Guitar Gear Forum

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills since no one has mentioned this anywhere I have read...

The 50 watt and a hundred watt sound noticeably different to me. I've only played the 100 in person and it sounds smoother than the Peavey+
The 50 sounds more similar to the 6505+ but the honky mids are more subdued so it is more pleasant sounding to my ears. Please the 50 sounds like it has more gain on the blue channel.
The 100 sounded more like a heavy crunch on the blue channel just shy of modern metal but pretty good for hard rock tones.
The green channels don't sound too dissimilar.

I can't think of any other lines of the same amp sound more different based on the wattage without using different output tubes.

I agree with everything you said. The blue channel on the 50w definitely has more gain.

I don't use a lot of gain so the 100w blue is definitely more than enough gain for me. I set it around 7. On the 50w I set it on 4 at the most.

Based on tone alone, like the 100w more than the 50w overall, but that's for every amp really. There's something about an 100w power section. It sounds bigger at any volume.

But on the other hand, the 50w 5153 is one of the best size/features/power/price ratio in the market. I've had several of them and they are super practical and sound great. It's pretty much a lunchbox sized amp with a very strong 50w power amp, MIDI, 3 channels etc.

I love my Marshalls but I think if I could only have one amp that cover all my bases and it's easy to carry, this would be one of my top choices tbh. I really wish Marshall would do something comparable.

The 50 is on my short list of amps I still want. The 100 is great but the size to features ratio of the 50 makes it very, very attractive to own. I played the EL34 50 Watt and really dug it, but I'd probably go for one of the 6L6 versions (I have 3 amps that have EL34 power sections. I don't exactly need a 4th).

GuitarBilly wrote:I agree with everything you said. The blue channel on the 50w definitely has more gain.

I don't use a lot of gain so the 100w blue is definitely more than enough gain for me. I set it around 7. On the 50w I set it on 4 at the most.

Based on tone alone, like the 100w more than the 50w overall, but that's for every amp really. There's something about an 100w power section. It sounds bigger at any volume.

But on the other hand, the 50w 5153 is one of the best size/features/power/price ratio in the market. I've had several of them and they are super practical and sound great. It's pretty much a lunchbox sized amp with a very strong 50w power amp, MIDI, 3 channels etc.

I love my Marshalls but I think if I could only have one amp that cover all my bases and it's easy to carry, this would be one of my top choices tbh. I really wish Marshall would do something comparable.

Agreed. I prefer the sound of the 100 but there has to be some tweaks done to the 50 to alter the tone. You would think it could done to change the tone of the 50 to sound more like the 100. The el34 version kind of sounds like the amp I wish marshall made. Reminds me of my Peavey VTM60 there was no need for that amp to be as large and heavy as it was.

I really just need one channel an effects loop and to be able to clean it up with guitar volume. If it was the size of a lunchbox even better. But the EVH series seems to be the closest to the tone in my head without hitting diminishing returns.

greatmutah wrote:The 50 is on my short list of amps I still want. The 100 is great but the size to features ratio of the 50 makes it very, very attractive to own. I played the EL34 50 Watt and really dug it, but I'd probably go for one of the 6L6 versions (I have 3 amps that have EL34 power sections. I don't exactly need a 4th).

I tend to prefer EL34. But some of my favorite amps have kt88s which aren't an option for the 5153 series as of yet.

guidedbyechoes wrote:

greatmutah wrote:The 50 is on my short list of amps I still want. The 100 is great but the size to features ratio of the 50 makes it very, very attractive to own. I played the EL34 50 Watt and really dug it, but I'd probably go for one of the 6L6 versions (I have 3 amps that have EL34 power sections. I don't exactly need a 4th).

I tend to prefer EL34. But some of my favorite amps have kt88s which aren't an option for the 5153 series as of yet.

Only amp I ever had with KT-88s was a Deliverance 60. I’d love to get one of those again. For 2012 used prices.

greatmutah wrote:

guidedbyechoes wrote:

greatmutah wrote:The 50 is on my short list of amps I still want. The 100 is great but the size to features ratio of the 50 makes it very, very attractive to own. I played the EL34 50 Watt and really dug it, but I'd probably go for one of the 6L6 versions (I have 3 amps that have EL34 power sections. I don't exactly need a 4th).

