You know Eddie Van Halen 5150 voice coil for his infamous Amp was designed at the Peavey plant in Foley Al! Peavey moved this plant back to Merdian Ms after Hartley Peavey wife Malia died! I was the actual person who wound the 5150 voice coils! I was the one who got Eddie’s voice coil approved for the 5150
You using the original tubes ?... lol if it gets normal play, by now there is no different from the signature model.. All MK I versions will only be as good as the tubes you put in it. So the Block vs Sig version now is a wasted argument after changing tubes.
I had an original 5150 and ended up selling it in 1995. I wish I had that moment in time back. Stupid decision but it was a life lesson to think hard about something before you do it.
Peavey has come a long way. I remember back in the late 70's, hardly anyone bought Peavey amps because in the rock world, they didn't have a good reputation. Thier amps seemed cheap and the Peavey name just wasn't cool. They couldn't compete with Fender and Marshall. The only thing bands bought from Peavey back then was a PA because it was more affordable. When Eddie came along, Peavey's name and reputation changed practically overnight. Thanks for posting this video, it cleared up some confusions I had about Eddie's amps.
Steve Holstein Peavey was ignored by Rock and Blues players as I remember. The Country music players loved Peavey though, especially Steel Guitar Players. They would say that Peavey amps would give them more headroom and they also preferred 15” speakers and of course their PA’ were pretty much indestructible. I still have my old one. These days I go with whatever gives me a good sound I can use regardless of the brand or where it’s made. Peace
I have had some old peavey vtx and classic 212 from 70's with phase and they were good but I have the peavey Bravo, valve king, and 5150 combo and they are all better than the first peavey amps and I love em never gonna sell them, they aren't with much that is a good twin not to sell but yeah I love my peavey amps so much !
Im so glad i was able to track a 93 5150 block letter on reverb back in 2017🙏🙏 My 5150 is godlike! And no matter what i do it keep sounding like Burn My Eyes 🔥🔥🤘🤘
Bought mine new in 1995. 6 month waiting list then. Used it today. Use it almost every day. I have had a love affair with this amp for 24 years. Still sounds great. Best amp I have ever used and heard. Everyone that hears it says it's great. I will never part with it. My Les Paul I've had for 34 years, a Tonerider Octane pickup, my 24 year old 5150, J&J tubes (Sovtek phase inverter tube), and a guitar cable is all I need. Best of the best.
great job Lucas. that mustve taken you forever. I just came into an original 5150 and was curious about the history. thanks, I appreciate all the info.
I had a 5150 ll head that I had to sell for financial reasons. I regret that big time. Anyhow I loved the crunch "channel" more than the lead channel by playing a Boss Super Overdrive over it. Simply awesome. Killer tones.
Thanks man! I had to reupload because the part about the 6505 being discontinued wasnt true. I saw a Harmony Central forum post that said it was but I didnt double check it.
James Brown is also famous for the XXX which was to be the George Lynch model and never happened. Brown himself stated that the XXX was his favorite design The 3120 is a rebranded XXX. Does 6L6 or EL34. Picked one up for under $300 New in box. It's a beast. Also have a 5150 2x12 and a 5150ii Full Stack. All great guitar amps.
I have both a 1991 Peavey 5150 block letter and a 1995 Peavey 5150 combo and I love both for what each one does. My Block letter does the raw grinding distortion, where the combo gets that tight more modern distortion.
I biased modded my block letter almost 20 years ago and I think it made the amp sound a lot thicker and warmer. By using a cold bias you're chopping off the tips of the sign wave by adjusting the bias correctly you're getting a clearer sound. Most of the 5150's gain is coming from the 5 pre amp tubes.
If you want a lot of background history on the 5150,check out Tone talk video where they talk with James for about 2-3 hours,mainly about how he built the 5150. He talks a LOT about it and you may find out a thing or two about the history of it,pretty interesting.
Haha, you're a funny little trol. Read the other comments , if Mesa copyed Solo thats their problem . James Brown products don't sound anything like them. He has his own sound.
I have 2 original block letter 5150s, both sound identical to eachother and sound great, I also had a signature 5150, no matter what tubes I put in it it sounded like crap next to the other 2 amps
Old guitar acquaintance of mine recorded me with and my cheesy band with a block letter 5150 combo waaaaaaaay back in the day. At the time I didn’t even know what good tone sounded like. But when I plugged into that thing and he started messing with the resonance knob my head tweaked to the side like a dog. I’d never heard anything like it before. This amp changed the market and moved gear in another direction. EVH was indeed an amazing innovator.
Very good history of the 5150 amp I believe the only thing missing is the newer 5150s that have the numbers in front of the grill by fender and look like the classic ones eaves ones
Corrections : 1. Eddie's '67 1959 SLP did not had any modifications at all by J.Arrendondo.Eddie spread the word around just to help him, to get in the business.Eddie only did the usual services/repairs.. The only difference was 6CA7 power tubes, because of the lack of EL-34 in US... (Book "History of Marshall amps" (1st edition)) . 2.The 5150 on the pre-amp stage is exactly the same in schematic on the basics of SLO-100 (Dual Rectifier also)... Eddie took SLO to the factory of PEAVEY. 5 multiple cascading gain stages by 2nd 12AX7...3rd for EQ/4th for fx loop/5th for phase inverter Output section SLO 5881/5150 6L6GC (stronger 6L6). Eddie asked Mike Soldano for free supply as endorser, and Soldano refused because wasn't in such position,like a big manufacturer, to produce more.. Soldano told him "Everybody's buying my amps.I'm a small store, I Don't have such financial power".. So Eddie took the amp to Peavey, to copy.. Soldano didn't patent the schematic (Big mistake), so Eddie and Peavey (and Mesa Boogie) stole him initially.. 3. Hartley Peavey kicked out Eddie from his company, after the bad behaviour to the people (cause of his dark period) and 2 hour latency, at 2004 NAMM.. Peavey's brain was out of his head for his company's disgrace... 4. 5150 II only had one 12AX7 (6 total) just for the extra clean channel which was the only difference.. Made in 2002 if I remember well.. 10 years afrer original 5150.. 5.James Brown was already at Fender for 5150III..
