Strange 5150.

Updated
motherpuncher
Hey guys. I bought an old 5150 block letter a while ago, didn't really like the sound with the original cab, so I bought a Marshall 1960 cab with V30's. I don't know if it's supposed to like this but, it's not tight at all, and it's not gainy and chunky as I thought, sounds all fizzyfuzzy on my ass. So..anyone have an idea what's "wrong"? Tubes, cab? Cheers!
Metalmilitia306

is there a cosmetic difference between a 5150 and a 5150 block letter? i cant tell

nwright

The block letters were the early ones and the "EVH" on the control panel was a block letter text. Later versions had EVH's signature "autograph".

LordCliffton

Hey guys.

I bought an old 5150 block letter a while ago, didn't really like the sound with the original cab, so I bought a Marshall 1960 cab with V30's.
I don't know if it's supposed to like this but, it's not tight at all, and it's not gainy and chunky as I thought, sounds all fizzyfuzzy on my ass.

So..anyone have an idea what's "wrong"? Tubes, cab?

Cheers!

You mention it being 'not tight'... try keeping your resonance low.. about 2-3(the number & not O'Clock). Those cab/speaker combos generally sound good so stick with it. Just make sure you have the amp set at the proper impedance(stupid advice maybe but someone has to say it as they will sound different at different impedance settings & also prolly work just fine-for a little while before problems may arise).

Here are my basic settings, I hope they help you some:
Rhythm Pre: 10 for Crunchy stuff & 1.5-2 for CLEANS(yes it can do cleans very well thank you)
Rhythm Post: 2-4 for Crunchy & 7-9 for Cleans
Bright: ON
Crunch: OFF
Bass: 5-7
Mid: 2-4(varies really but I like this area the best)
Treble: 6-9(not too much here or it goes grainy)
Lead Pre: 5-8 max. anymore is overkill
Lead Post: 2-4 is heavenly IMO

Res: 2.5-4
Pres: about 7

A lot of having the right tone you are searching for depends upon your guitars pups as well... I think that with high gain amps it is best to use medium-moderate output pups & let the amp do all the driving. And with low gain amps using higher output pups will allow you to slam the input section more and push its power section into ovdrive sooner. This is all relative to what type of sound you are trying to accomplish really. YMMV. I know my settings vary from time to time for sure!:lol

Also,, it might be a good idea to toss some new tubes in it all around as tubes can either last years or even days.. too much variance & you do not know just how long they have or haven't been in there. Start fresh & you do yourself an immediate favor.

Good luck!

motherpuncher

Shit, lot of answers, I wrote everything down, went up to our "studio".
Turned on the power switch, got everything set up, turned on the standby switch, I get a little lightning bolt show from inside the amp.

Maybe that was the problem, bad as shit condition :\

But still, thanks a lot for all the help, I'll have good use of it!

And Treva..wtf?

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