This Fuckin' Kid

[Seshmeister]

The guy who designed the 5150 thinks the 6L6 powered 2x12 combo is the best sounding amp out of all of them. Might be worth trying one of those.

They do seem to be the best of both worlds but it depends of course on what you are going to use it for. You do pay for their stuff being bombproof. At 84 lbs I'm at an age I just couldn't face carrying that up a flight of stairs every other week, at least with the amp head and separate 2x12 I get to do it in two journeys.

[Mushroom]

I assume you are talking about the EVH Gear 5150 amps…

So I’m not confused, are you referring to the ones 5150 Iconic Series with the big 5150 logo?

[Nitro Express]

So I’m not confused, are you referring to the ones 5150 Iconic Series with the big 5150 logo?

I’m referring to the all tube powered 5150 amps in the beginning of my post. The 50 watt heads are popular and are almost as loud as a 100 watt but smaller and lighter. The EL34 head has a darker voiced crunch channel than the 6L6 head.

I did mention the Iconic because it’s cheaper and I hear good things. It’s not all tube. It has a solid state preamp and a tube power amp.

[Nitro Express]

I assume the Iconic is pretty good because Ed did sign off on it and James Brown designed it. I have some pedals James handmade and they are fabulous. He really can do a good job voicing solid state circuits. Mike Soldano told me he was having a real problem finding non-microphonic preamp tubes these days. That’s why he designed the new amps with DC heaters. The Iconic would eliminate the noisy tube problem by going with a solid state preamp.

[Nitro Express]

That’s what I like about my FUCHS amps. They have DC heaters in a Marshall style circuit and the amps are lighter. I have a nice Marshall small box Dave Friedman modded for me but I use my Train 45 most the time. It’s lighter, quieter and better touch response.

[Nitro Express]

If I was looking for something to get the classic VH sound with in the 5150 price range I would get a Friedman Runt 50. Those amps are built right. Better construction and components than a 5150. It does not do the really high gain. If you like rediculous amounts of gain with a decent crunch channel the 5150 is good.

[Nitro Express]

They do seem to be the best of both worlds but it depends of course on what you are going to use it for. You do pay for their stuff being bombproof. At 84 lbs I'm at an age I just couldn't face carrying that up a flight of stairs every other week, at least with the amp head and separate 2x12 I get to do it in two journeys.

I hear you. Big combos are no fun to haul. That’s why I started using a 50 watt FUCHS head and a FUCHS 2x12. Andy FUCHS uses a special lightweight plywood and an aircraft aluminum chassis. His stuff is pretty light weight but still sounds great. His 2x12 has an offset baffle so the two speakers don’t cancel each other out. It sounds like a 4x12.

[Nitro Express]

The worst things to haul around are a Ampeg SVT head and the 8x10 cab.

[Rikk]

NITRO...

I like to keep some random gear in my studio for multiple purposes.

I have a pretty cool guitar amp even though I don't play guitar, really. I do have some cool pedals/gear for vocals. My studio actually has a nice vocal booth...I sometimes send the vocal mic (one of those big, bulky circular vocal mics) out from the booth to one of my vocal pedals or even into my amp, put some distortion and effects on it...and then send the amp signal out to the multi-track board.

If I wanted to put an EVH-gear amp in my studio (for one of the guitarists to use if they're doing a quick visit/quick overdub session...or even to get a loud, distorted, punchy vocal sound), is there a reasonably-priced Eddie-endorsed amp I could get for my recording studio? I'm not looking to spend a fortune, necessarily. Just a nice, all-purpose Eddie-endorsed amp.

[Rikk]

Also, NITRO...

Believe it or not, I've only ever used my Leslie rotating-speaker for my Hammond B3 (sounds great). I've never actually bothered plugging a guitar into the Leslie (people think it's just a standard "plug your guitar in" set-up...but there are actually a few connections...you gotta fuck around).