Correction. James brown didn't get into fender or EVH until today's modern iconic amps. Howard Kaplan is the guy who DID the evH fender amps then James Brown did the Iconic.
For clarification ... when Mike Soldano started tweaking amps for his own thing, he started his mods with a Fender Bassman learning from books that had been disregarded by the library. When he started understanding more of what he was doing, he switched over to using the Mesa Mark II's to base his models from. So, the clarification saying the Dual Rec / Mesa, Eddie and Peavey stole the basic layout from Soldano initially, kinda and kinda not, as Mike Soldano did a complete overhaul on the Mark II layout. Is the original mesa DNA there, maybe, but in a small percentage. Secondly, I will back up the Peavey reverse engineering the SLO100 for the 5150. Eddie bought 3 SLO100's from Mike Soldano. A blue ostrich tolex was bought 1st straight off the floor in Soldano's shop. A month later Eddie bought a pink ostrich tolex one. Then 6 months later Ed bought a 3rd that mike dyed the tolex into the EVH stripe pattern. Ive seen MANY pics and videos of the blue one, and the striped one. Ive never seen anything aside of the receipt from the pink one. I THINK the pink one is the one Eddie delivered to Peavey to reverse engineer. I say all this with no beef or gripe to any of the aforementioned companies, as I currently have a SLO100 and a 5150 II and have had MANY mesa amps in the past.
Back in the day, I was looking for an amp to rent while on the road. The store had just gotten the first 5150 and I plugged in and could not believe what I was hearing. I rented them locally for the rest of those road gigs.
Great info on the 5150. In 2018 Fender came out with a "Concentric Mod" for the 5150 iii 50w 6l6 to add the stacked knobs like in the current (2018) production model. Just found some correspondence on that with my 50w.
Solid list, learnt a lot about the Peavey years. The only thing I'd add is the green and blue channels of the 5153 stealth were modeled on the 50w head (more gain), and the circuitry of the blue channel in the stealth is closest to the EVH 2x12 combo. A big difference between the Peaveys and the 5153s is the Peavey heads were voiced for their Sheffield 1200 speakers, which are 75w and based on Greenbacks. The 5153 is voiced for the Celestion G12 EVHs which are only 20w each and also based on Greenbacks, but they specifically are based on the old "Black-Back" speakers. The Sheffields are designed for early breakup, but the low wattage of the EVH speakers mean they break up a lot more naturally imo.
Ed gave his Sheffield speakers to Steve Lukather as a birthday gift, and used Celestion G12T75 speakers on stage with his Peavey 5150 amps :) Most tube amps are designed with Greenbacks as reference, but as you say, there are different variants - G12L20, G12M25, G12H30, 8 vs 16 ohms, ceramic vs alnico etc
Really good video, man! Other than the cold bias thing that somebody else has already adressed here are s few small things: The 5150/6505 has a slightly different gain stageing than the 5150 II/6505+. The volume jump on the original EVH 5150 III 50w head is between channels 1 and 2 (green and blue) rather than channels 2 and 3 (blue and red). In 2015 Peavey brought out a special edition 6505+ that was built in the USA, had a golden faceplate instead of a silver one and was limited to 50 units. German music store session has a review on youtube and they also still have at least one for sale on their site. The reviewer says these were supposed to cost 6500€ at first but were eventually sold for around 2000€. He also hints that Peavey used higher grade components for these and that they sound a little different. A guy in a Peavey forum told me that when they did R&D for the Invective, Peavey looked at some older amps and noticed that the output transformers on the older amps were slightly different causing them to sound a little different. I can't verify that though.
Thanks man! I had no idea about the special edition 6505+! That didn't show up anywhere that I searched!I also didnt know about the different gain staging!
As far as I know it's V1 V2 V5 V3 V4 power tubes on both channels of the 5150/6505. On the 5150 II/6505+ it's V1(half) V6 V3 V4 power tubes on the clean/crunch channel and V1 V2 V5 V3 V4 power tubes on the lead channel
Awesome job! Today I have the evh 5150 iii 50w 6l6 (version 2) and a evh 1 x 12 cab showing up in the mail from FedEx. I got matching ivory. Change it up from traditional black for once. Currently using peavey 6505+ 112 ( I love how there peavey logo lights up when turned on).
I have a 5150 combo signature, sounds great for rockin' out but I'm not crazy about the clean channel. I have a Peavey Heritage 1983 with 130 watt output, 4 6L6 tubes in the power section and the clean sounds amazing on it. My biggest complaint for both amps are they're too frickin' heavy. It sucks to have to lug either of these amp around for gigging so I usually just grab my Peavey Bandit in most cases. Getting old sucks.
