# EVH 5150 iii 50 watt too loud for bedroom



## Ajb667 (Aug 27, 2015)

I love my 5153, but it's frustrating not being able to get the best tones out of it since I have too keep my volume at one. Even then, its loud and annoying for my family. What are my options? I was thinking about getting a volume pedal and putting the amp volume up high, but the volume pedal low to keep the tubes working hard. Either that, or get the 6505 mini and keep it on the one watt option. Any suggestions?


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## SandyRavage (Aug 27, 2015)

Mine sounds absolutely amazing at bedroom volumes.... Try increasing gain and presence more than you would normally at gigging levels and trying a boost. 

One of the reasons I snagged the 5150 III is because of how great it sounds at lower volumes.


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## TheRileyOBrien (Aug 27, 2015)

Ya mine sounds great at low volumes. I don't have to play quietly at my place but I sometimes turn it down just to save my ears. 

You may need to adjust your settings a bit. I'd agree with Sandyravage on the gain, presence, and definitely use a boost at lower volumes.


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## Ajb667 (Aug 27, 2015)

SandyRavage said:


> Mine sounds absolutely amazing at bedroom volumes.... Try increasing gain and presence more than you would normally at gigging levels and trying a boost.
> 
> One of the reasons I snagged the 5150 III is because of how great it sounds at lower volumes.





TheRileyOBrien said:


> Ya mine sounds great at low volumes. I don't have to play quietly at my place but I sometimes turn it down just to save my ears.
> 
> You may need to adjust your settings a bit. I'd agree with Sandyravage on the gain, presence, and definitely use a boost at lower volumes.



I don't have a boost, so I haven't had a chance to try it yet but it sounds like it'll help. I should probably pick up a tubescreamer, now I have a good excuse to spend the cash


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## mniel8195 (Aug 27, 2015)

Get a torpedo live it will change your life


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## viesczy (Aug 27, 2015)

THD Hotplate, I run all my heads into mine to get as much I can out of the amp.

Okay we lose the cab's character, BUT any attenuation will at least allow us to get the most out of our amps/tubes. 

Derek


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## jclogston (Aug 27, 2015)

mine sounds great at room volumes. I just can't use the blue channel lol


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## wakjob (Aug 27, 2015)

It's hard to get that loud amp sensation at bedroom friendly volumes. 

If the speakers are not physically moving back and forth at least a little bit causing some air movement both inside and outside of the cab making resonate frequencies, the sound, feel at the strings under the fingers, and feedback to your ears will be less than satisfying.

This is where solid state and digital modeling are king...imo that is.


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## metaljohn (Aug 27, 2015)

I'm running bedroom volume most of the time and it sounds good to me.


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## Nickh (Aug 27, 2015)

I'm in an apartment so the majority of the time I play at a low volume and mine sounds great. I do have an overdrive and compressor going into the front though. But the feel of playing an amp at gigging volume is definitely preferable.


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## TheWarAgainstTime (Aug 28, 2015)

Turn the resonance down to around 9:00, increase gain, mids, and presence slightly. The volume taper of the 50w 5153 is better than most, but can still be touchy at low volumes. 

I built a pot-in-a-box pedal that's just a 25k volume pot and treble bleed resistor that I put in the FX loop of my amp. It doesn't act the same as an attenuator, but with it, I can turn the volume on the head up higher, then bring it down more gradually than with the amp's volume controls. Smoother taper and whatnot, plus once I get my channel levels balanced, it acts as a pseudo master volume control  

All the parts cost me about $20, then the build only took about 30 minutes and minimal soldering skills. Definitely worth looking into!


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## macgruber (Aug 28, 2015)

give the jet city attenuator a shot - they are relatively inexpensive and kick ass for dropping the volume on a valve amp amp but still keeping the tone/feel.


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## Metaldestroyerdennis (Aug 28, 2015)

Maybe your family is just annoyed by your guitar playing in general? My mom would never complain about my acoustic playing, but if I turned my 5150 III up half as loud as the acoustic I would get shut down real quick.


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## TheShreddinHand (Aug 28, 2015)

Rivera Rockcrusher


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## Fryderyczek (Aug 28, 2015)

EQ pedal or a boost. 
Or get yourself a smal Practice amp if you want to practice, like a Peavey Vypir 30.


