Peavey 5150

Doesn't matter if the amp is not usable.

I played this amp with a 2000 Gibson custom LP and a relic strat of the same year, the amp has that ice pick in the ear sound I only
associated with crapy ss amps until now, the noise this amp generates
is unreal, the guy at the store was trying to get a good sound out
of it and tweeked every knob while telling me about the harmonics
this "thing" pumps out but as the demo came to an end the only
good sound was when he shut the damm "thing" off and the room went
silent. I left laughing (inside) thinking, man, I can't believe
someone would pay more than 200.00 for this half stack.

Looks like it was built by K-tell, LOL.

Happily, never have never will.

I have been playing for around 25 years and have heard some stinkers
in my time but this one takes the cake. After I heard this amp and looked at the price tag, I thought, someone should sue Peavy for
fraud, The fact that Eddy Van Halen put his name on this product
just shows what money will do to your morals......Woa!

I am a simple guitar player. Two years ago when I was looking to purchase anamp, I was mainly looking for something with a solid high gain channel. I had previously owned a Mashall solid state amp, and the Marchall JCM 900, but I wasn't satisfied with the high gain response I was getting from either of them. I play in a progressive hardcore band, so all I need in an amp is a lot of output, and a great distortion sound. The 5150 fills these for me. I give its features a 7 because it does not have a reverb unit or separate EQs between channels-somehting that I'm sure would deter many amp shoppers.Many nice features, however, such as three channel selection, impedence selection, resonance and presence controls, and casing that is built to last.

I use an Epiphone SG with humbucker pickups. The distortion channel is incredible. Extremely brutal sound, but still manages to sing every note in a chord (high and low) beautifully. Very full , crisp, modern sound. The clean channel I'm sure could be used for all syles of music, but it would require a little more effort. Recommended for players looking for a diverse range of high gain sounds.

I purchased this amp with problems-occasionally cut out during practice. Once when I opened it up to repair it, I dropped the exposed electronic unit onto a concrete floor. The fall was hard enough to cut a patch cord in half and make a huge dent in the front panel upon impact. Despite this, it worked like nothing happened to it! Electronic components are glued down to the circuit board to protect it from falling, etc-keeps everything stable inside to ensure a long life, even with the most abusive owners. Haven't had to change a tube once. The amp has since worked perfectly. Very reliable.

Was able to download manual from website. Also, after I dropped my amp in the basement, I had to order replacement dials (for cosmetic purposes). Items were reasonably priced and arrived quickly. Very friendly service!

I love this amp and do not desire anything from it that it does not deliver.

typical amp layout
pre gain for clean/crunch post gain for clean/crunch ( in other words gain and master volume )
pre gain for lead and post gain for lean ( same again )
treble, middle, bass, presence and something diffrent with resonance which controls the amount of bottom end like the presence controls the amount of top end !
if you want more detail read some other reviews

i play mainly gibson guitars with standard pickups nothing fancy no high output pikcups or anything like that...

i play mainly punk with a touch of ska so i do need a leanish sound of sorts and believe it or not this amp can do it, ok its not the best clean in the world its not a fender twin but it doesnt sound as bad as most people seem to say on here...
the distortion is brutal plain and simple ive never heard so much gain from an amp head and this is my spare head to my mesa dual rec and even the dual rec has less gain.. seriously.
i use the head through a marshall 4x12 with vintage 30s which to me are the best speaks for guitar heads they seem smoother with more bottom end and more even mids. Unlike the last reviewer said the cab can handle this head no problemo and it sounds great.. i tried the 5150 cab when i bought my mesa head as i was trying out various heads and cabs for the best combonation possible this included mesa of which i bought and is probably the best amp i have ever hear, the 5150 which did come second, laney gh100L, many marshalls, vht and soldano, the cabs i tried were the 5150, marshall v30's and normal, soldano, and the mesa 4x12 with v30's ( it was the best cab but it was either the cab or the head so i got the head and the marshall cab which sounded almost as good ) and IMHO the 5150 cab did nothing for me.. to much bottom end..
just to point out yes there is noise but what heavy distortion valve amp does'nt have noise..
like i said this is a good head and it does get used a lot and its probably the second best amp ive heard..
( oh and i font like more than 2 channels on an amp as i use my guitar and fingers more than my foot to get diffrent sounds.. )

its big, its heavy, it aint my brother but im sure if it was it would never let me down.. im in the belief that this amp is really built well, as i bought it from a friend who wanted the money to buy a dual rec after hearing mine and his band played about twice a week, practiced twice a week.. for the last two years of him buying it but before i bought it i did get him to fo a revalve ( even if paid him more for doing it )

never dealt with them

i think this is a great amp and if it was stolen i would probably kick the guy all over the place but with the shear weight of it i think he would proabably get a strain of some sort first if he tried to run with it ( built in security or what )

Simple, straightforward controls, Effects loop, switchable ohm settings to use different cabinets if you feel the need, the footswitch is a little cheeesy and could be constructed a little more road worthy, a pure dummy can tweak the amp the way they like as it doesn't take a rocket scientist to play with the tonal controls on the front end.....

Anyone lusting for Edwards tone straight out of a box look no further and don't waste you hard earned dollars on anything else if this is what you are looking for. I am currently using this amp with a Peavey Wolfgang, a Peavey Wolfgang Special, a PRS Mc Carty, and a PRS Singlecut Mark Tremonti Signature Model. The way it is run with my effects is just like Edwards setup utilizing an H&H V 800 Mosfet amp feeding two cabinets wet with effects in stereo with a center dry. If you don't know what I mean go into www.guitargeek.com click on Edward Van Halen and there you have it, my setup, effects and all is identical to his. Why you may ask? Well I play in a Van Halen Cover Band and wanted to nail his tone exact, effects and all and you know what....it is and anyone who hears it swears by it. All I can say is this amp has tone for days and doesn't quit.

I purchased this amp head and three cabinets when they first hit the market ten years ago. Never once has it ever seen the repair shop, blown up on me or given me one problem. I never once brought a backup with me anywhere at anytime as I have such faith in this amp. It has proven itself to me over the years and has been faithful like any good woman. Money well spent. You won't be sorry!!!!!!!!!

Never once did Peavey or the local dealer ever get a phone call. Amp and cabinets had a 1 yr warranty

I have been playing now for 25 years. I also own a Line 6 AX2/212. I only use this Van Halen Setup for the tribute band. The Line 6 Amp as well as the previously mentioned guitars take care of my other cover band which is a current rock/ alternative format. I would replace the 5150 setup in a heartbeat. this amp needs nothing and is all one could ask for to duplicate edwards tone. One other thing ......if you want to really nail his tone and you buy this amp, save some extra dough and do yourself a favor and pick up a wolfgang, at least the special which you can get for about $700.00.

You Know the features, and dispite what some of you morons might think these amps are extremely versatile.

Im writing this review in response to some of the dumbasses that are giving this amp bad reviews, and to offer a little advice to those that have one or are considering purchasing one.

1.) Cabinets
Both 5150 heads were designed and biased to be used in conjunction with the 5150 cabinet(s). If you look up the specs for either cabinet you will notice that the cabinet handles 300watts, each speaker being voiced at up to 75 watts rms each. Now, in a Marshall JCM-900 cabinet each speaker (usually Celestions) handle about 30watts rms each which in reality is only about 120 peak watt handling for the whole cabinet. On the other hand the speakers used in the 5150 cabinets are not your average guitar amp speakers, they are actually loudspeakers originally designed to be used in high-watt PA systems, but they have been slightly modified for use with the guitar amp. The JCM-900 cabinet along with other Marshall cabinets are designed to work with the distortion and power of the Marshall units(also notice that even the biggest Marshall heads only put out about 100 watts).

2.) Power
This is a VERY powerfull amp. IT IS LOUD. Now, even though it is listed at putting out 120 watts, when you put all the distortion of 5or6 12AX7 tubes and run them through 4 6L6 power tubes that is going to end up being the equivalent of about 600 watts. The 5150 cabinets are designed with this amount of power in mind, other cabinets made by other companies are not.

3.) "Lack of Reverb and versatility"
This amp was designed for EDDIE VAN HALEN by EDDIE VAN HALEN. Now this guy has at least $15,000 dollars worth of high-end equiptment to run the 5150's signal through so he doesn't really need an amp with reverb in it. So if you want this amp with reverb QUIT BITCHING and go buy a reverb pedal or good multi-effects unit.

4.) Volume
I say again, THIS AMP IS REALLY REALLY LOUD. So if you live with your parents or in an apartment complex this will not be the amp for you.
It was also designed to be played at high volumes so it won't sound very good with the post gain at .5 .

5.)Guitar
If you are playing a squire or some other guitar with shitty single coil pickups you will not be impressed with the sound of this amp. Get something with some good humbucking pickups in it. DO NOT give this amp a bad review because you are playing through a shitty guitar.

I play mine through a EVH Wolfgang with a BOSS GT-3 in the effects loop so it sounds absolutely awesome.

If you treat your amp like shit it will treat you like shit. This amp is built like a tank, however it is not invincible. It has delicate electronic equiptment inside of it that be damaged if not properly cared for.

Havent needed it.

This amp is the supreme GOD of all amps. LOUDEST AND BEST DISTORTION EVER. Again, dont buy, use, or give this amp a bad review if you dont know how to use it properly.

just like the rest of them. It has the EVH block logo, instead of the signature on the front though. I think it has plenty of features, I just wish that the bright and crunch settings could be footswichable on the 5150 I head. It still has all the essentials

Well first off it has a great distortion channal. At low pre gain settings you could get a great bluesy distortion, and on hi gain, well let me just say brown is a great color if you know what I mean. On the lead channal I don't put the post gain above 2. Its at a reasonable leval at that point, and thats really all I need. I run it through a Carvin 2x12 cab with Vintage 30s, and it sounds great at low volumes, and if I wanted to go higher it would go just the same. The clean is a little crappy, but if you keep the pre gain down, and add an eq pedal it sounds fine. I use a Sansamp GT2 as an overdrive pedal, and a clean pedal, depending on what setting I put it to. When I put the sansamp on a low gain setting, and turn on the lead channal, it kind of puts suger on top of the great distortion already there.

I got it used so it has a few problems. There is a rip in the power cable, that goes half way around the cable, which worries me a little. I put some electric tape on it and hoped for the best. Otherwise it looks sturdy. With a tube amp its never a %100 though, because you have to worry about tubes

Again I got it used, I don't plan on using Peavey's shitty customer service. From what I heard they aren't a good help anyway

Its my first tube amp, but compared to others I have heard, I really like it. It sounds great, and I really enjoy it.

Dont know what year it was made in but has block initials EVH on front. Rated 7 for amount of features not quality. For me there is plenty of features: 2 channels (both can be dirty as you like!) , presence and resonance ( mint), single EQ, all tube, effects loop, 4,8 and 16 ohm settings for cabs, two jacks for cabs, 120W! I never use the effects loop so i cant comment on that. its my first half stack so i may not have reliable opinion. suits me though as i play punk rock. presence can be used to get amazing ground tremors when palm muting. i dont like resonance - it gives me a head ache if its too high but on 5 it is fine and cuts through anything. there are earlier complaints about single EQ but i never get the need to have two completely different sounds on each channel. i like it.

I use cheap fender strat with seymour duncan custom humbucker at the bridge. on other pickups (very cheap) you get loads of noise and feedback on the same gain settings as almost silence with my humbucker. on maximum gain it is so noisy that you would have to stand quite a way from it to sound good. Ive only played in a pretty small room but ive actually made glasses fall of shelves at the other side of my house when on post gain of 2.5!! i love the distortion of this amp. i had the smaller peavey rage before which sucked. i used to only play new school punkrock like bigwig, greenday, NOFX, pennywise. with this head i had the extra head room to try new stuff and im now playing a lot of black sabbath, pixies, ACDC which to me is a lot harder than what i was playing before - 3 chords!
Im yet to get a clean sound out of this amp because it always seems desperate to go dirty. not a bad thing in my case. how brutal is the distortion?... brutal enough to not even resemble a guitar. will need a 2 mile cable to get far away not to feed back on max gain. MINT I can get perfect ACDC, black Sabbath sounds aswell as making my own tone which i now stick to no matter what i play. id say this amp can produce any rock sound you want. just leave it alone if you play gospel-folk-country. oh yeah and it would be wasted on limp biskit and papa roach although i cant think of what kind of music that is. theres no end to my progression since i got this amp.

Ive only had it a few months but looks sturdy enough. the 5150 cab however is alot lighter than i expected, comparing it to some old Laney 4X12 that ive used. Tubes are bound to go though. Its an older model but looks brand new. Well looked after

Havent dealt with them

ive been playing about 3 years. I have my strat, the peavey rage and this. and a rocktek distortion pedal which is now redundant. I love the power and distortion. SIMPLICITY. ive always like keeping stuff simple and this doesnt have any more knobs than my 15W practice amp yet it is far more versatile. i got it for 340 poonds seconhand aswell (in mint condition) which is well worth the money. I dont hate anything about this amp. itll be my first and last head. when buying it i also looked at the Marshall MG100RCD but the more i read reviews about it, the more i hated it. too marshally for me. Remember when reading this that I am only a 16 year old kid and i have only tried 3 half stacks in my life, marshall, laney and the 5150. This is by far my favourite, especially for that old school metal and punk that everyone seems to be forgetting about thanks to marlyn manson, linlin park ( hahaha), limp biskit. I was definitly born in the wrong time and so was this amp.

Features..not much to say here. You know the basics, one EQ for both channels, no reverb, all that. Footswitchable channels, one rythm one lead. The resonance feature is unique to this amp, and I think is a key to making it what it s.

I use a Les Paul studio...this amp is noisy. There isnt much in the way of tonal versatility, it sounds like a 5150. Very high gain, very throaty growl. I've read the other reviews, and I just dont see how people can use the max distortion on this amp, if you turn the pre-gain up past 5, it's VERY sloppy sounding. You can use the EQ to clean it up a bit, but it still sounds muddied. It's got a great rock sound, but if you use enough gain for crunch metal, it's sloppy. However, the throatiness and the growl on this amp is unmatched. Believe it or not, I use a Boss metal Zone WITH this amp and it SCREAMS!!! Low end thunk and crunch like you wouldnt believe! This amp is what does it, I've used the metal zone with lots of other amps, and never achieved this sound. The way the amp is voiced is perfect for metal...hard, growly HEAVY metal sounds. So to sum it up, I disagree with the rave reviews of the distortion on this amp...it does have INCREDIBLE gain, but the way it's used, it sounds sloppy if you use enough to get he really saturated sound.As for clean, it does well enough if you use some chorus to dress it up. Nothing spectacular, but if you're interested in this amp, you're not interested in sparkling clean souds. This amp is for HARD, rip your head off metal. The drawback is the one EQ, so whatever settings you use for dirty, you cant change for clean. You can get around this by using an EQ pedal, but it would be a pain. Get a chorus pedal. This amp will rock your world.

This thing is built like a bull, very heavy, very rugged.

Never dealt wih the copany, but I've got a 5 year warranty.

I've been playing for about 8 years, and this amp is my dream come true. My lead guitarist has one, and we always clashed sonds...two of these suckers together has an incredibly tight, smooth HEAVY sound. I own a tubeworks power amp, which I use with a KMD 4x10 cab. the sound is WEAK compared to this amp. I use a Les Paul studio exclusively.
I love the throatiness, growl, the ...sound. Those that have played long enough know THAT sound, just THAT sound. This amp does it for me. Marshalls and Boogies dont cut it. The key is to use it with a 5150 cab, they're designed for each other. evn with a pedal, I can get that real Tube-ey sound. If this amp were stolen or lost, I would buy another one immediately. Dont mess with the 5150 II, it's voiced a little differently. Overall, for metal, this amp ROCKS. There's nothing quite like it. If you can afford one, I highly reccommend it.

Let get one this straight: the Peavey 5150 is made only for rockers who can handle balls-swallowing METAL ACTION (or AXE-shun). So if you wearing some fucking backwards red baseball cap and thinking you're gonna be the next Korn Against the Bizkit or whatever the fuck you listen to, then you might as well just take that $5,000 Les Paul your uncle gave you and throw it under the tires of whatever pussy-ass sport coupe you're driving, because the 5150 doesn't have TIME for your PUSSY-ASS SHIT!

See, the people at Peavey were smart, because they put like twenty knobs on the 5150. Anyone who knows how to truly rock knows there's only one knobs that matters -- GAIN. That way, when the salesman sees you plugging in the Mexico-made Fender strat or whatever other pussy-ass guitar you pick off the rack, and he sees you start messing with every knob on the board while you insult the 5150 with your blatantly non-metal licks, he can kick your sorry ass OFF the chair and beat you like the REO Speedwagon fan you probably are, because no one who truly understood the 5150 would waste time with knobs when they could be pumping out some killer Sacrificium tunes on a Signature Randy Rhoads Jackson V at top volume.

You know what I use. SIGNATURE Randy Rhoads Jackson V, downtuned to B, with only my DOD FX-59 THRASHMASTER pedal between it and the 5150 (look up the THRASHMASTER for my other reviews). Yesterday, I took my 5150 over to my friend Dino's house, and he opened it up and disconnected every knob except the GAIN one, and then we busted that knob off so it's permanently stuck at 10, because that's the only number I need to know when it comes to pumping out my hot n' tasty licks with my new side project, LETHALICON, when we hit the stage at the Greenbriar Community Center every Thursday. After Dino and I modded my amp, every time i hit a low B, it sounds like the members of Hierarchical Punish are in my basement, beating the members of Civilization Hatred to death with amplified, unbridled metal brutality. This amp is for PURE, SLUTBANGING METAL, so don't even touch it unless you're ready to proclaim your dedication to annihilation!

I always say a good amp is like a good woman -- if it lasts through the first couple beatings, it's yours for life. This baby can take all the kicks and still pump out the hottest licks. Once, when I caught my little brother looking at my Signature Randy Rhoads Jackson V, I strapped his head to the 5150 and hung him out the window by his ankles. He kept squirmin' and hollerin' until finally I dropped him, but it was okay, because the 5150 was hooked back up in minutes, and none of the blood or snot stopped it from giving me the hot metal injection I demand. Let me put it this way: the 5150 will treat you better than any girlfriend, because it screams louder, it's easier to pick up, and it shuts up when you take your plug out.

You think I have time to talk to corporate non-rockers about this shit? No fucking way! Any time I got a problem with anything, my amigo Dino sets me up just fine. Sometimes, I'll call the customer service number, and when they pick up the phone, I'll put the receiver down by my amp and crank out "Fool for the City" by Foghat just to show my appreciation. They're never on the phone when I finish, but I'm sure they like to hear how at least SOME of us know how to use their amps for the prep-smacking ROCK they wanna hear.

I've been playing long enough to know that this amp kicks more ass and gets more chicks than my band's last bass player. Look, if you're still reading this review, then you obviously have some sort of cranial damage. If you do, that means you probably already own a 5150 and a Signature Randy Rhoads Jackson V, in which case, KEEP ROCKIN'! Because if you didn't already own one of these, by now you should be at Guitar Center, buying your 5150 head and telling them how they need to hold a Guitar Center 5150-a-thon, because it's the only amp that matters anyway.

1996 model
You know the feature.

INCREDIBLE TUBE DISTORTION!!
It takes some time to get the sound you want. I've had this amp for a while and now I could get any sound I want. Metallica, Tool, RATM, GnR, Cannibal Corpse, u name it!
I use chorus and reverb pedal to make the clean channel little more alive.
I can't believe some people put the gain on 10!! I never go past 5 or 6.
And people who said this amp sucked obviously didn't spend much time w/ the amp or didn't change the power tube.

I'm in a band and I can totally depend on this amp, it never let me down.

I emailed them with Q's, and they replied me the very next day.
They are very helpful.

I was going to get a Line 6 Flextone or a Marshall valvestate 102R brand new. But, I thought Line 6 was somehow lacking something in sound. So I got a Marshall 102R, but it broke down within a month. I wanted to excahnge it with the same new one, but that was the last one in the store. Then, I suddenly saw a used 5150 head, which I heard a lot about that they have monster gain and power. So I gave it a try and, "Boy was I glad my Marshall broke down!!!"
Without a doubt I felt like I've found the perfect amp for me.
Although it was a used one, it was in very good condition and costs less than Marshall 102R, so I even saved money.

Made in 94' Hi-gain tube amp, 2 channels (rythem, lead) switchable crunch. great for rock and hi-octane metal maybe some blues.
To bad it has no reverb but this can always be realized with an external box. Massive power! with 120 watts this baby is REALLY loud!
The effectsloop is a bit noisy but decent enough.

I use Gibson Les Paul with standard P/U and a Ibanez 550 with dimarzio evolutions. I mostly play Hendrix, Dream theater and Pantera stuff with it and it suits these style very well. This amp has surely the best MODERN hi-gain sounds i've ever heard. It actually sounds a lot like a dual rectifier(bit more sparkle) IMHO. When i got this amp it sounded like crap, gain sucked, very trebly sound, no low end. I retubed it with JJ's and WHOA!! what a difference! it turned into a monster. This amp has an insane amount of low end, highs are very articulated. I use a boss GE7 (EQ) in the effects loops to really fine-tune my sound and fatten up the distortion. The lead channel is pretty noisy tough but only at ear-killer volumes. The lead channel actually sounds grand at low(bedroom) levels too. The clean channel however is not quite that good, it's very uninspired and distorts even at low volumes.. U can use it for practical applications but i recommend using a reverb or chorus box to spice it up. This amp was surely made for leads and heavy distortion.

Built like a tank! this amp is a real workhorse. I've been all over the country with this amp. it took some serious abuse. This amp won't brake unlike some of the Marshall's i owned. I always keep a spare set of fuses and tubes with me just in case.

Mailed them once with a question about a mod i wanted to do got an answer 2 months later. Customer Support should work faster than that. Got an apology though.

I play the guitar for over 8 years now and i have used several Marshalls and laney amps. i still use a Marshall JCM900slx sometimes wich is great too(classic gain). IMHO this amp is a killer. it can be really tricky at first but you need to take the time for it and do some severe tweakage. If you want a glorious Modern Rock/Metal sound get this amp. I compared it to the new three channel marshall's a rivera head and a dual rectifier. The Marshall can't hang with it 'gain wise' The Boogie is alright too (more user friendly) but the 5150 was the best sound-wise.Did i mention it's cheap too? Definitive A+

Ok update to an earlier review...and everyone knows the features

update...im still using the CE22 with a JB into it, high gain input...i installed new Sovtek 5881WXT powertubes...whoa! what a difference! it was overdue (got the thing in 96) so i decided to get new ones...and it sounds like there were blankets over the speakers! sounds brand new now! if you havent retubed, do it now! high end is much more clear, mids are punchier, low is heavier. clean is clearer too. do yourself a favor...upgrade to quality tubes and you wont be disappointed with this amp!

never broken...even after a car wreck. ive used it without a backup...take good care of stuff, and itll take care of you!

good

as good or better than any other high gain amp out there...simple to use to boot. lots of sounds...cant beat it for the price! check it out if you want high gain, crunchy tones! good for detuning too. heavy!!! heavy!!!