Wow!! Thank you so much for that informative video. I'm trying out an EVH 5150 III 6L6 50W combo amp and I wanted to get some of the history on EVH amps. I'm comparing it to an SLO100 and a Mesa Boogie Mk III. I gotta say this thing rocks. Really digging the tone of the red channel especially.
As a studio engineer, I can say that there were 2 amps that had a steep learning curve for micing and recording: The Hiwatt 100 and the 5150 Block Letter. I was able to figure out the tricks to both. The 5150 was easier to learn compared to the Hiwatt but both were hard to dial in if you weren't familiar.
@@Bridging_the_Political_Divide Jazz Chorus of course. Fender Twin. Most Fender tube stuff really. Buddy had a Bogner Uberschall back in early 2000s that I liked a lot. The Mesa Recifier amps were cool but EVERYONE had those in the 2000s. Another guy had an Engl that I liked. I think it was the Blackmore model. That thing was great. My favorite amp was a Mesa Mklll that a friend had. He let me use it a lot. I liked Marshall stuff but not too many people came through with those. We did a lot of regional, independent stuff so it was always the studios JCM 800 or if somebody had some cool reissues.
@@DaryllHurst Of course the Jazz Chorus and Twin are super legendary amps. Ive had sooooo many amps and the only one that blew my mind, both with tones, and versatility was my Bogner Ecstacy. Its the only amp in a class of its own. A mind blowingly well thought out 3 channel amp that does everything superb. The old Mesa's are certainly great as well.
@@Bridging_the_Political_Divide I did all of my engineering from 2001 to 2012. Saw a lot of amps come through various sessions. I loved guitar players who were more in tune with sound than I was. It was cool to learn or experience different amps.
Great video! That took some time to research and deliver. Thank you! I still own my 5150 combo and it’s a monster with the JJ power tubes and cocktail of preamp tubes. It’s hard not to plug into my Lee Jackson XLS 1000 though.
spot on amigo spot on. the "bs" behind this amp needs to be exposed and you did a great job on it. the amp is a staple but the history is all over the place and the thoughts on the "block letter"
Great overview of the 5150 history. I used to have a combo. Great sounding amp, but so heavy. Don't hurt your back hauling that thing around. I remember having a dolly I used with mine, and if my tires on the dolly were not fully inflated it would squat the dolly rims to the floor....LOL. It is a real power house with weight to match.
@LucasLecompte so yes they did make the very first invectives in the United States. I actually have one and it has a sticker on the back that says assembled in the USA. I have actually looked pretty hard and have only seen one other amp with that designation so there couldn’t have been that many. Now where they got the parts…. I believe they are the same imported parts being used in the Chinese made invectives. They just were attempting to assemble them here in the USA. Misha himself has said there are no big differences and the invective ola Englund played was in fact Chinese. They sound great for sure!
At 3:09 when you mention cold bias, that effects the power tubes, not the preamp tubes. Basically the amps power section will not distort or “give” as much at higher volumes as when the bias is hotter.
Thumbs up for the research and putting together this video! I also love how open you are to getting new information. I’m sure you’ll make a follow up video one day with all the updated data. Constructive criticism: be mindful of your speed and diction. You have a tendency to speak fast and to keep your mouth relatively closed which makes for a muffled sound probably difficult to follow fully by a lot of people. And secondly, (and I am guilty of this one too), watch out for words that you repeat too much (like “actually”). Well done regardless and thank you for making this video!
The 6505 Piranha is such a piece of shit that it was GREAT not hearing it on the list. Mine is collecting dust, worst amp I've ever owned in 32 years! Randall Satan is my favorite that I own, my EVH 5150 /// EL34 50w is in second place, followed by my Mesa Triple and JCM800 boosted with REVV G4 then Diavlo RD100.
I have a first year Block Letter in showroom condition. It has the original preamp tubes. JJ power tubes. Sounds killer! It's my favorite amp. Try a Boss SD-1 in front of it and use the rhythm channel. You'll love it.
Good video, and Thanks for the history of the 5150. I was confused for the longest time as to who was doing what between the different companies. Glen Drover
You gotta cut Peavey SOME slack. MANY companies have had to do exactly what Peavey did in order to just survive. Sucks, but thank politicians who craft these trade deals and laws that make it impossible to do what Peavey was TRYING to do right here in the U.S. Poor leadership played a role. Yes. But, bigger picture, it was unavoidable.
Nice Job on the video. Thanks for using my photo (from my video) at the 12:56 mark. I hope you at least gave me a like and a thumbs up before you took my photo without asking.
@@LucasLeCompteMusic - No Problem I appreciate the sub. Just so you know, you may get some questions because the amp in that photo is modified, and not stock. The Jack and switch on the right side are mods and not factory.
James brown made some of the best amps ever made, I got lucky and bought a 3120 in great condition for 500 bucks. It’s good crazy amounts of gain along with that British style mids which sounds great for a old school thrash metal tone
The only thing you missed (for me anyway) was when they had like 6 and 7 preamp tubes, what they actually did in circuit... so thanx for a cool vid and... cheers
love the peavey 5150. it sounds amazing if you dial it in right with eq’s and od’s people will sawy too much bottom end. but i like keeping the low end and resonance down and it sounds awesome
This might trigger some people. I've had my block letter 5150 since 2003, and I eventually had to change the tubes. I couldn't get the originals, so I just used GT 6l6s and I honestly can't tell a difference in sound.
And NEW for 2020 we have the all black 5150 III Stealth 50W with the dual knobs on the volume and gain like the regular 6L6 or EL34 heads and the Stealth LBX using the Green and Red channels also with the dual knobs like the previous lunchbox.
