5150 Iconic

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rayneman
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TheToneDig said:
Look here is F Drop Z tuning.

There.

Now for what it is actually aiming at. Eddie's tone on isolated tracks. The 5150III doesn't do it. Hence the complaints.







Stick an EVH flanger in front.

Eddie's tone cheap.
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Dude that sounds like Drop C to me. No big deal just the guitar tuned a whole step down with the low string tuned another step down. We get it, you don't like that style. But calling that drop Z is comical.

Fwiw, that demo sounds better than the EVH demo despite being in drop Z
 
Metalhex said:
Dude that sounds like Drop C to me. No big deal just the guitar tuned a whole step down with the low string tuned another step down. We get it, you don't like that style. But calling that drop Z is comical.

Fwiw, that demo sounds better than the EVH demo despite being in drop Z
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He used mountains of literature, vast amounts of scientific method, and meaningfully peer reviewed many studies to ascertain the tuning was "drop Z;" you sure you want to WAKE THE SCIENCE DRAGON?

He wrote a book don't you know. Have YOU ever wrote an ebook? Didn't think so, heh heh.
 


Oh wow what a shock, a non-EVH published demo that sounds totally different than the official demo! I'm not necessarily saying it sounds like the best amp ever made but it's worlds above the official demo and shows just how influential everything else in the chain is, and it reinforces that official EVH amp demos have always been rough.

What did I tell each and every one of you on the 1st page (8th post) of this thread.

Jesus christ people how can all of you have been on the internet as guitar players for this long, having seen the full breadth of how both great and how completely awful literally anybody can make literally any amp sound, and not have that simple fact internalized?

Next time, please think of the upcoming Iconic videos that won't sound like dogshit next time you feel the need to stampede out the gate with your pitchforks and torches at the first microscopic whiff of something not being shown as the Second Coming.

Also, to echo VESMedic, maybe it might do some people good to go back and listen to what a stock, non-boosted OG 5150 sounds like while also remembering how great that amp sounds in a mix and comparing it to the Iconic to get a solid reference point for what this amp is doing.
 
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DanTravis62 said:
I still think anyone who wants that tone should get a 6505 or something instead 😬

But holy God I want to know how they miced up that original demo, that's amazingly bad
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I agree, I want to know what they did to mix and mic that demo so that I learn what not to do.

I like Fluff’s recording and playing of it. However it shows the amp has ZERO. Tube dynamics and is all balls to the wall all the time. The noise gate was awful and made the amp thin out even more/cutting off notes.

It’s not replacing anything in my Arsenal anytime soon. I feel like if anything, it shows an improvement of solid state preamp design and how gnarly they can get.

The first thing that came to mind with the 5150 iconic was how well it could do dimebag’s tone. I’d totally rock it for a Pantera cover band.
 
glpg80 said:
I agree, I want to know what they did to mix and mic that demo so that I learn what not to do.

I like Fluff’s recording and playing of it. However it shows the amp has ZERO. Tube dynamics and is all balls to the wall all the time. The noise gate was awful and made the amp thin out even more/cutting off notes.

It’s not replacing anything in my Arsenal anytime soon. I feel like if anything, it shows an improvement of solid state preamp design and how gnarly they can get.

The first thing that came to mind with the 5150 iconic was how well it could do dimebag’s tone. I’d totally rock it for a Pantera cover band.
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Same, I'm really curious how they made that amp sound that bad. I've been working out guitar amp micing techniques for like 15 years, and tried just about every weird combination and made every weird mistake. I've used wacky karaoke mics with hard wired cords, accidentally miced a speaker that wasn't the one with a powered signal, miced a rig that was an Ibanez slam punk pedal into a 60w peavey keyboard amp, all sorts of wild shit, and I've never, not once, gotten a tone that weedy, congested, raspy, and cardboard-y.

I agree that even in fluffs demo it sounds very inorganic and undynamic, but that's not a negative in a lot of modern metal guys view, which is good to keep in mind.

The dimebag correlation popped up for me too, after listening to the Seattle cuck with the beard - it seems like it could do that sterile processed thing very well.
 
Considering how much of an EVH fan dimebag was, I have no doubt he’d rock one in his band given the opportunity. Just hearing they style of the amp and what it can do. It’s an improvement over pure solid state but not a replacement for big tube amp tone.
 
DanTravis62 said:
Same, I'm really curious how they made that amp sound that bad. I've been working out guitar amp micing techniques for like 15 years, and tried just about every weird combination and made every weird mistake. I've used wacky karaoke mics with hard wired cords, accidentally miced a speaker that wasn't the one with a powered signal, miced a rig that was an Ibanez slam punk pedal into a 60w peavey keyboard amp, all sorts of wild shit, and I've never, not once, gotten a tone that weedy, congested, raspy, and cardboard-y.

I agree that even in fluffs demo it sounds very inorganic and undynamic, but that's not a negative in a lot of modern metal guys view, which is good to keep in mind.

The dimebag correlation popped up for me too, after listening to the Seattle cuck with the beard - it seems like it could do that sterile processed thing very well.
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Yeah it's rough. They always do that shit though.

