My EVH 50-watt Stealth review!

napalmdeath

napalmdeath

Well-known member
Got it last week, and really got to dive in over the weekend.

I LOVE it! It's much better, and much improved over the original 50-watt 6L6. Blue is much more aggressive, more lively, more character altogether. Punchier, and more focused. Badass!!

Red, like the original, has a shit-load of gain. However, it's much warmer, (to my ears), less thin, less abrasive. More low mids, for sure, more low end. An NOS GE 5751 really helps you squeeze a bit more on the gain knob, before getting too insane. I actually enjoy it on this version!

I did switch out the GT-labeled Shuguang 6L6's, (never liked Chinese 6L6's), for JJ's, and in addition to the 5751 I put in V3, I also put a Tungsol in V1, which really gave blue a bit more hair, and harmonics. I'm not a fan of JJ's in V1, I find them dull in a tone stage, unless it's an ECC803S.

The only oddity was that it was biased at 49mA when I got it, which is kinda hot! I'm waiting on my new Pro One to get the plate voltage, but I backed it down to 36mA when I put in the JJ's. They gave it a deeper low end, made it even tighter, and cut a good bit of the high end the Shuguangs seem to exude, IMO.

Killer amp! I LOVE it! In-your-face, aggressive beast!
 
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Nice! I wonder how it compares to the 100 watt version I had. It had too much Gan for me. I put a 12AT7 in V1 which made it much more usable for me.
 
Emg77 said:
Nice! I wonder how it compares to the 100 watt version I had. It had too much Gan for me. I put a 12AT7 in V1 which made it much more usable for me.
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I tried lower gain tube in V1 in the past, but felt like it neutered the blue channel too much. V3 and V4 have much more dramatic results to the red channel.
 
I think if they made a single channel amp with the blue channel, it would do everything I needed. How do you like it vs your Artist (still have that?) or Competition (think that is the model you had)?
 
Smashedguitarist said:
I think if they made a single channel amp with the blue channel, it would do everything I needed. How do you like it vs your Artist (still have that?) or Competition (think that is the model you had)?
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The Artist was more Marshall flavored, not quite as aggressive. I regret selling that amp.

The Competition, also more Marshall flavored, less aggressive than the Artist.

The EVH, definitely leans towards a more modern amp. It kinda reminds me of the Peavey 5150 II, but with a much crunchier crunch channel, and a very similar lead channel, with a little more low mids.
 
Sounds cool man, glad you’re diggin it. Funny hearing you say that you like the red channel. You may have mentioned once or twice how much you hated it on the other one. :LOL:
 
I had an EVH 50 watt combo. I liked it, but as soon as I got my avenger, I was a little happier. I felt like it split the difference between blue and red channel. But i have heard good things about the newer evolutions of the EVH. Congrats on the new amp, man.
 
Smashedguitarist said:
I think if they made a single channel amp with the blue channel, it would do everything I needed. How do you like it vs your Artist (still have that?) or Competition (think that is the model you had)?
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I agree, that channel is awesome. Works well with ODs and clean boosts in particular to add some color to the tone.


napalmdeath said:
I tried lower gain tube in V1 in the past, but felt like it neutered the blue channel too much. V3 and V4 have much more dramatic results to the red channel.
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I hope this amp works for you man. I wouldn't even bother with the red. I lived on green and blue.
 
Loving mine! Swapped the Shuguangs for JJ’s today. May try the Tung Sol V1.

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@LCW You may wanna try a NOS RFT in V1; thickens things up, without mud. I found my OG 6L6 50W too bright anyway, so any taming helped. Never run the Presence above 10 'o clock.

@napalmdeath Do you still have the Thrasher or Satan 50? How do they compare?
 
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Speeddemon said:
@LCW You may wanna try a NOS RFT in V1; thickens things up, without mud. I found my OG 6L6 50W too bright anyway, so any taming helped. Never run the Presence above 10 'o clock.

@napalmdeath Do you still have the Thrasher or Satan 50? How do they compare?
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I had the Thrasher 50, twice. Still love that amp, and wanted another until Randall nearly doubled the price. It's a killer amp, and I would say it sits closer to the blue channel of the Stealth. It's a bit dryer, and with the voicing switch, can sound a bit more vintage, with more mids. It's also an aggressive little amp! It sounded fantastic with KT77's, but, (my biggest gripe about the Thrasher), you need an EXTREMELY hot pair of EL34 variants to bias up. I had to get a pair rated 60 to get them up to snuff. There's an inherent design flaw with that amp. 6L6's, no problem, but EL34's won't get past 18-20mA unless you get a stupid hot pair. I had to get Eurotubes to send me the hottest pair they had in the building to get it biased up. Sounded damn good though!
 
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That's awesome dude, glad you're digging it. Good bit of info on the bias. Had gas for this amp and then I played it, which set the gas into overdrive. Haha. I'm thinking this plus an Omega 1x12 (want to see if they live up to the hype) will have me set.
 
ErikT said:
That's awesome dude, glad you're digging it. Good bit of info on the bias. Had gas for this amp and then I played it, which set the gas into overdrive. Haha. I'm thinking this plus an Omega 1x12 (want to see if they live up to the hype) will have me set.
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The Randall, or the Stealth?
 
I got mine 2 weeks ago and I still have my original 6L6 model and also the new 15 watt LBX Stealth..the 50 watt version Stealth is my new favorite.

I never thought I would sell my original Ivory 6L6 head but now it may have to go. its mint and still sounds awesome too !

I peeked around the back and my 50 watt Stealth has the Groove Tube labeled #6 rated power tubes also.
 
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Are all you guys who prefer the Stealth hard/modern metal players?

just curious what variety of genres the amp excels at
 
journeyman73 said:
Are all you guys who prefer the Stealth hard/modern metal players?

just curious what variety of genres the amp excels at
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I play mainly metal with 6 string guitars in half step down or sometimes drop d but I like plugging in my partscaster on the green channel..with the middle and neck pickup being SD Vintage Rails it has that instant awesome Strat sound.

I think this amp can handle whatever sound you want to get..IMO my regular 6l6 50 watt head is much more sterile sounding until I run a reverb pedal,then it fixes it right up.

My50 watt Stealth head sounds way better even without reverb or any type effects. just plug straight in and jam!
 
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