Guitar Gear Forum

Found this and thought, why not buy sumthin I don't need? But honestly, it seems like a cool backup, and also I really do play too loud for my own good while just jamming alone.. Its hard to not want to hear my amps sound great.. I have great hearing still but pretty bad tinnitus.. SO , maybe I should start taking care..

Anyway, if I had more time I would have recorded a little more varied song to get the tones more than just hammering speed rhythms.. But I was a bit pressed for time and I know me some slayer like the back of my hand these days..

o I recorded one version with the lunchbox straight in to the high gain channel using a PV Wolfgang loaded with BK Brute force.. And then I used my 5153 el34 100 watt on the blue channel using my LTD m1 1987 with the EMG Alex Laiho pickup and preamp.. SO this pickup can add a lot of gain.. And I love how I can push the blue channel to be more of a high gain channel with it.. It crushes live.. SO I used my settings I use with my Slayer tribute.. The little amp holds its own.. Little brighter/raspy, and obviously doesn't push as much air on the chugs but for recordings thats not the worst thing.. And the blue of the el34 being a little more low mids. Again thats my live settings after feeling I was a bit too bright live so I did darken it a touch.. And the blue isn't quite as raspy as the red.. I should have maybe done red vs red.. but whatever


5153 lbx- https://app.box.com/s/stp981sxglxsa1qke34nmei6qb0z5h1k

5153 el34 blue channel https://app.box.com/s/q0xdcylur1eolsjhvq17eoe70ocwdee6

Just noticed I bounced an extra 2 minutes of bullshit! lol.. I mean ignore all that if you get that far

LBX definitely holds its own!!!

That sounds damn impressive!! Through my cheap ear buds I could not hear much of a meaningful difference , both sound great!

Sounds damn good, and what a great backup.
I had a couple of these over the years (the OG version) and I should have kept one.
Like you said, great backup and and they sound fantastic at low volumes.

Wow, the LBX really is close! An excellent practice and recording solution! great tones as always!

I'm thinking about getting one of these now. It would be another good grab and go option in addition to my Bluguitar Amp1.

Yeah, sounds good! Kinda what I expected. It has a less saturated sorta thing happening, which is what I remember from having one of these little fuckers.

GuitarBilly wrote:I'm thinking about getting one of these now. It would be another good grab and go option in addition to my Bluguitar Amp1.

It’s definitely cool. The “red” channel is more of an in between of the blue and red of the 100, and even 50 watt from what I remember. I didn’t get it for recording purposes of course, but it doesn’t sound bad at all and I could see throwing in a track or two under the main guitars if I want a little extra scrape and that sorta tone.

I find it’s definitely kinda quiet but I just grabbed some new power tubes so I’ll see if it’s got a little more juice. I don’t think it’s suitable for a band situation unless mic’d. And like just about any el84 high gain amp, once it runs out of headroom the tone takes a turn for the worse.

But for a bit different tone and vibe from the 100, but same basic tone platform, I found it fun to play and jam on and again, for my ears, I think this is a definite option for me to save my ears some.

Also for shits I ran it thru the power section of my PV 6505 and THAT would maybe be a real option for using this in band volumes and maybe more serious recordings. I got this for a bit over $500 which I felt was a solid deal for used. I can’t imagine spending $750 new for one, but it’s got $500-600 worth of tone and “fun” in it.

I think they were $550 new when I got one. I never tried running it into the power section of the big one. I liked the response on it a lot, though. Like you said, fun to play. Definitely not loud enough for the band for me.

hmmm I'm changing my mind now


Maybe the MT-15 would be a better purchase around that price...

GuitarBilly wrote:hmmm I'm changing my mind now


Maybe the MT-15 would be a better purchase around that price...

Yeah, search for a deal. I saw this at one of the local GCs for almost a month. And finally had the free money laying around and it was still there so fuck it. I really did buy it to stop using my bigger amps as much cause my hearing/tinnitus really is getting worse and worse and I know how loud I jam isn’t helping.

It’s literally the thing Paul Gilbert said he did for years on end is ham thru his big amps cause of how much fun it is!! And now the dudes hearing is so bad, his current tone couldn’t be worse!!! And yet, he sure acts like it’s great. Lol

I’d be curious how it fairs against the mt15 which I believe has the bigger tubes.

And I’m sorta going off reviews where people say “It’s really loud for a 15 watt.” And idk, I really think people just don’t play loud anymore so they have a good gauge of what is actually loud. Cause it doesn’t feel loud for a 15 watt. I’d say it’s about what I expect. But it’s definitely never too loud to me

Fwiw, I think this guys vid is a very accurate representation



Apparently I forgot how to link vids. So here’s the direct link
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3fkqOzRKNEY

I found it to be similar in volume to the Mark V25. Neither will touch the MT15 for volume.

Fuckin shit slays

Fixed the video tag lol

Thanks^^^

And jamming on it today trying some different boosts and the MXR badass modified OD is pretty damn great with it. I got lost jamming. So the tone is not a let down at all

NinjaRaf wrote:I found it to be similar in volume to the Mark V25. Neither will touch the MT15 for volume.

The MT15 is crazy loud for certain. It absolutely buries my Laney GH30r watt which is using two El34's. I saw a video that said the MT15 is actually putting out around 25-27 watts with the 5881's.

EndTime wrote:Thanks^^^

And jamming on it today trying some different boosts and the MXR badass modified OD is pretty damn great with it. I got lost jamming. So the tone is not a let down at all

That MXR is a great boost. I have to buy another one of those.

spawnofthesith wrote:That sounds damn impressive!! Through my cheap ear buds I could not hear much of a meaningful difference , both sound great!

Well said, great job ET! I do prefer the 5153 el34 over the 15 watter.

I really do wish more manufacturers would design arounf 6v6 power tubes for their low power designs. They really do sound so much better than el84s and don't fall appart anywhere near as quickly. That said, this sounds great!