# Engl Inferno: Marty Friedman Signature Amp



## narad (Dec 19, 2016)

From Facebook:



> The ENGL Marty Friedman "INFERNO" Signature Amp!! 2 years in the making, is finally done!! The sound that I got on the "Inferno" album was done with a combination of the ENGL Special Edition, Powerball, Steve Morse sig and the Invader amps.
> The Engl engineers analyzed what I was and wasn`t using from each of these amps to get those monster tones, (listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTzDR4HdbKI and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdVg-1FKX4k ) and created a "Frankenstein" out of those amps customized to the types of tones I like to use. The INFERNO will make its debut at NAMM in January, and I`ll be there to officially announce it. Hope to see you there!









I've been waiting for this forever and would buy it in a heartbeat for the sound it's chasing, but flame graphics? Red bars? I'm thinking it's going to be a pretty gross looking amp (but will wait for some better shots).


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## technomancer (Dec 19, 2016)

Looks like a variation on the Blackmore / Artist design from the layout. The graphic doesn't look bad and I am pretty indifferent about the anodizing on the grill, just curious to see what it sounds like


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## narad (Dec 19, 2016)

I mean, it's Marty. I love him, but you can't be surprised when his amp has a kind of tacky aesthetic


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## mikah912 (Dec 19, 2016)

So much confusion for me....

1) I read an interview with him for that album wherein he said he didn't dial the tone at all and requested that "they" (engineers?) give him as generic a tone like any guy in a bar band would get. He didn't want to think about at all. So that doesn't read like a great starting point for this amp having a unique tone among the ENGL range.
2) Isn't the rhythm tone (and playing) on that record all from Skyharbor's Keshav Dhar?


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## oracles (Dec 19, 2016)

Don't love the aesthetics, but I'll more than likely end up grabbing one of these anyway because I'm an unashamed Friedman fanboy and enjoy ENGL's probably too much for my own (read: wallet) good.


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## eightsixboy (Dec 19, 2016)

He seems to be jumping ship a lot lately. He was using PRS guitars and I think there amps as well not long ago. Don't really think his tone was that great on inferno anyway, sounded like he had a wah on the whole time in a fixed position.


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## StevenC (Dec 19, 2016)

mikah912 said:


> 2) Isn't the rhythm tone (and playing) on that record all from Skyharbor's Keshav Dhar?



That guy only did Steroidhead and one of the bonus tracks. Marty had a bunch of features across the album, though.


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## lewis (Dec 19, 2016)

haha looks like the sort of "makeovers" people do badly to their own amps. Great guy but the amp design looks terrible imo.

Hopefully it sounds amazing so I can get Kemper profiles of it haha


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Dec 19, 2016)

eightsixboy said:


> He seems to be jumping ship a lot lately. He was using PRS guitars and I think there amps as well not long ago. Don't really think his tone was that great on inferno anyway, sounded like he had a wah on the whole time in a fixed position.



He's been using Engl since 2008. Not exactly jumping ship when he's been using their amps for almost a decade.

But jeez, Marty's going all out this year... Jackson sig, EMG sig, and an ENGL sig on top of that...


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## Key_Maker (Dec 19, 2016)

I had the chance of be in charge of the backline when he played here in Chile and I took several amps to him (Mesa, Bogner, and others) and he told me "Can you make any of this amps sound like the record? I think I used an Engl". 

I ended dialing an Egnater Armageddon and He didn't even look at it even once nor complained about the tone, He was there just to enjoy the show and play, so I am not really excited about this.

K.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Dec 19, 2016)

I mean he used Crate for 10 - 15 years... Pretty sure the dude couldn't give a .... about what he uses.


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## Skrapmetal (Dec 19, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> I mean he used Crate for 10 - 15 years... Pretty sure the dude couldn't give a .... about what he uses.



I think he only used them as power amps. I had a BlueVoodoo I picked up in my more tone-ignorant years a long time ago, thought it would make me sound like Countdown to Extinction.


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## cGoEcYk (Dec 19, 2016)

I wonder what hair product he uses


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## narad (Dec 19, 2016)

lewis said:


> Hopefully it sounds amazing so I can get Kemper profiles of it haha



He used a variety of Engls previously so if you believe the kemper captures enough of the amp then you could just use profiles of those. The fact that it's a new amp is probably going to be more of a convenience thing for people who want Marty sort of tones without investing in a few different Engls. My guess is it'd be a stripped down SE670 with maybe a couple unique toggles -- would probably just get a SE670 profile.



cGoEcYk said:


> I wonder what hair product he uses


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## oracles (Dec 19, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> I mean he used Crate for 10 - 15 years... Pretty sure the dude couldn't give a .... about what he uses.



