5150-style amp GAS: Wondering whether a Peavey Invective would scratch the itch

Opinions seem to be mixed, I guess. I really like Ola Englund's demo of the Invective, but he makes everything sound good, so a massive dollop of reality requires to be added/

I guess I just like amps with a lot of features. The noise gate and built in boost on the Invective sound like my cup of tea.

That said, the old block letter 5150s get a lot of praise. Getting one in good condition sounds like an uphill task though.

The 1992 reissue seems like a good option, but getting it in 240V and the additional shipping and customs cost just make it unaffordable.

I have a potential trade for my Axe FXIII with a 5150 III plus some cash. Does that sound like a good deal?
 
5150 iii is either you love it or hate it. In person I heard first hand a plastic type of gain character that just sounded off and out of place. It’s more polished and not as raw as a peavey 5150.
 
SFW said:
Thoughts from owning three OG 5150, an OG 5150-III and now the 5150 III 100S. The original Peavey 5150 is a beast of am amp, and has shaped the sound of metal and hard rock since it was released. I think it sounds best with V30 speakers. And yes, it does need to be loud to get the magic sauce out of it. It does one thing very well. I view this amp as a single channel amp.

The EVH 5150 III is a more modern take on the 5150 tone. The mids are more friendly, IMHO. There is a noticeable difference in tone between the 50 and 100 watt versions. The 100 is just bigger sounding and less boxy. This is a true multi-channel amp. The cleans are very usable. It pairs well with the matching cab and V30 loaded cabs. Again, you need some volume to get the fizz out. At least 8:00 on the volume. By 10:00 you're killing small animals...lol!

I've only played the Invective once. I was not impressed.
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Joel I used to and still watch a lot of your old videos with the 5150 III & your quick rod.....you have some of the best hardrock/metalish tone i've ever heard. good job making everything sound so good.
 
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nightlight said:
The 1992 reissue seems like a good option, but getting it in 240V and the additional shipping and customs cost just make it unaffordable.
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I'm pretty sure the 1992 has a mains selector switch on the outlet, so there shouldn't be any need to get a euro version 🤔

Honestly if you already have an axe fx and you need low volume why in Gods name would you trade it for a 5150 III?

I'm not trying to be offensive, just with you GAS post it seems exactly the sort of thing you're trying to avoid doing money wise 😞
 
DanTravis62 said:
I'm pretty sure the 1992 has a mains selector switch on the outlet, so there shouldn't be any need to get a euro version 🤔

Honestly if you already have an axe fx and you need low volume why in Gods name would you trade it for a 5150 III?

I'm not trying to be offensive, just with you GAS post it seems exactly the sort of thing you're trying to avoid doing money wise 😞
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To be clear, I'm not trying to be a dickhead, it's just at low volumes the axe fx is going to be BETTER
 
nightlight said:
Opinions seem to be mixed, I guess. I really like Ola Englund's demo of the Invective, but he makes everything sound good, so a massive dollop of reality requires to be added/

I guess I just like amps with a lot of features. The noise gate and built in boost on the Invective sound like my cup of tea.

That said, the old block letter 5150s get a lot of praise. Getting one in good condition sounds like an uphill task though.

The 1992 reissue seems like a good option, but getting it in 240V and the additional shipping and customs cost just make it unaffordable.

I have a potential trade for my Axe FXIII with a 5150 III plus some cash. Does that sound like a good deal?
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The fender 5153s are good , better than the invective imo. But yeah it doesnt have a built in noise gate and boost. For those reasons I bought an Invective with high hopes.

I notice you mention having an AxeFx III. The 5153 50w and the Stealth amp blocks in the Axefx sound incredible. I have an Axefx and I use mine though various tube power amps. Sounds just as good as my peavey 6505+ head which is my favorite 5150 variation. The KSR PA50 is a really good small tube poweramp , when using the Axefx as a preamp through a regular guitar cab and tube poweramp it’s hard to tell the difference from the “real” thing. Just a thought because the Axefx is a great piece of gear you already have.
 
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the4thlast1 said:
The fender 5153s are good , better than the invective imo. But yeah it doesnt have a built in noise gate and boost. For those reasons I bought an Invective with high hopes.

I notice you mention having an AxeFx III. The 5153 50w and the Stealth amp blocks in the Axefx sound incredible. I have an Axefx and I use mine though various tube power amps. Sounds just as good as my peavey 6505+ head which is my favorite 5150 variation. The KSR PA50 is a really good small tube poweramp , when using the Axefx as a preamp through a regular guitar cab and tube poweramp it’s hard to tell the difference from the “real” thing. Just a thought because the Axefx is a great piece of gear you already have.
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I agree completely 🤙
 
DanTravis62 said:
I'm pretty sure the 1992 has a mains selector switch on the outlet, so there shouldn't be any need to get a euro version 🤔

Honestly if you already have an axe fx and you need low volume why in Gods name would you trade it for a 5150 III?