Have you ever played around with a Leslie rotating speaker? If so, is it hard to get a nice sound for guitar with a real rotating speaker? (I know Clapton & George Harrison used to do that a lot back in the day...but I've just never fucked around with it. I know they have pedals which can simulate the sound really well...but it's just something I want to try myself.)

[DLR Bridge]

God, I’d love a Leslie pedal for the shear simplicity of it, but they just haven’t found the way to properly replicate the sound of a spinning speaker yet. The pedals I’ve heard usually sound too digital. I’m open to recommendations.

That sound on Badge that Clapton got (or was it Harrison?) sounds awesome, but I really dig the Leslie at the halfway point of No Matter What by Badfinger.

[Rikk]

God, I’d love a Leslie pedal for the shear simplicity of it, but they just haven’t found the way to properly replicate the sound of a spinning speaker yet. The pedals I’ve heard usually sound too digital. I’m open to recommendations.

That sound on Badge that Clapton got (or was it Harrison?) sounds awesome, but I really dig the Leslie at the halfway point of No Matter What by Badfinger.

My home studio is in the basement (the studio is maybe 400 square feet...but that includes the vocal booth and an equipment storage area)...and to get to the basement, there's a pretty steep staircase. (The basement is about 2000 square feet finished...and I wanted to save some space for the home theater, pool table, fireplace area in the middle, playroom, spare bedroom...so I didn't want to make the studio too big.) ANYWAY, I'm rambling, sorry...when the B3 organ & Leslie got delivered, the guys who drove it from Pennsylvania had to get it down the steep staircase...and I was scared shitless. It's not too wide and I was worried they were going to not handle it and it would go crashing down. I have a seriously bad back from my accident (had surgery for it in 2022) and I couldn't really help them. But those two guys were the two strongest fuckers I've ever known. I don't know how they did it. They got it down those stairs and into the studio (I put it in a sort of corner area with a little nook that goes off to the side). But the B3 and the Leslie are so, so fucking heavy. I can't even describe how heavy they are. The Leslie makes any normal amp feel lightweight.

I really should post a picture or two of the studio. It's fucking awesome. I basically spent 20 years dreaming it up.

One of these days, I'll try and plug a guitar through the Leslie...but it's not as straightforward as some people think.

And...YES! That is Clapton playing the riff on the middle eight of BADGE. Harrison plays on BADGE too...he wrote the simpler music for the first half of the song. But Clapton plays that amazing, ringing riff in the middle part. (It was all he had for the song, so Harrison wrote the first part and they were off!)

Harrison plays a lot of Leslie guitar in later Beatles stuff (like in LET IT BE...and in a couple of tracks on ABBEY ROAD)...and I believe he also dug it out for stuff on ALL THINGS MUST PASS.

Clapton also plays Leslie'd guitar on the Cream track DOING THAT SCRAPYARD (also on their GOODBYE album) and other tracks after...I think he uses it on the BLIND FAITH album, but I'd have to check.

It's just a killer sound that ended up really in fashion around 1969/1970.

[Nitro Express]

Also, NITRO...

Believe it or not, I've only ever used my Leslie rotating-speaker for my Hammond B3 (sounds great). I've never actually bothered plugging a guitar into the Leslie (people think it's just a standard "plug your guitar in" set-up...but there are actually a few connections...you gotta fuck around).

Have you ever played around with a Leslie rotating speaker? If so, is it hard to get a nice sound for guitar with a real rotating speaker? (I know Clapton & George Harrison used to do that a lot back in the day...but I've just never fucked around with it. I know they have pedals which can simulate the sound really well...but it's just something I want to try myself.)

Never messed around with a Leslie. I’ve messed around with a Uni-Vibe that simulates the rotating speaker effect. They got some great effects now and I don’t even mess with a tape echo anymore because the analog delays now are so good.

[Nitro Express]

For studio use I would look into the EVH 15 watt LBX head.

[Nitro Express]

We have a Bossendorfer grand piano in the living room. It’s a heavy beast to move. Lots of iron in that thing.