Shop Keyboard Deals, Financing, and More

EVH 5150III 50-watt EL34 Tube Head

50-watt 3-channel All-tube Guitar Amplifier Head with EL34 Power Tubes, Resonance Control, Effects Loop, Headphone Jack, Preamp Out, and MIDI Input
$1,449.99

Or pay $241.66 for 6 months with Easy Pay

See all payment options
Find it used on Sweetwater's Gear Exchange
listed for
$1188.00
In Stock!

Only 4 left in stock! More on the way.
Add to Cart
Notify me about deals

Ask An Expert

Our expertly trained Sales Engineers are ready to help!

What is a Sales Engineer?

Most Popular Accessories & Related Items

EVH 5150III 50-watt EL34 Tube Head
In Stock!
$1,449.99
Add to Cart
Add to list
Back to navigation

This article was Written By

Our Product Research Team

Get to know them!

EL34-injected Tone in a Lightweight Chassis

The EVH 5150 III 50W EL34 packs three channels of EL34-injected tone into a lightweight chassis. Whether you're chasing modern high-gain tones or the old-school Van Halen brown sound, the 5150 III 50W EL34 tackles both effortlessly. This little amp is a beast — it punches well above its weight with arena-filling volume and monster tonal attitude. Enjoy all the updates of the 5150 III along with a British-infused voice, thanks to the EL34-based power section. You'll also love this amp's in-your-face black-on-gold motif. For serious volume and monstrous high-gain tone in a compact package, look no further than the 5150 III 50W EL34.

Big volume in a scaled-down chassis

The EVH 5150 III 50W EL34 gives you bone-crunching, arena-filling volume in a compact, lightweight chassis. If loud is your band's thing, this amp's two EL34s are only too happy to oblige — putting out 50 watts into 16-, 8-, or 4-ohm loads. This gives you a lot of freedom when considering speaker cabinets to build your rig. Whether you choose EVH's compact 212, 112, or a traditional straight-front 412 cab, one thing's for sure — your bandmates (and audience) will have a hard time believing the 5150 III 50W EL34 is only a 50-watt amp!

EL34s for the brown sound

The 5150 III is a standard for high-gain guitar tones and achieving the modern Eddie crunch. But when you need that thick, sustaining tone that Ed made famous on Van Halen 1, you need to turn to this 5150 III 50W EL34. What really sets this amp apart from the rest of the range is its EL34-based power amplifier. EL34s are much of the tone of the great British rock amps of the '70s and '80s. This amp nails those timbres with ease, adding a level of sag and saturation that feels and sounds great. And it will still get dirty with the best of modern metal machines.

New sound, new look

The bold sound of the 5150 III 50W EL34 isn't the only update to the legendary amp line. The head was also given a distinct and assertive look. While it shares the famous Van Halen stripe theme, this amp will look sharp in your backline with its black stripe on gold grille design. One look at this amp, and you'll know exactly what you're in for when plugging in. It stands out at Sweetwater, and we're sure you'll instantly fall in love with the amp's appearance and tones.

EVH 5150 III 50W EL34 Features:

  • Compact high-gain amplifier head with EL34 power tubes
  • EL34 power tubes give the amp a British tone
  • Channel 1 offers a sparkling compressed clean tone
  • Channels 2 and 3 (crunch and lead, respectively) are dark, highly compressed, and saturated
  • Resonance control dials the amp into different cabs
  • Global Presence control and shared 3-band EQ for channels 1 and 2 with an independent EQ for channel 3
  • Effects loop for integrating your pedalboard and other processors
  • Headphone jack for private practice
  • Preamp Out jack for connecting to another amp's power in for multiple amp use, or to a mixing console
  • MIDI In jack for connecting a foot controller for channel selection and effects loop bypass
  • External bias adjustment and test points
  • In-your-face black-on-gold motif

Additional Media

Warranty Info

Sweetwater's FREE 2-Year Total Confidence Coverage Warranty

Extra peace of mind at no extra cost.

  • Save money with FREE parts and labor
  • Get back to making music with the industry's fastest turnaround time
  • Fix it the first time with our award-winning, factory-certified Service Department
Learn More about Total Confidence Coverage

Free 2-year Warranty

Sweetwater's 2-year Total Confidence Coverage™ Warranty gives you extra peace of mind at no extra cost.

Learn More about Total Confidence Coverage
Tools Icon

Save money with free parts & labor!

Fast Icon

Get back to making music with the industry's fastest turnaround time.

Award Icon

Fix it the first time with our award-winning, factory-certified Service Department.

