100w Shootout: EVH 5150 III vs EL34 Stealth 

The EVH 5150 III EL34 is one of the best amps I've ever heard.

The raw OG tone sounds like it would cut through better, on live situations. Specially, on the red channel, for solos. The Stealth has an amazing studio sound. I wish owned both.

The Stealth sound's best to my 61 year old ears. But both are still really good. Very cool video sir and have a great Sunday.

Great comparison, awesome! Quick note: you can still get pretty clean cleans with the OG, you just have to dime the green channel volume and use the gain knob as your volume, it actually says so in the manual! Anyway, great video as always!

the "best" 5150 version is the 50w 6l6 stealth for me! most complete amp without any major flaws..! the big el34 stealth is my least favourite so far, very noisy and the crunch channel just sucks. there is a famous mod to help with that but it didn`t work for me so i sold it.. cheers 🎸

Both sound great, The 6l6 is my dream amp

The EL34 reminds me of the Framus Dragon, especially as it was recorded on KSE's End of Heartache album. One of my all time favorite metalcore albums and sound so I know what I'll be getting next :)

I have all 3. I prefer the EL34 for versatility. I love the blue channel for rock and the Red for leads. I prefer the Stealth 6L6 Red for modern metal. But I needed to put a 12AT7 in the PI spot to reduce the gain and make the gain knob more usable otherwise anything after 9 o’clock was too brutal lol.

Both sound great but I like the EL34 a little more.

I have both as well, but the 50 watt versions, but I’ll still get the 100 watt versions, I bought these on a whim and I love them. The only thing I wish they did is I wish they had multiwatt version. So I can have both a 50 watt version and 100 watt version in one convenient package

I have both of these amps. The el34 is the best amp I’ve ever played. The most beautiful cleans and the most brutal but articulate or distortion. I’m selling my 6L6 for a backup el34

The og 5150 III 6l6 100 watt is still such a powerhouse and really cuts.

That’s a beauty guitar Fluff. You sound great , as always 🤘🏼

the new synergy 5150 module is just insane, it just blows my whole peavey & 5150 collection of amps out of the water it just sounds so good imo 🙏🙏

Nice comparison! I love the OG version a little more!

been watching a bunch of playthroughs of the 5150 EL34 ever since playing one. it might quite literally be the greatest amp for metal ever made.

I have The EVH 5150 III S El34 100 Watt Amp. Absolutely one of my favorites I Own. I was actually confused what the " S" meant thinking it was a Stealth but when I emailed EVH/Fender they said the "S" stands for " Series" so its the EL34 series not a Stealth. The EVH 5150 III Black one is the Only Advertised Stealth with 6L6's.

It's funny, I dial in my own Stealth, and every variation of the 5150 in with the same EQ you have on the blue channels here. It's just what works for these amps.

I have the OG and the 6l6 stealth and I use the OG more for the blue channel. It just makes me smile.

On 100w el34 (and 100w stealth) a blue gain pot effects a gain structure the red channel. This pot is cutting a bass before distortion when you turn it up. Same character as og red channel you will get when you set blue gain pot on 3.5 while you are in the red channel on 100w stealth versions. Resonance pot on the og is automatically set at noon. Why I know these things? I had og and 100w stealth side by side and I did comparison too.

Your shootouts are the best! 🤘

My favorite of all the 5150/6505 amps is the 50 watt 6l6 stealth.

Great vid Fluff, maybe try doing does comparisons on passive pickups. Active ones, even the fishmans, always add some extra compression which tend to blurry up the overall image of the amps

I prefer the OG in this comparison. I like the brighter bitey top end.

I want the 6L6s green channel and then 34s blue channel lol. Red I can appreciate the differences but don’t have a preference. As 6L6 50 watt owner myself this was a fun watch!

Would be awesome if Fluff checked out NAM and captured some of these great gear for us.. would be a good way to sell "packs" a la kemper ;)

Hey Fluff. On the el34 have you ever used the red channel and played with the blue channel gain knob? Some interesting stuff happens! Im not the only one who is aware of it but just curious on your thoughts on it!

I love that sparkle paint on the guitar. beautiful. Both do sound great. My ears like the EL-34 just a bit better.