If I had to take a shot in the dark, I'm guessing they took a brand new, non broken-in EVH cab fresh off the line, stuck a 57 dead center on axis, then cranked the amp's gain to literally 10. Then the sound was probably "mixed" and EQ'd by some "exclusively SSS Strat into a Fender Deluxe player" Fender employee who has never cared about or liked high gain at all, and so has zero reference point for what good high gain sounds like and thought, "Hmm sounds like nothing but fizz and choked out honk. Perfect! All those djent guys will LOVE this!"

edit: Oh wow I was wrong! Going back and watching it again, the video does show a 57 directly on axis, but also shows an R121 on axis as well.
edit: the cab used is also not the standard EVH 4x12 cab. More about that below...
 
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TheGreatGreen said:
Yeah it's rough. They always do that shit though.

If I had to take a shot in the dark, I'm guessing they took a brand new, non broken-in EVH cab fresh off the line, stuck a 57 dead center on axis, then cranked the amp's gain on 10. Then the sound was probably "mixed" and EQ'd by some "exclusively SSS Strat into a Fender Deluxe player" Fender employee who has never cared about or liked high gain at all, and so has zero reference point for what good high gain sounds like.
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That would have to be some WILD post processing eq, because dead center 57s generally (while wildly bright) have much more clarity and high midrange detail, which is part of what is completely lacking in the demo.

What speaker is in the EVH cabs? Non broken in speakers definitely can sound bad, but as an example, that spot at 1:40 in the original video where he's palm muting almost sounds like the speaker is broken - not just not broken in.
 
DanTravis62 said:
What speaker is in the EVH cabs? Non broken in speakers definitely can sound bad, but as an example, that spot at 1:40 in the original video where he's palm muting almost sounds like the speaker is broken - not just not broken in.
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You know what, the video shows the amp being used with the new Iconic cabs, which are different than the standard EVH cabs. The standard EVH 4x12 cabs are excellent. Good construction, made of Baltic Birch, they use the EVH signature speakers (which are actually just Heritage M Greenbacks with a different sticker on the back, lol), and they sound fantastic.

The new Iconic cabs, however, are made of MDF and don't use the standard EVH Celestion speakers, but some cheaper types called "EVH Celestion Custom" speakers. At this point if I had to guess, I'd say the Iconic cab is mostly responsible for the bad official demo tone.
 
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TheGreatGreen said:
You know what, the video shows the amp being used with the new Iconic cabs, which are different than the standard EVH cabs. The standard EVH 4x12 cabs are excellent. Good construction, made of Baltic Birch, they use the EVH signature speakers (which are actually just Heritage M Greenbacks with a different sticker on the back, lol), and they sound fantastic.

The new Iconic cabs, however, are made of MDF and don't use the standard EVH Celestion speakers, but some cheaper knockoffs called "EVH Celestion Custom" speakers. At this point if I had to guess, I'd say the Iconic cab is mostly responsible for the bad official demo tone.
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Now THAT would make a lot of sense, especially considering the wide disparity between the original demo and the fluff demo

The EVH cabs with the m greenbacks are very good sounding and well built, and I had just assumed they would keep the cabs basically the same, in order to make the iconic sound closer to it's bigger brothers.

Shows how smart I am, assuming companies care about shit like consistency 😂
 
After checking out this video and the one Fluff put out... I won't be lining up to buy this amp. This amp is in the same price point as the Marshall DSL 100H- which is a better sounding amp, IMHO. I've owned 3 original 5150s, the Peavey 5150 combo and the EVH 5150 III. They have all be gain monsters and had plenty of compression, but the clips I've heard of the Iconic have been extremely compressed. Even when you take the YouTube compression into account. The Iconic sounds like a nightmare to get sitting in the mix correctly. I could be completely wrong, but I'm not hearing anything that makes me want to buy it. Just my two cents...
 



I don't usually go for the kinds of sounds this guy goes for but I appreciate his effort.

The Iconic sounded better to me in this video than the 100w Stealth. Not worlds better, but still just a little better. He talks about how much "bigger" the 100w Stealth sounds but to me, in this video, all that "biggness" is due to too much low end dialed into the Stealth and to me that made it sound a bit bloated and choked compared to the Iconic. Maybe with different settings things would be different but I thought in this instance the Iconic seemed be the clearer, more open sounding amp of the two.

I say that as somebody who owns a 100w Stealth.
 
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Nolly said:
It's the cab/speakers. I can't believe how much people are freaking out over the EVH video.
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Yeah. Everyone on the post kind of figured that out after all the demo videos that dropped after the EVH video that sounded like balls slapping a cardboard box. Since the EVH one was first, and "direct from the maker," it made a lasting impression on people.
 
DanTravis62 said:
Yeah. Everyone on the post kind of figured that out after all the demo videos that dropped after the EVH video that sounded like balls slapping a cardboard box. Since the EVH one was first, and "direct from the maker," it made a lasting impression on people.
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I mean, I don't know if I'm used to "listening past" the cab sound or if I'm delusional but when I heard the EVH video I thought it sounded like a cool amp.
 
Nolly said:
It's the cab/speakers. I can't believe how much people are freaking out over the EVH video.
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Clips are a definitive indication of an amps qualities and the way an amp will react and feel in the room with your gear. Didn't you know that's how it works...LOL!
 
Nolly said:
I mean, I don't know if I'm used to "listening past" the cab sound or if I'm delusional but when I heard the EVH video I thought it sounded like a cool amp.
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It definitely didn't come off that way to me, or many others on the forum.

I, like others, assumed they would load the cabs with decent sounding speakers - especially for the first demo drop, by the company in question, in order to make a good impression on the public.
 
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