It's been about 6 years since my Peavey 5150 Head was brand new, I have owned it myself for for about five of these years. It was originally purchased by a buddy of mine. He's a musician in his early thirties and always seems to be upgrading his hardware all the time, to fund this he'll sell of some of the things he realizes that he isn't using all that much when he plays. I'm unsure what he paid for it when he bought it but he was asking $500 and I thought that didn't sound too bad, he even told me if I wanted to I could pay $20 bucks a week (that would have taken way too long). I paid two lumps of $250 within two weeks, my entire paycheck for each week at the time. I took it home and plugged it into a full stack, then let the tubes warm up for a bit on standby. Made sure the volume knob was turned all the way down, just to be safe. After sort of basking in its glory I switched it on and started "testing the water" so to speak. I set the the knobs to a sound which made me happy and began playing some songs from a few of my favorite bands at the time. There were a few things that really impressed me about this amp, one of the first things I think I noticed was this thing was loud and had the ability to get even louder. Then there was the tone, this is a tube amp so it has a very distinct tone. I think it has been dubbed "the brown sound", I find it to be very sharp and sound completely awesome with the lead distortion set to about about the sixth position. Anything higher than that just kind of gets noisier. The amp has plenty of bite and was perfect for how I played at the time. Now I know most people associate this amp with Van Halen and probably don't see themselves actually owning one or wanting one unless you are a fan, but this is an excellent amp that in my opinion gives quite a nice variety of tones and should satisfy more than those just trying to emulate Eddies sound. In my opinion the Peavey 5150 is more than just an amp endorsed by EVH, it is a cut above the rest.
One of the best aspects of the amp head is the way it sounds. I was blown away the first time I heard it. They provide a 3-band equalizer, resonance, and presence knob to help control your sound. Unfortunately, when they created this they seemingly never took into consideration the people would would need to switch from the clean channel to a distorted channel. The engineers had created this so that the clean or rhythm channel use the same 3-band EQ as the distorted lead channel. Anyone who has been playing for any amount of time I'm sure can see the problem with this. If you able to get past this fault however what you get is an excellent sounding amp that should easily satisfy your need for being loud and over the edge.
The Peavey 5150 Head is hands down the best amp head I have ever owned. I've had a few amps before this including manufacturers like Crate and Marshall. Nothing I have owned previously could compare to the tone of the Peavey. I have since, sold my Crate and actually still use the Marshall.
Who Should Buy This?
For starters let me describe the music I tend to play when I use this amp. I always thought this amp sounded great when playing older Slayer or Metallica tunes. My own material at the time was more in the style of punk and hardcore. I have changed my style quite a bit since then and have been favoring solid-state amps over tubes lately, but I still play the Peavey whenever I feel like playing my older stuff and covers from certain bands.
If your seriously thinking about purchasing this fine piece of technology then I would seriously think about running to the local music shop and trying it out first hand. I would never suggest buying an amp without either first trying it or at least hearing it. But if you must I am sure most people will be pleased providing they familiar with tube amps and their sound. I would never recommend this to someone who is trying to sound like Pantera, just because it just was not intended for this. Likewise, you will probably find it difficult to get that Clapton sound as well. The amp is intended for rock and it does it very well.
The Product Information:
I went to www.musiciansfriend.com for all the specific information regarding the amp. What you will find in the text below is the page excerpt from their website.
The 5150® lets you experience 120W of smooth crunch and dense harmonics (the brown sound). 5 - 12AX7s in the preamp and 4 - 6L6s in the power amp provide all the gain and tone you'll need. Includes high and low gain inputs, and the 2 channel preamp is switchable on the front panel or footswitch. The rhythm channel features pre/post gain controls and bright/crunch switches. Lead channel has controls for pre/post gain only. Channels share 3-band EQ, presence, and resonance controls. Switchable post EQ effects loop. 16, 8, or 4 ohms with preamp output. Footswitch included.
The 5150® series amplifiers and enclosures are the result of extensive research and development with guitar legend Edward Van Halen to produce the ultimate products for guitarists. With the 5150® and 5150® II heads, you'll experience super rock crunch, harmonic-rich sustain, and screaming drive like you've never heard before. Production models are identical to those Van Halen uses when recording, as well as those he currently uses on tour.
Features:
120W
Preamp: 5 - 12AX7s
Power amp: 4 - 6L6s
Footswitchable lead/rhythm channels
Effects loop
3-band EQ
Resonance and presence controls
16, 8, or 4 ohms
Specifications:
26-1/2"W x 10-1/4"H x 11-3/4"D
48 lbs. - Musicians Friend
Remaining Thoughts:
Overall, I would recommend this amp. There are a few problems I have noticed and a few faults. One being the problem I mentioned earlier about the separate channels and the 3-band EQ, the other is over the years the amp has developed sort of a flange or modulation effect when I turn up the presence knob. It can at times be quite annoying because the highs will actually drop out of the sound. This has just recently started maybe a little over a year ago. I have also had problems getting the amp to sound good using effect pedals on the clean channel. Even with these problems still I would never sell it. I just can't part with that awesome tone. I know it would be hard to replace and would never think of selling it even with the problems.
Recommended:
Yes
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