Rossness how you making out with the 5153 and Jet City?

Any of them live up to the hype and your expectations? toe to toe with your fave MTS what are you liking or not liking?

The Rossness said:

I'd like to give rob some applause and congrats. I have the trilogy prototype, which I "was" selling in the classifieds as I picked up an EVH 5153 50 watt head. The EVH is a cool amp. Great clean channel, nice crunch channel, ok lead channel. Its got more gain than any amp I've ever played, which is pretty fun as its just effortless to play. Then there was my module. It doesn't have as much gain, but its just as effortless to play, and sounds better and bigger. Its got a level of clarity that the EVH just can't touch. The notes seem to ring just a bitt better. The evh is louder, but the JF punches harder. Alas, there's no clean channel on the module

I've had a lot of modules over the years and always kept this one and now I know why. Its harmonically better than the 5153 for hard rock (I'm not a metal guy, and can't really comment there as I hear metal guys love 5150's). Mine might not have all the gain or cleans of an evh, or the extra voicing options of the Trilogy, but it just sounds better. I've got mine next to my SG Afterlife and while the SG will slice you're head off in a furious rage, the trilogy will use brute strength and rip it off your neck. It has renewed my interest in JF mods. But if modules can be voiced like my Trilogy proto, it really makes me wonder what else Rob can come up with???? By far, its the best route you can go for a 5150 sound in the mts world.

Now the hunt begins for more JF goodness. I might have to make the 3 hour drive down to NJ to test all the mods and get foglifters in my RM100's and maybe a gain mod for my Jet City JCA100 HDM (very cool amp for the money). Again, I just wanted to tip my metaphoric hat to rob for doing such a bang up job. Thanks for the hard work.

BTW, while the module was for sale, Its not anymore. Now to sell the 5153.

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http://www.mtsforum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?t=19211

As time changes, its different how we all hear things. I?ve played sooooo many amps and demoed them to death, I think I?ve developed my ear. I swear I hear things most people don?t. Heck, I think I have a problem with the frequency KT88?s run at, but that?s another topic.

Years ago, I had one of the first 50 EVH 5150 III?s. I had it for a few years as my only tube amp. It never broke down, but the footswitch was always on the fritz. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn?t. I thought the clean was ok. I hated the crunch channel and loved the red channel. That part of it was a monster. I ended up having a rack of other amps before I finally sold the EVH. That was a few years ago.

My 50 watt head sounds very different. First, I like the clean channel more. Second, I love the crunch channel. There is a night and day difference between the 50 and 100 watt EVH amps, or at least the ones I?ve owned when it comes to that channel. Third, I don?t like the lead channel. That?s where my JF excels. It does the monster gain thing better than the 5153 50 with less gain and more dynamics. I?m a believer that if I have an amp, I should like all the channels it has equally well, and since I?m not bonding with the 5153 50?s lead channel, I?m selling the amp. I should say that they are different beasts. My JF gives me the 5150 sound, but its closer to the original peavey 5150. Conversely, I don?t find that it gets in the ballpark of the EVH, but for my needs, its satisfying.

The Jet City 100 HDM is a different animal and is more harmonically complex than the 5153. It has less gain and 2 channels with a shared eq and separate gain/ masters. I find it easier to play than the evh. I?m really into touch responsive amps if you can?t tell.Anyhow, its more touch responsive and the eq is more sensitive. Both channels are equally good. I got it to do the Soldano thing. The only tones I want are Lynch/DeMartini and it kind of gets me there. I?m not sure if I should sell it or not or get it modded or what. I?m thinking of getting the JF SLOD100 and comparing them head to head?er?module. I'll add that the JCA sounds great with a baritone.

Figured I'd chime in being a proud new owner of a spankin new 5153.
I agree that the 5150 iii 50w is a beast, I love all 3 channels.
Being mainly a metal player, I think the red channel is perfect for thrash and modern styles.
The crunch is awesome and takes boosts well also. Surprising 80's goodness.
I think it sounds awesome with v30s.
The head has 7 12ax7's in it, you can tell, it has tons of saturation. A great eq also.

I noticed that the Jet City was for sale on another forum.

LunatiBSW said:

Figured I'd chime in being a proud new owner of a spankin new 5153.
I agree that the 5150 iii 50w is a beast, I love all 3 channels.
Being mainly a metal player, I think the red channel is perfect for thrash.
The crunch is awesome and takes boosts well also. Surprising 80's goodness.
I think it sounds awesome with v30s.
The head has 7 12ax7's in it, you can tell, it has tons of saturation. A great eq also.

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I'm not sure what kind of player I am. Hard rock meets punk with a lot of George Lynch riffs thrown in there????? I dunno, but can't say I'm a metal guy. Channel 2 is excellent! It loves my charvel with the JB and a dab of a phase 90.

I saw your sig. Out of curiosity, How do you like your JF SL OD100? I played it, liked it but it doesn't seem to get talked about that much on the forum. How does it compare to your EVH?

I think the slo just sounds "right" for 80s hair rock/metal. Which is what I play with it.
The slo is closest to crunch (blue) channel.
The evh crunch channel is tighter in comparison with more compression, not as open and harmonic as the slo, but I totally dig both for different reasons. The slo is a little smoother but still gives good bite.
I can still pull off 80s tones with ease on the EVH. Just that the
EVH red crushes for modern metal though.

eyeball987 said:

I noticed that the Jet City was for sale on another forum.

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I've got both of them for sale. I think I listed them on Rigtalk, TGP, 7string and the seymour duncan forums. I'll probably keep the amp the doesn't sell first.

Thanks for the feedback Rossness!! Helps with my own GAS .. I always seem to be looking for the tight crunch that cuts through but that usually comes at the expense of an amp that is "easier" to play and more touch sensitive if you will... I've been thinking of trying a 6534+ or 6505+ just for it's crunch channel but then to be honest I think about a good ol DSL. I have never owned one but this is one amp that usually gets solid reviews across the board for the clean/classic gain (crunch) and OD1. I like my boosted amps too but i feel challenged now to try and find something that barely needs a boost. So far (and very surprisingly) my self modded brahma is the only thing I can play for high gain without a boost. Maybe that's telling me to just stick to MTS! Who would have thunk it? :shock: