EVH 5150III EL34 combo

[joezlo]

I have the head with the 2x12 I bought used and was partially Kruse modded. I love it...I have a JHS little black box in the loop to act as a master volume so I can crank it without getting kicked out.

I am in the market for another modder; anyone know of one besides Jans Kruse? I tried communicating with him as I am interested in the variac mod among other things but after some initial discussion he stopped replying to me.....

The JHS Little Black Box is a life saver.

[rvk5150]

The JHS Little Black Box is a life saver.

Agree...I like it because IMO it does not change the tone like an attenuator does....even though I have one of those and they come in handy since I picked up the LBB I never use it anymore.

[Mikew9788]

This is one of the best demos of this amp I have seen. Really showcases all the tones you can get with different guitars.

[rvk5150]

This is one of the best demos of this amp I have seen. Really showcases all the tones you can get with different guitars.

100% agree...I use some of his settings.

[Jedi McFly]

You're right - Sonic Drive Studios has some of the best amp demos on YouTube. Dude gets consistently great tones out of everything he plays. He's part of why I bought a Two Notes Captor to start recording with IRs.

[Guitardavept]

I’ve got the el34 1x12 combo.

I chose it for a number of reasons, but one of the main ones was for the cleans. I know people say “you don’t buy a 5150 for the cleans”, but with the el34 you can. It really does sound great with a Strat, gain at 12 o’clock, just starting to break up if you hit the strings hard. This was a huge plus for me over the 6l6 versions.

Blue channel I’ve read everywhere that the metal guys don’t like it, and I can see why - it’s not as tight as the 6l6 amps, but that was a positive for me. I don’t want the blue and red to sound the same. I like that they’re a little different. It’s still a 5150 though, so loads of gain on tap.

Red channel is exactly what you’d expect from a 5150 - tight, compressed, saturated, super high gain.

The great thing about all the combo’s in the range over the heads is the addition of the Reverb and Power Scaling. Reverb wouldn’t be a deal breaker for me, but the power scaling is really useful.

The headphones out actually sounds pretty decent to my ears, and has the added bonus of silencing the speaker, so if you connect an output from the preamp out into your recording interface, add a power amp sim and IR and you have a silent recording solution.

Honestly the amp ticked all the boxes for me, but of course we all have different opinions on what we like. I’d say it’s certainly the most versatile 5150 in the range. The combo’s are currently only £30 more than their equivalent heads on Anderton’s in the UK, so excellent value for money with the extra features and the speaker of course.

I’ve only got one video up on YouTube with it, and it’s got a chorus pedal in front, so I’m afraid I can’t really help you out with sound clips.

I was expecting a Stealth combo at NAMM, maybe next year.

[fudd]

This is one of the best demos of this amp I have seen. Really showcases all the tones you can get with different guitars.

That was pretty thorough.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[lieu910]

I prefer the EL34 over my 6L6. To me the EL34 has a tone that is less compressed and nasally than the 6L6, and to my ear there is a little more bite to solos with the EL34. These differences are noticeable when you play them side by side, otherwise I think most people would not be able to tell the difference.

One thing the El34 does noticeably better than the 6L6 is the clean channel.

Overall, I think the EL34 is a bit better suited to someone looking for a 5150, but with some greater versatility, and may be put off by the compressed sound of the 6L6.