I tend to prefer EL34. But some of my favorite amps have kt88s which aren't an option for the 5153 series as of yet.

Only amp I ever had with KT-88s was a Deliverance 60. I’d love to get one of those again. For 2012 used prices.

The good old days.

guidedbyechoes wrote:

greatmutah wrote:

guidedbyechoes wrote:

greatmutah wrote:The 50 is on my short list of amps I still want. The 100 is great but the size to features ratio of the 50 makes it very, very attractive to own. I played the EL34 50 Watt and really dug it, but I'd probably go for one of the 6L6 versions (I have 3 amps that have EL34 power sections. I don't exactly need a 4th).

I tend to prefer EL34. But some of my favorite amps have kt88s which aren't an option for the 5153 series as of yet.

Only amp I ever had with KT-88s was a Deliverance 60. I’d love to get one of those again. For 2012 used prices.

The good old days.

Didn’t know how good we had it.

greatmutah wrote:

guidedbyechoes wrote:

greatmutah wrote:

guidedbyechoes wrote:

greatmutah wrote:The 50 is on my short list of amps I still want. The 100 is great but the size to features ratio of the 50 makes it very, very attractive to own. I played the EL34 50 Watt and really dug it, but I'd probably go for one of the 6L6 versions (I have 3 amps that have EL34 power sections. I don't exactly need a 4th).

I tend to prefer EL34. But some of my favorite amps have kt88s which aren't an option for the 5153 series as of yet.

Only amp I ever had with KT-88s was a Deliverance 60. I’d love to get one of those again. For 2012 used prices.

The good old days.

Didn’t know how good we had it.

Not a clue. All the great amps under a grand. 4x12s under 500 dollars all day. Pedals by the lot. Now everything I sold prior to 2015 costs 3 times as much as it did back then in worse shape.....

to further complicate things, the 5153 combos have more gain than any of the heads (Stealth-like gain structure) and the best blue channel ... according to the fellas in FB groups.

Yup, the 100 watts are a significant step up!

Also I can’t believe deliverance prices these days. I sold my old one for $850.

the first time I heard/played a 5153 of any kind was Esizers, which IIRC was 100w. Instantly fell in love and have been interested in the line ever since (that was several years ago)

Finally got a 50 watter recently. I absolutely love it. Honestly, I think it's one of the best sounding high gain amps of all time. I've heard pretty universally that the 100 watters are superior, but I don't think you can go wrong with either

The thing that surprised me about the 100 head I played: Channel one went from a very nice clean to a decent crunch. Two went from classic rock to just about modern metal. Perfect for hard rock or less intense. Channel 3 didn't sound like a pissed off goose.
You could play each channel and not need a boost to sound good. I have only played about 5 that meet that criteria. Also if you are gain on 200 and the guitar volume off on the red channel the amp is dead silent. Not a big deal but lots of care went into power filtering. The one I played at least. It also had the matching cab and man did it sound glorious. Probably should have got one years ago.

If they do a preamp like Friedman did I would have it per-ordered tomorrow.

The 100w is my favourite amp ever. I had to ditch it because I'm an apartment player now and it was just too much, but I miss it. I got the FM3 thinking the 5153 model would be a nice, more apartment able replacement, but I actually don't find the Fractal model to be very accurate. Luckily the FM3 has tons of other models that sound great, so I'm not that upset, but I do miss that 100w with the matching cab. It was just killer.

madrigal77 wrote:The 100w is my favourite amp ever. I had to ditch it because I'm an apartment player now and it was just too much, but I miss it. I got the FM3 thinking the 5153 model would be a nice, more apartment able replacement, but I actually don't find the Fractal model to be very accurate. Luckily the FM3 has tons of other models that sound great, so I'm not that upset, but I do miss that 100w with the matching cab. It was just killer.

Yeah I know the struggle. I only have one head left. It has been played about 5 times in the last 5 years.

I may be out of the loop but this is interesting info on the stealth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JZIajY_flA