5150 Iconic....Wow!

[pittbull]

Very Nice

 

[PowerTube44]

Very Nice

I would have liked to hear the amp with less effects, honestly, but it still serves as a great demo.

 

[pittbull]

I believe( just my opinion)Eddie(RIP) knew that his health issues were very serious and wanted to design a amp that would capture his original brown sound(first album early sound or very close to)knowing guitarist where looking for that sound and Him(Eddie) and James Brown( designer) would make that happen and the 5150 Iconic was that last amp Eddie was involved designing.

 

[PowerTube44]

Very Nice

I would have liked to hear the amp with less effects, honestly, but it still serves as a great demo.

I believe( just my opinion)Eddie(RIP) knew that his health issues were very serious and wanted to design a amp that would capture his original brown sound(first album early sound or very close to)knowing guitarist where looking for that sound and Him(Eddie) and James Brown( designer) would make that happen and the 5150 Iconic was that last amp Eddie was involved designing.

I've heard this, that the Iconic is the last amp that Eddie had a direct hand in designing.

 

[solarburnDSL50]

I believe( just my opinion)Eddie(RIP) knew that his health issues were very serious and wanted to design a amp that would capture his original brown sound(first album early sound or very close to)knowing guitarist where looking for that sound and Him(Eddie) and James Brown( designer) would make that happen and the 5150 Iconic was that last amp Eddie was involved designing.

It captures more than Ed's sound. What a great sound. They made good.

I'm happy. If I could play early Ed? I'd totally agree!LOL

 

[solarburnDSL50]

This may be the best "Brown Sound" Iconic demo I've heard yet:

 

[pittbull]

If it’s possible can someone post a gut shot of the amp Thanks

 

[StrummerJoe]

I believe( just my opinion)Eddie(RIP) knew that his health issues were very serious and wanted to design a amp that would capture his original brown sound(first album early sound or very close to)knowing guitarist where looking for that sound and Him(Eddie) and James Brown( designer) would make that happen and the 5150 Iconic was that last amp Eddie was involved designing.

You are very right about that. Ed knew. The Iconic was his parting gift.

 

[StrummerJoe]

James Brown chimed in over on TGP

"There's lots of talk going around about it, but the Iconic preamp actually has 4 stages of tube gain in it, just like the 50W 5150 III preamp. Not like the old Valvestate design with 1 tube and a bunch of opamps. We replaced the feedback-prone first tube stage with a high-voltage single-ended transistor design, and also replaced the phase inverter with a similar high voltage transistor circuit. So it's nothing like a 'distortion pedal built-in', and in fact you'd be hard pressed to hear the difference between it and the 50W III, other than with the Burn switch on Ch2....that gets you closer to an original 5150 thicker attack.

Now one thing a lot of people have difficulty with is that we used the same potentiometer(electro-mechanical part behind the knob) tapers for the Presence that are on the 50W 5150 III......which is a reverse audio that comes up faster but spreads the control over the whole knob. When I did the original 5150, I didn't have a pot to do that in stock and used an audio, so it's slow to increase and didn't do anything until about 1:00. This 'error' carried on throughout the 5150's all the way up until the 50W III. So compared to most of the other 5150's, you have to turn that knob down lower than you're used to. That can make it sound harsh if you're using a brighter speaker like a V30, but it works great with the Greenbacks and EVH Celestion. So it's one of those trade-offs we deal with all the time.

You're right about the closed back combo cabinet being a rare but very important element, and one thing I made sure of. Most companies don't do it because of the extra cost and difficulty in getting the tube heat out, but Ed's tone is all about that tighter closed back tone, so we worked it out.

James B"

He chimes in a few more times starting on page 15 of the "EVH 5150 Iconic" thread.

EVH 5150 Iconic

There's lots of talk going around about it, but the Iconic preamp actually has 4 stages of tube gain in it, just like the 50W 5150 III preamp. Not like the old Valvestate design with 1 tube and a bunch of opamps. We replaced the feedback-prone first tube stage with a high-voltage single-ended...

www.thegearpage.net

 

[solarburnDSL50]

James Brown chimed in over on TGP

"There's lots of talk going around about it, but the Iconic preamp actually has 4 stages of tube gain in it, just like the 50W 5150 III preamp. Not like the old Valvestate design with 1 tube and a bunch of opamps. We replaced the feedback-prone first tube stage with a high-voltage single-ended transistor design, and also replaced the phase inverter with a similar high voltage transistor circuit. So it's nothing like a 'distortion pedal built-in', and in fact you'd be hard pressed to hear the difference between it and the 50W III, other than with the Burn switch on Ch2....that gets you closer to an original 5150 thicker attack.

