Peavey 5150

Well this amp is an early 90's signature model, with high and low gain inputs. It has separate pre-amp gain controls for both the rhythm and lead channels, however the EQ is shared between the two channels. The rhythm channel has a crunch button that give you more gain, and a bright toggle that gives you I believe 6db of gain to the 2khz freq. There are also Resonance and presence controls for the output section. The Resonance knob can add gain to your lower frequency's in the output stage of the amp, and the presence, like most amps boosts gain in the higher frequencies. There are also seperate master volume controls for both channels.

The amp also features an effects loop that is footswitchable, a ground switch which can help cancel hum and what not, and dual speaker outputs which are selectable from 4, 8, and 16ohms. Another neat feature is the preamp out, which allows you to go directly to a mixer board, or what have you.

While there are amps with much more features, there are definately amps with significantly less features. I rate this amp an 8 because while there aren't too many features, the ones the amp does have are rather unique.

I wish this amp had seperate EQ for each channel, and honestly a pentode/triode mode that would cut the output power in half without having to pull tubes and stress the transformer. I use this amp live and in rehersals/jams, as well as for home practice. The master volumes allow for decent sounds at reasonable levels. The 120watts of this amp is more than capable to play in a number of venues with decent speakers.

I play this amp through a Marshall AVT 4x12 cab with 4 celestion vintage 30's, and through a no name 2x12 cab with eminence texas heat speakers. For guitars I'm using an ESP LTD EC-1000 with emg 81/60 combination, as well as a warmoth custom strat with dimarzio super distortion in the bridge and a paf pro in the neck. I also play a highly modified yamaha pacifica 112 with a dimarzio x2n in the bridge and two seymour duncan hot rails in the middle and nect position.

My style of music is along the lines of 90's metal, stoner rock, grunge, alternative, to some more modern alternative. To be honest I use this amp as my distorted heavy channel, with a catalinbread silverkiss mk I as a booster on the rhythm channel, and for cleans I use a Sovtek Mig-50 head. I wanted an amp that didn't need distortion pedals or fuzz for an all out heavy sound, and this amp delivers. Mostly I play the LTD through this amp, as it works really well with the EMG pickups. For effects, it works moderately well. With other distortion pedals, you really have to play with your eq's, but they marry together pretty well if you have time to spend.

The clean channel on this amp isn't as bad as people say it is, rather the fact that you share an eq with your lead and rhythm channels actually makes the clean sound rather muddy, while the distorted lead channel sounds really heavy and awesome. If you dial in a good clean tone, the lead channel sounds rather thin and harsh. Unfortunatly I can't afford a do it all amp so I get by with using the peavey for my heavy stuff and the sovtek for my clean stuff.

Like many others have stated the Resonance feature is what helps this amp stand out from others in it's catagory. Becareful playing with others and overkilling the resonance, while playing alone or recording seperate tracks it sounds killer, you will be hard to hear while playing with others. I tend to back off the resonance while playing live and jamming, and crank it when I record or practice alone.

The distortion is beyond brutal. Compared to other high gain amps, this one is definately in the top 5 when it comes to pushing the limits. Honestly you can get a better sounding distortion, but this one gets the point across just fine, and without breaking the bank.

This amp, sound wise, if I had to actually put a number value on it, is definately an 8. I've played much nicer sounding amps, but they usually cost twice as much. If you can't afford a marshall, bogner, mesa, engl, do yourself a favor, look in the mom and pop guitar shops, browse craigslist, get yourself one of these. If you are a metal guitarist on a budget you would definately be happy.

This amp is from the early 90's, almost 20 years old now, and it still fires up like it was just taken out of the packaging. This head has been dropped (it weighs a ton! More than any marshall I've ever owned!), it's dinged up, had beer spilt on it, sat in some dude's garage for a few years, and still kicks the crap out of any other amp that's seen a quarter of the abuse this one has. The pots aren't scratchy after all these years like most amps get. This thing is built in the good ole' US of A, and it shows. People been saying Bugera is the way to go if you want this sound on a budget. Christ I paid about the same amount for the 5150 as a bugera costs new, and those things break down like it's no tomorrow. If you aren't sure which to get, seriously, if you have to question this, don't. Just pick up the Peavey. Sound, quality, reliability, hands down the Peavey wins. This little fella gets a USDA Grade A 10. Believe the hype, I'm not the only person who praises these things. As for tube life, theses puppies are biased set to run colder than your usual marshall or mesa, which means longer, much longer tube life. Some cats mod this and run them hotter for a better sound. Take it or leave it.

Peavey customer service. You don't run a company for all these years making affordable (ie cheap) amps and guitars for the beginner and intermediate player alike, while also making quality high end pro gear with horrible customer Service. This is my third peavey amp, and while the other two were little practice amps, I loved them to death. Whenever I had any problem (IE footswitch problems on an Envoy110), their customer service was outstanding, they helped me fix the problem over the phone. I give them a 10, because they will talk to you about your amp or guitar, and they will try their hardest to make whatever it is you want to happen....happen.

Like most people on here in the know, I've been playing for awhile. 16 years off and on now, through deployments in the military, to injuries on the job, I've always been pushing on trying to better myself and my sounds. I hate listing other gear I have here because it's like trying to prove how snobby I am about guitars. I've got a ton of pedals, catalinbreat, red witch, MI Audio, marshall, old old made in the usa dod, mxr, morley, marshall, dunlop, EHX, ect ect, and the collection is never done. Amps, well old Yamaha combo, old carvin combo, marshall jcm2000 dsl50, avt50h, artist 30watter, mesaF-50, sovtek Mig-50h, fender champion 600, and a couple old peavey combos. Yeah I know I have too much gear.

Now time to compare and all that. For one thing, this amp has the most gain out of any of the ones I've listed, with the carvin and jcm2000 coming the closest. The clean channel is far lacking compared to the other amps, which is sad, but it's definately usable if you know what you are doing. Like most people have said, this is a one trick pony amp. If this were stolen I'd probably cry and hunt the guy down who took it and probably do very bad things to him/her. These things don't fall off trees no more so trying to get another one would be a pain. Though I'd probably get a 6505 while waiting for another 5150 to surface. Those are still pretty reasonable in price as well.

I love the extremely heavy distortion this amp pulls up, and I love how this amp keeps on night after night. I hate the shared EQ, but I'll live.

Overall rating? Well I'm going to give this amp an overall 9. It does what it does, REALLY well. It's extremely reliable and it sounds amazing when dialed in right.

Fairly limited features. 2 channels that share the 3 band EQ. Effects loop (all footswitchable). Selectable crunch/bright options on the rhythm channel (there is no "clean" channel per se).

The rhythm channel has a better/tighter low end than the lead channel. it records extremely well (see Andy Sneap). And the lead channel is great. This amp is the grandfather to all metal amps. Kudos to EVH and Peavey on creating one of the greatest all time amps!

bullet proof

Very helpful. When a bad pre-amp tube shorted and took out a JFET they were easy to get on the phone, identify the parts I needed and shipped them right out. Great support

Not the most versatile amp, but the one of the best out there for rock and metal. BAM!!!

it's OK.. i guess. The tone stack is shared for the lead and clean channel which pisses me off. Because of this the cleans go through the EXACT same number of gain stages as the lead only to have the excess bled off to the ground. Bad design if you want tone/headroom. the crunch is pushbutton instead of 3rd channel which also pisses me off but it can be modded to work with a foot switch. the bias is fixed/internal and needs to be modded which also pisses me off. there's no choke, and the rectifier is solidstate which is deleterious to the tone characteristics desirable of a tube amp.

this amp sounds good w/ the right tubes/cabinet/pickups. Not much versatility but it's got a wicked amount of gain and is LOUD- you NEED to have a good cabinet and you NEED to know how to use all the tone options on your guitar to get usable tone out of this monster. loss of points is because the clean channel tone and headroom pretty much suck. loss of points because the crunch channel sounds like the gain is dimed on basically any other guitar amp. gain of points for the lead channel. ungodly face melting gain and tone. loss of points for lack of punch and definition that any 6L6 amp should have. the highs can be shrill at times too. If you're used to solid state you will begin with a smile.. but over time your ears will become fatigued from the lack of even-order harmonics produced by the output transformer. mercury magnetics offers a proficient solution.

i'll give it a 9 because you can't adjust the bias and it will have negative effects on tube life and the original knobs on the lower serial numbered amps fall off LOL!!!

no idea.

the bottom line is this amp is rrrreally fun to play high gain metal on. It wasn't designed as a boutique $7,000,000 tone machine.. it was designed to be played loud and live. with the right setup and some modding you can definitely make it stand out. it's finicky though.. just like EVH always tweaks his tone stack and pedals so will you. ie.. presence will need to be turned way down @ low volumes but up @ high volumes. good news about this amp is it's been out for 17 years and there are plenty of mods available that will make this amp scream like a banshee!! Peavey can be hit and miss but they always deliver a good bang for your buck!!

this is one of the "block letter" versions so it's an earlier model but i'm not sure what year. 2 channels, clean and lead. the clean also has a crunch button which if used properly could be your rhythm channel and your lead could be used as a lead boost because while both channels share the same eq, they have separate volumes. 120 watts. switchable 4,8,16 ohms to match any cab. overall it's a really basic and classic amplifier setup but i like the no frills approach. turn it on, turn it up, and play something. no silly "rectifier modes" or over complicated contour and eq adjustments to keep you guessing if you have the "right sound".

this amp has definitely left it's impact on the entire industry because it is now available as a "5150" setting in the digital banks of many modeling amps. although it seems to have been adopted and mildly labeled as a metal only amp, it actually covers the whole spectrum of guitar based music very well. it just so happens to have the capability to achieve massive amounts of distortion that stays tight and precise. I play rock/punk and use gibson guitars with stock humbuckers. my head sits atop a marshall 1960a 4x12 and to my ears it is all rock-n-roll. i love it!

one point that i must cover is the fact that peavey shipped these amps "cold" meaning they have a fixed bias setting and the tubes would never really run to their full potential. they did this in an effort to give the longest tube life possible without the risk of burning up tubes causing amp failure. there is a modification you can make that gives you the capability to adjust your bias and get your tubes cooking thus increasing the tonal quality and and overall volume and saturation level. i performed the mod but only after consulting peavey's tech support to verify proper voltage to the tubes and that it was safe for the amp. it worked great!

this amp has been in several gigging bands with me as my main head for over six years without a backup. partly because i don't have a backup but mainly because it has been so reliable. i don't have a case for it so i'm careful not to bang it around or abuse it in any physical way. it's never shown signs of "iffyness" or given me a reason to doubt it's performance. tube life has been great and with the fixed bias, you can safely use the proper matched set as replacements. i'm giving it a 9 though just because it is a tube head and while the 5150 has been extremely reliable, none of them are fail safe.

i dealt directly with Gene in tech support at the factory by telephone. he helped my with my bias mod and gave me all the correct info i needed to perform it. what i liked is that he didn't try to talk me out of it and went on to say that he gets many calls regarding the mod. i'm giving them a 9 though because hold times were long....real long.

overall this amp has been a tremendous tool for me. and though peavey has been an established company for years, i think that this amp really put them on the map. i've heard this amp used in many applications, including my own and it has sounded and performed awesome every time. what's cool is that you can still find these used from $500-$700 and compared to new amps and the big boutique craze, it's such a deal. this amp will always be in my collection and i would find another if i needed to.

I got the 5150 block letter head. It has the shared EQ setup with the lead channel. OVerall contains three channels, Clean, crunch and lead. The clean channel sounds great. Has the bright button to go along with the clean and crunch channel. These two channels also share the pre and post gain. The lead channel has its own pre and post gain. All channels share the EQ's which include bass treble mid resonance (Bass boost) and Presence for (treble boost).

Sound wise, i've owned the signature version and am now reviewing the block letter version. The overall tone is the same but, the post gain on the block version is easier to control. Unlike the signature version, this amp can be played at practice volumes. It sounds tighter as well while mainting a fat booming tone.
This is quite simply the best amp for the buck you will find. I play metal and rock and for that sound this amp fits. I can get hard rock & 80's thrash metal (marshall like) on the crunch channel and over the top extreme metal on the lead channel. The sound coming out of my guitar through this amp sounds right. I dont need any boost pedals to get the sound I want. All i use is a noise gate to tighten up the sound. The sound is saturated yet concentrated to inspire your playing. I've owned mesa's and marshall's and always had to compromise on tone. With the mesa the gain was brutal but it was just to tight sounding. the marshall sounded loose but there wasnt enough midrange gain. The 5150 took out those weaknesses and kept the strenght's to achieve its own unique tone.

I have been playing for close to 10 years and I still suck but I know good tone and am an avid collector so I know what sounds good and what sounds like ****. If it were stolen I would look for the block letter version again. Only thing I wished it had is a reverb to broaden the sound but a pedal can solve that. As I mentioned I compared it to a **** load of amps I had which included Mesa Rectifiers, Marshall DSL2000, Hughes and Kettner Matrix (not a fair Comparison since its solid state). This amp gives the general tone you need to pull off all metal sounds. You cant go wrong otherwise only other thing that compares are the VHT's and BOgners that run over 2000 dollars

Mine was built in the early nineties. Very simple layout, two channels, one EQ, a footswitchable effects loop. The clean has "crunch" and "bright" switches, which are pretty self-explanatory. The single EQ stage is sort of bogus, but I deal. I play oddball punk/stoner rock with it, in a band with three guitarists (including myself) and it's very effective for that purpose.

Rating a 7 for the single EQ.

Ok, I use either a PRS SE Santana or SE Singlecut through the amp, and with either guitar, (one with covered humbuckers, one open) it sounds great for what it is. Perhaps it's the tubes in mine, (they're EH's, but I don't know what kind,) but the distortion on both channels is what I would call a 'fuzz.' A lot of people call these 'metal' amps, but mine, at least, couldn't be further from it. With the gain past half-way, the two channels sound like Big Muff Pi's with varying sustain settings. Not the most versatile distortion, but great for me.

Also, contrary to what a lot of others are saying, I can get a beautiful clean tone out of the 5150. I own a 70's Bassman combo, known for its clean tone, and I can nearly duplicate the tone with the 5150's gain setting at 2 to 2.5 and the post-gain above 5. It's a big, full-bodied clean, with nice lows and chimey highs. This also sounds phenomenal with a good reverb pedal in the effects loop. Very vintage sounding.

Being one of three guitar players in my band (man, that's a lot,) this amp fills a void that previously existed with us. The other two guys play a Fender Twin and a Musicman 2x12, respectively, and our bassist plays a monster Ampeg through a 6x10 and a 1x15. This amp fits right in-between the two, with respectable bass response (I play it through the matching 5150 cab.) A great rhythm guitar amp, it's really beefed-up our sound considerably.

Rating an 8 because while it works great for me, it may not for you.

This amp lived in my brother's basement, next to his computer desk where he chain-smoked into it while he played online RPG's for about 6 years. It sat there, unplayed, soaking up Camel-stink and dampness in the basement.

My brother eventually realizes it's still there, and says, "Hey, Jake, you're broke. You want this amp?" I say, "Are you sure?" He says "Yup." I take it home.

The first thing I notice is the stink. Seriously, my 5150 smells like a thousand buttholes. I had no idea cigarette stink could be so bad. Whatever. I turn it on, and nothing happens. This is not a shock. I wiggle some of the pots, and it crackles to life. After spending about $100 to get a tune-up, and this thing's been working like it just rolled outta the factory for a year and a half.

Still smells unholy, though.

No experience. It's pretty old, man.

I've been playing for about 14 years, 11 of which have been in noisy, avant-garde punk bands. Like I said before, I play PRS's, (I love them, and they piss off the 'coolie' Fender scene, man, 'cause that Creed douche plays 'em.)

I use a EH Knockout pedal, which is an awesome EQ filter, just in case I need a PRS to sound like a Strat. I put a Digitech RP-250 (another 'no-no' of coolness, ha!) through the loop, mostly just for reverb and delay, occasionally tremolo or wackiness.

This combination of gear serves me well. I can't complain about the 5150. I also own a '76 Silverface Bassman combo, and a Crate Powerblock (handy backup, but haven't needed it yet.) The 5150's a big, fuzzy beast, and I'd be crushed if it were stolen. I'm still broke as a joke, and can't afford to actually pay for one, (having a kid will do that to ya.)

I do wish it had two separate EQ sections, and maybe a sweet built-in spring reverb, but hey, the thing is great for what it is--a straightforward rock amp. I'm in love.

(It still smells like a corpse, though.)

simple design. read the 300 something posts before.

brutal distortion sound, good for metal riffing. damn loud. useless for any other purpose. no versatility.

highly reliable. if you got the brains and skills to do it yourself do the bias mod and switch to 6l6 power tubes. if not, then get it done. it's a must for this amp.

never needed them.

excellent metal/hardcore-amp with a brutal distortion sound (get the bias mod!!!). damn loud. absolute useless for any other purpose.

Features are nothing special. It's a 2 channel amp but the clean is absolutely useless....lifeless. It's a waste of channel cause it gets dirty and gritty. Can't stay clean at high volumes.

This amp is a big dissapointment! Sure it has distortion galore but it's fizzy and muddied. The only thing it seems good for is metal mostly and some rock. It can't do jazz or blues. This amp just didn't deliver the goods. I will stick with my Laney.

It's built like a tank and seems quite durable. Peavey has been known to build reliable amps throughout hte years.

It's bad now. Can't even get a respond back from my emails.

This amps is probably good for metal players for the most part. Anything else is crap. There's nothing about this amp that appeals to me when I traded my Marshall for it. I would either go back to my Marshall or Laney.

The 5150 is an all Valve 2 channel amp. I bought it in 1994; it has now been reissued as the Peavey 6505 since EVH withdrew his endorsement. He's now working with Fender. Features-wise this amp is pretty limited with no reverb and an EQ section shared between the two channels. The clean channel ain't very clean at all, but I don't think anyone would buy this amp on the basis of its clean sound anyway. What you get is a raging lead channel and an absolutely excellent effects loop. While not exactly a one-trick pony, it's clear that Peavey tailored this amp for metal. Although it's an EVH signature model, the sound goes way beyond classic rock territory; this is about as heavy as it gets. Loads of modern metal bands use the 5150 or its 6505 equivalent e.g. Trivium, BFMV, Blackstone Cherry, In Flames etc etc.

I play Ibanez S series 7 string guitars. Some have stock pickups, others have Seymour Duncan Invaders (about as high output as passive pups get. I've been playing for 24 years, much of this time semi-pro, so I think I know what I'm talking about! My current band plays a style of music somewhere between classic Pantera and modern stuff like Killswitch. I play a lot of brutal rhythm and extended solo guitar. My 5150 is paired with the standard 5150 slanted 4 x 12 cab.

Reading forums, I see that many people add an overdrive pedal (usually Tubescreamer variants or Boss SD-1) to give the amp a little more clarity and 'chug.' This is fine, but I have a major tip for anyone owning this amp. The amount of distortion on tap is crazy, but can easily wreck your sound if you overdo the gain; anything over 6 and you will lose tonal clarity, . To get a full on chunky metal sound you simply need to increase the volume level of the guitar as it enters the preamp section. I use a Boss GT-8 via the 'four cable' connection method; this gives me all the chorus, delay, wah, pitch shift etc options I could ever need. To get the extra gain 'push' that is required, I make sure that the GT-8 enters the amp at a very 'hot' volume level. The volume knob on the back of the GT-8 is maxed out and the patch level is about 130/200. Do this and you get an absolutely mad metal sound, even with fairly lame stock pickups, perfect for chunky riffs and for sustaining leads. The noise suppressor on the GT-8 also tames any nasty, unwanted hiss perfectly (the gain on tap makes this quite a noisy amp). If you've played Mesa stuff you will know that it is fabulous sounding, but very 'tweaky'; get your settings wrong and eveything will sound crap. One of the great things about the 5150 is the fact that it is not a tweaky amp at all; the basic sound does not alter greatly, even with some quite extreme settings (although the presence control will f##k your ears if you dime it at high volume!).

My settings are: pre-gain 6ish, Bass - just under 5, Mid- 3, Treble 4.5, Resonance - just under 4, Presence - just under 4

To my ears, the rhythm channel is a bit ropey; a genuine clean sound is not that easy to achieve. My Marshall Mode Four has a perfect icy cold clean channel which craps on the Peavey, but truly sucks when one compares the distorted tones available.

The distortion channel of the 5150 is outstanding. You can get great crunchy AC/DC style tones, but increase the preamp gain and the true forte of this amplifier becomes obvious. This amp does mega high-gain modern tones fantastically well. The clarity of sound is really striking. Your guitar will slice through even the busiest, loudest mix like a laser gun.


I'm guessing that anyone using using active pickups will get a mean metal tone direct into the amp. All modern metal players need to check this amp out. Not only is it tailor made for the heaviest of styles, but its price tag is less than half that of the equivalent Meas gear. A truly special design. I'm very glad that Peavey continues to produce it albeit under a different name.

I change valves every 2 years just as a precaution. I've never had this amp die on me. I carry a Marshall Mode Four as gig backup, but have never had to fall back on it. I use JJ tubes and they work great once warmed up for about a quarter of an hour. Some people have moaned that they can't set the tune bias. For the average Joe, like myself, who just wants to get out and gig, this is a good thing; you can revalve this thing in about 10 minutes with no messing about with bias meters etc.

Never dealt with them

Fantastic if you want basic evil metal tones. It will also do classic AC/DC style rock really well if you lay off the gain. I love this amp and would cry if someone stole it. I would track down the thief and batter them to death with an Ibanez guitar.

Ok my 5150 peavey was made in 1991 I believe it was one of the first one. A two channel amp with few features like sharing the same eq for the 2 channels. This amp is extremely loud if you have a cab make sure you run 75 watt speakers or you will blow them. Has a swicht that will allow you to run 4 8 and 16 ohms.Also a presence knob and contour knob.There is no reverb or delay other than its very well designed. Poor effects or no dsp other than that this will be up there in the bogner range.

