EVH 5150 Iconic EL34 NEW

harddriver said:
There were a couple of them around here a month or so ago, haven't seen them recently but they were priced right. I'm mostly just curious about them with the S/S preamp stages to hear how they sound and feel in person. The clips sound good........The Iconic amp for me falls into the category of "HOLE IN MY HEAD" in the hierarchy of NEEDS.........:LOL:
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The preamp is all tube, with the same amount of tube gain stages as the 5153 amps. It's only the input stage and phase inverter that are solid state.
 
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MatrixClaw said:
The preamp is all tube, with the same amount but of tube gain stages as the 5153 amps. It's only the input stage and phase inverter that are solid state.
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What's the point then? To save in the cost of preamp toobZ?? Or to have a more consistent PI?
 
Kapo_Polenton said:
What's the point then? To save in the cost of preamp toobZ?? Or to have a more consistent PI?
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Yes.

James Brown talked about how the Iconic was supposed to fit in the market where the original 5150 did 30 years ago, as a relatively less expensive high gain amp than the competition, that younger players could afford and not feel like they’ve compromised on sound. It’s supposed to be “a 5150 if it was designed in today’s amp market.”

One of the things they did to save money was using a solid state input stage, because James’ thinking was that minimal if any distortion occurs in the input gain stage, so having a solid state input gain stage would save money with no negative effect on tone. Phase inverters of modern high gain amps also aren’t really meant to be blasted to the point of clipping either, so that part being solid state shouldn’t make a difference according to him either, and it’s more consistent.

The Iconic does sound really good, btw. I don’t think there’s a better bang for buck high gain tube amp out there, provided you use a good cab.

I’m curious about what the “more vintage” preamp sounds like though. That should be interesting to hear.
 
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Lightning said:
The Iconic sounds more like early Van Halen then all of the EVH 5150 III models that’s for sure or any of the so-called Van Halen sounding amps(boutique)out there and I’ve played them all.
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This. Closest to VH1 you're going to get out of the box. Killer amp for the price. Can't wait to try the el34 version. The speaker gets hate because it's different to what most of us are used to. It's better than some, worse than others. But plug one of these into some greenbacks and it's killer! Into V30's it's WAY more metal than VH. Just a great versatile amp.
 
MatrixClaw said:
I love the Burn button and don't understand the aversion people have to it. Versus the 6505 head I had when I got mine, the Burn was the key to get it to sound almost identical. James Brown even said on TGP that the point of the Burn was to give the amp the original 5150 red channel voicing. I guess if you are more of a 6505+/5153/Boosted Crunch user, the Burn would be bad for you, though.
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I just felt as though it gave an overly fuzzy overtone and sound. I don't think the amp needs it, especially when cranked up, and if anyone wants that "burn boost" they would get it from an OD of their choice. If "burn" was a pedal, nobody would buy it.
 
japetus said:
I just felt as though it gave an overly fuzzy overtone and sound. I don't think the amp needs it, especially when cranked up, and if anyone wants that "burn boost" they would get it from an OD of their choice. If "burn" was a pedal, nobody would buy it.
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I agree. I have no use for the burn. I pretty much live on the green channel and turning on the boost when needed. Plenty of gain there
 
I prefer the Iconic to the 5153, I think it sounds fantastic and feels much more Marshall-y, but the dealbreaker for me is that the best dirt sound it has is on the clean channel and can't be footswitched.
 
GreatRedDragon said:
I prefer the Iconic to the 5153, I think it sounds fantastic and feels much more Marshall-y, but the dealbreaker for me is that the best dirt sound it has is on the clean channel and can't be footswitched.
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Same dilemma as the SLO. I dig crunch with or without a pedal more than the lead channel. It’s something I dig about my stiletto. They have crunch available on CH 1 and CH 2, if that’s where you want to live for dirt and keep a clean.
 
At least GC’s typically always have a combo so it gives me somewhat of a reference point for what a guitar is like from clean to mid to heavy in one amp. It gets old where your options are Vox’s, solid state Oranges and a Katana…lol
 
skoora said:
Same dilemma as the SLO. I dig crunch with or without a pedal more than the lead channel. It’s something I dig about my stiletto. They have crunch available on CH 1 and CH 2, if that’s where you want to live for dirt and keep a clean.
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Supposedly the reason you can't footswitch between the two modes is to keep costs down.

Honestly I'd be perfectly fine if the Iconic was a "single" channel amp with the two footswitchable modes.

Being able to switch between all the modes is why I landed on the DSL100 instead.
 
What makes the Iconic series different from the normal 5150iii?

I see an EL34 5150iii near me for $650 and am tempted by the price despite not needing it in the slightest.
 
Yes, very different sounding amps overall. Iconic is hands down the best bang for the buck high gain amp on the market, IMO.
 
Are the 5153s not worth picking up?

My only experience with 5150s are that a million bands I grew up with in the late 90s/early 2000s used them.
 
The 5153 is a great amp , the 50w EL34 version seems to be the worst sounding though and It’s the only one I haven’t tried. All the others are good. The Stealth red channel is the most aggressive out of all of them. The original version blue channel is a great tone especially boosted.

I haven’t tried an Iconic but from what everyone is saying it prob sounds closer to an OG 5150 which is very aggressive and has a bit more low mid than a 5152 or a 5153.
 
the4thlast1 said:
The 5153 is a great amp , the 50w EL34 version seems to be the worst sounding though and It’s the only one I haven’t tried. All the others are good. The Stealth red channel is the most aggressive out of all of them. The original version blue channel is a great tone especially boosted.

I haven’t tried an Iconic but from what everyone is saying it prob sounds closer to an OG 5150 which is very aggressive and has a bit more low mid than a 5152 or a 5153.
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Granted, I have only tried them in stores, but I would not say the iconic is like an original 5150 by any means. having owned an original back in the 90s, if anything, the iconic seems to answer the issues people may have had if they thought the original couldn’t quite get bright enough or have enough upper mids. I don’t find them all that similar.
 
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skoora said:
Granted, I have only tried them in stores, but I would not say the iconic is like an original 5150 by any means. having owned an original back in the 90s, if anything, the iconic seems to answer the issues people may have had if they thought the original couldn’t quite get bright enough or have enough upper mids. I don’t find them all that similar.
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Enough upper mids? I disagree - the iconic has to have the mids dimed to match the dominant mids of the OG. If anything the iconic is bright and scooped in nature. It’s a great budget amp but I find the OG is way louder and holds together better at volume. It’s why I haven’t bothered to grab one with an upgraded iron 5150 II.
 
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