So I just played an EVH 5150 iii 50W head...

cvogue

Yes, that's Oolong. :)
Visited GC since I was in the area and they had a couple of 50 watt versions of the 5150 iii head. I HAD to try them out!

Overall the distorted tones were outstanding, I mean really good. Channel 2 (crunch?) channel did a good classic rock kinda vibe and channel 3 (lead) had more gain than any mortal would need. Actually the gain control on channel 3 really didn't do that much, you get gain and lots of it on that channel, no reason to back it off I guess (trying to get in the mind of the designers here).

Now the issues... clean channel was anemic and lifeless. For a Fender based product I would have expected a better clean sound. To dial in a usable clean tone is possible (usable but not great) but then you discover the biggest problem with this amp...

The volume jump between 1 and 2 (green and red) is absolutely massive. It makes this amp completely useless in a live situation for someone who has to play both clean and dirty (like 90% of the cover bands out there). I don't know why they did that (these channels share everything, gain, volume and EQ).

I read that the volume issue is pretty well known... the people who give this amp a 5 star rating never use the clean channel. It's too bad because if this thing was balanced better it would be very tempting.
 
The 5150/6505 line has always been known for having a useless clean channel. It’s probably just there to sell to people who won’t buy an amp without one, even if they have to invest in pedals to make it useful.
 
Actually it's the green & blue channels that share knobs. I guess there is a way to get around the volume jump using a midi controller.

I don't think the clean channel sounds too bad, imo, though the amp doesn't have reverb.

When I brought the amp to Pragestock, that was the amp that baimun hooked his pedalboard into, on the clean channel. Sounded pretty good to me, clean with pedals adding the dirt.
 
Actually it's the green & blue channels that share knobs. I guess there is a way to get around the volume jump using a midi controller.

I don't think the clean channel sounds too bad, imo, though the amp doesn't have reverb.

When I brought the amp to Pragestock, that was the amp that baimun hooked his pedalboard into, on the clean channel. Sounded pretty good to me, clean with pedals adding the dirt.
The 100 watt head doesn't have that issue since there's enough room for separate controls. There's supposed to be a mod for the 50 watt version, though, that fixes the volume disparity, IIRC.
 
I use a line 6 pod xt live to add some eq and compression to the clean channel. No more volume jump. I love on chAnnel two with that amp. I have the gain set to about 11 or so and then just use a boost. Tonal heaven!!!!

Also, when the amp is cranked, the volume jump isn't as noticeable.

Howard Kaplan works for Fender and he designed that amp. I've emailed him at lest 5 different times asking him questions and he has always responded in less than 45 min. No lie. He even suggested a tube for channel three to bring the gain down because I wanted it to be more comparable to channel two.

Love this amp
 
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