1998 model, you all know the features, 120 fuckin'watts of tube power and a ridiculous amount of gain.

Setup: Ibanez RG with lo-pro edge and emg 81 in the bridge pos. Ibanez flanger/chorus pedal in effects loop, through a 280 watts marshall cabinet loaded with the fabulous vintage 30's.
I play death/grind with it, and it handles everything nicely, fast playing will not drown out in the mix, and palm muting processes tiny earthquakes everytime you do.
The distortion is awesome, very good sustain, and still tight enough (not past 6 or 7 though) clean sound.... is nonexistant, but what the hell.
It is noisy, but it is a high gain amp, it has some feedback, but that was with post gain at 8, and I have a high output pickup of course.

I do not really know what condition it is in, but it seems fine, I will be replacing the tubes with sovtek/mesa tubes when I have to.
I would gig without backup, because I don't have any.

Asked peavey which year it was made in, e-mailed me back in 15 minutes

My previous amp was a sovtek mig 100, but I had to use a effects processor for the distortion, so that sucked, I saw this one, tried it out, and it sounded sublime!
I would buy a dual rectifier someday, If I had the money.
But I think this one will stay with me for some time.

See previous review

I just wanted to say something about the tubes and a problem I had earlier...

If you're having problems with a microphonic squeal, this advice could help you...I usually turn the presence on my amp up to ten, but I used to have problems with an annoying microphonic squeal if I turned the volume up past four. NEW TUBES HELP THIS AMP *TREMENDOUSLY*!

I put Groove Tubes 6L6 and Sovtek 12ax7 in this amp and the sound quality is outrageously better...more gain, more bottom end, more mids, and best of all, less noise. I only have to turn my gain up to about 3 to be satisfied now, and the only noise that I get is the fault of my pickups...

BTW, for those EVH purists looking for the brown sound, invest in a digital delay and an equalizer. I nailed the tone from Panama with the following:

A digital delay (boss) set for some delay
A boss EQ with the 800k and 1.6k frequencies slightly cut
Dimarzio Super Distortion pickup in the bridge

Gain at 3
Low at 4
Mid at 10
High at 7
Resonance at 3
Presence at 10

using the 5150 cab. I was shocked, I don't even like EVH that much but the fact I could nail that tone made me feel pretty good.

This amp works wonders if you play anything that needs a good distorted tone. I saw the guys in Poison The Well use this amp in Louisville (the other guitarist uses a Blue Voodoo, also, adn they both use Marshall cabinets, for the guy taht posted about PTW), as well as the Hope Conspiracy and Cephalic Carnage. This amp has a great tone, but I feel like one should invest in a good equalizer, a BBE Sonic Maximizer, and possibly a noise supressor to bring out the VERY BEST TONE that this amp has to offer. NEW TUBES are also recommended, with regular maintenance.

See previous review

See previous review

Great fucking amp. I like it better than Mesa/Boogie's Triple Rectifier, although that amp is a lot lighter and has more headroom. It's all in the fingers.

THIS AMP DOES NOT SOUND LIKE KORN. IF YOU WANT A KORN/LIMPBIZKIT/SLIPKNOT/GAY ETC, GO BUY A CRATE AND A IBANEZ SMASH BOX. THIS AMP DOES *NOT* SOUND LIKE THAT.

1993 peavey 5150 head. i found it used on ebay and bought it without having heard it. i play metal/hardcore and needed a solid amp. after asking bands that i like (shai hulud, poison the well, snapcase, etc.) what they reccommended, most said this amp.

it has 2.5 channels, and that is my only complaint with this amp. sure, it has power galore and a distortion that is amazing! but the clean is only as clean as a dirty blues amp. there is a crunch button on the clean channel that is like a more mild distortion, but it is NOT footswitchable. the effects loop is cathode driven rather than tube. there is no reverb like on the combo. all channels share the same eq. a lot of these criticisms were "fixed" with the 5150-II, but that thing does not have the same gain.
I LOVE THIS AMP, but it is a one trick pony without many bells or whistles.

amazing! as i said, i play very aggressive music and this thing is so perfect for me. i honestly don't lust after a mesa or marshall. i had the cash for either of them, but they didn't hit me like the peavey.

i use a carvin dc-127 all mahogany neck thru with emg-89's. this is a great guitar for this amp. dark, crunchy, high gain output, sustain like crazy.

the amp can play lots of styles, but you really need to tweak the controls to do that. not a great amp for someone with 40 amp tones desired playing live. i have 3 settings that i use -- one on each channel. THIS AMP IS NOT THE MOST USER FRIENDLY TO COAX THE "PERFECT SOUND" FROM! i love what it does for me, but it took me about 2 hours to play with it to get it just perfect.

for my purposes, it is a 10. for someone more diverse in their styles, it would definately not be.

this is one of those "dropped out of the back of the van and still plays fine" sort of amps. its a tank.

i had one problem with it. at practice, the singer would scream and my amp would lose power. it was not a problem with my amp but the power draw on the circuit in the house. if this thing had a built in power conditioner, it would be invincable!

i am a regular on the peavey forum and they are extremely helpful.

bought it used, so warranty was n/a.

i bought this 6 months ago, toured it and recorded with it. i know my amp pretty well and am not writing about something i jammed out on in guitar center for 5 minutes.
if i ever needed a clean channel, this amp would have to go. if it were lost or stolen, i would purchase another. it is the most high gain amp i have played, and i tried everything from boogies to marshalls to line 6 to fenders. honestly, the only amp i would dump this for would be a soldano slo-100. this amp sounds a lot like the soldano in the distortion (it is rumoured that the 5150 is a cheap imitation of the soldano, but you know how rumours work), but the sl0-100 has a beautiful clean channel. when you figure i paid less than $500 for this and the soldano is well over $2000, it's no contest.

FOR THE MONEY, this is probably the best high gain rock/metal amp on the market.

I wish I could control FX loop's output level and clean channel had a separate EQ.

I retubed powertube with syvetlania and I use Mesa recto cabinet but I wish I could have tried 5150 cabinet but I couldn't find it in my area.
Although the clean channel sounds pretty lifeless. The distortion sound is just incredible! I can get many metal sounds out of it, although I couldn't get Rage against the Machine sound, it seemed pretty impossible.. has anybody tried and come close? maybe I need JCM800...
I also got some blues sound as well using neck and middle single coil p/u's with tone knob set to low. I wish EQ was more responsive which would have made this amp very versatile. I feel kind of weird concerning more on resonance and presence knobs than EQ knobs. I would give 7 for versatility and 10 for sound.

It's never broken down on me!
Once, while I was playing, suddenly I hear this annoying squeal from amp and I was like "Damn! I should't have bought a used one!" But then I figured out that my 7 band Equalizer's batteries ran out and the pedal was making the noise hahaha!!

I couldn't afford Mesa triple rectifier so I bought this and a mesa cab and I'm very happy with this amp's distortion. I wish it was more versatile with well resposive EQ's but I feel like I'm asking too much for $400.

No effects, reverb, or seperate eq for the clean channel, but...

I use BC Rich(USA Series), & ESP guitars with it! Hey listen! I have been playing guitar in bands since age 11. I am now 26. I have always used solid state for the crisp fast distorted leads I could get...but now..holy shit! I have been lookng at tube for 2 years and haven't seen any I like, rectumfiers(slim), JCM(slimmer), everywhere I turned no tube would sustain as much as I wanted, yet with the punch I need! Until I tried one of these out! Wonderful! I play in Flames, soilwork, iced eath, anacrusis, type metal. This head rocks! I ran it straight and it sounded great! Gain can't be set past 6. Then I hooked it up to my effects rig, and WOW! Brilliant! Tones I could sport wood over! I run a BBE, and a 35 band EQ through it and it clears everything up! The only reaso I am giving it a 9 is the clean channel! I like it but t is no Eric Johnson-Fender Clean! If it were, thing would be worth loads...But played through a 5150II and there is no difference in clean! Actually the lead channel voicing on the II is different. I don't like it. This original is much heavier! Don't pay the extra $250 for the II, it is not worth it!

Dealt with peavey service Center before, and it is fast! Warranty is 2 years minnimun, and 3 more if ya fill out some easy questions and mai it to peavey!

Brilliant! Metal! Metal Forever! Can work around the clean channel with chorus and seperate eq! Worth every penny!

Mine was made in 1993...I bought the floor model in '94 (saved a c-note that way) Features are well spoken for already.

In my earlier days, I played a Hamer with humbuckers into the 5150 with the gain at 7 or so, which was overkill. Now, I'm using Strats with single coils with the gain at 5. I get great tone and sustain without losing dynamics. I switched from a legato-based style to a much more picking-oriented approach, and the amp handles this nicely, except that sometimes there is TOO MUCH pick attack for me.

The EQ, to me, is useless. It has minimal effect on the tone, so you're basically stuck with your guitar's natural tone, or you better add an outboard EQ of some sort.

The clean sound is terrible; I use the rhythm channel for a mildly distorted sound that I can't get out of ANY other amp. I need to bypass the front end of the 5150 and use a separate preamp for clean tones.

I have no noise problems, since I don't crank the gain, and I always use a gate anyway.

The only time it broke down was when someone yanked the plug while I was playing and it blew the power tubes in one quick and painless death. Now, 6 years after getting it, some of the knobs have a tendency to fall off. UGH...not a big deal, but a pain in the ass.

If Peavey would make a more versatile EQ, and perhaps actually have a CLEAN sounding clean channel, it would be perfect. I don't miss the lack of reverb--I hate those spring jobs anyway, so I use a rack (oh no...gasp...a rack in the year 2000)

2 channels, the usual stuff

i play rock/metal using neck through the body guitars with emg pickups. i own marshall jcm800, jcm900 heads, and a variety of celestrion equiped cabinets. this head sounds killer. here's a tip: put a boss ge-7 eq (or better)in the efx loop and you'll swear you had a blanket over the speakers before.makes a HUGE difference. the clean channel sucks, sorry , and the efx loop level should be hotter than it is. but hey, my dirty tone rules the universe!

seems sturdy enuff

overall, this amp kills for ALLOT less than a boogie

By now anyone who has been playing guitars for over a year should know the features of a 5150, although 1 difference between this head and other heads is the resonance knob. This kind of tightens the flab out of the bottom end and somewhat allows you to "tailor the head to your cabinet" I give it a 5 because this head does one thing well, gain...GAIN....and of course G.A.I.N!!!!!!!!!!

For what I like to play this head kicksazz... no I do not play metal...although there is not a heavier head out there. I have owned the Line6 Flextone, a Rivera, Marshall, Rocktron Rack Crap, Sovtek Tube midget, RedBear, etc... you get the picture, and yes, the reason I dont own a Lexus is because I have been trying heads for 7 years....Here is the skinny, this head is good for raunch blues (roll off the volume knob) channel 1...straight rock, gain on about 7 on ch.1 or punk gain on 10 channel 1. For metal you can visit ch2. Which by manipulating the gain can get all the sounds of ch1 except clean...and when I say clean I use the word loosley. You can get a clean sound but jazz friends, look elsewhere. This amp is LOUD...at 120 watts tube I have never turned it past 5 1/2 even on outdoor gigs. Guess what, I had the 5150 cab and a Marshall cab, I find my favorite sound is with a Fender Rock Pro 4x12 because this cab has more clarity and the resonance knob has a greater affect on this cab...Yep, the $350 cab sounds better with this head...Lets not forget however that worshipers of 7 string Korn Kiddos will not be let down by this head...the resonance knob lets you have controls of those angst ridden low chords we all love. But this is just one shmucks opinion. I give it a 10 because for what it does, it does better than anything else I have owned....period.

Heads dont have action. but it does have tolex. how original.

I believe this thing is as reliable as a tube amp can be...I have never had it even look at me funny and I have bought 2, used and have never changed the tubes even after 2 years that I have had it...They still have the chinese communist specials in them.

never dealt with them

Excellent head for Rock,Punk,Metal,Progressive and very nasty blues, like the kind stevie played...NEVER EVER,EVER, USE A HOLLOW BODY WITH THIS HEAD!!!!THE RESULTS ARE DEADLY TO YOU AND YOUR AUDIENCE...DEATH BY FEEDBACK.

older model not sure of year says EVH in block letters on front
Versatile enough for me . I play classic rock , blues , modern alt u name it...
could use eq on each channel but thats what the 5150 II has so get that if u have a beef with the single eq.
U all know the features of this amp if your reading this review column
I reall like the resonance knob because I am using a 2x12 carvin cab open back with 2 carvin british series spkrs wired in series (16ohms total) and the resonance knob lets me get all the low end I need from even that cab!
plenty of power for jammin with 6 pc band (3 gtrs!) lets me cut thru no prob.

Im using it with a couple of strats (std and big apple) and also a copy with LIGHT swmp ash body and a carvin c22 reversed angle in the bridge pos.Also using a Carvin dc400t.
can use about the same eq settings for all those except the carvin which has more output and bite so I eq some high end out and use less gain
This amp has more gain/distortion that I could ever use but is controllable .
when I got it used off ebay it had an assortment of tubes in it and was kinda noisy and harsh. It came with 4 audioglassic blues tubes 6l6wgb (china) and 2 sovtek 12ax7wb , 3 sovtek 12ax7wa.
I retubed it with 5 GE JAN 5751 NOS and 4 sylvania 6l6gc (str 387)
and what a difference! The amp totally came alive and a clean sound was now possible but crunch always just a flick of the switch away!
I HIGHLY reccomend replacing the preamp tubes with 5751s if U think that the amp is harsh and has too much grind!
I wouldnt say I can get crystal clean now , but very clean is possible on both channels if u play with the knobs a bit!
If u cant get the sylvanias the svetlana 6l6gc is pretty close and in my opinion even better in the case of microphonics(certainly less expensive!)
By the way this is a fixed bias amp so to get it biased an amp tech would have to add a bias pot . Dont even bother because most ppl can't even hear the diff anyways u just have to pick a tube that the amp worx well with and if u stick to 6l6gcs I think u will be fine.
Most of the tone comes from the preamp tubes anyhow

would gig without a backup but also have a few spare fuses , preamp tubes, and a matched set of replacement power tubes if u really really really want to be safe.
Never has this amp quit on me but tubes are delicate so be prepared.

never dealt with customer support
The peavey website has a great amp forum however, and some great info can be found there

been playing 20 yrs
I also own a Peavey backstge plus,and a Fender Bluesjr.
If it were stolen or lost I would get another one once I had finished bereaving it!
I basically love this amp and I dont even play metal!
the 5150 II has separate eqs for each channel and I wish this had it also
dont write it off until you have given it a chance to shine with QUALITY tubes.

1996, everyone knows the features (shared EQ, resonance, presence, pre and post gain for both channels, bright and crunch switches for rhythm channel) high and low gain inputs...preamp out..etc. 120 watts. i like heavy stuff (godsmack, OLD metallica, Iced Earth) but a lot of other stuff too...Elton John, Yanni...plenty of features for me...plug in and play...why mess it up with extraneous gadgets?? maybe not totally versatile for some, but i can make it do what i need it to...it can sound Marshall-ish (not completely, but good enough for me) and Boogie-ish (but not generic...) think about it...you can do a lot with the guitars knobs, pickups, and your hands...its not ALL the amp. the ratings for amount of features just to let you know.

PRS CE 22, no maple top, Duncan JB in the bridge...suits my style (heavy stuff usually...lighter when i want to be!) my set up...PRS into Boss CE-5 Chorus, Morley volume/wah, high gain on amp...pregain on rhythm (im not sure, the knobs broken...but its set to where its slightly broken up, cleans up with pick attack, and has a nice fat crunch when the buttons hit) lead pre 4, bass 10, mids 1.5, high 4.5, posts at whatever i need, resonance at 4.5, presence at 8. i retubed the preamp with sovtek 12ax7lps tubes (same as Mesas!) and they were supposed to be lower gain...wrong! the ones in there were low gain! now the dist is incredible! and i dont see how anyone can turn the gain up to 10!!! thats dumb! theres too much! 4 is plenty, 3 is nice too...5 is crazy, and anything over that is too crazy! its a little noisy...nothing i cant handle...rhythm channel isnt, but its not a great channel...not much sparkle...even with the bright in (which is actually a set presence knob...it does add a slight boost, you gotta listen for it) i use the chorus on clean though...not through the efx loop (it doesnt sound good that way to my ears...not rich enough) that adds versitality, sparkle...nice clean, but could be better. lead channel great (retube people! LOL) you can sound like a Boogie...it sounds a lot like a Soldano SLO actually...to my ears anyway. its patterned after a Soldano! so why not? LOL clean is distorted at high volumes...it is allt he time almost with me (the way i have it set) its a loud, badass rock amp...but if you know how to control it and work with it, you can use it for lots of stuff...it looks like a one trick pony, but it will do rock, punk, metal, pop, or whatever...work with it! i have for four years! :) one word of warning...use the treble knob judiciously!

it survived a car wreck, and 4 years of playing...same old power tubes as when i bought it...new preamp tubes, but thats cuz i wanted to try something to work on the dist...sounds kick ass now! one knob broken off (pregain for rhythm) no biggie...i have it set how i like it! gig without a backup? have before...im not worried at all!

always seem to answer my emails quickly...send me literature quickly. never called them...but this is the South i live in! i know theyd probably be really nice, even if they didnt know a whole lot about hte product...i dont know hte warranty, i forgot :o) i know where a dealer is (my town, or about 50 miles away where i bought it) no problems here. rating is a 6 because i havent dealt with them much.

been playing about 8 or 9 years...i own a Laney 4x12 with three celestions and a peavey speaker...and an old Peavey Audition Chorus practice amp i dont use much (it blinks out sometimes LOL) i love the simplicity...plug and play! be a man!!! who needs a lot of gadgets? crank the volume and wail! thats what i love! im a punk in nature, in background...punk music is my favorite...what is it? simple! i compared it to some marshalls and other stuff, i passed them up because of the price. i dont wish it had anything other then seperate eqs possible, or just a better rhythm channel (cleaner, more sparkle) but hte chorus helps...i can live with it the way it is...i dont want too many gadgets...if it were stolen, id cry...lost, how can you lose something THAT heavy!?? but if i did, i would get another one, or a 5150 II because i hear that these heads arent made any more...find a used one probably (seems like a lot of people dont like them...oh well...more for me!) other gear? my PRS and my squier Strat with a JB Jr. heavy strings (10, 13, 17, 32, 42, 52) tuned down a whole step, and dropped the low D to C (dropped C tuning? LOL) my boss chorus and morley wah...thats it, and some cables. i dont like a lot of junk...if i just had the amp and my guitar and a pick...i could live! change the angle of the pick...do some pinch harmonics...mute the strings a little...turn down the volume knob to go clean...theres lots you can do...just try it all out!

It was a later version with a signature on
2 channel with 1 eq
crunch, bright switch
resonance, presence
FX loop
foot swith for channel change, and FX loop on and off
I give it a 7 because of just one eq and no reverb (I gotta have reverb, I had to spend another money on reverb pedal...)

The previous owner put GROOVE TUBES in and, I love the TONE, DISTORTION, and POWER this amp has!
I play Mettlica, Slipknot, Dream Theater, Vai, Satriani, and many more. When playing really heavy music, I use boss equalizer to fatten up the distotion, and never have to use distortion pedal, I am not much of an effect guy, effect pedals I use are
CryBaby 535Q(My favorite!), Tremolo, Digital delay/Reverb, and Flanger. (I'd would like to try Jekyl and Hyde Overdrive, but couldn't find it anywhere)
I am actually a fan of a Marshall, and Mesa tone, so I'm not 100% satisfied with this amp's sound but it does come very close to the sound I wanted and I'm loving it!
The only thing I don't dig is clean channel, it gets distorted at high volume. But when its pre gain is around 2-3 it doesn't really get distorted but it's not as loud as it should be. Probably, if I get a 4x12 cabinet it would be loud!
Currently, I am using 1x12 Mesa/Boogie BLACK SHADOW, A GREAT CABINET!!
I'd love to get a 4x12 Mesa Black Shadow but, that's way too much money for me. Damn Mesa products! they are awesome but too much expensive.

no doubt

I play Washburn, Samick guitar with DIMARZIO TONE ZONE p/u and ESP guitar tuned in (B,D,G,C,F,A) so I get a low 7string sound when sacrificing a high string.(I love this guitar! I get so HIGH when I play this guitar!! it sounds so HEAVEY when plugged into 5150 with Equalizer!)
This amp rocks! if you see it, just try it!
But, if you want 2 separate eq's, get 5150-II.

I think my amp was made in 98. I would give it a 10 for this category but this amp doesn't have seperate EQ's. The EQ doesn't shape the clean channel anyway. This amp is very versatile in certain aspects: it's not a blues amp, it's not a jazz amp. This amp will do ANY rock or metal sound. A lot of people use it for punk too. Pretty much everybody knows the features: high and low gain inputs, shared low, mid, high, resonance, and presence controls. The clean channel has a crunch and a bright switch. This amp is NOT a master volume amp. It's 120 watts with 4 6L6's in the power amp, and 5 12AX7's in the preamp. This amp gets really loud. I've never been drowned out by anyone else's amp, except my friends Mark IV (great amp)!

I mainly use my Les Paul Standard into a Bad Horsie, a Boss chorus, then the high gain input on the head. The effects loop has a 482 Sonic Maximizer, then a Boss DD-3 delay in it. My guitar has an EMG-81 in the bridge, an EMG-60 in the neck, and an SPC presence control(mid-boost) in the bridge tone knob position. I play mostly very heavy rock (i.e. Creed, U.P.O., Perfect Circle, Guns n'Roses, etc.) I am yet to hear a heavier sound! If anyone wants to know all my settings you can e-mail me. This amp is noisy, but it's not any noisier than a rectifier or other high gain amp. I can get a heavy, saturated sound at ANY volume! In my opinion, there are three things that SHOULD be done to get the best sound out of this amp: a retubing, a sonic maximizer(must!), and high output pickups. First the tubes. The stock tubes are shit! I put Groove Tubes (ECC83/12AX7 Golds) in the preamp, and Mesa Boogie Svetlania 6L6's in the power amp. These preamp tubes were the highest gain tube on the market at the time (2 years ago). Now there's one that's even hotter...next time I say. These power tubes are about $75 a pair at a guitar center, and about $50 over the internet. They are expensive, but these are THE best!! I kid you not! I've tried many different power amp tubes and these are simply the best. Second, a Sonic Maximizer is a must with this amp! Once I tried one with this amp, it was impossible to play it without one. That's all I'm going to say about it, it's a must. Last, high output pickups will top it off. I used a Duncan Distortion (SH-6) in the bridge for awhile and it was o.k. The bottom end was a little flabby and the sound just didn't cut. I just replaced my pickups with the James Hetfield setup (an EMG-60 in the neck, and an EMG-81 in the bridge). These are the best pickups I have ever heard. I'm not going to elaborate on the pickups because this is an amp review, check out my pickup review for more info. This amp can play very clean (not Fender Twin), but very clean. It will get distorted when you play the clean as high as it will go, but what do you expect? This amp can also play heavy, thundering power chords, and blazing leads! Don't expect to play John McLaughlin of course. This amp will handle any metal or rock sound imaginable.

