Peavey 5150

The Peavey 5150 is a vacuum tube based guitar amplifier made by Peavey Electronics from 1992 on. The amplifier was initially created as a signature model for Eddie Van Halen.

Counterintuitively its name does not derive as some consecutive Peavey model number but ultimately refers to Van Halen's own 5150 Studios which in turn -humorously- are named after the Lanterman–Petris–Short Act §5150, some legal code which under certain circumstances allows Californian authorities to confine undesirables in a mental institution temporarily.

After Van Halen and Peavey parted ways in 2004, the name was changed to Peavey 6505 in celebration of Peavey's 40th anniversary (1965–2005). The 5150 name was used again by Van Halen in partnership with Fender under the EVH brand in 2007 and 2011.

Design of the amplifier began in 1990 and it became a flagship project for Peavey and for then lead engineer James Brown (who has since founded Amptweaker), lasting for about 13 years, comprising the 5150 and 5150 II, until 2004. Peavey has since released several other versions of this amplifier.

The 5150 has been widely used in metal and is renowned for its high gain distortion and character.