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What do you say after a few hours with an amp? A Plexi is the most well used and abused amp in rock & roll history and I've always hated a bone stock Plexi (even after thousands of hours).
This is a first run amp from a major company with a newly signed artist, or vise-versa. I'm not sure if Eddie is endorsing Fender or Fender is endorsing Eddie...I think the later. I figured it would suck and have a shit loads of problems. Then you have to measure it against a 5150 II, which dollar-for-dollar may be THE best amp ever made.
Why do you buy an EVH amp....to play Pantera or BB King? Noooooooooo! I turned it on and expected to play like Eddie.
What's in the box? You might expect confetti to fly out but there's just an amp, a foot controller and a couple of cords in there. It's a big box cab and feels a little empty, although it's an easy 60 pounds. EVH logo's are cool, but the cabinet feels a little bit on the cheap side. Chicken head knobs are shoe-horned tightly into the chassis rail and the power switch/standby is on the back. Gain-Low-Mid-high-volume and one presence knob for each channel. There are three channel switches with lights; green, blue, red, in that order. An effects loop, footswitch jack and speaker outs on the back. Look thru the grill and there 7 or 8 preamps tubes and 4 6l6wxt+ sovteks in there.
Power it up, let it warm, and bingo..hit the standby. It's party time!
The 1st channel is low gain. I wish they would do these channels in the opposite order. It reminds me of a fender to clean-dirty. I could play funk and the clean was round bassy and nice. No big surprise..with the corporate connection.
The 2nd, blue, channel IS the treble crash-brown-sounding-plexi you always wanted but never 100% got in any other amp. It's totally 1978-1985 Ed Van Halen. This amp does Eddie's trademark groove better than any single amp yet...isn't that why you want it? It's a little harsh and perfect and it nails the sound that the 5150-5150 II just plain missed. There is very little or no noise.
The 3rd channel, rojo, does a nice job of getting Humans Being sound. Heaveeeey and great for drop d. Reminds me of a Triple Recto almost. High tight-sounding gain. Again, very little or no noise.
I have to say I wanted a few more buttons and switches. This amp is not overly complex. Seems like tube amps are wanting to have more controls that F-18 airplane these days. None of that here. It's a must have for an EVH wannabe drone like me. For anybody else it's still a darn good amp. I will offer one HUGE complement to Ed Van Halen; I have never been dissapointed with a piece of Eddie endorsed/designed gear...NEVER!. Now the money...this 2007, not 1967. I would feel like I got a great deal at $1500, but $2k is a little steep.
This is a first run amp from a major company with a newly signed artist, or vise-versa. I'm not sure if Eddie is endorsing Fender or Fender is endorsing Eddie...I think the later. I figured it would suck and have a shit loads of problems. Then you have to measure it against a 5150 II, which dollar-for-dollar may be THE best amp ever made.
Why do you buy an EVH amp....to play Pantera or BB King? Noooooooooo! I turned it on and expected to play like Eddie.
What's in the box? You might expect confetti to fly out but there's just an amp, a foot controller and a couple of cords in there. It's a big box cab and feels a little empty, although it's an easy 60 pounds. EVH logo's are cool, but the cabinet feels a little bit on the cheap side. Chicken head knobs are shoe-horned tightly into the chassis rail and the power switch/standby is on the back. Gain-Low-Mid-high-volume and one presence knob for each channel. There are three channel switches with lights; green, blue, red, in that order. An effects loop, footswitch jack and speaker outs on the back. Look thru the grill and there 7 or 8 preamps tubes and 4 6l6wxt+ sovteks in there.
Power it up, let it warm, and bingo..hit the standby. It's party time!
The 1st channel is low gain. I wish they would do these channels in the opposite order. It reminds me of a fender to clean-dirty. I could play funk and the clean was round bassy and nice. No big surprise..with the corporate connection.
The 2nd, blue, channel IS the treble crash-brown-sounding-plexi you always wanted but never 100% got in any other amp. It's totally 1978-1985 Ed Van Halen. This amp does Eddie's trademark groove better than any single amp yet...isn't that why you want it? It's a little harsh and perfect and it nails the sound that the 5150-5150 II just plain missed. There is very little or no noise.
The 3rd channel, rojo, does a nice job of getting Humans Being sound. Heaveeeey and great for drop d. Reminds me of a Triple Recto almost. High tight-sounding gain. Again, very little or no noise.
I have to say I wanted a few more buttons and switches. This amp is not overly complex. Seems like tube amps are wanting to have more controls that F-18 airplane these days. None of that here. It's a must have for an EVH wannabe drone like me. For anybody else it's still a darn good amp. I will offer one HUGE complement to Ed Van Halen; I have never been dissapointed with a piece of Eddie endorsed/designed gear...NEVER!. Now the money...this 2007, not 1967. I would feel like I got a great deal at $1500, but $2k is a little steep.
Thanks for the review.
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