Let's dig into the EVH 5150 III 50 head and 2 x 12 cabinet.

[mantis]

Hello all,
I'm a new proud owner of the head and 2 12 cabinet. I picked this over the 2x12 combo for sound quality reasons. Honestly the combo sounded out of phase compared. There was little to no bottom end. I set the knob on the back to full and still hardly no bass. The Power reduction was set on 1 watt and then I went all the way to 50 watts. I got some bass back but nothing like the 2 x 12 cabinet and head. I had them side by side and kept switching back and forth.
I didn't want the head and cabinet as I wanted a all in one solution. But the sound quality difference was so great I could not buy the combo basically sounded horrible compared.
Another thing I noticed about the Combo is it's built quality seemed poor compared to the head and combo. Again I was disappointed but I'm not about looks I'm about sound quality and if my tone isn't what I want, then I can't play.
I'll post all my findings and a full compare to my Krank Revolution 1 2 x 12 100 watt combo.
I also need some help figuring out the Midi control. It seems simple easy on the Amp side but on the Boss GT100 seems cryptic or maybe I'm over thinking it.
Any help would be great.
Thanks guys

Dan

[mantis]

Ok,
So I got some time with this setup and I compared it to the Krank revolution 1 2 x 12 100 watt combo. This is from 2006 so it's an original design. The EVH is brand new out of the box 50 watt Black head with a matching 2 x 12 Black cabinet.
I setup the Midi control which was simple stupid easy. I'll lay out the directions as it can't be any easier.
CLEAN CHANNEL - Green
1) set up a patch on the Gt100 as you wish with whatever effects you want in front and in the effects loop.
2) On the EVH , Press both front Buttons to get into Programing mode.
3) Switch to the patch you just built on the GT100
4) Select the Green Channel by pressing the left front button on the EVH
5) Press Both front buttons on the EVH and now that patch will change the EVH channel to green every single time

How badass is that?

AMP CONTROL
Before I only was able to use the Amp control out as the Krank Revolution 1 only has 1/4 jack footswitching and no Midi. This eliminated the Lead Boost the Krank Channel has and I couldn't use it. I got around it as it's just a volume change and nothing else so I just built a GT100 patch with an increased patch level to have the level go up just like if I set the 2nd volume control on the Krank channel.
Winner EVH amp by a long shot.

CLEAN CHANNEL
The Krank has the most amazing clean channel I have ever played. I think it's every bit as good as the Fender Twin amp , Twin Reverb and Bassman 10 I have owned. I feel it's incredibly dynamic , amazingly clean and so buttery smooth. There isn't another amp I feel is better including all the Fenders which is my benchmark when demo'ing any Guitar amp for any reason.
The EVH is a shared channel with the Blue So EQ setting are incredibly annoying so far. I can't seem to dial in an amazing clean channel and then have the Blue OD channel 2 sound good. I'm not going to base my judgement on this along but it absolutely takes away points.
The Volume issue I solved with the GT 100. This is also a very poor design. I'm shocked Fender allowed this head to roll out with such a huge flaw. I can't see this being usable in any situation. It's flat out sucks ass. But like I said I fixed this issue with the Gt100 as I built a patch that is at 175 on the Clean and 100 on the OD2 channel. Now the channels volume match but I'm not happy with it just yet. I got 10 years of tweaking on the Krank Revolution 1 so I got that thing perfected to the point It's perfect.
The overall clean sound of the EVH is OK at best. People say this has a Fender like clean, NO IT DOES NOT. It's far away from being next to a Fender Twin reverb and calling it amazing clean. If you think otherwise, go play a Fender Twin reverb and you will learn what a clean channel is supposed to sound like PERIOD. My Krank can rival that tone all day every single day and even with worn out tubes, the clean channel is still crazy amazing.
One of my good Guitar friends came over as he just purchased a 2015 Charvel San Dimas in Mint Green and he was floored how damn good the clean channel was. He felt his JSX sucked in comparison and I owned a JSX and that amp by fellow guitar friends has avery nice clean which IMO is better then the EVH.
Winner by a country Mile or world Krank.

OD CHANNEL
Removing all setting for clean and dialing this channel in for OD sound and classic rock is what made me pull out my wallet and buy this head. It really is a great sounding channel and I love everything about it (removing the shared nightmare with the clean channel). It's beautiful and strong. I can dial in anything I want with it. I can play Rhythm Metal , Classic Rock , and anything I really want. I love this channel just wish the Clean was not apart of it.
Technically the Krank you are supposed to be able to dial down the gain and get this kind of sound. I call BULLSHIT!!! It still has this tight bite to it that you can hear the gain just wanting to rip out of the amp. This amp is NOT DESIGNED to play classic rock tones. This is one of the reasons I seeked out a new amp to have something more versatile. I never got my wallet ever in my hands as I love my Krank but hate it can't do classic stuff at all unless I just use pedals on front of the clean channel.