Now one thing a lot of people have difficulty with is that we used the same potentiometer(electro-mechanical part behind the knob) tapers for the Presence that are on the 50W 5150 III......which is a reverse audio that comes up faster but spreads the control over the whole knob. When I did the original 5150, I didn't have a pot to do that in stock and used an audio, so it's slow to increase and didn't do anything until about 1:00. This 'error' carried on throughout the 5150's all the way up until the 50W III. So compared to most of the other 5150's, you have to turn that knob down lower than you're used to. That can make it sound harsh if you're using a brighter speaker like a V30, but it works great with the Greenbacks and EVH Celestion. So it's one of those trade-offs we deal with all the time.

You're right about the closed back combo cabinet being a rare but very important element, and one thing I made sure of. Most companies don't do it because of the extra cost and difficulty in getting the tube heat out, but Ed's tone is all about that tighter closed back tone, so we worked it out.

James B"

He chimes in a few more times starting on page 15 of the "EVH 5150 Iconic" thread.

EVH 5150 Iconic

There's lots of talk going around about it, but the Iconic preamp actually has 4 stages of tube gain in it, just like the 50W 5150 III preamp. Not like the old Valvestate design with 1 tube and a bunch of opamps. We replaced the feedback-prone first tube stage with a high-voltage single-ended...

www.thegearpage.net

Thanks man. Been waiting to get more info on the amp. Too cool!

 

[solarburnDSL50]

James Brown chimed in over on TGP

"There's lots of talk going around about it, but the Iconic preamp actually has 4 stages of tube gain in it, just like the 50W 5150 III preamp. Not like the old Valvestate design with 1 tube and a bunch of opamps. We replaced the feedback-prone first tube stage with a high-voltage single-ended transistor design, and also replaced the phase inverter with a similar high voltage transistor circuit. So it's nothing like a 'distortion pedal built-in', and in fact you'd be hard pressed to hear the difference between it and the 50W III, other than with the Burn switch on Ch2....that gets you closer to an original 5150 thicker attack.

Now one thing a lot of people have difficulty with is that we used the same potentiometer(electro-mechanical part behind the knob) tapers for the Presence that are on the 50W 5150 III......which is a reverse audio that comes up faster but spreads the control over the whole knob. When I did the original 5150, I didn't have a pot to do that in stock and used an audio, so it's slow to increase and didn't do anything until about 1:00. This 'error' carried on throughout the 5150's all the way up until the 50W III. So compared to most of the other 5150's, you have to turn that knob down lower than you're used to. That can make it sound harsh if you're using a brighter speaker like a V30, but it works great with the Greenbacks and EVH Celestion. So it's one of those trade-offs we deal with all the time.

You're right about the closed back combo cabinet being a rare but very important element, and one thing I made sure of. Most companies don't do it because of the extra cost and difficulty in getting the tube heat out, but Ed's tone is all about that tighter closed back tone, so we worked it out.

James B"

He chimes in a few more times starting on page 15 of the "EVH 5150 Iconic" thread.

EVH 5150 Iconic

There's lots of talk going around about it, but the Iconic preamp actually has 4 stages of tube gain in it, just like the 50W 5150 III preamp. Not like the old Valvestate design with 1 tube and a bunch of opamps. We replaced the feedback-prone first tube stage with a high-voltage single-ended...

www.thegearpage.net

I've got the presence at 1pm with EVH greenies.

 

[Springfield Scooter]

Here's a guy who made a video about the EVH Iconic combo without using expensive studio gear to improve or change the sound, so I guess that's how it sounds in reality:

After watching this video, I want a 5150!

 

[Springfield Scooter]

This may be the best "Brown Sound" Iconic demo I've heard yet:

Making me want one!

 

[Moony]

Thanks man. Been waiting to get more info on the amp. Too cool!

But that has already been mentioned in this thread, you may have overlooked it.

 

[MGW1GTR]

I've got the presence at 1pm with EVH greenies.

Hay Solar, EVH greenies are very nice.....

 

[jeffb]

I would have liked to hear the amp with less effects, honestly, but it still serves as a great demo.

Me too- the less effects bit. But then again, this seems to be a "brown sound" demo and Eddie was almost always drenched in Reverb and/or Delay and modulation , so I'm inclined to cut them some slack.

I think- soley based on what I am hearing in clips- is this iconic series does a good WACF/Fair Warning era tone and then kind of skips into 5150 and beyond (the albums). His tone on VH1 was extremely bright and I've yet to hear anyone dial in that on these vids. Same for 1984 where he backed the gain way off. Maybe it does those tones, but nobody is posting any clips of it. I was at GC yesterday to try one out and there was none to be found, unfortunately so clips are all I have to go on.

If this amp could do a convincing


I'd be onboard for a 40W

 

[Moony]

Have fun!

 

[Bull Rock]

Ok so who has one in their grubby mitts...what's the verdict and where's the MF members actual clips.

 

[Bull Rock]

 

[PowerTube44]

His tone on VH1 was extremely bright and I've yet to hear anyone dial in that on these vids.

Same here, but I'll bet cranking the Presence up would get you there.