Evh 5150 III 15W LBX Top

This little beast is way more that any guitar player need in the GAIN aspect. Only the blue (crunch) channel is enough to obtain a decent metal tone. And once you switch to the red channel: the apocalypse begin! lots of gain to shape an incredible metal and rock tone. Is a bit hard to handle it at the beginning, but once you tweak a little bit the pots, you can obtain great results.
The effects loop works wonders. I use it with a POD HD Desktop and you can combine the great distorted valve tone from the amp with all the effects. JUST AWESOME.
The only negative thing that I could think now is the lack of a clean channel. It could be a way better product if EVH just put a clean and a high gain channel. Still an awesome product. Ideal to play in your room, but you can play along with a drummer on a rehearsal o gig without any problem. Another cool feature is the possibility to switch to 1/4 or FULL POWER mode. Ideal to play on low volume (room, practice..) without lose saturation on the signal.

The sound of this amp is excellent at low to medium volumes... at very loud levels it starts to have a few problems (mainly from the EL84 in the power section. It will never have the thump of the 50W or 100W versions)

the blue channel is THE blue channel from the 100W, very nice and makes the amp worthwhile by its self. the red channel has more than enough gain for anybody!

the quality is good and the size is attractive, but the lack of a true clean channel and the cheap single button foot switch should be considered. not a deal breaker but something to think about.

if you just want a small amp for practice and don't need a clean channel however... I would recommend!

The amp is surprisingly versatile. Great range of sounds, with lots of "spunk" and "bell-like" sound in lower gain settings. Easily handles anything from blues to Thrash Metal. My only gripe is the volume taper: The amp is extremely loud even with the volume dial on 0.1 so it's not really fit for apartment use, despite its watt rating. The truth is that if price were no issue, you could just go straight for the 50watt version. On the other hand, I've carried the amp with me for several rehearsals at multiple studios, and it has served me well, I had the sound I like available wherever I was, with minimal fuss.