Winner EVH

OD 2 OR RED CHANNEL VS KRANK CHANNEL
- Now we are talking about 2 monsters of tone here. Both amps scream to Death metal tones. 80's metal , 90''s any metal you want you can nail with both amps. The EVH has a more Marshall like tone and the Krank more of a ENGL like tone. So this is a personal choice I feel as they are very different. I might have to give the edge to the krank right now as again I have 10 years of tweaking on this thing and I got it perfect. The EVH however I got a good sound out of it and very Marshall useable but it's not perfected and it loses to the Krank badly here right now. Maybe in a few months or year I can really nail down it's perfection but right now it's not even close.

Winner - KRANK by a lot.

OVERALL OUTPUT
- This is unfair the EVH is 50 watts and the Krank 100. Both are sporting 2 x 12 cabinets one with Legends Krank and one with G12's EVH. The Legends might be a better speaker as they are remarkable the G12's sound British. The Krank just plays MUCH louder faster and more powerful . Anyone who says 50 watts isn't much different then 100 never did a side by side. Yes the EVH gets very loud but starts to lose composure faster. The Krank just puts you up against the wall and full out assaults you and dares you to go louder. it's as loud as most full stacks 4 x 12's I've played. This combo is one badass amp.

Here is the deal though. I have NO USE for 100 watts of power. You don't need it to play out and you absolutely don't need it to play at home. When my friends come over and jam with me, I never turn up the Krank past 3. Even then it's pretty damn loud as if I go more I can drowned out the Drummer.
The EVH is a better home practice amp for volume sake. Yes I own a GT100 with built in Volume control so I can use the Krank at bedroom levels but I find myself wanting to KRANK it up and blow myself out. The EVH will require a bit more to push it there but it's fine at lower volumes.

Right now overall I like my Krank way more. I know this is probably the most un fair review you ever read but I'm a tone chaser and always have been. the EVH is a nice amp and I'm sure over time I will unlock everything out of it it has to offer. Right now I almost want to return it as It's not really impressing me enough. The cleans are OK at best, The OD 1 channel kinda sucks when I dial in a good clean , the OD2 channel is nice but the more I use it the more I crave my Krank channel. I hate it in many ways I feel this way as I really want to love the little badass EVH. I really like the damn thing but man it has so many flaws.

Here is something I also hate, The messed up sounding EVH 50 watt 2 x 12 combo didn't have the Volume issue. I was able to setup the cleans and then switch to the Blue OD1 channel and not blow myself off the Guitar Stool. The head did that and I didn't like it. But the sound quality was amazingly so different I didn't like the Combo. I really think there was something wrong with the wiring of the speakers as it sounded out of Phase. If it sounded as good as the 2 x 12 cab and head I would own it right now. The Reverb was awesome sounding as I like the Power level Idea which is what brought me back to EVH along with the MIDI control.

So what do you guys think?

[mantis]

I'm throwing in the Towel. I can't get the Clean and OD1 channels to play nice with each other. I got the Volume situation sorted as I use the GT100 and Mid control, no sweat there and I built 2 patches one for clean and one for the OD1 channel but when I dial in a good clean it destroys the OD1 tone, Then when I dial in a good OD1 tone, the Cleans suffer. I tried for hours to get them to find a medium where both channels sound good but no such luck. You should not have to put in this much work in an amp to get it to sound and work right.
As much as I hate to do it, I'm taking it back. I plugged back into my Krank and Man that amp is totally awesome in every single way. There isn't a clean channel that sound better anywhere near it's retail price. It' not a cheap amp but damn the cleans are wonderful. I rocked out 316 By Van Halen for the sheer hell of it due to how amazing the clean channel is.
Then I rocked out some Krank Channel and the EVH has nothing on this amp. The clarity of notes is top notch. The Gain structure is tight and very mean.
I wanted a amp that can get me some classic rock tones, nice clean channel and a wicked Gain channel. This amp could be that amp but Fender needs to fix this thing. I called them and told them the issues I was having and they told me it's a very common complaint. I asked so what are you going to do about it? They don't know what to do at this time.
I told him I was returning it due to the fact it's un playable as a 3 channel amp. He basically agreed with me. He didn't care for the volume jump and the shared EQ for channel 1 and 2. I think the OD1 and OD2 channels should have shared and leave the clean channel out. More gain but shared EQ I bet would be much more manageable. I don't vary my Rock tones much from my High gain tones other then basically more gain.