I've never had a problem with it yet. I've gigged and jammed for hours straight in over 90 degree weather. I would definitely gig without a backup, although I would carry some extra tubes. It has a five year warranty too. I don't think I'll ever have to use it. The amp didn't NEED a retubing either, I just did it for a better sound. And a better sound it gave me. Retube this amp and look out!

I've never had to deal with Peavey and I don't think I'll ever need to.

I've been playing for 7 years and I love this amp to death. I would probably the 5150 II if I ever got a new amp. I own more gear than I want to write! This amp doesn't even compare to any other amp in its class. I wish it had the seperate EQ's so I could dial in an even better clean. I strongly suggest checking out this amp!

regular old amp features. two channels, low mid high, but one thing that was nice was the control for presence and resonance. the presence is like any other amp, but the resonance is there for really fattening up the sound.

I mostly use a les paul classic with stock pickups through it. I've used a bc rich nj bich with an x2n in the bridge before, but it got a little too harsh and sloppy. I bought this amp the day after I tried it because I wanted to be louder live. My old band played alot of VFW shows with no PA and I just wasn't getting through the mix. Well, let me say that I got so loud live that my drummer couldn't hear himself. It's a good loud amp, but it's out of control. If you want to hear the notes you're playing, or play technical stuff with Slayer style 832nd notes and stuff, you should check out somthing else with a tighter sound. The 5150 is made for big power cords and gutter punk type stuff. It's got plenty of distortion (everybody at Harmony now..."how brutal is it?") -if you crank the pre gain to 10 and the post gain to anywhere beyond 5 (don't do this in the condo) you will start to get that whistling noise in your ears whenever you play. Also, you might want to get a Hush system or something like that -this thing sounds like a fat drunk guy whispering a secret in your ear even when you have your strings muted and your guitar volume rolled off. Screw the clean channel, this is a review from a metal player, what are you doing here if you're not a metal player? To sum it up, this amp is a big, dumb, loud monster. Petrucci's and Gilbert's need not apply. Oh by the way, has anyone else heard the stories of some guy named "Eddie V" using a wall of 5150's just for show on stage while a certain "brown sound" Marshall slaves away hidden under the stage? Hmmmmmm...

It's only shat out on me once at a gig. I had it for about three months before that. I bought it used so I don't know how old it was or how worn the tubes were but whatever, I don't treat my things very nicely so I can't complain. It held up pretty good in the beginning.

Good for distortion, but too sloppy. One wierd thing I noticed, when you are playing on the lead channel, if you turn up the gain on the clean channel the overall gain will go up. I don't know if this is exclusive to my beat up amp, but it's a pretty cool trick for a couple more sounds to squeeze. Lastly, I gotta know, when Ed was putting this thing together did he tell Peavey "ok, sounds pretty good, but before it goes into production can we make it twice as heavy as me?" Eat your Wheaties or get a roadie.

Well, not many features here. Basic amp setup. 2 channels, effects loop, no reverb, bass, mid, treble, presence, bright switch, crunch switch. Nothing special.

Well, i'm more of a heavy guitar player. Coal Chamber, Slipknot, Staind kinda sound. The 5150 is a decent amp. I didn't get a chance to play it all that loud considering i just played the hell out of it in a music store. The overdrive channel sounds kinda mono, nothing a good chorus couldn't fix. Kinda Living sacrifice-ish (i think that's what they use, not that i like them anyway) The clean channel is just that... clean. To sum it up, it sounds ok. Nothing great.

I didn't actually buy it, but peavey seems to have a decent forum, and they seem to be pretty helpful. Always have been for anything else i've wanted from them. Anyway i didn't play it enough to know, and i didn't buy it.

Peavey has a great forum, like i said. The seem to be helpful enough.

Like i said, it's alright. Nothing special about it. One peice of advice though, if you get it, don't get the 5150 cabinets. Get the standard peavey 412m cabinets. Sounds a LOT better with them.

About versatitity: I would lie if I would say that this amp has lots of features. It doesn't even have reverb. What is does have is a lot of tubes, two channels, a well-working effect-loop, a crunch-switch and a bright-switch (I don't know if this switch even works, I never heard any difference between bright on and off).

This amp is just about one thing: TONE. Oldneighourshaking high gain sounds with lots of sustain and enough power inside of it to tour all over this sorryass planet.
This sound would cause a Marschall to run away scared. Not that I'm saying that a Marschall is a bad amplifier, just that one shouldn't attempt to get high gain from for instance a jcm900; you might as well
attempt to get your mother tot sleep with you (that's right, you don't
even WANT tot try that). One thing though; it's REALLY hard to get a clean sound from this amp.

In my vocabulary, PEAVEY=RUGGED. The only thing really vulnarable about it are the tubes. Never had any problems with it, and I don't expect to ever will.

never dealt with peavey.

This is a badass amp if I've ever seen one. Wanna see the rest of my gear?
http://www.non-divine.com (my band's site) is where it's at. Or hear it live (two of 'em!!!) and see non-divine in a town near you.
stay metal-------------MARTIN

I feel that this amp can really do a great job, it gets great all tube tone, and rarely runs out of power. I really like the "crunch" and "Bright" buttons which add to the tone. I also find the effects loop very helpful in stopping the "snow" sound you can get using pedals. But my favorite feature on the amp is the great amp distortion, i used to use either my metal zone or my big muff, but they have been made obsolete by this amp.

I use this amp with dimarzio super distortion humbuckers and get great response and tone from them. I am in a hardcore band, and it fits in great at the local shows. The only down side of the sound is the clean channel, it tends to "clip" even on low volumes, but i dont use it often so its not an issue for me. And again, it has the greatest amp distortion i've ever heard.

never had a problem with it, and never second guess it, and you shouldent either.

never had to deal with customer service.

buy this amp if your all about power and distortion!!!!!

This is the signature model. I don't know what year the head was made, although it's condition suggests it's a later build. You get a standard head here: 120W, 2 channels (which can be switched via footswitch), pre/post gain for each channel, bright and crunch features for the "Rhythm" channel, effects loop (which can be used remotely via footswitch). You only get one EQ for both channels, and in addition you only get one Resonance and Presence for both channels. Most people aren't hampered by this, as they usually configure the EQ to voice the Lead channel. The EQ is pretty passive anyway, so it's not going to make a huge difference. The Resonance and Presence controls act as an active preamp for the head; Resonance manipulates bass response, and Presence manipulates treble response. Yes, there is no reverb. I play metal/hardcore/punk, so I don't need it anyway. The appearance of the 5150 head is very nice. Looks sweet. The strength of this head doesn't lie in its versatility, it lies in it's tone.

I use a Gibson 1998 The Paul with factory pickups (see my review on that as well). It suits my music style perfectly. This amp is very aggressive and very loud(volume wise). Anyone who says this head has "muddy" tone did not spend enough time experimenting with the EQ, Resonance, and Presence controls. The lead channel is nothing short of breathtaking, if again, you take the time to adjust the controls to your taste and your instrument. People are serious when they say you have gain to spare. My pre-gain is at 7 and it growls. Great sustain, lots of crunch, and lots of harmonics. If you play metal/punk/hardcore music, than this head is perfect for you. Investing in a BBe 462/482 Sonic Maximizer will make it sound even better. I've played through a Marshall JCM-900, JCM-2000, and a Mesa Dual Rectifier and the only head out of those three that can compare to the 5150 is the Dual Rectifier. They are actually quite comparable, except for the fact that the clean channel on a Dual Recto is better. Distortion wise, I'd pick a 5150 anyday for the tone and the price.
The clean channel isn't the best, but you can get a clean sound if you aren't using hot pickups and you keep the pre-gain low. If it still distorts, switch to your neck pickup. On the other hand, if you are looking at this review, then you aren't looking for a head with a great clean sound. I can see blues musicians using this just for the power. The head can be noisy, but it's a tube amp. Replacing the tubes will help and investing in a good noise gate will help. If you have a shitty instrument, don't complain.

I've had mine for only two weeks, so there is no way to tell from my own personal experience. I will say that this head has the factory tubes in it, and for the tubes to still be performing well is commendable. The head weighs fifty pounds, so it is built rather sturdy.

The website is the extent of my dealings with Peavey Customer Service.

I have been playing guitar for 7 years, so I know a good sound. I owned a Peavey Transtube Supreme head before this, which was a good solid-state amp. If stolen, I would try to find the block letter model instead of the signature model just because I am a nerd. I must say I love this head. Reverb would be nice, but I'm not complaining. I know that Peavey doesn't have the best reputation when it comes to guitar amplification, but this is an awesome head. I have had nothing but compliments on this amp, and I am very confident in my setup and overall sound.

I still have this amp left over from when I was a Rock dude. Now I play Blues exclusively but I really dig that over the top Gary Moore Blues tone. He uses two Soldano half stacks and I don't have the bucks for that so I hung on to my 5150. Basically it does one thing really well. Mondo distortion. The clean channel is harsh and mostly un-usable especially on stage because the louder you make it, the more un-usable it is.

I heard the 5150 II sucked too because they didn't add reverb or a Fender or Marshall style clean channel. I heard it was better but they should have put more work into it.

Despite all of this I love my 5150. I used it with a 2X12 Cab. Clestion Vintage 30's. Nothing sounds like it. I used it to record some heavy Blues style stuff and I would never have gotten the same tone with another amp. It's thick, smoldering, and rude. Check it out at:

www.mp3.com/oscarjordan

You can hear it on the song "Mister Bad Luck." That's the 5150 with a Vox Wah and my Fender 60's Reissue. I used the clean channel and just turned it way up. Tweak that eq for taste. I dig it!

I bought this amp at a pawn shot for $350. It must be the one of the older ones but was in new condition. It has the block lettering and the signature on it. It has a normal input and a high imput. 4 12AX7 tubes. The tubes are not the original tubes. I am going to replace them with russian tubes as suggested by a certified peavey tech. I play every style jazz, rock, classical, country but mostly jazz and hard rock. It has a footswitch input for channel switching which I do not have and do not really need. I am a student at GIT and do a lot of playing and practicing. I've been playing for 13 years. My main electric guitars are an Ibanez 770 with a tone zone in the bridge and a fred in the neck as well as a stock Ibanez pm20 jazz guitar. I find this amp to be quite versitile although some other people may disagree. Nobody would deny the 2nd to none rock tone that you can get out of this amp. I messed around with it and the jazz guitar until I got a beautiful jazz tone out of it too. It just took a little patience and probably also has to do with the beautiful jazz tone that the pm20 produces as well.

This amp suits my style almost perfectly. I am running it through a marshall 1960A cab. I would trade it for a boogie rectifier or the new 3 channel marshall but that would be the only possibilities. More so the boogie but the marshall would be a toss up. This amp is very simple to use and I have no trouble readjusting quickly to a jazz tone from a screaming rock tone. The jazz tone could be a little better but I'm not coplaining because a jazz amp would never be able to roar on rock like this one will. The distorted channel is a little on the noisy side. I have a GSP 21 legend that I rarely use. This amp sounds good with no other imput and using the digitech would slow down how quickly I can change tones which is one of the things I like.

I have no problem using this amp without a backup. I've owned it for about 6 month now and I have no idea what it's history was because I bought it at a pawn shop. I did have to replace the ceramic fuse in it once which was a pain in the ass because I had to order it and do without the amp for a week and a half. I suggest that other owners buy a pack of those fuses which only cost $1.95 but can save you from a huge headache if you already have them around.

Peavey was exceedingly helpful when I got this amp. I sent them an e-mail telling them how I bought it and where. They sent me a spec sheet and owners manual immediately and refered me to a peavey tech whose store is only 3 blocks from my house. The peavey tech was extrememly knowledgable and proffessional and I am very pleased with the customer service.

I replaced a crate G1600 full stack with this head and a marshall 1960A cab. I can't even begin to tell you the difference in sound. I used to have to run mad effects through the crate to get the mud out of the sound. Even with the effects it was still rough. This combination that I have now needs no additional imput. I am thoroughly pleased with this amp and peavey. GIT has half a dozen peavey combos in every room and I can understand why they have chosen them as standard equipment at the school now that I own one myself. I would definitely buy this amp again unless I had the money for a top of the line boogie rectifier. I played the new marshall 3 channel head briefly at a music store and I think it is really about the same but much more expensive. I would have to have a longer test run of the marshall to say if I would rather have it.

MY HEAD WAS BUILT IN 1997, THE FEATURES OF THE AMPLIFIER ARE PRETY MUCH ONE DIMENSINAL, BUT THE ONE FEATURE WHICH IT HAS THIS AMP DOES BETTER THAN ANY AMP IF HAVE EVER HEARD. I THINK THE LEAD CHANNEL IS INSANE THE CLEAN COULD USE SOME WORK BUT HEY WHO THE HELL REALLY WOULD BUY THIS AMP BECAUSE OF THE CLEAN CHANNEL THE NAME OF THE AMP SAYS IT ALL 5150!!! CRAZY INSANE THAT BEST DESCRIBES THE LEAD CHANNEL.

ALL THE GUITARS I PLAY ARE IBANEZ. THEY ALL HAVE EITHER A DIMARZIO TONE ZONE OR AN EVOLUTION BUT I DO HAVE ONE THAT IS A SATCH MODEL WITH A FRED WHICH IS NOT A HIGH GAIN PICKUP. BUT EVEN THAT SON OF A BITCH SOUNDS GOOD THROUGH MY HEAD AND 5150 4X12 CAB. I KEEP MY PRE GAIN ON THE LEAD AT AROUND 61/2 WHICH IS WAY MORE THAN ENOUGH AND I AM THE KIND OF PLAYER WICH HAD A BOSS METAL ZONE AND DID NOT THINK IT
HAD ENOUGH DISTORTION. I PLAY MAINLY SATRIANI AND SOME VAI AND I CAN GET ANY SOUND WHICH I AM LOOKING FOR IN THAT AMP. THE PRESENCE CONTROL IS VERY RESPONSIVE AND THE BOTTOM END IS INCLREDIBLY TIGHT
MY BASS HARDLY EVER SEE'S 5. AND I LOVE A LOT OF BASS. THE FACT THAT THIS IS SUCH A HIGH GAIN AMP AND STILL MANAGES TO GUT THROUGH SO ARTICULATLY WHEN PLAYING LEADS IS AMAZING. SOLDONO SAYS PEAVEY COPIED THIER CURCIUT BOARD AND YES IT DOES SOUND VERY SIMULAR TO A SOLDANO SL100 BUT I DONT THINK SOLDANO MSHOULD BE UPSET WITH THAT AS SO MUCH INSTEAD BE UPSET WITH THE FACT THE 5150 DOES DO WHAT THE SOLDONO DOES WITH THE GAIN BUT PEAVEY DOES IT MUCH BETTER WITHOUT A DOUGHT. SOLDANO HAS A BETTER CLEAN CHANNEL BUT I AT LEAST EVER BODY THAT I KNOW DID NOT BUY THIS AMP BECAUSE OF THE CLEAN CHANNEL. MY GOOD FRIEND DALE JUST BUT A MARSHALL 100DSL AND SWEARS BY IT WHATS FUNNY IS HE JUST BOUGHT A JACKSON SOALOIST AND CALLED ME TO SEE IF I COULD RECOMEND A REALLY HIGH GAIN PICKUP HE HATED THE PICKUP AND IT HAPPENED TO BE A 59 SEMOUR DUNCAN WHICH I THINK IS GREAT SO I ASKED HIM TO BRING THE GUITAR BY SO I COULD HEAR IT THE MINUTE I PLUGED IN MY 5150 HE SAID I HAVE NEVER HEARD MY GUITAR SOUND THAT HOT I DID NOT HAVE THE HEART TO TELL HIM IT WAS HIS AMP A $1200 MISTAKE BUT HE KEPT THE PICKUP AND BOUGHT A 5150 COMBO USED. THIS AMP HAS THE BEST DISTORTION IN ANY APM I HAVE EVER HEARD AND I KNOW MY FRIEND DALE AGREES WITH ME. EVERY BODY TALKS ABOUHT BOOGIES SAVE YOUR MONEY YES THE BOOGIES ARE MORE VERSATILE BUT IF YOUR LOOKING FOR PISS YOUR NAIGHBORS OF MOOLTEN SKIN MELTING DISTORTION THIS AMPLIFIER IS THE BEST YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED.BUY ONE!!!I GIVE IT A 10

NO PROBLEMS TO DAKE OTHER THAN NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR LIKE REPLACING THE TUBES ITS THE HEAVYEST HEAD IF HAVE EVER PICKED UP AND ITS BUILT LIKE A TANK PLUS IT JUST LOOKS COOL THIS SIDE OF A BOOGIE RECTO.DEFINTLY A 10

GREAT THE HEAD I BOUGHT INITIALLY HAD BEEN A STOORE DEMO FOR 8 MONTHS SO THE TUBES COULD HAVE USED TO BE CHANGED I CALLED PEAVEY AND THEY AGREED AND PAID FOR NEW TUBES ALL I PAID FOR WAS LABOR THEY ARE GREAT. IALSO GAVE THEM A 10

I HAVE BEEN PLAYING FOR 16 YEARS AND I HAVE OWNED MARSHALLS SOLDANOS AND EVEN AMPEGS AND CRATES AND FOR THE SOUNDS THAT I AM LOOKING FOR THIS AMP DOES IT BETTER THAN ANY AMP IN IT'S PRICE RANGE OR EVEN THE $3000 DOLLAR BOGNER PRICE RANGE. GREAT GOB PEAVEY AND EDDIE YOU GUY SET THE BENCHMARK AND NOBODY IN MY OPION HAS COME CLOSE AT ANY PRICE YOU MIGHT WANT TO GET A DELAY PEDL BECAUSE IT IS A DRY HEAD, NO REVERB IN ANOTHER WORDS I USE A BOSS AND IT WORK GREAT. I WOGHD DEFINETLY BUY ANOTHE ONE IF IT WERE STOLEN OR LOST WITHOUT A DOUGHT.I AM HOEVER A LITTLE DISSAPOINTED THAT PEAVEY NOW ONY MAKES THE 5150 11
THE LEAD CHANNEL IS MICH TIGHTER THAN THE 515011 AND I DONT REALLY HERE THE DIFERENCE IN CLEAN CHANNEL EVEN THIGH THE 515011 IS SUPPOSED TO SOUND BETTER. O I GUESSED I'D HAVE TO FIND A USED ONE AND KILL THE PERSON WHO STOLE MY HEAD,(JUST KIDDING) PLAY ONE IF YOU LOVE HIGH GAIN AND ARE CONSIDERING ANY OTHER AMP FOR THAT PURPOSE YOU WONT BE DISSAPOINTED.

The amp is versitile everyone knows it has monster gain you can get a nice clean tone if you drop the mids out completely put the highs around 7 or 8 and then dial in your low end for a nice crisp clean sound the EQ is shared so i try to set my clean sound up on the rythm channel and then set up my gain on the lead channel a straight forward amp with no B.S. I try to stay away from the presence knob cause i feel that it kills my tone but i add a little resonance sometimes i use my amp for band practice and gigging the power of the amp is intence i never max the volume levels out

i dont have problems with my clean channel the lead channel it is noisy but you can control it if you spend time with your amp like everyone should i play heavy aggresive music and the amp still has power to spare i use an ibanez seven string with hot hot pickups and a peavey 412 its not the 5150 cabinet

my channel switch is broken but i beat the shit out of the amp hauling it to gigs but it is nicely built but i have only had it for about a year

never dealt with them

the amp fits my style well but its not for everybody i just wish it had seperate eq's on the channels remember the more you physically put into your playing the better you will sound with any amp

This amp is one of the earlier 5150 models with the block lettering "EVH" on the front. See other reviews for features.

This amp isn't very versatile, but it does what it does extremely well. I use this amp practicing with my band, as well as private practice in my bedroom, and it works great at both volumes.

By the way, this amp apparently had after-market tubes installed before I purchased it free of charge, but I have no idea what kind.

I'm running a Squier Super Sonic (with a Seymour Duncan Invader in the bridge and a Dimarzio Humbucker from Hell in the neck) straight through this amp at the moment, no external effects save a Boss GE-7 equalizer running in the effects loop to shape the sound. I play mostly metal and grind, but I also throw in jazz and emo parts, which require a clean sound of some sort. I just roll down the volume of my neck pickup for this kind of thing, and it suits me fine-I love the broken up clean sound that this amp gets, I don't even bother using a channel footswitch. I just play with the lead channel all the time and roll off for clean. It's a bit noisy with the gain turned up past about 6 or so, but if you back off the presence you can do it. I usually keep the gain on 4 or 5, presence on 10, resonance on 7, bass on 7, mids on 0, and highs on 7. The post-gain (volume) has never needed to go past 5 or 6.

The rhythm channel is just a little too spongy for my taste to use as a distorted channel, and I don't have a footswitch to use to switch from clean to dirty, so I just don't use it. It has a nice, punchy clean though, it reminds me of a Marshall clean, which, believe it or not, I am a fan of. I HATE the Fender clean sound, seeing as it sounds so plunky and unpleasing to my ears...Marshalls and JC-120s do a much better job, in my opinion.

The lead channel is where this amp shines. This amp has one of the most cutting lead tones I've ever heard, but it's only cutting and sharp if you want it to be. With the equalizer settings I have above, in addition to the external 7 band equalizer running in the effects loop, I get one of the most brutal distortions I've heard. Without the equalizer, this amp is a bit midrangy for my tastes, but you don't know the difference unless you've already heard it with the equalizer running through. You want Cryptopsy? Got it right here. You can nail "Faceless Unknown" and "Phobophile" with accuracy. You want Dillinger Escape Plan? Back off on the gain and palm mute to your heart's content. Korn kids need not apply, this amp is far too brutal for your purposes. Go out and buy a Crate if you want shit tone, this thing destroys.

I just with that this amp had a bit more headroom, but that problem will be soon taken care of with the purchase of a second 5150 4x12 cabinet.

\m/

This amp is very reliable, no real problems as far as I'm concerned. A couple of the knobs have been pulled off by accident a couple of times, but it's fine other than that. Definitely more reliable than an Ultra Plus or an old JCM 800.

I've been playing for about 3 odd years now. I own a Squier Super Sonic, a '62 Fender Jazzmaster reissue, a Kustom KLA-5 practice amp, a Boss GE-7 equalizer, the matching 5150 4x12 enclosure, and I have a BC Rich Platinum Series Warlock that I have yet to completely pay off in layaway at a local music store.

If this amp ended up getting stolen or breaking, I would probably be very upset since I got such a good deal on it. I think I would replace it with a Dual Rectifier or something along those lines. However, if I could find another 5150 for such a good price, I would pick it up as well. I love the distortion, I love the clean, the only thing I hate is the fact that the amp's 3 band equalizer is minimally effective, the presence knob makes a way bigger difference in the sound. I compared this to the Peavey Ultra Plus that I had, a JCM 800 combo I used to own, a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier, and the Rect-o-verb 50 combo. The 5150 smoked all of them in terms of price and sound. While the Rectifier amps smoked as well, the price of this amp killed them both. Love it.