The 5150 V2 50 Watt is excellent. I have played every version of 5150, own ENGL and Marshall amps and the 5153 is a even contender and excellent solid build for a great price. You can play funk, blues, classic rock and metal on this, no pedals needed. Blue channel gain @ 11:00 - 12:00 will get a very accurate Lynch to EVH sound with the very thoughtfully and usefully placed EQ center freq's. The clean channel is better than most amps but not the ultimate. Could use a little more punch & gain as it is really clean and a little bit sterile but absolutely usable. 3rd channel is gain city 10:00 gives you more gain than a JCM800 with a tubescreamer or SD-1. I just shake my head when I see guys cranking the gain on this channel or adding pedals to it. Midi control & the loop works great. Just add a switcher rack effect & 1x12 for a small & powerhouse versatile live rig! This amp can get VERY crunchy and I have heard people say they are fizzy/thin but they either don't know how to turn down the treble/presence or I have a magic one. Turning the presence at 9:00 and the treble down a bit gives a Morse/Satriani like musical soft on the attack feel & tone. A really wonderful tube amp that does a ton of types of music. Nothing comes close to the range for the price IMO.
we all know peavy was making great amp heads in that time also a lil fella called joe satrani also had a great peavy amp head too.great review bang on ty sir
So, I have the 5150III stealth model. Even though Eddie himself say that channel 2 an 3 are more closely related, I would have to disagree with that statement. The tone between the two is quite different in my opinion. The low end on the blue 2 channel is much tighte,r or less booming than the red channel. But thred channel has a high end punch which is nice in its own way. So, I use a Tube Screamer on blue to boost for leads if I the same tone just hotter. Overall, my experience has been awesome to say the least. I also just aquired the USA stealth Wolfgang guitar with the D-tuna in the flat black finish. Truly unbelievable sound!
You know Eddie Van Halen 5150 voice coil for his infamous Amp was designed at the Peavey plant in Foley Al! Peavey moved this plant back to Merdian Ms after Hartley Peavey wife Malia died! I was the actual person who wound the 5150 voice coils! I was the one who got Eddie’s voice coil approved for the 5150
Thanks Jenn for your involvement in this legendary amp...
I am interested in knowing more about it if you are still around
Hi Jennifer, i just pickedbup an old Peavey 5150 combo 212... Just curious if the speakers are the same speakers?
Sweet Jennifer! 👍👊🏻
Thank you, Jennifer!!!!👍👍👍
Here on the EVH UA-cam tour! Who else got tickets?
Correction: Peavey's 40th Anniversary was in 2005.
1965-2005 = 6505
I was lucky enough to purchase the first batch of the block letter 5150 back in 1991 and I still have one of them. Sounds incredible!
gmlasam one from 91?
You using the original tubes ?... lol
if it gets normal play, by now there is no different from the signature model..
All MK I versions will only be as good as the tubes you put in it.
So the Block vs Sig version now is a wasted argument after changing tubes.
I had an original 5150 and ended up selling it in 1995. I wish I had that moment in time back. Stupid decision but it was a life lesson to think hard about something before you do it.
your not stupid, it was a wise choice, the boss katana is better
I'M never getting rid of mine
@@christopherdunn317 maybe someone will help you with that
Got rid of mine too get a carvin v3 not my best idea
Buy mine
Peavey has come a long way. I remember back in the late 70's, hardly anyone bought Peavey amps because in the rock world, they didn't have a good reputation. Thier amps seemed cheap and the Peavey name just wasn't cool. They couldn't compete with Fender and Marshall. The only thing bands bought from Peavey back then was a PA because it was more affordable. When Eddie came along, Peavey's name and reputation changed practically overnight. Thanks for posting this video, it cleared up some confusions I had about Eddie's amps.
Absolutely. I also remember the same. Exactly the same way..Some of the best amps I've had both tube and solid state have been PV..
Steve Holstein Peavey was ignored by Rock and Blues players as I remember. The Country music players loved Peavey though, especially Steel Guitar Players. They would say that Peavey amps would give them more headroom and they also preferred 15” speakers and of course their PA’ were pretty much indestructible. I still have my old one. These days I go with whatever gives me a good sound I can use regardless of the brand or where it’s made. Peace
I have had some old peavey vtx and classic 212 from 70's with phase and they were good but I have the peavey Bravo, valve king, and 5150 combo and they are all better than the first peavey amps and I love em never gonna sell them, they aren't with much that is a good twin not to sell but yeah I love my peavey amps so much !
until the boys in Skynard started using them
@@mikeholmed7029 right on..at least someone here recognizes this. Thank you for knowing this..
Wow thanks man. I sat down with a nice joint and really enjoyed this presentation!
I sat down with a nice bong rip
LOL that was exactly my plan for watching this.
Oh my god, I would never think I'm not the only one
Doing dabs lol. This is a good one
I did a nice big speedball before checking this out.
Just trying to fit in. This is apparently THE party video afterall.
Awesome video Lucas! Have been a block logo 5150 player since 1995. Love all the versions of the 5150.
Im so glad i was able to track a 93 5150 block letter on reverb back in 2017🙏🙏
My 5150 is godlike!
