Amp for heavy tight stuff plus genuinely pretty cleans

digitalscream

Just missed out on a Carvin V3M last night on eBay for £370...probably perfect

Fiftyshadesofjay

Not a massive fanboy but I've never had a problem with the clean channel on my 5150 iii 50w?  My channels are literally the same volume when I switch.  I maybe have a tiny bit of hair on the clean but that's how I like it anyway.

Drew_TNBD

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

Not a massive fanboy but I've never had a problem with the clean channel on my 5150 iii 50w?  My channels are literally the same volume when I switch.  I maybe have a tiny bit of hair on the clean but that's how I like it anyway.

There is a significant volume jump between channel 1 green and channel 1 blue throughout the entire range of the gain knob. It was very frustrating for me, because it meant I couldn't get the tones I wanted from the amp. Ended up selling it.

I loved the high-gain tones. I did think about getting the 100-watter at some point. Might still do that in the future.

Fiftyshadesofjay

That's the strange thing, I have that very amp and my volumes are perfectly balanced. I normally use the gain between 11-2 o'clock but the volume is pretty much perfectly matched.

Drew_TNBD

Have you owned it from new? If not, maybe someone modified it? If from new, I cannot explain it. It's a well documented flaw - or as Fender described it, "design decision" - and these amps are routinely thrown onto eBay and classifieds sections because of it.

Damn shame really, because they sound fucking monstrous. Every bit as good as a full 100-watt beasty.

monquixote

It's exactly the same design decision they took with the Supersonic 22. 

It has a footswitchable "Fat" channel. That is fixed at about twice as loud as the vintage channel making it completely useless.

Fiftyshadesofjay

Yeah, it's actually completely brand new, only had it a month or so.  Obviously I read up about it a lot and was fully prepared for this horrific volume jump but it's fine on mine.

Maybe something to do with pickups people are using?  I don't know, I wouldn't have thought Fender have changed the design. It does sound amazing, can't believe you get a tone like that out of such a small head.

Drew_TNBD

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

Yeah, it's actually completely brand new, only had it a month or so.  Obviously I read up about it a lot and was fully prepared for this horrific volume jump but it's fine on mine.

Maybe something to do with pickups people are using?  I don't know, I wouldn't have thought Fender have changed the design. It does sound amazing, can't believe you get a tone like that out of such a small head.

Weird. What pickups are you using? I had it with all my guitars.

octatonic

Fender Prosonic describes what you want perfectly.

Fucking loud though- it is the 30/60 watt amp that sounds like it is 100w.

You might be looking at £600 though.

ThePrettyDamned

Okay, carvin looks promising. Laney lc50 does, though I'd swap speaker to a v30 or maybe something else - classic lead 80 perhaps.

The prosonic - not one I've considered! Definitely look into it though. It needs to have a good master... I don't mind if it goes ear splitting, so long as it can do home volume, too. to be fair, I really only need about 15 watts of volume but high gainers tend to fair better at higher power in my experience...

Fiftyshadesofjay

At the time I had the EMG Het-Set.  Thinking about it I use passives now and it's still fine so that's probably not the answer.

Drew_TNBD

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

At the time I had the EMG Het-Set.  Thinking about it I use passives now and it's still fine so that's probably not the answer.

If they fixed it in the last few months or so, I am definitely buying another one!

Fiftyshadesofjay

This is all at gig volume by the way, haven't tried it quietly.

Drew_TNBD

Yeah same here. I basically had to give up using the blue channel in a live setting. It was just green and red for me, and I used a pedal for the mid-crunch stuff.

Now I use a Diezel D-Moll, which does everything I need.

Fiftyshadesofjay

I did a cover gig for a laugh at a friends 30th and was using green/blue/red as clean/crunch/lead no problem.  

I previously had a 2 channel Triple Rec and actually like the 5150 iii way better!  I almost bought a D-Moll but was lucky enough to get the EVH cheap so I spent the rest on pedals. I'd still like to check one out at some point.

Drew_TNBD

Killer amps. Would be my recommendation for the OP if he can stretch, although they're not cheap.

I've been around the mill. Started off with a Laney VH100R. Had a Rectoverb, an Orange, Marshalls, etc.. etc... I'm an Adam Jones TONEZ fanboi, and it was Diezel that I always wanted. Even on my Axe FX they're my favourite amps.

guitarfishbay

If they fixed it why isn't the internet going crazy?

When the 50 watter got released several forums went nuts and easy to see why - 5150 tone in a small package and at a decent price point.  They seemed to be permanently sold out at a lot of shops for the first few months.  

Doesn't seem like the kind of change that would fly under the radar.  But cool to hear you're enjoying yours!

Drew_TNBD

guitarfishbay said:

If they fixed it why isn't the internet going crazy?

Yeah, just me being utterly hopeful I spoze!

When the 50 watter got released several forums went nuts and easy to see why - 5150 tone in a small package and at a decent price point.  They seemed to be permanently sold out at a lot of shops for the first few months.  

Doesn't seem like the kind of change that would fly under the radar.  But cool to hear you're enjoying yours!

Agreed. They're still really well regarded too. The amps are light enough to carry to practice on the bus without any issue too. Big perk.

octatonic

ThePrettyDamned said:

Okay, carvin looks promising. Laney lc50 does, though I'd swap speaker to a v30 or maybe something else - classic lead 80 perhaps.

The prosonic - not one I've considered! Definitely look into it though. It needs to have a good master... I don't mind if it goes ear splitting, so long as it can do home volume, too. to be fair, I really only need about 15 watts of volume but high gainers tend to fair better at higher power in my experience...

Nope, it isn't remotely able to be used at home volume.

Sorry, I missed that bit of your original post.

Even on 1 it is extremely loud.

On 3 it will blow out your windows.

It is a really fantastic amp though- worth a lot more than they go for these days.

There aren't many amps that do what you are asking- high quality high gainers with excellent cleans that can be played at bedroom volume and gigable.

It is a big ask.

One of the best at it is the CAA PT50 that I use these days.

It is the reason I ditched the Prosonics I had- but you are talking about a lot more money- £2k+.

Fiftyshadesofjay

Yep, the last thing I want to do is start some rumour that they've changed it or something, as I said, I really doubt it!  It just works for me for whatever reason.