Engl Amps owners thread :D

[JoeyJoJoJrShabadoo]

EURGH. I miss my Invader. I sold it for the reason that I only ever used channel 3 and the clean occasionally. Now I miss the hell out of it. I replaced it with a 5153 and while the tone is fantastic, ENGL high gain is just more to my liking. What are peoples thoughts on the Artist Edition? I'm currently thinking about that or the Fireball. I love simplicity, while the AE is clearly versatile as hell, I do have some slight concerns that it won't do really tight high gain on a Fireball level. Whereas I'm fully aware that the Fireball has more than enough gain.

Lesse Lamert has a great clip on Youtube (it's technically the Blackmore, although I'm under the impression the're almost identical amps? Correct me if wrong) which is promising.

 

[chopeth]

^The invader must be glorious if you prefer it over the 5153. My EVH literally kills my bandmate's Powerball I.

 

[lewis]

^The invader must be glorious if you prefer it over the 5153. My EVH literally kills my bandmate's Powerball I.

it sounds more like the "tone is subjective" argument. What type of Gain you think is better might not be someone elses choice.

I guess he prefers the gain and character of the ENGL over the EVH. He is not saying the EVH is shit or that one is better than the other, but more what suits him better.

 

[chopeth]

it sounds more like the "tone is subjective" argument. What type of Gain you think is better might not be someone elses choice.

I guess he prefers the gain and character of the ENGL over the EVH. He is not saying the EVH is shit or that one is better than the other, but more what suits him better.

I wasn't talking about "tone" but about not getting lost in the mix. Again, my 5153 50w destroys my mate's Powerball I 100w if you know what I mean now.

 

[JoeyJoJoJrShabadoo]

Any owners of a Fireball 100 shed some light on the FX Loop for me? I've heard through the grapevine that the Fireball's loop has a tendency to suck tone on some units. Any truth to this? Or am I hearing the ramblings of a madman? I don't think a company as good as ENGL (in my experience at least) would ship an amp with an FX loop that sucked the tone away.

 

[Zender]

Very happy with my E530, but still on the fence about what power amp to get with it. Either the mesa 20/20 or the mesa fifty/fifty. So the basic EL84 vs 6L6 issue, with the added 1u vs 2u, and 20W vs 15/50W (it's switchable on the fifty/fifty).

For the time being, the built-in power amp is enough, but I might want more some day 0

 

[chassless]

i might sell my Ironball this evening. i've had it for a year and a half, arguably the best amp i've owned, but i had to sell my cab and a couple of other amp heads for cash, and now it is in the closet collecting dust.

an ideal amp for me would be the Ironball but with the mid control knob focused on a slightly lower frequency range (not enough low mid growl for my liking). maybe i should think about a Fireball one day when my bank account gives me more than 2 digits?

 

[sinnersmoon]

Very happy with my E530, but still on the fence about what power amp to get with it. Either the mesa 20/20 or the mesa fifty/fifty. So the basic EL84 vs 6L6 issue, with the added 1u vs 2u, and 20W vs 15/50W (it's switchable on the fifty/fifty).

For the time being, the built-in power amp is enough, but I might want more some day 0

I've always liked my E520 and E530 with high-power poweramps. ENGL preamps have lower output than e.g. Mesa Studio or Triaxis. Bigger poweramps make up for the difference. It sounds bigger and I don't have to drive the preamp too high. The sound gets too much highs that way.
I had two 50-60W poweramps - handmade Gerhat TubePower 60 and ENGL 920/50. I had to have them all the way up with preamp quite high in a band situation. Don't get me wrong. ENGL 920/50 is a lovely smooth poweramp packed with very usable features. I'd love to try its 100W brother and I wish they had a Depth pot.
Currently I use them with Masotti Slave 100 and it's a monster of an amp. It's much louder and punchier than Mesa 2:90 but the preamp tames it very nicely, so these two compliment each other very well. Currently I don't play in a band and I can comfortably use my setup in the apartment without bothering my neighbors. Oh, and I prefer 4x12's even for home use.

I haven't had a chance to try Mesa 20/20 but I played 50/50 with Triaxis and Masotti X3M preamp and it's a nice poweramp - an affordable classic with which you can't go wrong. The only con for me is that it does not have separate standby for each channel.

 

[Stooly]

Try an ENGL Savage 120. I own 2 EVH amps (50w and a Stealth 100w) and the Savage is my favorite head right now. It just has a unique grind to it and tight as hell.

