EV Trilogy for somebody who doesn't like the 5150?

[Whoopysnorp]

The other day, I went into my shared rehearsal space, and there was a 5150 combo in there. I decided to plug it in and play a few riffs on it to see what it was all about, since I'd never really played one before. I left all the controls alone because I didn't want to mess with the owner's settings. I can't remember where all the controls were, but they seemed like reasonable settings. First I started with the clean, which, true to expectations, sounded usable but not particularly good. Then I put it in crunch mode, which sounded not too bad. I'm not sure where the gain was--maybe like 3 or 4. It wasn't outstanding but I could have imagined it being pretty fun to play on with some EQ tweaks. When I switched to the lead channel, though, it was just a fizzy mess. The gain was on 6, and it was just a completely over-the-top ridiculous amount of gain--way more than could ever possibly be useful. It was verging on Boss Metal Zone territory.

So that brings me to my question. The Jaded Faith EV Trilogy has been getting an awful lot of high praise recently. It also has what is apparently an ungodly amount of gain. On the one hand, the raised eyebrows for this module make me curious to try it out. On the other, what I consider to be a high-gain tone is the JF XTC on red channel (with structure) with the gain at about 1:00, or the Stonerverb's dirty channel with the gain at about 2:00. I am not interested in any more than that. Is this module for me? And even leaving aside the amount of gain, if I didn't particularly like the character of the gain on the real 5150, is there any possibility that I would like the EV Trilogy?

 

[Ulf]

Hello,
from your experience with the 5150 combo, I would say it might the 5150 might just not be your choice. However, the combo does sound different to the heads plus every amp needs some tweaking to adapt to the speakers, the guitar and player.
But in general, a 5150/6550 is known for its high gain sound. It has 6 gain stages which gives it a special sound. In almost every case, the gain will not need to be higher than noon.

 

[Hamner1]

Also the 5150s really needed to have the power section pushed. Anything below 5 was a fizzy mess. The few I have played seemed to have a sweet spot around 5-6.

 

[Jaded Faith]

A few things:

- IMHO, the Rhythm Channel in Crunch mode is the best gain tones on these amps, but I tend to like the Lead channel with the gain up to around noon.

- These amps do need to be pushed to open up.

- They also need a bias mod to the power sections, as they are fixed-biased colder than the living dead.

- I service more of these for local metal guys than every other amp combined. They love when I re-tube the front end with lower gain tubes and 5751's in select positions.

- The Trilogy was designed with several real amps in the shop for reference and was a best of from many amps I have worked on and maintained through the years. I would wager you will like it quite a bit more than a stock combo (one of which was present for the entire R&D process).

 

[JayDA]

I LOVE gain, and I can't really get my Trilogy past about noon on the lead channel before it becomes ridiculous. It's definitely a little looser in the low end, and sort of has it's own thing going. It pretty much nails the dark scooped 5150 thing on the "I" channel, which to me was the only reason I ever liked the original amp anyway. I wasn't bonding with it at first, until I found the sweet spot, brutal doesn't even begin to describe it. It probably has twice as much gain as the JF XTC, totally different beast.

I'm just getting done moving my gear into my newly renovated basement studio, so hopefully I can get some demo vids up in the next few months. High gain shootout anyone?

 

[LoD21]

Can't base a decision on a combo. My buddy just bought a Lynchbox combo. It's just ok. Run it out to a 412 and totally different experience.

 

[crankyrayhanky]

I played a 6505 (was it a plus?) in a store with matching 4x12 and thought little of it- waaaay boomy, waaaay gainy on the lead channel making it virtually useless

The S1S0 I have is one of my top mods- because of the clarity, it is more likely closer to a modded 5150 than stock

I also love Jaded Faith mods, herego you disliking a stock 6505 does not mean you would not love the JF version. I'll have one in this week and plan to shoot a video demo. I'm guessing all those switches can dial out the the boom and gain confusion stock 5150s possess