EVH 5151 III owners, does it need a boost?

Jonathanthomas83

Hearing loads of demo's that sound great without boosting it...however, all metal amps benefit from a boost don't they? 

Usual TS style circuit the best? I'm only asking because I'm wondering if I should return my Maxon OD808 or not.

Fiftyshadesofjay

IMO the 50 Watt doesn’t. It’s tight and loads of gain on the blue and red channel.

100 Watt doesn’t on the red channel, boost is nice on the blue channel. In this case I’d use the EP rather than the OD808 though, but Maxon would still sound good.

rockmonster

I boost the 50 and 100 models I own with an MXR line driver in the loop -works superbly!

WiresDreamDisasters

Nah I don't think it needs a boost. But be careful with the 50-watt model, huge volume jump between green and blue channels. Unusable live, for me at least - not without bringing the blue channel down -10dB using something like the Helix anyway.

Fortheloveofguitar

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Nah I don't think it needs a boost. But be careful with the 50-watt model, huge volume jump between green and blue channels. Unusable live, for me at least - not without bringing the blue channel down -10dB using something like the Helix anyway.

If he has a version 2 then that will no longer happen

Jonathanthomas83

Thanks, Drew, definitely worth thinking about. 

@Fortheloveofguitar how will I be able to tell the difference, mate? Obviously, short of playing it.

Fortheloveofguitar

Jonathanthomas83 said:

Thanks, Drew, definitely worth thinking about. 

@Fortheloveofguitar how will I be able to tell the difference, mate? Obviously, short of playing it.

It’s easy to see as version 2 has concentric pots on the gain pot and volume pot for channels one and two 

Jonathanthomas83

Perfect, thank you, mate.

Fortheloveofguitar

Jonathanthomas83 said:

Perfect, thank you, mate.

You’re welcome

There’s not many second hand version 2 about though at the moment so you may have to settle for V1 at a good price but if you’re gigging with it then definitely hold out for a V2 to avoid the issues that Drew mentioned as they are a real pain in the backside 

The 100w doesn’t have the problem as it has its own dedicated gain/volume/EQ 

I picked up a 100w for only £500 and I was originally looking for a 50w but couldn’t find a V2 second hand so picked up a bargain 

fretmeister

rockmonster said:

I boost the 50 and 100 models I own with an MXR line driver in the loop -works superbly!

That’s not a preamp boost though. 

Fortheloveofguitar

Is an ep better than a tubescreamer?

I find that a TS will tighten it up but the amp them becomes brighter and loses a lot of its natural thump 

WiresDreamDisasters

The EP booster is basically the preamp from an echoplex unit. Fairly different to a tubescreamer, they're not that comparable.

Jonathanthomas83

Yep, so the advice I got given somewhere was that the EP boosts everything, including bass, which is inadvisable with something like a Dual Rec, so I really noticed the difference with the OD808. Sounds superb.

Fortheloveofguitar

WiresDreamDisasters said:

The EP booster is basically the preamp from an echoplex unit. Fairly different to a tubescreamer, they're not that comparable.

Ok thanks

Will it tighten it up though without losing too much of the amps character?

Jonathanthomas83

Fortheloveofguitar said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

The EP booster is basically the preamp from an echoplex unit. Fairly different to a tubescreamer, they're not that comparable.

Ok thanks

Will it tighten it up though without losing too much of the amps character?

Again, can only comment on the Dual Rec...it gave the saturation and gain I needed, possibly tightened things up a little, but not what I was looking for. I have a Fortin Grind on the way and hoping that'll be even more saturated and even tighter than the OD808.

Fortheloveofguitar

I’ve just ordered a Maxon OD808 to try out 

spirit7

It does not need a boost, but the 808 will give it a different flavour and more focus in the mids.  Lovely thing.

Maynehead

If you’re looking for something different, try a Soul Food (or any Klone) as a boost instead of a TS. It will preserve slightly more lows and has a slightly less mid spike, giving more of an open sound.

Fortheloveofguitar

spirit7 said:

It does not need a boost, but the 808 will give it a different flavour and more focus in the mids.  Lovely thing.

I prefer the blue channel and would like it a little tighter for when i'm doing drop C material that's all

Moloch

I have a 50w 5150 III v1. It's up for sale at the moment, but my system for dealing with the one/two volume issue varied. I'd generally either use an EQ pedal with the gain turned right down (on the pedal), or a volume pedal if I was looking for cleans out of Channel One without taking all the dirt out of Channel Two. Worked out okay for me.

Eventually I wound up using a Peavey Classic 30 for cleans in a A/B setup using a GigRig Midi 8. However, that was really because I wanted a more 'classic' clean tone, rather than a metal-style one.

With regard to boosting, I never did that.

rockmonster

fretmeister said:

rockmonster said:

I boost the 50 and 100 models I own with an MXR line driver in the loop -works superbly!

That’s not a preamp boost though. 

No just a volume boost- don’t find either need any other kind of boost for me.