EVH 5150 III stealth. How's the reliability?

  • Thread starter Thread starter MrSauce85
  • Start date Start date
M

MrSauce85

New member
Just curious if any one had any input regarding this matter. It's a pricey amp for where it's manufactured...anyone have any issues with it?
 
No issues at all with mine. Seems built better than my EVH combo. With that, I mean the dials and potometers are more smooth, tighter, and it feels better. When I got mine, which was used, it was noisey as fuck, I replaced third channel preamp tube and PI tube and every channel is awesome now. No noise.
 
I have had mine since early 2014 and never a problem. It has not been gigged much lately but I plug into it without ever having an issue.
 
Ok awesome, if I got one, it would be my bedroom amp....I know that may be sacrilege to some but I played the normal 100w version and it was absolutely crushing at every volume, even at volumes I could easily talk over so figure this can't be much different, I was just curious about their reliability. As of right now, I'm probably going with the ENGL fireball 100 though...
 
Id get the evh , better on every level then the engl....had both and engls are notoriously sketchy amps..
 
How do you mean? I've heard the same thing about the evh line.
 
I think its difficult to find someone to service Engl if there's a problem...vs the EVH, they have authorized service techs all over.
 
155":1fzohey6 said:
Id get the evh , better on every level then the engl....had both and engls are notoriously sketchy amps..
Click to expand...

Purely subjective...and I've never had a single issue with any of the 3 Engls I've owned. I will be up front and say I don't play out, but I think that's somewhat irrelevant if you take care of your shit IMHO. I've read countless responses on numerous forums regarding Engl owners never having a single problem :thumbsup:

I'm sure there are just as many EVH horror stories/issues out there as there are Engl, Mesa, Diezel, Peavey.... on and on and on and on and on. Just because someone has an issue with a particular amp brand doesn't mean all amps within that particular brand are bad. Same goes for most guitars, speakers, pickups, cars, tools, tampons, well hell, just about any product out there.

Nothing personal, I'm just in the mood to rant \:D/
 
Racerxrated":376a3kq4 said:
I think its difficult to find someone to service Engl if there's a problem...vs the EVH, they have authorized service techs all over.
Click to expand...

This however is fact :yes: Engl techs here in the states are going to be FAR fewer than techs for many other brands.
 
the stealth is an awesome amp, i love mine for the really high gain stuff... but for a bedroom amp? this thing is LOUD! i find that i need to have the volume around 10 o clock to dial out that 5150 fizz... but then again i am using a bogner uberkab with all v30s so that prob doesn't help haha.. i think the stealth is a really great solution for an awesome out of the box stock sound that won't break the bank too bad.
 
and i agree with racer about the servicing, EVH is common amp, wouldn't be a prob to get someone to work on it. i've never owned an ENGL
 
I've had mine for a year and gigged with it several times. No issues at all. It sounds great at low volumes, the loop is totally awesome. I don't think it sounds much different at higher volumes than lower ones. I've had mine at noon in the house a few times and at band practice. It's loud, very big and bulky. But it does sound great.
 
I'd have no problem buying an Engl, they sound cool and are a good deal used, at least from what I've seen in the classifieds. Been contemplating an Artist lately....Stealths are beastly though. Hell, get both!
 
honestly that stealth blue channel will hang with most high gain amps out there...surprisingly has this dare i say modded Marshall thing going on there. i will admit that amp does have entirely too much gain though in my opinion, and if you need a chimey clean channel you may want to steer clear of it. i think i keep my blue channel at 10 o clock gain, and the red at like 9 o clock, and it will still tear your face off there haha. but really tight gain that surely does not need a boost. engls have great reputations too though, i've just never had one or gotten to try one.
 
You can put a 12AU7 in V1 to tame the green channel. That shaves some gain off blue and red too, but there's more than enough on tap to compensate. You can also have it modded. My green channel sounds like a Twin Reverb, but it has some secret sauce.
 
Rick Lee":20l7nfbe said:
You can put a 12AU7 in V1 to tame the green channel. That shaves some gain off blue and red too, but there's more than enough on tap to compensate. You can also have it modded. My green channel sounds like a Twin Reverb, but it has some secret sauce.
Click to expand...
good call. i should try that. i have a nice NOS 12at7 laying around, maybe i'll see what that does in V1
 
Thanks everyone for the input, Im just trying to gather insight regarding different types of amps in hopes I will make the right decision. As for tone, clean is NOT a big deal for me...and by that I mean I don't see why everyone hates on the 6505s clean channel....sounds clean as hell to me. I'm after high gain tones ranging from old school to the modern deathcore type stuff
 
If you want a good clean tone, the 5150 Stealth is not for you unless you modify it. Green with the gain turned way down still sounds like AC/DC tones. It's a cool crunch, but you're not gonna get Eric Johnson-like cleans out of it without modding it.

Honestly, if I hadn't gotten mine for free (courtesy of FedEx), I'd have been just as happy with the non-Stealth 100w. It's less compressed, has better cleans and is plenty cheaper. I gigged with a buddy's non-Stealth recently and really liked it. And then, of course you can mod those to sound more like a Stealth if you want.
 
Sorry about that, I edited my previous post. I meant to say clean is not at all a big deal for me
 
Rick Lee":ygthj7vp said:
If you want a good clean tone, the 5150 Stealth is not for you unless you modify it. Green with the gain turned way down still sounds like AC/DC tones. It's a cool crunch, but you're not gonna get Eric Johnson-like cleans out of it without modding it.

Honestly, if I hadn't gotten mine for free (courtesy of FedEx), I'd have been just as happy with the non-Stealth 100w. It's less compressed, has better cleans and is plenty cheaper. I gigged with a buddy's non-Stealth recently and really liked it. And then, of course you can mod those to sound more like a Stealth if you want.
Click to expand...
yea, but that stealth blue channel.... it's own beast for sure. basically the reason I bought it and have not sold it. could live without the red or even green channel haha.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top