I use three guitar a prs custom 24, a blackhawk custom and carvin 135dc I say this amp really nails it even though the clean it may not seem loud enough, it will work ok for gigs the amp is really outstanding overdriven you can get crunchy sound out of it like sounds from the 80's and you can push this thing to the limit the gain is just insane if you are a lead player this is the amp for you.
This amp will outplay any mesa out there soldano marshall etc.. make sure you get a decent speaker cab I run mine through a marshall 900 1960 's edition and it really rocks. With a good delay pedal and some nice chorus and a good wah nothing, nothing will beat this amp for the price remember I am talking about the head made in the early 90's wich sounds way better than the evh or the peavey 5150 II .

well it's 2008 and I only changed tubes so I guess it makes it good bang for the money. This amp was made 17 yrs ago.

N/A never dealt with them.

I 've been playing 10 years and I owned lots of gear I consider a really well contructed amp.If lost I will probably look for another even though I don't need this much power my house is huge and still makes the cops come to my house my neighboors can really feel the windows shake.

Bought this head 2nd hand so dont know what year its from

its the stock 5150head sig version (EVH signature on front of the amp , Ive heard rumors of this one sounding better than the EVH blockletter 5150 but you'all know what they say about rumors..)

120watts
4 6L6power tubes
5 12AX7 pre amp tubes
2channels rhythm(green) and lead(red)
2 inputs ( normal & hi gain)
came with the el cheapo plastic 2 button footswitch
everything works so no complaints, not that sturdy but Id say if you take care of your stuff you dont need a 'triple titanium' footswitch

I kind of took this amp for what it is.I do agree that fixed bias may seem lame when wanting to experiment with other tubes which require biasing.You can always get it modded for that matter.

If you want to practice at home with this thing I recommend you soundproof your walls.I usually run it at just 1 on the volume when Im practicing @ home which already gets kind of loud :D

My main guitar is a Washburn X-81 with EMG's 85bridge 81neck.I play mostly melodic death metal and it is just a perfect match.This amp is very dark sounding and has loads of gain.The lead channel is just a dream come true.If distortion is your thing you will absolutely love this amps lead channel.the EQ is very responsive and by adding some lows this amp can also sound very chunky for those chugga chugga type of riffs.dial in more mids to the eq for some classic carcass or Arch Enemy.So in terms of metal this thing is quite versatile Id say.It is noisy but get yourself noise gate in the loop and problem solved!

The rhythm channel I use mostly for cleans and this is where most complaints for this amp come in but hey come on for this price what the hell are you babbling about!? I think the cleans sound kind of lifeless !!! yeah Im being honest and not biased cause I own the damn thing.but theres ways to make it come alive like use the neck pickup for a warmer sound.with EMG's its necessary to roll back the volume back a lil on the guitar(find your sweetspots).By using these simple techniques Ive found Im still happy with the clean sound of this amp.If your buying this amp for the cleans your def looking on the wrong department.This amp lives for Hi gain performances.

the crunch on this channel can get pretty nice when boosted with an OD pedal.for pure crunch I would rather get a Marshall JCM though, but it aint all that bad.

I have no idea of the age of this thing, but I do know that these things can go for years when taken good care of.the amp is one solid block and looks very sturdy.

havent dealt with them.

Im playing for 8 years now.I used to own a Marshall SS 50 watt combo (dont remember the model name), Line6 spider II.Sold all of it to get me a real tube amp.This is my first tube amp ever and I will probably keep this until it stops working!

If stolen Id definitely get me another one.maybe Id have to go for one of those ugly 6505's cuz these 5150's will be getting rare in time, but yeah its the inside of these things that count.I would probably not get something else cause I have done allot of research on other amps which offer more versatility but cost twice ,triple or even more.I just play melodic death metal and this amp serves me well I dont need all that jazzy clean and marshall crunch stuff so for me this amp is just a perfect fit.

I played allot on my friends JCM900 before I bought this and I like em both but for melodicdeath I definitely prefer the 5150 for its darker higher gain sound.I do wish it sometimes has separate EQ's for the rhythm and lead channels.The 5150II does offer that but is a little different sounding.Fuck it Ill take the 5150 for what it is any day without complaining. thanks

This is a two channel 5150 EVH block letter head, I am using this for a trash meets samba metal band. (Myspace.com/elphantheadrocks) if you want to check it out. The effects loop on this amp is amazing I run a MXR-135 and a boss ge-7 through the fx loop. I really wish this model came with a external bias control, it came pretty cold. I replaced the stock tubes with eurotubes intregrated quad set and it has been amazing. I use this amp live and in studio, I love it, plenty of power. I am giving this an 8 for 2 reasons, first the bias was only kicking out 12mA until I put the eurotubes in & second cause they did not put a bias switch on.

The amp is very versital, the clean channel is a bit dull but the eurotubes warmed it up a bit. Distortion hisses like a snake but thats where the mxr-135 came in, if run through the fx loop it takes care of that. Distortion is great, clean, big, full sound. I am using mainly an ESP Standard Viper with EMG 81's so it also has a very fat sound. Im gonna have to give this portion a 7 cause without the fx and a high end guitar this head will just sound like a bunch of noise.

I fully depend on this amp, I am 100% dependent on it. We have been playing a lot of shows and it has been very dependable. I dropped it once pretty hard as well and no problems at all.

Never delt with Peavey, Unfortunetly I have heard bad things but never experienced it for myself so.....

I have been playing for 13 years, I have gone through a lot of gear. I have had Marshalls, Mesas, ADA, Rocktron, and a VHT to my surprise the Peavey has been my favorite, It is amazing with a few alterations. I am planning on modding it at some point or getting another one just as a back up, but I really want to stick with the EVH block letter which are getting harder to find. If it were stolen I would be pissed and would defently replace it. I saw that FJA does the mod to put the bias meters on the back panel, so after that and I get and iec jack mod done I think my amp will be the best one have have ever had.

two channel, clean and distorted channels, the clean does have a crunch u can put on it. Sometimes I prefer that over the distortion. goes to 16 ohms. On and Standby. normal speaker inputs just 2.

Okk so everyone always says that this amp is only good for the distortion. well i had my bias modded and it actually changed my clean drastically. I use to play in a band with another guy who had a 6505 and we compared the clean his sounded a lot flatter and when he turned it to high volumes it would distort. Mine sounds full and smooth all the way. I play in a hardcore/metalish band and this amp has always pulled out the sounds i was always looking for

never had any problem with it.. just change the tubes and this thing hauls

never used it

great head, im looking to start running two heads live and im gonna keep the tradition of using peavey and im looking at the butcher. This amp was in my price range and I've been using it for 2 years and just absolutely love it.. I couldnt say enough about finding a head under a grand that blows most other heads out of the water!

2003 Peavey 5150 head 120 watts all tube Essentially 3 channels but you can only switch between 2 with the foot switch (Rhythm has a crunch setting). High and low gain inputs you can get a half decent clean tone with the low input. Would have liked a 5150 II but this does the job well enough for me.

This amp is built for metal and hardcore music pick up any hardcore records before bands landed big endorsements (Mesa/Boogie) Chances are the guitarists used one of these heads cos they're cheap, reliable and sound brutal. I used to play in hardcore bands and this amp was awesome I now play in a pop rock band and to be honest this amp is still pretty good for that not ideal but it works.

It's Peavey it'll go on forever just feed it new tubes once in a while and it'll last til the end of time!

Mine was second hand so Peavey wont want to know if anything goes wrong. All peavey stuff I've had in the past they've been more than helpful generally just needing new manuals and stuff.

I've been playing for 13 years my setup goes Heavily modded Fender '72 Telecaster Custom > Boss Tu-2 Tuner > Marshall Supervibe Chorus > Boss Ns-2 Noise Suppressor > Boss DD-20 Digital Delay > Peavey 5150 Head > Peavey Triple XXX Slanted 4x12. I got this just after peavey discontinued them off a friend of mine who wanted a less "metal" amp I'd been after one of these for years so traded him my PRS CE 24 (Which hadn't been out of it's case for 6 months) for it. Before I got this head I was using a Peavey XXL head which also a great amp but just didn't sound as powerful as the 5150.

update on my old 5150 head that I was thinking of dumping due to bad muddy tone. all features have been described

The amp has been resurrected from the brink of being sold. Really did not want to sell the old beast so I went all out and actually found that the amp can sound the way it was designed to. It's gone from muddy and brittle with jcm 800 like gain to hot elastic soldano like gain with a super tight bottom end. Sounds so close to a SLO 100 now it's unbeleivable and as good or better than the 5150 combo. THE CURE: Electro-Harmonix rated for high gain 12ax7's all the way across from V1 to V5 and two Sovtek 6L6 WXT+ power tubes. It is run at sixty watts only. And the other half of the solution: Marshall 1960B cab with 75 watt Celestions. This amp loves celestions. The 5150 cabs sound really bad compared to the marshall. The distortion tone is now a solid equal to the Mesa studio and the 5150 combo and also the Soldano. I couldn't be happier with it. It also sounds as good as a JSX head as well. I am going to purchase one of those as soon as I can too.

never failed

cool people

This is a first rate high gain head. I encourage anybody who owns one that is not happy with the tone, thinking that it is harsh, muddy, lacks gain, brittle, or whatever to play with tubes and speaker cabs before selling. You will be surprised. It is essentially a lower cost SLO 100, just a little different.

it does have a 1/4 and xlr jack, so that is nice. 16 ohms. bout the extent of features on a cab. this cab is def for metal, and that is what i'm using it for and its a dream.

the sound is unbelievable. i read some reviews on hear about people getting their cab and it, "farting." I didn't know what that meant, until i got mine and it started farting. it either sounded like a rattling or ripped speaker... so we opened it up and sure enough the speaker wasn't tight enough, we tightened it up and put it back together. i started playin it... and it wasn't as bad but there was still a really bad buzzing sound. i got this thing used on co-signment at a local muisc shop and i wasn't able to take it back so i was nervous. but we figured out it was the back panel rattling because the cab is so LOUD! so we took it apart again got some carpet padding put it on the sides so that it was tighter and wouldn't rattle. ever since then it has worked like a dream. this thing is soooo loud. i use to use a crappy Marshall MD cab, and this thing is more than double as loud, it is insane.

take the back pannel off and just look at the speakers... the magnets are HUGE! like i said i got this used so i don't know how well it was set up when new, because the previous owner did some mods, like changing the casters and leaving the holes from the old one. i'm going to cover them up and try and get it as air tight as possible, i can't even put my amp over like 4 to play now, and i'm in a hardcore band.

this thing looks like a tank, and is built like a tank, which is good since i'm gona be taking it on the road every weekend and months at a time in the sumer

haven't really tried. but i got endorsed by peavey and they were so nice and helpfull. i'm giving them an 8 cause i haven't worked with them that much.

i love this thing. my other guitarist has a Marshall mode 4, it is really nice cab of the nicest that marshall makes, and would choose my 5150 over it any day. i play on a gibson sg and a peavey valve king head(can't beat for the price, but saving up to get either 5150 head or 6505. my outfit sounds awesome right now w/just the vavle king and i cna't wait to get a 6505.) like i said i play in a hardcore band, like metalish type of stuff. if you are wanting a crunchy, gritty, powerfull cab than this is the cab for you. i'll say this once more... i love this cab....

two channel amp. Crunch and lead. Semi clean if you want, Loop, chan. switching. Plenty of juice.Wish it had verb. All tube.

Gets dirty and dirtier. Not much variety but good enough if you spend the time and like the tones. Not much of a clean sound. Distortion is just ok, not great. Using PV Wolfgang and MM EVH guitars both with Dimarzio pups.Suits my style which is blues hard rock and metal of all types. Not noisy. OK, here is the deal. I have had the amp for three years now. It's been great while I have had it and has been alot of fun, BUT sadly ever since getting my 5150 combo and My Mesa Boogie Studio preamp it has been left in the dust as far as sound quality goes. The Combo simply destroys it for tone and gain. And the Mesa Boogie? Well there is just no comparison. The Boogie shreds the poor 5150 HEAD. It is thin and lifeless compared to those amps. I have swapped tubes , used new tubes , and had the amp gone through with no problems found. I am spoiled by the Boogie sound now which can get ALOT heavier than the 5150 head ever could. The same goes for the 5150 COMBO. Much larger sound and much fatter sound. It is a different amp altogether according to Roger Crimm at PV. Those amps are fat and juicy and the head sounds flat by comparison. Am contemplating on selling it and getting a Mesa Triaxis or Mark III instead. I am going to give it one more go at getting it to sound up to the level of my other amps and then we will see. I might keep it around to use as a power amp with the triaxis or something. we will see.

Very reliable, only blown fuses

The best.

Been playing for 28 years. A veteran of the 80's metal scene. Like I said , one more go round for the old beast. I have basically been converted over to older(not Rectifier!) Mesa Boogie type tone which is far superior for ANY kind of tone, mellow or heavey. MY Studio Preamp sounds like a Mark IIc+! I wanted to keep it for collectability reasons but I still have the combo so...... They will always be around I think if I ever want another one, But i'll probably start collecting old Mesa Boogies instead, better resale value and better sound to go with it.

I'm here to write as much as a definative review as I can on a very sought after piece of equipment. You most likely arlready know the features of this unit and are trying to get insight from other people who own and play it. I own a 1994 Block Letter EVH edition. I bought it for it's acclaimed monsterous sound and collectability, not to mention it's affordability as well. It's shared EQ with both the Rhythm and Lead channel is definately a weakness but otherwise the amp is fairly versatile for all styles of Rock music...especially Heavy Metal!

On to the good stuff. A good portion of 5150 owners are using this amp for Hard Rock or Hardcore/Metal such as myself. As I mentioned above, the amp can be pretty versatile so it definately isn't limited to brash sounding music. However, this amp was certainly made to kick some serious ass and hand it back to ya. Do yourself a favor and take the time to tweek the knobs and sift through different combinations to find your "desired" sound. You will definately find something to please your ears. The amount of gain this amp can cook up is intense. Depending on the settings, it can almost be too much and leave you with a unpleasing muddy sound. With a little invested time, you can acquire anything between a classy, blusey sound to an all out Death Metal assault. Excellent sustain and rich in harmonics. As far as clean tones go, I personally wasn't impressed BUT you can find some nice sounds depending on the guitar you use. I tried an array of different types of guitars and obviously found that some sound more full bodied than others. If you play Heavy Metal music such as I do, you most likey are using a dual humbucker guitar (bare minimum humbucker in the bridge position) and the character of the tone seems blah. By all means it's not horrible but definately not a spine tingler. This is the case as well even when you use the neck position pickup. When you switch over to using a single coil guitar the amp starts to give you more tonal options and gives you a fair improvement on capabilities. My judgement is based on plenty of knob tweeking in both Hi and Normal Gain inputs with mahogany bodied guitars (one with a flamed maple top) and set necks. I tested the cleans with Seymour Duncan hot rails, Fender Texas Specials, PAF humbuckers, Seymour Duncan Full Shred Humbuckers, and EMG 81/85's active hums. Overall the amp can accomplish a great amount of tonal varieties but I suggest to look elsewhere if you plan on playing a lot of songs that are written with swithching between clean/distortion due to the shared EQ of the two available channels. It is highly unlikely you will be completely satisfied with the tones you get from both channels on the same EQ settings. I suppose the 5150 II was the answer to this complaint of many diversified musicians in the industry. In regards to the difference in sound of the earlier "block letter" EVH models vs. the "signature" models, I am happily on the "myth" bandwagon. When I was interested in buying one of these puppies, I did some research on the difference between the two with a little help of a friend of mine that owns a little guitar shop. He disassembled the two "different" models (both years unknown) and did find some of the electronic components to be of higher quality in the block letter head in addition to a slightly beefier power supply unit. I'm certainly no electrition of any sort so I wouldn't know whether or not if that makes any difference in tone. Sure it sounds logical but is it really true? I haven't been fortunate enough to test the heads out side by side so I have no answer to this popular myth in the 5150 world. The amp does provide it's share of hiss especially when using the Hi Gain input. BOTTOM LINE: This amp was made to blaze the world. MASSIVE sound! Huge, tight bottom end (great in more than one way if you know what I mean ;-P). Metal Heads, you won't be dissapointed. The impressive list of artists who uses these should be enough proof otherwise.

I bought my model from Ebay and the unit was supposedly hardly used. From the looks of it I believe it. Remarkable condition. Since I don't know how often it was used and I have put only a couple of hours on it so far I'm not going to put a rating in this category. So far so good. I do hear of these things being work horses and fully look foward to living up to those statements.

A1, A+, First Class, First Rate, however you want to put it...they are true professionals. I emailed them for some tech info and they responded in less than 24 hours! Very friendly email might I add. A couple of years back I had a foot controller issue that needed resolving and they were very supportive of my issue. Outstanding organization overall.

If you ever had any desire in owning this amp from hearing all the ranting and raving, do yourself a favor and GO GET ONE! For the price(which steadily increases as each year goes by) and quality of this unit, you can't beat it. I consider myself to be a tone whore. I love all kinds of different products that produce great tone. Afficionados are always gonna boast and brag about what they think is great. Truth is whether its a Marshall JCM 800, Soldano SLO-100, Engl Powerball, Framus Cobra, Diezel Herbert, Bogner Uberschall, VHT G-100-UL Pittbull, Mesa Rectifier or Mark IV, etc etc etc, they all embody their own unique, individual and versatile tones. Somebody is always gonna tell you why brand X is superior to the others. This review is based solely on the 5150 and I am just proud to post a solid recomendation to anyone who wanted to get an opinion on it.

I bin playing off/on since age 7-41.
Ace simple amp.
Saw one in the paper and raced 20 miles to buy it.
Dont see many around.
I used to play in Deep Purple covers band with it.
Just the job.
Also did a few nice tunes.
The amp is like having a dog... it's just behind you and you bond with it... you hear every sound... it's mean... and subtle too.
No point in buying a Chiwawa to kick ass.

No reverb. Acts like a noise gate.... when u stop playin so does the amp.
Enables clearer soloing etc.
Managed to wack out Sweet Child of Mine through my Les Paul Junior... what a nice sound, full bodied with sustain..i actually got off on that... felt like Slash.
Put the head on a Marshall 4x12 to fill the sound ofcourse.
Basically a UNIQUE WARM valve monster.
In a gig situation it is a perfect SIZE. You never need to turn it down and restrict the valves, they are always pumping. This blows the nuts off 2x12 amps ofcourse.
Now using a Strat Deluxe to experiment with.
I believe in no-fx at all, except Wah. the crowd love a real player (who struggles a bit with no-fx).
This amp has a lot of gain and I find it easier to play than full overdrive on my Marshall 50DFX practice amp... your fingers just race along........
You can get ace feedback aka Hendrix styleeee.

Can be bundled into back of me van to gigs OK.
I had a practice, round my house and ran a BASS guitar throo it!!
Seemed to work at the time but laterzzz...i think i shagged a valve.... had to replace one of the 12AX7s.
Bin gigging over a few yrs, I somehow shagged the send/return effects loop so go inline now through guitar input channels.

n/a.

Good rock amp.

I have a signature series. Features are quite lacking, but like others said, can be a good thing. As there is less that can go wrong. But 2 seperate EQ's for the channels would have been nice.

Come on, how can you not say this amps sound quality is amazing? I spent a very long time searching for the tones only this amp has been able to create. I've played for 14 years, and I've never heard anything touch this. Sound quality is to die for on any style of music you play. I play everything from Jazz - Metal, and I get killer tone in any situation. Not only that, but it doesn't matter what volume you play at either. Still sounds disgustingly good. Gives me the chills most of the time when practicing. Speaking of volume. I don't know who put the 120 Watt label on this puppy, because it sounds more like 1020. I usually practice in my metal band on about 2.5 Post gain, and cut through everything like a steak knife through warm butter. I can't say enough about the sound this amp produces. Anyone who says it sounds noisy, obviously hasn't figured out the proper settings for the sound they're looking for.

I've had mine for 2 years, never had one problem. Replaced the tubes once in that whole time period, but it ended up being for the best. They sounded even better then the originals. I definitely don't fret if this amp will work or not when I hit the stand by switch to on.

Don't know about this one. Never had to deal with Peavey, because the amp has never had anything wrong with it.

I've been playing over 14 years, and right now I own 2 Ibanez's. One RG3120 and another RGT42 for backup. A 76 American Strat, and a custom Hamer. Gone through many others, Jackson's, Gibson's and such. I just sold my TSL 100, because after I got this I never touched it. Been through tons of amps looking for tone like this. If it were stolen, I would either track it down, or buy a new one. I love the TONE!!! I hate the 1 EQ. Although I must say, whatever they did to 5150 II which was made just for this feature. It just is not the same. At all... Overall, I'd say, especially for the money, buy one if you can. Signature or block letter. I can tell you from experience they sound EXACTLY the same.

good enough...2 chanels. eq, etc....resonance...best feature...

i thought it was shit when i bought it....but cause the seller woudn't take it back...i was left with this beast to fuck about....well...i fuckin love it now....it's a really good amp, plus it's crisp and cuts really well on the band mix....

so far so good

yeah...

good stuff, very impressed

5150 head. Two switching channels (lead & rhythm) with effects loop. It is a 120W of all tube power so that is more than enought. I realy like the resonance knob for full bodied sound as well as PRE and POST knob for those of you or should I said us who like to ad a little bit of perfection to the sound.

This is an A/B class amp. It can produce a butifull clean sound as well as storming heavy sounds.I use a Jackson PS4 Performer which I customied for my needs. I've replaced pickups with Dimarzio John Petrucci pickups with Push-Pull: D-Sonic (bridge) and Air Norton (neck), all special order in red/black combination. In the middle I kept a Jackson single which sounds quite nice. I also replaced the bridge with Floyd rose Fast load in crome.So now the 5150 amp can shine in all his glory!The amp is not noisy at all but if you go to far with tha crunch it can become a bit noisy.REALY LIKE THE RESONANCE KNOB FOR FULLBODIED AND RICH SOUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have replaced on pair of tubes in 5 years and hade some problem with pre amp section. But nothing serious.

The warranty is only 2 years.

I have been playing for 8 years and this is my first all tube amp.I use it with Line6 PODxt pro and Peavey 4x12 slant cab and it is all I need. If it would be stolen I'd probably buy something smaller, like a A class combo (all tube) or all tube power amp for rack but with the same tone capabilities. And I say it again: I REALY LOVE THE RESONANCE KNOB FOR FULLBODIE SOUND!!!!!!!!!!!!

made in early 90's
Block letter EVH head
2 channels
clean, crunch, lead
All tube
plenty of power

Have had it for evaluation compared to my signature 5150 head for three months. I have changed out the tubes, swapped tubes, used different cabs and guitars, played in different rooms etc...... After three months of testing on my own and with and without a band I can tell you that the only difference between the two is cosmetic. There is no tonal difference whatsoever other than what tubes you use, cabs, effects and most importantly the player himself.Tubes made a huge difference in tone, but the basic sound of the amps is the same. The EVH block letter scam is total B.S. its the same amp. TUBES make a huge difference in the tones that you get

very tough

good

Good amps for any kind of rock. In the right hands(somebody who can actually play) it can be a monster. If you have poor skills it will show it. A real guitarists amp, and rightly so. Look who designed it. The man himself.

