EVH 5150III 4x12 Cabinet

When I evaluate a speaker cabinet, I usually look for several basics. Is it well made is usually the first thing. This was a pleasant surprise from the very beginning. Solid as a rock and made with birch plywood, this thing weighs a ton, 88 pounds to be exact! The rounded edges give it a great look and the EVH emblem adds to the mojo if you are an Eddie Van Halen fan, which luckily I am. Comes in white and black tolex.

So on to the sound, the Celestion EVH 16 Ohm speakers are beasts. They are very similar to H30s which I think they are modeled after, but they seem to lack the high end fizz you sometimes get with traditional H30s. They also have a heavy bottom end that is absolutely addictive. I tried an EVH III amp through a Marshall cab and then through this and there was no comparison. This rocked the music store and shook the walls which is why I walked out with both.

Ok now for a few positives and negatives. I went to remove the back panel to see the speakers and to my happy surprise the back panel wasn't so tight you have to rip the tolex to get it off. It popped right on and off as it should. Marshall should take a lesson from this for sure. A few negatives were that the casters don't roll easy as they bump the rubber feet that are also on the bottom of the cabinet. You clearly have to pick either casters or rubber feet because it doesn't work with both. Also the worst thing is that the input is on the bottom of the cab. This is extremely annoying and I can't see the reason for it. That being said, these minor nuisance items don't take away from the fact that this is one of the best cabs ever and worth a listen for sure.

The EVH 5150 III 4x12 is a cabinet that was designed to go with the EVH 5150 III three channel head that is built for Edward by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The most notable feature about it is the specially designed and built Celestion EVH signature speakers, which are meant to react much like a classic Greenback or other speaker that allows early breakup for a thick and creamy distortion sound. They are only available in this speaker cabinet as stock and put out 20-25w apiece. Otherwise the cabinet is basically your standard, albeit very well constructed 4x12. Weighing in at approximately 88lbs, this cabinet certainly isn't a lightweight job, but it matches the heavy weight with a very thick and clear tone that works well for everything you throw at it. It's constructed of birch, and has a 16 ohm speaker impedance.

The tone of this cabinet is truly excellent and is a great sounding rig for many different styles. The Celestion EVH speakers provide a great, harmonically rich tonal voice that is like a refined Greenback/Blackback speaker, but with a bit more top end sizzle and a tad more low end girth. Ed typically likes a sound that is also somewhat scooped in the midrange and this cabinet does that sort of thing too. Paired with the EVH 5150 III head it's a killer sonic combination. The cabinet responds well to everything from jazzy/bluesy cleans, to classic crunch tones to molten metal fury. The pair were designed in tandem and it's no surprise that they sound great in tandem too.

All in all I think the EVH 5150 III cabinet is a great sounding speaker cabinet to go with the versatile EVH 5150 III head, or even to be used as a cabinet with other amplifiers. The high quality construction and unique Celestion EVH model speakers really give this cabinet an edge that many don't have. At $1,000 new, it's priced in about the same range as cabs from Orange, Mesa or Marshall, so it's definitely a good deal if you're looking for a high quality and great sounding 4x12 speaker cabinet (who just happens to be associated with one of the great legends of rock guitar.)