A friend of mine has narrowed his new amp search to an EVHIII 100 watt standard 6L6 or Stealth 6L6, Stealth has resonance controls....

H

harddriver

Well-known member
Is the Stealth worth the extra 500 bucks for the three resonance controls on the back for the three channels?

I assumed the standard 100 watt had a resonance control on it but it does not, the standard model 6L6 does not have any resonance controls on it from the pics at Sweetwater...WTF? Even the standard 50 watt EVHIII 6l6 has a resonance control on it........

I know the resonance(Depth mods) are great for adding low end when jamming at lower volumes which he does quite a bit but he also jams at stage volume so is the stealth worth the extra dough?

Just curious what you EVHIII owners think?:unsure:
 
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I personally think the Stealth sounds better, yes. Not everybody does though.

The Resonance control is no small improvement to the amp, it gives you a very significant degree of control over the low end that the standard version just doesn't have. The standard doesn't have a Resonance control because at the time of its development, EVH (Fender) was concerned that Peavey (patent holder of the Resonance/Depth control) would sue. The patent has since expired and as such most new modern amps, Stealth 100w included, have Resonance or Depth controls now. By the way, EVH himself had Resonance controls modded into his Standard 6L6 EVH heads. You can see pics of his rig that show the modded amps.

Another thing is that the Stealth versions of these amps don't seem quite so honky or mid forward as the standard version. The original 6L6 100w seems to have a bit more mid honk. Some people love this, some don't.

Another major difference between the Standard 100w vs Stealth 100w is that the Stealth's Blue channel is a lot more gained up. When they designed the Stealth, they jumped the 1st gain stage of the Red channel over to the Blue channel which added quite a bit of additional gain. Some people like this, some don't. I happen to like it, and if you really want to go super low gain crunch / modern broken up clean, the Stealth can still get there, but you have to be careful with the gain knob and keep it pretty much between 0 and 1, while on the standard 6L6 it's easier to dial in a lighter crunch with the Blue channel.
 
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japetus said:
Has he compared them to an Iconic?
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He is a METAL player and really likes the EVH III 100 watt 6l6 for what it does and he has considered the Iconic but I think he wants to only make one purchase and be happy with it.

I know alot of people say the Iconic is great but I would imagine you would have to play them side by side to really make an educated decision and I'm not sure he has the ability to do that. He is just trying to watch as many YT comparison vids to make the best decision he can one time and not fall into coulda, shoulda, woulda if he goes with the Iconic over the 100 Watt 6L6.
 
harddriver said:
He is a METAL player and really likes the EVH III 100 watt 6l6 for what it does and he has considered the Iconic but I think he wants to only make one purchase and be happy with it.

I know alot of people say the Iconic is great but I would imagine you would have to play them side by side to really make an educated decision and I'm not sure he has the ability to do that. He is just trying to watch as many YT comparison vids to make the best decision he can one time and not fall into coulda, shoulda, woulda if he goes with the Iconic over the 100 Watt 6L6.
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I've played the Stealth 100w and 6L6 Iconic side by side and to be honest they are VERY close. In my opinion the Stealth is a bit more forward in the high mids, maybe can get a hair more saturated, while the Iconic is a bit smoother overall.

Neither amp is outright "better" than the other.

By that same token, I don't think you can go wrong with either one.
 
TheGreatGreen said:
I've played the Stealth 100w and 6L6 Iconic side by side and to be honest they are VERY close. In my opinion the Stealth is a bit more forward in the high mids, maybe can get a hair more saturated, while the Iconic is a bit smoother overall.

Neither amp is outright "better" than the other.

By that same token, I don't think you can go wrong with either one.
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Thanks for that detailed description that is really helpful!:thumbsup:

He likes super tight palm mute riff metal and will from time to time boost with an OD808 for certain tones.

Does the Iconic preamp mush out in any way compared to the Stealth 6L6 or with the preamp gain lowered and then boosted with say Maxon OD808.

I've heard alot of people describe the Iconic as more traditional Marshally compared to the 100 watt EVH 6l6, standard or Stealth.

So far it seems the Resonance(Depth mod) controls seem to be a worthy upgrade in the above opinions.......:yes:
 
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As much as the iconic sounds good it still sounds solid state thin with the removal of so many vacuum tube stages for the phase inverter, effects loop, and I believe even the front end is solid state. Probably full of LND fets.

Lately Brandon Ellis just posted a vid of a cranked up 5150 III regular and it sounds fucking amazing. I like it way more than the stealth here. Yeah it’s doctored up with a rack EQ and boost pedals but he’s got it dialed in sounding better than a stealth could which I believe has too much gain and is voiced too scooped for my tastes.

If he wants resonance controls have them modded in. Not hard and tell the tech to just copy what’s in the peavey 5150.

 
glpg80 said:
As much as the iconic sounds good it still sounds solid state thin with the removal of so many vacuum tube stages for the phase inverter, effects loop, and I believe even the front end is solid state. Probably full of LND fets.

