EVH announced their new 5150 Iconic series back in July, which offers an affordable alternative to the pricier 5150III series. The 5150 Iconic series was entirely designed by Peavey 5150 amp engineer James Brown and includes a 40-watt 1×12 combo, 80-watt head, and 4×12 cab.
Now the company has posted its first demo video and the reactions are a little mixed. Some folks are certainly pleased with it, with comments ranging from “it’s got a vibe to it” to “it actually sounds really good, like something in between a Marshall JCM900 and a JCM2000.” Then there are the folks that aren’t stoked, like the one person that said “For something that’s been ‘in the works’ for so long and has the EVH name attached to it, it is severely disappointing” and all the “sounds fizzy” comments. Granted, it’s one demo by one player with one guitar – once more demos start coming out from players at home, I think we’ll get a much clearer picture.
Though personally, I think it sounds pretty killer.
The 5150 series as follows:
The 5150 Iconic Series 40-watt 1×12 combo is powered by two JJ 6L6 power tubes, voiced with two JJ ECC83S preamp tubes, and comes loaded with an EVH 12″ Celestion speaker voiced specifically for this preamp circuit. The combo features two channels with an extra voicing on each, with the Green channel boasting an overdrive button and the Red channel offering a burn button for some real crunch. Each channel houses its own gain and volume controls, as well as noise gates, reverb, and Boost control.
Other features include a two-button footswitch, effects loop, dual parallel speaker output jacks, 1/4″ power switch to reduce wattage, and a speaker-emulated DI XLR with power amp mute. The 5150 Iconic Series 40-watt 1×12 combo is available in Black or Ivory textured vinyl here for $799.99.
The 5150 Iconic Series 80-watt Head is powered by four JJ 6L6 power tubes, voiced with two JJ ECC83S preamp tubes, and is pretty much everything you heard about the combo in head form. Much like the combo, the Green and Red channel overdrive and burn buttons. Each channel houses its own gain and volume controls, as well as noise gates, reverb, and Boost control.
Other features include a two-button footswitch, effects loop, dual parallel speaker output jacks, 1/4″ power switch to reduce wattage, and a speaker-emulated DI XLR with power amp mute. The 5150 Iconic Series 80-watt Head is available in Black or Ivory textured vinyl here for $899.99.
Then there’s the 5150 Iconic Series 4×12 cabinet, which features four custom designed EVH 12″ Celestion speakers. The cabinet has a 1/4″ parallel speaker input jack, two recessed side-mounted steel bars, and removable EVH pop-out casters. A high-quality fitted cover is available as an EVH accessory.
The 5150 Iconic Series 4×12 cabinet comes in either a thick textured Black or Ivory vinyl and is available here for $499.99.