This amp was built to be simple. If you want tons of effects look at Line6 or Johnson stuff. The bottom line with this amp is its TONE. My one gripe is the lack of a reverb. The Carvin Legacy, which now seems to be the 5150`s main rival both in terms of rpice and quality has an excellent reverb. In summary; if you want an all-singing all dancing piece of up to date technology, avoid.

I use 3 main guitars: an Ibanez RG550 with a Vai Evolution in the bridge, an Ibanez Saber 7-string with a Blaze bridge pickup and a Kramer Striker fitted with a Dimarzio Fred bridge pickup. The type of sound I look for is a smooth and rounded, with loads of sustain for legato passages, but with enough bite to enable me to do all the harmonic squeals and nasty, aggressive sounding stuff. After 14 years of intensive playing, I had almost given up the search for this type of sound as an unobtainable sonic nirvana (believe me I`ve tried countless pedal, rack, amp combinations). Luckily I discovered this amazing amp. Set the gain at 10 and put a noise suppressor in the effects loop ( this is one noisy amp) and you have the most gorgeous screaming, sustaining, yet CONTROLLABLE (ignore the reviews that complain about the noise- this is easily remedied) rock sound ala Vai, Satriani. I used to be a tech-head until I bought this amp. Take my advice, sell all but your most essential rack gear and get a 5150. You won`t be disappointed. There is one caveat to my lyrical tribute to the amount of beautiful gain available- the clean channel is no more than adequate. But, if like me your thing is rock, widdling and shredding, there is nothing better in its price range.

No problems

Never had to use.

OK, so this amp does appear primitive compared to some of the latest amplification products coming out at the moment. But, just think about his: it has a sound to die for and the only other amps which come close ie. Boogie, Soldano, cost considerably more. In this price range, ignore the established gospel that Marshall amps are the best for rock. The 5150 is far more versatile in terms of overdriven sounds. Lay back on the gain and you have some wonderful `breaking up' blues tones. Turn up the gain and you have a real fire-breathing monster. I compared the 5150 with the latest TSL Marshall through a 300 Watt wardrobe- there is no contest- The 5150 stomps, Godzilla-like, all over the Marshall. Play live, at volume, and the true mightiness of this amp becomes clear. Believe me- I have spent 14 years looking for the perfect sound and I reckon this is the closest I`m gonna get.

This is one of the newer production units with Eddie's signature on the front. The power amp produces 120 watts from 4 chinese 6L6GC power tubes which is loud enough for clubs or stadiums.The pre section includes 5 chinese 12AX7A tubes, two channels rhythm and lead there are 2 inputs one has twice the gain as the other. The rhythm channel has a pre gain dial, a switch for bright, a switch for crunch, 3 band eq low mid high (eq is shared)and post gain.The lead channel has a pre gain dial,3 band eq low mid high(shared) and post gain.After all the controls is the power amp section with resonance and prescence controls, the resonance control(which a lot of people compliment this amp for having) focus's on the lows and makes it easier to dial the perfect bass response for your cabinet.The prescence dials out the ultra highs and gives you control over the definition of the higher tones.There is a power switch and a stand-by switch and with the stand-by switch disengaged the output is muted and keeps the tubes nice and warm while you are not using the amp(if you aren't using the amp for longs periods of times it is recommended to turn it off as leaving the amp on will disscipate the life of the tubes).The rear panel has an effects loop send and return (the effects loop is made for pedals and has a lower send level).There is a pre-amp output which can be used for going directly to an MTR or a mixer.A footswitch jack is provided that allows you to switch between rhythm and lead and it turns the effect loop on or off.There are two speaker outputs and a switch to select the proper ohmage for the cabinet,4 8 or 16 ohms at 120 watts for each.This amp has the greatest sounding gain i have heard in amp to this date the rhythm channel may not be clean enough for some but for me it is just fine, and also the tubes play a part in that, i am getting all JJ's (5 7025/12ax7a and 4 matched 6l6's)tubes for $101.50 shipped! If you wanna get the same deal go to www.eurotubes.com and they can hook you up.The eq is passive but it can affect the sound if you take the time to listen to the subtle differences.In rythm mode the eq can really stand out but in lead mode the eq becomes trickier for unexperienced players but it is all usable as long as you use a decent cab,have good ears and aren't hung up on the brand.I haven't owned an amp with seperate eq's so this is just another amp i have to fiddle with and after a week i have found good tones but i think i will get an eq to put in the effects loop which is probably recommended.I use this amp for home practice band practice and (hopefully soon) gigging.I am using the speaker from my classic 30 for now till i find a decent cab for the head.This amp can be very versatile and very nice if you customize it a bit i am hoping to get a mod done to it that will allow me to trim the bias on the tubes which will give me a cleaner tone as well as a fatter sounding one.

I play everything from blues to all out metal but not death metal.It suits me 100%, i used a metal pedal(don't laugh a $39 plastic brownsville metal tone it sounds better than a Boss Mt-2 in my opinion)in my gt-3's distortion pedal insert but now i barely even take out my gt-3.The amp can be noisy but it depends on your equipment i was using a 15" bass cab woofer(basicly all the speaker was good for was to let me know the amp is still working tone sucked!) but now i use a real 12" guitar amp speaker and noise is not a problem anymore and the JJ tubes i am ordering are supposed to be one of the quietest.I don't use any single coil guitars i have a ten year old epi with two emg's selects with coil tapping a steiny bridge with locking nut, the guitar is a one piece $300!I also have one of those new Kramers gibson is putting out for $179 with 2 quad rail and one daul rail pickup and a floyd rose!Nice deal for what you get i am now customizing the paint job well worth every penny.I also have an RG470 which needs repairs around the floyd rose pivot post housing. This thing can feedback(kinda sweet sounding sometimes if you are into that stuff) but i generally use the lower gain input which gives me a more bassy repsonse and has less feedback(not many people use this input when really it is the better choice if you want to switch between lead and rhythm channels, it gives you much more head room for the pre gain dial in the rhythm mode, i can have it at 5 without distortion or dirtiness and it cuts the feedback down to a minimum in the lead channel). The clean channel is ok if you know how to work with the eq and the bright can help add some clarity to the channel. The amp can dial in lots of tones (expiramentation is a must here)just try having the high and low all the way down and the mid at 10 then tweak the low and high .You can get a ton of sounds and if you added an eq it would expand it even more.I haven't experienced the clean distorting but i haven't played it through a half stack at very high volumes yet but i have had it very loud and it has stayed crisp.The distortion is incredible and after i get all the tubes redone it should be even sweeter.The crunch has a good sound but i am not into it, so i don't really care that i can't footswitch it on or off but there is a modification you can do that allows the crunch to be switched on or off with the footswitch but you lose the capability to switch the effects loop on or off .

I would like to say i can trust this amp but i bought it used about a week ago so all i can do is wait. I am still replacing all the tubes not because of the way it sounds but because of the quality of the tubes i am getting and the chinese tubes don't satisfy me (if your wondering why i didn't choose Groove Tubes or Mesa's is because they are chinese (well usually chinese sometimes russian noone knows for sure) tubes and the companies just test them and put their name on it what a dissappointment eh? all that money for the name and they are still cheesy tubes.Sovteks and svet's(svet's are better than sovteks) are ok but JJ's seem to be the top and very comparable to the mullards and jan phillips (the original tubes of the golden era).The amp hasn't shown a problem yet and hopefully won't ever, these things seem to last forever.

I haven't called peavey but i will soon to order the plastic vent a couple of screws and a manual for the head.I emailed them for the part numbers and in about 2 business days they replied with all the part numbers and a phone number for me to call to place the order but it wasn't a toll free number but oh well i can use one of those 10-10 numbers.

I have been playing about 5 years now this is the third amp i have owned and the first head. I used to have tons of pedals but now i only have 3 stomp boxes (crybaby wah,rotovibe,and the brownsville metal tone) and the gt-3 guitar processor.I have never heard an amp have such a nice distortion built into before this one.I would be shocked if someone stole this amp but i would eventually recooperate and begin searching for another used one(i am only a shoe salesmen trying to start a musical career).I love the absolute beautiful tone that she creates(the previous owner put 2 5881's(sovtek)in the power amp and 1 12ax7awb (sovtek) in the pre amp,maybe that's why it sounds so sweet to me even the salesmen said he thought it sounded smoother than others he has heard but oh well they are out the door as soon my new JJ's come in from eurotubes.com all nine tubes for $101.50 and that includes shipping!For the money it is a perfect buy for a novice player on a budget. I recommend you try this amp and when you try it use the low gain input as the high gain is prone to feedback and is harder to dial in a clean sound and don't push the lead pre gain past 7 it just gets messy after that.I am sure you will be suprised at the sound quality if not then you probably have a bigger wallet and don't care much for less expensive amps or you are just really picky and want all the fixins'.If you have any comments or questions please feel free to contact me.

You know the deal, 120 watts of tube power, 2-channel sharing same eq, resonance and presence knobs with a 3 band eq, effects loop, nifty ground switch as well (in case you want to play in europe) I am satisfied for the most part by these features, may not be the most to choose from, but enough to get by. Mine is the original block letter model, plenty of power as well as gain to spare. Wish it had a seperate eq for each channel, but i can get alone without it. I use this amp mainly for gigs and practices.

I use it with a hamer phantom with the infamous triple coil "motherbucker" with stock pickups (for now). I play mostly hard rock to metal, mostly originals, and it gives me my own tone unlike marshall (since everyone and their mother uses them). It is fairly noisy in the dirty channel when you're not playing but that's understandable being a tube amp with lots of power (less talking more playing). The tone is very versatile, i believe anyone can manage a usable tone for playing just about any type of music. I haven't noticed the clean channel being distorted because it's got too much power to turn it up to find out. The dirty channel gets feedback when the gain is turned up, but what amp doesn't for the price. The distortion can be brutal when needed, having it combined with the 5150 cab makes a good combination for bass response and overall sound, but then again i haven't tried it with anything else.

I rely on this amp completely, and although i just got it, i gig without a backup. Like i said i just got it so i haven't had to replace the tubes yet, but i expect to, but that's no big deal, i plan on buying either groove tubes or mesa tubes to replace them.

I've never delt with the company but i've heard that they give really good service when needed. And have a decent warranty to add to it.

I've been playing for about 6 years and i haven't owned too much equipment, but i've played through a lot, the 5150 is a great amp to play if you're into the hard rock or metal scene....i'll probably update once i have more experience with this amp. If it was stolen i would definitely buy another one. The only complaint i really have about it is that the channels will kick in and out of volume from time to time, but i was talking to techs and they said it was probably from the lack of use from the previous owner and it will eventually fade away, i plan to take the head apart and clean it with tuner as soon as i figure out how......in other words..it's built really well

Post and pre gain for both chanells, lead and rhythm 3 band equilizer that goes for both channels, resonance and presence control. It has a spifferific little cruch mode too.

I play punk rock so I know you probably think i only know good distortion. Not true. This thing has a smooth clean, a bright happy clean and a crunch which I don't like all that much but that's just me. I suppose for other types of music the cruch rocks. The distortion is awsome and the low end is quite spiffy. I would recomend this to anyone who wants the power chords and solos to be heard. I have one complaint and that is that when dealing with this much extreme gain the feed back is serious so you just have to get into the habit of turning your volume all the way down on your git when not playing.

I haven't had it for very long so I dunno.

never used it.

I think that for killer lead and distortion this is as good as it gets. Sure, you could buy a mesa boogie but you'll have to sell your mother to huggie bear the pimp to get the money. Mesa stuff is good but isn't worth the money. The only amp that costs that much that's worth it is Soldano stuff and that's cistom made so I figured I got more tha bang for my buck. I got dynamite fr my buck. My mom tells me to turn it down when I have it turned to 1 so if you're performing punk rock, THIS IS THE GOOD STUFF.

1992-93 peavey 5150 (block EVH on the front)-----we all know the features...I'm not complaining--I like simple----I hated the old peavey, push-pull knobs and friggin 400 eq settings..that's for anal people!!!---give me something simple man!!! although, two eq settings would be good. The clean isn't great, but with the right effects, you can change that.

know what you are getting!!!! a simple no holds barred amp with a lot of power and gain...that's it!!! for me that's fine...for you , maybe not...

I bought it brand new with a peavey 4X12 half-stack...sheffields. I don't know why so many people are complaining about the amp...It's really good!! I had a marshall, randall, GK and ampeg, and this one really rocks!!! it has a lot of power...very balsey, and you can get that heavy "wah" sound too (kinda like a heavy 60's sound!!!)
I play heavy rock, metal, and some punk. The amp has served me well for the past 6-7 years, with no complaints. It has a "brown" sound with a little effort, and you can get the crunch as well. I have not experienced the clean channel distorting at high volumes. I wouldn't say that the amp is noisy per say(I mean, that could just be the way I play!!!)The distortion is awesome.

I bought the amp in michigan from elderly music (excellent store). moved back to miami, florida and have not experienced any problems with the amp...except in mi..when it was cold, the tubes took a while to really warm, whereas here in miami, standby is only needed briefly.

no problems at all!!! except for replacing tubes once in a while (I mean how long do they really last??? Mine last for about a year, year in a half maybe...but get rid of those chinese tubes..sovtek, svet's, even using old mil spec phillips are better!!!

never needed it...

I have been playing for 14 years..Not really serious though..not in a band right now, I guess I grew up!!! heheheh, just kidding!! I play every day for about 4 hours. get together with friends and jam on weekends and play a couple of bars once in a while.I use an ernie ball music man EVH----circa 1993 (beautiful maple quilt on the top..My own guitar that I made (ash body, maple neck, seymour duncan humbucker at bridge (i forgot the name of it) and some double single coil "rail" thing on the neck, also seymour duncan (sorry man, forgot the name as well, built the guitar 9 years ago!!) just built another (mahogany w/lacewood top, korina neck with ebony fretboard and DIMARZIO TONE ZONE at bridge and DIMARZIO PAF PRO at neck. I only use a wah pedal when I play.This amp is really good for what I need. I would suggest it to friends. It is a monster. Don't need to crank it past 4 or 5 post gain when playing with the band (settings, well it all depends I guess on the volume: low 6.2; mid 2.5; treb 7.0; res 6.0 presence 7.0; lead pre from 5-10)
I am sure there are better amps out there, but in the price range, probably nothing NEW that realy compares. I hear that mesa boogie makes a pretty good one as well, but I think that for what I like, its good. If it were stolen, I would try to find the same year model and buy it used...I don't like the new 5150 II (i like the originals..they really took their time on the 5150 AND the music man...)

But understand that this is just my opinion: It has a lot of power!! it is fun to play!!! and if you are really critical about your sounds, there is probably nothing out there that will satisfy you!! no amp is perfect..it is simply an extension of your individual style...if it doesn't fit your style, its not the amp's fault...choose one that does..for my needs, the 5150 is great!!! I would recommend it to any one who likes their music heavy, balsey and loud!!! with some clean abilities...

Its a simple amp...2 channel, shared EQ and resonance & presence controls. Crunch on the Rythem Channel and bright switch (2khz boost).
120 watts Tube, 4-16ohm with effects loop. Great Amp. Great features.
INCREDIBLE TONE!

I play a Yamaha RGX421 completly modified. DImarzio Pickups, and I play a Strat (my main)with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rail. You wana talk tone, THIS AMP IS WHERE ITS AT! Using the presence & resonance controls, you can get the raw EVH 1st album tone, and then get the sweet tones from F.U.C.K. I also play lots of Metallica...lemmie tell you , this amp has all the guts you need. Distorion on the lead channel, no higher than 6.5. Its incredible. Think of this amp as a 5150, a soldano and a Marshall. Its very versitile. I've had blues guys jam on it...they just turn the gain down to 3 or 4 and they love the power. At hight volumes through a Peavey 412 cab (not the 5150 cab) it just screams. I"ve heard it through a Marshall Cab...too bighty, through a 5150 cab, just right. Perfectly matched.

Its seen the bar ever Wed for the past year...not one problem with it.
I've used Peavey for 8 years...Best stuff on earth

Never had a Problem with Peavey Equipment.

The 5150 is a solid Metal, Rock'n'Roll high gain amplifier. It can be toned down for country, blues and Jazz and other styles. Incredible sound, very easy to use. The 5150 II has the new features that we complained about on this head (seerate eq and resonance and presence controls for each channel and footswitchable crunch!) But it'll cost ya a whole lot more...the tones are the same. you can find 5150's almost anywhere, and the price is probably resonable too. If it got ripped off or something, I'd definetly buy another one. And maybe even the 5150II. Trust me...its a good head.

My 5150 is the best amp i've ever played in my life. It was made circa 1995 and had sovtech tubes which i highly recomend for that amp. I own the full stack and all i use is a BBe sonic maximizer to bring out the great tone in this amp with clearity brcause it is a gainiac. To whom ever above wrote that the reverb sucks(note) take another look it has no reverb smart guy. As far as any other problems the only bad reviews i see are defective ones. Which are covered under warranty and should be repaired. I don't think i'll be switching to a mesa anytime soon,the 5150 slaughters those amps anyday, It holds its distortion at high volumes and has the sweetest cleans.I would recommend this amp to anyone thats not a pussy and is looking to make an immpression and kick some ass on stage.

I use custom shop jackson guitars with seymour duncan pickups. I play metal through my amp which it handels very well!!! It is a bit noisy but id rather have the distortion than sacrafice it to be a quiet amp.Brutal distortion enough to blow out some ear drums the clean channel is great with a sonic maximizer!!!!

Very reliable would never use another amp. Tjhe closest thing that peavey makes is the ultra also a ver very nice 3 channel amp,with reverb

Never had to deal with them cause the amps great i give them a 10 for quality!!!

Would buy it agaim would never trust another amp!!!!

Made in 1998, USA made, 2 channels, crunch/bright on clean channel, shared EQ, all tube (4 6L6C, 5 12AX7)> it really needs the double EQs and footswitchable crunch that the 5150 II has, but I didn't feel like paying the extra money. Not many features, just some nice metal tone.

I use Jackson guitars, with Duncan JB pickups (2 RR-1s and 1 USA Fusion Pro). My music style is what I describe as "power thrash". think Savatage or Queensryche plus Testament or Megadeth, with some Anthrax for fun. My settings for tone are Bass: 7, Mids: 4.5, treble: 5, presence and resonance depending on volumes. Lead pregain on 6.5 (more than enough for anything). I use the 5150 4x12 cabinets. It was pretty decent when I got it, nice sounds, but I put in some JJ tubes, and it is amazing now... awesome awesome, totally killer metal tone. Like it better than ANY mesa, the only amp i Like better than this one is either a GOOD Marshall JCM800 from the 80s or a VHT Ultra Lead (awesome tone, but $$$).. nice buy if you're into metal.

Yeah, I'd depend on it.

Peavey are a bunch of idiots. Dealt with them many times. Great website though.

I'd buy it again, no problem.

Peavey 5150 head, Eddie's signature on the front of the amp(not the block letters). Versatile enough if you want a kick-ass rock sound with a truckload of gain, enough bass to choke a horse, and a usable clean sound. 2 channels, rythm and lead. controls are (left to right)

high gain input-lo gain input-channel switch button-rythm pre gain-bright button-crunch button-lead pre gain-bass-mid-treble-rythm post gain-lead post gain-resonance-presence
on the back you have the 2 speaker outs with 16-8-4 ohm selector switch, footswitch in, effects send and return, and a preamp out.
I dont really use the bright button (leave it in) or the channel switch on the front. the footswitch has the standard channel and effects loop switch. all in all fairly simple. I'm loving the effects loop thing. first amp i've had with it. set my effects the way i need them (not that i use a whole lot to start with) turn them on-turn em off. no dancing. killer. 2 eq's would have been nice but hell, as would including the crunch feature on the footswitch (a virtual 3rd channel). the 5150 II has both of those. to me the channels are voiced different enough for the eq thing not to matter and the i add a tubescreamer for lead if i cant use the crunch button in a particular song. BUT its no Bogner or Boogie crammed with pentode/triode vintage/modern channel cloning xlr out 6 channels and all that stuff I dont have any use for. Plug in and play man. bout as straight ahead as you can get these days.

rock and roll man. Dime 333 emg81-bridge/emg89-neck. With the 5150 its a badass combination. lead channel hisses a bit when you dont play but there is a simple solution to that; either dont stop playing or invest in a good noise gate. Most people that bitch about this amp go on and on about the "clean channel". THERE IS A VERY EASY WAY TO GET A USABLE CLEAN SOUND(note i say usable, not fender twin or roland jc120). stay off the pre gain on the rythm channel. the pre gain adds the distortion(and the crunch button helps it). Speaking of the crunch button-if you dont have to use clean in a song get your rythm sound with it. it sounds damn good. The lead channel speaks for itself. loads of gain (maybe too much) great bottom end thump with the resonance up around 7 and pumping through a full stack. I love this amp. to me it blew the jcm 2000 dsl out of the room.

used but well taken care of, I wouldnt worry about it breaking. that said (murphy is always listening) i have a backup rig that sounds close enough to it to use to limp through tough times. Not crazy about pc board amps with hot tubes (plastic gets kinda runny when its warm) but living in the south, everybody is a peavey dealer or service center. no ploblems getting it fixed in an emergency.

killer amp . if it were srtolen or lost i would probably get a 5150 II. i was planning on getting one anyway but found this for 500 less and grabbed it. usually not big on peavey stuff(i HATE most peavey gear) but they did something right here. this sounds GREAT and i have ended my search. boogies kick ass, and kill bank accounts. Marshalls arent consistent enough (very poor quality control)and i will not own anything with fender on it. It was between a dual rectifier, jcm 2000 dsl head and this. the marshall couldnt hang with it and the boogie head cost as much as my head and cab. pretty much a no brainer.

this amp has everything i need to do what i do.i play black/melodic death metal in the key of c#. this amp was made for this style! it sounds way better than any marshall for metal sounds. reverb would be nice,but i can live without it. i rarely play anything through the clean channel, but it does seem to be relatively clean. the eq could be a bit more responsive, but i can deal with it.it's loud as hell and sounds great through my marshall 1960 cab. however, it sounds like total shit through my ampeg cab.so high quality speakers are a must with the 5150.

my main guitar is an ibanez joe satriani style s series with axis humbuckers. this guitar sounds absolutely great through the 5150 with a marshall cab.My other guitar player in my band(ENFORSAKEN), is going to buy one too now since he was blown away by its sheer metal power! i don't use any pedals or rack gear,i just plug straight into the head. the distortion is perfect. you do have to sit down for a bit and fine tune the eq, presence and resonance control, but once you lock them in watch out! this thing spews out some seriously satanic tones!Anyone that wants to get the guitar sounds of Arch enemy,In flames, Cryptopsy, Dismember,Carcass etc should have one! it can be a little noisy at high volumes, but that's normal with almost any tube amp. i was going to get a bbe sonic maximizer to clean up some things, but i can live without one.
it sounds best at higher volumes(not that you would have to go beyond 4.5!)