The usual. two channels, shared eq, effects loop. I play rock. good for that. Wish it had reverb but that is no big deal. I use the amp to gig, teach, and jam with friends and to practice at home. All tube amplifier. The only way to get "real" guitar tone in my opinion

The Amp is well suited for any kind of rock and roll. Can get bluesy to very heavy distortion. A word on the tone of this amp. I also have a 5150 combo which sounds a little different than the head. A little more gain, a little brighter,tighter bottom, and a little better on the clean side. I noticed this right away upon purchasing the head and bottom 5150 cab. I changed the tubes out so that the head uses the same tubes as the combo and runs at sixty watts as well. I connected the head to the combo's speakers for test purposes and guess what? no difference in the tone. The combo still sounded better overall. So I call Peavey and get Roger Crimm on the line and he tells me that they are basically two different amps to start with. He said that they tweaked the preamp alittle more on the combo than the head and made it hotter because thats the way Eddie wanted it . He said that they tried and tried to make the head sound the same but they couldn't. I had a feeling that this was the case since I have heard many rumors to that effect. So there you go, straight from the horses mouth. I have found that you can make the head have the same sound gain wise and tonally as the combo by using a graphic eq in front of the amp. Depending on your eq settings you can get them to sound almost identicle that way. very interesting. So I run my head that way and it's fucking great. Smooth and creamy. Veeeerrrry Soldano like. I use a george Lynch tripler and run them together and it's the best distorted guitar sound I have ever heard. In the distortion department they can compete with any thing out there. I run them dry as a bone and they just sound awesome. All I need is a JSX and I'll be set for life. I have Roland jc-120's for clean. Heh!

Has not given me any trouble except a blown power tube. That's it.

Vey good. Roger was very informative.

I have been playing for 27 years. I own a Les paul standard, A peavey wolfgang, a gibson SG, and a hamer sunburst from 78". I purchased the Hamer the same year as I purchased the First Van Halen album, Thats when I started playing..I also own a Soldano hot rod 100 + head. I use most of the stuff to gig and teach with.

- 2 channels rythm/lead
- effects loop
- 120 WATTS ALL TUBE POWER!!!!
- high gain input and low gain input
- it only has one set of equalizers for both channels which is kind of dissapointing

I use a Jackson with a DiMarzio Evolution neck pick up and the DX2 bridge pickup and a Fender Strat which I replaced the bridge pickup with a DiMarzio Fast Track 2.

It's amazing for death metal.(Origin, Behemoth, Nile, etc.) I can aso get a nice rich clean out of it for some jazz.

People often complain about this amp because it's 'too noisy and has too much gain' but I would strongly disagree. If you know how to work the settings it isn't either of those.

I bought it used so I'm not sure how the previous owner treated it but it has broken down on me once. Other than that it has been very reliable. It has fallen off the cab a few times without doing anything to it so it's very sturdy.

I had my repair done locally so I wouldn't know.

If it were lost or stolen I'd probably look for another one but since they don't make them anymore I think I'd end up getting a 6505 which I hear is supposed to be basically the same thing.

Just because I'm a freak about my tone and am constantly trying to get a better sound out my equipment I'm hoping to soon get a sonic maximizer and a nice equalizer to hook through it.

If you ever come across one of these I would defanitley recommend getting it.

my amp is about 3 years old. In that time i liked metalcore a lot and played in some bands in that genre. Nowadays I still play loud music (emoviolence) but also play some indie and postrock.
The amp has the features for metalcore got two channels. one with bright and crunch button and a killer lead channel. I have used the amp on stage many times

for a long time i used an esp/ltd with emg pickups, after that i bought a gibson junior and now I have a fender telecaster. So I used all those guitars on it. The sound is good when you like mosh or deathmetal. this amps has balls and blows your head off. how ever i miss some tone definition. if you like some beautifull harmonics or chords this amp is not your thing. Only powerchords and one string playing does the trick. You can also use the normal input for some more tone.
the clean sounds ok. I don'understand why all people are complaining about that. use the crunch and a little gain and you can get really nice warm sounds.

it's strong but it lost some power...got some new tubes..but still don't have the gain/power back that it gave when i bought it

?

I use the amp for about 3/4 years.. It's a descent amp but is not the best there is. miss some tone in it. the sound is messy in higher notes, but its the right amp for hc and nu metal and swedish deathmetal. It's not your amp if you like your music more open..this is notthe amp to play opeth, it is to play hatebreed

Block letter 5150. plenty of power, I pull 2 outer tubes and half the impedance. The effects loop is quiet and having it footswitchable is a big+. This amp sounds better than any modern marshall, it is the best sounding modern Marshall I've had. The flimsy circuit board for the 5 12AX7 tubes is un-excuseable as is the pcb that the 4 6L6 tubes are mounted on. My amp sounds great, allowing me to somewhat deal with the cheap construction.

My 5150 sounded better than I expected when it was stock. With proper bias, GE 6L6 WGB tubes and ecc83 pre amp tubes my amp sounded very good but had alot of noise. I found missing pcb screw that connects ground to board, added screw and amp became quieter. I added shielding to enclosure and my 5150 noise is acceptable now. Peavey did make a better sounding modern amp than Marshall, the crunch sounds of main channel are very good and I - DO - get nice clean sounds with vol on LP at 7, turn to 10 for crunch. I mainly use main channel and it blends similar with how my HIWATT amps are set, turn down LP vol to 7 for clean sounds. The dynamics of the amp are great allowing me to get my tonal variarations from LP vol rather than running over and hitting footswitch to change channels. The effects loop works and sounds very good, better than the Marshall's I sold. The gain channel has all I need set on 3, I usually use main channel and add boost because the gain ch. does sound like the fizzy pre amp high gain sound. So there ya go, I do get a good clean sound with a LP and I usually run amp with only 2 power tubes! 90% of the opinion here is that the 5150 will not do clean, a good thing I decided to not believe the amateur reviews so hastily posted here,lol! A 9 after amp was biased, $300 of n.o.s. tubes and head enclosure was shielded. A 7 in sad stock form.

Peavey does not know how to execute a road worthy amp design. The 5 pre amp tubes pcb is thin AND has no support god forbid if you swap tubes! The pots are micro sized junk you find in a $200 crate amp! The chassis corners are not joined causing it to flex ridiculously when you remove it, ameteur hour here. There is no clearance to re insert chassis in head, the stupid screen scrapes on top of chassis. I cut top of screen, moved front valence up to gain clearance. NO SHIELDING IN HEAD ENCLOSURE! Even Marshall does this, no need to be cheaper than them Brits! lol! I added shielding and amp became considerably quieter. I get the feeling that my 5150 was designed from way too much compromise and no concern for the poor sap that bought it new expecting something above mediocre craftsmanship. The amp is as stated built to low standards and is a disgrace to bear EVH name. USA made, yea right! lol!

They built my 5150 so cheap I doubt they could afford a toll free line, lol!

Err, at least my amp sounds better than any modern Marshall. I was looking for 1 modern amp to nail the M crunch sound and have effects loop. When I get some time I plan to upgrade the caps to improve the sound of my amp further. I'd like to have one of the ptp turret board propotype amps that Eddie got. My amp does sound great but looks like a pile of crap lined up to my 2 HIWATT amps.

well i just got this amp a few days ago. i bought it off of ebay because these amps aren't made anymore. now Peavey has the 6505's which im sure sound about the same. the guy i bought it from says the original block letter 5150s are way better than the artist series and 5150 II because it used better components and what not. it has 2 channels. a rhythm/clean and a lead channel. the rhythm channel has a bright and crunch buttom with is really usefull in getting whatever tone you want. the lead channel is smooth but brutal. all depends how much gain to dial in. has shared 3 band eq and a resonance and presence on the power amp section. great for getting that perfect metal tone. DID I MENTION ITS A 120 WATTS OF ALL TUBE TONE?!?!?! well it is and it will crush your skull.

i bought this amp for one reason only. METAL METAL METAL!!!! i saw bands like Zao whose guitarist both use these amps and i said to myself " well i love their tone and the pure brutality" so i went on ebay that night and bought one straight up. my guitars are a Gibson Les Paul Supreme, customized japanses strat with a Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck model humbucker in the brige position and a "little 59" humbucker in the neck. i also have a epiphone sheraton. all guitars sound great on their own and also sound great through this amp. ATTENTION: THE CLEAN CHANNEL REALLY DOES SOUND GREAT!!! most people say the clean channel is terrible. maybe its their guitar that is terrible. sure its not a fender tone but only fender can give you that. the cool thing is that the cruch button kinda turns it into a dirty rhythm channel which is really usefull. but when you turn down the volume knob on the guitar it cleans up really nice. just keep tweeking, its easy to get the sound you are looking for with this amp. ACHTUNG BABY!!! people have said this amp is kinda noisy and IT IS!!! the circuitry in the amp just has alot of self noise. i was almost depressed when i got it because it made this terrible hissing noise when the volume was up past 1. i almost cried until i took it to guitar center and played it through a marshall 4x12 instead of my 60 watt 2x12. the 4x12 was a better match and it made the 5150 less noisy even though there was still some hissing but just not as noticeable. with the volume on 2 the output level is so loud that you can't really hear any extra noise until you stop playing and really listen closely. SOLUTION!!!! im getting a rocktron Hush pedal that will reduce/cut out the noise all together. i just read 30 reviews and everyone ( those who really know how to use it) says it works perfectly for high gain amps.

this amp weighs a good bit but not back breaking. i would trust playing it after dropping it off a tall building. this thing is a tank and built to last. Eddie Van Halen wouldn't put his name on something if it wasn't rock steady.

haven't tried them yet. im sure they are nice people.

i bought a mesa/boogie dual rec back in january and it just didn't do it for me. the decay on the distortion was crappy and not smooth at all. but with the 5150 i get smooth, rich distortion which is what this amp was made for. i have finally found the great metal amp i have been looking for. i plan on using it in my rock band and A/B between this and a fender bassman for a straight up clean verses brutal distortion set up. i can't wait to play out live and rock peoples faces off. from rock to metal and many styles in between, this amp can deliver the sweet tone you are looking for.

MADE IN 1998. I PLAY ROCK MOSTLY BUT THIS THING CAN REALLY DO IT ALL.
IT IS A 2 CHANNEL AMP LABELLED RYTHM AND LEAD AND WHEN USED WITH THE VOL KNOB ON YOUR GUITAR THIS AMP DOES IT ALL AND IN BETWEEN.
120 WATTS OF POWER WITH 6L6 TUBES HEAVY BOTTOM .
FEATURE WISE NOT MUCH BUT WHAT ITS GOT IS ALL YOU NEED.

EMG 89 AND 85 PICKUPS ON A PRS CE24 GUITAR. I REALLY DONT AGREE WITH EVERYBODY SAYING THIS THING IS NOISY. I PLAY WITH THE PRE ON 3.5 AND THE POST ON 4. THIS IS A LOUD CRUNCHY RYTHM SOUND LEAD CHANNEL IS SET THE SAME WAY. BUT THE LEAD CHANNEL HAS TWICE THE GAIN AS THE RYTHM CHANNEL SO THUS MORE DRIVE .
PLACE THIS BABY IN THE RYTHM CHANNEL AND TURN DOWN THE VOL ON YOUR GUITAR AND CLEAN HEAVEN.
UNDERSTAND THIS PUPPY WANTS TO BE PLAYED LOUD, SO TRY ADJUSTING YOUR GUITAR VOL.
THE BEST DISTORTION EVER.
NOTHING LIKE HAVING YOUR PANT LEG MOVE ON A POWER CHORD!!!! OR HOW ABOUT PUTTING OUT A MATCH THROUGH THE PUMP OF A 4X12 CAB AWESOME!!!!

AMP HAS NEVER LET ME DOWN, BUT DO GET A BIAS MOD DONE. THIS IS A DEFINATE THE AMP TENDS TO RUN COOL AT FACTORY BIAS. SO GET THE MOD USE EH12AX7A PREAMP AND 6L6WXT+ POWER TUBES.

I BEEN PLAYING FOR 28 YEARS.
I WOULD DEFINATELY BUY ANOTHER 5150.
I LOVE THE SIMPLICITY AND THE SOUNDS.

Made in 1992 I think?(because it's the block letter version)

Check out peavey's site for specs and details. Though I like to play different styles and I do like nice, clear cleans, I bought this amp to play pure raw metal. I was really inspired to buy this amp because of In Flames :), but I do also love to play BLS, Pantera, Megadeth, etc. It's 2 channels but it shares the eq, so that's about the only downside.

I have this running through a Marshall 1960a cab. I'm using an EMG loaded KV and a Les Paul w/ the Duncan '59/JB comb. I have to say that w/ the Duncans, it is one of the best distortions I have ever heard. It's really heavy and chunky as hell, especially on palm mutes, yet it doesn't have a scooped tone. It's got a nice smooth midrange tone. Like I said, I love to play In Flames, and with the Les Paul, I nailed that tone on the Lead channel, with a BOSS GE-7 eq in the effects loop. The dist. can go from raw thrash, to today's Death Metal. The cleans aren't really that great, but I'm sure no one's buying this amp for the cleans....it's actually no THAT bad if you roll back the pregain all the way on the rhythm channel w/ the bright and crunch switches on 'off'. Also, when you do that, using the volume knob on ur guitar is also really cruicial in getting a decent clean. A chorus or something like that can otherwise clean up the tone. I'll tell you that you won't even need to boost this amp w/ like an overdrive/tubescreamer. It's brutal enough on it's own, you'll find that on the lead channel, you won't really need to put the pre-amp gain past like 6, because more than that is just too much, it's starts getting noisy then. What I would recommend is a eq in the loop, because that really helps tighten the tone. 10 in this category because for modern metal tones, the dist. on this just really shines.

I haven't had it long enough to determine this. But I mean, this amp is probably like ~15 years old and it's still working fine.

I've never dealt w/ them.

This is my first tube amp, and I was thiking between this or a Laney GH100L. Glad I picked this because I've been getting tired of looking for amps which are weak in the dist department. I didn't want a really complicated amp, or one that would require me to use like an overdrive or really crank it to get some decent tones. I really like how I can just plug in and get straight-up nice raw, dirty tones.

Early 90's original block letter model 5150 with Sylvania tubes. Everyone knows the features of a 5150, if not, read other reviews posted here. The 5150 has all the features I need in an amp, the only complaint I have is that the effect loop acts up sometimes, which is a common problem with the 5150 series amps.

I'm playing my 5150 along with a Bogner Uberkab (2 V30's and 2 G12T75's in an X pattern) and a Caparison Horus with EMG85/S pickups. I also run a Maxon OD808 in front of the rhythm channel as a boost, an ISP Decimator, and a TC Electronic G Major in the loop for effects. The 5150 suits my style of music perfectly. I play melodic death metal in the vein of In Flames, Soilwork, At The Gates, Carcass, The Absence, etc. For Swedish metal, there is no better amp than the Peavey 5150. I doubt that's what EVH had in mind when he helped design the amp, but it's become the signature Swede metal amp. It just has that crushing brutal mid grind that sounds perfect down in lower tunings like C and B. I run both of the channels on my 5150 as high gain channels, with the OD808 in front for both channels. There is no true clean channel, but when I want to play clean, I plug into the normal gain input and use the rhythm channel. Paired with my G Major and single coil EMG S, I can get surprisingly good clean tones from the 5150, although I don't play clean that often, and it's not what I bought the amp for.

5150's are some of the most reliable amps ever made.

I've never dealt with Peavey Customer Service at this point.

Overall, I can say the 5150 fits my style perfectly, and I just love this amp. I've been playing 5150's for a few years now, and have been through lots of other stuff, but keep coming back to the 5150. Once I found the perfect cab for it (Bogner), I've yet to be dissapointed in my tone. Rhythm tones are crushing, lead tones just sing, and clean tones are more than useable when needed.

Most of the features involve tone shaping. There's good 3-band eq, control over preamp/poweramp gain, and poweramp tone shaping too. There's no reverb, which is a little irritating, but it's also one less thing to break down since reverb tanks constantly go out. An Electro Harmonix Holy Grail reverb is a good choice with this amp.

I bought this amp with the intention of using it as a backup, but now I use it as a primary. I used to A-B a clean amp (Fender Pro Reverb) with a crunch amp (either a Marshall or the underrated and oft-forgotten Sovtek Mig 50 Tube Midget). I play mostly indie-pop and power pop with a Telecaster, so most people would assume this is the last amp on Earth that I should buy. However, this amp is perfect for even my type of music. It's just a matter of rolling off the preamp gain, plugging into the normal gain input, and using the right speakers--in my case a 412 with Celestion G12H30's. These speakers are perfect for this amp because they bring the low end back. Those of you complaining of the harshness need to play with your tone a little more and use some common sense. This is a very high-gain amp, so roll back on the preamp gain and you'll get less grit but will still have plenty of gain. Also, don't plug this into a cab loaded with Vintage 30s, Greenbacks, or Jensens and then complain about how piercing and thin your tone is. You've got to match any head with the right cab, and I think I've done that here. I also get a pretty strong clean tone from this amp. No, it's not Fender clean, but it holds its own fine for a live situation, and I can easily see myself gigging without a separate clean amp from now on and just use a footswitch. This is coming from a clean-tone snob too. This amp isn't perfect, but what amp is? I agree that it requires more tweaking than most amps, but that also gives it wider tonal range and makes this by no means a one-trick pony if matched with the right cab.

Mine is an early block letter model, so it's over ten years old. It's pretty road worn, but everything still works perfect. Having no reverb/tremolo can be a plus since these two things often add noise and require the most servicing. So, I'd say this thing is pretty reliable.

never tried to call peavey

That's right, I paid $270 for this puppy, and it was the best $270 I've ever spent. This guy isn't much to look at it, but it sounds great. Most people associate Peavey with bad equipment because they sell so much low-end gear. However, their US-made higher-end stuff like the 5150 prove that they build great gear at reasonable prices. I wouldn't say I'm proud to own a 5150 like a Marshall owner is proud of owning a Plexi, but I'm also not embarrased. This is pro gear!

For me it's ideal. Great sound, great power.

From Crunch to Death Metal it sound very good. no HIGH GAIN shit Marshall's will ever sound better :)

Well - it's a TUBE AMP so sometimes.... there are electronical problems - but I try to manage them.

I'm not from the US so I don't know much about the Peavey's customer support - but back home in Poland it sucked. :)

Great HEAD, great AMP, ideal for different kinds of music. You wanna hear it? www.butelka.metal.pl - there you go :)

mid 90's signature head. 2 channels. 120 watts. Low, mid and high eq. Also has resonance and presence controls for added tone shaping -a nice feature. Series effects loop. Preamp out. Footswitch for channel switching and effects in and out.Very straight forward. No reverb but I plug a GSP Digitech 2101 in fx loop and it takes care of everything.

For guitars I use a `71 SG with Pat. Pend. pickups, a 79 Les Paul RD Artist, and a `89 American Stratocaster. I first heard this amp when I was checking out an ad for a used Marshall slant cab.When I got there, the guy had a 5150 plugged into it. He turned it on and the sound just blew me away, very crunchy and defined. I bought the cab and found a 5150 two weeks later on e-bay for short money. This amp is a sleeper!!!. The tones you can get from it rivals much higher priced amps for much less money. This amp has replaced my `82 Marshall JCM 800 for gigging. It's a bit noisy - just use a noise gate. This amp will sound even better if you have the bias mod done, much warmer sound. I also changed the first preamp tube to a 12au7 and the second to a 12ay7. I get a descent clean sound this way and it helps to reign in the sick amount of gain this amp makes.

I bought this amp used on e-bay almost 5 years ago and have been gigging with it pretty steady ever since. I always bring a backup just in case, but have never needed it.

Early 90's original block-letter bought brand new off the showroom floor. The amp's features have been covered time and time again. Many reveiwers comment on the lack of reverb. I had a reverb habbit myself, but this amp cured me. Many also comment on the shared eq, which does limit the versitility of this model, if you actually use the rhythm channel, which the 5150 II corrected. Also well documented is that cleaner tones tend to suffer using this amp. The fact is that there is no clean channel - only rhythm, rhythm/crunch, and lead. Didn't they know what they were buying? A cool feature is the resonance control, which is basically a presence knob for low end punch.

I mainly use this amp with a modded Strat using Duncan Little 59's, as well as a Les Paul. I will say that it is possible to get some decent clean sounds from this amp if you experiment with the rhythm channel using the low input. However, this amp was built for distortion and the 5150 does it extremely well. Throw away all those stomp boxes cause you don't need them. Even when I was in grungy/heavy bands during the 90's I never played this amp with the gain more than 6.5, which is more than enough distortion. Anything more than that and you are just hiding your playing. I always recieved lots of compliments on my tone using this amp! Unless I'm recording, I never use the rhythm channel. I simply roll back the volumn knob on the guitar if I want to clean it up a bit. My only complaint is that like most hi gain tube amps, all that distortion comes at a price in the form of tube hiss. Over the years I've tried lots of combinations of tubes attempting to eliminate the noise. I've heard that it's possible, but I had no luck. I've always used a Rocktron Hush unit through the effects loop, which easily killed the hiss without changing the tone. Off and on I also ran a BBE Sonic Maximizer through the effects loop as well, but I actually liked the tone better without it. The less, the better in my book! So, because of the hiss the amp scores a 9. Also, cabinets make a huge tonal difference. I've played the amp through Marshall cabs, Mesa, Fender, and yes the 5150 cab as well and for my money the best of the best is Carvin. But this isn't a review of cabs... One more thing - no, this amp will NOT make you sound like EVH. That is ridiculous. What it will make you sound like is YOU playing through a 5150, which can be a very good thing, depending on YOU. If you want to sound like EVH, go buy an old modded Plexi, and good luck.

