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Rating And Reviews: Van Halen 5150 III Amp

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"EVHiii head is awsome!" submitted June 14, 2011

By a customer from cox.net
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Musical Background: studio musician
Music Style: Rock/Metal
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Sound: I've been jumpin around from amp to amp trying to find the right tone. No one amp dose it all but this amp is actually a multi asking amp. It does do the clean and plexi sound pretty darn good on the first channel alone by cranking the gain almost all the way up. The second channel is all about rythem chunk. It gives you that Marshall JCM tone with a little more dirt depending how much you push the gain and the volume. The third channel is sustain heaven...I sold my Soldano before buying this head and this channel mimics the lead channel of a Soldano cranked up. Same type of sustain hands down but it's a little noisey compaired to the Soldano. The gain on any of these channels blows the other amps I've owned out of the water. I own a bunch of decent dirt pedals and tried them in front of the amp, they aren't needed with this amp. This amp is a stand alone amp that only needs a reverb and echo ran through the loop, thats it. I have also tried several guitars through it and I found that active ENG pick ups don't sound as good as pasive humbers through it. I think it's because it's a high gain amp and the active pick ups are just to much for it...To much uncontrolled distortion. I save that guitar for my 20 year old Marshall, he he. Feature: It comes with a foot switch. Pretty cool that it allows you to turn on and off the effects loop. Great feature other amps should consider doing. Ease of Use: As for getting sounds from this amp it sounds better cranked. It sounds even better if you don't use any pedals except a reverb of a delay or both like I do. I am using this head in a ful stack loaded with both Greenbacks and G12-75T split up in both cabs. I can do ACDC to Iron Maiden by just cranking the gain...I tried an external 6 band EQ through it but it dosen't need it. The contrls work great with out using a bunch of other gain puching effects. The pedals that work great with this amp are anything that dosen't have any sort of gain. Reverb, delay echo, flannge, phase90, chorus all work flawlessly... Quality: Well I've owned it for a few month and so far it's been working great. I don't gig with it and pretty much play it an hour at the most when I turn it on. At this rate the tubes should last a long time. I ordered three ReD chicken head knobs for the three differant volume channels. I am changing them so I know which knob is volume. There are 18 knobs of bliss and three are volume but they are all so close together it's hard to see which one is volume. I want to know which one is volume and doing this will help. Value: For what I paid used, it's worth every penny. I look at making a purchase like this, you get what you pay for. This amp isn't a gimic it's the real deal and not cheap. Manufacturer Support: I bought the amp head used and I hope it dosen't get sick. If it does I will be handling the repairs on my own. The Wow Factor: The metal grill on the front and back of this amp looks like the same as the metal grill on the Soldano hot rod 50 plus I just sold. The same style chicken head knobs are also used on it. The added differance is the EVH stripping over the front and 5150iii emblem are obviously Eddy's trade mark. I also like the side pull handles. Overall: I'm pretty happy with it and not looking to sell it any time soon. It dosen't do the death metal sound I like to play someimes when I feel like conjuring up the dead. I didin't buy it for that sound so I'd like to get another head for doing that sound, maybe the Dime amp head and then split up the two 4X12 cabs.
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"Best of the 3!" submitted July 3, 2008

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Sound: The sound is a sonic bliss... meaning all notes are clear and don't get lost in the amp while playing. It's almost like the amp takes over when your playing, hard to describe. I compare the attack to a Marshall, but the tone is way better. A refined sweet distortion unlike anything I've ever heard. Feature: The effects loop is incredible,, delays and chorus are crystal clear without having to adjust anything! The footswitch is simple layout. It seems the channels are woven together as you go from 1 to 2 to 3rd channel. No pops, or loud noises while switching, just like your shifting gears in a car, runs very smoothly. this to me was a reason to buy it alone. On other amps I would have to run back and turn the volume way down to avoid hearing loud pops on stage. Ease of Use: It;s such a simple layout, 1 , 2, 3, then your presence knobs. How much easier can it be? unlike other amps you don't have to sit there a minute to take the tour of the control panel. Then try to figure it out after that. Quality: Very well built. Vinyl is smooth and very easy to maintain. All knobs are solid, and the three handles makes it easy to carry around. Not very heavy to my surprise, also very balanced when you pick it up. Value: Great value, you get what you pay for, this applies to most music equipment. Manufacturer Support: dont' know, I haven't needed any. The Wow Factor: I like this design the best out of all other 5150's.this amp looked just like I thought it would. Open vents for airflow through the head. keeps the tubes cooler and lets the head breath. Overall: Versus other products, I feel it's easy to use, I can't see any flaws in this design. Looking for a 3 channel easy to use amp that sounds above other amps, this is it.
22 of 24 people (91.67%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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"Me like this amp!!!!!" submitted August 14, 2007

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Musical Background: HOBBYIST
Music Style: Rock / Blues / Metal / Hard Rock
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Sound: WOW!!! This is the perfect amp for any typ of rock or metal. It doesn't have a harsh sound to it. Every note you play comrs clearly out of the speaker. Feature: Nothin fancy but will get the job done. Ease of Use: It's just a straight forward amp. And thats how I like em! Quality: This is a tank!! Value: I wish it wasn't so much cash. But for the sound.... it's worth it. Manufacturer Support: Don't have it don't need it. The Wow Factor: Yeah I want it. It's the best amp I have tried. Overall: You don't have to like Van Halen to in order to love it. It's great for anything!!
10 of 12 people (83.33%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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"The seach for that awesome sound from a head is over!!!!" submitted May 3, 2008