Lately Brandon Ellis just posted a vid of a cranked up 5150 III regular and it sounds fucking amazing. I like it way more than the stealth here. Yeah it’s doctored up with a rack EQ and boost pedals but he’s got it dialed in sounding better than a stealth could which I believe has too much gain and is voiced too scooped for my tastes.

If he wants resonance controls have them modded in. Not hard and tell the tech to just copy what’s in the peavey 5150.

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That's kind of the issue he is having.......kinda too many options to consider.....paralysis of the analysis YA know........He was totally ready to hit BIN on the Standard 6L6 until I pointed out it had no Resonance controls.......:bash:

I was thinking that would be extremely useful to him when he plays at home at lower volume.......but it may be me overthinking things.
 
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harddriver said:
That's kind of the issue he is having.......kinda too many options to consider.....paralysis of the analysis YA know........He was totally ready to hit BIN on the Standard 6L6 until I pointed out it had no Resonance controls.......:bash:

I was thinking that would be extremely useful to him when he plays at home at lower volume.......
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Honestly what’s the goal? Tell him to get a 5150 III 50W 6L6 if he wants low volume resonance controls. It will compress earlier than the 100W and maybe not sound as big but it will cover bedroom playing way better and more economically without a loadbox.

If that’s too much of a compromise, just get the 100W, run it into a loadbox and add resonance and presence there if he doesn’t want to mod the amp.

Personally I’d buy a used 5150 regular since they’ve tanked in price without resonance controls and just have them modded in from the 5150 iii 50W or peavey 5150. Dudes have been adding resonance controls to Marshall’s for years. A 5150 III is no different.
 
glpg80 said:
Honestly what’s the goal? Tell him to get a 5150 III 50W 6L6 if he wants low volume resonance controls. It will compress earlier than the 100W and maybe not sound as big but it will cover bedroom playing way better and more economically without a loadbox.

If that’s too much of a compromise, just get the 100W, run it into a loadbox and add resonance and presence there if he doesn’t want to mod the amp.

Personally I’d buy a used 5150 regular since they’ve tanked in price without resonance controls and just have them modded in from the 5150 iii 50W or peavey 5150. Dudes have been adding resonance controls to Marshall’s for years. A 5150 III is no different.
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Yeah he just isn't an amp tech and doesn't want to start hacking a new amp.

He wants the wallop of a 100 watter even when playing at lower volumes, he just wants a simple plug and play Metal amp, he is into all kinds of different genre's of metal so he is familiar with the tones the EVHIII 100 watter gets and is the amp he wants.

I don't think he wants to go used just out of a concern how the used amps were maintained, the lowest I've seen a used EVHIII 6l6 100 watter standard (not sure what year) was around $1200.00 versus new at $1999.00
 
harddriver said:
Thanks for that detailed description that is really helpful!:thumbsup:

He likes super tight palm mute riff metal and will from time to time boost with an OD808 for certain tones.

Does the Iconic preamp mush out in any way compared to the Stealth 6L6 or with the preamp gain lowered and then boosted with say Maxon OD808.

I've heard alot of people describe the Iconic as more traditional Marshally compared to the 100 watt EVH 6l6, standard or Stealth.

So far it seems the Resonance(Depth mod) controls seem to be a worthy upgrade in the above opinions.......:yes:
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I don't think the Iconic is as naturally tight as the Stealth. However one man's tight is another man's anemic or "half cocked wah" tone.

A boost that cuts low end like the OD808 or any EQ that can cut bass will clear up any mud though, making the concern mostly irrelevant. Personally I like an amp that can be just a little bit looser out of the box because then I can add my own low cut that fits my guitar best, rather than hoping they get it right at the factory. You can always cut away extra but you can't bring back what's already been cut, etc.
 
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I have owned the original 6L6 100 and now on the 100-watt Stealth.

The Stealth definitely has more gain on tap. I love this about the Blue channel. As I felt that the blue channel on the original was lacking without an overdrive in front of it. With the Stealth, you don't need one. You will probably never get the gain on the Red channel above noon.

Something that I don't see talked about enough is the ability to bias the Stealth without having to pull the chassis. For me, this was a bigger selling point than the resonance knobs. And I love how the resonance knobs along with the bass knob can really tailor the low-end response. So, you can get tight punchy gut punching lows without the amp falling apart.

I could honesty rock either amp, but my Stealth isn't going anywhere. Love this thing. I truly believe that the EVH lineup of amps offers the most bang for the buck that any other line up today. I have mine setup for hyper cleans, modded JCM800 tones and then melt your face tones.




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Code001 said:
They're all good IMO. Pick whichever one you get the best deal on. If I had to choose one, it's a toss up between the 6L6 and EL34 stealth for me. But again, they're all great.

Have him listen to this and decide if the stealth series are worth it:
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This is the best and most complete comparison of these amps I've seen. Great video.
 
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