EVH 5150 III: 50 vs 100 watt

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Ruben
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EVH 5150 III: 50 vs 100 watt

Post by Ruben » Thu May 03, 2012 1:15 pm

Anyone compared the 2 side by side?

I already own a 100 watter but somehow the 50 watt seems interesting too.
Earlier breakup? I heard the 50 watters has some more 'sizzle' hights? Opener sounding perhaps?

What about removing 2 tubes from the 100 watter....wouldn't make it sound the same like the 50, right?

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Re: EVH 5150 III: 50 vs 100 watt

Post by Ruben » Fri May 04, 2012 2:58 pm

Anyone? :hide:

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Re: EVH 5150 III: 50 vs 100 watt

Post by dirtycooter » Fri May 04, 2012 3:17 pm

When i finally find one on a sales floor to wank on i will let you know. Right now every retailer i know of has drastically cut the showroom floor big time due to the economy. I am interested to know as well.

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donnyboiler
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Re: EVH 5150 III: 50 vs 100 watt

Post by donnyboiler » Fri May 04, 2012 3:27 pm

When my 50 watter finally arrives in July I'll post some comparison clips. Long wait for these babies...

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Re: EVH 5150 III: 50 vs 100 watt

Post by vanhalen5150 » Fri May 04, 2012 3:40 pm

I know in Canada, you pretty much have to put down a deposit and order it. Otherwise they don't want any of the bigboy amps sitting on the floors anymore. As soon as they even see touch a head and 4/12 they do have, they are all over you like car salesman.
They got lots of PODs though on the shelves.....
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Re: EVH 5150 III: 50 vs 100 watt

Post by cary chilton » Fri May 04, 2012 4:33 pm

I would guess the 50watt on the rhyth mode will be the best that amp will ever be, my vote the 50watt for the main reason of the compression to headroom ratio with max saturation on rhy (only channel that sounds good) will tighten up and sound slightly more harmonically rich than the 100watt ON LOWER VOLUMES.

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donnyboiler
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Re: EVH 5150 III: 50 vs 100 watt

Post by donnyboiler » Fri May 04, 2012 5:02 pm

I'm not sure which 5150 iii you've been listening to Cary but I love the way mine sounds on all three channels, that's why I've kept it. Your opinions are just that.

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Re: EVH 5150 III: 50 vs 100 watt

Post by dirtycooter » Fri May 04, 2012 5:42 pm

Likewise. This head is gonna make the pv version history. Its way above and beyond the pv.There are just so many nay sayers that never gave it a run through. Friedman said it best-its like a pissed off SLO. Laugh at the evh brand and the 5150 logo if you want. But its real amp real tubes and out of all the amps I have ever plugged into I did not leave the store without it. It screamed buy me. After the first 60 seconds. I was all full of attitude against it before i plugged into cause i had tried alot of pv versions. This one has all the gain of the originals and waaaay less noise. Not to mention more articulate gain by far. I still don't know how they managed it but I am glad i could ditch the gate cometely. The clean channel alone was gettin alot of attention from non rock old dudes goin wtf? They were all gathered around starin at it as i played through it. And that floor demo i was usin had one output tube totally dead. So I got one still in the box and it still sounded great.
I still am lookin for the plexi solution yes and I have tried bogs and even slo's and alot of other big channel switchers plus all the new marshall stuff. But until I get that plexi nailed down-this is the next best thing imho.
Channel 2 they could delete and its still worth the coin to me-I never use 2 anyway.
I also own a mojave peacemaker that don't even come close really-at least not yet anyway.

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Re: EVH 5150 III: 50 vs 100 watt

Post by MrBeasty » Fri May 04, 2012 6:18 pm

I have not had the chance to compare the 100 watt against the 50 watt 5150iii.

That said, I own the 50 watter and overall I like it. I never owned the 100 watter, only played one at a store once.
The thing to consider is that the 50 watter has different features: line-out, MIDI switching capability, a different foot switch connectivity, shared channel 1 & 2 and a "depth" control. Some of these features may be a big deal to you.

I really like the tone of the 50 watter. It seem to sound like the 100 watt version overall. That said I am not a fan of the low-end on it. Maybe it is my amp but it get flubby. I have to experiment more with mine and get that sorted out. Maybe I put too much "depth", one of my tubes went bust or my bias is off, etc ... anyway, I need to tweak it.

I am not a big fan of the shared channels either. Based on how I play, the switching between channel 1 and 2 is just not working well for me. I gave up on channel 1.
That said, for recording the amp is fantastic. None of the "live" issues exist in the recording environment and (so far) it sounded great with everything I through at it.

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Re: EVH 5150 III: 50 vs 100 watt

Post by vanhalen5150 » Fri May 04, 2012 7:05 pm

I'm sure I read that these have a built in gate?
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Re: EVH 5150 III: 50 vs 100 watt

Post by dirtycooter » Sat May 05, 2012 2:09 am

I never heard it had a built in gate. If it does i don't hear it at all. I think its all careful zener clamping.

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Re: EVH 5150 III: 50 vs 100 watt

Post by indeedido » Sat May 05, 2012 2:11 pm

I've owned both the 100 watt and most recently the 50 watt............

I really didn't care for the 100 watter. It had too much of that cocked wah tone, harsh to my ears. The 50 watter has much less of that tonal quality. It breaks up sooner and the resonance control on the back gives it quite a punch! I love the breakup/overdrive on the "clean" channel of the 50 watter. It isn't pristine clean but I don't play clean anyway. Nice overdrive tones here. The second channel really is where it shines. Nice crunchy tone. Channel three is high gain over the top. Either channel you really don't need the gain set over 6. Effects loop is very transparant. The amp has an almost hi fi sound, very crisp and quiet. I went with the two 1x12 cabs as I like the look, plus I could put them side by side for a cool retro look. Stacked they are a little bright but side by side you get more of the bottom end because the top one isn't punching you in the face. I recently sold mine because I was jonesing for a Marshall YJM100 and found a deal I could not pass up but that is another story..... :champ:

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Re: EVH 5150 III: 50 vs 100 watt

Post by MrBeasty » Tue May 08, 2012 1:26 pm

vanhalen5150 wrote:I'm sure I read that these have a built in gate?
No gate, although there is something in there that seem to act in a similar fashion. There is a little bit of noise/hiss but it is way less than any other amp I have ever played. Yet the gain is higher than most amps. Not sure how they do it.

Diode clipping might be (once again) the answer.

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Re: EVH 5150 III: 50 vs 100 watt

Post by pflo » Wed May 09, 2012 4:21 pm

Got my 50 watt, but what is with the footswitch cable?? Its a 7 pin on both ends,but there is no 7 pin on the back of the amp, only a midi and a quarter inch trs for the footswitch??

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Re: EVH 5150 III: 50 vs 100 watt

Post by Blix » Thu May 10, 2012 1:57 pm

I have only tried the 100watt in a store, so I can't really compare. But I am REALLY happy with the 50watt.
While the volume difference between channel 1 and 2 could be a bit less, it works out alright still.

Channel two really shines, love it. Channel 3 have insanely amounts of gain, very intense sounding.

I bought a Sennheiser e906 today so I can record the amp, here's a little clip with the start of Panama using the 50w. Mind the sloppy playing, I was just to eager to get something on "tape" :)

http://soundcloud.com/amund-blix/panama5150iii" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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