I've never had a problem...yet.

i wouldn't bother with contacting peavey. unless i dropped it off a bridge, i'm sure any shop around here could fix it. if it ever got ripped off or destroyed, i'd go out the next day and buy another one...or maybe the 5150 2 instead.

bottom line:if you play any kind of metal and are sick of your piece of shit solid state crate amp, get a 5150. if you play country music, buy a fender! this amp is pure evil!

i have no idea when the amp was made...94, 95...somewhere in there. its versatile enough...good clean, better with a chorus pedal...awesome distortion. can make a good tubey crunch. i gig with the amp, practice with it...plenty of power and volume. Tubes...everyone knows what the controls are =) im a simple amp kinda guy anyway LOL

i use a PRS CE 22 (alder body, they dont make them anymore, no maple top) with a dragon 2 bridge and original dragon neck, i play Creed-type stuff, Limp Bizkit, 3EB, Matchbox 20, old Metallica, POD, my own stuff (pretty heavy), the Deadlights, Collective Soul...i dont ask for much variety, but this amp can give it. my settings...pre gain 1 about 3, pre gain 2, 5...low 10, mid 3, treble 5, volume varies, resonance 6, presence 8.5. its loud, very heavy, and good note definition. kicks a mesa boogies sound out the window. hit the crunch button and crank up the volume and it gets a good tube distortion sound. bright switch always on...good clean...better with a chorus like i said.

been in a car wreck with it...still works fine!! i wanna change the tubes though...but theyre still working good! i use it without a back up all the time! no problems!

havent really dealt with them, but they did send me free brochures and stuff.

ive been playing for about 8 years, i play the 5150 through a laney 4x12 cab, i have my PRS, and a strat with a duncan JB Jr. in it...both soudn good through this amp! i use a boss chorus ensemble and a morley wah...i can cover most musical basses when needed to! ive compared this amp to marshalls and other peaveys...i like this one best! it was simple and had the sound i wanted...i had to live with it for a while and tweak it, but i found exactly the sound i wanted and im sticking with it. i do with it had the seperate EQs for the two channels...but ive worked around it...and its great! i can live without the two EQs...but a 5150-2 would be nice but im not paying 1300 for it...right now. id get another 5150 to go with this amp though. with a different cab and set the same, it would sound a bit different, so i would get a bigger sound...which i would like. theres something that 2 heads and 2 4x12s that just makes me quiver...two half stacks cant be beat!

This is an update on my 5150 head that I bought in October of 99.

I'm using my Les Paul with a PAF Pro in the neck and a Duncan Distortion in the bridge, with an EMG Presence Control (Active Mid-Boost) in the knob for the bridge tone. The mid-boost really boosts the gain with NO extra hiss from the amp. I have replaced all tubes with Groove tube ECC83's and the power tubes with Mesa 6L6's. Holy shit. I can't explain to you in words how much the power tubes will do for your amp! I use a BBE 482 Sonic Maximizer and the distortion can't possibly get any more brutal. My settings are on the amp: pre gain-6, low-7, mid-2, high-7, volumes-they vary, usually around 4 for clean and 3 for gain, resonance-7, presence-8. The maximizer: lo contour-5, process-6. I LOVE THIS AMP!! I wish everybody could hear what I can hear!

Nothing wrong. I would gig without a backup anyday. There was nothing wrong electronically with the tubes, they just sucked.

Never had to deal with them yet

THE BEST PEAVEY. The only good peavey. I would buy this amp again in a heartbeat. Actually, I would probably buy the 5150 II. If you buy this amp, you MUST change the tubes for it to sound good. I sometimes run it through my friends 4x12 so I have two running. You can really crank the amp and it sounds fantastic.

nice clean /heavy crunch

I have been playing for 22 years. I was using a Marshall JMP-1 when the rack crashed to the ground at acrzy live gig. It sheared the legs from the input jack. The next night I was to be in the studio finishing the guitar trax on our CD. I wen't to the music store and played every marshall they had. I have always played marshalls and was pained to find the new ones don't have the tone of the old ones. Dude kept sayin' "play this 5150". I kept sayin' "shut up!". I played them when they first came out and they were noisy and muddy. Finaly I played it. Holy shit! I set the gain on 6 and it growls like my marshalls. I walked out with it and finished the CD. Listining back I can't tell which is which.

Use the effects loop and put a box with a boost. Now the footswitch is clean/cruch/crunch lead...dig?

This model is one of the older 5150 heads. It is 120w, all tube. This is a pretty straight forward amp. I wish there were two separate EQ's. Both for clean and lead channels. My biggest problem with this amp is the fact that it doesn't have reverb. I like the Presence and Resonance controls a lot. They give you a lot of different sounds. This amp is great for Rock and metal, but not for much else.

I am using a Gibson SG-X with an EMG-81 and a USA Jackson Rhoads with a Dimarzio X2N and a Gibson 57 classic. I play mostly Heavy/black/shred metal, and this amp suits my style perfectly. Don't listen to anybody else who says this amp sucks. THat could be due to the fact that the older ones sound better (The ones with the EVH in Black letters). The Distortion is awesome!! There is more than enough gain on this amp. It eats any marshall!!The EQ knobs don't do a whole lot, but with an EQ pedal that can all be sorted out. This amp is very trebley, so I usually keep that on around 6. THis amp is very noisy, but with my rocktron Super Hush rackmount, it is MUCH quieter.If you get this amp a BBE Sonic Maximizer is a must. It makes a HUGE difference in your sound. The clean is good if you pick very softly, and don't use much gain (keep it at around 2-3). As another reviewer pointed out, the clean channel is very responsive to pick attack. If you pick hard, it will distort. I use my Rocktron Intellifex for reverb/chorus/delay on the clean channel which has very good reverb. When you add the crunch, you can get a good AC/DC sound. Overall, a very good amp for the money.

I would never gig without a backup. Especially with a tube amp. It seems pretty reliable, but I can't tell right now.

Peavey has great Customer Support!! I asked them to send me a replacement knob, and I got it 2 days later. Can you say the same about marshall or Fender?? I don't think so!!

two channels. one eq. ground switch. effects loop, and channel switcher. all tube. four power amp tubes (either 5881 or 6L6's), and five pre amp tubes 12ax7's.

this amp is designed for brutal metal playing. i dont think you should really buy one unless you are looking at using it for a metal or heavy band. i use an ibanez rg 450 with it, and i also run a bbe sonic maximizer and i love the clarity and tone of this head. a lot of people complain about its control and how it sounds like junk, that s cause you dont know how to set it and get the right sound of it. this amp kills a mesa with a little help. if you just invest a tiny bit into this amp, you ll save yourself a whole wack of money instead of buying a dual or triple rectifier.

peavey naturally is junk, so replace the tubes quickly, cause sovtek or svetlanta's sound better than the factory tubes.

i have used many different set ups. an ampeg v4 with a metal zone, and other heads with amp distortion or what have you, but if you re looking for a sound from anything like cryptopsy to in flames, this is the head both of them use. and i don't know about you, but last time i checked thats two different styles of sound (in gain terms) and both bands which feature a member or both using them sound awesome. actually the guy that used the 5150 in cryptopsy isnt in the band anymore but he used it on their whisper supremacy album and tour.

120W all tube amp. Rythm/Distortion channels. 16/8/4 ohm cab selector. Effects loop. Preamp out. I gave it a 9 because the EQ section is just TOO passive and it controls both channels. If the EQ was more responsive it would be perfect.

First off....IF you are looking for clean sounds...you need to be a very good guitarist or get another amplifier. The rythym channel is exceedingly responsive to you pick attack (an effect I love in an amp) which I have yet to find its equal in another amp. One moment you are playing very soft crystaline melodies and with a twich of the hand, you are distorted!! No footswithing needed!! This amp can be clean as a fender but you must be very careful to control you picking and fretting stikes as it will make the amp add a level of distortion.
That said...hands down...this amp offers the heaviest immaginable distortion in the world. It is so extremely dense that you can take a bite out of it as you are playing!!
I read some of the other comments and it has been said this amp doesn't have enough bass. BULLSHIT!! The reason you aren't getting enough bass is you stack or you guitar. I use the 5150 as a preamp. I run it into a Gallien-Krueger 2000RB. It drives a BAG END D10BX-D and a BAG END D12E. I use a compressor and a BBE. I use three guitars---an ibanez Jem sporting DiMarzio Evolutions(standard tuning), a GTX equiped with Seymour-Duncan Sceamin' Deamons(E-flat tuning), and an ESP F-200 with EMG-HZ pickups(standard tuning down a whole step). I have so much bass that I usually have to back off the bass quite a lot. The distortion is so insanely heavy that I can only think of one way to describe it-----it sounds like FIRE!! Literally, I can strum a chord and stand there, as it rings out, it sounds like fire transformed itno sound. I used to think Mesa-boogie or Randall was the heaviest you could go. I laugh at them both. I would put either of them at about a 7 on intensity compared to the 5150 being a 10!!! I have yet to hear anyone come close to my tone.
Here is my final analysis.....Imagine if you will....You are playing guitar(clean) crystal clear water of the bluest sky is flowing out of you speakers. As you increase you picking intensity the sky overhead begins to grow cloudy and the water dark. You kick in the distrotion channel and the water changes to liquid fire!!! That is the 5150.

I thought I had a problem with it once. I didn't have everything propery connected.

Who knows?? I doesn't really matter. You will never need them.

If this amp was stolen....I would hunt the person to the ends of the earth. Seriously, though, if you want to experience the truely awesome power of the 5150, use it as a preamp in front of a very powerful bass head. A match made in heaven.

Older 5150 model 120watt 2 channel lead and rhythm, Great lead and rythem. Lack of separate equalization for both channels is WEAK! Rhythm channel is very clean!! Lead channel has excessive noise(hiss and frying egg sound at real high volumes.) Lead noise is not a problem, if you've got the crowd Loud enough!

I have a 90' Les Paul Standard, a Fender Strat, Fender Squire, and a Jackson JS1. I play alot of heavy rock, ie: Tool, Deftones, Godsmack, Etc. With the Les Paul and the 5150 I get some of the best sounding crunch I've ever heard out of any amplifier. LOUD AND BRUTAL!!!

Very Dependable. Currently has a bad tube (cause I use and abuse it!!) but otherwise they can take what ever you throw at them.. Literally!!!

Haven't needed to use peavey Customer Support.

I have been playing for about 4 years and this is my first amplifier set up. I didn't just jump in and purchase what everybody else is buy. Everybody says "buy the marshall", "buy the Marshall!!" Well I tested the Marshall's and they didn't match up too what I can get out of the 5150. I personally think that you need to buy whatever is right for your particular sound requirements. I use the 5150 with a Marshall JCM 900 Lead 1960 4X12 half stack(currently looking for the bottom half). If it were stolen I would replace it for sure!! Have tested comparable Marshall heads, and there IS NO comparison!!! Would like to find some new tubes to replace my old ones and wish it had a quieter lead channel when your not playing.

I BOUGHT THIS AMP IN 1992, AND PLAYED IT EXCLUSIVLY UNTIL 1998. SINCE
THEN I BOUGHT A MESA TRIPLE REC, AND A MARSHALL TSL 100. THE 5150 HEAD
IS 120 WATTS ALL TUBE 4 6L6, AND 5 12AX7, 2 CHANNELS, ONE EFFECTS LOOP
,AND NO REVERB[WISH IT DID].ASIDE FROM NO REVERB THE ONLY OTHER THINGS
I WISH IT HAD WAS AN EXTRA CHANNEL FOR "USABLE" CLEAN SOUNDS, AND A EQ
FOR EACH CHANNEL INSTEAD OF JUST ONE. NOW THAT I HAVE SAID EVERY THING
I DON'T LIKE(WHICH IS'NT MUCH), HERES WHAT I DO LIKE. READY? EVERYTHING ELSE! IT HAS GREAT TONE, PLENTY OF DISTORTION AND THE FUCKING THING IS BULLET PROOF.I MEAN FALL OFF THE BACK OF A TRUCK TOUGH. THE SAME GOES FOR THE 5150 CABINETS HEAVY DUTY. THE ONLY THING
THAT IS'NT IS THE PEICE OF SHIT FOOT SWITCH. BIG DEAL.A GREAT AMP BUT
ONLY FOR ROCK & ROLL.BUT THAT'S ALL I PLAY.

I HAVE A GIBSON 62 REISSUE SG WITH EMG 81 PICKUPS, I ALSO HAVE THREE OTHER SGS AND TWO LES PAULS, GIBSON ALL THE WAY! THE AMP SOUNDS GOOD
AND HEAVY WITH PAINT PEELING DISTORTION.THERE IS NO CLEAN CHANNEL , CHANNEL ONE IS CALLED RYTHEM, YOU CAN GET SOMEWHAT CLEAN SOUND,BUT NOTHING NASHVILLE CLEAN. ONCE AGAIN BIG DEAL.

ONE SMALL PROBLEM IN 9 YEARS. A REAL MANS AMP.

DON'T KNOW. NEVER HAD TO CALL THEM

THIS IS PROBABLY MY FAVORITE AMP I OWN IF I HAD TO CHOOSE. IT'S DEFINITLY THE HEAVIEST SOUNDING. I REALLY DON'T CARE FOR VAN HALEN,
I WISH THEY WOULD HAVE CALLED IT SOMETHING ELSE.WELL AT LEAST IT SOUNDS NOTHING LIKE VAN HALEN. AC/DC IS KING.

as far as built in features go, im not really the one to ask. i am a pedal effect kind of guy. i can say this: 2 channels (plus added bright and crunch on clean channel), presence and resonance dials, low mid high knobs, and gain knobs. wish it had a headphone jack just to save myself from buying a practice amp. and nice casters. may as well be made out of 100% steel.

im using a revamped charvel with 2 single coils and a humbucker(emg's), sounds good on any amp. except this one. a few people have stated that the 5150 is great for heavy metal/death/grind style music. i happen to play in this vein, (more melodic though) and the 5150 sucks for it. i want an amp that can give me low end boom and still rage the highs. the peavey cant do that. the high knob is the only one that really responds, and presence and resonance do very little until you get to about 8 on the dial. the gain on the distorted channel is very hissy and loose feeling. while it can play very loud, the distortion seems to break up. i initially thought it was my battery but after a few replacements i realized it was just the way the head sounded. as far as the clean channel goes, it sounds very flat and dead, no matter how you try to set the eq. i dont know why they put in the bright and crunch on the clean channel. it's pretty much a novelty switch i guess. the only nice thing about this amp is that you can get artificial harmonics with ease and they sound pretty cool. when a friend of mine was asked if he could get a cool sound out of this amp his answer summed it up best...drop it off a building.

i owned it for a year, never gigged with it. it seems to be pretty sturdy (has to be with those casters)

never got a manual, never directly dealt with peavey

been playing for 6 years, first amp i bought. major dissappointment as far as the head goes. the cab is ok, id keep it. pricewise i got what i paid for. i shoulda gone for the mesa triple rectifier. spendy but well worth it in my opinion. not much more than the 5150 really. basicly if you are wanting to play on an amp with good distortion and clean channels, get something else. ie mesa dual/triple rectifier, jcm 2000

The only thing that made me (finally) sell my 5150 head was lack
of versatility (I'm the guy who wants EVERYTHING in one box..).
The 5150 has 120W of power, 2 channels w. independent Pre and Post gain controls,FX loop, 3 tone controls (The Mid control is btw. useless), Resonance and Presence. The BEST thing about this amp is the Resonance pot, it really delivers HUGE bottom end chunk with ANY cabinet, unlike for example, the Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier heads, which require a VERY-GOOD-CABINET (read: Non-Vintage speakers) to produce decent "kick". The worst things are the FX loop and the (lack of) tone control (Yes, the pots are there, but you can't really hear what the Mid pot does, IF it does anything.) Also, the amp is really LOUD, (when the sound is best, even DEAFENINGLY LOUD). Anyway, it's
too loud for home practise.

The clean sounds from this amp are powerless and sterile, flat-sounding. BUT it's the distortion that counts...read on.

I play metal/hardcore/death/grind and my (blood-red)Ibanez S540 QSTR is equipped w.Seymour Duncan Custom/Hot Stack/Jazz pickups. The amp
suits this kind of music PERFECTLY. The distortion sound is very
gritty, nasty, brutal,enough low-end chunk, more than enough blistering ears-high end. It is quite noisy on high gain settings, though, especially when the FX loop is used. The hiss is
very annoying when trying to play at practise volumes.

It's easy to say this amp has one, probably the best low-end rumble/hardcore/metal distortion sound on earth.

BUT..there is only this ONE (although, the best I've heard) sound,
and the Tone pots affect the sound way too little. Especially the
midrange pot seems to do absolutely nothing. The high end pot works
for cutting the sometimes-too-shrill sound, but nothing else.
sound very little.

No problems whatsoever. Good physical construction.

I wish they'd make amps like this with as much (or even more) preamp gain, less post amp volume (10-30W would be fine), more tonal control, headphone jack and decent, parallel FX loop (with a mix pot) , and possibly a good spring reverb. An in combo version with two 12" non-vintage elements for kicking some real butt.

I've been playing for 5 years.

I bought this amp used from someone I know that bought it new in February of 1999. It has two channels, clean and drive. There is a crunch switch for getting some overdrive and a bright switch on the clean channel. It has one three band equalizer (low, mid, high). It has a footswitchable effects loop. It's a tube amp. One thing I wish it had was for the crunch to be footswitchable like on the 5150 II. I play modern rock such as Silverchair, metal like Metallica, and classic rock like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Deep Purple. It sounds good with every style, but it best suits rock music.

Well I use an Ibanez RG470, a Washburn BT-2 Maverick, and a Silvertone strat. For effects I use a Zoom 505 and a Big Muff. I use a Peavey 412MS cab with it. I am also using it with a Yamaha tele right now while my Ibanez is being fixed (fried pickup). It sounds good with all the guitars, but not really with the Silvertone. It's probably the guitar. I'm in a band and we play covers such as Metallica and Nirvana and Lynyrd Skynyrd, but we also play originals, both heavy and light. It sounds good with everything, but some reverb would be nice. It tends to be noisy with single coil pickups at low and high volumes. The clean is beautiful, the cruch is awesome, and the distortion is pure rock. The clean channel breaks up a little at high volumes. The distortion is brutal as hell. The amp tends to feed back when using distortion and standing near it, but all amps do that.

I depend on this amp heavily and have already used it for two gigs and a bunch of practices. It hasn't broken down yet, but I know a tube will eventually go bad.

I haven't dealt with Peavey yet, and I don't think I'll ever have to, except for the fact that I might eventually want to get the covers for the amp and cab. I don't think it has a warranty because I bought it used. I know I can find a lot of places that would be able to fix this amp.

I've been playing for three years and this is my first half stack. I own a couple other amps, a Fender M-80 Chorus which I use for recording/backup, a Rogue bass amp, and a Silvertone practice amp. I used to own a Fender Princeton 112+ and that was my first real amp and served its purpose of gigging with but I had to move up. If it were stolen or lost I would buy it again for the price I payed. I love everything about it. I hate that it doesn't have reverb. I compared it to a lot of amps, Line 6 Flextone, Fender, other Peaveys, Hiwatt, Mesa Boogie, Marshall, etc. This is a really good amp for the money.

Well lets see, its got high and low gain inputs along with a 3-band eq, resonance and presence, pre gain for each channel(clean or HIGH MOFO gain)and a master volume for each. The 5150II has an eq for each channel and separate resonance and presence controls for each channel thats why i give it a 7.

I use my GIBSON les paul, and Jackson Soloist and Fender Strat (mex, shut up its awesome). The tone, to me is best with a humbucker (no shit thats what it was meant for). Strats singles are a little trebly but i can deal with it. I play anything from Metallica, SRV, to some slower stuff. This amp is meant for higher gain material, however (despite what dumbasses may say)with the clean pregain on about 4 a good clean tone can be achieved. I only use the high gain input and when I use the DRIVE channel i put the pregain on about 6 or 7, because when playing at high volumes any higher will create feedback. Despite the pregain on 7 an awesome crunch can be achieved. The clean channel will NOT distort if you keep the pre-gain down, but most "KIDS" don't know what anything below 10 is. NOW, the distortion, can we say KIKS SOME MAJOR ASS!!!! I've played many amps, and for the price this one delivers THE best distortion, its really really fat and a bottom end can be achieved. Mesa's Dual and Triple recto's are comprable, however I did not want to be homeless and have a sweet amp. So I went with the 5150!!!! A 9 is given because just a slight improvement on the clean channel would make it a 10... and did I say this amp screams with 120w of pure tube tone. And for those who care I use a 4x12 MS peavey cab. (Yes, cabs do make a differance).

I've had my amp for 6 months now, I've never had a single problem with it, I've found this amp to be the most reliable amp I've played. Its never ever broken down, and I hope it doesn't! I gig with it on average 2 days a week and its kept up very nicely. I also use it at home.

Never Dealt with them...

I've been playing for 6 years and I'm a very serious player, and when it comes to tone, I love this amp, it absolutely screams. I own a Crate GFX-212 and I'm buying a JCM-800 this weekend (I always wanted one). I would definately buy it again if lost or stolen. I love the tone, hate the heaviness of the bitch. The only thing that compared to it was the Mesa, and I didn't want to sell the house for that. Thats it for now, waffles are great, go buy yer 5150 today!

2 Channels, shared tone controls. All tube, HIGH GAIN.

Hard to find tone balance between clean and distorted sounds. Resonance control is nice-pumps bottom end. Distortion is overkill, with gain on 4, it still compresses the sound. Good for some types of music.

Had a preamp tube keep going out, (sounds good without the first tube)Problem was found to be a bad batch of 12ax7's.

Emailed Peavey for help, a tech emailed back right away. Very helpful and customer oriented.

I used this for about 3 months, the other guys in the band kept saying to go back to my old "british" amp, I thought it sounded great until a preamp tube died, and I had to pull out my backup amp out. After I fixed it I sold it. My ears adjusted to the tone, but, it just didn't have the sound I like.

this amp kicks ass,period.tons of bottom end,clean and punchy.i'm useing a boss gt-3,morley distortion/wah/vol. and play a gibson v
with seymour jb and 59 pick-ups.i don't use the clean channel at all.
my amp is a first issue w/ evh on the front.this amp is better then a
marshall as far as i'm concerned and i'm planning to get another 1/2
stack to run in stereo w/the gt-3.it does'nt need reverb to impress me.NOW.if can only get dave and eddie back together!!! rock on......!

see above.....

see above....

i've had the amp since 92 and have had no problems at all...

this is my first amp that really impressed me,even more then fender..

The 5150 has GOOD not GREAT features. 120 watt. Effects loop, remote switch for 2 channel switching (lead and rhythm)and effects switch which cuts or gives power to all your effects that you have in the loop. 2 inputs, high gain and normal gain. I wish it had reverb.