 

[beyondcosmos]

I have had my Engl Ironball and Engl Pro 2x12 for nearly 3 years now and I absolutely love the versatility I get with them. I play in a metal band right now, but having shimmering cleans is equally important to me as crushing distorted tones. I also appreciate the fact that when my band and I play out, people come up to me afterwards and not only compliment our work as a band, but also my tone.

Admittedly though, I don't know off the top of my head many extreme metal artists who use Engls in their recording. I know Obscura uses them, Jeff Loomis used them for his first solo album, and I'm pretty sure Immortal (Abbath) uses them.

This being said, I know personally a few people who loved their Engl gear, but sold them and switched to Axe FX or Kemper systems.

What recordings out there for extreme metal feature an Engl tube amp? Post a video if you can get one.

 

[Metropolis]

There is Engl amps owner's thread, but...

Dimmu Borgir - In Sorte Diaboli, Engl Savage & Special Edition, monster production and guitar tones.


Soreption - Engineering The Void, also Savage.


Beyond Creation, at least some point, is that Invader?


Gary Holt from Exodus and Slayer, it's maybe Savage again in here.


Dom R. Crey from Equilibrium and Nothgard has used Powerball, Invader, and Special Edition through the years.


Alexi Laiho from Children Of Bodom also used them before switching back to Marshall.

These came to my mind from recent years and heavier side of metal, along with Jeff Loomis of course. Even used Powerball in the studio once myself, but it was little bit too compressed for my taste. Don't know how outdated their artist page is http://englamps.de/users/

 

[Sumsar]

Both Samoth and Ihsahn used them for Emperors 2006 live at wacken. Dunno what model though.



Ihsahn also used one on his solo album 'After', think it is a Savage.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Tempo Of the Damned was either Peavey XXX or modded/boosted Marshall. I honesty don't think Gary Holt ever recorded with an Engl. Just used live.

IIRC some Rammstein albums (I wanna say Reise Reise and Rosenrot) were recorded with an Engl Powerball/Fireball and Mesa 2ch blackface Dual Recto.

EDIT: Nevermind, Exhibit B was Engl.

 

[Soya]

As far as I know Richard has always used his ancient dual rec ( pre 200 serial?) and Paul has been the Engl guy for a good while.

 

[MetalHead40]

Any owners of a Fireball 100 shed some light on the FX Loop for me? I've heard through the grapevine that the Fireball's loop has a tendency to suck tone on some units. Any truth to this? Or am I hearing the ramblings of a madman? I don't think a company as good as ENGL (in my experience at least) would ship an amp with an FX loop that sucked the tone away.

I owned a FB100 for several years and experienced no such thing. I only used an MXR 10 band in the loop, but it sounded absolutely phenomenal.

 

[MetalHead40]

Try an ENGL Savage 120. I own 2 EVH amps (50w and a Stealth 100w) and the Savage is my favorite head right now. It just has a unique grind to it and tight as hell.

The Savage absolutely rules! Tightest amp plugged straight in I've yet to own and that includes various other Engls, 100w and 50w 5153, KSR ARES, VHT D60 not to mention the many amps I've played on.

 

[JoeyJoJoJrShabadoo]

I owned a FB100 for several years and experienced no such thing. I only used an MXR 10 band in the loop, but it sounded absolutely phenomenal.

I thought as much. You'd think if that was prevalent I'd hear it from more than one person. The deal was pretty much sealed already, but now it's certain. FB100 will be my next amp.

 

[lewis]

Still really liking my E530.
Going to be re-tubing it in the new year.

Im now officially bored of the stock ones. Want more twang/snarl so going Chinese 12ax7b

This preamp would have been absolutely amazing if it had the kind of grind knob the randall amps have or maybe active EQ just so its more responsive?.

Either way great little unit perfect for low tuned and extended range instruments.

 

[MetalHead40]

I thought as much. You'd think if that was prevalent I'd hear it from more than one person. The deal was pretty much sealed already, but now it's certain. FB100 will be my next amp.

Enjoy it, its a beast of an amp! I'd still own mine if I didn't have a Savage also. I Couldn't justify keeping both and I just liked the Savage more.

 

[narad]

Could anyone comment on the differences between the Engl Savage, Savage Special Edition, and Special Edition? Seeing the naming transition always made me think there was some link between them, but I'm not sure. I have the SE EL-34 that's awesome...curious if it covers the same ground as the others.