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.