I use a modified fender strat, seymour duncan pickups. I play a lot of hard rock music (deftones, korn, limp bizkit). The distortion sounds great when you have the power amp cranked to the max. I really have to say tho, the clean sound sucks! The sound is VERY muddy. Not distorted at high volumes.. I have had it cranked to around 9.5 and the clean channel is not distorted. You can get a variety of sounds out of the amp. Both channels have pre-gain (the higher you have the pre gain, the more distortion) and post-gain (just volume). Changing between channels with the footswitch sucks. there is a gap with no sound after you hit the switch and the foot switch is plastic. i was kinda dissapointed about that

I have had the 5150 for a long time and it is still in great condition. it has taken a lot of beating thru the years and still works. i never had the need for a backup. footswitch is a little scratched up and is not in very good condition anymore.. but its plastic so its peaveys problem for putting such a crappy foot switch with a good amp. i give it a 10 for reliability

never had to deal with customer support.

Good amp. it suits me for my needs. if it was stolen i'd probably go with a marshall amp. just because i like the distortion marshall puts out better.

Mines a EVH model probably made in 92 or 93.I play rock as well as some blues.I wish the head had reverb installed.Also I play it every weekend in my band with no trouble at all.I wish peavey would make a rack mounted version of it. It sure would make loading it saftly every week alot easier. Its got pleanty of power if you cant hear it on stage you may need to invest in some Q-tips!

I have a satch model Ibanez with duncan distortion pickups installed as my main ax.This amp sounds great when properly set up to your ax.I have read other reveiws were some think its a one sound amp,very untrue I have had this amp for a long time and am always tweeking it for different sound needs. It sounds absolutly superb.The 5150 can seem a little untamable at times but its worth your time to really get to know her well.Soon you will hear other amps and realize ED uses these for a reason. I have even used it for some country playing and it did not disopoint. The problem some people have whith it is playing somthing heavey as hell and then thinking its a one knob turn to go to a good dirty sound.I put some groove tubes in it as soon as I bought because the tubes in it were still the original and now my ear thinks we won the musical lottery!

Never had a problem with it at all! Take care of it and it will take care of you! You are not going to be needing a backup unless you transport it in a dumptruck!

I havent had to deal with this at all!

Ive been playing for around 10 years.All I use for fx is reverb and delay as well as my bad horsey wah.If it were stoled I would absolutly buy another.I have played through about everything eles I like the sound of a duel Recto,and Im sure it would be ok also.But you would still have no chance of getting me to switch.

My 5150 head was bought used with an estimated build date of 1996. Distortion channel is flowing and abundant, however the clean channel is uninspired at best. Shit at worst.

Distortion sounds great live, when cranked to engage the power amp. And there's lots of it. Clean, as above stated, is shit. In the studio, even the distortion is mushy and too much.

A tube amp design/repair specialist that I know has told me many repairmen won't touch this amp because of the PC board-based construction.

Eddie don't use this in the studio. Only live to push product. I love the guy, but he's just moving product. Before you buy this amp, check out Soldano SLO (which is what Eddie really uses). It's a much better amp for distortion and especially clean, much more versatile, much better built. Even the cheaper HR50 is a good choice. Fender makes the Prosonic: a better amp than the 5150 with better sound all around and Class A, Class AB and Class AB Solid State Rectifier switching. Good for similar uses and a much better choice. I will never buy a 5150II, but I already own the Fender and plan to buy the Soldano when I get the cash. I have a good ear and have played for 25 years and after listening to everything that was out there (I do mean everything) I'll tell you the Soldano is the best there is.

Mine was made in 1996. The 5150 has a great saturated lead channel, with a decent "clean" channel. There is only one equalization channel, something that was improved with the 5150 II. A cruch setting for the clean channel provided a good ammount of reverb a nd sustatin.

I play a custom Ibanez S-Series guitar, with EV-1 pickups in it. The amp has always sounded incredible. It's not a mesa dual recti, but it's about as close to a preformance sound as you will get. If you like EVH, and like a lot of power behind you, this amp is for you. If you are learning and not polished, this amp is not very forgiving. The distortion is amazing, and the clean channel could use some work, but it's worth the money.

Man, after reading this list, I feel liek I was jipped. I've replaced the tubes so many times it's starting to annoy me. It seems like they go every 2 months. I would always bring a backup, tube amps are delicate. This one packs a great punch, but seems to have a soft chin.

Peavey has helped me out a lot over the phone, but don't go to them without a waranty card. With one, you get 5 years. Without, only 2. I've had this amp forever, and I love the sound, but if it dies again, I'll buy the 5150 II model. If I win the lottery, its mesa boogie Dual recti all the way.

I've been playing for 5 years now. I have played this amp with an Ibanez, a fender, an ESP, and a Jackson. If you love metal, then buy this amp. Or the newer model. Besides a little noise, this amp is great for the sound. PLan on spending an additional 50 bucks every 6 months for new tubes. And don't back your van over it after a gig, it probably won't take that kind of hit. But a small honda, and you're still good. I just wish I had waited another 2 months and bought the 5150 II.

This is one of the newer 5150 models...effects loop-two channels-etc.
I wish that the two channels had seperate EQ levels...and the clean channel is adequate at BEST.

I play an Ibanez RG570 with a seymour duncan 'custom custom'pick-up in the bridge position and a stock pick-up in the neck position.This is a ROCK amp...it was made for late 70's type rock...It doesnt have the same distortion used by pop metal and death metal bands of the 80's. This amp has a vintage 'real' distortion sound....It gets one or two different 'ROCK' sounds....variety is NOT an option.

very releable...used this head for many gigs...no problems...lots of power...little feedback..

ok...the clean channel needs work...but with the right effects it can sound ok for live work..NOT studio though...on the other hand...the lead channel has a wonderful 'natural' disortion....This is not a contemporary or JAZZ amp by any means...this is a ROCK amp.

Pretty standard for heads as far as I know. Two channels, "clean" and "other" i guess we'll call them. Personally I like solo heads that have a 3rd channel, but because the "clean" channel can be made crunchy also I didn't miss it so much. I think that's a cool feature for a 2 channel amp. Also, there is only one EQ which didn't bother ME but I could see how that might be a drawback. I don't think there was any chorus or reverb or delay, none of which I use regularly at all. Pretty much a straight up Rock head.

I have a PRS Custom 22 (KILLER, PRS RULES!) so I could probably play through a walkman and have it sound great.
This amp sounds really good for a rock amp and can handle pop. It'd decently versitile. At the gig I used it for we got as heavy as "What If" by Creed (I don't know what people are talking about, there is NO shortage of good distortion coming from this amp - maybe they should check their axe!) and as crisp clean as "Higher" by Creed (is there a trend forming here? O). I also used the crunchy sound for "What I Didn't Know" by Athenaeum and switched to the second channel for the solo. At any rate, if you have the right guitar and speaker cab (I have a marshall 1960 4X12 fyi) this thing will handle a good deal. I didn't try it for the blues or jazz but I'd be a little skeptacle. In my opinion it's a rock amp and for Rock and Pop and some deviants off those two check this amp out. It's a pretty rippen sound for the money. On the distorted channel there is a constant whisper that I didn't even notice live and won't affect your sound or be loud enough to be heard live but in the studio (do people actually use these things in the studio?!?) that may be a hinderance. overall, I think i may buy one for a backup because it sounds great. Like someone said before, it's NOT a marshall and it's NOT a boogie. If you want a marshall or a boogie, get a marshall or a boogie. but If you want a great sounding amp that sounds almost as good and as good as i would imagine you would need for less money, try this one out! It's a great ROCK amp.

This thing is a tank. It's not mine, and it looks like it's been through WWII. The guy who loaned it to me said every summer about a 1000 people gather at a friends house for a battle of the band type things, and he just pulls out all of his Marshall cabs and every single band uses the head all day long and it does the trick.

I borrowed it from Michael Mutzabaugh at Wray's Music House, in Lemoyne, PA. I didn't have to deal with Peavey, but I'll say Wray's is the bomb! I ordered a mesa/boogie 50-50 poweramp and since it wasn't in in time for my New Year's gig he said "You can borrow mine". !!! Talk about customer service!! I've dealt with them a little before and will continue to in the past. If you're in Central PA stop in. It's a huge store with great stuff at great prices and the guys who work there are great too (everything is just so, so...great!).

I don't play strictly rock, and I'm going to Boston next year so I MAY get into the Jazz scene a little. But if you're a rocker and want a solid amp TRY THIS ONE OUT! Like i said before, i may try and pick one up for a backup because it's sounds really good and won't break down! And as with any of these reviews, DON'T JUST TAKE MY WORD FOR IT! Tone comes from a LOT of places as rediculous as how hard you push down the strings on the fretboard and what type of pick you use, along with the speaker cab, type of batteries in your stompboxes and what the climate is in your area. So use this as a reference and try this amp out!

Two channels, tube amp, etc.. all the features are listed in the other reviews.

It's definitely loud enough, but it's distortion is not near heavy enough! It's alright at about a volume of one, but after that it just flattens out. Not versatile at all.

I'm using a custom B.C. Rich Ironbird and an EMG-81 pickup. I mostly play black metal, but other forms of extreme metal as well.

The distortion sucks! I mean ok, sure, it beats a Fender or Crate, but you're much better off with a Marshall or Mesa Boogie.

It sounds horrible at high volumes! Not that you would ever need to exceed a volume of 2 though...

I've never had to deal with Peavey, and haven't had the amp long enough to really comment on it's dependability.

I definitely wouldn't buy it again, and think I'm going to look into a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier instead. Definitely try it out before you buy it! It sounded good what from what I had heard, and it gets rave reviews form all sorts of metalheads, but make sure you actually tweak around with it before purchasing! Big mistake! But oh well...I'm sure this amp fits a lot of people's styles if you're just into a loud type of heavy metal, but if you're wanting to get more extreme (death or black metal) try out a Marshall JCM 800 or Mesa Boogie Dual (Triple?) Rectifier.

This is going to be stripped down review, so here it goes! My amp was the first production run so i think it was '92...could be wrong. Versatility? Hey, it is what it is...you want something with a gazillion different sounds, then get a Triaxis or something...don't by this thing thinking it's going to do what a piece like that can do only to find out it doesn't, then bash it. It is what it is, a ball's out amp! But, with a little patience this thing will do alot more than peopLE give it credit for...like i said, patience.

As far as flat out distortion, i've played "ONE" amp that even remotely rivals the sheer gain of the 5150; that's a Dual Rectifier and frankly, it's not real close. There's a ton of great amps on the market, VHT, Soldano, Boogie, Bogner...i've played them all but none have come close to what i hear in the 5150. Basically my system consists of a Quadraverb+ (delay's), Quadraverb II (chorus,etc) and some footpedals...Boss DC-2,Boss GE-7,Boss Auto-wah,BBE stinger (clean channel only),MXR Phase 90, and a Budda Wah. Everything is switched using a Digital Music GCX system...the only thing in front of my amp is the Buddah. Essentially, i use the Lead channel of the head for everything...for solo boost that's where i use the GE-7. I've run a ton of different effects through the loop and have had "NO" problems, the only problem i've had was with a Boss SE70...no problems with Quads! Guitars? Older ESP Horizons all with Duncan JB pickups. Enough, i've played tons of gigs with this amp, ton's of sessions and i've never left without the soundman or an engineer who hasn't complimented me on my sound. And one point i had a 12 space rack with two preamps...a Triaxis and an original Hafler Triple Giant, Boogie power amp, stereo junk out the wazoo...a friend of mine whoe hated Peavey brought over a 5150 to try out...blew my butt in the dust. Next day i bought the amp and ditched the refrigerator...that was 7 years ago.

Retube it when it needs, thats about it. I've played countless gigs without a backup (always have a backup if you can when dealing with amps) and it's never broken down. Heck, it's been so good to me that i've bought bad power and preamp tubes and that's never even hurt it...just replace the tubes.

I've personally never neede them but their rep is no the greateast.

Here's the key, with anything you may get a lemon! You've got to shop smart...if you bought one and it sounded bad, try another! If that doesn't work, then the amp isn't for you...it certainly doesn't mean it sucks! One thing with this amp is that you've got to tweak it, don't sit down and crank everything to 10 and expect to sound like your favorite little band...take your time and tweak it. For me this has been one of the best amps i've ever owned, based on my experience i recommend in to anybody who wants a great "rock" amp. Yeah, i'm buying the 5150 II!

Well, Its all tube.. Two channels, one is high gain and the other is a clean sound that can get crunchy. Both channels share same eq which kinda blows but ohwell. Its 120 watts and is pretty damn loud

I use it with my band.. Were punkrock and play alot of local shows.I use it with my lespaul and two 5150 cabs. Sounds great. My fav amp out there. I run bass peged, resonanse pegged. Mids at zero. Treble at 7. I run the master on both channels at 5 which fills up the biggest shows. The gain Is 6 on both channels. I dont use the clean channel as clean, just as a lighter crunch. The amp is great.

I never had any probs.

dunno!

kicks ass. best gain anywhere. If you play punk/core...buy this damn amp

Everyone knows the basics by now. It's just like the wolfgang guitars, simple as can be, but quality. Pretty much all you can do is switch channels and turn the effects loop on and off(which is kinda neat). I wich there was another Eq...it's not needed as much as some amps I've played, but would still be nice. I was more pleased than in the past with the clean channel. It's actually better than I remember it. Strangly enough, I use it with a Peavey 4x12 for home recording. But it will also serve its purpose for gigs. Note: I'm ranking it on the # of features, not the quality of them.

Using with an Ibanez RG770 w/ Dimarzio Breed and Air Norton pickups. Also using a Peavey wolfgang special...I know, I'm a peavey and EVH freak. I also have a Peavey Cirrus bass and used to have a peavey bass head....they make good stuff. I used to have a Marshall valvestate, but I decided I wanted some real distortion and tube tone. This is beautiful. It suits my "style" rather nicely. I usually play Steve Vai stuff(I wish), and general 80's cock rock shredding stuff. Randy Rhodes is a big inspiration too. The clean channel isn't really clean, so I won't answer that. If you don't have enough distortion with this amp, than you don't play music....you make noises. Everything sounds grand.

I've never had a peavey product give me grief....ever. I would certainly gig without a backup.

never dealt with them.

I got a super deal on this amp....it was used and priced at $420....but I got it from this joint that I practically work it. It was in near mint condition too...tubes are still good and everything. Did I mention it needs two EQ's.....5150 II came a little late.

I picked the Signature Head (newer production model) over the block EVH lettering because the blocks are a bitch to find. Working in a music I thought I would have had enough time to futz with this head and get a "feel" for the tone. It still never settled but I bought it anyway.

This guitar head is the ultimate death metal head- but as far as versatility goes, I am better of using a card board box. I use Carvin DC200's with active pickups (which normally sound insane) and it was too muddy through the Peavy (even with the pre-gain on 5). It had to much bottom end and when I EQ'd it to sound half way decent, the clean tone channel sounded like ass. What I had to due was pick up a Stereo BBE sonic Maximer and LOOP BOTH CHANNELS (!) so the bbe process was doubled. This helped clean up the sound but still didn't help me when I needed the versatility. The thing that pissed me off the most is that everytime I changed the volume even slightly, the tone I had vanished. The amp sound fine on ten but you never realy get a chance to place that loud and NOT fatigue your speakers. Speaking of speaker a friend of mine with the same problem told me that he use a 2 15 BASS cabinet to allow the low end to pass through...holy shit- what a pain in the ass.

When I got the head it was retubed with sovtecs which made it sound better than it should've...how shitty could it have been before.

Peavy is a great company...but if eEVH's name wasn't on it I don't think they'd care about the head

Bands like machine head, and Carcass seem to have the correct 5150 tone, not EVH. I sold mine for 500 and got a triaxis...Boogie? THATS TONE!

I think the amp was made this year (1999). You know all the features by now... two channels, five 12ax7's, 4 6l6's, effects loop, bla, bla, bla. I play progressive rock music. Many people start to think Dream Theater or Queensryche, but it's not always necessarily rock. I play instruments other than guitar, as well. I use all the features on this amp, which isn't too difficult because there are very limited few. It's a good, bare-bones head without a lot of bells & whistles. I'll give it a relatively high score, however, because I don't require a whole lot from the amp, other than tone.

I am using a Peavey EVH Wolfgang, an American Standard Strat (w/ SD AlnicoII Pro pickups) and a stock Deluxe Strat Plus (the older one with the lace sensors, which I don't like). The amp suits my style very well. I sound the same regardless what equipment I use, but I really like this amp. I play progressive hard rock and can get sound from this which don't interfere with my bandmates and allow me to be heard seperately. I am also using a 5150 straight cabinet, which works well with the head.

The general tone is pretty midrangey and the EQ controls don't really make a huge difference with the amp. I use a more midrange-oriented sound, however. There is a lot of bass response when using the 5150 head & cabinet together, so you have to be careful.

This amp is pretty noisy with the stock tubes... lots of hiss. You have no idea how much better it sounds with different tubes. The gain was pretty fuzzy until I replaced all the pre-amp tubes with Russian 12ax7's. The sound is a little brighter, the gain compresses a little earlier and not as fuzzy when compared to the OEM Chinese tubes. Everything on this amp is so much better with different pre-amp tubes. Just take my word for it. I guarantee all of the people here trashing this amp used the OEM tubes. Even the effects loop was quieter.

Speaking of the effects loop, it is very particular about what effects you put in it. The effects-out is -10dbv. My HushIICX didn't even get a strong enough signal from the loop to open the gate. I couldn't use my old Quadraverb Plus (from 1989) with it since the signal from the amp was too low. It prefers either pedals or effects units with some sort of pre-amp. You can get a signal booster from some companies which will boost the output signal and lower the impedance to use troublesome effects units, though I just went back to using my old Boss stomp boxes. They sound great through the effects loop!

The clean tone isn't so great, but it is clean. Lave the pre-gain at 1 and leave off the crunch and bright on the rhythm channel. Also, I use a Boss GE-7 EQ through my effects loop, but I only use it for the clean channel.

The gain is incredibly driving. It's very crunchy, but also a bit fuzzy with the stock 12ax7's. As soon as I replaced them, I got the sound I wanted. This amp sounds the same at low volumes as it does when you start to turn it up a bit. It's very consistent, unlike a lot of amps I've ever played, even solid state.

Bottom line? Anyone who says this amp sound like Van Halen and only Van Halen either didn't spend much time tweaking it or is a lousy guitar player with no identity. It still sounds like I'm the one playing. I don't care for the EVH sound, but I love this amp and the Wolfgang guitars.

I haven't needed service from Peavey, but they've been very courteous and informative with phone questions I've had. I think they've been instructed to smooch you a little if you but EVH stuff, too.

They were very courteous and informative when I had questions about the effects loop. That is all the help I've needed from them.

I've been playing for almost 13 years. I was working on either a full rack or a Mesa-Boogies Dual Rectifier when this came along in half-stack format for $550. It was only a month old! My best friend worked at the music store from which it was originally sold and verified it for me. That was a steal. If something happened to it, I'd get a 5150II head since those should be out relatively soon. Peavey says they're shipping now. I'd say I wished it had a different EQ for the clean channel (the 5150II does), however it doesn't do a whole lot for the gain channel. I can't see it being any more effective for the clean channel. Regardless, I have my Boss EQ in the effects loop.

We all know most features on this amp. Two channels (rhythm/lead) with a crunch and bright switches on the rhythm channel. 120 watts with 5 12AX7's. There are high and a normal gain inputs. The 3-band shared EQ is passive, while the presence and resonance controls are active. This amp is very veratile considering the little amount of features. The clean channel is good, even though other reviewers think it isn't that great. Of course the lead channel is where this beast truly shines. This amp is great because you don't have to crank it to get that perfect sound! It's quiet enough where I can play in my tiny room (with a good sound), but loud enough to rock a frickin' stadium. It can be a tad noisy, not uncontrollable though. A great amp for both lead and clean applications.

This amp is great! I play a Gibson Les Paul standard with schaller locking tuners, and a Screamin' Demon pickup in the bridge; a fender strat with a WD double-locking tremolo, a hot rails pickup (sounds awesome), and Texas Specials for the rhythm and mid pickups. Both sound phenominal! I plug straight into the high gain input, except when I hook up a Bad Horsie and a chorus pedal. I run a Boss DD-3 delay through the effects loop and it sounds perfect. It makes up for the missing reverb. The clean is perfect for what I use it for. It stays clean till very high volume settings. I play mainly 80's rock (Poison, Dokken, Metallica, Guns n' Roses, Ozzy, etc.) I also love to play the new heavy shit (Godsmack, Staind, etc.)This amp can handle any sound I demand. Buy the 5150 cabinet! This cabinet and head were designed FOR each other, therfore, they sound the best together. The distortion is by far the best I have ever heard!! Not as heavy as a Mesa Mark IV, but more sustain and gain. Screaming sustain, heavy thump--This amp can hold a single note for eternity. It can easily be drawn into smooth feedback that will go on forever. My settings for EQ are: Gian-10, Low-9, Mid-4, High-8, Presence-7, and Resonance-7. When I crank the amp around 4-5 for post gain, I like to turn the highs down to about 6-7. The controls are simple, but can dial in any array of sounds imaginable. I replaced the preamp tubes after about a week, not because they were bad, but because all amps come with shitty tubes. I replaced the Sovteks with Groove Tubes GTECC83's Gold (the best tube ever)! This amp sounds PHENOMINAL!! Replacing the tubes only enhances the tone. More gain, better sustain, better clean, quieter. If you do purchase this amp, PLEASE change your preamp tubes right away, it has made a world of difference because I spent the extra 50 bucks.

I have only owned this amp for about two months, but I play it for about 3 hours everyday, and have even played it outside when it was about 40 degrees. It hasn't let me down in any possible way. I would gig without a backup anyday, but I would always carry some spare tubes. It's not too heavy or clumsy so it's pretty easy to haul around. It has always produced the sound I need for any application.

I haven't had to deal with the company and probably never will. I have to admit I was never a huge fan of Peavey amps. The classics and solid-states never did it for me. I tried the Ultra Plus head and that just proved to me that Peavey sucked even more than I thought...Then I played the 5150. I have never heard such a sweet sound from and amp. Anyway, the warranty is 5 years if the extended warranty card is sent in. Although I highly doubt I'll need the warranty.

What can I say, American made, high gain, awesome price. I have been playing guitar for about 6 years, I own three guitars, a 5150, a Fender Ultimate Chorus (great amp), and a tiny Crate practice amp. I had a Fender Roc Pro 700, which was a crappy, crappy amp. I have tons of Boss pedals, but I only use the Chorus Ensemble and the delay (DD-3). I have a Bad Horsie which kicks my ass, I love it. I would buy a 5150 again in a second if mine were stolen. I love the tone!! Tone is everything in the music business, and this amp has TONE. The shared EQ doesn't bother me at all, although I wish there was some reverb. I have played Marshalls, Fenders, Mesas, Crates, Ampegs, Soldanos, you name it. This amp rocks them all. This amp also costs hundred less than many top amps that don't even compare in sound. If you want the best sound at the best price, get a 5150.

