being midi for channel switching) with VERY good results!

 

[EdgeCrusher]

I've read that these come with JJ tubes, but my 50 watt has unlabeled preamp and poweramp tubes. Can anyone confirm whether they are JJ's or Chinese tubes?

 

[jc986]

They use unlabeled JJ tubes.

 

[chopeth]

I run a Pod HD 500x in the loop with 5cm (the fifth being midi for channel switching) with VERY good results!

But the RP1000 is no midi.

 

[TheRileyOBrien]

But the RP1000 is no midi.

He just uses midi for switching channels via the hd500 so it has no bearing on the sound.

 

[Kurt CoBrainmatter]

I am looking to buy a new amp and am thinking about getting an EVH 5150iii and one of the things that I have not seen a lot about is how much it is to retube the amp as it has 7 pre amp tubes and 2 power tubes (I think) this is honestly one of the only reasons I have not already bought the amp I also know that tubes can vary in prices just looking for ball park prices thanks in advance

 

[Insinfier]

2 years in and still on stock tubes. Just keep a pair of power tubes and a few preamps in the closet and don't sweat it.

 

[jc986]

I am looking to buy a new amp and am thinking about getting an EVH 5150iii and one of the things that I have not seen a lot about is how much it is to retube the amp as it has 7 pre amp tubes and 2 power tubes (I think) this is honestly one of the only reasons I have not already bought the amp I also know that tubes can vary in prices just looking for ball park prices thanks in advance

Preamp tubes last indefinitely and only need to be changed one at a time if they fail. Power tubes should get at minimum 9-12 months under regular playing at loud volumes. If you are playing at bedroom volumes then they should last a lot longer than that. A pair of power tubes (I like the Sovtek 6L6WXT+ for the 5153) should only be around $50. Average cost of a preamp tube is about $15 but like I mentioned you wouldn't need to replace all at once and they last for years in most cases.