And no matter what i do it keep sounding like Burn My Eyes 🔥🔥🤘🤘
Bought mine new in 1995. 6 month waiting list then. Used it today. Use it almost every day. I have had a love affair with this amp for 24 years. Still sounds great. Best amp I have ever used and heard. Everyone that hears it says it's great. I will never part with it. My Les Paul I've had for 34 years, a Tonerider Octane pickup, my 24 year old 5150, J&J tubes (Sovtek phase inverter tube), and a guitar cable is all I need. Best of the best.
Kyle Newman please post a video!
Kyle Newman - you know it man!!
great job Lucas. that mustve taken you forever. I just came into an original 5150 and was curious about the history. thanks, I appreciate all the info.
Great stuff! I love my 5150 lll so much, and I'm still trying to track down a Blockletter. I appreciate your effort and research!
Good job. 100% of his info comes directly from the mouth of 5150 lead designer James Brown's interview. Its a MUST SEE.
I had a 5150 ll head that I had to sell for financial reasons. I regret that big time. Anyhow I loved the crunch "channel" more than the lead channel by playing a Boss Super Overdrive over it. Simply awesome. Killer tones.
Killer rundown. Just got that 2x12 combo myself. So happy with it.
Repost? This is still badass and worth loads of views. The most succinct and entertaining history of the 5150 I've seen.
Thanks man! I had to reupload because the part about the 6505 being discontinued wasnt true. I saw a Harmony Central forum post that said it was but I didnt double check it.
James Brown is also famous for the XXX which was to be the George Lynch model and never happened. Brown himself stated that the XXX was his favorite design
The 3120 is a rebranded XXX. Does 6L6 or EL34. Picked one up for under $300 New in box. It's a beast. Also have a 5150 2x12 and a 5150ii Full Stack. All great guitar amps.
I have both a 1991 Peavey 5150 block letter and a 1995 Peavey 5150 combo and I love both for what each one does. My Block letter does the raw grinding distortion, where the combo gets that tight more modern distortion.
Man, Lucas.. GREAT coverage. A better summary than anyone has ever done all the history of this iconic sound. Thank you!
Awesome info bro. I have a 6505+ that I acquired recently for $450 and couldn't be happier with it.
I biased modded my block letter almost 20 years ago and I think it made the amp sound a lot thicker and warmer. By using a cold bias you're chopping off the tips of the sign wave by adjusting the bias correctly you're getting a clearer sound. Most of the 5150's gain is coming from the 5 pre amp tubes.
Yeah. You de-brown'd it. Id keep it exactly as is.
If you want a lot of background history on the 5150,check out Tone talk video where they talk with James for about 2-3 hours,mainly about how he built the 5150. He talks a LOT about it and you may find out a thing or two about the history of it,pretty interesting.
True, James Brown is the godfather of tone and designed the 5150 and several other amps. He also has his own company , Amptweaker
@@jamesmiller9823 A godfather who just copy the soldano design like mesa did...
Haha, you're a funny little trol. Read the other comments , if Mesa copyed Solo thats their problem . James Brown products don't sound anything like them. He has his own sound.
@@jamesmiller9823: Is it true or wrong James copied the circuit of the Soldano ? just answer the question.
Hints : Some elements here : robrobinette.com/Tube_Guitar_Amp_Overdrive.htm
I have 2 original block letter 5150s, both sound identical to eachother and sound great, I also had a signature 5150, no matter what tubes I put in it it sounded like crap next to the other 2 amps
Awesome job man...the only missing thing is the 6505+ 112 combo and piranha...but it is by far the best video i saw on that subject. Thanks
Old guitar acquaintance of mine recorded me with and my cheesy band with a block letter 5150 combo waaaaaaaay back in the day. At the time I didn’t even know what good tone sounded like. But when I plugged into that thing and he started messing with the resonance knob my head tweaked to the side like a dog. I’d never heard anything like it before. This amp changed the market and moved gear in another direction. EVH was indeed an amazing innovator.
This is THE most clear to make sense of the whole Peavey Eddie line Ive ever watched .
Got my old 5150 combo back home...so happy ! Thanks for you vid!
Very good history of the 5150 amp I believe the only thing missing is the newer 5150s that have the numbers in front of the grill by fender and look like the classic ones eaves ones
Thank you for putting this together. I have an early 5150. Sounds wonderful. I got it used for only $550.
Steve Warren $550.... classic. Same here. Let her go tho foolishly.
Corrections :
1. Eddie's '67 1959 SLP did not had any modifications at all by J.Arrendondo.Eddie spread the word around just to help him, to get in the business.Eddie only did the usual services/repairs.. The only difference was 6CA7 power tubes, because of the lack of EL-34 in US... (Book "History of Marshall amps" (1st edition)) .
2.The 5150 on the pre-amp stage is exactly the same in schematic on the basics of SLO-100 (Dual Rectifier also)... Eddie took SLO to the factory of PEAVEY.
5 multiple cascading gain stages by 2nd 12AX7...3rd for EQ/4th for fx loop/5th for phase inverter
Output section SLO 5881/5150 6L6GC (stronger 6L6).
Eddie asked Mike Soldano for free supply as endorser, and Soldano refused because wasn't in such position,like a big manufacturer, to produce more.. Soldano told him "Everybody's buying my amps.I'm a small store, I Don't have such financial power".. So Eddie took the amp to Peavey, to copy.. Soldano didn't patent the schematic (Big mistake), so Eddie and Peavey (and Mesa Boogie) stole him initially..
3. Hartley Peavey kicked out Eddie from his company, after the bad behaviour to the people (cause of his dark period) and 2 hour latency, at 2004 NAMM.. Peavey's brain was out of his head for his company's disgrace...