Back to navigation

Tech Specs

  • Type: Tube
  • Number of Channels: 3
  • Total Power: 50W
  • Preamp Tubes: 7 x 12AX7
  • Power Tubes: 2 x EL34
  • EQ: 3-band EQ, Resonance
  • Inputs: 1 x 1/4"
  • Outputs: 2 x 1/4" (speaker), 1 x 1/4" (preamp)
  • Headphones: 1 x 1/4"
  • Effects Loop: Yes
  • MIDI I/O: In
  • Footswitch I/O: 1 x 1/4" (channels/effects)
  • Footswitch Included: Yes, 4-button footswitch
  • Bias Type: Adjustable Fixed
  • Construction Material: Birch Plywood with Black Textured Vinyl
  • Power Source: Standard IEC AC power cable
  • Height: 8.6"
  • Width: 20"
  • Depth: 12"
  • Weight: 35 lbs.
  • Manufacturer Part Number: 2253060000

What Makes Our Sales Engineers Great?

Sweetwater Sales Engineers are a world-class team of experts dedicated to you. Hand selected from across the globe, each brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the world of music gear to provide you with unparalleled service completely free of charge. Friendly relationships, real trust, and the right gear are only a call or a click away!

Back to navigation

Customer Reviews

Write your review
Rated 5/5

I LOVE IT!

So I ordered this about 6 weeks ago. I was told that it could take as long as September to reach me. But it came in the mail today, May 2nd, so props to Sweetwater for their timely delivery!

First impressions: This is one of my favorite amps of all time. Compared to other 5150s that I've played, this is definitely my favorite version of the amp. Running through the matched 2x12s.

The green channel sounds great, as expected. The tone you get from cranking the gain on it is perfect. Just the right amount of distortion. With the gain dialed back, the clean tones are crisp and crystal clear, and the EQ works as expected even though I wish the bass rolled off just a tiny bit harder, but definitely not that big deal. Granted, it is kinda hard to screw up a clean channel *cough* peavey *cough*, so the green channel isn't the real reason you're buying this amp.

The blue channel is probably my favorite channel on the amp. I honestly thought it was gonna be the red because I'm a sucker for high gain, but the mids here are just sooooo nice. I remember watching a review a few months ago where the dude was saying the blue channel was unusable. I don't know what cr*p tones he's used to, but this channel is great. Maybe he got a dud cuz mine sounds clear and beefy without being too muddy. It's just a great mid gain tone.

The red channel is great. It's hard to find anything wrong with it. Just a well balanced high gain tone without any annoying crackles or noises that you'd get from a cheaper amp. Very full bodied and robust. Sounds great on my 7 and 6 strings. And yes…. it djents…. the only negative (which isn't really that negative and is expected) is that you need a noise gate when using this channel.

The effects loop is decent, although it does double up on noise when active, so this is another spot where a noise gate is really handy. I recommend something like a Deci-Mate micro G because it has a loop section that works perfectly. Pedals sound great through the loop, and work as expected.

Final thoughts: This is just a great amp. I can see why Gojira modeled it for their Neural DSP release. Even if you're running a distortion/preamp pedal on the green channel, the tone is just great. Way nicer than my H&K GrandMeister 40, and definitely better than any other 50 watt 5150. This is definitely not the expected "scooped" tone you get from other 5150s. This is a very mid oriented amp, and the blue channel makes that very evident. So if you don't like mids, and wanna sound like the worst parts of the 80s and 90s, don't buy this amp! A 6505 might be more your style.
Music background: Pro Touring Artist/Producer/Engineer
Rated 5/5

Wish I had bought one sooner.

One of the best sounding, diverse amps I've ever played. I wish I had bought it sooner. But I like to thoroughly research and wait before pulling the trigger on anything.

Clean Channel goes from chimey articulate cleans to Greasy sounding tube break up depending on amount of gain introduced.

Blue crunch Channel is Midsi and tight ... every note even in chords very articulate and distinct..light rock to hair metal and brown sound..put TS in front and it's very tight aggressive punchy and djenty..

Red lead channel...massive, cascading, sustaining gain ...but still very articulate note distinction...rich harmonics...

Control knob on back to adjust for cab to have massive punchy bottom end or a more upper mid sound...

And it plays nicely with my HD500X via cable method and midi channel changing for different scenes oer channel on my floorboard...

Very cool..
Rated 5/5

EVH 50 watt EL34

Love it! Super loud and can be quite. Tone is great. I’m still messing with it so i will have to update my review in a week or so.
Rated 5/5

Killer

Sounds brutal with the Evh el34 50watt head.
Music background: Metal
Rated 5/5

EVH III EL34 50 watt head

I have a 50 watt vintage Marshall head with vintage 30 4 12 cab. Wanted something more modern and something I didn't have to run a booster with!
This new amp is the answer! No need to even have a Boss super overdrive nor any other extra distortion effects anymore! The blue channel has been rumored to be the worst?? Not for me?? Too much for me as it is and the red channel is hyper distortion that does fine for solos. The clean channel is the only one that I would add effects to.
Music background: GIT graduate 1988, guitar instructor 17 years
Close Close $2,000 Pick Your PRS Giveaway -- input your email address below to enter or click here to learn more.

See giveaway details & rules or check out our past winners!

Success!

Your email, has been entered to win this giveaway. Good Luck!