I've been using the Peavy 5150 head, with two 2x12 cabinets (built by
Tube Works) since it first arrived on the market. I did not like the
plastic foot switch, so I bought a good metal channel switcher. Plastic doesn't cut it for the long term.
I do wish the 5150 had separate EQ's for each channel, but got around
this ommission by programming what I wanted to hear into my Digitech Studio 400 effects processor. Works nice in the FX loop.

I have two guitars: A custom-built Phantom (strat style body) with three Dimarzio Fast Track 1 pickups, and an 1986 Charvel (strat style)
with two Dimarzio X2N pickups. (Monster output).
This amp/guitar combination is very quiet, at all settings, and gives me endless sustain on the high gain channel.
On the clean channel, I do prefer just a slight amount of "edge" to the sound and the 5150 delivers it. I set the channel volume at 4 and
adjust the master volume and resonance control.
My distortion level, on the hot channel, is excellent! I am quite pleased with the 5150 head.

I have used my 5150 amp for numerous gigs in the past three years and I do carry a rack preamp for a backup (Chameleon) but I have never had a problem with it. Still using the same set of tubes it came with and it still sounds good. Never needed to call Peavy for service.

I did email Peavy, but that was just to compliment them for providing me with such a nice amp. It was a bad time then, as Hartley Peavy's
wife had just passed away.
I did get a prompt reply to my email.
Only thing I had to replace was the plastic vent screen on top of the amp. Peavy sent me a new one, no charge.
Very good service.

I am 57 years old. I've been playing gigs since I was 19 years old.
If I lost my 5150 I would buy another in a heartbeat. I love it.
I've used Marshall, Ampeg, Fender, still like the 5150 best of all.
For what it's worth to you, the reader, I recommend the 5150 amp to
you. If you like to rock out, get it!

We all know the features. It is a high gain 2 channel amp designed by Van Halen and manufactured by Peavey. I have the 4X12 cab which makes ALL of my amps sound incredable!

Brutal, wide range of distortion sounds. The amp can bring in tremendous thump with the "Resonance" knob or tons of sizzle with the presence control. Unlike many amps, the dirty channels EQ does a superb job of shaping the tone of this beast. I estimate Van Halen uses 60-70% of the distortion this amp has to offer cause when I plugged into this amp, I was floored by the amount and **quality** of the high gain sound. Now to the clean channel. It is strictly average in tone and character. Fender (or Marshall for that matter) does not need to worry about this amp. Functional is best used to describe the tone of this chean channel. I find this funny because of this amps tube compliment. The crunch option on the clean channel gives you some inbetween sounds similiar to a hard working 50's Fender or JTM Marshall. The character to this crunch it also average. There is a 3-d "swirl" quality that is missing from this amps clean/crunch channel that the great amps certainly DO have. Not bad, but not great either. Again, the hi-gain sound is probably one of the best in the business! I give Hi-gain a 10 and the clean a 5 and the crunch a 5.5

I play the amp with a 5150 Kramer Baretta replica, Std Wolfgang and a few super Les Pauls. Each guitars character comes across through this amp. I also play 2 Plexi Marshalls (one original and one reissue). The Marshalls (especially with sylevtlana gold tops) kick major ass in their own right.

I had a noisy amp untill I put Mesa preamp tubes in the amp. It has NEVER broke on me yet and best yet...This thing loves cheap garbage tubes from China.

Great cheap used amp with super hi gain sound. Get one with the cab if you can. The cab will make any amp come alive.

This amp is almost perfect feature-wise, but I think the FX loop
sucks really hard (because you can't adjust the loop signal level)
and it doesn't work with rack effects. Also, a spring reverb would be
a VERY nice addition to this amp.

I am using this amp with a Jackson JDR-94 fitted w. Seymour Duncan
pickups, and the amp produces the best Metal distortion I've ever
heard. There really isn't very much variety in the sounds, so I wouldn't even dream of using this amp to play anything else than
all-out shredding metal-hardcore-punk applications. But for that purpose it's perfect, soundwise. Can't undrestand those whiners
about "crappy" sound. Get a life, buy yourself a real guitar, not a bloody stratocaster (a piece of $#it for a guitar in my opinion).

No problems.

No experience

I only wish this thing had a decent, adjustable fx loop. For me, this
is the amp to die for (and would-be-thieves end six feet under).
Compared to any Marshall this thing is a winner!

This amp has all the features tha you need. I've played everything from prog rock to jazz on this thing, and have been very happy.

Ok, I have a custome shop Ibanez and a gibson LP. This amp as distortion to spare!!!!! I play with the pre gain on about "4" and it's STILL almost too much! I've had to do some tweeking to get a clean sound, but I'm very pleased with both channels. I've owned a Boogie, and I'd much rather have this head.

I've beat the hell out of mine on the road, and it still sounds great. I gig w/out a back up.... because I can't afford one!

The CS at Peavey has been great.

This is an excelent amp! If you want a really good HIGH GAIN amp, but don't want to get a degree in rocket science (like you need w/ a boogie) then you really should check this amp out!

2 channel tube amp. One Eq for all. Switch to make clean(rhythem) channel crunch. Amps got balls. Footswitch is click button type. Has a slow action from channel to channel. Effects loop, preamp out.

I play an ESP custom neck-thru with some EMG pickups-81 and S. I wired the PUs to run off of 18 volts vs 9-two batteries. Lead channel has lots of gain, but its very high end distortion. Not like a Boogie crunch, more modern. Sounds very much like EVH's tone, obviously. Clean is hard to get good tone. Kinda bad clean. Overall a good tone.

No backup needed. I've used it for over a year, and haven't noticed any lose of tube power. Its a Peavey, so service is no problem.

Peavey-nuff said

Overall a good head. Dual EQ would be nice. The tone is good, but not like a Rectifier. But it is 300 bucks cheaper. Power to spare! But you have to cut the presence down a lot.

I bought mine used a few months ago. I have no idea what year it is, or how much hell it's been through. Everyone else has reviewed the features of this amp, so I'll skip them (if you need more, go to www.peavey.com for it). The amplifier is by no means overloaded with features, but what it has makes sense.

I use a Peavey Wolfgang Standard (what else are you going to use on a 5150...a Taylor acoustic?), a Fender American Strat, and a frankenstein Kramer American Baretta I built myself, and the amp can be pretty versatile. Getting some Metallica crunch can be a tweaking ordeal in itself, but this amp pours out the blues tones readily. Getting a true clean sound is pretty much not an option, even with the Crunch switch off and the pregain turned all the way down. To get some volume in the clean channel, you need to have the pregain turned up a bit, which adds some crunch. What are you supposed to do, eh?

Crank this thing through a 5150 cab, though, and stand back...WAY back! This thing will rock the neighbors if you let it. The thing that amazes me about this amp is that you can turn the volume all the way up to 10, and it stays crystal clear (at least mine does). As a matter of fact, the louder you turn it up, the clearer it gets. This thing definitely does sing. It almost makes up for the lack of a true clean channel, but not quite.

I'm not sure if this amp is rock-solid or not, because I don't know who did what to it before I bought it. I am replacing the tubes in it next week, so I may add to my review later. I'm replacing the worn Chinese tubes in it with some heavy duty Sovtek tubes, so we'll see what I get. I think it will be pretty solid and reliable, and if it's anything like their 5150 cabinet it should be a rock.

Haven't had to deal with them, but I've heard good things about them.

I have been playing for some time now, and the recent addition of the Peavey Wolfgang has made me relearn the guitar. I simply love this guitar, and if anything happens to my amber-flamed Wolfie I will probably have to kill someone. I bought the amp after playing a friend's 5150 and being impressed with it's WHUMP, if you know what I mean. This amp is the proverbial elephant gun (as my bass player describes it), and was made to blow you away. I think the amp should have separate EQ's for each channel, and the first channel should have a footswitch option for the Crunch, but that's just nitpicking. The 5150 Mark II's take care of all of this, but I can't afford one right now. I'll just have to keep cranking mine and pushing buttons on the face of the head to get my sounds.

This is not a very versatile amplifier, not as versatile as a Boogie or Marshall or a Johnson or Line6, but it will serve you well and get you heard over the drummer and bassist. If you spend some time with this amp, you will begin to appreciate what Peavey has done with it. I never,EVER thought I would own a Peavey amplifier or guitar, but I now proudly own both. I am a big Eddie fan, but that's not the reason why I bought the guitar and amp. They sound great together, and they kick A LOT of ass to boot!

I bought a half stack used in'95. Not sure what model it is.It has Eddie's signature on the back, which is the older ones, I believe. I use it at regular club gigs, and regular practice seesions It has tons of power, and simple features which to me is great. You can plug in and play straight through, or use effects for more domination. I like its simplicity, toughness, and monster gain. I don't think it was meant to be played extremely clean. If you want clean, buy small gear. It could use seperate EQ's, which the new ones will have. It's not for everyone, but if you want to curdle someone's sperm cont, and wilt nearby plant life. This is the rig.

I play heavy low tuned sludge-metal. I have piles of guitars, but I'm currently mainly using an '83 Dean baby V with a DiMarrzio super distortion, BC Rich Bich with DiMarrzio PAF Pro, Jackson Dinky Rev. with a PAF pro. These are my pickups of choice. I originally played straight through the amp, then I started using a Boss DS-1 pedal, which to me the amp sounds like anyway, Then went to a DOD FX86b- death metal. The pedal is noisy, when the volume is turned down on the guitar, but I'm not trying to play jazz, So I don't care. I love my sound. I have always been pleased with the amp. Then I heard a Mesa. I was very impressed. But I decided to keep my 5150, because it had never let me down. I added a slant cabinet, both 5150's w/ Sheffields, and made a full stack. With my pedal, and the sheer power of the amp, I believe it blows away our lead guitarist Mesa. No offense to anyone, I just found a thick sound that works for me. I don't really play clean so I never really worry about it. Bt I still think this amp was meant to crush, not coddle. I hooked a BBE 462 to it and I was devastated! I have one ordered, and I'm waiting for it now. The amp's distortion is great. But I wanted more so I use the pedal to get more.

This thing has been drgged across hell and back. And it has never once failed me. I don't care what anyone says, Peavy makes some of the toughest, best sounding reliable amps on the market, Period! I never use a back-up, but I am planning on getting another 5150 head. So if I do eed it, it's there. I've used it since'95 with no problem. It sat for a year in my nasty rehearsal space, uncovered, while I recovered from an accident. And has been going since.

I've never dealt with Peavy. I have no manuals or warranty papers. There is a dealer near me. And they are very good. I believe they would back their product, though.

Overall, I think ths amp rules! I've played through Mesa's, Ampeg's, and Marshall, and I wouldn't trade it any of them. I will buy another one when I can. I am originally a drummer that played guitar a little, because I love it. I've been playing constant now since'97. I own P.A., drums, guitar, basses, I am always getting gear of some sort, and trying to create new sounds. I guess that's part of it. Once I think it sounds great, I find something else to improve on it, Isn't that the American way.

I'm going to cut to the chase and let the world know that it isn't a bad amp for the price. It's actually a good amp but flawed. I've had mine for about four or five years now and just recently took it out of my studio to get live and unadulterated. I needed a change.
I'm playing hard funky blues/Jazz and the number one problem with this amp is that you can only get a marginally clean sound with the pre gain all the way down and the post maxed out. But when you play live you need some volume which means that the more you turn it up the dirtier it gets. But at stage volume the clean is'nt horrible it just ain't great. Sure, it's a rock amp but it would be nice to add some cleanliness!
I hear people talking about how muddy it gets. Well yes it does get muddy if you eq it wrong! The problem I have is that it only has one eq. I eq it for that luscious thick overdriven distortion that is the big selling point of this amp, then when I switch over to the clean I get mud. And vice versa! So that means you have to find a happy medium between the two channels. You compromise your tone on each one because the best setting for each will not sound good for both. It's a pain but you can find a happy medium. The way I have it now the lead channel sounds really good and the clean is a bit muddy but passable. The 5150 II should solve this problem with it's separate eq's and cleaner clean channel. We'll see. But it's cheaper than a Soldano or a Boogie what can I say! I'm having a lot of fun with mine. I did two gigs in two days with it last night and the night before and got lots of compliments.

Everyone already knows the features (or you can read about them on the Peavey website). I will have to say that I'm not particularly happy with the effects loop. I run either my Alesis Quadraverb or Nanoverb through the effects loop and it produces a loud hum. It's not the units either. I have read that the effects loop was designed for use with stompboxes and it wouldn't hum as loud with them, although I haven't tried that yet.

I use a Gibson LP Studio and a Fender "Roadhouse" stratocaster with thsi amp. This amp delivers a huge sound and extreme "oomph" with my LP. That's exactly what I was after. You can also get a more "classic" rock sound by adjusting the pre gain on either channel. It's somewhat versatile for rock/blues musicians. It wouldn't do too well for country, jazz, etc.......... The clean channel is acceptable despite what other reviewers say. You just turn the pre gain down more on the clean channel and it works fine. It has a "compressed" sound, which I like for a clean channel. Bottom Line: The distortion is brutal as hell (which is good IMO) and the clean channel is acceptable. Fender clean? NO. But very usable.

I bought a half stack used and it has some road marks. I would imagine that this thing could hold up under rough use, but I haven't tested it myself. It is very solid and heavy.

Only dealt with the company on their interactive forum. They responded to my questions right away. Never called them though.

I have been playing guitar for almost 13 years and have played through many different amps. I really like the 5150 half stack. It is a good choice for those interested in a very ballsy sound. I've seen all the bad review here for this amp and I have to say that I don't understand their complaints. It did take me a few weeks to get used to, as it's kinda grainy at low volumes. I added digital reverb to the amp and it smoothed out the sound bunches. I'm now in love with the pure tube tone this amp has.

Clean channel w/ crunch button. Dirty channel...and I mean dirty. Hi and Lo gain inputs. Standard eq and a presence and resonance adjustment. Fottswitchable channeland effects loop.

I use two very differant guitars with this amp, and the love/hate relationship of previous reviews are accurate. The dirty channel kicks out a bone crushing tube overdrive that can stun children and small animals. With my custom Jackson with a Dimarzio Steve's Special in the bridge position, the sound is beyond reproach. Devastating lows, shrieking highs, harmonics jump right off the neck and a pick attack that hits you right in the chest. The story is differant for my Strat. This guitar is stock with the exception of the bridge p/u. I routed the guitar for a Dimarzio Tonezone...A good pickup and a good sounding ax through a Marshall or Soldano Hot Rod. But it sounds bass heavy (read mushy) thru the 5150. Too bad. I'm neither here nor there on the clean channel. It sounds best with a single coil and a 31 band eq giving it the help that it needs. The crunch feature bangs the gain up significantly...not quite seathing distortion. Useful for chording and 70's sound, but not real pleasant on the ears. So, with the right guitar and careful application of EQ, it sounds great. Plug straight in with a cheap guitar and the sound is not quite up to my expectations. Aftermarket tubes help too.

A very solid piece of gear. Mine survived a house fire, beating by children and lots of transport

Never had to get help with this top

I've been playing for almost 20 years and have gone through many amps. I'll keep this one for its kick ass overdrive and nothing else. I strongly recommend retubing and playing through a full stack. This keeps the amp working hard where it sounds best and you won't accidently blow up the single cab. This amp is VERY loud. The 5150 cabs are phenominal and are highly recommended for both their great sound and looks. Definately test drive this amp with your own guitar before plunking down several C notes for it.

the same as every other amp ever mede

i owned this amp when it first came out, from the time i plugged i t in i didnt like it. i tried to like it, i really did. Eddie was my hero but this amp just sounded like shit to me. years later i saw one 4 sale for $250. it was mint.. so i thought ild give it another try. as soon as i plugged in i remembered why i sold it muddy, undefined not warm or brown in my opionon. it does sound original i imagine you could get an intresting sound out of it..... but to use it as your main(only) amp,...???

worked while i owned it.

dito

didnt like this amp. currently own a 1964 bassman that im very happy with. it responds to your playing where as the 5150 seems to react more like a transister amp no dynamics whatsoever. sounds pretty good when eddie plays though.

Well if you are like me and were/are looking for a high gain amp then this is the way to go. I will give the amp the credit that is pretty much made for gain...but it sounds like shit even when you tweak it out. There is no clean channel. Its all really muddy.
Iam not sure when it was made.

Alright. Iam very picky about my distortion,because it has to versitile. with this amp-you can only get 1 sound. That sound would be garbage. I cant belive Peavy and Eddie Van Halen spent so much on such a piece of crap. Its all muddy when you get the voluumes past like 3. And if your in a band-which why the hell else would you need a cab/head-then you have to turn up-loud. With this 5150 you cant do that cause its muddy as helkl.
I play metal and I was very disapointed. If your gonna be in a metal band. Punk band. ANY BAND i would go for a mesa boogie. You pay more...but buy the best,which is mesa. Absolutly Crushing Distortion and awesome clean-which the 5150 has none of.

I wouldnt gig it casue it sounds so bad. I would be playing a Triple rectifier.

Didnt need to find out casue i took the piece back in a week and a half.

Man iam young. So i cant afford really expensive shit. At the point i bought it-it was good sounding-on LOW volumes. But iam in a metal band and this piece wasnt worth it. So at this point i took it back-took some of my stock out and am in the process of getting a Mesa Boogie Triple REctifier. Its was worth it.

I cannot say I was impressed in this category.. Both channels sharing the same eq??? Come on!!!! This amp is just a one trick pony!! Seems more to me like a One channel amp with two volumes.. That's pretty much what it sounds like...Oh yeah...Did I mention it sounds like crap?? More on that later.... Anyways, Two channels that sound the same... Shit for gain, and one hell of a lot of power... Too bad all that power is so useless....

This is one thing that I can't stand!!!! I'm glad I ditched this amp when I did.. What a Garbage dump!!! The clean channel gets all mushy and distorted at about 6!!!! And when you hit the "Lead" channel, you lose all definition whatsoever!!!! The eq controls don't do anything for the sound at all!!! They might as well just be painted on!! Ya know those little solid state amps with the push-button presets?? Well, that's exactly what this amp is!!! (Sounds like) It has ONE sound-it sucks by the way-the only controls that do anything to shape the sound whatsoever is the gain and volume controls!! But whatever you do, it still sounds like one thing..... MUSH!!!! I got rid of it after 2 months of stressful tinkering, tube changing, and basic resentment towards Peavey and everyone who works there for having the guts to put out such a shitty sounding useless amplifier!! I swear that EVH just uses the 5150 shell, with Mesa/Boogie guts inside or something!!! There's no way in hell that anyone could get a decent sound out of it without major mods to it!!

That's one thing that hasn't f**ked up on me! Good thing too, or else it would've "fallen" off a bridge!!

Don't even start!!! Peavey employees are BRAINDEAD!!!!!

I'll say one thing.... DO NOT BUY THIS AMP!!!!! I feel sorry for whoever bought it... After I traded it for my Crate Blue Voodoo 120, it was gone from the music store after two weeks!!!! Poor bastard, it'll be back soon!

made in 97. varsatile my butt, this thing sucked. it HAD two channels clean and crap. you can hook it up 8 or 16 ohms I think, I cant remember. It had PLENTY of power. Probaby the loudest amp I had ever heard in my life.

I used this amp with a les paul studio. classic 57 pickups. I hated this amp. It sounded like van halen...that was it. No way to make it sound differrent. Turn down the mids? You sound like van halen with less mids. Turn down the distortion? van halen with less distortion. Turn down the highs? well you get the idea. The reason I bought it was the sheer volume of it! this thing was louder than any plexi I had ever heard. I guess I should have kept it just to use as a power amp. But the clean channel wasnt as clean as it should be. And I was getting another amp anyways. How "brutal" was the distortion? The distortion sucked. I guess if you really want a peavey buy an ultra head. Those are pretty cool.

Worked great for the month I owned it. But I probably only played it for about 20 hours during that time trying to get it to sound good. Oh well. Bye bye you piece of crap. I wont miss you.

Never dealt with them.

Ive got lots of gear. If you want the list email me. Its gone now, I could care less if someone steals it. I'll feel worse for the poor slob who buys that horrible sounding piece of crap. Im really not slagging Peavey, just THIS amp. Peavey makes other good sounding syuff now. It's really amazing actually. For years and years they made total garbage and nowadays theyre turning out these high end amps and guitrs and drums and everything else! Who would have thought?

Standard 5150 that has all the features that everyone else has already stated. 2 channel, with crunch button in clean channel. All tube, 120W, effects loop, etc. etc. No reverb though. I don't use reverb any way, but someone who does will want to stay away from this amp.

I use a Les Paul with standard Gibson Humbuckers, a Fender Strat with Tex-Mex trio pickups and a Peavey Tele with standard Tele pickups (one lipstick). This amp sounds amazing with all three, giving distinct sounds with each. You don't realize how valuable having different guitars are until you have an amp like this, then the guitar really plays a difference in the tone. My band plays what I guess you can can call hard/modern/alternative rock. I'm not sure what we really fit into- sorta like Failure if you know who they are. Anyway, this amp suits me perfectly, the distortion puts my pedals to shame. For distortion I have a TubeWork 310 Shred which I like very much, but can't hang with this amp. I also have an old DOD pedal that has distortion and compression that can't hang with the lead channel. This amp is truely amazing.

I haven't had it long enough to know, but it seems dependable. I'd use it without a backup.

Haven't dealt with them, but the service center by me is kickass.

I've been playing for too long... heh... guitar is an expensive hobby, I got a cabinet with it, so that is why the price is up there, luckily I got a great payment play so it's not kicking my ass too bad. Great amp, I usually don't like Peavey gear, but this one is just badass.

Everyone before me has pretty much covered the features of this amp. It's a 1996 model that I bought in late 97. It has enough features to keep it from being too complex ;) , and the 5150 II will fix most all of the lackings of this model (footswitchable crunch, deticated eq's). No reverb sucks, but I get it from my rack anyway.

This is where I wanted to throw in my $.02. First off, I play both a Peavey Wolfgang and a custom Yamaha Pacifica with two Duncan JB humbuckers in it. I use a rack, but I'm not considering it in this review. When I bought the amp (and its cab), I noticed a queer quality to the distortion, kind of a buzz or "ghost note". This seems to be a sticking point with some people. My trick.. I replaced the preamp tubes with Groove Tube 12ax7a's, and the power tubes with Mesa Boogie "Yellow" 6L6's. This made a HUGE tone difference, and renewed my love for this amp. It has a much smoother distortion. I later discovered that E.V.H. retubes his 5150's as well. Everyone should try this before they write off the 5150. It's a great amp with mediocre tubes (at least in 1996). It only gets a 9 because it is somewhat limited in the sounds it can produce, and I have yet to hear a 10, and I've played A LOT of amps.

This amp has been my gigging amp since I bought it. I've never had it fail. It's built like a tank, and I wouldn't hesitate to gig w/o a backup.

I've dealt with Peavey about my Wolfgang, and they were very helpful and responsive. Haven't had a problem with the head yet.