4. 5150 II only had one 12AX7 (6 total) just for the extra clean channel which was the only difference.. Made in 2002 if I remember well.. 10 years afrer original 5150..
5.James Brown was already at Fender for 5150III..
Correction it is a '68 plexi with a 12301 serial number
Correction. James brown didn't get into fender or EVH until today's modern iconic amps. Howard Kaplan is the guy who DID the evH fender amps then James Brown did the Iconic.
For clarification ... when Mike Soldano started tweaking amps for his own thing, he started his mods with a Fender Bassman learning from books that had been disregarded by the library. When he started understanding more of what he was doing, he switched over to using the Mesa Mark II's to base his models from. So, the clarification saying the Dual Rec / Mesa, Eddie and Peavey stole the basic layout from Soldano initially, kinda and kinda not, as Mike Soldano did a complete overhaul on the Mark II layout. Is the original mesa DNA there, maybe, but in a small percentage.
Secondly, I will back up the Peavey reverse engineering the SLO100 for the 5150. Eddie bought 3 SLO100's from Mike Soldano. A blue ostrich tolex was bought 1st straight off the floor in Soldano's shop. A month later Eddie bought a pink ostrich tolex one. Then 6 months later Ed bought a 3rd that mike dyed the tolex into the EVH stripe pattern. Ive seen MANY pics and videos of the blue one, and the striped one. Ive never seen anything aside of the receipt from the pink one. I THINK the pink one is the one Eddie delivered to Peavey to reverse engineer.
I say all this with no beef or gripe to any of the aforementioned companies, as I currently have a SLO100 and a 5150 II and have had MANY mesa amps in the past.
Very informative video you clarified a lot of things I'm lucky I've got a 6505 made in USA I'm happy with it
Back in the day, I was looking for an amp to rent while on the road. The store had just gotten the first 5150 and I plugged in and could not believe what I was hearing. I rented them locally for the rest of those road gigs.
Nice work dude. I’ve heard a few variations to some of the details and I’m sure everyone else has too. Kinda keeps the allure alive I suppose.
Great info on the 5150. In 2018 Fender came out with a "Concentric Mod" for the 5150 iii 50w 6l6 to add the stacked knobs like in the current (2018) production model. Just found some correspondence on that with my 50w.
This is a really awesome video, thanks man! I love the Peavey 5150 style heads
Had a script 5150, put in Groove Tube #1’s( most crunch ) it was the best 212 combo ever!!!!
Great Job man, Tone Talk pretty much confirms your work. Rock On!
Great channel man, I've been geeking out all day on them. Very cool stuff!
Solid list, learnt a lot about the Peavey years. The only thing I'd add is the green and blue channels of the 5153 stealth were modeled on the 50w head (more gain), and the circuitry of the blue channel in the stealth is closest to the EVH 2x12 combo. A big difference between the Peaveys and the 5153s is the Peavey heads were voiced for their Sheffield 1200 speakers, which are 75w and based on Greenbacks. The 5153 is voiced for the Celestion G12 EVHs which are only 20w each and also based on Greenbacks, but they specifically are based on the old "Black-Back" speakers. The Sheffields are designed for early breakup, but the low wattage of the EVH speakers mean they break up a lot more naturally imo.
Ed gave his Sheffield speakers to Steve Lukather as a birthday gift, and used Celestion G12T75 speakers on stage with his Peavey 5150 amps :) Most tube amps are designed with Greenbacks as reference, but as you say, there are different variants - G12L20, G12M25, G12H30, 8 vs 16 ohms, ceramic vs alnico etc
Excellent job! I knew a lot littler of this history but you really did a great job digging into it.
Really good video, man!
Other than the cold bias thing that somebody else has already adressed here are s few small things:
The 5150/6505 has a slightly different gain stageing than the 5150 II/6505+.
The volume jump on the original EVH 5150 III 50w head is between channels 1 and 2 (green and blue) rather than channels 2 and 3 (blue and red).
In 2015 Peavey brought out a special edition 6505+ that was built in the USA, had a golden faceplate instead of a silver one and was limited to 50 units. German music store session has a review on youtube and they also still have at least one for sale on their site. The reviewer says these were supposed to cost 6500€ at first but were eventually sold for around 2000€. He also hints that Peavey used higher grade components for these and that they sound a little different.
A guy in a Peavey forum told me that when they did R&D for the Invective, Peavey looked at some older amps and noticed that the output transformers on the older amps were slightly different causing them to sound a little different. I can't verify that though.
Thanks man! I had no idea about the special edition 6505+! That didn't show up anywhere that I searched!I also didnt know about the different gain staging!
As far as I know it's V1 V2 V5 V3 V4 power tubes on both channels of the 5150/6505. On the 5150 II/6505+ it's V1(half) V6 V3 V4 power tubes on the clean/crunch channel and V1 V2 V5 V3 V4 power tubes on the lead channel
Awesome job! Today I have the evh 5150 iii 50w 6l6 (version 2) and a evh 1 x 12 cab showing up in the mail from FedEx. I got matching ivory. Change it up from traditional black for once. Currently using peavey 6505+ 112 ( I love how there peavey logo lights up when turned on).
Man, this was just a good video. Thanks for all that, really interesting stuff.
Great video man. 👌 I picked up a slightly used 5150 II head in 2006 and still treasure it to this day.
Great job man! I just got the 6l6 50 watt head and it sounds so bad ass!
