EVH 5150 SERIES DELUXE
An EVH guitar with crossover appeal £949
EVH’S 5150 amp series transcended its signature model origin to become the top choice for metal guitarists defining their own sound. With the 5150 guitars, the brand aims to repeat that trick, creating reliable rock weaponry with appeal not limited to Eddie wannabes. These guitars also plug a hole in the EVH range. This is the first twin-humbucker superstrat from EVH, offering amajor versatility boost over the singlepickup Striped guitars.
Notable features are the momentary killswitch, so you no longer have to destroy your pickup selector when covering You Really Got Me, and the body-mounted Floyd Rose with D-tuna. Mounting on the body means no upwards motion with the bar (as Eddie preferred), but it arguably gives better tone because there’s greater acoustic coupling between bridge and body, and less wood has to be gouged out to fit the trem. If that combination of hardware reminds you of someone besides Eddie, you’re right: with killswitch, humbuckers, and Floyd Rose, there’s everything you need for a perfect Tom Morello impression.
Impressively for this price point, the neck is graphite-reinforced quartersawn maple, so it’s highly stable despite being slim enough for the most ridiculous shred antics. The 12”-16” compound radius is familiar from other EVH models, but it’s extremely effective. Combined with the jumbo frets, this is one of the most satisfying string bending experiences you can have.
The Wolfgang pickups have Alnico II magnets, known for their rich midrange, sweet treble, and softer bass response. Other Alnico II devotees include Slash and Billy Gibbons – it’s a top choice for vintage rock and blues. That softer bass response might put off metallers set on downtuned destruction, but it’s plenty tight enough for drop C# riffs like Unchained.
The pickups are wound hot for a thick, throaty response: this sounds fatter. There’s no coil split, but two humbuckers are a highly versatile setup anyway, and the 5150 happily produces all those classic tones. It’s a well-judged combination, ideal for any humbucker tone short of the most brutal. A low-friction volume pot makes on-the-fly adjustments easy, and the treble bleed circuit means you can use its full range without ever getting muddy.
The pickup selector isn’t quite as positive in use as some we’ve tried, and the low-friction volume is vulnerable to accidental knocks. Besides those minor complaints, it’s hard to see how the 5150 is less than optimal for its intended use. Like the namesake amps, it can impersonate Van Halen if required, but it’s flexible enough for any high-performance rock application.
Jonny Scaramanga
FLEXIBLE ENOUGH FOR ANY HIGHPERFORMANCE ROCK APPLICATION