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Channel three is where EVH's 2007 version of his 'brown sound' can be found. We didn't really need to set the gain much past six at gigging volume to be able to revel in the perfect rhythm and lead tone for rock. Heaping further gain tends to cause the tone to mush up and it's here that you realise - not for the first time - just how good a player EVH is. He's able to remain articulate at these levels of gain while, for us mere mortals - even though chords are sumptuous and lead lines tonesome in the extreme - string separation is sacrificed to a degree.

We'd probably use channel three for our rhythm tone and step on to channel two for our lead tone simply as the projection and definition here seems better. Also, when reducing channel three's signal via our guitar, we found the tone to be still too dirty, which isn't ever a problem with channel two. But three's saturated gain tones squash to an even greater musical manner than a Mesa Rectifier's red channel, while channel two produces a similarly attractive rock crunch tone, albeit more focused and slightly less compressed.
Take it from us: this is like no other 'Fender' amp we've ever played. It goes without saying that using a guitar with a medium-output humbucker in the bridge is when the amps sounds most authentic, but it's also perfectly possible to obtain a lovely bluesy tone using a Strat and channel two.

It's not often that we come across a high-end amplifier made in Mexico. And judging by the price of Fender's Mexican guitars, we'd expect good value here. Yet at this sort of price, this is going to be a tough sale to non-EVH devotees. You might also wish for more: tone-tailoring switches, a more powerful cab, maybe an overall master volume? However, that's missing the point to a certain extent. If EVH doesn't require those features, they shouldn't be expected on his signature amp. Price may be an issue, but as with all signature products, you pay for the association of that artist - in this case a guitar legend. The extensive R&D process involved in a project like this is laudable and has clearly benefited from the input of a man who still has one of the best rock tones of all time - a tone that's within the 5150 III's grasp. Maybe that's really all that matters.