I have the el34 version in this video. I gotta say, it does big bright chimy cleans as well. I didn't see really any of that showcased in this video. I've heard its the cleanest clean of all the evh amps. I don't know for a fact if thats accurate but I can vouch for it having pristine clean capabilities. You gotta run the gain super low and pull the channel volume up quite a bit to keep up with the blue and red channels for live volumes but it absolutely will do it. On the flip side of that, the red channel is possibly the meanest gain channel I've ever played on any amp. But I live in the blue channel with a boost. Its just a more open feeling channel overall and with a boost I can get that super mean sound out of it no problem. I really enjoy owning my evh. The only thing I think they screwed up was the channel switching box and cable type. But they fixed it for the 50 watt versions. Its a 7 pin din cable rather than a standard midi cable. The 7 pins aren't even required to switch the channels. I have my amp switching via midi now but I had to jump through hoops to make it work. And I have a proprietary cable to deal with as well. I can't just grab any ole midi cable and rock n roll with my switcher. I do have it all currently under control its just the one gripe I have about this amp. Overall for metal I say the el34 a 9.5/10 in my book.

Surprisingly I thought the OG sounded better to my ears, seemed to have more grunt, less fizz. Just my opinion. Both sound great.

Very good side by side video! Just what I noticed on my three 50 Watters....the red channel is the same on all of these models. Plug a cable from the Preamp Out of the EL34 into the return of the OG, it it will sound the same as the OG red channel. The power tubes make a big difference here. Green and blue are different, that's right.

I have the og. There are some mods to get the green towards the el34 clean along with more articulate gain on 2&3 channels

I hear a lot of similarities between the EL34 and a Friedman JJ. Not exactly, but maybe not worth an extra $1400(?) for an amp with one less channel… Love the JJ, but damn.

You can't go wrong with either really. I just bought a new 6L6 III 1x12 combo because I prefer the 6L6 tone, but when I want my EL34 fix I just fire up my Laney GH30R-112.

I just got rid of my iconic to get the Ivory 100 watt head , I bought it at a really good deal. The only thing I’m not too much a fan of is these amps don’t have built in reverb gotta have it for sone leads and especially cleans.. I love the way these sound though. I was looking for a backup amp to my Mark V 90 watt. I could have gotten rid of some other stuff and gotten me the stealth el 34 but it seems s like the difference is not too big, it seems like you can get he same tones.

I’ve seen so many shootouts with the evh amps I’ve came to the conclusion it doesn’t even matter,a good eq can make them sound identical,except guitarists hear with there eyes so they think they’re totally different

Great review, this video shows how to do an amp review/comparison well. 👍🎸🎶

Stealth models have Eddie's final tweaks from taking the OG on tour. Both stealth models have identical controls and features.

"Let's start on the clean channel" "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." 🤪 Great comparison. Do you have a video on that Friedman JJ up top?

I liked the green channel on the stealth more and the blue and red better on the OG. Stealth sounded a bit too compressed, but I'm sure if you spent time tweaking you might get 'em closer. Nice work!

Great comparison! I was wondering what the speakers were in the cabinet 🗄️ you used though? lol Thanks for the video.

In order to be able to compare these amps, it would have been good to set a real "clean" sound on channel 1, this amp is more than powerful enough to keep the input volume rather low. Personally I hear exactly the same 3 sounds with more and more gain. The 2 amps are very close, the difference probably comes from the presence of resonance on the S which brings a certain nuance to the equalization, the power tubes having never made the sound of an amp.

True metal heads clean channel has natural warm overdrive😂

My takeaway from this video is that the EL34 version is more balanced/well rounded. Through RU-vid it doesn't sound like the EL34 is that much more gained out, the OG sounds louder too. Maybe its an in the room/feel thing?

I love both.

On CH2 and CH3 i feel like to OG is a bit more mid forward and in your face which suits better for live playing expectations. The stealth is a lot lot more compressed.

Anyone have settings on the stealh 50 for a great clean tone. Well good as it can get. Thanks.

I recently shot out my 6l6 stealth 100 with the el34 stealth 100. I find the differences negligible, other than the clean channel. The 6l6 clean channel is basically another crunch channel lol but it can achieve a nice clean with extreme settings. I would like to try the OG 6l6 next.

The white one sounds much much better I think.

2:08 "Clean channel"???!!!

OG All Day

the tone of the stealth kinda reminds me of a 6505 but with way stronger mid range

When you have a metal level of distortion plus the compression of RU-vid, you can't distinguish the difference.

That Raw OG is my favourite, I prefer it over the el34 and 6l6 stealth, and is $500 less.

Pretty informative shit. Love it.

6l6 all the way!

No noticeable difference. Especially in a full mix. Choose one amp. It really doesn’t matter. If you want “that sound,” buy an EQ pedal.

EL34 hands down.

6L6 are more tight and clean

To me, the white one is tighter and a little more dynamic, it fits better for modern tones and very agressive yet controlled tones, for guys that want a cleaner and tighter sounds, while the black one is way more filthy and growly, fits better for more old school tones and very heavy and sludgy tones, for guys that want a grittier and filthier, out of control sound. White one would be more for Djent or Thrash bands while black one would be more for Death and Sludge/Doom bands. I personally prefer the black one because I find these kinda tones more satisfying to play haha

The OG!