Are you kidding? This thing is a tank. I never gigged with a back-up with this amp cause it would have been wasted space and effort lugging another amp around. Just plug your guitar cord in, let the tubes warm up, hit the standby switch, and enjoy some of the coolest sounding distortion around. Of course, that's just my opinion.

No opinion cause I've never contacted Peavey, although I hear they are the best in the business.

Been playing for a while now. My first tube amp was a Carvin X-100B, which I sold after I bought the 5150. (I wish I didn't do that now!) Those were cool amps as well. But I wanted a distortion machine back then and it's hard to beat a 5150 in that regard. Marshall's JCM 900 SL-X gives it a run for it's money, that's for sure! If my 5150 were lost or stolen I would definitely try and replace it while the prices were low. Now that Peavey quit making them they probably won't be getting any cheaper in the future. It's been a great amp.

Not sure about the year it was made but its a Pat Pending Model.Does not have a lot of features.No reverb,Two channels but both share the same eq knobs.Hi Gain/Low Gain imputs but they actually are Hi Gain and Mega Hi Gain,since this beast does not know the meaning of Low.Very simple in general but perfect for me who plays 99% 8o's Metal.Does have far away more power than what I need,120 watts of all tube.

I use a 1984 a Gibson Les Paul Custom and a 1982 BC Rich Eagle and this amp takes out the best of them.I play mostly 80's Metal and this amp is perfect for hi gain,distorted music.It is noisy like most of the hi gain amps.Can be used for blues or even clean tones with the right set up,but it was not made to play it with a Strat or a Tele.Does not have a clean channel,but if you set the pre gain knob very low,you can get a nice clean tone.A friend of mine use it to play Reggae Music and it does not sound bad at all.The distortion is AMAZING!!!!!! I use it with a Lee Jackson Perfect Connection Pre-Amp and a Boss Super Overdrive and this thing is just amazing.Yuo can go from nice warm punchy distortion to mega hi gain distorted sounds.

This amp is made for war.It is almost imposible to destroy it.Heavy as a tank

Never have a problem with it.Got it used so no warranty on it.

I've been playing for 19 years.I own a Gibson Les Paul Custom and a BC Rich Eagle and they match perfectly for my taste.If it were stolen I would buy a 5150 2 so it is a little more versatile and powerfull.I love its power and distortion but it is still a very basic,expensive amp.if you are the one who like to play with tons of digital effects this is not the amp for you.It was made to play hi gain distorted music.

I am not sure what year this amp was made but it is a signature series. To be honset this is not a very versatilte at all. All that this amp is made for is gain(which it has more than enough of). There is no reverb or any built any effects, but if you have a 5150 you didnt get it cause you need them. I play in a posi old school inspired hardcore band, and this amp suits my needs perfectly. I have not played any shows on this amp yet since i have only had it for about a week and a half. Bottom line is this is a good amp but if you want a way more versital amp go for the peavey XXX.

I have a jackson dinky, reverse headstock with EMG pickups. I get a really really good distrotion. Pinch harmonics come with no effort at all with this set up. This amp is a high gain amp, so ofcourse it is pretty noisy, but it tollerable. It very loud(120 W), i dont even turn up the post gain past 7.5 - 8 for practice and it is fine. This amp doesnt have clean channel, it has lead and rythem. (some people on here post reviews and say this amp has a horrible clean channel, but the thing is it doesnt have one.)

i havn't played a show with this amp yet and havent had it long enough to tell , plus i dont have a back up but if i did i would play with out one. this amp seems reliable so far.

i bought it used so there is no warranty.

i have been playing for about 4 years. this is the only amp that i own right now. if it were lost or stolen, first i would cry, then i would probally get another 5150 or a XXX. Before i got this amp i compared it to the peavey XXX, and i really liked them both, but i probally would of have got a XXX but i liked the 5150 also and i found one for pretty cheap. a few things that are on my x-mas wish wist is a power conditioner and a noise gate.

made early 90s. all this stuff is well covered.

its a sledgehammer. forget cleans or jazz with mk1 5150 , it was built to rock. distortion on both channels is brutal,its just what I need, the 120 watts and that level of drive is exactly what a rock player needs.high gain = noise, thats why I use an ISP noise decimator.

i understand peavey reliabilty is excellent.

never had to use em.

im playing 25 yrs, i use a 2001 R9. The level of drive on both channels allows me big sounding rhythm channel and monster solo boost, its just awesome. for when im the only gtr player i use my cornford hellcat but when its 2 gtrs, you really need something like a 5150 mk1.

It's a 5150. 2 channels plus Crunch. I think it was built in the early 90s but am not sure.

I use this amp with a '99 Tradition Les Paul knockoff with an EMG 89 at the neck and an 85 at the bridge to play hardcore. When I first got the amp, it was noisy and the the distortion was super gritty. Since then, I've replaced all the tubes with mesa 12ax7s and 6L6s and the noise (hum) was gone. Also the new tubes gave me a lot more lowend response and it cleaned up the distortion quite a bit. However, the clean channel still sounded like shit. So, i put in 10k pot in the bias circuit and warmed those icy tubes up. THIS MOD MADE THIS A NEW AMP! Now the clean sounds as good if not better than any marshall, the distortion channel sounds huge and I get people complimenting my sound all the time now. Seriously, if you own a 5150, do a bias mod that allows for manual adjustment, get a gain reduction mod and use good 6L6s.

It's a 5150. Hasn't broken on me yet and I've taken it on 2 US tours, 3 westcoast tours and countless local shows. These amps get noisier or quieter but they don't ever stop working. As far as quality of construction and general burlyness, the 5150 is the greatest amp ever made.

There are entire web based communities of people obsessed with Peavey gear. My point is that if you have a problem or questions, you're taken care of.

I've never dealt with peavey. I bought the amp used and it was already 15 years old and on it's 5th or so owner.

If you are looking into buying a 5150, you probably play metal or something similar and already know what you're getting into. But as I said earlier in this review, there are some very popular modifications you can do to this amp to make it better. So much better, I've actually convinced people to lose their rectos and buy a 5150 to be modded.

It's the most durable amp I've ever heard of.
They're very common and very cheap.
There's a Peavey family of nerds to consult if you need.

I have a 1995 5150 212 combo. I've had this amp for a little over 6 monthes and it's awesome. I have never gigged this amp but if I did it'd be no problem. The 212 combo sounds really good on the rythm and lead channel. I play a variety of music from metal to classicc rock, but this amp can handel it all. I disagree with some of the people who write reviews saying tat the clean channel is crappy. I can get an INCREDIBLY clean sound out of this amp and a really grungy distortion too. I primarily play an Ibanez SZ320 through this amp but have also used a few others including a gibson les paul and a dean. I've used vox,crate, and even marshall amps but this was by far my favorite. The equalizer doesn't affect your sound very much and it's the same for both channels which I don't like, but overall the features are pretty good.

There's not much to say about the sound. It's good for all styles of music. I wouldn't change a thing.

I'm giving this a nine because I had too get the RCA jack for the reverb spring re-soldered. That's the only problem I've ever had. That's pretty good considering this amp is almost 11 years old.

I bought this amp used so there was no warranty, but when I called peavey about my rverb problem they were very polite and helpful and even gave me an estimate on the repair cost. This really shows why peavey has a great reputation for customer support.

Over all, this amp is great for the price. You could get a better amp, but you'd pay upwards of 2,000.00. For this price, the amp is a no brainer. If it were stolen, I'd definatly buy a new one.

I have a '98 Sig model head. Great classic sound to it, no mods done. Changed the tubes, easy to do. Very simple to dial your favorite sound in. Not too many knobs or channels to get confused with on stage. Really, it could have been a 1 channel amp and be just as effective, since I don't change it much, but the clean can be dialed in, and sounds great when it is.

I have a wolfgang standard, early 90's strat, Ibanez roadstar (with SD distortion in the neck, Epi LP classic, Ibanez RG2...
Works great with all the different sounds. I keep an EQ pedal in the chain to help boost some of the sounds I like, but other than that, get's a great distortion when driven, classic tube sound.

Solid, nothing better. I've seen guys drop 'em and knock 'em off stage, and plug 'em right back in and keep going. Built to take a beating.

Peavey is the greatest. Buy a peavey, join their online forum (like a family), and you'll have all the support you need.

I've been playing for over a decade. I also have the 5150 212, and 2 4x12 cabs. The stack is something I've always wanted, and I am really glad I have it. If it were lost, I'd get another one, no doubt about it. I don't like to bash other companies or their gear, but this has the greatest rock tube distortion sound, great prices, solid and dependable.

Mine is a block logo made the first year of production. The amp is versatile enough for most all kinds of music. The tools on here saying it's only good for metal must not have played much with the EQ or gain structure. The ability to dial-in and understand tone and gain is underated, should be taught as well as how to play the instrument. For 5 years, this old beast was my number 1 amp in a gigging pop/dance variety cover band. We played everything from the Bee Gees and Donna Summer disco/funk to Aerosmith and Kravitz. Ironically, "metal" is the only style I've never played on this amp. (side note: I filled in for a buddy in his metal band for a few months, and I ended up using my JCM 2000 TSL100 and 1960A cab instead of the 5150. Believe it or not, it sounds much more "metal" than the 5150. Twice the bottom end.) Once again, use your ear, don't let the advertisements tell you what it can/can't do.

Features I wished it had:
1. a footswitchable effects loop with a mix adjustment.
2. reverb
3. as mentioned by others, seperate EQ's per channel.

I play stock Les Paul Standard > ernie ball volume > Vox wah > Zinky True Grit OD > Boss 7 Band EQ > Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive > EH Black Finger Compressor > EH Memory Man Deluxe > 5150 head and 5150 4x12 cab.

It suits my taste well. Doesn't sound like a Fender or a Marshall. I'd say it's a vanilla tube amp, nothing too impressive or unique in it's sound, but nothing bad either.

I play mostly on the clean channel, then use pedals for the rest. Believe me, experiment. You can get a shimmering sparkling clean out of this thing.

It's proven itself beyond any shadow of a doubt. Peaveys reliability reputation once again has morphed itself into another peice of gear. Other than routine maintenence (tubes every 2 years or so, and just this week 2 caps) It's been a dream. Has defied all the stigmas of tube amp reliability for practical gigging.

I used it without a backup for +/- 500 gigs. When the tubes start dying, you can tell (luckily!) cuz it either starts buzzing a little or getting quieter. Always giving me plenty of notice that it's time to get a re-tube.

Never needed it....Congrats again Peavey....I consider building a reliable peice of gear part of Customer Support, and they do that well. So I'm giving 'em a high number.

I've played over 20 years. As far as amps, I own a Marshall JCM2000 TSL100 with a 1960A 4x12 and a 1060TV 4x12 cab, a Marshall JTM60 2x12 combo, and my new favorite a Peavey Classic 20!
If it were lost or stolen I would probably try something different. Not because of any problems, just cuz I've played this thing for a long time and change is fun.
Love the reliability and nice clean tube tone. No hates.
It compares favorably to other mass production amps. Maybe a little vanilla on the tone, but not to where it's a problem. More reliable than any tube amp I've ever owned.
Get one or try one, and then tweak those knobs. That's what they're there for.
For the price, it's a great working mans gigging amp that can admirably handle most any size gig.

5150: It isn't just for metal anymore. :-)

This amp basically is loud and has lots of gain. Thats really about it, people who say this amp is versatile are pretty loony, sure its got a wide range of gain, but only some of itis useable, and the EQ (shared between channels) is pretty confined, I can't noticed adjustments at all, unless you max or min it completely.

I use 2 guitars, both ibanez rg's, on with emg 81's, and the other with stock dimarzio's.
When people review this amp, they seem to only care about how much gain it has or how well they can "pinch harmonic". If you judge an amp by that, you could have just bought some cheap ss amp.
No matter how hard I try, I cannot dail out the harsh, cold, buzzy, and grainy gain the 5150 produces. I bought this expecting a huge chunky think sound, but no.
The cleans/crunch as you may know by now are complete crap, Im not going to say "oh, there not that bad" because they are, especially on a tube amp.
Leads sounds something like this: "bzzzzzzzzzz" , little note definition, and in general it sounds messy and congested.
Even for the heaviest of metal this amp fails, it retains no articulation or tightness, just a buzzy mess.

It seems well built, except for the fact that something on the inside is buzzing during certain frequencies, which sounds like a tube rattle which leads to busted power tubes. bad news.

I give the 5150 a 5, because after 2 years under my possesion, it has not once given me half decent tones. I play all sorts of music, and use the 5150 for metal (of course) and it has been a very uninspiring expirience, no wonder evh dumped peavey.

I wish I knew the year it was made. Very versatile head. It has a clean channel (called Rhythm) and a dirty channel (called Lead). The Rhythm channel can get itself dirty enough like an overdriven Fender for that bluesy tone. Kept clean, it's MUCH nicer than the clean on my split-channel Marshall JCM 800. The Lead channel has alot of gain. There are two inputs (high gain and normal gain) which make a very distinct difference in your sound. I love this thing. All tube head - 120 watts.

I play Guild solid bodies with humbuckers and a coil splitting switch. I play with the coils split, like Jimmy Page. My style is heavy but full sounding - I love to pinch harmonics and hold onto some sustain. This thing sustains forever! There are many, many tones to explore. Way more than any of my Marshalls. Moving the knobs really does change things quite a bit. By the way, I LOVE my Marshalls. I love this, too, for more high gain reasons, as well as the better clean channel. The distortion can get very heavy, but I wouldn't call it brutal. It always sounds rich and creamy, even when super high gained.

I've owned it for five months, and no problems. It does not rattle when moved like my old Marshalls do. It's very solid feeling. I feel confident when transporting it.

Never needed it.

I've been playing since 1986. The day after I saw EVH himself in Providence, RI. Yes, the very next day. I also a Marshall JCM 800 head, and a Trace Elliot Speed Twin head. If lost or stolen, I would hunt down the thief, or get another 5150. I've never heard a 5151 II, so I can't comment on the changes. I like the big 5150 logo.

- EQ
- Presence, Resonance, 2 Pre-gain and 2 Post-gain (i.e. volume), bright and crunch switch
- serial effects loop (footswitchable)
- 120 Watts
- 5 12ax7 preamp tubes, 4 6l6 power tubes

Everything you need. The 5150 II has two EQs, which is better, of course.

I used this amp in a Mesa/Boogie Rectifier Cab and a Marshall 1960 AV. I play a Gibson SG and an LTD Baritone. The amp handles even the lowest tuning with no problem. There's a lot of gain and you get a lot of really fat and hard metal rhythm sounds out of this amp. Death Metal, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, Hard Rock, probably even classic rock - you name it, the 5150 handles it.
Lead sound good as well, a little bit rounder than on a Marshall, but still enough character. The amp has loads of gain, more than you'll ever need probably.

The clean channel isn't too great, a bit lifeless and easily distorted, but the crunch button gives you a killer crunch. The amp has a lot of noise but you get used to it quickly and can either use a noise gate or just be careful.

The best thing about this amp is how it cuts through the band mix - far better than my JCM900 Marshall. I was so amazed, I didn't believe the difference. Soundwise, the 5150 is not so much different from the Marshall, but it's response it less British, with a flatter general EQ. This thing is a no-brainer for a good Rock/Metal sound and easily in the league with much more expensive amps. I wouldn't think its good for really classic rock, blues (it just doesn't have a blues feeling) and certainly nothing were you want a really nice clean sound.

The amp is brutally loud. It seems even louder than my bandmates other Marshall (a 100 Watt model). I used to turn my 50 Watt-Marshall to 7, now I put the 5150 barely past 2.
I give it a 9 because of the crappy clean sounds. Otherwise it's just great.

Only had it a couple of months without gigging a lot but it seems ok.

This the old blockletter model. Don't buy the crap that the old Blockletter sound better than ones with the signature - they sound exactly the same.

This is good amp for a player who wants a professional amp but doesn't want to spend thousands on a Mesa/Boogie, Diezel, ENGL, or whatever.

I give it a 10 because for this price it's just unbelievable.

you know by now what it has and what it doesn't have.

This amp is the best. I am currently using it with a Washburn wr150 (tuned to drop C), peavey Wolfgang (tuned to drop d and standard) and a Vaccaro V2 generator X (standard/drop D). My band play very heavy stuff but personally I go for more blues and rock stuff e.g. guns n roses, Metallica and Ozzy stuff like that (maybe not rock, maybe metal). This amp works for both very well. You don?t have to play a stadium or open air gigs with it just buy a THD hot plate I did and it ace. The thing about this amp is if you want a mild overdrive just roll down your guitars volume a bit and its there sweet valve OD. It is a bit noisy on higher settings but that is what a noise gate it for. You can?t be telling me that you want high gain and no noise without a noise gate, if you are your fucking stupid.

you cant expect a valve amp to sound amazing for ever without care and looking after. i would never gig without a backup because afterall it is valve. my backup is another 5150 head. because of the use these amps get we always carry spare valves and fuses (because you just never know). both my heads get revalved evert 3 weeks during a tour (or whenever they need it, my guitar teck deals with that). it has never broken down as of yet (i have been using it for 2 years). it has to be a 9 because of the valves but apart form that its a 10.

i went to the peavey headquarters and met with them befor buying this amp. but i have never delt with the coustomer support.

buy this amp. i have played for 15 years now. the past two i have sounded my best because of this peavey.

I Don't understand the hype on this amp. I have allwsays used marshalls and this is exactly what this amp trys to sound like, but falls short just a tad. Yes it has amazing grunt and yes it has a great over the top sound but thats all it does. At least a jcm800 will give you reasonable clean tones. Don't be fooled with companys marketing. Ed Van Halen said it himself that his sound comes from his hands as if not more than his gear, it don't matter what he plays through it will allways sound like him. I was lucky enough to be able to test drive this amp for a few months while it;s owner was overseas, and as fate may have it guess what this guy plays in a VAN HALEN CONCEPT SHOW. aWESOME PLAYER I SWEAR, if you close your eyes it is eddie, but he is going back to his Marshalls cause they sound BETTER. Now i don't know about the rest of the WORKING MUSOS OUT there, but when was the last time you ever got to play a 120 watt amp even at a bees dicks of that power in a club/pub gig without the rest of the guys in the band and the sound guY and the manager and most of the crowd telling you to turn the FUCK DOWN. Honestly if you don't play stadium shows or alot of big outdoor venues this amp will be as usefull to you as a one legged man in a butt kicking contest, but hey thats just my opinion. Do yourself and your ears a favour and stick to what is practical for your needs, if you need more volumE outa your amp get the rest of the guys in the band to TURN DOWN, and look for an amp that will give you a variety of sounds at different volumes. I now use a traynor YCV - 40WR and i can tell you my friends if god played guitar this would be his amp, The rest of the band will love you, the sound guy will want your children, and the manager of the club will give you another gig.

Just Remember, practise, practise, practise!!! and play with the other guys in the band and not yourself.

120 watts all tube. this amp is very versatile. most people say it's a one trick pony, but i have to disagree. the clean channel sucks, but it's useable. the distortion this thing produces will convert the most hardcore solid state user to tube. it's amazing. it has two channels, rhythm and lead. the rhythm channel is what i use for cleans and lead takes care of all the high gain mayhem. there is a crunch switch for the rhythm channel that engages more gain if you want to use two distortion channels. it also has a bright switch that does just what it says. without it i find the clean tone too dull. both the channels are footswitchable. it also has an effects loop that is also footswitchable. everybody else has listed the controls so i won't get into it. i find them to be very sensitive. they can be manipulated to produce great sounds or terrible sounds, half a position can make the difference. 120 watts is enough to kill small animals and scare kids, it's the loudest amp i've ever heard. it can drown out my friends 200 watt randall. at low volunmes it's sound is very limited, around 4/5 it starts to come alive.

i have a lot of guitars, my main ones are a 1979 gibson sg with a seymour duncan distortion bridge pickup, my second is an ibanez sz520qm with stock pickups. i'll be swapping the bridge pickup in the ibanez soon because it can't compeat with the duncan distortion, which is one of the sickest pickups ever made by the way... i play metal, and rock mostly. it's great for these styles. the clean channel (the rhythm on clean settings) isn't noisy at all with good tubes(more on this later), the lead channel is pretty noisy though. not uncontrollably noisy but it is noisy. feedback is not much of a problem unless you're standing right next to it with your hands off the strings. the clean isn't incredible but it's fine for a high gain amp. the distortion completley redeems any bad qualities this amp has. destructive, brutal, punishing whatever over used word you want to use... it can't be described unless you hear it. unfortunatley, with the stock tubes you can't tell. they are utter crap. mine came with low gain, overly bright electro-harmonixs and microphonic, noisy sovteks. peavey went for the cheapest alternative in this case. i waited a long time to review this amp because i didn't want to review with the impression that the stock tubes gave me. when i changed them for 1 tung-sol reissue and 4 high gain jj's it was a holy shit experience. the stock power tubes, ruby 6l6's, are good though, i still use those.

peaveys are known for their indestructability. i had an old butcher before this, stock tubes from 1986, used it with a intrument cable instead of speaker cable(didn't know any better). i would gig without a backup. it's never given me any trouble, now that i'm smarter it should last me for a long time.

peavey is a great company to deal with. their forum is so helpful. never needed repairs or had to deal with them directly, i can always find what i'm loking for on their forum. the warranty is 5 years i think, if you register it. i rate the forum a 10, to peavey i have to give a "no opinion" because i can only know what i've heard about them, some good things some bad things.

i've been playing for around 10 years, i own lots of gear, i know nobody cares what it is. if it was stolen i'd have to get another. i love everything about it, even its bad quality's are like defining traits. i compared it to mesa/boogie triple rectifiers, marshall dsl, marshall tsl, and 5150 II. i got this thing at a great price, right when peavey came out with the 6505 and stores were trying to get rid of the 5150's. bottom line is try it out at high volume, change the pre-amp tubes, and treat it good.

Not sure when it was made, very new though. I play high-end metal, this is the amp for that. This amp doesn't have a true EQ for any clean sound, the best way to get a clean sound is to keep the Lead Pre Gain below 1, so that the sound is clean and not muddy. It's a pain in the butt when that knob moves out of place. It has enormous power.

I use an Epiphone Korina Explorer. Perfect for old '80s metal. Very crunchy. I have tried a Metal Zone with it just to see how it sounds, if you like crunch then that is the combo right there. I was blown away at the sound of this amp when I first plugged it in. I found it kind of funny because I realized that almost no matter what sound you use with this amp there is still that hint of Eddie Van Halen in the sound. The sound stays crisp even at high volumes, very little feedback if you don't stand right next the thing.