The Blue Voodoo heads he used to use were just there for slaves because of their higher wattage, he wasn't actively using those as his main head by any means.


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## Andromalia (Jan 9, 2017)

Was browsing shops for new stuff and found this:

https://www.musicstore.de/fr_FR/EUR...man-Inferno-Signature-Head/art-GIT0040694-000


2 channels EL34 amp and the price is pretty decent for a made in Germany amp.


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## oniduder (Jan 9, 2017)

looks worse than i'd thought it would, jeez


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## cmtd (Jan 9, 2017)

That promo pic is super cringeworthy. Paisley shirt, paisley pants, kenny g cut...


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## Wizard of Ozz (Jan 9, 2017)

Ummm... I think they forgot the presence knob??? 

I'd have also liked a master depth pot too. These are pretty much standard features on all Engl heads... wonder why they were omitted?


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## technomancer (Jan 9, 2017)

Wizard of Ozz said:


> Ummm... I think they forgot the presence knob???
> 
> I'd have also liked a master depth pot too. These are pretty much standard features on all Engl heads... wonder why they were omitted?



No idea on the Presence knob but the Blackmore / Artist Edition heads this is derived from don't have a depth knob either.


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## Wizard of Ozz (Jan 9, 2017)

technomancer said:


> No idea on the Presence knob but the Blackmore / Artist Edition heads this is derived from don't have a depth knob either.



Probably why neither of those are among my fav Engls. But the lack of either a presence or depth knob is pretty odd to me. High-end, low-end... a means to control them... pretty useful.

That plus the cosmetics look like a Realistic Radio Shack 8-track tape player from 1979.


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## SqWark (Jan 10, 2017)

Haven't really heard anything of his that blew me away since his early Megadeth days. As mentioned (above) he has seemed "anti-equipment" and definitely "anti-shred guitar" for the best part of two decades now which makes it kind of awkward when, like this, he promotes endorsement products to his fan base, most of whom are 'equipment-loving shred guitarists' (or aspiring to be so at least)  

Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of his (early) work but when I say, "I love Marty Friedman's playing. He is a _huge_ influence of mine." I am really referring to 'Dragon's Kiss', 'Holy Wars', 'Speed Metal Symphony' and suchlike.

Tho I must add, the video with the Japanese high school girls running around is a classic. 

Addendum: I've actually (just now) listened to some of his newer stuff and I have to admit, his playing is still stellar. Some of the compositions I had heard when it first came out I wasn't as impressed with but I can't fault his playing at all.


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## narad (Jan 10, 2017)

Wizard of Ozz said:


> That plus the cosmetics look like a Realistic Radio Shack 8-track tape player from 1979.



I thought it was more "I gave my Engl Artist Edition a $70 gift card at Hot Topic for her 14th birthday"


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## GuitarBizarre (Jan 10, 2017)

Kind of a weird choice of artist for ENGL tbh. He's no longer that popular, he's no longer very European-friendly in terms of output or touring schedule, and he's a lifelong "Who gives a .... what I'm playing" kind of guy -i remember his highest praise for the SZ series when he endorsed it was even him saying to the effect of "I don't care what it is but it stays in tune and that's all I want"


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## narad (Jan 10, 2017)

I agree in the sense that Marty's never been very picky about his gear, so kind of weird for him to have sig gear, but c'mon! Not that popular!? He's still one of the greatest metal guitarists ever IMO. When you've written rust in peace / countdown to extinction, I don't think anyone has to know about or care about your current touring stuff. Besides, could be hitting the Japanese market where he's more well known that just about any other Engl endorser.


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## chassless (Jan 10, 2017)

i think it looks nice ._.


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## Andromalia (Jan 10, 2017)

narad said:


> I agree in the sense that Marty's never been very picky about his gear, so kind of weird for him to have sig gear, but c'mon! Not that popular!? He's still one of the greatest metal guitarists ever IMO. When you've written rust in peace / countdown to extinction, I don't think anyone has to know about or care about your current touring stuff. Besides, could be hitting the Japanese market where he's more well known that just about any other Engl endorser.



