Guitar Gear Forum

Give me the goods.

Unfortunately I think I'm selling my Uberschall today. Times are tough and while I can certainly justify keeping the amp I got bills. Ironically after having it listed for months the day someone wants to buy it I find some guys to play music with so I still need an amp.

Looking to temporarily downgrade but I'm on the poverty.

I like saturation. Wet and tight like your dad's BH. I'm looking at the 5150 Iconic EL34. It sounded good to me but isn't saturated. I figured with the right boost maybe I'm good.

Trying to keep it under 1k. The cheaper the better but still needs to work with a band and not sound like complete shit.

For reference my top 3 amps have been the Uber Ultra, VHT 100CL and JP2C in order.

Did not play the EL34 Iconic but I did A/B a 6L6 Iconic to a script 5150. The Peavey came home but the Iconic could get close. If the Peavey hadn’t been there I might have bought the Iconic. But the Peavey is more familiar to me.

greatmutah wrote: ↑Sun Jul 28, 2024 3:24 pm Did not play the EL34 Iconic but I did A/B a 6L6 Iconic to a script 5150. The Peavey came home but the Iconic could get close. If the Peavey hadn’t been there I might have bought the Iconic. But the Peavey is more familiar to me.

Yeah I've only heard killertones 1 chug teaser.

The thing that appeals to me other than the price is that I love the 5150 iii EL34 50W. Would like the 100w but it's too expensive BUT the Iconic el34 is 80w so....kind of a sweet middle ground for headroom

You know I really liked the 50 Watt EL34 I played at GC a few years back. Probably would like it more than the 6L6 50 Watt. I’m curious to see how the Iconic EL34s do in the wild. Also if you see a decently priced 6534+ grab it. That amp fucking rules and there’s not a lot of them.

im loving my 5153 el34 50w now. clip that c137 diode and the blue channel is tits, and the red as long as you keep the gain around 9 oclock is great too.

I'll add a bit more info RaceU may have seen this on Rig Talk. I have used the 5153 50w quite a bit. In fact that's probably a top 5 amp for me and I definitely loved it. My worry is lack of headroom. When I did use the amp it was just myself and a drummer. The amp got there but barely. My situation now is a full band with 2 guitars in a much smaller room so I may not need all that headroom?

I can't afford the 100w version so I figured the Iconic was a sweet middle ground at 80w.

With that said I've been looking locally and here are the top 3 deals I have found.

5153 el34 50w + matching 2x12 for $1k. That is with a 2.5 hour drive each way.

3120 and Peaverty cab for $800 very close by

Ultra plus 120 and Peaverty cab for $600 close by

I think the 80 watts of the Iconic would be a solid middle ground. I wouldn’t rule out a he Peaverty 3120 (I love the XXX and that’s basically the same amp) or Ultra though.

greatmutah wrote: ↑Sun Jul 28, 2024 4:18 pm I think the 80 watts of the Iconic would be a solid middle ground. I wouldn’t rule out a he Peaverty 3120 (I love the XXX and that’s basically the same amp) or Ultra though.

Yeah it's a tough choice but I am leaning toward the 3120. This is just a temporary solution until I can afford another high end amp one day so keeping that in mind I want the cheapest possible while still getting somewhat of a decent sound.

i have always wanted a XXX/3120, just never came across one. for $800 with a cab and local id probably give that a shot

I'm surprised you couldn't get enough headroom out of the 50w 5153. I've never had that issue and while I don't play metal, I play pretty loud.

I don't know if I'd get the Iconic. I don't have anything against hybrid amps but for the price you could do better IMHO. Used 6505, XXX etc