Very new still, no problems yet, I don't think I will have any.

I have been playing guitar for around eight years and this is the second amp head I have owned. Before the 5150 I had a Mesa single rectifyer. That didn't have enough power so I traded it in for the 5150. I only had to pay them $200 along with the amp. It was worth every penny. This amp can produce just about any sound, so if you can find for cheap, go and get it.

Made in 2002 I beleive. This is just one of the amps that I own. I play metal, hard rock and jazz. For hard rock and metal I use this amp. It is as dirty as my ADA MP-1. I run that pre-amp into the effect return of the 5150 sometimes and it just kills. The 5150 also makes a great tube power amp when you use the effect return because the presence and resonance controls are in the power amp section allowing you to add enormous thump and sizzle to any pre-amp you are using. I also run my Digitech GNX-4 into it the same way with spectacular results. Unreal bottom end and high end sizzle combined. Best tone Iv'e had for all out balls and thump. Palm mutes shake the walls and furniture in my house. PLENTY of power. I use a matching 5150 bottom cab as well. SWEET! The 5150 used on it's own is great. I can get razor sharp massive gain out of it or if you play with the eq a smoother sweeter Boogie type of gain. I think it's all about playing with the eq. You can get alot of cool and different metal tones with it. Sounds great with the master above 3. It's a tube amp! It sounds good at bedroom volumes as well which is one of the reasons I bought it. I use a Boss graphic eq into the front end sometimes and this just pushes the amp into UNGODLY gain. I use an ISP decimator noise suppressor after the eq.

I use a MUSICMAN EVH guitar and an old KRAMER FOCUS with a DUNCAN DISTORTION pickup. My particular 5150 is surprisingly quiet. I use JJ preamp and power amp tubes. That is the reason. This is one of the top 5 amps for metal and hard rock and it can be made to sound just as good or better than amps twice the price or more. A little EQ is all it takes. There is no true clean channel. The amp is not made to get a good clean sound. I use a Fender M-80 solid state for my clean sounds. The 5150 is made to get great dirty tones and in my opinion it is perfect for that purpose. Like I said before the distortion is brutal! And with the EQ. WHEW! Just way beyond over the top, but not muddy and unusable at all. Keep your pre-amp gain no higher than 7 though because after that it gets to be a bit too much and you really dont get that much more gain out of it anyway. Your better off using the outboard eq into the front end to boost. More tonal control and a tighter low end.

Never had a problem with it. Not once.

Emails from peavey with questions were answered the same day or the very next day. very cool.

Been playing for 27 years. Head guitar tech at MUSICMAN/ERNIE BALL for 10 years. All hard rock, metal, and clean jazz. I own 5150 head and 5150 bottom cab. 5150 2-12 combo, Digitech GNX-4, ADA mp-1 pre-amp. Fender M-80 90 watt combo, various delay and reverb pedals, BBE sonic maximizer. Musicman EVH and Kramer guitars. Love the amp. Combo and head. I would compare it with a SOLDANO and a hot rodded MARSHALL. IT's like a cross between the two in sound. And thats what Eddie designed it to be. A cross between his old MARSHALL PLEXI super lead and his SOLDANO SLO 100 which unknown to alot of people he used on an awful lot of recordings later in his career. I do wish the head had come with reverb like the combo, but thats what my BOSS RV-2 is for. Overall AWESOME AMP! Thanks ED. Can't wait to see and hear your next signature amp. One final comment for everybody. Everbody is always saying that the older block letter versions sound "better" than the newer ones. This is a crock of shit only used to get more money for the used ones that are still around . I had two back in 1992-93 and I don't hear any difference at all. Been around these things for many years so I should know. It ALL depends on the tubes you use. Some are good some are bad. Peavey may have had better quality tubes in a few of them so that is the reason. It's the same today. Tube quality makes a HUGE difference in your sound. Sometimes you just get freak tubes that sound like magic. So do your speakers and cab. Those two things are the key(as well as a decent guitar and pickups) If you don't think your 5150 sounds up to snuff email me and I can give you a few tips on how to make it sound better.

I got this amp on a trade for a Marshall JMP-1 and some other rack mount stuff. I play mostly Emo, Screamo, Post Hardcore(Underoath, From First To Last, Saosin, etc...) It has 2 channels switchable with 2 button footswitch and effects loop that can be controled by the footswitch Awesome feature! I wish it had a Master volume but, no worries. This thing is loud i use it for Recording, Live and Practice. It is all tube.

I mainly use a Epiphone SG G400, Epiphone Explorer a Epiphone Les Paul Special with the neck pickup out and only a EMG in the bridge sounds sweet and a Lotus les paul model with EMG 81 Pickups. For my music style it is great a lot of people complain about the clean channel but, in my case i can get some really nice tones out of it just play around with your settings and different tubes and let the tubes warm up. As for the distortion it is amazing for me. Notice how i said "For me" The music i play is heavy but, very melodic i love the way it really brings out your tone. Ive played Marshall and Mesa and they are amazing amps but not the right sounds for me. Mesa just doesn't have enough gain for me and Marshall's gain is to Trebley for me. Once i get enough money i will dish out for a Bogner or Orange but, for now the 5150 is amazing. I think if you play a more aggressive style of music the 5150 is for you but, if you like lighter gain and use a lot more clean it won't suit you very well.

Peavey may be more known for their PA's and mics and mixers but the few really good heads they make are built very well. The 5150 is a beast and i would never worry about anything happening to it but, like all tube heads you have to be carefull of the tubes just get a good road case. I had a Peavey XXL before i got the 5150 and it lasted me forever and still sounds fantastic for a soild state head. I have no worries about the 5150.

Never dealt with them.

I have been playing guitar for over 12 years now and i have finally found the tone i have been searching for in the 5150. If it were stolen i would cry for days because im poor and would have to go back to my XXL which is soild state and after playing all tube heads i don't want to go back to solid state.

Pretty basic features, shared EQ for clean and lead channels. Foot switchable effects loop, saved me a few times playing live (when turning off two or more pedals at once isn't possible).
Tube wise: 4- 6L6 Power Amp tubes and 5- 12ax7 pre amp tubes.
Wattage: 120 RMS
Inputs: High Gain and Low Gain.
Basically the only down fall (feature wise) is the shared EQ between the 2 channels, but I've learned to live with it and it doesn't bother me any more.

Guitar: Gibson Les Paul Studio (stock pickups... for now)
Effects: Dunlop Crybaby, Digitech Whammy (reissue), Boss CS-3, Boss GE-7, Boss PH-2, Danelectro Cool Cat, Boss PS-3.
Well I've owned this amp from new for about 7 or 8 yrs and I've pretty much tried everything with this amp as far as sound goes. During my early yrs I was playing things from pearl jam, soundgarden, and yes of course Nirvana. Well the amp did just fine for that type of music. The clean channel lacked what I was originally looking for but leaving the pre gain on 2 - 2 and 1/2 seemed to solve that problem decently, although not as warm as I would've liked. As for the lead channel the trick I found was to back off on the lead channel gain (3) and that seemed to do the trick for Grunge distortion. Next step came when my playing styles changed to those of the drop D world. Bands such as Tool and Rage had influenced my style at the time, and once again I changed my settings by increasing my Gain for my lead channel (about 5) and inceased the resonance channel to about 8 or so (gave a nice low thud for palm muting). Now with the stage I'm at I've been playing a lot of velvet revolver, G n' R, Van halen, and lenny kravitz and I have to say once again this amp is serving me quite well. With the recent tube replacement(Eurotubes (JJ)), this amp has been hitting similar tones, if not exact to the bands I've just listed. I'm Quite happy with the verisitlity.

In regards to the Effects world, I'd say that this amp responds well to effects but keep in mind this is the first amp I've really started adding effects to. So I haven't had much expreience with other amps as far as effects loops go.

Oh I almost forgot, I'm playing the head through 2 5150 slant cabs. And I love the sound this amp produces with those cabs. I never thought I'd be playing a peavey hahaha

I've never once had this amp fail me. It's been through hell and back with some of the shows my last band played. It's even been tipped over while on and not on standby (on grass mind you, thanks to a drunk at a party) and as soon as I stood it up again, it sounded just like it did before. Very reliable and I don't use a back up when I do use it live.

hahahaha one more thing that prooves this amp is totally durable, last summer I took it to a friends place to use as an outdoor music setup (plug a CD player up to it, play with the EQ's and it works ok), but I never picked it up until the january after. That might not say much but the amp was left outdoors, under a patio. This thing has gone through changes of Summer, Fall and Winter all outside. When I brought it back to my place mid January and plugged it in, it worked completely fine... hows that for reliability and neglect hahaha...

Never dealt with peavey... Warranty is probably way long gone.

Well if anything were to happen to this amp I would honestly consider looking at other amps just to see what is out there now. But I know I would come back to the 5150, especially since I retubed it with JJ tubes; this thing wails!! I might try the bias mod in the future, but I'm currently happy with the setup now. Why change a good thing.

I would recommend this amp to anyone looking to play most rock/hard rock/metal music. Except I might be bitter suggesting it to any of my friends, I like the fact that I'm the only one I know with a 5150 setup.

READ THIS if you still want to get some REAL clean tones out of this amp.
120 watts all tube, 2 Channels Rhythm and Lead.
I wish it had a switch for the crunch on the foot controller!
Use it live in a hardcore band
TONS OF POWER

I play in a post hard-core band. My style of music has just as much clean channel parts as distorted ones. As you have read before this amp was never designed to have a true clean channel, though you can turn down the gain to 3 and get a signal without distortion. I said "a signal" which sounds more like the teacher on the Charlie Brown cartoons than a guitar tone. I couldnt deal with it so I played a Marshall solid state head for the last 2 years. Im a gear junky and buy tons of CRAP without trying it out enough. The 5150 was just another peice of that gear. It set in my room untouched as I rocked the Marshall to the fullist extent of the law. I was seconds away from selling the 5150 and decided to really work with it before I did. I bought it used and the tubes where old. I changed them and the mud I was getting almost dissapeard from the lead channel. However the clean still sounded like raw un-cut ass!
One more thing to try! Today I Borrowed a new BOSS GE-7 EQ peddal from a music store to try it out on the clean. Needless to say I will have to pay for it Monday because it wont be going back. If you set the "rythm channel" Gain on 4 and put this peddal in your signal chain, scoop the mids boost the highs (on the peddal) I promise you are gonna hear something very familer. I could have swarn it was a Fender amp!
I will have to hit 2 bottons at one time on stage to switch on distortion and shut off the EQ (because the lead channel rocks) but I dont care! Try it!

This is a TANK

Iv been playing for 10 years. This is not the best sounding amp Iv ever heard, but it gets the job done. It has a versitillty rating of a 1 because it was only designed to rock, but now I found a way to make it ROLL!

I have two(2) 5150's that I run in stereo. Each has it's own 5150 4X12 straight front cab. They are mid 90's, back when they were first available. 2 channels sharing 1 EQ which also includes a presense knob(for tuning the amp) and a resonance knob(for tuning the cabinets). This is nice because rooms sound differently and you can compensate. Each channel has it's own pre-amp and master volume.Has an effects loop, but I usually plug straight in the front. Rhythm channel has a bright and a crunch button, which is cool 'cuz I'm hardly ever in the same mood.It doesn't have a headphone jack 'cuz yo head would explode.Does have channel switching with a foot switch that I have hooked into a "y" cord so I can switch both channels at the same time with one foot switch. Reverb would be nice, but I didn't choose them for a bunch of features. I didn't want features, I wanted TONE. I like stripped down simple heads that do just a few things extremely well. I'm rating it a 7 'cuz it's not a feature amp, it's a rock and roll monster with enough head room (120 watts each)to play outdoors and not go limp!!

These bad boys hiss like a pit full of rattle snakes. Reason is the plates in the output section run hotter than a pistol. It's a tube eater. PEOPLE, IT'S A HOT ROD TUBE AMP DESIGNED BY A GUY WHO IS WAY OVER THE "SCHIZZLE" AND IT ACTS LIKE ONE. (And that's why you gotta keep your tubes replaced at least once a year.)But Tone to the bone!!!! Loud hum, to me, is part of good rock n' roll. I can tell how good a band is gonna sound just by how loud the equipment is before they start playin'. When your playing a tune, you don't hear any hum or hiss. I play a Les Paul Jr. with a P-90 thru these babies and it's ON! Harmonics flying all over the place. I also play a Les Paul with humbuckers and it's a wall of rock n roll. Sometimes I use my American Fender Thinline with Texas Specials and it's raw cool!!!I plug my guitar into a stereo delay pedal to split the signal and barely delay the wet signal to thicken things up. It sound like three people playing...an over dub effect. That really works well with these amps! Clean channel sounds like sooped-up plexi, but you gotta barely have the preamp on if you want it crystal clean 'cuz it wants to rumble. Lead channel sounds like a JCM 800 on steroids, ya'll be careful not to hurt yourself!

Never had any trouble. One of the reasons I chose Peavey is 'cuz they're pretty tough. It's time to replace the power tubes. The gain has dropped and the tone has changed. It's cuz those plates are so high voltage. But tube amps require replacement of expendable parts, it doesn't mean it's a bad amp.

Pretty good. Found out that 5150's are self biasing from Peavey tech.
They have a good web-site, You can download some manuals if you need to.

One head I bought new for $600, the other used for $300 (so I entered the average). I spent a lot of time researching and playing amps before I decided. At the time the 5150 was a little ahead of the curve(this was the mid 90's) I was looking for a simple rig that did in your face rock music, no fancy stuff. This amp isn't for everyone. It's SPICY. If I were to half to change to something else it would have to be a Red Bear MK120 or a Sunn Model T, but they don't even make those any more. I used to have a Peavey Butcher, I'd do that again. The 5150's are were I'm at tonal....rowdy....like the audience being humped by rottweilers

Well all know the goods.

Kudos to peter a few posts down on the NS2 tip. You MUST do this. The 5150 is a noisey amp! With the noise supressor placed in the proper place this noise gets removed. The lead channel on this amp is amazing.
Very full and clear. One thing that helped was putting a tube screamer infront of the amp with 0 drive and 10 volume. I know it sounds crazy but it works. I am playing through a 1960a cab and things are nice. Dont really care for the Rythm or clean channel. But I didnt buy this amp for those.

Peaveys are solid. This is my second high gain tube amp from peavey and Im sure it wont be my last.

I'd give it a 10 if not for the clean channel. Some people who review this amp must be totally on drugs. Yes this is a 800-900 dollar amp (new). Does it sound as good as some botique amps..Definately yes. I have played everything thats out there. To each their own but peavey hits one out of the park with this unit. They are cheap as hell used and they are everywhere..for a reason. If you can actually play, you can get any sound you could ever need from this amp (exception....super fender clean). Tone is not just from an amp...its a total tonal package. A bit of advice...price doesn't make any product better than another. To each there own.....my 2cents.

no problems

n/a Never called

10

120 watt two channel amp. Clean Channel has no equalizer.

I use an Epiphone Les Paul with stock pickups. The sound that emerges from this thing is gorgeous! One thing to keep in mind, and it's something I've learned from tube amps over the years, is that this is the sort of amp that will project all the naunces of your playing. It will give you a perfect projection of what YOU sound like! Dont think circuitry based, DOD type distortion that you can hide behind of. If youre not too skillful with the guitar chances are you will found yourself blaming the amp! I play mostly metal with this thing(In Flames, Soilwork, Meshuggah, Slipknot, Sepultura, etc). I rarely use the clean channel and with no EQ theres no way to dial in the "perfect" sound. Also, for those who have been saying how muddy the amp sounds try lowering the gain ok? Set it at 5 that should be enough.

The amp it's actually my brother's. He bought it used from a local band's guitar player. If you're from Puerto Rico you may be familiar with Sol D' Menta, needless to say the amp has seen plenty of action. Some of the knobs have been replaced. Power tubes were also replaced. The amp has been serviced once, but nothing serious. At the moment it's working in perfect order. I can see it handling more abuse in the future.

I've been playing for 12+ years. If youre looking for a more affordable alternative to a Marshall JCM 2000, that is if youre more interested in the lead channel with even a possibility of acheiving superior tones, I'd would definetly recommend this amp. It's weakness being the clean channel, will have many believe it's not worth the price($900 - $1000 new). But for the lead channel alone, it's worth it!

*************PLEASE READ THIS NOW BOSS NS-2 USERS***************

This amp is amazing.But the hiss it creates is unacceptable.i got a boss ns-2 noise gate pedal and hooked it like this

guitar->-pedal input-->-low gain input(i have emg's)

This does not work,sure it does block sound from your guitar but all the noise is coming after the pedal from the amp.

2nd attempt!

guitar-->-low gain input-->-amp send to pedal input-->-pedal output amp f/x return.

This also doesnt work as the pedal cant distinguish the difference between hiss and the actual note you are playing.you have to have the threshold so hi you get the loss of high end and the delay at the beginning of the note.

THIS IS THE ANSWER!

guitar-->-pedal input--->-pedal output to amp f/x return-->--amp send to pedal return-->-pedal send to amp input(low/high doesnt matter)

THIS WORKS!

It cuts out ALL the hiss even turned up full volume,its amazing,its like the amp aint on.
Basicall the boss ns-2 is designed to be run with effects/distortion through the pedal fx loop.hooking up this way puts the pre-amp(noisy) part of the amp through the fx loop of the pedal.It states in the pedal instructions that this is how the boss pedal distinguishes the difference between noise and the actual sound you are playing.
If someone has already posted this somewhere then sorry for posting,just havent got time to read thru all reviews.

Hey this is an OK head. I play stuff like Between the buried and me, glass casket, and through the eyes of the dead and I couldnt get the sound i wanted out of it. I found it to be realllllllly muddy or to dry. It really had one sound and that was it. The clean chanell was really baddddddddd! If im gonna pay 1000 dollers for a head I at least want a decent clean chanell.hahhaha I dont want to sit here and bash it bcuz it really isent that bad of head and if ur looking in the 1000 doller range and u dont play much clean stuff then this is the head for you. But please make sure you try it before you buy it. Ive heard 5150s that sound like complete SHIT!! and ones that sound pretty damn good. When I was searching for a head I was deciding between the 5150. a mode 4, and a dual rectifier. I got the rectifier bcuz it fit my style better.

no comment

Mine is a block logo 5150. Versatile enough for what i use it for which is covers and original metalgigs. I use it live and in studio. It is way to loud an amp for it to be practical for home/practice use!

Shared eq, fx loop, preamp out and footswitchable. I dont use the footswitch but control it with a GCX controller.

I have to start this by saying to all of those saying it lacks tone/versatility/definition or whatever else - you are the defining factor in your sound not the amp. Try using your guitars volume/tone pots to add colour, try not maxing the gain out (anything past 7/8 only compresses), try working on your playing and practising more rather than blaming the amp for your shortcomings.
Also if your using an ibanez rg series guitar with active emg's or anything else of that ilk then im sorry you have no claim on knowledge of tone! I use Gibson Les Pauls (customs and standards)with the original pickups and electronics.
The cab you use plays a huge part in your sound. I love the 5150 amp but the cabs suck balls. Try a nice orange or mesa cab with vintage 30's in them.
Good cables and your picking attack help mould the sound but the most important thing is your brain and fingers.

I run les pauls > GCX ground control system (w/stompboxes) > 5150 >orange ppc412 and orange ppc212. I play covers gigs 3 nights a week and play in a progressive hardcore band that gig once a week or so.
Its no noisier than any other high gain amp out there and with the use of my guitars controls it can be very versatile.
The clean may not be the best but are you getting this amp for clean sounds? It does clip when i attack hard.
The distortion is thick and hard lets say that! its a solid rock/metal sound. If you wanna sound like vai or satriani then this may not be the amp for you.

I would and have depended on it without a backup. I service it fairly regulary and its never broken down on me yet. Ive heard horror stories from other owners but so far ive escaped any problems (ive owned this amp for 5+ years).

I live in Austalia so trying to deal with the company itself is useless. I take it to my favourite amp tech for repairs and service.

Ived been playing 15 years and am a full time player. If it were lost id be pissed, angry but i dont know if id buy another one. I love my 5150 to death but id be sceptical about findidng another that sounded as good. I'd maybe look around a bit.
I do wish the clean channel was better and it doesnt work very well with dist pedals. Also the fx loop is in a weird place in the signal chain (post master volume) which means if the unit in the fx loop is even slightly noisy then it will be magnified and become a big problem.
Having said all that i do feelthat for my needs this amp is a solid rock amp that covers not only rock but metal and pop as well.
Just be smart with the other equip you choose to use in ur rig as well, everything counts!

I have an original Block Logo 5150. This thing was awesome. I tried every amp they had and the PV 5150 killed them all. It has all the features I will ever need, since I'm not a Tweak-Freak. This amp can cover anything from metal to blues, just by adjusting the volume on my guitar. THAT alone is worth the price of admission. All-tube, 120-watts, and killer...

I have a Strat Copy with H/S/H: the humbuckers I scavenged from an old 80's Ibanez RG, and the SC is a Seymour Duncan Snark. I play hardcore/metal/thrash type stuff, and this amp is awesome. I've never been really unhappy with it, but I am getting it modded to have an adjustable bias. It can be a tad noisy when your not playing, but who gives a shit, if all you have to do is turn down the guitar and its all good.

This amp is a Tank!!! I would never need another amp, except maybe another 5150...

Ben playing for 2 years, and this is my sound. I am totally happy with it. Long Live the 5150!!!!

