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EVH 5150III 100S 100-watt Tube Head - Black Stealth

Limited-edition, Custom All-tube Guitar Amp Head with 8 JJ ECC83 Preamp Tubes, 4 Wing C 6L6 Power Tubes, Switchable Output Impedance, and Adjustable Bias Control
$2,449.99

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EVH 5150III 100S 100-watt Tube Head - Black Stealth
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Play the Same Amp as Eddie

Seething with blistering power, the hand-customized EVH 5150 III 100S is indistinguishable from the guitar head Eddie Van Halen has been touring with of late - complete with Eddie's custom mods. This 100-watt amp is an incredibly versatile brute. Three channels (clean, crunch, and lead) give you the tonal arsenal to conquer any venue, while volume, gain, presence, low, mid, and high controls let you ace any session. Several custom tweaks all go into making this one of the best-sounding, most responsive big amps we've heard. It's a limited edition, so call your Sales Engineer and reserve your EVH 5150 III 100S while you can.

If it's good enough for Eddie...

As a guitarist, you obviously have choices these days when it comes to great-sounding amplification. But when it comes to unleashing full-on gainiac mayhem on your audience in a large venue, the behemoth tube amp still reigns supreme. There's just something about the juicy interaction between your guitar and a set of overdriven valves - probably why Eddie Van Halen isn't going through a rack unit into the PA. With the 5150 III 100S, you've got the same exact amp Eddie is using on tour. And if it's good enough for Eddie...

Versatility is the name of the game

At Sweetwater, we certainly have due respect for vintage tube amps; but let's face it: there's no substitute for a great-sounding three-channel-switching amp when you're working a gig or session. Most of us need access to chimey cleans, throaty crunch, and sizzling high-gain - and the EVH 5150 III 100S delivers them all like a champ. This amp is wonderfully responsive to your pick attack and your guitar's volume pot. And with its volume, gain, presence, low, mid, and high controls, it gives you the means to shape your sound quickly in the heat of battle.

Custom mods onboard

The limited-edition, customized 100S is a different beast from the standard 5150 III (an amazing amp in its own right). For the 100S, EVH hand-selected eight JJ ECC83 preamp and four Shuguang 6L6 output tubes. Channel two has been re-voiced for improved low-midrange frequency definition, and it delivers more gain for greater sustain. There's also more gain available on channel three, along with an increased range on the Low control. In addition, EVH has given each channel a rear-panel resonance knob that lets you fine-tune your bottom-end response. These tweaks make what was already a killer amp, well, even more killer. We think you'll agree.

EVH 5150 III 100S Guitar Amp Head Features:

  • A limited-edition, hand-customized version of the EVH 5150 III
  • 8 JJ ECC83 preamp tubes; 4 Shuguang 6L6 output tubes
  • Channel 2 delivers more gain and is re-voiced for improved low-midrange frequency definition
  • More gain available on channel 3, along with increased range on the Low control
  • Rear-panel resonance knob has been added to each channel, letting you fine-tune low-end response
  • Volume, gain, presence, low, mid, and high controls let you quickly nail the sound you're after

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Tech Specs

  • Type: Tube
  • Number of Channels: 3
  • Total Power: 100W
  • Preamp Tubes: 8 x 12AX7
  • Power Tubes: 4 x 6L6
  • EQ: 3-band with Presence
  • Inputs: 1 x 1/4"
  • Outputs: 2 x 1/4" (speakers), 1 x 1/4" (preamp)
  • Effects Loop: Yes
  • Footswitch I/O: 1 x 7-pin DIN (channel/effects)
  • Footswitch Included: Yes, 4-button footswitch
  • Bias Type: Adjustable Fixed
  • Construction Material: Birch Plywood with Black Textured Vinyl
  • Power Source: Standard IEC AC cable
  • Height: 10.25"
  • Width: 29.75"
  • Depth: 11.5"
  • Weight: 55 lbs.
  • Manufacturer Part Number: 2250250000

