Peavey 5150 212

This amplifier has few features per EVH's request. Other than a tremendous rock tone, it is very bare bones. I have found the effects loop to be limited but effective. Like others, I would like to have the "Crunch" switch on the "Clean Channel" to be footswitchable. As many have noted here, this amp is plenty loud (and heavier than hell).

I play hard rock/metal mostly and this amp suits my needs to a tee. It is rather noisy, but with good humbuckers and tubes it isn't really that bad. Too be truly honest, the tone itself is enough to make up for any extraneous noise. It is not a clean, Fender-y kind of amp. It was designed to kick you in the face with crunch, and it does. No other amp can touch the amount of usable gain produced. I played at least 20 other amps before I made this purchase and all of them lacked personality(the new Marshall 900 combos suck hard). The 5150 is a great amp. End of story.

Had it for a year, no problem yet. Would(and have) gig without hesitation.

N/A 1 year warranty (3 months on the tubes).

For the money, it is the best hard rock amplifier on the market.

The Peavey 5150 is an amp best suited for rock players looking for a punchy rythm channel and a high gain lead channel. It can also be used for blues by turning down the gain. Although it does not have an extensice EQ (just one set of High,Mid,Low) a trademark feature of this amp is its Presence and Resonance controll. If you turn up the resonance you get as much Mud as you want, which can be nicley contrasted by the presence control for clarity. This amp is loud enough for almost any situation, however, at high gain it tends to feed back if the master volume is past five.

While this amp is well suited for the majority of " alternative rock players ", if you are seriously concerned about tone you should seriously test the 5150 out first. If you plug in the amp, and put all settings on 5 (pre vol., post, eq. etc) you'll be amazed at how much noise is in the system, even before you plug in the guitar! When I discoverd this I called Peavey, and after extensive hours with them on the phone, they addmited that it was a design flaw in the combo, not present in the head. If loudness and gain are important, this amp does have both.

This amp is reliable, however in several giging sessions, I did have problems with feed back. The feedback occured mostly when I was not playing but while my volume nob was still on. It is imperitive that this amp be used with a good noise gate or hush.

A nice feature of this purchase is that the 5150 comes with a complete 1 year warrantee which Peavey stands by. I found the service by Peavey, very manipulative. When I called on several occasions complaing about the "noise" from the amp they told this was the first complant of the kind which they had received. It was only after I brought the amp to Davidson Electronics on LI, NY that their technitions discoverd that the problem was enherant to the amp.

This amp is not for me based on its noise problem. As a result of this problem I couldn't use the effects loop with my Inntellefex unit. If power and gain on to channels is what your looking for this amp may appeal to you.

I'm not going to describe the features of this amp because the other reviewers have done this fairly well with one exception. Everyone keeps describing this amp as having a clean and distortion channel, but it actually says on the amp that one channel is a rythm channel and the other is the lead. This is important because one common complaint about this amp is that it's noisy. The lead channel is very noisy, but the rythm channel has only a slight hum that you would expect in an all-tube amp. The lead channel is meant to be used for leads and then switched back for rythm. The only time the noise of the lead channel is noticed is when this channel is engaged and when not playing. As for the lack of a clean channel, this amp was designed for EVH, and he rolls back his volume on his guitar to get clean sounds. The distortion on this amp cleans up fairly well using this method. It doesn't sound like a Peavey Classic or a Fender, but this is a rock amp. As for distortion, you can't beat this amp. The sustain is incredible and for a combo, this thing sounds like a stack. Very loud! On the downside, this amp's heavy at 85 lbs. Also, this amp has a button labeled "bright. This button doesn't seem to make a difference in the sound to my ears. Maybe it doesn't work.....

I'm a rock player so this amp suits me very well. I have found that an external graphic equalizer further improved the sound of this amp. Some have complained about this amp's lack of extensive eq (it only has knobs for treble, mid, and bass) but, this amp was designed to be used in conjunction with external gear like an eq, efx, etc. This amp has a resonance control that adds tons of bottom end to it. I'm using this amp with an Ibanez S-series guitar, along with a Boss EQ and an Rocktron Intellifex.

I bought my 5150 used (6 months old) and have had no problems with it.

Yes, I'd definitely buy it again. It's one of the best rock amps that I've heard. I wish this amp had a real time pedal for the crunch button though. I also would have liked a MIDI interface but EVH hates MIDI, and after all, most amps don't have MIDI jacks, but most amps don't sound like this one. I wish Peavey would make a 35-40 Watt version of this amp though. It would be more practical for practice at home.

I play rock,so the 5150 provides enough versatility for my needs. It's a bit TOO nasty to use in a setting that would require crystal-clear clean tones (this amp REALLY wants to distort). I;m not saying the amp can't produce a clean sound;just keep the pre-gain VERY low! It's got two channels (clean,dirty) with a slight gain boost available on the clean channel for added crunch. The 5150 combo doesn't have separate eq for each channel,however. It DOES have a "resonance" control which can produce an earth-shaking bass response. The clean channel also has a "bright" control for more treble. I wouldn't mind if the channels had more independent eq controls,but honestly,this amp sounds killer no-matter WHAT you do with the eq! The effects loop doesn't have gain controls,which could be a problem re gain-matching. I have used the 5150 combo in small clubs and at house parties without any trouble. At a LOUD 65 watts,it's got more than enough power. It's all-tube,using Chinese 6L6s. The speakers are two 12-inch Sheffields in a sealed-cab enclosure (this gives the combo the punch of a stack). The whole assembly weighs a whopping 85 pounds. Heavy,but IMO the sound makes it worth it.

It totally suits my style,which is rock. The crunch is incredible. You can have massive,over-the-top gain and still hear all the frequencies. The distortion is transparent and toney-you can play vintage single-coils through it and the sound won't be mush. The sustain would make Nigel Tufnel proud. It does tend to be a bit noisy with higher gain settings,but tinkering with the treble controls can limit this. I have found it almost impossible to get a decent clean sound out of it using double-coils at a high post-gain setting-you can't have it all,I guess.

I had a few problems with the amp when I first bought it,but they were related to the fact that the particular amp I bought was the store demo model. All problems were taken care of quickly. I have not had any trouble since (that was five months ago).

Excellent. All work was covered by the one-year warranty. Service was prompt and professional.

Sure I'd buy it again,if something happened to the one I have now. I like the distortion and power. You CAN get some half-way decent clean tones out of it,but it requires a bit if fiddling. I also like the simplicity of the eq arrangement. There is nothing I hate about this amp. Before I bought the 5150 combo I tried out the Fender Twin (distortion too weak) and Mesa-Boogie MK III (too expensive,not big enough,not enough distortion). For my needs,the 5150 combo was perfect. If I was to buy another amp tomorrow,I'd probably get a Fender Twin so I would have the Ultimate clean tone to compliment the 5150's ultimate distortion.

All tube, 60 watts, reverb, clean and dirty channels effects loop, external cabinet support, remote channel switching (footswitch included)

Amp can be a bit noisy at high gain settings Extremely versatile, from sparkling clean to bluesy to sustained overdrive to maximum gain

The amp is brand new (only had it for 1 1/2 months) so I can't really say. Yes I would use it a at a gig without a backup

yes, I would buy it again incredible sounds at ALL volume levels the amp if VERY heavy, 85 lbs compared it to other high gain tube combos, Peavey duel 2112, Marshall JTM, etc... best sound