The Show Your Work Thread

[Nitro Express]

If you got the EVH 5150 III 50 Watt head they retail here for about $1,000 new. Hell. Cab fair in NYC would eat the difference. LOL!

Heavy usually means quality. A heavy gauge chassis and lots of iron in the transformers. That's a good thing. I never owned the Fender made one. I have a Peavey 5150II and it's been been a great reliable amp. It's easier to dial in a more classic VH sound on the Fender made amps.

[VAiN]

To be honest the EVH brand thing actually puts me off a bit, I don't want to draw attention to the fact I'm playing late 80s rock guitar any more than is necessary.

I'm also conscious that if I am using an EVH amp I won't be able to play my EVH guitar live any more without looking like a dick.

Congrats on the purchase, I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
You know, you can always take the EVH badges off.. it's an option. I took the Peavey badges off of my 5150 half stack and removed the wood panel on the front of the head to expose the tubes. Cleans it up and gives it a more unique look.

[ashstralia]

If it pleases your ear!

I've been doing this for many years, all these amps are good. The fender made 2x12 combo is outstanding, as is the JSX212 or the 5150. The first Bugera amps I saw were amazing. Blackstar are about to release another great amp.

I understand the concept of three channels, two is enough for me.

Truth, I've been playing mostly acoustic this year. It's so raw and naked, with a fucking microscope. Forces you to be strong and accurate.
My philosophy is get good on that.

[vandeleur]

Would agree with you there ash , acoustic is a great leveller .makes you see a lot of the things in your playing you can hide with speed and peddles and the tricks of the trade we all end up relying on a little to much .

[ELVIS]

I have one channel with no pedals...

I like things kept simple...

[ashstralia]

Live I do use 3 sounds. Clean, slightly dirty (vintage ac/dc), and loud.
The midrange knob. The beautiful overtones live in there.

Acoustic shows, I use two sounds. Gorgeously woody, and gorgeously woody +20db.

[vandeleur]

The midrange knob ... Great band name

[DLR Bridge]

The midrange knob ... Great band name

It's up there with "Gorgeously Woody"

[ELVIS]

Or Justin Cider...

[ELVIS]

or Dixie Normus...

[ace diamond]

http://youtu.be/Ypa5qsyNXv0

[DLR Bridge]

or Dixie Normus...

My friends bowling team is "My Dixie Wrecked"

[Seshmeister]

Cut the mumbo jumbo...

What's it sound like ??

It's nuts - ridiculous amounts of gain and loud, volume at 10 O'clock is more than loud enough to get over a live kit if you are both unmiked.

I need to spend some time playing around with it. It's a bit like they have taken everything full up on the lead channel of a Marshall and made that 4 or 5 on the crunch channel.

I was away, got home picked it up and had a 90 minute rehearsal and then to a sound check/gig which wasn't ideal. I need more time with it, it was quite noisy when you put the gain over 5.

Ironically my biggest problem was my Phase 90 pedal I use on a couple of songs, I had to stop using it as it sounded strange.

[Nitro Express]

The high gain channel is just like a Peavey. The crunch channel on the Fender is better than the Peavey because it's warmer and smoother. More vintage VH sounding. The clean channel is a bit flat sounding. I use the crunch channel the most running the power amp hard enough to get some balls out of the power tubes. That's where you are going to get your classic rock sounding tones. Also the EQ does a lot. A little tweak really changes the sound so you have to dial all that in. It's not like an old Marshall where the EQ didn't do that much.

High gain amps are noisy. Using good cable can help. It doesn't hurt to run a noise gate in your signal chain. You do get less hiss if you run in the middle channel and cut the pre-gain and boost the post-gain. A THD hotplate can be used to get the tone and keep the volume at reasonable levels. It's a loud 50 watts for sure.

[ELVIS]

Ironically my biggest problem was my Phase 90 pedal I use on a couple of songs, I had to stop using it as it sounded strange.

An EVH phase 90 ??

Throw that crap away...