9-String Amp Comparison (ENGL, Victory, BluGuitar, Boogie, EVH & Marshall)

[Guitarjon]

Here's something I've been wanting to do for a while now, compare a bunxh of amps with my 9-string to see which amps can handle an instrument with such an extended range. Obviously we have all the high notes and regular notes but also those super low C#-string and low F#-string notes. So this was pretty interesting! The guitar is my Schecter Damien Platinum 9 9-string so 30 inch scale, EMG909 pickups etc. Amazing guitar! These are the amps:

- ENGL Fireball 100
- Victory Super Kraken VX100
- BluGuitar Amp1 Iridium
- EVH 5150III 50W EL34
- Mesa Boogie Mark V 35
- Marshall JVM410H

I would be curious to know which amps you guys prefer here and why. Here it is, I hope you also find this interesting:

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Extremely surprised how well the JVM held together. I always thought of it as a tight enough amp, but didn't expect it to handle the low B and C# strings. Especially with a Greenback-voiced IR. Was probably my favorite next to the Amp1 and Kraken.

 

[Guitarjon]

Extremely surprised how well the JVM held together. I always thought of it as a tight enough amp, but didn't expect it to handle the low B and C# strings. Especially with a Greenback-voiced IR. Was probably my favorite next to the Amp1 and Kraken.

Yeah, that one was surprisingly good! I agree! It's almost a mental thing where you're like "nah, a Marshall can't handle that" while in fact it CAN! With ease too!

 

[CanserDYI]

You need to do an extended range guitar tone course, Jon. You make them all sound so good.

By the way, wanted to ask how your neck illusions are holding up? Was thinking about pulling trigger today but wanted to see how yours are doing. Also question, I'm assuming they do not wrap down over the side of the fretboard so putting ebony on a rosewood neck might look odd from the side? Your thoughts?

 

[Guitarjon]

You need to do an extended range guitar tone course, Jon. You make them all sound so good.

By the way, wanted to ask how your neck illusions are holding up? Was thinking about pulling trigger today but wanted to see how yours are doing. Also question, I'm assuming they do not wrap down over the side of the fretboard so putting ebony on a rosewood neck might look odd from the side? Your thoughts?

Thanks! They hold up really well. In fact, I don't even notice them anymore. Look fine from the side. You can see the edges of you look up close but it doesn't bother me at all.

 

[Matt08642]

ENGL > JVM > The rest, but special shout out to the BluGuitar for keeping up with everything else!

 

[MetalheadMC]

GREAT...now I want a 9 string and an ENGL fireball. Engl was definitely the better sounding one to me. The evh wasn't far behind.

 

[FitRocker33]

I must be the odd man out nowadays but I harbor no interest in anything beyond a 7 string. Most people 8-9 string players just plunk away on that open low string and tell their bass players to sit this one out lmao

 

[CanserDYI]

I must be the odd man out nowadays but I harbor no interest in anything beyond a 7 string. Most people 8-9 string players just plunk away on that open low string and tell their bass players to sit this one out lmao

Listen to a 9 string track without bass, then with bass and tell me if a bassist needs to "sit this one out" or not. They're completely different sounds, and most of the bass is scooped out of these low tuned guitars....

 

[G_3_3_k_]

Listen to a 9 string track without bass, then with bass and tell me if a bassist needs to "sit this one out" or not. They're completely different sounds, and most of the bass is scooped out of these low tuned guitars....

Yep, most people will high pass around 200-250hz on 8+ string instruments. Too much low end tends to turn into inarticulate mess.

 

[AMOS]

I must be the odd man out nowadays but I harbor no interest in anything beyond a 7 string. Most people 8-9 string players just plunk away on that open low string and tell their bass players to sit this one out lmao

That's because it's very hard to play the same way they do on their 6 string.

 

[AMOS]

I think the Engl had the most defined lows and the mids cut through like a hot knife through butter.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Listen to a 9 string track without bass, then with bass and tell me if a bassist needs to "sit this one out" or not. They're completely different sounds, and most of the bass is scooped out of these low tuned guitars...

Seriously, you listen to a lot of 8 or 9 string guitar tones isolated, it's paper thin. I'm starting to think people that say "8 STRING PLAYERS ARE JUST BASSISTS" don't have much experience dialing tones for mixes.

 

[laxu]

I liked the 5150 the best here, I think it had the most balanced tone. Like you, I liked the Mesa the least for these tones. It sounded like it lacked clarity compared to the others. In any case I totally agree with your findings: pairing the right amp with the right cab.

I find 8 and 9 string guitars particularly difficult on real amps because it's hard to get them sounding right for both low and high strings. Modelers are more flexible for this sort of stuff, I've even used pitch followers to adjust amp settings on my Fractal to turn down the bass knob when playing the low strings on my 8 and turn it up for high strings.

I don't know if you used the recording out or the speaker out on the BluGuitar, but be aware that if you use the recording out, having a speaker or loadbox connected to the speaker out has a distinct effect on how it sounds and feels to play. The BluGuitar Blubox has its own circuitry to compensate for this that works well but not quite as well as a good cab or reactive load.

 

[Guitarjon]

I liked the 5150 the best here, I think it had the most balanced tone. Like you, I liked the Mesa the least for these tones. It sounded like it lacked clarity compared to the others. In any case I totally agree with your findings: pairing the right amp with the right cab.