A lot of great info, for anyone shopping for a used 5150 amp! Thanks!
I have a 5150 combo signature, sounds great for rockin' out but I'm not crazy about the clean channel. I have a Peavey Heritage 1983 with 130 watt output, 4 6L6 tubes in the power section and the clean sounds amazing on it. My biggest complaint for both amps are they're too frickin' heavy. It sucks to have to lug either of these amp around for gigging so I usually just grab my Peavey Bandit in most cases. Getting old sucks.
Wow!! Thank you so much for that informative video. I'm trying out an EVH 5150 III 6L6 50W combo amp and I wanted to get some of the history on EVH amps. I'm comparing it to an SLO100 and a Mesa Boogie Mk III. I gotta say this thing rocks. Really digging the tone of the red channel especially.
Amazing little documentary you have here. Just a note he used Eventide Harmonizer for chorus.
As a studio engineer, I can say that there were 2 amps that had a steep learning curve for micing and recording: The Hiwatt 100 and the 5150 Block Letter. I was able to figure out the tricks to both. The 5150 was easier to learn compared to the Hiwatt but both were hard to dial in if you weren't familiar.
What amp just never sounded bad in the studio? Your favorite?
@@Bridging_the_Political_Divide Jazz Chorus of course. Fender Twin. Most Fender tube stuff really.
Buddy had a Bogner Uberschall back in early 2000s that I liked a lot. The Mesa Recifier amps were cool but EVERYONE had those in the 2000s.
Another guy had an Engl that I liked. I think it was the Blackmore model. That thing was great.
My favorite amp was a Mesa Mklll that a friend had. He let me use it a lot.
I liked Marshall stuff but not too many people came through with those. We did a lot of regional, independent stuff so it was always the studios JCM 800 or if somebody had some cool reissues.
@@DaryllHurst Of course the Jazz Chorus and Twin are super legendary amps. Ive had sooooo many amps and the only one that blew my mind, both with tones, and versatility was my Bogner Ecstacy. Its the only amp in a class of its own. A mind blowingly well thought out 3 channel amp that does everything superb. The old Mesa's are certainly great as well.
@@Bridging_the_Political_Divide I did all of my engineering from 2001 to 2012. Saw a lot of amps come through various sessions. I loved guitar players who were more in tune with sound than I was. It was cool to learn or experience different amps.
What I like is the "Gojira" T-shirt. Awesome.
The 5150 was pretty much THE sound of the grunge era. Now sold as the 6505 its in EVERY metal studio out there.
Really informative vid! Thanks a lot! :)
Great video! That took some time to research and deliver. Thank you! I still own my 5150 combo and it’s a monster with the JJ power tubes and cocktail of preamp tubes. It’s hard not to plug into my Lee Jackson XLS 1000 though.
That was really interesting. Thanks for putting all that together.
spot on amigo spot on. the "bs" behind this amp needs to be exposed and you did a great job on it. the amp is a staple but the history is all over the place and the thoughts on the "block letter"
Great overview of the 5150 history. I used to have a combo. Great sounding amp, but so heavy. Don't hurt your back hauling that thing around. I remember having a dolly I used with mine, and if my tires on the dolly were not fully inflated it would squat the dolly rims to the floor....LOL. It is a real power house with weight to match.
@LucasLecompte so yes they did make the very first invectives in the United States. I actually have one and it has a sticker on the back that says assembled in the USA. I have actually looked pretty hard and have only seen one other amp with that designation so there couldn’t have been that many. Now where they got the parts…. I believe they are the same imported parts being used in the Chinese made invectives. They just were attempting to assemble them here in the USA. Misha himself has said there are no big differences and the invective ola Englund played was in fact Chinese. They sound great for sure!
This was excellent, thank you
At 3:09 when you mention cold bias, that effects the power tubes, not the preamp tubes. Basically the amps power section will not distort or “give” as much at higher volumes as when the bias is hotter.
Great video! You should do another video with more details (or a series).
I want to say I bought my 5150 II in Sep. 1998....Still have, she is a beast....great vid
Thumbs up for the research and putting together this video! I also love how open you are to getting new information. I’m sure you’ll make a follow up video one day with all the updated data.
Constructive criticism: be mindful of your speed and diction. You have a tendency to speak fast and to keep your mouth relatively closed which makes for a muffled sound probably difficult to follow fully by a lot of people. And secondly, (and I am guilty of this one too), watch out for words that you repeat too much (like “actually”).
Well done regardless and thank you for making this video!
The existence of the 6534+ just blew my mind
Very interesting and well researched!
The 5150 combo can bias well with the right tubes unlike the head which needs a bias pot to really do its thing.
Peavey employee for years here! Made the speakers and voice coils for all the amps! Oh dear God did we go through the tubes!!!!!!!! Was horrible
Great video. Only thing missing that I care about are the different speaker cabs that changed throughout the years with the amps.
Awesome video pal, incredibly interesting!!!
Thank you for all the research!!! Very informative!
Forgot the 6505 Piranha...but other than that, u nailed it! Thanx for putting this together!
The 6505 Piranha is such a piece of shit that it was GREAT not hearing it on the list. Mine is collecting dust, worst amp I've ever owned in 32 years! Randall Satan is my favorite that I own, my EVH 5150 /// EL34 50w is in second place, followed by my Mesa Triple and JCM800 boosted with REVV G4 then Diavlo RD100.
Exactly nthe info i was looking for .... Was really confused by so many evh & peavy models out there 😂😂🎉🎉...gr8 job !!