This amp is me all over. I went into my local music shop, played with a few amps and then thought I would try the 5150. Got it set up and loved it, bought it the same day. It can be used for every style (maybe not jazz) but very versatile in my opinion. Two channels (clean, lead), single eq (not a problem for me) series effects loop, no headphone jack (much to the disappointment of the neighbours). This amp has more power than the average gigging guitarist will ever need (120 watts of pure valve power). I use this amp everywhere, at home, at band practices, on stage. Everywhere you need an amp I use the 5150. Love it to bits.

this baby sings with my peavey Wolfgang, you can tell the guitar and amp are made to be used together, not that my other guitars don?t sound good because they do buy the Wolfgang just sings, from screaming lead to calm soft cleans this guitar and amp combination can handle them all. This amp suites my style down to a tee, I play loads of different stuff raging form emo core to blues and show tunes. The amp can get noisy on higher gain settings but a good quality noise gate sorts that problem out. The distortion is about a distorted as you can get without your ears bleeding!

this amp is built like a tank, I would never use a valve amp without a backup at a gig but that is just my personal preference (I have a Laney TF300 to use if the 5150 broke down) I don?t think that it would breakdown but it is valve and careless rodies can have butter fingers sometimes. it hasn?t broke down as of yet but I have only had it a month so we will wait and see, if it does then my local music shop will do me a repair job on it (they are very good, they are called Electro Music)

I have not dealt with peavey but I have heard that they are very good.

i have been playing coming up on 10 years now I dont use crap gear because of the high risk. i do recomend the peacey 5150 to anyone wanting a good solid valve amp to reliy on. other gear which i own includes a vaccaro generator X, 2 peaver wolfangs, fender stratocaster, fender telicaster, cry baby wah wah, mxr 115, a boss eq laney TF300, peaver 5150 and 2 engl 4x12 cabs. if it were stolen i would hunt the person down and make them buy me 5 5150s and 10 engl 4x12s and then ram a very pointed B.C.Rich guitar up his arse, play god save the queen and push him off a cliff.

Well this is your typical 2 virtually 3 channel really two head. It has the usual effects loop, bright switch crunch mode on the ryhthm channel. All in all this used to be a lot of features when these things first came out, but now it's lagging.

First of all, the people who are comparing this and the newer 5150 II heads to boutique units like Bogner and the like and saying amps like Bogner are only marginally better, either don't know what the hell they are talking about or truly have no ear for tone. There is no comparison to high end amps with this one. It does what it was designed to do, it offers a decent overall tone for a decent price. This was not meant to be a top notch piece of gear, if it was it would have cost a lot more. You can get a decent clean tone out of them, altough in my opinion they lack headroom, the crunch is the best thing you can get out of this amp. The lead tones are a little too noisey and well they do get that tradition VH brown sound, which was cool then, but now to me just lacks some articulation. This amp covers up some of the tone in your guitar and fingers, although like I said it does more or less what it was designed to do, which is more than I can say for many out there. I have been using these in the studio for many years now, and probably have more hours on them than people who own one. If you are a guitarist on a limited budget and need something that can handle a general variety decently, and want that tube sound, then this is a good amp for you. If you don't need the real tube sound, there are a ton of modeling amps out there in a similar price range that can do a lot more. Back to the tone, I find that the lead channel's gain is more or less useless beyond about 6-7 because the noise becomes a big problem, it's ok I suppose if you're using a good gate or if you have a volume pedal and always roll it down when you are not playing, but otherwise it gets very annoying. It can handle a good amount of volume, surely enough to handle virtually any venue. I don't agree with the players who think this is the greatest heavy sound for metal playing either. Obviously you've never heard any really good high gain amps. Check out the better stuff made by Hughes and Kettner, VHT, or better yet Engl or Diezel and you'll see what high gain is all about. This has a decent gain which can handle most styles of music.

I wouldn't call these very reliable I have seen them go through some abuse and last, but on the other hand I have seen virtually new ones just suddenly stop having output or not channel switch any more.

I have never had to personally deal with them.

Again, this amp does what it was originally made to do, and it does it fairly well for the price. Don't believe the reviews that say that this is the best amp out there, it's far from it, but don't believe the ones that call it crap either. It's not fair to compare an amp like this to a $3000 head because they're not meant to compete. I have been playing for a long time, and now own a guitar speaker cabinet company. I know a thing or two about tone, it's basically what has driven my career, and the best way to sum up this amp is what I have said...it does what it was designed to do. That's more than I can say for many of the poor expensive attempts companies like Marshall, Fender, and Mesa have done. They make a few products that are awesome and then others that just flop which is one reason why they are always introducing new models. That's not to say that they don't make good products too, I love particular products from all of them and other companies, but I'm simply saying that a big name doesn't mean you're getting what you're paying for. This amp does what it's supposed to do for a reasonable price, I am sure if it was meant to do more they would have charged accordingly. If this amp is the budget you are looking in, I suggest that you also look at the modeling amps in the price range, some of them are very good, and much more flexible. If you do decide to get a 5150 then be weary when buying used because these amps have been known to get abused. They are one of the most popluar amps in practice studios and many of the people who have them simply bought them from a studio at a steal got a lemon and then try to resell, so be careful. If you're interested in other tube amps in this or a similar price range a couple of recommendations, look for a smaller Rivera or VHT combo that will allow you to use an extension cabinet, you may also find an H&K head for a decent price or look into the 5150 II which is a little better. Good luck.

'02 or '03 Signature (not block letter) 5150 Head.

The features are few, but useful. Two channels, Rhythm and Lead. Shared 3-band EQ and poweramp-shaping section (resonance and presence). Independant volume and gain. Effects loop. Can run at 4, 8, or 16 ohms. Five 12AX7s and four 6L6s at 120 watts.

The Rhythm channel has two tone-shaping switches. One is "bright" which is pretty standard. It just makes everything a little brighter and clearer. The other is "Crunch" which adds another gain stage (kind of like a channel in between Rhythm and Lead).

You either like a simple set-up or you prefer more tweakability. For my uses, the features are useful and simple, though I would vastly prefer to gave the "Crunch" mode available on the footswitch.

I'm using several guitars with this rig: Gibson SG Special with EMGs (81 and 85), Ibanez RG model with DiMarzios (Tone Zone, HB from Hell), and a stock PRS McCarty Rosewood. Playing music in the style of In Flames, NOFX, old Bad Religeon, Opeth, Muse, and more (All rock oriented).

For my needs, the amp suits me just fine. I would like it if it had a reverb tank, but a good verb pedal in the loop works just as well.

Many have said this amp has no clean tone. That's not entirely the case - it doesn't do pure clean very well, but the Rhythm channel with the "Crunch" turned off at a low preamp gain setting can produce some very cool clean-ish tones that will distort more if you hit the strings hard. You can go from a slightly overdriven bluesy sound all the way to jaggy classic rock with it. This is fine with me.

Turn the "Crunch" mode on, and the Rhythm channel goes right into EVH / early 80's metal territory. It's very clear and bright, and extremely tight and crunchy. This setting is great for punk as well. It contains a lot of musical harmonic content - single notes sound strong and fat, and chords bloom quickly and have a great sparkle on the top-end. The preamp gain turned up can give you a totally convincing modern metal chug, but that's really what the lead channel is for, and since I enjoy the less brutal 80's sound so much on this channel I use it for that.

The lead channel, as many others have said, is the most brutal and punishing distortion I have ever heard/felt. The secret to getting a good (amazing) chug / lead tone out of this channel is to RESPECT THE GAIN KNOB. Turn it much past 6 and it will eat you alive and then go after your band mates, devouring them one by one until only pools of murky blood and shreds of stylish outfits remain. In all seriousness, this amp is capable of producing far too much gain for any useable purpose, even in the most wicked of blackmetal riffery. Keep it between 4 and 6 for huge distortion that is full and easy to control. Many high-gain amps have either one of two advantages. They either have powerful low-end, but can feel flubby, or they have great definition but no balls. This amp definitely seems to have both. Palm mute a power chord at any respectable volume and it's like a fast mule-kick in the chest. No mush, no flubbyness, just tight (SUPER tight) chug with an authoritative low-end punch. This amp is so tight that you could hybrid-pick palm muted chords as fast as you possibly can and hear each individual one. That's awesome.

Overall, there is a very distinctive tonal character to this amp. It has an almost.. well.. It's hard to describe. It's like you can really hear your strings moving - it's pure. You really have to play one to understand. You should listen to newer In Flames or Chimaira to get a good idea of how it sounds cranked. Their albums pretty much capture the sound.

One last thing - this amp is loud as all hell. You'll never need all the headroom it can offer, but it's nice to know it's there.

Have only had the amp for a few weeks, and have not gigged with it yet. It weighs a metric ton and seems pretty bullet-proof, so I would gig without a backup. I would definitely have spare tubes and fuses with me, though. No sense being cavalier about it.

N/A

This amp would be flawless for me if it had a few things:

1. Switchable crunch
2. Reverb
3. Low-power switch (for playing at home)

The sounds it gets are so satisfying that I'll give it an 8 despite these things. Recommended. Try one out.

i think youve all read the other reviews....

ALIRITE this is what i need to talk about...everyone was talking about how awsum this amp sounded...and i decided its time for me to get one...and i thot this thing was gonna be the best..but its just OK...i seem to like the triple xxx peavey better...well i relized i use a stande set up ... i have no special fx or anything..and the 5150 is POWERFULL...and i need help with what i can do to help it...caus i love the power just not the sound...and i thot it wood b more prutal than it is...maybe theres a problem with it:-/...PLS EMAIL ME ABOUT WAT I CAN DO TO FIX THIS..or just make it better...im a gain freak..and i ant seem to have enof..i was wondering any rack equip i could use on it...

Signature (Not block letter) 5150 head and slant cab. Two channel (rythmn and lead).
Works great with a GT6 and a 'real' guitar.
Contrary to popular belief, does not have a 'clean' channel. It was never designed to have a clean channel (unless you think RYTHMN means clean....buy a acoustic). NO CLEAN CHANNEL....DUH!
Reverb would be nice but resonance is better.
Rating.....who cares?

Jackson DK2 (1997), Jackson RR3 (with EMG 58 and 81......58's way better than the 85), Charvel Model 4 (1985).

It's probably my GT6 that gives me the best sound on earth! Definently check it out!

No noise at all.

Sounds better than what you have!

The singer in the band dumped a beer down through the upper vent, I think it's pretty damn durable. Been dropped a couple times as well. Works great!

N/A

Kicks Ass (quit whinin')!

120 Watts RMS into 16, 8 or 4 Ohms
Five 12AX7 preamp tubes
Four 6L6GC power amp tubes
High and low gain inputs
2 channel preamp switchable on front panel or remote footswitch
Rhythm channel: pre- and post-gain, bright & crunch switches
Lead channel: pre- and post-gain
Channels share 3-band EQ, presence, and resonance controls
Switchable post-EQ effects loop
Preamp output

I play with an ibanez rg520qs with dimarzio pickups and a gibson flying v with seymour duncans.The music I play is metal,rock,instrumental rock.
This amp is really noisy,I have to play with a noise gate to shut off the hum and feedback.
Its really good for heavy metal rhythms,very chunky.Sounds like a hot rodded marshall.
The clean channel is garbage,they should have worked more on this channel.

This amp is very dependable,I have gigged with it and never had any problems with it.

I bought this used so I don't know if it is even covered by a warranty.

I play through a carvin 2x12 with vintage 30's in them.
I am not happy with the overall eq,its not very flexable.Anything past 1 sounds the same.I'm thinking about sending it to voodoo amps for the mod,maybe it will make it more flexable and make the clean channel better.Also,thinking about putting in jj tubes in there.

Bought used in 1996, this amp has the old EVH block logo, and believe it was a first year. Veratality: 9, if you know how to twiddle your knobs you can squeeze almost anything out of this amp. Features have already been covered, I wish it had a reverb. It has more than enough power to play in front of 30-3000 people, all of which I have done with this amp over the last 10 years.

I play in a cover band and I can get great tone for songs as varied as Megalomaniac,(Another)Piece of My Heart, Barracuda, Ain't Talking 'Bout Love, and This Love (marooon 5). I listed specific songs vs genre's because genre's don't tell you jack s#%^& about actual tonal versatility of an amp. Although the lead channel will hiss when left sitting with the channel switched on, I don't know many people that perform a silent solo. The lead channel hiss is undetectable when being played. One item of note, you do not need to use alot of gain with this amp, it has more headroom than any amp I have ever used/played through (brew-tell). Most often I use the lo gain input which provides the tonal variety I need. I find I can control the majority of my tone through the use of my volume/tone knobs on guitar, and leave my basic settings on the amp alone. I only use a delay, chorus (maybe a phase shifter) for effects, and the effects loop works them in perfectly. One negative issue however is the channel switching foot pedal, which if stomped too hard can transmit an audible click throught the amp.

I have used it to gig in front of crowds as large as 3000 (at an outdoow festival) w/out backup (which I do not really recommend, there are other reasons to have backup amps, such as power surges, clumsy roadies, other bands looking to steal your sh&*). Those that have "blown" this amp may not understand impedance matching. The only time I have ever had to re-tube was when using a non-rated (homebrew) cabinet which did not allow me to properly match impedance, series/parallel etc. and bascially ran the tubes into the dirt (operator error). Otherwise the amp has been killer for ten years.

Peavey customer support is pretty good but not great. Have used them in conjunction with other products of theirs and found them to be NOT the best, but not the worst. If you rely on email contact, you may be waiting for quite sometime. OTherwise I have no experience with their local authorized service centers, and it was long out of warranty when I bought it.

I have been playing 10 years, I run the 5150 through a 1968 Marshall 1969AV cab. I also own a Music Man HD-130 for nostalgia's sake, but never have to use it the 5150 covers it all. If it were stolen I would go out and buy another immediately. I have played through a variety of amps, Marshall, Dr. Z etc, they are just not as versatile as the 5150.

This is an early 5150 with the EVH block lettering. In it's early life it was not very versatile but really kicked butt for the high gain stuff. This is a 2 channel beast and I do run an early Ibanez rack mount digital delay through the effects loop. The tubes it came with were chinese made 6l6's.

My main guitar is a Parker Fly Classic but I also run an early Gibson SG, Carvin "Kit" Strat (this is a GREAT guitar!, Dano 56-u2, and a Chinese cheap strat through the 5150. I play AC/DC, Creed, classic rock type music primarily. The tone is there for the hyper distorted stuff if I need it. Is the clean channel distorted at high volumes? Who the heck can crank one of these and survive! Distortion is a 9 on a scale of one to ten for brutality!

Here's what made the amp come alive. I had Torres Engineering in the SF Bay area install an adjustable bias and replace the tubes. Holy Cow. They put Svetlana's for the power tubes and JJ 12AX7s for the preamp. This is not the same amp. The warmth is incredible and I can nail many more classic rock tones on channel one than I could ever before. Channel 2 is now more focused and the individual notes now come out...before they were a saturated mess. Spend the bucks for this mod or quit yer whinin'!

This is a tank. Never a breakdown and I trust it

Called with a question and they were helpful and fast to answer.

Been playing for 20+ years and have a Princeton Reverb, Crate practice amp, Silvertone 1430 amp, etc. I love this amp but it is dang stinkin' big, especially with th 4x12 slant cab. Need a roadie and I'm not that good!

Channel 2 is really noisy, hissssssss. Reverb would be nice, I'm spoiled with the Princeton's reverb.

Again, invest in new tubes and the bias mod. It's worth it!

Bought new in early 90's. Not a versatile amp, yes does one thing but does it VERY well. Features have been done - same here.

I am not a metal player usually, I grew up on classic, southern and hard rock but love a good higain amp. The gain on this amp is just amazing, but you DO have to be subtle with the tweaking.

Yes, clean is VERY COLD. Would love a warmer clean - even though I actually don't mind a little gain - just needs to have some warmth in the breakup. But I can get amazing range of gain with this using low input, (guitars of choice are strats w/sc and bridge humbuckers) and go from nice breakup to wailing singning scorching leads with flick of knobs/switch.

Yes, truth is you need to turn up post-gain to at least 4 to start getting good sound (like my Marshall Silver Jub) and I use lead channel pre-gain at between 2 and 5-6. While it is just tone nirvana to me my old ears can't take 120watts for long.

BTW - yes you CAN get old EVH sounds out of it - but its mostly up to the player & technique, not just the amp. (EVH tone changed dramatically later, and I can get more of that old 'brown sound' out of this amp than he did/does, though he obviously isn't 'trying' to mimic his old marshall.)

toally reliable - done many gigs w/o backup.

n/a, never needed them for any peavey amp.

Playing 20 years - own lots of peavey's because of Bang for Buck factor. (Classic 15, Classic 30, Triumph 120, even old studio 40) Other tube amps include, Marshall 2550 Silver Anniverary head and Marshall DSL2000, 401 combo. Mostly strats, LOVE the single coil quack, but also like a 'bucker in bridge.

I prefer to gig with this amp over any other for most purposes & would HAVE to replace if I lost it. Bang for BUCK is there!

I don't know what year mine was made, but it kicks all ass. i don't really know how versatile it is... i just found a GREAT sound for me that i LOVE, so i haven't tried fucking around with it too much. it has 2 channels that both sound really really fucking good. i don't wish that this had anything else... it's pretty much fabulous how it is. i'm in a band that plays a lot of loud rock shows, so it's good to have a 120 watt beast backing me up while i'm rocking out. this is a tube beauty.

I use a Gibson SG Special Faded. It sounds so good. i play anything from "emo" to "metal-core". this suits everything that i'm into. seriously this amp can do whatever i want.

I got this used about 4 days ago and it hasn't broken down yet. haha, i don't know it's history though. it seems like a beast though.

i didn't talk to anybody from Peavey, but i this amp a lot so i'm gonna give them a 10 anyways.

I really like this amp. i got the 5150 head and 5150 straight cab for $1,100 used. i like it a lot. it kicks ass. i RECOMEND THIS


this is the band i'm in. we're from NC.
www.purevolume.com/thekeep

yall know this stuff....2 channels...shared eq....high/normal inputs....etc.

so, i play several things...i'm in a melodic hardcore band (somewhere between nodes of ranvier, norma jean, comeback kid, and underoath), a metalcore band (along the lines of somewhere between bleeding through and atreyu), a "noisecore" band (along the lines of converge, psyopus, and between the buried and me), and a praise and worship band. i use an esp (ltd) ex 351 with emgs (hz's until i get the $$ for the 85 and 81 that i want). this guitar has sounded awesome through several amps...the passive emg's are pretty impressive...i mean, they dont stand up to the active ones when it comes to distortion, but they still sound really good. but anyway, like i said, i get awesome sounds out of several amps, apparently this one is an exception. dont get me wrong, it sounds decent....just not defined....even with the bass on 5 it still sounds muddy....i actually got the clean sounding decent, i think that has somethin to do with the fact that i like heavy strings (tuned to standard of course...maybe drop d every once in a while....im no nu metal kid who wants to tune to drop a so i can sound like korn). point is, its a severely limited in what it can do...and it doesnt even do that very well...

well, its alreday broken down twice....that and the wiring in it sucked when i got it....from what i hear, 5150s in general have that problem

peavey has fairly good customer support....they've workded with me every time

the reason i got this amp was the band i was in was going on tour and i needed a better amp more suited for playing shows and i didnt have all that much $$....all in all i beleive i could have done much better....i guess i might have just gotten a bad amp.....either way i wouldnt buy another 5150....maybe a marshall...or a mesa...or a bogner...but def not a 5150

Look them up at www.peavey.com!

I only play a Gibson Historic 57 Goldtop with Burstbucker pickups with this amp. I use no pedals except for a Boss tuner, and Planet Waves cables. I play the whole spectrum of rock and roll and this amp gets any tone I want. I have it loaded with JJ Tubes from Bob at www.eurotubs.com. I mostly use the clean channel with the crunch and bright buttons depressed and use the volume knob to go from Led Zeppelin style bluesy clean to Bon Scott era AC/DC. I only use the low gain input and switch to the lead channel for blistering The Darkness style solos. I never use the effects loop and the shared EQ works great, no need for a seperate one for me. When I'm in the mood I get a great Godsmack sound with the lead channel too. I couldn't be more pleased with the sound and versatility of this rock and roll amp. I have no need to look elsewhere.

Never had a problem yet and I doubt I will. I plan to purchase a 5150 combo in the near future just in case and to get a little more variety of tone, reverb tank, different tubes, etc.

Bought the amp and a matching 4x12 cab off ebay, never had to deal with Peavey.

I'm 27, been playing for 7 years. I have owned a variety of Marshall's, JCM 800, 900, DSL, and AVT. I switched to Peavey for several reasons and havn't regretted it at all. It's made in America, was developed and tested by some of the best ears on the planet, Eddie Van Halen, is played by one of my favorite guitar players ever, Ted Nugent, and is based on a Marshall style head. I couldn't be happier, this one is a keeper!

shoot, I don't know. Sorta like an old Marshall head but I never touched the dials. I just played through this guys rig. It was a 5150 head on a Peavy 4x12 cabinet.

I'll totally agree with Jason down below who gave this a "1" for tonal quality. I'm not going to rate it however. I'll just tell you my experience with it was that the power chord come through real cool like all the newer metal bands sound like but that for soloing it was pretty aweful. I bent up the B string to a high E and all I got was a high E. Well, I want more, I want some harmonics for God's sake! Where was the vasilating overtones? No burn, no scream, no feedback, no nothing....just a high E......

Well, I'm an old dude who grew up learning solos from the greats like Schenker and Hendrix. I've been shredding the finger board for 30 years on a daily basis. I should be someone by now but....fuck, I don't know what happened!

But then, soloing is out of vogue anymore. Modern metal guitars didn't have time to learn how to solo it seems. Who wants to hear 2000 notes ripped out in 30 seconds anymore anyways? People, these days, don't have time solos anymore. "Just verses and choruses, please" is all they say.

Eddie Van Halen?????????? OH STOP!!!! This sounds absolutely nothing like Eddie's sound!

But I do like the rhytym tone on this. It's heavy and clean. Great for all that new NickelBack, Slip Knot, Chevelle, etc etc modern metal stuff

ugh!

There is a few things i miss in this amp,such as chorus and reverb and also a clean channel.
But if you think of the sound you get distorted i really complain,because it is good!!!!

im havin my modified with an extra clean channel to solve one of my few complaints about this amp,and for the rest im going to get some pedals.

Im using a Epiphone Les Paul standard,with EMG 81 in the bridge and im so ssatisfied with the sound im getting.
i have only used it for a couple of hours with my band now but i think i would like to be burried with this amp when i die! =)
I play detuned music,heavily distorted such as machine head,sepultura,slipknot but also a lot of slayer,pantera,metallica and so on.
I have had a lot of feedback and pretty much noise with it,but i have it crancked to a 6 at lead channel with gain set at 6 or 7 so........
As i previously said about the clean sound it isnt to good,but you have to have in mind that it doesnt have a clean channel,only a rhytm channel that you can turn down the gain to get a clean sound out of.
But its all i can afford for now and its ok but not great so..........
I dont use it very much anyway,only on one son in the band.