Well, Engl amps are already one of the reference amp brands used in Europe, so maybe having a dude with a very high visibility in one of the richest countries of the world where heavy metal is still popular is part of the plan.
He'd be a good bet if they want to push japanese sales. Plus, he still is an ex megadeth guitar player and possibly the most lauded, it counts for something when obscure dudes like Ola Englund get signature amps. (No disrespect intended, but nobody knows him outside of the GAS addict internet users.)


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## starkill (Jan 10, 2017)

Hey guys, I have the exact details of the amp (I'm from Germany and a shop has listed it, but it got taken down sadly, but I was quick enough to get everything)

"Engl E766 Marty Friedman Inferno Signature Head"
It is basically a JCM 800 on massive steorids. And when I say massive, I mean massive. 

-(Obviously) made in Germany
-100 Watts
-2 Channels
-2 separate channels each with it's own 3 band EQ and gain knob
-Brightness, Tone-, and Gainboost
-2 separate Master Volumes
-Preamp comes with 4 ECC83 Tubes
-Poweramp comes with 4 EL34 Tubes
-Serial end parallel effects loop
-build-in noisegate
-speaker connections for 4,8 amd 16 ohm cabs
-compatible with Z3,Z4 and Z9 SAC footswitch
-weight ~21 KG


Price in Germany is 1600 Euros so US price will be around 2k I guess which is in general pretty cheap compared to other Engls. At least from what I've seen. 
+more detailed picture from the front pannel


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## GuitarBizarre (Jan 11, 2017)

narad said:


> I agree in the sense that Marty's never been very picky about his gear, so kind of weird for him to have sig gear, but c'mon! Not that popular!? He's still one of the greatest metal guitarists ever IMO. When you've written rust in peace / countdown to extinction, I don't think anyone has to know about or care about your current touring stuff. Besides, could be hitting the Japanese market where he's more well known that just about any other Engl endorser.



His popularity is nowhere near where it used to be, is my point. He's largely retreated from his core audience and found a new one in Japan, which is fine but I just don't see him as the kind of global artist someone like say, Paul Gilbert is.


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## narad (Jan 11, 2017)

GuitarBizarre said:


> His popularity is nowhere near where it used to be, is my point. He's largely retreated from his core audience and found a new one in Japan, which is fine but I just don't see him as the kind of global artist someone like say, Paul Gilbert is.



I get your point, but he's a legend. He's not a global artist now, but people buying the amp probably aren't thinking about that new song with the music video of girls sprinting up hillsides. They're thinking about "Tornado of Souls".


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## chassless (Jan 11, 2017)

Amp looks simple and straightforward, and relatively cheap, i wonder why is that? Any extra features on the backplate to know of?


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## starkill (Jan 11, 2017)

chassless said:


> Amp looks simple and straightforward, and relatively cheap, i wonder why is that? Any extra features on the backplate to know of?


No, not really. 
But also not really necessary.
This thing is straight forward. It's more
metal than you would expect from Marty. 
But it is not a versatility monster. But the definition
and tightness is top notch. This thing is so awesome.
And yeah, the price is relatively cheap, at least in Germany.
It is cheaper than the regular Powerball.


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## xvultures (Jan 12, 2017)

GuitarBizarre said:


> His popularity is nowhere near where it used to be, is my point. He's largely retreated from his core audience and found a new one in Japan, which is fine but I just don't see him as the kind of global artist someone like say, Paul Gilbert is.



I can see where your coming from, he dropped off completely from anything US related, but he's arguably more popular in Japan now than he ever was here in the states. He writes stuff for a lot of their J-pop music, is commonly found on talk shows, news shows or other crap. He's transcended just being a guitarist or rock star, he's popular for just being him. It's weird how big he is there. The sales might be decent in Japan.


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## Zado (Jan 12, 2017)

> It is basically a JCM 800 on massive steorids


Me listening.


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## Andromalia (Jan 15, 2017)

starkill said:


>



"I don't scoop the mids, I just put everything else to 10"


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## Esp Griffyn (Jan 15, 2017)

Marty's wig is looking strong as ever.


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## Mwoit (Jul 4, 2017)

Bump from the grave - has anyone tried this out?


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## ShiroNekoMusic (Nov 17, 2020)

Bump! This seems to be a killer amp! I'm very interested, this vs a regular Invader II!


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