Talman LBX

I'm plugging as many guitars as I could into the EVH 5150 III LBX. I'm interested to know how the amp sounds like during each guitar episode. If this wasn't the case, the amp itself might just be a one trick pony & I would never know. The Ibanez Talman TM302 had its LBX adventure this morning. The bridge pickup in use was a Duncan 'Lil 59 (Tele version) so the scorching tone heard was from the amp. The CMATmods Brownie in there was thrown in for good measure, the LBX is very competent in dishing out distortion without such supplements but it added more harmonics sensitivity.

The cat & the son of beast

Ah, yes. My Fender Jaguar received the EVH 5150 III LBX treatment as well. I currently love this guitar for its shorter scale length; makes fast playing even faster but investing in this instrument purely on that account is delusional. Why? Simple reason- you can play fast with any guitar, it's a matter of familiarity & adaptation. Malmsteen does that with his Strat (25.5"), ever seen Dweezil Zappa shred with a Gibson SG (24.75")? 

A good amp will make a puny guitar sound outstanding. In this case, the Jaguar isn't puny by any measure of consideration. The LBX was able to make those single coils there sound ferocious because its an amp for this specific assignment & it's proving its worth. However, the amp isn't transformational; it doesn't change the nature of those single coils radically. They remain to be a preferred choice for clean settings more than anything else. The harmonic content for instance, isn't as rich or sensitive. Also, lower notes don't sound thumping enough for heavy metal; single coils would remain as such, they don't cross over into humbucker territory just because they receive some sonic supplements while in use. 

EVH & friends

Last weekend's preoccupation- EVH 5150III LBX. I guess I have not heard it in action enough. The Jackson here is equipped with A Seymour Duncan Sentient in the neck. I've come to believe that this neck pickup is a great complement to all things high gain in terms of tone. Not referring to cleans, of course. If you wish for something that speaks when extra drive is served, this pickup will serve you well.

My Yamaha Pacifica here is a focus tool. I'd play this one to enhance some concentration when it comes to technicalities but this guitar with this pickup (Duncan's P-Rails) sounds impressive with high gain, angry amps in its full glory & then some split coil performance- mind the hum, of course. 

Beast & Page encounter

Despite the festive season, I managed to squeeze in some playing time. It's called determination. Anyway, I paired the John Page Ashburn guitar with my EVH 5150III LBX head today. I have to reiterate the fact that a 5150 amp in any manifestation doesn't go down well with clean intentions. It doesn't help that the single coils here are of the vintage output type; it's driven every time I pick hard. All this while I'm on the clean channel with the gain at less than 25%. You have been warned. 

Angry Tuesday

This arrived yesterday, unboxed just hours ago. I just stopped playing. Managed to squeeze out some of the angriest tones, pedal-free. Every guitar plugged into this little beast just brings out the anger in them, I had 3 going: 1) Ibanez RGD321 2) Yamaha Pacifica 510V 3) John Page Ashburn. That's right, even single coils sounded plain angry here. Will be the weekend before I further appraise its capacity. Awesome.

Swee Lee had updated their EVH listing at their web page. I used to get a 'There are no products in this category' message every time I clicked the link. Despite the void, the EVH section was not removed so I was hoping something good might appear in time to come & the wait paid off, so to speak.

Raging micro

This is my kind of amp- one with no clean channel, more focus on drive/distortion. That's right, the 15W EVH 5150III LBX has crunch & solo channels only so this would be limited appeal in terms of dynamics. For people who seldom dwell in cleans (like yours truly here), it's a focused offering. I've utmost respect for the EVH in terms of extreme metal distortion. In fact, EVH himself specified that extremity when he's still with Peavey & that was a benchmark reference if you are into this kind of voicings. OK, won't talk too much about it since it won't be available here- no more EVH distributor to date. What's that? There is? I bet you didn't check recently. Signing out...