This amp is so great for me,and im so satisfied!
I can asure you,if you play some sepultura,slayer,slipknot och machine head stuff you will be satisfied with this amp.
A tip,have them adjust the bios,ive heard that it makes great difference and an even greater distortion,im going to get it done on mine!

Dont know,havent even had it for a week so............
But no problem yet! =)

Dont know,never tried! =)

So awesome,i love this amp!
Once i get money to adjust bios and get a clean channel,i think i will keep this amp for the rest of my life!
Couldnt think of anyone better.

Not a lot, really. Is this a one trick pony? Yes. Read this again, YES. Once again, in unison: YES. But I personally will take the trick. Perhaps you should too? Read on . . .

No reverb, no separate eq, no digital effects, no nothing. Meaning the absence of a thing.

Oh, there is an effects loop. But you wouldn't be needing this now, would you? We all know what an effects loop does to otherwise proper tube amps. Sucks tone. Or just sucks. Whatever. Go to amptone.com. It is all eloquently explained by connoisseurs of the vacuum tube. In English, too.

There is one channel and it is called magna cum fucking loude. Clean channel? Wrong amp. Practice amp? Nope. The amp to impress your girlfriend with your EVH licks and overall guitar prowess? Strike three, my friend. Call your lawyer after you receive the eviction notice. Let me know how it goes.

So why on earth would anyone buy this amp unless they will be playing the big Rock Show at Madison Square Garden with a full compliment of burly rodies in tow? Now you are getting the point!

Still interested, aren't you??? I thought so.

Jesus Eddie, what were you thinking back in '94? This amp is almost comical. 120 watts. So I guess it finally came down to: "Sure my 100 watt Marsahll sounded great for the first seven albums, but now I need something louder." How about another 20 watts Mr. James Brown. After all, it's the extra 20 watts that sets a Peavey customer apart from his otherwise pussified Marshall breatheren.

Ever heard of the Fletcher-Munson effect? This is what happens when you put someone in charge of designing an amp who happens to be stone fucking deaf!

All right, enough of the wattage carcasim. This amp does one thing well and that is to generate loud gobs of complex, sinewy distortion. Kudos to the Creator. Crunch is no longer a noun. It is a verb. The 5150 is to distortion what the Chateau Margaux is to bordeaux. Sexy. Complex. The distortion is so rich. The harmonic content is almost haphazard. I would not describe it as brutal. Wrong musical genre, man.

But! Don't forget to turn this puppy up. Way up. And no. That does not mean to put the post gain on 1.5. That does not mean 2. That means well north of 4. Do not, repeat, do not use an attenuator. This is not how the Creator intended it. No power tubes saturation or capacitor work at anything less than 4, so sayeth the Creator. Oh, and another thing, there is an XLR input into the 5150 cab for a reason. The effects go AFTER the cab, not into the effects loop, and then into a power amp, and then, and only then, into the cabs.

Play digital / solid state? Spend a day with this head (and matching cab) somewhere where people, pets, and other viable life form do not dwell. You shall be converted, and eventually deafened.

In contrast to a Marshall, the 5150 has a fuzzy, bass intensive distortion. Not like a Hendrix fuzz. Maybe fizzy is a better word. When I first played it after playing on Marshalls for years, I didn't like it . . until I kept playing, and playing, and playing. Addicting. And yes, so very, very good.

This reminds me of the joke of the guy who jumped off the top of the Empire State building. Lady calls out to him as he is passing the 43rd floor, "How's it going?" The man says, "So far so good."

Problems: I'll just send this off to Eddie's house COD in a few years after it needs a tube and re-bias job. Probably get it back faster and in better shape than the time I sent my X100 into Jim Dunlop . . . but that is a different story entirely.

This is not a fantastic value at all. It is overpriced, discontinued, outdated, and of use to only a precious few. It is of utterly no use aside from being an unbearably loud distortion maker in early 90s dress. Would I buy it again? In a hearbeat and at nearly any price.

This amp does one thing, and that is to provide the Creator with post 1984 to VH3 distortion preamp. Will this be of use to you in any conceivable application? Probably not. Want to sound like the Creator? This will not do it.

But if you want the mother of all distortion generators cleaverly disguised as an amplifier: you have found it. Neal, pray, and give thanks. Also, I would not be too concerned about cross-over distortion, re-tubing, re-biasing, 12ax7s, and blah-blah-blah. Play with your ears, not an oscilloscope. If jacked up correctly (read loud, loud, loud) those issues will slip into a trivial irrelevancy.

If I may quote: "Nothing exceeds like excess." Enter the 5150.

Where's the beer?

okay.. maybe it's low on it's features.. I really do miss a 2nd EQ, but and I'd want an extra midi input to use with my effectsprocessor to switch channels. I allways use the effectsloop and it works for me.
I use all the possible options on this great amp.
The power is overwhelming and I don't think there's a better amp for me than this one.

dimarzio tone zone at the bridge, the dimarzio evolution at the neck.
This fully carry's my sound to another level of hardcoreporngreat music. My style is like pantera, deftones and tool etc. But very tight and groovy.
The distortion has a maximum punch.. And I LIKE IT!!!!
The great dark DEAD sound of the amp with lots of clarity and warm tone.

never had any problems....!!!

never needed it!

In combination with the other guitarplayer of the band who plays a mesa boogie tripple rectifier. It sounds f*cking great!!!
these two very different sounds fill eachother in..

This is an addition to an earlier post. I just wanted to mention that you can get very different sounds depending on whether you plug into the "normal" or "high" gain jack. If you have hot humbuckers, the "high" input will probably be too fuzzy/mushy, at least that was what I found. I plug into the "normal" input jack and I get more gain than I know what to do with. I play real metal (old Metallica, Slayer, Sepultura, old Megadeth, Suicidal, etc) and I don't go beyond 6.5 on the pre (gain) knob. If I plug into the "high" input with humbuckers I find that I lose definition and it turns into a swarm of bees. If you like that it's there, but for those of us who have chops and need to hear what our right hand is doing, I recommend the "normal" input.

I bought this amp years ago as a backup to another amp. It very quickly became my main amp, and since buying the 5150 I have bought (and quickly sold) various other high end, high gain tube amps. Trace Elliot Speed Twin, Rivera M-100, Carvin Legacy, Mesa DC-5, Mesa Single Recto, Mesa Dual Recto (and others I won't bother mentioning) have all come and gone because they couldn't hold a candle to my 5150. The Dual Rec came close, but the Mesa's are too tight. A tight sound is usually a good thing, but Mesa's are so tight they sound almost solid state. They don't "breathe" the way a tube amp should, very unresponsive compared to my 5150, which has a very "open" sound. With the 5150, the Bass and Resonance combine to give you an incredibly thick sound. With the Mesa's, when you added more bass, the sound didn't get thicker, it got muddy. Didn't matter what cab I played the Mesa's through, they just weren't very responsive compared to my 5150. I haven't played any Soldano's or Bogners yet, but those cost an arm and a leg anyways. If money isn't an issue, there are probably better amps to be had, but if you aren't filthy stinking rich, these are the bomb for high gain metal tones.

lead channel,rythm channel,120 watt all tube amp,effects loop, 2 inputs(high gain and regular gain

I play a fender American strat. This amp has great tone. I play in a metal band and can play gigs with the volume at 4-5. I can get sounds like slayer, maiden, pantera, AC/DC, metallica etc.... The clean channel gets distorted at high volumes but what do you expect, it's a high gain amp. I have 4 6L6's in it. best gain i've heard in an amp. I hook it up to a 5150 4x12 cab.

Very reliable. I have to use to use it without a backup but i trust it.

never delt with them

Great Amp. I compared it to Marshall's, Mesa's, Randall's and a lot of other amps and this is the best sounding amp out of all of them.

This is just a review to counteract the bullshit of the previous review. If 5150's aren't used by Eddie- then why has his tone significantly changed to most people since the 80's? Don't tell me Ted Nugent, Steve Morse, Devin Townsend, Jennifer Batten, Arch Enemy, In Flames, Carcass, (list is endless) all have OTHER AMPS inside their 5150! Most of those guys arent even endorsed by Peavey officially!

Killer amp, brutal tone. DO the bias mod for cheap and its even better. Leads sound like Heaven. I can get Lynch to Petrucci on this amp. Alot more versatile than people think! I use a V amp 2 for clean tones but the tone is not too bad for clean (alot like a Marshall!)

Its a post PTP/Tube mounted to circuit board amp- as are most commercial amps these days. For some reason though, people have told me that Peaveys are actually pretty good in this respect, but obviously not indestructable!

Their website is great and has a wealth of info, however biased the guys who post there sometimes are.

"Jason's" review- is complete bullshit. He says that Peavey sucks, well you know what? Fender and Marshall's modern amps aren't any more reliable (all have tubes mounted to flimsy circuit boards) and Peavey's price point actually makes them better in my opinion. He goes on about a Jcm 800- well that doesnt have very good clean tone either, does it? 5150's can get you close to a Soldano AND Marshall sound- that's what my friend is known as BANG FOR THE BUCK!

I think this amp was made around "94". I've used this amp in live situations and was constantly giving this thing a second chance. It's terrible. And for all these "musicians" trying to buy all these effects to jusitfy it's pooppy tone please listen to this review and save your money. This amp has three channels (which are all terrible). All tube very loud with 6L6 power. Equipped with effects loop and foot switch.

I have a fender strat,Ibanez prestige with emg 85 and 81's,guitar I had custom built (PRS style) made from koa wood with emg 85's. My style is very versitile ranging in between Vinnie Moore to Gary Moore to Allman Brothers and I guess back to Vinnie Moore. This amp is for today's power chording pansies. This is not a soloist amp and for the money you pay for it, it should be. All the channels are terrible especially the clean channel which sounds like an AM radio and the lead channels have this annoying mid frequency you can NEVER get rid of. And I love all you "musicians" trying to justify making it sound better and suggesting buying rack shit to go with it. Please don't listen to these people. You can't make a turd smell better. This amp sucks. And if you think Eddie Van Halen plays this thing your crazy. I used to gig 6 days a week and was a hired gun for several bands I know what I'm talking about when I say you are getting ripped off by Peavey.

This amp has broken down on me before several times. I finally got it fixed then sold for 300.00 (what a relief) to the rhythm guitarist in my old band and it broke down on him unfortunatly.

Peavey sucks. Anybody that has went on tours with these amps know what I'm talking about. Way to inconsistent. The newer amps (satch model,xxx model) could be different and I've heard good things about them but I can't trust this company.

Look the 5150 sucks for anyone playing clean overdriven leads. If you want to play like Chevelle or Saliva or bullshit like that then buy it. But if your actually gonna think your gonna get Eddie's tone or anything close forget it. If I were to have had it stolen I would have been happier. I suggest buying a JCM 800 and getting a vintage tube screamer and that's it for that one good "shredd" tone. The Fender twin's and Hot Rodd's also make good versatile amps and after that don't spend no more money.

Ok guys here are just a few things to make your 5150 sound even better!
Get yourself a BBE 362 SW (or a 462). This thing is awesome! Let it sound like a different amp. Brighter and tighter!
To give the distortion channel that really tight metal sound
just change the tubes into Groove Tubes 6550 (that was a tip by Peter Diezel!). Damn, what a sound!
Next thing is: Get yourself a Mesa V-Twin (I bought the 19" version to keep everything in the rack!), Now you have two Preamps in a row! WOW!
Last thing I use is a T.C. G-Major for effects.
With all this stuff you can cover everything from Steve Vai, Satriani, Malmsteen, Romeo, Petrucci, Slash, you name it to Metallica, Slayer, Maiden, Evergrey, Symphony X, . . .
OK, it still doesn't have a great clean channel. For that I use
a POD PRO through a Mesa 50/50. Both setups go through Mesa Rectifier
Cabs. That's it!
Great sound for a reasonable price!

Versatility? This amp does anything from blues to the most hardcore metal you could think of; you just need to know how to tweak those knobs. The only thing I really wish it had was a built-in spring reverb; you can all agree with me on that one I hope. I use this amp in my band (A blend between bands such as: Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Unearth, Bleeding Through, Darkest Hour, etc.). This amp has more than enough power for me; the post gain on my lead channel does not exceed 4 without experiencing near-death.
After a re-bias and fresh set of tubes as well as a good guitar and cab for it, this thing is phenominal PERIOD.

I use a ESP ltd Viper-50 with Tony Iommi signature Gibson pickup in the bridge (Soon I am getting an ltd Viper-400 for the flag inlayers and set neck... but the Iommi is the best pick up I have ever heard and probably ever will hear). This suits my style perfect, has the dynamic response and balls of any of those damned botique amps that are thousands of dollars, you just have to know what the hell you're doing and you'll be suprised what you can get for a tone out of this beast. This is NOT a clean amp. Notice how it is Rythm and Lead, not CLEAN and Lead. Of course it will distort at high volumes unless you are using a very clean neck pickup and you're on the Normal Gain input - it should suit you ok then. The distortion is destructive and harmonically rich and dynamic. Don't dick around with cheap cabs with this amp; if you want to REALLY hear this amp at its peak, run it with vintage 30's and you'll know what I mean. I, personally use a Behringer ULTRASTACK 4x12 slant cab (Because the 2 top speakers slightly slant left and right) With Vin 30's and old original Altecs speakers which are incredibly rare. My bottom cab is a G-Benz George Lynch 2x12 cab (AMAZING) and my stack's tone has alot of authority with this rig. Folks, especially you Mesa Boogie junkies....you guys are really hitting the sauce if you think your precious Triple Rectifier can outdue a 5150. You all just cant admit it because all of you payed 1200 - 1800 for your Rectifiers and cant admit that an amp that costs around 500 used blows the doors off of it; so keep telling yourelf that, nobody cares... except the other Boogie freaks. Sure, Boogies sound good, but 1000 dollars more good??? Hah, I think not! The BOSS Super Overdrive (Yellow) Pedal works wonders with this amp. In the high gain input, I have the pre-gain on 6. The boss pedal's level is at MAX, the tone is at 1 o' clock (To give the 5150 a little slack on the buzzy edge it has while adding some character to the slap of the strings), and the Drive is about 3mm away from minimum. It's perfect, for me anyways.

To you people who seem to find a problem with these amps, don't complain about this amp until you have a guitar and cab even WORTHY of plugging into one of these beasts not to mention the knowledge of how tube amps are used because you line-6 and solid state rejects need to learn how to use one before you complain about it. This amp is not junk.. it's real shit dude.

Definetly, never had a problem with it.

Never dealt with it.

No spring reverb, usually needs a re-bias if you do not want that buzzy "crossover distortion" since the amp's stock bias is biased rather cool(which is part of Van Halens "Brown Sound")

E-Mail me if you want to ask me anything! Have a nice day :)

Not very versatile many my think, but because the sound is so rich and full and smooth, I am able to use the rhythm channel with the crunch switch on and achieve a great thick lead tone for rock and blues via zztop/santana and I simply back off on the guitar to clean things up for rhythm. Single coils help the guitar to clean up even more when backing off on the volume.

When I play lead I want a thick full tone, not a sharp, ear piercing tone, I want people in the audience to hear my guitar sing sweetly, yet scream at the same time, this amp does exactly that! Your solos will take on a violin like beauty, while maintaining a rock edge. I also own a Marshal TSL 2000 head and it sounds thin next to this head.

Peavey equipment lasts forever...

Get on the phone and give them a call, they're waiting to assist you...

I've been gigging since 1983. I've played everything from Black Sabbath, Hank Williams, The Clash, The Rolling Stones, BB King, etc. I own Line Six pods, marshal tube amps, crate tube amps, fender tube amps, over 100 pedals of all kinds including tube screamers rebuilt by analog man, sans amps, and they all help in their own way to achieve certain tones and effects, but now for the first time it's just me, my guitar and my head and speaker cab. My fingers and the volume and tone control on the guitar do the rest.

Amp is about 8 years old. It is very versatile, I just wish that it had seperate tone controls for both the rhythm and the lead channels. I do dig the seperate volumes for each channel, though, really comes in handy for doing lead work. I honestly don't play much hard rock or metal with this amp, i bought it for the rhythm channel. It has a great, darkened crunch tone to it that I wasn't about to pass up for the price I paid for this amp (480 bucks american). HOWEVER, it DOES do a great hard rock sound (think Deftones, Tool, etc for hard rock), but i tend to play things more along the lines of Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Radiohead, Pearl Jam, etc.

I switch between four different guitars. My main two guitars are my Fender Fat Strat Texas Special (two texas special single coils with a Seymour Duncan Custom Custom humbucker i put in the bridge) and my fender Telecaster (with a Seymour Duncan stacked Lil '59 humbucker in the bridge). But i also use a stock Gibson Sg Standard and a stock Rickenbacker 360. Like i said, it is excellent for crunch and with a low gain setting, i use the lead channel as a volume boost. Not EXCELLENT for a clean amp, but it does the job... i usually use my Roland Jazz Chorus for that.

It's been through a lot of shit.. 7 years and still going strong. (If i ever need backup, I'd use my Jazz Chorus with my ProCo RAT distortion, who has money to throw around for real backups?!)

I wouldn't know

My setup goes as follows: Tele, Strat, Sg, or Rick into a homemade pedalboard (Boss Tuner, Crybaby wah, Boss Delay) into a whirlwind A/B amp selector which runs to my jazz chorus or my peavey 5150 and marshall 1960A cab. I've played for about 9 years now, and if this amp were lost or stolen, I would buy another, but I would also look around for Sovtek Migs and JCM800s and such. this amp would get a 10 from me if it werent for the lack of seperate tone controls

The Amp was built in 2003 and it perfect for playing the havier kinds of music. The amp has 2 channels, 1 rythm channel and 1 leadchannel. The rythm channel also has a bright and crunch option. The channels are switchable with a button on the amp or with the footswitch. With the footswitch you can also switch the effect loop on and off.

I use an ESP Horizon with Active EMG pickups and mainly play metallicA and slayer kind of music. The distortion is very good!!! It rocks! The clean sound is also very good altough most people say it isn't

Very solid built. Perfect for gigging. Only the footswitch is made of plastic and isn's very solid built.

Never needed them

I'm very happy with this amp and I don't think I buy another amp ever again.

1995 model 5150 head. the lack of a useable clean does bother me, but the overdrive is seconed to none. you all know the features by now. I re-biased this amp to use the jj's and the thing wails. A note to you guys who want this amp to sound good....re-tube the pre-amp! The stock pre-amp tubes suck. I put groove tube gold 12ax7's in the pre (p.s.-gt12ax7 golds are 15 bucks each and there's 5 of em), and this thing sounds better than ever before. The clean channel does blow, because you can't get it to clean up all the way. I don't think this thing should be a fender, I have a twin.....I just think eddie should have considered throwing a clean like the trippleX.

with ANY pickup the amp is brutal. My style is pretty well covered. I use this amp A/B'ed with a fender twin reverb, and It is the best set-up you can get. The twin does the clean, and this 5150 does the dirty. The amp is Very noisy in the high gain imput. What I do, is go into the lo gain Imput, and up the gain on each channel. Quiet as a mouse.

Never gig with a backup for the 5150. I have a fender hot rod deville that I use as a backup for the twin, but the 5150 is a tank. I am mainly submitting this review because Of reliability. I was rear-ended with this head in my trunk. The car was toatled, the trunk of the car was in the back seat, and everything else in the car was broken. The peavey 5150 head was banged up to hell and back, and the damn thing works great!!!!!!!!

lots of other gear. I have a Soldano SLO-100 head and a Soldano 412 cab, and I use the 5150 head on the Soldano's cab. I swear!! The SLO-100 has better cleans, but not at the volumes I play at!

1995, versitile as any,3 channels if you include crunch,i wish it had independent eq for each channel but hey what the hell,lotsa power on tap,stock tubes make the amp sound flubby myddy very loose bass with no conmtrol,i change the tubes and voila tight bass reponse and clear smooth highs i love it.

this is were this thing rocks, if you cant dile in a good tone outta this amp you are a moron,keep playing with your ss vamp are your pod..
tube amps are made for guitar players not ss woosies,if a sans amp are any solid state amp sounds bether to you then a tube amp you DONT KNOW SHIT about real guitar tone.......................
ive got jj6l6gc in the power section and tesla e83cc,mullard ecc83,and electro harmonix 12ax7 in the preamp, this amp sounds good now boy,before it was a little mushy now it blows alot of competition away.

built like a tank

i dont know never delt with them

i had a mesa boogie quad preamp with a mesa boogie 50\50 power amp trough a marshall 1960a cab before i sold it now. now i have this 5150 head bias mod,randall rs412w cab loaded with celestion v30,s and i love it.the sound is much fuller than my boogie,the bass is much more controlable then any boogie,s out there,you have to be carfull with boogie to much bass and they start to fart out real bad with my peave 5150 i can put the bass on 10 and it is still tight,i love this amp hey if its good for the man himself evh then it should be good for me

Come on, this amp is really crappy. I have rehearsed with it many times and there's so many other sounds out there, the distorsion is exremely fuzzy, no real crunch n punch wich is my base. the feedback is killing, used it with a GMajor but every effect sounds so muddy with this amp. I'd totally go Mesa or marshall. im using a Tech 21 sansamp PSA-1 nowadays, wich gives me something this unit doesnt, CONTROL. Havent heard it with the bias adjustment though. but i wouldnt buy an amp that needs tweaking out of the box to sound good!

Pretty basic head - early 90's block EVH model, 2 channels (3 if you include the crunch channel). As with everybody else, I wish it came with a basic reverb / separate EQ for each channel. 120watts of tube power, certainly not for bedroom rockers - like me :)
Normal head features like effects loop, 2 inputs - high gain and normal.

Ibanez 540S with breed & evolution pickups direct into the 5150 into a Marshall 4x12 cabinet. I use a Digitech Studio 100 into the effects loop. (The studio 100 sucks but that's another story)

Ok, sounds. I got blown away back in 1996 when I first heard it. The lead channel is just the bee's knees - very, very thick, screaming lead tone that maintains clarity and punch. I can play a Dmin7th chord and hear every note in the chord. It does sound a lot like later Van Halen tones. Not quite 100% there, as I still think he's got a lighter touch, probably due to his use of light pics, but still undoubtedly Van Halenish.

Clean channels are usable but as everyone said, it's not a Fender Clean. Crunch channel is quite a fair bit removed from the searing lead channel, its more like a Marshall amp just breaking up. Overall, it's no one trick pony that many make it out to be.