I've been playing for about 7 years. I have previously owned a 1971 Fender Bassman, which didn't fit hard rock very well, and a Marshall VS100, which was good for what it was, but nothing compared to the 5150. I've played through many Marshall's, a Mesa Dual Rectifer (cool amp), a Matchless, a couple of Randalls, and a Hughes & Kettner Attax 100. The 5150 just seems to suit me best, although the Rectifier was very nice, just not affordable. The 5150 is one hell of an amp for the money. Like I said, changing the tubes changed the animal :)

I hate the sound of this amp even if EVH happens to be my idol. There's just too much dirt in the distortion. Too much gain too. Sounds like a solid state amp to me. Probably good for Pantera or death metal but thats it. It did have a huge bottom end butt the tone is all dirty and not very versatile. Don't even try playing blues with this amp cuz it won't be any fun. I used the amp with a Ibanez Universe guitar and I got a tone close to VH's Right Here, Right Now. Clean sound? what clean sound?! there's hardly any clean if there is. i did not enjoy playing this amp at all and don't understand why so many people love this amp so much. I've tried other high gain amps like Boogies and marshalls and they had smooth tube high gain sounds unlike this one.

This anp would not be of any value to me at all because I hate the sound. I don't even like the distortion which is what is known for. I used to fool myself forcing myself into thinking that this amp actually had tone because Eddie is my idol. But now that i judge amps objectively with my own ears, I think this amp would be totally useless to me.

I got the amp new in 96' I also got the 5150 slant cabinet. It's a foot-switchable two channel 120 watt tube amp with an effects loop that is also activated from the footswitch which is a really cool idea! It has two input jacks, one for high gain and one for normal. I never use the high gain input because the amp has so much crunch to begin with. My only gripe is I wish the amp had a seperate EQ for each channel. I play hard rock/alternative music and the amp is versatile enough but when playing at low volumes it sounds very compressed. This isn't really a problem playing live but at home it can be a pain especially when you are trying get a particular sound for an upcoming gig and the neighbors get upset because your vibrating the walls of their house!

I play a Les Paul and a Strat and this amp delivers 100%. The amp is extremely versitile, for hard rock/alternative it covers the spectrum very well. This amp has enough distortion for two amps. EVH really pegged the meter with this one! The clean channel is good, with the "crunch" button deppressed it can get a really fat rhythm sound. This amp also has incredible bottom end! It is huge! With the gain turned up there can be some electronic hum but by and large it is pretty quiet under most situations.

Since I've had it the only problem was a blown fuse and that's it. It is solid and dependable.

Never dealt with them!

If you want an amp that can be used for heavy metal to pop this is the one! Since I have been playing (18 years), I have owned a few Marshalls and Fenders and this amp sounds better than any of the ones I ever owned! If you have any doubts about this amp listen to the sounds EVH gets from it on his latest stuff. This is destined to become a classic amp and rightfully so. I compared it to a Mesa Boogie and couldn't justify the price gap. It has great distortion and a huge bottom end balanced with good midrange and highs the only downside is a shared EQ for both channels. If it was stolen I would replace it in a heart beat.

As everyone already knows, the 5150 is a 120 watt all tube head, with clean and lead channel that are foot switchable. It is an easy amp to use, and produces incredible gain. The only reason for the 9 is because there are not seperate EQ. for the two channels.

When it comes to sound, you will find no other amp with as much gain as the 5150. I use a Jackson Dinky Reverse with Seymore Duncan pickups, into a BBE 362, and straight into the head. With this setup, along with my Marshall 1960A cab, the gain is amazing. The amp is so CRUNCHY, I can get any sound from Korn, Deftones, Pantera, and Limp Biskit. If you like to play metal, and want an amp that has more crunch than you will ever need, get the 5150.

Although I bought the amp used, I don't think I will ever have to worry about it breaking down on me. This amp is built like a freakin' tank.

Never had to deal with them, and probably never will.

I have been playing the guitar for two years now, and out of all of the amps that I have played through, nothing comes close to the 5150. For an amp that sales for less than 700 new, but comes with over the top gain and crunch, nothing beats the 5150.

2 CHANNEL TUBE AMP, CLEAN, LEAD. SWITCHABLE BRIGHT AND CRUNCH ON CLEAN CHANNEL. SWITHCABLE FX LOOP. SEPARATE GAIN AND MASTERS ON EACH CHANNEL. POWER AMP PRESENCE AND RESONANCE CONTROLS. HI + LO INPUTS. FOOT SWITHC FOR CHANNEL SWITCH AND FX LOOP SWITCH.

I USE A STRAT WITH A DIMARZIO SUPER DISTORION, LES PAUL WITH SUPER DISTORTION, STOCK PV VENDENBERG WITH KAHLER DIPSTICK. I PLAY MOSTLY PROGRESSIVE ROCK, METAL, AND ROCK AND ROLL. THIS AMP WAS COOL FOR STICHING BETWEEN A CLEANER SOUND AND OVER THE TOP LEAD SOUND. PLENTY OF GAIN FOR ANYONE. I DID LIKE THE FACT THAT I COULD SET TWO BASICALLY IDENTICAL GRIND SOUNDS WITH THE CRUNCH SWITCH ON THE CLEAN CHANNEL. IT GAVE ME ONE SOUND, TWO VOLUMES. THIS AMP WAS GOOD FOR THAT AND THAT ONLY. I FOUND THIS AMP A ONE TRICK PONY WITH TWO VOLUMES. THE ONE SOUND IT DOES MAKE WELL IS REAL SPONGY AND NOT VERY PRECISE. CLEAN SETTINGS ARE GOOD ENOUGH. DISTORTION IS BORDERING ON UNDEFINED MUSH WITH GOBS OF SMEARED OVERTONES. MY PROBLEM WITH THIS AMP AND THE REASON I SOLD IT WAS IT DOES NOT HAVE A PRECISE ATTACK ON THE NOTES. I TRIED 2X12 W/ CELESTIONS AND EV'S, 4X12 WITH CELSTIONS AND JBL, AND THE AMP COULD NOT PRODUCE A SPEEDY ATTACK. I SOLD THIS AMP IN FAVOR OF A MESA/BOOGIE STUDIO PREAMP WITH A MARSHALL 50/50 TUBE POWER AMP. THE NEW RIG GIVES MY THE SAME DISTORTION CAPABILITY AS THE 5150, A CLEANER CLEAN, A GRAPHIC EQ, RVB, AND STEREO OPERATION. DONT GET ME WRONG, THE 5150 SOUND GOOD FOR WHAT IT DOES, IT JUST SOUNDS TO DAMN MUDDY, NOT BROWN, TO ME.

I HAD IT FOR 8 MONTHS. 15-20 GIGS WITH IT. NEVER A PROBLEM EXCEPT 2 MICROPHONIC PREAMP TUBES I HAD REPLACED. PV MAKES PRETTY REALIBALE STUFF AND THIS AMP WAS NO EXCEPTION

NEVER DEALT WITH THEM

I HAVE BEEN PLAYING 15 YEARS AND OWNED VARIOUS FENDER, MARSHALL, PEAVEY, CRATE, AND NOW MESA/BOOGIE EQUIPMENT. I ALWAYS EMPLOY A DIGITECH DSP128+ AND CHANDLER ECHO UNIT IN THE EFFECTS LOOP OF EVERY AMP I HAVE PLAYED. ALSO, I ALWAYS HAVE AN IBANEZ TS-9 TUBE SCREAMER IN THE FRONT JUST IN CASE I DECIDE I NEED A LITTLE MORE. BECAUSE MY RIG IS CONSISTENT EXCEPT FOR THE AMPS, I REALLY AM IN THE POSITON TO EVALUATE THE AMPS I PLAY. IF THE 5150 I HAD HAD BEEN STOLEN WHEN I OWNED IT, I WOULD NOT HAVE BOUGHT IT AGAIN. WHAT I DID LOVE WAS THE SUSTAIN AND CHANNEL SWITCHING, PERIOD. I HATED THE LACK OF PRECISION IN BOTH THE CLEAN AND DISTORTED SOUNDS. THE RESONANCE KNOB DID DIAL IN SOME CRAZY LOW END BUT OVERALL, IT MADE AN ALREADY MUDDY SOUND COMPLETELY UNINTELLIGABLE. MY NEW RIG GIVES ME BOOGIE PRECISION IN BOTH CLEAN AND DIRTY CHANNELS AND THE MARSHALL POWER SECTION IS OOZING MACHISMO.

I got this amp one month old so its basically brand new. I got this amp and sold my Peavey Bandit because I wanted to get that tone only tubes can produce. I play metal rhythm and I'm into bands like Limp Bizkit, Coal Chamber, System of a Down, Pantera, Korn, and the likes, and this amp gets me the sounds I'm after. I'm not much of a Halen fan but this amp is a killer high gain amp. I only wish it had a separate EQ for each channel, cause it sucks when I have the low at 10 and the mid at 5 for lead, then switch to clean and want the low less. Oh well, thats why this amp is so cost effective, they left out an extra EQ and added killer tone at the same cost. So I'd have to say I'd rather have better tone then an extra EQ for the money. Other then that, there is an Effects loop and and the other neccessities of any good amp. I hook the amp up to a Mesa 212 Recto cab and this combo is very hard to beat for the money. The Mesa cab, in my opinion, with its Celestion 90s, has a tighter and deeper bass response then the 5150 cab, and the Recto 212 sounds just about identical to the 412 so thats a plus. At 120watts thats plenty of power for just about anyone. I'm basically a hobbiest but I take tone seriously so that's why I got this instead of sticking with a cheap practice type amp. I mean even though I play mostly at home, I want it to sound like I'm playing out. All in all, this amp is about the best sounding amp for the money, and you get well more then what you pay for, the only downfall is the single EQ.

I play an Ibanez, with a Seymour Duncan Screamin Demon at the brige and this amp compliments that setup very well. I can get all the sounds I want with this amp. I use mainly the lead channel for sweet metal distortion, but by backing down on the pregain you can get some great rock and grunge tones. I like to set the pregain at about 5 for a good thick chunky metal tone thats great for palm mutting rhythm riffs. At higher pregain settings there is some hiss from the amp, but thats about how all tube amps sound, and depending on the pickup I suppose it could be worse. I don't mind it too much since it's not noticeable while playing. This amp sounds great, I love to play anything thats really heavy and basically has a really sweet groove that gets your head going. I love the bottom end rumble the amp gets with this cab. The walls start to shake at anything about 1! I barely play anythin above 2-3 cause I'd get evicted if I did. This amp sounds better and better the louder it gets. With more volume the tone gets thicker and just rocks. This amp can sound however you want, whether its like I prefer for hard metal Pantera style, or if you prefer a deep brown sounding grunge Pumpkins tone. I like to set the gain about half way, and it sounds exactly like Angus's tone from classic AD/CD songs like Back in Black. If you want a killer amp with terriffic tone for anything from metal, to grunge, and everything in between check this amp out. Oh yea, is sounds pretty good clean too, although it tends to get a bit distorted at high volumes, but I barely every play clean.

I havent had it too long, maybe a month, but I havent had any trouble at all. This is my second Peavey and I never had a problem with the Bandit, which itself was a great amp for under 400. So I havent dealt with changing tubes yet, but since I have had it the tone has been very consistent.

Who knows, never had a problem.

I really dont think there is a better amp for the money. My next amp will me a Mesa Rectifier, probably the Dual since the Triple is like 2 grand. But for around 700 buck new this amp is a great value, and anyone looking to step up from a smaller amp should seriously check it out.

I bought mine when they first came out. The shop called me after they closed to be the first to demo it and it was all I expected and more! Gobs of brown caramel-like distortions! You can play anything on this thing from blues to punk to country to rock to the obvious VAN HALEN! The best wasy to get the most out of the tone of this amp is to run your effects through the loop in the back. This way, your tone isn't altered much. If you have a Sonic Maximizer, use that too! I have used this head for over six years and hundreds of gigs and it always sounded great! I got compliments from soundmen and my fellow guitarists at many shows! This amp simply sounds great out of the box! Solid state or digital distortion does not even come close to the tone and feel this amp produces! You can get gobs of feedback from this thing that is totally controllable if you want it to be! I'd recommend this to anyone as their first major amp purchase and their last!

I play rock and alternative styles on a buch of different axes, all with humbuckers. I own two Ibanez Roadstars(modded), Kramer Focus 1000, Kramer Baretta, Custom made Les Paul, Washburn M1000, Jackson PS-1, and all sound awesome through this amp clean and distorted! The amp is noisy in the distortion mode so you should use some kind of noise reduction in the effects loop. A small price to pay for tone! The clean and distortion channels are great! Both are very easy on the ears and not harsh at all!

This amp has not let me down yet! With tube amps you must be careful! Never store it in the cold-don't use it as a beer holder-don't drop it-store it in a cushiones case! My bandmates would never touch it because they knew if anything happened to it there would be hell to pay! Baby it and it will last a lifetime!

I haven't had to call the company for anything other than to complain about the price of the Wolfgang guitar! Cheaper than the Ernie Ball my foot!

I own the following:2 IBANEZ ROADSTARS MODIFIED 1 KRAMER BARETTA 1 KRAMER FOCUS 1000 MODIFIED 1 WASHBURN M1000 MODIFIED 1 CUSTOM LES PAUL COPY MODIDIED 1JACKSON PS-4 MODIFIED. All guitars contain DiMarzio Pickups. effects DIGITECH 256-XL&RP-12,ZOOM 1202, BBE SONIC MAX, ROCKTRON SPEAKER SIMULATOR, ALESIS3630 COMPRESSOR,ROCKTRON HUSH,IBANEZ PUE5,MXR PHASER,BOSS METALZONE, DOD WAHWAH, ROCKMAN ACOUSTIC PEDAL,BOSS FLANGER BF-2,PEAVEY TRANSTUBE BANDIT 112,I have run almost all this stuff through this amp with great results! I even got close to the man's tone!

The fact that it has as many features is good, but it would be better if they actually worked! i HAVE HAD THIS AMP FOR THREE WEEKS AND IT BLOWS!!! IT SWITCHES CHANNELS BY ITSELF, IT SHUTS OFF VERY OFTEN, AND I CAN'T EXPLAIN WHY, BUT IT MAKES THIS HIGH PITCHED WHINING WHENEVER I TURN IT UP PAST THREE!

This amp is the biggest piece of s**t in the universe! I can't stand it! On the clean channel, it makes loud thumping sounds and cuts in and out, and on the drive channel, it whines and squeals like a rat having it's legs cut off! That's a bad thing when your signal is drowned out by what seems to be feedback. whatever is wrong with this thing, I can't figure it out.

The amp works quite often but it works wrong! Iv'e had it into the shop atleast 12 times in the past few weeks and it seems to get worse all the time, two days after I got it, the tubes went harmonic or something and the amp made this awful screeching sound! I had to kick it very hard to make it stop!

Peavy is hopeless when it comes to this category, and I could personally kick the teeth out of evey operator I have spoken to! It has been at least a week since I last talked to them and they've left me hanging! My half assed repairs were covered under warranty though.

This amp sucks more dick than richard simmons at a Marilyn Manson Concert! I would advise anybody to stay away from this amplifier and get a good one. My friend had a 5150 that gave him the exact same problems, last time I heard from him, he took an axe to it. Anyway, the tone is crappy, the reverb sucks, and i'm about to trade it in for a Crate Blue Voodoo 120, I've heard nothing but great reviews about it, I'll rate it when i get it!

Wow. Two channels of distortion, Lead and Rhythm (with a "Crunch" option for Rhythm), pre gain and post gain on both channels, bass mid treble eq, prescence and resonance, hi and low sensativity inputs, pre amp out, effects loop. Lacks a built in reverb. Each feature is not quite as rich in depth as I'd like it to be, but it is certainly more than adequate.

I'm playing a modifer Fender Strat with Seymour Duncan pick ups. Jesus, this amp's designers must have been on drugs! The distortions are wild! I love it! I am able to get metal, rock, punk, blues, you name it out of this amp all on it's own. The only reason I'm keeping my Digitech RP-12 is for the basic echo, wah, and reverb. I am never going back to solid state distortion.

It looks sturdy and at almost 50 lbs (!) I think it would survive a lot. Tubes are commonly available. Just remember, they will wear out so go ahead and play till you drop. Just remember to check on those tubes!

I bought the head used w/o any docs (like anyone needs them). However, they are available for download at www.peavey.com and their online tech center looks pretty good. I don't think I'll need to be contacting them anytime soon though. ;-D

I traded in a lot of gear toward a Red Bear MKE 120 initially but did a straight exchange when I saw this amp. With $325 of credit, I only ended up paying $161 (taxes) for it. This head is awesome in its capability and quality. Peavey did it right the first time with this one. I would look to find a used one though, especially if you're on a tight budget. They are visciously expensive when they're new.

this is the second 5150 head Ive bought. The first was in the spring of 1992 when they were first availible in my area . I wont go into features here; you can read about them in someone elses review. Lets just say that for what it does, it has plenty

ive owned and played many amps and in the last month alone Ive bought and returned a Marshall DSL 2000 and SLX 2100 back to the store I bought them from. I was lookijng for a "different " sound since i also have a 5150 combo. The combo sounds great but Peavey must have been brain dead when they decided to produce them with out side handles and castors; its so heavy its ridiculous! but that might account for some of its huge tone. I sold my original head 3 years ago to get the combo, and since then Ive been looking for a new head to have when I want to go the head/cab route. I cant understand how a company like Marshal;l has been in business for such a long time. Thier products are built like homemade 3rd grade science projects and fall apart when you look at them. The 5150 head is built like a freaking tank and as far as sound is concerned; if youve palyed thru or owned a 5150, youre probably like me...ruined for life! I cant play thru anything else, any other amp that Ive played( havent played them all yet but getting close) sounds like a toy compared to the 5150. its the ultimate high gain amp.

Peavey products are known for thier long shelf life and Im sure Ill have this head for a long time.

like I said, Im ruined for life..in a good way, because Im fortunate enough to own the combo and now, once again, the head. I guess I didnt realize that i had the ultimate sound until I tried to find it somewhere else. Now I know, and Im as happy as David Lee Roth in a high school girls locker room. i just wish Edward would stop coming out with new signature gear. I just got a Wolfgang special( to go along with my black Wolfie) and when this 515011 comes out im gonna be like "Ok, its American Express, card number3452.......". im going broke Ed, but lovin every minute of it

This is an update on my earlier submission. Only two channels...clean isnt totally clean but doenst break up if turned up all the way. Lead is crazy!!! I love Social Distortion and wanted a natural distortion sound from the clean channel (cant get it in Lead) and have the clean preamp at 2.5 and hit the crunch switch..turn the volume up to about 4 or 5 and stand back...great great natural distortion. Same guitar as before (PRS CE-22 with Dragons). If you want less volume take out two tubes and lower the impedence (i turned it down to 4 and i have a 16 ohm cab...worked fine, got the info from a guitarist at the store i frequent.)

All styles, suits them all...good clean (little breakup), good natural distortion (hmmmm i love it) and great distortion channel. I can get all the sounds i want, from Punk, to rock, to metal. Its not that noisy...it does hum some, but well, its gonna happen with Tubes, but very nice...just play and you wont notice.

Nothing broken. Tubes and everything still going strong.

havent talked to them since i got the literature. but they were helpful then...

about 7 years...maybe a little longer. i wouldnt buy it again if it was stolen...id wait for the 5150-2!!! seperate EQs!!!!

I'm just updating my previous review.. see below.

Turns out the 5150 i had had a few faulty parts that had been replaced by the joker that had it before me- I just tried a new 5150 with new tubes and all original parts- it turns out it is an alright amp.. it doesn't beat a SLO-100 or anything, but it ain't bad.

no comment.

I am just updating my own.. so, sorry peavey, I wouldn't recommend you STAY AWAY as I said before.. it ain't bad.. it ain't the best, but it does NOT have that buzzy tone I said it had- only MINE did.. well, the one i played was still plenty noisy, I'll tell you that!

I really don't have very much to add to the previous reviews, just wanted say that this is the best amp I have ever played - no matter how I try to look at it.
I have never really cared much about reverb so the lack of it is no problem. In general, I was stunned to find out that I don't need *any* effects with this motherfucker - it sounds huge without any additional garbage. The clean channel isn't very clean, that is true, but I don't like the clean sound to be *clean*, you have to be able to control that with your playing and that is exactly what 5150 does.

I'm currently playing my amp with Epiphone Les Paul copy (pickups replaced with Duncan's '59s). My other amp is a '72 Super Lead and with this guitar I've never been able to get the best possible sound out of it without making my ears bleed. To get that REALLY ballsy sound out of it, you have to turn it so incredibly loud that it's virtually impossible to use in a live situation. It also lacks the sustain and those singing leads that sound magnificent with the Peavey. A noisy amp? Give me a break... just because the amp has 120 watts doesn't mean that it's LOUD. I mean, I'm usually playing with both pre and post gain turned to about 4 and that is quite enough. And at those levels the "noise" it makes is little more than a whisper. If yours is noisy, I recommend checking the guitar first.

I haven't played it live yet, as a matter of fact I have owned it only about a month now so I can't say much about its reliability. It *feels* reliable....I don't now. *Ed* has said several times that it is so I guess it must be.......? :)

I just ordered some catalogues and they arrived incredibly fast. That is my only experience with them. Nothing to say about that, really.

Anything I wish it had? Well, when you really think about it, it doesn't make coffee or cook the eggs in the morning. Also a cool feature would be if it could make your penis to grow longer.
Seriously.....it's the best. Period.

Two channels (Clean & Lead) and a push button for Cruch. Shared EQ, Resonance and Presence for poweramp. One effects loop and...darn...no reverb. Further more it's 120W all tube power...very loud! My head was also modified for use of an extra pedal, so it's now in fact a three channel amp.

I was looking for tube sound and I'm glad I found it. Every day I find more interesting settings. Lead is awesome and singing, Crunch is more brighter. I play it with a Yamaha RGX312 and all the pick-ups (SC's and HB) sound very different. The clean channel stays pretty clean if you keep the Pre-gain at 2-3, but also dials in a nice blues sound if turned further. For the hum, I noticed that it reduces if you stand away from the amp. Right now I'm building a spring reverb -> I hope it's worth the trouble. My cabinet (4x12) is an old Simms-Watts (just 200 Dutch guilders). I still hope that one day I'll have enough money for an orignal Peavey and enough room to turn it really loud (now just 2-3 on the Masters). I have also pulled out two tubes and adjusted the impendance, but it doesn't seem more quiet.

It's a '92 model and as far as I know, there has been no trouble. (but I myself owned for about three months now) Maybe the trouble still has to come. (I don't hope so, I'm trying to join a band, soon)

What's the trouble with Peavey? I mailed them a few times and every time I got an answer the next day! Also asked for a schematic and recieved it a week later! (that's from Meridian, Missisipi to Noordwijk, The Netherlands)

To bad for the reverb, but maybe that's fixed in a few weeks. I don't know if I'd buy it again, but I hope I won't have to! (very poor student) Now that I have the schematic, I'm gone turn it to anything I'd like to! Maybe if I'm in a band I'll really appreciate it's value and start loving it like nothing else!