I'm not trying to be offensive, just with you GAS post it seems exactly the sort of thing you're trying to avoid doing money wise 😞
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This.

Really @nightlight you have to push the 5150/1992 with some volume to get out of the fizz zone...just a really bad master volume design that pisses me off they didn't fix with the 1992 reissue. Hell I still may get one regardless because of my OG5150 love.

Not to shift this convo but by your pictures you already have one of the best master volume amps out there in the JVM. Per Santiago the designer, doesn't matter how hard you push the output tubes the sound will not change. Obviously volume will and the perceived difference you get with louder vs. quieter but cooking the tubes does not change the tone of the JVM.

One of the many reasons it's been my favorite amp for so long, it sounds the same at low volumes vs. loud.
 
nightlight said:
I have a potential trade for my Axe FXIII with a 5150 III plus some cash. Does that sound like a good deal?
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God no, don't do it. FWIW, I love all iterations of the 5150 but still say no to this trade.

As for the Invective, I wouldn't entertain it. Its overpriced regardless of all the extra features it comes with. I'm all about boosted crunch channel with the OG PV's. The Invective did not deliver the goods. Nowhere near as much raw sounding power as the OG. It seems most players want it for the lead channel (red on OG) but I've never been a huge fan of it. The Invective is based on the 5150II so its the more nasally version of the lead channel which I don't care for but I guess that's a preference thing.

If you had to have one, I would say go for a 2000's 6505/+ or Stealth 5153.
 
Thanks for the inputs, all. I make some really poor decisions sometimes, and now realise that this might have been one of the bigger ones that I would regret later.

Didn’t realise so many people didn’t like the Invective lol. Maybe I was evaluating it based on my eyes instead of my ears.

“Eat… Eat my shirt,” as a wise man called Vivekananda said at a fancy restaurant that didn’t let him in because he wasn’t dressed up.
 
PurityS.L.G said:
God no, don't do it. FWIW, I love all iterations of the 5150 but still say no to this trade.

As for the Invective, I wouldn't entertain it. Its overpriced regardless of all the extra features it comes with. I'm all about boosted crunch channel with the OG PV's. The Invective did not deliver the goods. Nowhere near as much raw sounding power as the OG. It seems most players want it for the lead channel (red on OG) but I've never been a huge fan of it. The Invective is based on the 5150II so its the more nasally version of the lead channel which I don't care for but I guess that's a preference thing.

If you had to have one, I would say go for a 2000's 6505/+ or Stealth 5153.
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I'm a huge fan of the crunch channel (with a boost) as well

I think basically any of the the options mentioned (original, 1992, stealth, iconic) are all good to various degrees

Honestly with his axe fx though, nightlight could get all the 5150 tones he desires already
 
the4thlast1 said:
The fender 5153s are good , better than the invective imo. But yeah it doesnt have a built in noise gate and boost. For those reasons I bought an Invective with high hopes.

I notice you mention having an AxeFx III. The 5153 50w and the Stealth amp blocks in the Axefx sound incredible. I have an Axefx and I use mine though various tube power amps. Sounds just as good as my peavey 6505+ head which is my favorite 5150 variation. The KSR PA50 is a really good small tube poweramp , when using the Axefx as a preamp through a regular guitar cab and tube poweramp it’s hard to tell the difference from the “real” thing. Just a thought because the Axefx is a great piece of gear you already have.
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I just use ace fx for all practice . The Diezel Herbert on my axe efx sounds nothing like my real diezels but I love it . It’s like a whole new amp model I want made lol . But you bringing up it up made me think of my setting
 
the4thlast1 said:
The fender 5153s are good , better than the invective imo. But yeah it doesnt have a built in noise gate and boost. For those reasons I bought an Invective with high hopes.

I notice you mention having an AxeFx III. The 5153 50w and the Stealth amp blocks in the Axefx sound incredible. I have an Axefx and I use mine though various tube power amps. Sounds just as good as my peavey 6505+ head which is my favorite 5150 variation. The KSR PA50 is a really good small tube poweramp , when using the Axefx as a preamp through a regular guitar cab and tube poweramp it’s hard to tell the difference from the “real” thing. Just a thought because the Axefx is a great piece of gear you already have.
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Does Fender still make the 5150III? I'm really out of the loop.
 
DanTravis62 said:
I'm a huge fan of the crunch channel (with a boost) as well

I think basically any of the the options mentioned (original, 1992, stealth, iconic) are all good to various degrees

Honestly with his axe fx though, nightlight could get all the 5150 tones he desires already
Click to expand...

For 5150 tones, I really like the Gojira plugin on my Quad Cortex
 
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