It sounds very good and clear in the normal input but I notice a fair bit of mud in the high gain input. Not much noise to speak of.

Compared to my ADA MP-1, the 5150 is just a major step up sonically. I thought the MP-1 was great, but it had a very compressed sound, very midrangey and focussed. Good for Nuno Bettencourt stuff, but not much else. It lacked clarity as well, and the MP-1 ONLY sounded good when I used a BBE Sonic Maximizer with it. The 5150 is much hotter, clearer, and what some guitarists would describe as 'open sounding'.

Rumour has it that it is modelled after the Soldano SLO 100 heads. I have to check these out to verify and compare the sounds.

I've been playing for about 10 years, and I play an eclectic mix of rock (Sabbath, Faith No More) shred (Vai, Malmsteen) and recently, Jazz. (Martin Taylor, Joe Pass) This head probably isn't the best for the latter, but it is still convincing.

I've owned it for only 3 months, but it's been a glorious 3 months!
If I were in the gig circuit, I probably wouldn't gig without a backup, not because the 5150's reliability is questionable, but just because its not very wise to do so, is it?

No comment here.

I would probably buy another block EVH head if it went missing, though I suppose I would be tempted to try out a variety of different amplifiers.

Overall, a great amplifier, no glaringly obvious faults, although separate EQ for each channel and a reverb would be wonderful. I think it deserves the Van Halen stamp of approval.

PS: If anyone knows how to nail the later Van Halen tone without spending ridiculous amounts of cash, please let me know!! I've read about variacs, early Marshall heads, Wolfgangs, but I'm talking about easily achievable results without excessive expenditure. Thanks!

Basic features: 2 channels, 1 eq setting, no effects but there is an effects loop. I don't really care about extra effects anyways...so many people are like "no spring reverb." So fucking what? Why the hell do you want spring-reverb anyways? This amp is for goddamn rock n' roll and heavy metal! Much like the basic Marshall JCM 800. Only this is BETTER.

I play heavy metal and this amp just completely fucking rips, it's not even funny. It BEGS for harmonics, and when you do hit one it's like it's sent from the bowels of hell straight for your ruptured ear-drum.
When you're on high-gain and you're not playing the amp will hiss at you, but when you're playing it's gone. I have never turned the volume past 3.5 (well maybe once), and the knob goes to 10.
I have no complaints about the clean channel, I don't want to sound like SRV so I don't care about reverb. There's no button that releases fire-breathing dragons or any of that bullshit, just a basic high-gain ballsy amp.

No problems yet, I've had it almost a year now. I took it to our first gig last week and it performed beautifully.

Haven't talked with customer support yet, thank god. There is a cool web forum on peavey's website where you can ask tech questions though.

At the price I got this amp, I should've bought 2. The only thing I would like to see is a separate eq for each channel, but I guess that's why there's the 5150 II eh?

The 5150 is not a "bang for the buck amp." It's a well build, extremely versatile high gain amplifier. It's only as good as the person using it is. You need good tubes, a good guitar, and knowledge of setting your levels when using a tube amp... This isnt like some cheap solid state crate that you can set all your settings and crank it; tube amps sound very different at different volumes, and the knobs must be adjusted accordingly.

Im using a ESP viper-50 with a Seymour Duncan Dimebucker in the bridge (Compare that to a Gibson SG, and the SG is sadly eaten) The dimebucker gives off this low end background hum with the power chords that bring out the TRUE monster in this high gain amp. Althought I am switching to a gibson Iommi pickup, which is also a wonderful pickup.
Can't get clean? Bullshit my friend. If you have a decent guitar that beholds a neck pickup, and you want a good clean sound.. the normal gain input is your friend. You dont need to plug into the high gain input if you have a decent guitar, the amp has too much gain to begin with -- which isn't a bad thing, because if you have a guitar with a pickup that isn't so sensitive, up goes the gain. I've gotten cleans with it that compare to my 1960's Fender Black Face Champ Amp. Distortion is amazing, no harm in taking out those ruby's and putting in some tighter sounding JJ tubes (www.eurotubes.com). Mine came used with generic chineese preamp tubes and I'm not complaining. 5 gain stages is more than anyone needs. The BBE Sonic Maximizer in the effects loop of the amplifier lets you hear frequencies that the tube clipping gives off that people dont hear without it. Frankly, I compared to a Bogner Ubershall (2200 dollar head), and the style of clipping you hear with the 5150+BBE is extremely similar to that of the Ubershall, especially with the dimebucker. It seriously blew my mind.

It's build very well.. a heavy amp insures durabilty and quality parts.

Never dealt with it.

It's just an amazing amp and anyone who thinks otherwise either has something wrong with their amp, has shitty cords\guitar\cab\etc., or is just a solid state lover.

Contact me at hatenomore2003@yahoo.com

The amp is an original batch EVH block letter from the early 90's. I've owned this amp for almost 10yrs. and still kills after all this time. Basic dial up features make quick work of setting up. The hi gain channel is stadium friendly and shakes neighbors blocks away. I've just discovered the rythm channel. Sweet old school rock blues tones can't be beat for the price of this amp. The first amp I've ever owned to drown out all drummer's incessant crashing of cymbals. Bloody magic!!!!!. To this day I still look for amps that sound tougher so I can put this one to rest and I cant find one.

Detune and drop tune guitars rule the hi gain. I play it thru a Rivera 4-12 Cab. I use Gibson SG and Ernie Ball Axis with a boss delay, chorus and flanger, thru the loop. Cry baby, bad horse wah wah and Rotovibe on the front end. Bone crunching detuned thuds in the hi gain with very little loss of hi end do to the presence and resonance dials. The guitar player in Tool should check this out. Rythm channel displays smooth tone ala Robin Trower Day of the Eagle. I can even dial up a SRV sound in this mode ala Soul to Soul. Once I discovered these sounds I don't even use the Hi gain. I also use a 60's Harmony guitar with a single p/u. I got it out of a garbage can. Cleaned it up and tuned to Drop B. By far the sickest sound I can dial up. It works in the hi gain and the rythm channels. Tom Morello would SH** his pants. On the front cover I stuck a picture of the Exorcist in full glory. It says it all. SCARY UNSTOPPABLE MONSTER.

In 10yrs it only went down once. I turned it over to my amp guy and some new 6L6's and a rebias and it works like a champ. I've roughed it up for a few years and it never let me down. I'm much kinder to it now though.

Never had the pleasure

Anybody who races out to buy a slick boutique amp or a seriously overpriced Mesa or Marshall should check again. Its right in front of you. Reasonably priced, reliable and basic user friendly. Some day the market will bear that these will stand the test of time. Very easy to resell used.

I play old school heavy and hard rock and this amp fits my style ok. It has two inputs norm and hi gain, two cahnnels, basic eq-knobs, two preamp gain controls, two post gains, awesome presence&resonance controls, effects loop, preamp out and two speaker jacks. With the head came also a crappy plastic footswitch for the loop and channel switching but as i said.... it really looks and feels bad to kick that plastic-made little bastard around.... The footswitch doesn't even bother to look reliable... I just strongly wonder why it has no in-built reverb, so i ended up using an ibanez-made vocal echo box with it. I'd give this amp a 9 but with the reverb and footswitch issues i give it an 8

I use various gibson and fender guitars, mostly an -89 LP standard, a flying V and an -83 tele and the amp responses really well to the completely different sounds of those guitars. The amp has great variety of sounds especially dirtorted ones from bluesy slight crunch to a messy mush distortion. Even on heavily distoted sounds it retains clarity and you can actually hear every note even from 6-string open Cmaj7-chord.... The hi gain lead channel is too hot for any kind of rhythm work but it just sounds kicking on cutting wailing leadwork. The EQ and presence/resonance settings give an awesome variety of different styles of sounds. I personally have the knobs arraged like this:
Input: Hi-gain
Rhythm channel:
Crunch&bright-switches in
Pre-Gain: 8
Post-Gain: 5
Lead Channel
Pre-Gain: 8
Post-Gain: 6
EQ
Bass: 6
Mid: 3?
Treble: 6
Presence: 7
Resonance: 4
This setup makes a cool slash-type rhythm sound and a cutting&singing lead sound
Again i'd give 9 but with reverb issues and other crap....

Well... it has served me well.... no probs

never dealt with....

If it only had reverb... something marshall-spring reverb style it would be and ultimate tool for a rock guitarist... but it does not so 8 again

As far as features go it's kinda limited. But as far as I'm concerned, the 5150 has all you need. There are two separate channels... rythm (not clean), and lead. Please take note to the fact that there is no clean channel. People have raked this amp over the coles saying that the clean channel sucks... the last time I looked at my 5150, I didn't see any kind of selector labeled "clean." As a matter of fact I'm also positive that nowhere on the amp does it say "clean." There's a footswitch with a channel selector and an effects loop on/off button. I'm kindof a purist when it comes to sound. I don't really like using effects at all, so the effects loop button is useless to me, but I can see where it would be useful for someone with multiple pedals or processors. I've had my 5150 for about a month now, and it took me most of the month to figure the amp out. It's a very simple amp, but it has no master volume control, which made it kind of tempermental and fussy until I really figured out what I was doing. Down to the nitty-gritty... this thing is a balls-to-the-wall 120 watt all tube gain machine. And that pretty much says it all. The only thing that I can think of that would improve this amp would be a built in spring reverb.

Again, I will go ahead and say that this thing does not have a clean channel. If you tweak on it for a while, the cleanest thing you can get out of it is much like an old Bassman breaking up a bit, but that's about it's limit. The rythm channel is awesome. I have never heard any other amp that comes close. I've played through the Marshall TSL head, and Mesa Dual and Triple Recs, and though they are both badass heads, for my liking it came down to the 5150. The rythm channel has some serious balls. And the lead channel has an extra third ball. I'm not much of a shred-head, so I don't know about all that stuff, but when I do kick it over to the lead channel and hit a lick, my nuts shake out of my trousers. Most definetly the ballsiest amp I have ever played through or owned. Right now I'm using a Texas Special Fat Strat. It sounds pretty good, but it just wasn't made for such a beast of an amp, so I'm looking into SGs. Not a very versatile amp, but they haven't made a high gain amp yet that sounds like anything from my 5150 all the way down to a fender princeton, and I'll bet you that doesn't happen for a long time (not counting Line 6.)

Haven't had it long enough.

No dealings with them.

Peavey makes some really good stuff. I also have a Peavey Classic 50 212 combo, and it's just as bad ass as the 5150 (just in a completely different way.) Anyhow... I wish the 5150 had a built in spring reverb, but nothing is ever perfect. Most definitely this thing is just as good or better than any high gain Mesa or Marshall out there, and for the price difference ($400 to $600), you can't beat this thing.

This is a follow up to me earlier post. I wanted to clear up some of the rubbish I have read in posts about this amp. First of all, the amp is set up with a Rhythm channel and a Lead channel, not a clean channel and overdrive channel. The Rhythm channel with the "pre" jacked and the crunch switch engaged get's more gain than the lead channel of some other supposed "high gain" amps. It wasn't designed to do Fender style cleans, if you bought it expecting that you are a moron and I request that you please refrain from breeding as the world has enough stupid people already. As for the lack of effects, anyone who complains about that should have RETARD tatooed on their forehead. There's this thing called an Effects Loop, learn how to use it!! Everyone has their own taste in effects, so to build effects into an amp is a crapshoot. Rather than put in effects that some people love and some people hate, or put in effects that no one ever uses, they put in an effects loop. Anyone with a brain is happy with that, but the world is full of brain damaged crack babies that want 20 effects built into their amp. I just wish those people would stick to Line 6 and Crate and not waste their time or anyone else's by posting bad reviews for good amps.

Like any good tube amp, you can get some very different sounds out of this amp with different tubes. The first three preamp tubes are for the six gain stages housed in this beast of an amp. If you are hellbent on trying to get a good clean sound out of this amp, swap out the third 12AX7 for a 5751, which has the same pin arrangement, but a third less gain than a 12AX7. This will also reign in the lead channel a little bit, which some people want because it borders on out of control. Likewise, if you want to squeeze more gain out the amp, put high gain 12AX7's in the first three positions. I recommend Electro Harmonix, but EI also does some really musical high gain 12AX7's. Obviously different combinations of preamp tubes will give different levels of gain and different tonal variety, spend some time swapping different preamp tubes in and out and you can cover a lot of different textures. The 4th preamp tube is for the effects loop, I recommend a balanced 12AX7, JJ's do a nice job here. The 5th 12AX7 is the driver/phase inverter for the power amp, I recommend a JJ here also.

As for the power tubes, I have heard a lot of people rave about the JJ 6L6's so I tried them, but for my taste the Svetlana 6L6's put them to shame and then some. My second choice is the Sovtek 6L6WXT, the amp also sounded very nice with them, but didn't have as much bottom as it gets with the Svetlana's.

The funniest thing that I have ever read in the history of the world was a few people saying that this amp doesn't have enough gain. This thing has six stages of gain, that's more than a Recto, more than a Soldano, more than anything I am aware of on the market today. If you are having problems getting enough gain out of this amp, either you have bum tubes in the preamp, or you need to go back to your crappy stomp box set up you are used to. Kids who use stomp boxes never think that real amps have enough gain, but there is a world of difference between the synthetic excuse for gain that you get from a Metal Zone, and the gain derived from cascading tube gain stages, which is much more organic. Unless of course you are a brainless Nu-metal Fag (yes, that was redundant), in which case enjoy you should skip this amp and stick to your stomp box.

One final note, get the bias set by someone who knows what they are doing. Peavey sets the bias too cold so that the tubes will last longer, but the sound suffers as a result. When you get the bias set correctly the amp sounds worlds better than it does right out of the box. I laugh when I hear people call this a mod. Setting the bias correctly is not a modification any more than setting the tire pressure on your car is a modification. A lot of shops will install some sort of external bias adjustment so that you don't need to get into the guts to adjust the bias, that is a mod. Just having a tech set the bias properly is nothing more than undoing the crappy setup that was done in the factory.

Absolutely Bulletproof. Never had the slightest problem.

Never had to deal with them.

This amp is not for everyone, but if you are looking for a amp with tons of gain and tons of tone, look no further. This thing could make a mouse fart sound like an atomic explosion. I use a BBE to tighten up the low end and a Hush to shut it up when I am not playing. I play real metal. Old Metallica, old Megadeth, Slayer, Sepultura, Suicidal, etc. When its set up right, this amp absolutely slays everyone else's rig. You could get a better amp if money is no option, but if you are on a budget and are looking for a high gain monster buy one of these.

fuckin balls to the wall heavy metal amplifier. 3 channel EQ for both channels. theres a good solid rythm channel and a great lead channel. you can tweak some cleans out of it but its not really made for cleans. no reverb. resonance control is awesome. this amp is made for rock/metal, so get your fancy effects somewhere else.

this amp is gold. sounds are perfect. i cant say it enough. from good ol fashion rock n roll to blazing metal, you can get it all inbetween. this amp is loud as shit too! sometimes too loud.
this is the perfect amp. ABSOLUTELY PERFECT

bought it used. it was made in 92, its 2004 now, and it sounds like a dream. never had a problem with it, owned it for a few months now. my friend has had his for years, and he's even dropped a MEsa 4x12 cabinet ON to this amp head, with no damage. his amp still performs like a champ.

peavey has a reputation of reliability that cant be beat

N/A

this amp is gold. i swear it will be a collectors item one day. i wouldnt sell it for twice it's value. if it were stolen i would cry, plus its the original issue with the EVH block letters, no the signature.
this amp rules. you will NOT be disapointed

this amp has all the features i need for what i play, simple, plug in and play with maybe 5 mins of tweaking tops, and it sounds absolutly amazing, i have friends that own basically every brand.. marshall, mesa, line 6, carvin, crate, you name it....only thing that comes close is a marshall JCM 900 or 2000 . and for all you idiots that say there is no way to get clean out of this amp thats bullshit. i have to get a new cab beause my ampeg 4x12 cant handle the sheer power of this monster...i cant even turn it up past 3 without my cab cutting out

this is a newer model 5150 with the signiture instead of the block lettering. i have a gibson les paul so of course this combo is going to sound awesome...when i first plugged into this amp i was using a shitty cable and it was noisy as hell and was acting up, so i switched to a monster cable and insantly it sounded great with no feedback or noise. so for all you guys that say this amp is noisy and gives alot of feedback JUST GET A MONSTER CABLE!!!! it seems like all you old guys that have been playing for decades have no common sence there are simple ways to fix the noisyness without spending extra hundreds....and another thing my 5150 loves cheap china made tubes they seem to sound as good if not better than a set of mesa tubes or groove tubes believe me ive played through them all. i would choose this amp over almost any amp on the market, i love it.

i bought mine used off ebay, when it came the box was totally thrashed, even halfway open with the amp sticking out. i opened it up and it looked and sounded new.i would play without a backup these amps are built like tanks ive seen friends drop these things straight on concrete and plug it in and sounds fine.

never had to deal with them.

no amp is a perfect 10, but this one comes in close, for the price you absolutly cant beat it, why not get awesome sound, relibiality, quality(it doesnt say handcrafted and designed in the USA for nothing, and hell even looks for aroung $400-1000 dollars. i have buddies with mesa boogies that have been playing them for years and say its not worth it....if you want the best distortin with BALLS behind it not just raspy noise, if you want tone tone and more tone with endless possibilities that is a fuckin monster off ALL tube power look no further than the 5150.

Cant give it a 10 here 'caus it does not do fender clean but thats is not what this amp is for!.. This is a rock amp.. everyone knows the features by this time.. but it is very flexible for getting a variety of hard rock tones.. I am very impressed with the amount of tweaking available.. reverb and all that other tone sucking crap is not required here.. effects loop is very functional as well.. My modle is a 1992 block front model - mint condition (poor stiff was selling off his studio peice by piece and needed cash)..

Peavey Wolfgang (very nice guitar to my surprice), 86 ESP Mirage Custom w/EMG's, 62 Reissue SG, when it comes to AC/DC, Zakk, Zep, etc.. they can all be done justice here..Have to admit.. when i bought this amp used.. I had my doubts as I am a vintage Marshall guy.. but I wanted to see what the modern amps were like and needed back-up for my early 70's Marshall gear...At first glance I was pissed off.. but upon investigation I found one 6L6 tube socket was cracked and after a quick call to JJ tubes.. we got this baby sounding sweet.. A further improvement was adding an EQ in the effects loop.. can scoup mids with the best of them now.. and the amp projects well also.. now for my next revolution and the reason I am writing this review.. The amp was making nice distorted sounds and plenty of power.. but like every idiot out there.. I was strickly using the HIGH GAIN input on LEAD channel.. as the RHYTHM channel had too many buttons to screw around with.. I was happy, but the clearity for this amp was not quite the MARSHALL clarity I was used to.. indivudual notes were not ringing as clear as the vintage Marshalls.. One day I decided to plug into the NORMAL GAIN input.. and (BANG).. that was it.. MARSHALL clarity and punch.. notes were exploding off the strings.. this is with Pregain at 6 and post at 4.. plenty of balls.. I am now a believer.. I put my standard rig together of Dunlop Wah, Tube Screamer (for Zakk tones), and Boss Chorus.. with my EQ and BOss DD-3 for a little echo in the effects loop.. and viola!.. their is the sounds I was looking for..!!! I dont even mess with the HIGH GAIN INPUT any more..

Have had not one single problem in 1 year of ownership now..

Have not tried to use Peavey yet.. but they have been very helpful on other subjects to date..

I am definitely looking at purchasing another or even the warmer biased 2x12 combo.. I will look into the variable bias pot as if their is a chance that this amp can sound even better.. I will try it.. I love my 100W super leads and my 2 Marshall Majors.. but lord knows when they will crap out on me..

This is 1992 block letter head, 120 watts of all out loud! Same
specs as all the other 5150's. Has no reverb,dont need it. Has
all you need to get the job done!!!

Ok when I first got this amp I thought it was lame. And then thought
I was crazy for trading my triple xxx for it, but then came the modification plan. Out came those crappy ruby tubes, and in went
the JJ's I got from Eurotubes.com and I also had this amp biasied.
Now this amp sounds KILLER! Get the JJ's and have the amp bias modded
it is worth it! My style revolves around heavy metal core stuff and
this amp dishes it out like no tommorrow. For the money it I dont
think you can do any better, and actually I prefer this beast to
some of the more expensive amps out there. The gain is very thick and has some serious grit to it. Im playing a gibson les paul gothic
that I had a gibson500T bridge pickup put into, it's tuned CGCFAD.
From there it goes into a randall XL cab with vintage 30's in it.
My only effects are a boss noise gate and a boss super chorus and yea
of course the footswitch. IMO this sounds great and I'll add that this
amp is very very very LOUD and has no problem cutting through the mix.
Watch the presemce and treble as you go up with volume, cause it can get piercing and the volume can touchy to,meaning to little or probably to much but no big deal, it sounds good kranked! The rythmn
channel can get a usuable clean tone with the pregain set around 2
and the crunch button disengaged, sounds great with the boss chorus.
Without the pedal it has a slight break up to it but oh well you want
that great of a clean buy an old musicman or an ampeg. Pushing in the
crunch button and dialing up the gain gets you killer hot rodded overdrive sounds that I' enjoy playing around with when Im not in
a metal state of mind, a channel definetly full of dynamics and a good
channel to jam some hard rock on. This amp isnt that bad noisy either,
but it can be noisy with higher gain settings but thats alot of amps.
Thats what that Boss noise suppressor is for anyways! This 5150
does what I need it to do and has no problems keeping up with a
drummer! Crushing!!

C'mon it's a 1992 model and it's going strong! This has given me no problems what so-ever. I dont expect it to, It's PEAVEY!!
Well built stuff, and then I'll mention this amp is highly rashed too!

If you need it, they try hard to help you!

I been playing for 11 years and tried lots of amps. This is about
the only one I can get some great crunch out of!
This thing weighs a ton but there's nothing
I really dont like about it. Not perfect but to me, it does it's purpose!If it got stolen Id definetly get another one, I already want another one!! I traded my peavey triple xxx for this and like this
amp much better! This amp kills for metal and hardcore sounds, just use a good cab a guitar to complete it further. I dont miss the triple xxx anymore.....GET THE BIAS MOD AND JJ's- you probably wont believe it!! Use a good guitar with it!!!