By a customer from hotmail.com
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Sound
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Musical Background: 32 years playing guitar
Music Style: Rock-Metal
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Sound: Super great sound!! Its actually more than perfect for me playing rock-metal. When I started playing I was caught by suprize I could not believe the quality The clean is better then my Marshall Jcm 800 and the 2nd channel is better then my Jcm800 Jcm 900 and mt TSL 100. Then you go to 3rd channel and WOW!!!!!!!!!! Feature: Its simple and easy to use. When switching between channels you hear no click or seperation just flows to the other channel. All channels sound great!! Ease of Use: Simple a 5 year old could set it up and use. Quality: It seems to be well manufactured but time will tell. I have not had the EVH 5150 III to long. I have 4 Marshalls as backups if needed and I hope I never have to go back to the Marshall. The EVH 5150 III Has spoiled me. Im in love!!! Value: I wish it were a little cheaper, but If you have to money its better than the "MESA Roadster" for me, so I would buy it again if need be. Manufacturer Support: I can answer that becuase I have not had a problem with it . The Wow Factor: It looks great BUT!!!! White gets dirty so take care of your investment and have cleaner around. Overall: Im sold Ive always played Marshall and I was always trying to find a better sound and now Ive got what I needed with the EVH 5150 III.
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"simply the finest amplifier that you can get on the market today.. or tomorrow.." submitted May 19, 2011

By a customer from HOTMAIL.COM
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Musical Background: hobbyist/active recording
Music Style: metal, blues, rock
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Sound: i just got the amp head from zzounds, opened the box, hooked it up to 2 Marshall 1960 a and b cabs and was hit with the tone i have been looking for. Absolute tonal bliss is the only way to describe this amp. I have used mesa boogie, Randall to name a few but have never experienced the tonal bliss this amp gives. Feature: accessories included a foot switch which is well built and quiet, cable connector and a 14 gauge speaker connector which was a nice addition. Ease of Use: this product is so simple to use that a child could get it right.. its a 3 channel amp that doesn't have allot of bells and whistles. It gets the job done and rips your chest apart if you attempt to turn it above 6 and are standing too close to it.. believe me this is one loud amp.. instructions were straight forward and to the point.. Quality: this amp is a beast.. well designed like a tank.... heavy as hell but well worth the slipped disc.. as far as road worthy im sure it could take a severe beating... Value: this product is expensive... and to many it may turn them off to it.. but if you are a tone junkie you WILL like this amp..period Manufacturer Support: i actually called evh/fender customer service and talked to a LIVE person not a recording.. he actually gave me ideas about hooking up effects and rack mounted gear to the effects loop.. very helpful The Wow Factor: i got the "white" model and at first i said " what did i do" "why not black?" but when i put it on top of the Marshall cabs the first thing i thought of was Randy Rhodes and his black/white combination of head vs amp cabs...so its actually grown on me.. I cant say enough about this amp, its a beautiful amp Overall: this amp is a keeper... i have a peavey 5150 block letter amp head also which i run at the same time and they both sound great together.. if this product was attempted to be stolen i would open fire with my ak47 on the thief and force them to sit in front of my cabinets with the 5150iii cranked to 10 until their face melted.. in other words dont touch my amp
2 of 2 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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"THE BEST AMP IN THE WORLD. PERIOD." submitted November 12, 2007

By a customer from nbnet.nb.ca
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Sound
Features
Ease of Use
Quality
Value
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Music Style: Rock, Hard Rock, some Metal
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Sound: I'd rate the sound 12/10 if I could! It's unbelievable! I adore Marshalls but compared to the EVH, there isn't a marshall with half the tone quality of this amp. It's also a very loud amp but sounds just as good at low volumes. I set the volume at about 1/16 and the whole music store could easily hear me and this unbelievable amp. I love how the clean channel can be dirtied up for a plexi-like sound but has an excellence clean sound with the gain down. The second channel is insanely versitile and can nail any EVH sound or eveh a Marshall JCM 800 or JCM 2000 sound. The 3rd channel goes above and beyond any other high gain channel that I have ever heard. It has a ridiculous amount of gain but every note stays very clean and dinamic. It also has plenty of sustain. This is without a doubt the best sounding amp of the past, present and almost certainly the futur! Feature: Very simple. Volume, Gain and EQ on every channel with the 3 presence knobs at the end. All the knobs are very responsive but you can still dial any tone you want. The lack of effects, tone scoop switches, etc.. makes sure that no note is muddy or harsh at all. PERFECT. Ease of Use: It couldn't be much simpler while still being so versitile. All you have to do is basically plug in and play! Quality: The is a truly roadworth, tough, indestructible piece of equipment. Ed himself designed it, didn't he? Value: Ya this is a lot of dough, but for what your getting, it's a MAJOR bargain! Manufacturer Support: Won't need it. The Wow Factor: A huge, ruuged, full sized tube amp head with Eddies signature stipes on the grill-You tell me! Overall: This is an absolutely incredibly amp. I'm definately saving up for it and you should to.
14 of 15 people (93.33%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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