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Customer Reviews

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Rated 5/5

Modern Metal Master

This amp is amazing. I have many other amps by Mesa, ENGL and Peavey and this amp might be the amp I would tour with. It requires the least eq in post to achieve the sound everyone is looking for now. A smooth round high end. Just the right amount of compression to smooth out playing making it easier to achieve studio quality tone live. Plus with 3 full eq sections and 3 very usable channels you can't go wrong. There are of course other amps with more features like midi or a switchable effects loop but those amps typically cost close to $. For the price this amp has 3 totally independent channels. A great clean channel. Expertly crafted distortion tone and is straight forward and simple enough that anyone can dial in a great tone. I would highly recommend this amp to anyone looking to make modern high gain tones
Rated 5/5

One of the best amplifiers I have ever owned

This amp is absolutely amazing. The blue channel is great for hard rock and metal, while the red channel is perfect for destroying the world. The saturation is incredible, along with perfect tube compression. The addition of individual resonance controls for each channel is brilliant, and it really allows for shaping of the sound of each channel individually. For half the price, I like this amp better than my Friedman. You have all the gain you could ever want, and a responsive EQ.

The only problem I have with the amp is the fact that the sheer number of knobs made it so the power and standby controls had to be moved to the back of the amp... this makes it difficult to operate in my environment, as I have a lot of cabinets and heads. Even with this small complaint, this is a five-star amp all day, all week, all month, all year, all decade... absolutely great.
Music background: Professional Guitarist
Rated 5/5

Best 5150 of the bunch!

This head is a beast! To carry and play. Listen, if you want an amp that does it all and more (turbo-charged) you don't need to look any further. Tone is filled with texture and gain. You like gain? Good. You found all of it. All three channels switch perfectly. That's important for me as I am a gigging musician daily. Overdrives shape the tone effectively on this head. If you're debating, stop. This amp does a very good job at preserving your hearing. Anyways, enjoy the beast. If you can tame it.
Music background: Rock, Metal, Country, Blues.
Rated 5/5

EVH stealth 100 Watt

After playing this amp through the proper EVH 4x12 cabinet, I am able to get all the tones from an amp in one package! Yes of course you get the Eddie sound but as you play, you realize that you also get Dokken, Ratt, Motley Crue, XYZ, ect tones through the wide array of eq adjustments! You can get a pristine clean Fender sound out of channel 1! I added a reverb pedal in the loop to make the tone more roomy and slippery since the amp is straight up dry without it. I have other EVH pedals but am mostly only using Channel 2 with all eq settings around 2:00 and gain at 3:00. The recommended settings are nice but I love gain and more EQ especially playing with guitars that have a JB humbucker in the bridge! The JB is freakin awesome playing though this amp since it is slightly rounder than the EVH Relicked guitar. I also have been playing a guitar with the Screaming Demon Pickup and it sizzles!!! I can play this amp for days and never gets tiring!!!
Music background: Weekend warrior
Rated 5/5

A Metal BEAST!

The EVH 5150iii 100w Stealth is one of the most beastly amps you'll ever play for metal. It possesses a ferocious, yet polished tone, almost as if you're playing a perfectly mixed and mastered modern metal album through your cab! That demo video you see on the main product page? Yeah, it sounds JUST like that!

I'm using Blackouts (very high output active pickups) and have zero issues getting a chimey clean tone. All you have to do is turn the volume up first, and then use the Gain knob as your volume. Done!

The amp overall is pretty hissy (what do you expect from a fire breathing dragon?), but the fx loop does not add any additional noise as long as you're using buffered pedals. True bypass pedals may add some extra noise, but use a lower gain tube in the phase inverter/fx loop slot, and you're good to go. Also, to remedy the amp's hiss, you can also put in a 5751 preamp tube, and that will bring some of the noise floor down a little.

All in all, the tone from this amp is unlike anything I've ever played, and I've owned a lot of amps! Buy one now before the price gets any higher!
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