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## metaljohn (Aug 28, 2015)

Metaldestroyerdennis said:


> Maybe your family is just annoyed by your guitar playing in general? My mom would never complain about my acoustic playing, but if I turned my 5150 III up half as loud as the acoustic I would get shut down real quick.



That pretty much summed up my guitar playing experience when living with family.


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## Greenbrettiscool (Aug 29, 2015)

if you want to wait till xmas time I'm sure the 25w 5153 will be out by then, just annoy the fam till they give in and HAVE to buy you it! its a win/win


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## KailM (Aug 29, 2015)

On a very high gain amp like the 5153, which gets most of its tone from preamp distortion, there's no reason whatsoever that you can't get awesome bedroom tone, even if it's a 100 watt halfstack. The key is to realize that it will require an entirely different approach to EQing, gain, and other adjustments than it does at high volumes. Also, if you must run it down at tv volumes, it helps greatly to get your ears right in front of the speakers.

I don't have a 5153, but I do have a 6505+ in which I modded the lead channel to original 5150 specs. At low volumes, it can sound overly dark, bassy, and muffled. But as I turn it up to gig volumes, the treble, mids, and clarity all start to increase exponentially -- in a good way. So, to compensate, when I play quietly, I run my bass lower, treble and mids higher, and gain higher. An OD boost also greatly improves the low volume tone, because it brightens everything up and cuts bass. Though I pretty much always have my OD on regardless of volume. Then, at high volumes, I find that I can run my bass much higher and have to cut some of the treble and mids as well as gain, because they increase naturally with volume.

Also, for what it's worth, I have a Peavey Vypyr 30 as well. My 6505+ sounds better than the Vypyr even at TV volumes. At gig volumes, the tube amp sounds 10x better. Don't get a small practice amp because you think it will sound better at lower volumes. It's simply not the truth. I keep my Vypyr for only two reasons: It is smaller and easier to transport for weekend trips or to take when I give lessons, and it has better cleans than my 6505. But the high gain sounds are a joke compared to the tube amp, as are most other solid state amps I've played/owned over my twenty years or so of playing.


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## Great Satan (Aug 30, 2015)

Volume pedal in the loop dude, a lot of people do it with these amps to get some great low vol tone.

Edit; here's a good one http://www.ehx.com/products/signal-pad


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## SevenSkull (Aug 30, 2015)

Ajb667 said:


> I was thinking about getting a volume pedal and putting the amp volume up high, but the volume pedal low to keep the tubes working hard.



You can fine tune your preamp volume that way, but your power tubes will not be working harder. Every volume pot (and the fx loop) on a tube amp sit before the power tubes. 

Attenuators are a different thing, but they can only be turned on/off or to a specific watt setting.


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## KailM (Aug 30, 2015)

SevenSkull said:


> You can fine tune your preamp volume that way, but your power tubes will not be working harder. Every volume pot (and the fx loop) on a tube amp sit before the power tubes.
> 
> Attenuators are a different thing, but they can only be turned on/off or to a specific watt setting.



Truth. I have tried that with my MXR 10 band's volume slider. Ultimately, all it does is make the volume taper a little smoother. There is no improvement in tone. "Making the powere tubes work harder" on a 5150 series amp is something I'm not convinced would be desireable for the type of tone and response most people are going for with those amps. The power section was meant to run clean so that your riffs can stay tight and focused, even with a lot of preamp gain.


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## shred-o-holic (Aug 31, 2015)

Or you can use any multi effects processor in the loop and use the level control on it to dial down your master. I use my Pod HD 500 for all my amps like this.


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## aqa (Aug 31, 2015)

I have played my 5150 50w at bedroom levels thorugh a 1x12 cab, not the same like cranked, but pretty usable I think


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## wheelsdeal (Sep 3, 2015)

For a highly saturated & slightly fizzy amp like the 5153 an overdrive in front is a must imo for bedroom volumes.It gives you the punch you need and it takes away the fizz related to low volumes by allowing your amp to run with lesser preamp gain.

An EQ in the loop will also help give some low end & cut that annoying 16khz for further eliminating the fizz.

Thats how i run mine on low volumes and sounds great.


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