I tried guys. I think I'm just gonna pick up another 2016 Chavel. I'm thinking White So Cal.

[horns666]

Cool, but consider this Mantis . The mids of the EVH do cut thru better than the Krank. I never tried the cleans on either amp. But The cleans of the Uberschall is fuggin' amazing..at half the volume. That I could live with.

The reason the 50 wt is losing "compusure" when pushed is simply because the poweramp is compressing and therefore coloring tones you dialed in at moderate level. That's probably why you prefer the 100 Krank. For the exact same reasons I prefer 100/120/200 power amps simply because they have much more headroom..

I prefer preamp distortion over poweramp distortion. It sounds like you're logic is the same. I dicovered this quite some time ago. I had two of my favorite Marshall heads back in the day. The last of the 800 series. One was a 2210 (100wt) , the other a 2205 (50wt). I A/B both amps switching back and forth. Both were plugged into their own Marshall 1960B (straight) cabs loaded with 75wt celestions. Both had the same stock tubes in preamp/poweramp section, both ran at 8ohms, same guitars ect. I immediately noticed how full bodied the 2210 was at All volume levels. So I traded it for another 2210. I was quite happy, until the first 9200(5881)/JMP-1/JFX-1 package was unleashed in '96 still untouchable in versatlity IMO. The JFX-1 really ties them together other than a shared stereo poweramp. I can get the exact, or close to exact tone I dial at moderate level to extremely LOUD levels due to 200wt worth of absolute balanced Marshall with minimal noise.

I bought a JVM 2-12 combo and its literally the same exact tones and channels as my Marshall rack/dual stacks. I wanted a grab n' go version. I have a great grab n' go with Peavey 6505+ 1-12, but it's not the same. Also the Marshall JVM has a tad more gain than my rack, but it's a double edge sword, with gain comes noise..lots of it. Requiring a noise gate (NS-2) . I took it back and I had to try the 60 Blackstar combo. DAMN, the gain is so warm, smooth and tight, and perfect..I had to buy it, and kept it. I still have the Bogner, but I noticed with most clean channels ..they're half the voulme. Not the case with the Marshall rack think (Iron Maiden cleans), and the Peavey I turn the rythm channel voulme up to compensate. The newer 6505 have a MUCH more usuable cleans and crunch than their 5150 ancestors. The gain is 90% usable without flubbing and mushin' up. I owned Five early 5150 heads. They sound better with matching cabs than various Marshall cabs..allowing to push the gain a little higher while staying tight/entact. But anything past 6.5-7 it mushes out. So they obviously tweaked that.

The Krankenstien. I tried one for about an hour. My freind John of Ripper's band was laughing at my frustration. I asked "am I doing something wrong?". He replied "Nope that's it". I know he had a Engl Powerball. Then came over to play my Uberschall which he like a little better. But he bought the 120wt Peavey 6505 last time I knew. He remebered my praise of the JVM when they came out. He wanted to buy the KK sig Marshall, (way overpriced), but I did love the built-in NG. He wanted my opinion and I preferred the JVM at that time. So he may be playing those at this point. He's in several bands and busy with domestic life now.

I know the Joe Satriani JVM Marshall was based on the 6100, and finally a built-in AWESOME noise gate. I don't run anything but a chord with my rack, and I LOVE that. It's the only amp besides Line 6 that allows that with high gain..So the 2 ch Satch JVM has my attention. I really liked the Peavey JSX, His tweaked XXX w/ NG, and Peavey 3120 to me Peavey's answer to 3 ch.Uber. Probally can find either dirt cheap now. Some complained that the poweramp of the JSX had a nasaly honk. I had that issue with my Uber intially. I resolved that with tung sols. Made a big difference. I was ready to kick it to the curb. The stock JJ's SUCKS in every amp I tried them in . I prefer Sovtek, and Tung-Sol. Mayne try that in the main V-1 and/or V-2 socket. No biasing needed like poweramp. Before throwing the towel..it can't hurt.

I heard Jeff Loomis sound bad (first time) while he was endorse by Krank in 2005. His leads cut thru great with help of his BBE sonic stomp. . But his fast a insane rhythms really mushed up. Jeff's rhythm playing is crazy and tight as it gets. He sounded better with a POD pro..no joke. Maybe the sound guy was being a dick..it happends.

Use what's best for you. Honestly You can't go wrong with a Blackstar, or JVM..no matter of any naysayers.

The EVH was bland when I tried it when they first came out. So I wrote them off. My wife was with me..she heard my silly ass for 32 years. She KNOWS if it's working for me or not..no, not the pud.

