Yikes! 5150-3

[Enzo]

I had no idea. A EVH 5150-III came into my shop last night. Not a Peavey this time, it is a Fender.

Looks at first like most any 5150, except the panel is white with white chicken heads. Three complete sets of volume, gain, BMT, presence controls. 100 watt 4/8/16. haven't played it yet, bad tube or something.

Maybe old news to you guys.

http://www.evhgear.com/5150III/

[cbarrow7625]

Eddie has been using them on the most recent tour. I was really not at all impressed by their tone at the concert. They have a kind of harsh "edge", not at all as smooth & pleaseing as whatever he was using on the last tour (which, I think, were prorotype 5150 III's). They certainly weren't 5150 II's. They had the "EVH" logo all over them.

Fender also has released a replica "Frankenstrat" you can buy. They had half a room dedicated to Eddie stuff at NAMM back in January. I didn't know the III's were oficially out yet.

Why is it in your shop? What was wrong with it?

[Enzo]

Dealer store stock. Complaint is "bad tube or tubes"

[Ben N]

There's a review in the April GP. Typical GP fare, mainly trading in words like "punch," "snarl," and "Ow! Yeah!" The only gut shot shows wall-to-wall pcb, with one separate pcb for the octals, one for the power supply, and the preamp tube sockets all mounted to the main board. I can't tell for sure, but it looks like the front panel pots and stuff are also mounted to the main board. Enzo, I hope it's easier to service than it looks.

[Steve Conner]

I believe the 5150 III was designed by the same guys at Fender who did the Prosonic and Super-Sonic. As far as I know, it's a Super-Sonic Mk2 on steroids. It's got nothing in common with the old Peavey 5150 that I drooled over as a teenager.

I heard that Eddie fell out of love with the Peavey 5150s pretty quickly. There were rumours that he toured with a wall of 5150s, as mandated by his contract with Peavey, but actually played through a Marshall hidden off stage.

[Manic]

It sounds NOTHING like a Super Sonic. We carry both at our shop.
The amp cleans up very well with the volume on the guitar, even with mounds of gain.
Over all though, its a little flat on its feet. It doesnt sound like its teeming with life like a great tube amp should. BTW, it ships with JJ's.

[HTH]

Over all though, its a little flat on its feet. It doesnt sound like its teeming with life like a great tube amp should. BTW, it ships with JJ's.

cool bias maybe?

also, I think JJ tubes (especially the ECC83s) are pretty boring and flat sounding anyway. the current EH ECC83s are decent enough imo.

[Enzo]

Cool bias? 485 volts on the plates, -60 on the grids, schematic specs 20ma per tube. SOunds like 9 watts at idle to me.

[smashguitars]

Cool bias? 485 volts on the plates, -60 on the grids, schematic specs 20ma per tube. SOunds like 9 watts at idle to me.

Enzo, i played one of these amps recently and i really liked the way ch 3 sounds/feels. how different is the pre amp circuitry from the peavey 5150? any info would be appreciated. thanks

[Enzo]

The power amp is very similar to the 5150, but then aren't they all pretty similar?

The 5150 has just one path through the amp, with stuff switching in and out to make the "channels." The 5150-2 has two paths through the amp - Lead, and clean/crunch - and is more similar to the Fender than the original. SO comparing the 5150-2 from PV and the 5150-3 from Fender, I find the lead channel of the PV and the #3 channel of the Fender to be in fact pretty darn similar. SImilar values on equivalent parts and reasonably similar circuit. Fender added a CF to drive the tone stack. Fender split the inpit signal immediately and has two input stages sharing that. The PV has a common input stage and the channels diverge after that. The clean/crunch is a lot less similar to the PV clean/crunch channel

[smashguitars]

thanks for the info.

what i found really cool about 5150 3 is that (at least to me) it seemed like as you crank up the gain, it automatically adds in a good amount of lows. i really liked that. kinda like tweaking gain and a depth control at once. would you happen to have a schem of some sort, i'd really be interested in taking a look at what makes it tick on channel 3.

thanks again!

[rectumfryer]

5150 Iii

Hi everyone.

I'm new here, and I'm hoping that someone can clarify something with me...
I have a 5150 III that stopped working. I turned it on and instead of starting in channel one (like it's supposed to) it started in channel two (with sound), then I switched to channel one and all of a sudden all the channels lights came on, but no sound. Then the power indicator light went out...I took it into this shop here where I live, and unfortunately there is only one guy here that is a certified Fender guy. I say unfortunate because I don't trust him. Anyways, I picked up the amp and brought it home and plugged it in and it just doesn't feel the same and the sound is throwing me too, because it's sounding an lot less dynamic. Like a "Suck Knob" has been added or something. I loved the sound I was getting. It was very round and it had a three dimensional feel. Very tight and focused. I've never felt anything like it. Now it sounds cold or lacking the pop and warmth. The notes sound weak like the sound didn't developed enough before coming out of my speakers...I'm getting out there I know, but it's very hard to describe what I'm experiencing and I know it's off.

The reason for the amp failure was the power supply he said, and he also said he replaced four little parts....Didn't give me them, or give me a list of parts that he replaced. Now, I know NOTHING about the workings inside an amp, but I've been told by Fender Tech Support that the two pre amp tubes next to the power tubes are for the Effects Loop. V7 and V8. One is a loop drive and recovery, and the other is called a phase inverter. What a phase inverter is, I have no clue. When I dropped the amp off, this guy tells me that it's a solid state effects loop and Fender is telling me wrong...Then when I picked the amp up he tells me the amp is a Hybrid and all the effects in the amp are digital!!!! This amp has no effects....I just grabbed my amp and left. The amp does turn on and it does work but, I'm wondering if he replaced 4 little parts that actually made the amp work again, could it be that he replaced the parts with parts that have a less value or are of lesser quality to make the amp work, but sound worse? Anyone out there know someone I could send the amp to that will give me quality service? I will be sending it somewhere for a second opinion. It does have a nice 5 year warranty! Sorry for the long post, I just need to be around people who know about stuff like this and want to help. Any input would be much appreciated!!

[smashguitars]

is it biased correctly?

[rectumfryer]

5150 Iii

I don't know.....I'm wondering if he touched the bias. He didn't say he did.
I'm going to have the whole thing checked out. I know nothing about biasing, but it's something I'm going to need to learn about!

[Enzo]

Bias would have zero effect on how the channels operate and the lights and stuff, but mis-bias could leave the power amp sterile.

If the man did a warranty repair, the parts he replaced belong to Fender. he is required to keep them for 60 days in case Fender wants to check them. And while it would be polite to tell you what he found, most customers would not have a clue what it meant if I told them a zener diode was breaking down. SO really all he needs to do is write it down on the warranty claim form.

Only one tube is involved with the FX loop. V7. Section A is a cathode follower to drive the loop, and section B is the return recovery stage. They are not special circuits, since not using the loop just connects them together. IN other words the signal flows through them either way.

The phase inverter is the last tube before the power tubes, it splits the signal in two so one half of the power tubes get one signal, while the other half get the signal in opposite polarity.

Your man is very confused. There are indeed no FX in the amp, certainly not digital ones. The signal path is entirely tube, nothing hybrid about it. WHat IS digital on the amp is the channel switching logic. There are simple digital circuits to decode the panekl switches and the footswitch stomp buttons. But they are not in the signal path - no hybrids.

You don't mention where you are from, so we cannot easily recommend someone. But if you are unhappy with the local guy, CALL Fender customre support on the phone and discuss it. They may recommend someone else, or they may contact your guy.