I have a first year Block Letter in showroom condition. It has the original preamp tubes. JJ power tubes. Sounds killer! It's my favorite amp. Try a Boss SD-1 in front of it and use the rhythm channel. You'll love it.
I have the 50W EVH combo and to me that's all the amp I'll ever need. The distortion in it is insane!
inane?
Good video, and Thanks for the history of the 5150. I was confused for the longest time as to who was doing what between the different companies. Glen Drover
That episode of undercover boss was shocking!!!!!
And thats why I will never own a Peavy product.
@@Timanator They fired that guy at the end of the episode after they conned him to stay after he had a good job offer FFS
@@angrytroll27 I saw the episode, Peavey is not a company I will support.
You gotta cut Peavey SOME slack. MANY companies have had to do exactly what Peavey did in order to just survive. Sucks, but thank politicians who craft these trade deals and laws that make it impossible to do what Peavey was TRYING to do right here in the U.S. Poor leadership played a role. Yes. But, bigger picture, it was unavoidable.
I'll keep my 2008 6505+ but I haven't bought anything Peavey since and never will.
The volume jump was from channel 1 to channel 2 on the 50w 5150iii's
Nice Job on the video. Thanks for using my photo (from my video) at the 12:56 mark. I hope you at least gave me a like and a thumbs up before you took my photo without asking.
I had no idea that was yours! It was the best pic I could find at the time! I gave your channel a sub!!
@@LucasLeCompteMusic - No Problem I appreciate the sub. Just so you know, you may get some questions because the amp in that photo is modified, and not stock. The Jack and switch on the right side are mods and not factory.
Lmmfao!
I have the 5150 2x12 combo, 6505+ 1x12 combo and now a 5150 iii 50 watt 6l6 head!
Who knew the 5150 would be this legendary?
James brown made some of the best amps ever made, I got lucky and bought a 3120 in great condition for 500 bucks. It’s good crazy amounts of gain along with that British style mids which sounds great for a old school thrash metal tone
Excellent video, thanks for posting, much appreciated bro : )
Good job on the history lesson Lucas! That was fascinating!
The only thing you missed (for me anyway) was when they had like 6 and 7
preamp tubes, what they actually did in circuit... so thanx for a cool vid and...
cheers
Most dorks know this info but its awesome you made this Documentary man good job.
Great job ! 6505+ combos and piranha heads are missing but great job one more time !
love the peavey 5150. it sounds amazing if you dial it in right with eq’s and od’s people will sawy too much bottom end. but i like keeping the low end and resonance down and it sounds awesome
This might trigger some people. I've had my block letter 5150 since 2003, and I eventually had to change the tubes. I couldn't get the originals, so I just used GT 6l6s and I honestly can't tell a difference in sound.
It’s a placebo effect,like a lot of the guitar,majority actually
Tubes don't make tone anyway
After watching undercover boss I was so disgusted with that slime bag owner I vowed never to buy another product from peavey.
And NEW for 2020 we have the all black 5150 III Stealth 50W with the dual knobs on the volume and gain like the regular 6L6 or EL34 heads and the Stealth LBX using the Green and Red channels also with the dual knobs like the previous lunchbox.
The 5150 V2 50 Watt is excellent. I have played every version of 5150, own ENGL and Marshall amps and the 5153 is a even contender and excellent solid build for a great price. You can play funk, blues, classic rock and metal on this, no pedals needed. Blue channel gain @ 11:00 - 12:00 will get a very accurate Lynch to EVH sound with the very thoughtfully and usefully placed EQ center freq's. The clean channel is better than most amps but not the ultimate. Could use a little more punch & gain as it is really clean and a little bit sterile but absolutely usable. 3rd channel is gain city 10:00 gives you more gain than a JCM800 with a tubescreamer or SD-1. I just shake my head when I see guys cranking the gain on this channel or adding pedals to it. Midi control & the loop works great. Just add a switcher rack effect & 1x12 for a small & powerhouse versatile live rig! This amp can get VERY crunchy and I have heard people say they are fizzy/thin but they either don't know how to turn down the treble/presence or I have a magic one. Turning the presence at 9:00 and the treble down a bit gives a Morse/Satriani like musical soft on the attack feel & tone. A really wonderful tube amp that does a ton of types of music. Nothing comes close to the range for the price IMO.
You use an overdrive to tighten it up,has nothing to do with adding gain
5150II SCREAMED!
Great video! Thank you for this information
Just started playing guitar and i picked up a Fender Ultimate Chorus and a Block Letter 5150 head.
I have 6505 MH and it is truly excellent
great info dude. maybe a couple dates off but other than that...good run down on the timeline. Good job!
we all know peavy was making great amp heads in that time also a lil fella called joe satrani also had a great peavy amp head too.great review bang on ty sir
Love the 5150/6505 sound
So, I have the 5150III stealth model. Even though Eddie himself say that channel 2 an 3 are more closely related, I would have to disagree with that statement. The tone between the two is quite different in my opinion. The low end on the blue 2 channel is much tighte,r or less booming than the red channel. But thred channel has a high end punch which is nice in its own way. So, I use a Tube Screamer on blue to boost for leads if I the same tone just hotter. Overall, my experience has been awesome to say the least. I also just aquired the USA stealth Wolfgang guitar with the D-tuna in the flat black finish. Truly unbelievable sound!
Yeah,he’s probably wrong and you’re right,are you high
Great video man - regards from a UK subscriber!