Like you my rock tones are the same as my high gain tones. It's just how I play. If I want to sound like VH, I do so. If I want modern metal (Nevermore/Arch Enemy-ish), I do so. If I can get a heavy, tight version of "Ain't talkin' 'bout love' ..I'm good to go for anything I do.

Good luck. I'm going to try the EVH again. Alot of bands I like use them..Testament/Helstar.

[mantis]

horns666,
Thank you so very much for a in depth response and some really good Ideas and view points.
The JVM 2 x 12 combo has been on my radar but NO ONE has one in stock to sit in front of and play. I really hate amp shopping now a days. Years ago I could go into Sam Ash, Russo's Music and even Guitar Center and find a wealth of bad ass amps to demo. Now most if not all amps are cheaper models and no one had anything on their floors I want to demo or ever consider to buy. When I found out 8th Street music was still in business and had EVH stuff in stock, I jumped out there with excitement and probably purchased this amp and cab out of Juice more so then what I really want in sound quality.
The Shame of it all is the EVH amp has exactly what I want besides it's issues. It has Midi control which I wanted for years, It has 3 channels which I wanted badly a useable OD channel for classic rock tones like AC DC , Brian Adams and old Van Halen stuff. Then with a 3rd High Gain channel I can still have my Metal tones and beyond. So I was so juiced on this amp plus which was the bonus is it's only 50 watts. I've been wanting a lower wattage amp for home use as my Krank is so damn powerful and demands to be played loud. That doesn't always work especially when people are home and I'm trying to practice.
I'm so disappointed that this amp has these known flaws and to top it off it doesn't sound no where near as good as my Krank does. It's depressing honestly. I hate the fact it doesn't work for me and I gotta take it back, it sucks badly. I don't even know where to go from here as nothing with in driving range has anything I want to try.

I guess I'll have to start using everyone return policy and start ordering all the amps I want to try out and return the ones that don't work. I think this sucks ass.

[Tetsuo]

I oddly like the 100 watt EVH better for some reason. I also like the lunchbox one for low volume better than the 50 watt. I don't think the 50 watt was overly designed to be a 50watt they just pulled tubes because lower wattage was the trend. That head sounds best I. It's 100 watt native format imho. Even at lower volumes to me personally. That is a taste thing.

I was running an Uber Revision Blue with a Blue Ecstascy pedal for three channels and that was just fooking killer.

I am playing Orange now though just because it feel right for me. It is good fucking yard (lol it's a random phrase I heard that I am incorporating into my lexicon). They are worth checking out. Like the uber though you won't get a three channel one.

The JVM's sound awesome but I was always a fan of the 6100 as it was. A recently retubed freshly biased Marshall is tough to beat tone wise for me. The problem is that especially with Marshall they burn tubes fast and fall out of bias. But one that is all tuned up whoa!


I have never owned a Krank so I can't truly give a review only played them in stores eons ago.

[jgcable]

The only truly good sounding 5150 based amps are the original 5150 or the 5150-II. I have had all of them. I also think that BY FAR... the 100w versions of any of them sound the best. Its almost mandatory to use either Marshall cabs with V30's or 5150 cabs with Sheffields.

[jgcable]

I know you are looking for midi control.. but.... ORANGE... Look at ORANGE amps. Pick up a G Major or a Boss GT100 and be done with it.

[mantis]

I know you are looking for midi control.. but.... ORANGE... Look at ORANGE amps. Pick up a G Major or a Boss GT100 and be done with it.

I have a GT100 and use it with just amp control right now. I loved the fact of using Midi with the EVH. It programed in minutes and I was able to control all 3 channels with ease. The GT100 can only change 2 channels with the Amp control out. It's kinda stupid considering in todays market and for at least 10 to 15 years most amps with footswitches have at least 3 functions. In my case the Krank has 2 channels with a lead boost. You just step on the 2nd channel switch and it goes into lead boost. It's just a volume setting as the Krank channel has 2 volume controls. I don't care about that as with the GT100 I just built patches to increase volume for a lead boost.
With Midi you can control as many things that given Midi amp can do. If it has 3 channels and reverb? Midi can control all of that easy. It's why I would prefer a Midi amp if I stick with the GT100 which I like what it does.
The Hughes and Kettner amps has been on my mind since I played one months ago. They have Midi control and sound pretty good. I would have to dig back into them.
The Tube and Grand Meister 36's look interesting.
I also noticed many cabinets use V30's or G12's. I prefer the Eminence Legends. I tested my EVH through my Krank 2 x 12 which is loaded with Legends and I felt everything sounded more clear and better bottom end. I'm not a van of the V30's or any Celestion speakers I've played.
I think Mesa Boogie has some Legend cabinets, I'll have to shop around.