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MXR EVH5150 Overdrive

2.3K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  doriangrey  
#1 ·
Just picked one of these up in a trade this weekend past. Haven't had much time with it yet but the little time I spent it sounded pretty damn good. Tone thick enough to chew on. Has a built in noise gate that is optional not something I have really used much before. Although I found it odd that it takes longer to kick in with single coils. A lot of gain on tap and a 3 band eq. I have a couple BSIAB pedals that I will have to compare it to. Brownie and a purported super crunch knock off(Caline CP-27).

Anybody else have one?Keep it or move it? Use it in a clean amp or broken up?
 
#2 ·
I have one and like it. Couldn't get a brown sound out of it but got some great modern hi gain stuff. Was my favourite pedal until I got a BE-OD. BE-OD is a little "sweeter" to my ears. 5150 is still a great pedal though. I kept both.
 
#4 ·
That BE-OD looks interesting. Going to have to watch some vids. What does the 'tight' knob do? Is it like sag?
While watching some That Pedal Show vids I saw them demo a Keeley 1962x pedal. I thought it sounded very good. Marshall style but not as hi gain as the 5150.
 
#9 ·
After sifting through about a dozen diff't demos I kind of came to the same conclusion. The one I posted was one of the few that really went through what each of the knobs does. It also kind of cooled my (slight) obsession with getting distortion pedals. After a while they really do sound kind of similar, it's just a matter of how each one is eq'ed and options that are included.

Being that I already have a couple processors as well as some vst plugins, dropping $300 + on a pedal would be a bit redundant.
 
#10 ·
I bought the Bogner Red pedal based on this review. It has great body and tone with a boost.


The pedal is on my board and is fantastic. I also have a Fulltone OCD for lighter distortion and boost to amps' crunch channels.

Cheers,
Jim
 
#12 ·
As for the gain, I think they explain it in the video that the BE-OD has an internal trim pot that can have it go from mild od all the way to quite high gain.
I am not a fan of internal trim pots - I like to be able to adjust the pedal with knobs on the front that are easily accessible.

@sorbz62 - I have a bogner red pedal on my board and it has become my fave distortion pedal ( an I have tried many over 30 years of playing). It seems to have the most natural 'crunch' - you can get nice high gain sounds with it but it seems to retain definition better than any high gain crunch

I am very intrigued by the EVH 5150 pedal - the price is what's holding me back right now...it's $280 at L & M before taxes...ouch! =(
 
#13 ·
I am not a fan of internal trim pots - I like to be able to adjust the pedal with knobs on the front that are easily accessible.

@sorbz62 - I have a bogner red pedal on my board and it has become my fave distortion pedal ( an I have tried many over 30 years of playing). It seems to have the most natural 'crunch' - you can get nice high gain sounds with it but it seems to retain definition better than any high gain crunch

I am very intrigued by the EVH 5150 pedal - the price is what's holding me back right now...it's $280 at L & M before taxes...ouch! =(
I have the Bogner Red as well but being a 'metal' guy, I kind of prefer the 5150 slightly more than the Red, despite it being more versatile. That being said though, the Red does sound phenomenal when I use it for a drive pedal with my bass rig.

The thing about the price of the 5150, while there's always a chance of snagging a used one off Reverb or E-Bay, when you look at the other distortion pedals L&M have, the 5150 is probably one of the better sounding ones and has a noise gate. The only other one I could possibly recommend that's less than $300 and has a built in noise gate would be the Truetone Jekyll & Hyde but it has a bit more 'fizz' to it than the 5150 does.
 
#14 ·
Agree about the trim pots. P.I.T.A!!!
Also, in regards to the pricing, when I did the trade I looked into the 5150. It sells for $199 usd same as the Velvet fuzz that I traded for it. The Velvet sells for $240 cdn. As you said the 5150 is $280. And for comparison the Catalinbread SFT is $179usd/$240cdn. I don't know, maybe Brian is just being nice to us.