I find 8 and 9 string guitars particularly difficult on real amps because it's hard to get them sounding right for both low and high strings. Modelers are more flexible for this sort of stuff, I've even used pitch followers to adjust amp settings on my Fractal to turn down the bass knob when playing the low strings on my 8 and turn it up for high strings.

I don't know if you used the recording out or the speaker out on the BluGuitar, but be aware that if you use the recording out, having a speaker or loadbox connected to the speaker out has a distinct effect on how it sounds and feels to play. The BluGuitar Blubox has its own circuitry to compensate for this that works well but not quite as well as a good cab or reactive load.

Yeah I used the Two Notes Captor X for the Iridium to get that full power-amp response.

 

[Emperoff]

I found the Engl the only amp really suitable for this kind of tones. I'm sure the rest can work with boosts and stuff, but the Engl held its own quite well.

 

[dspellman]

Here's something I've been wanting to do for a while now, compare a bunxh of amps with my 9-string to see which amps can handle an instrument with such an extended range. Obviously we have all the high notes and regular notes but also those super low C#-string and low F#-string notes. So this was pretty interesting! The guitar is my Schecter Damien Platinum 9 9-string so 30 inch scale, EMG909 pickups etc. Amazing guitar! These are the amps:


I would be curious to know which amps you guys prefer here and why. Here it is, I hope you also find this interesting:

My vote would be "None of the Above."

A rethink is required.

A couple of years ago I settled in on an amp and speaker cabinets that would handle extended range output.

In this instance, you don't start with the amp, you start with the speaker cabinets.
First up, conventional guitar speaker cabinets suck for this role.
Most guitar speakers begin to drop off around 110Hz, *above* the low E on a six string (82 Hz).
So for low end notes, you'll never hear a fundamental. You'll get a collection of harmonics that *indicate* which note you're playing, but it's rather more like an AM radio version of the note.

If you actually get a speaker that will reproduce those notes, it will take far more power than any of those wimpy 100W tube amps can generate. It takes at least four times the power to reproduce a note an octave down at the same volume as the higher note.

Take a look at a cabinet like the fEARless F115, a three-way system that uses a 15" Eminence Kappalite 3015LF (neo-based) low frequency driver, a Faital 5" mids driver and a tweeter. It'll handle up to 900W at 8 ohms and it'll easily handle 40Hz. If you need something that goes even a bit deeper, check out the fEARful 15/6/1, a slightly larger cabinet that uses a different, 6.5" mids driver. If you need something that's a bit more compact, look at the fEARful F112 (uses a 12" 3012LF low frequency driver). The 15" F115 weighs in at 43 lbs, the F112 at 34.

I use a 1500W power amp that weighs in at 10 lbs and that puts out 850W at 8 ohms, bridged/mono (one cabinet) or 1500W at 4 ohms, bridged/mono (two cabinets). I play keyboards, bass and modeled guitar (including extended range), all of which need that extra at the bottom end.

 

[GunpointMetal]

My vote would be "None of the Above."

A rethink is required.

A couple of years ago I settled in on an amp and speaker cabinets that would handle extended range output.

In this instance, you don't start with the amp, you start with the speaker cabinets.
First up, conventional guitar speaker cabinets suck for this role.
Most guitar speakers begin to drop off around 110Hz, *above* the low E on a six string (82 Hz).
So for low end notes, you'll never hear a fundamental. You'll get a collection of harmonics that *indicate* which note you're playing, but it's rather more like an AM radio version of the note.

If you actually get a speaker that will reproduce those notes, it will take far more power than any of those wimpy 100W tube amps can generate. It takes at least four times the power to reproduce a note an octave down at the same volume as the higher note.

Take a look at a cabinet like the fEARless F115, a three-way system that uses a 15" Eminence Kappalite 3015LF (neo-based) low frequency driver, a Faital 5" mids driver and a tweeter. It'll handle up to 900W at 8 ohms and it'll easily handle 40Hz. If you need something that goes even a bit deeper, check out the fEARful 15/6/1, a slightly larger cabinet that uses a different, 6.5" mids driver. If you need something that's a bit more compact, look at the fEARful F112 (uses a 12" 3012LF low frequency driver). The 15" F115 weighs in at 43 lbs, the F112 at 34.

I use a 1500W power amp that weighs in at 10 lbs and that puts out 850W at 8 ohms, bridged/mono (one cabinet) or 1500W at 4 ohms, bridged/mono (two cabinets). I play keyboards, bass and modeled guitar (including extended range), all of which need that extra at the bottom end.

This is solid advice if you're playing in a one-man band or just yourself and a drummer. In a musical context with other people, there is almost zero use for guitar frequencies below 100hz, let alone 40hz or lower. Even with a normal E-tuned guitar you're looking at an 80hz fundamental, which would be well into "mud bass" range in a band context.

 

[CanserDYI]

I liked the Bluguitar wayyyyyy more than I thought I was going to. That thing sounded GREAT.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I liked the Bluguitar wayyyyyy more than I thought I was going to. That thing sounded GREAT.

Out of all the amps I owned, I honestly miss the Amp1 the most. And we're talking about amps like Mesa Marks and Peavey 6505s.