Be fun to put them against their Bugera counterparts - I thought Bugera made a clone of at least one of the 5150 models. Haven't seen that many shootouts with the clones...Bugera also makes clones of bass amps, like the SVT. I'm not an advocate for them, I've just always wondered how close they got with models like their JSX clone and also why they were allowed to live in this age of massive litigation.

I have a EVH 5150 III 50W Original (6L6). My green channel sounds nothing like yours... As it has shared Eq and gain controls, to make the clean "usable" I keep the gain at noon. And it is cleaner than your 5150 EL34 with just a slight drive in it - I could play "under the bridge" from RHCP with that setting. For blue channel at noon, it sounded exactly the same - putting a boost OD sounds amazing. I have a Gibson SG with SD JB and a LTD KH-602 with EMG 81 and don't think that the pickups compared to your Fishman Fluence would make that HUGE difference... I dunno... Maybe my 5150 is broken?

How did you like the EL34 Stealth vs 6L6 stealth? I have a Bogner Helios cab and Mesa 4x12. Mainly play thrash/ technical death

By itself I thought the OG red channel sounded better. But I feel the stealth voicing would be better in a mix.

Behold! The signature Fluff lick! A5... A5 F5 D5 E5 (tuned down 1/2 step for added Rock Cred™) 5:58 7:00 7:32 7:48 9:14 9:55 (FAST VERSION!) 10:15 11:20 11:43

To me,the og’s head space is much more forward and in your face. The el34 is towards the back of the room.

Nice demo. Can you please share what the rest of the signal chain is? Were the amps into a speaker and mic'd or was this into a reactive load with IR's? If so, which ones? Also - what was the pickup in the guitar? It felt kinda JB-ish. Thanks!

Hey Fluff! Do you play both amps into your UA OX oder in a real cabinet? Or anything else? All the best.

The el34. I believe the 50 watt stealth is differs than the 100 watt head. What I heard. Take that with a grain of salt. Lol.

The stealths are modded to Eddie's specs. They had better clean channels and better lead channels that the originals

Was this running through a cab or an IR?

I`d be very interested to know what speakers you're playing through, they both sound very flat through my monitors... Where is that famous EVH clarity and bite that has coined the phrase ''Brown Sound"???

about time jeeeeeez

i have the 6l6 evh 5150 iii 50 watt amp and it’s amazing , especially when you add a chorus with the red channel.. unreal. but i still need to get a boost pedal for the blue channel , what do you recommend for that? tube screamer?

So does the original have the 6L6 tubes? And is it still in production?

I don't own a 100 watt 5150, but I do own a 50 watt Stealth. So I will say this.....Ice is cold.

I'm curious if you were using the same cab/mic/IR for each or not.

Fluff I have a question! Is it correct that there is no way to program a more complex channel switching with these amps? For instance, if I have an external multi-effects unit and I want it to change with one click from Clean channel with let's say chorus and reverb to Dirty channel with only od pedal up front and to Lead channel with boost, reverb and delay? I know the 50W versions have midi so they can do it. But seems like you have to switch the channels and all the effects manually with these EVH 100W amps?

This!

I prefer the EL34 vibe but I get why people people prefer 6L6.

"Clean channel" reminds me of that video you posted a few years back making fun of the people that complained about your clean tone.

Would one ever use an overdrive pedal to clean up the bass?

The OG has 7 preamp tubes, the el34 8

I wonder if we would hear the same difference if it was a blind test 🤔

cool👍👍👍👍👍👍

I tried the 50w Stealth at Guitar Center and it was too loud even with the volume on 0.5.

I always thought that the clean on the OG was clean . Turn the gain down

The EL-34 version is the best and most versatile 5150 on the market.

It's not an OG or a Boi. Ice T is OG!

Those aren't very clean clean-channels. That's probably about as much gain I use for my rhythm dirty sound.

the golden evh sounds brighter

Great video on the EVH amps. My problem was your last video on relic guitars. I am a Fender man, but you did not give Fender not enough credit. The way you talked like Gibson had the idea first, boy your not even in the ball park. I am sick of you and your cronies downing Fender and there Products. XRC and Aqufish.

There is no such thing as an EVH el34 stealth. It’s either stealth (6l6) or el34

sounds so dead and flubby. No amount of presence or treble will make up for the dull input signal.

I’m WTF … the Chanel’s aren’t even clean Do you have the gain on the clean channels up high ???

Never heard anyone call the EL34 a Stealth before.

EVH amps have too much gain. Peavey is better: controllable gain and handle boost pedals better. The EVH red channel is just too much

Commenting just to see if the telegram fake account will respond to it LMAO