Engl Amps owners thread :D

Treble and presence completely down sounds mad to me. It would sound so dark wouldn't it?

 

It isn`t (when playing loud). And that`s the thing. It worries me sometimes. I swapped several preamp tubes, tried it through different cab as well (Marshall MF400), boosted with OD (it tames some highs but makes the sound somehow smoother), put EQ in the loop (but amp sounds more natural without it) and still don`t know what to do to tailor it to my desire.
It may be the powertubes. I had JJ 6L6 in poweramp that I paired with my E520 preamp and experienced something similar. Highs were too ear-piercing.

 

This is one of the things that puts me off of these amps sometimes... I put an OD, an EQ in the loop, I set extremes of EQ etc. You're bending them out of what they "should" sound like instead of leaving things at 12 o'clock.

... Not that I'm complaining because when you do it sounds great; but it'd be nice to just have it sound like that in the first place hehe. Probably the reason we tone search.

 

It also depends a lot on the cab you are using. The only thing that tends to change on my settings with different guitars is the amount of gain and bass.

I'm running KT77's with a Tung Sol in V1 and JJ's in the other preamp slots. The Tung Sol def made it brighter than with a JJ in V1. I have def seen some people keep their treble really low on this amp, but for the tone I like I would find that way too dark like that. If you want it more searing and crunchy you have to turn it up more, but not over do it too much on the presence.

 

This followed me home from GC last night- they are no longer going to carry Engl, and the price was right at $680.00 new, although was the floor demo. The Krank below will be sold soon.

 

Ironball is my main amp, its everything I'd hoped for and more! Congrats!

 

Well, i was already a proud ENGL owner (Fireball 60w), but i've just got myself a Savage 120. What a beast!

 

Congrats!
Savage 120 is much better amp than Fireball 60.

 

Just picked up the Artist Edition that was on the classifieds here, pretty excited to run a dual ENGL stereo rig. Still need an Invader again though...

 

Thanks mate, appreciate it. One hell of an amp

 

There's so few [decent] clips or comparisons of the Savage (and the Invader actually). The Savage seems to have a reputation about it. As in it doesn't sound like other ENGLs at all?

Anyone got some examples? Would love to know how they size up vs common high gain amps - 5150s/Rectos for example. The Ola Recto vs Savage one is good but it's in a mix. Would be nice to hear raw clips.

 

I've owned 5150's/6505's, and have the Savage as well. The Savage is so much more versatile. You can definitely get a solid high gain tone from the 5150's, they are notorious for it, but they lack some of the dimension and versatility you get in the Savage. The Savage has more of everything, other's may not agree but i believe it has more balls, while being able to maintain a tight sound. The Savage has a beautiful organic feel, but a lot of the time organic can start to mean loose and flubby. The Peavey's aren't so smooth and i would even go as far as saying slightly sterile (in comparison, not in general), and are a little harsher. The Savage while being a bit smoother has massive feel but i'm so impressed with how tight and sharp the tone is. My problem with most other amps is you can't get that good mix of both like in the savage.

I'd offer for you to come try out a 6505 and a Savage, but ah, unless you are going on a holiday to Australia any time soon i probably can't help haha

 

So guys, some observations/questions after the first few days of owning my Engl Ironball (remember, I am a bassist and this is only my second tube amp head so correct me if I am wrong):

1) The headphone out is fantastic
2) I don't think I need to use a boost for a great high gain sound- when I use my TS-9DX it seems to drive it over the top and make things less clear, kind of "mushy". Does anyone use a boost/OD in front of this? If so, what are your settings?
3) This is not just a one trick pony- I can get all kinds of usable tones out of this amp!

 

For the OD, have the drive all the way down, and the level all the way up. Adjust the tone to how you like it.

 

Question for Engl Invader owners...

https://soundcloud.com/guitarplayingfuntime/dragonfire-screamer-pvinvader-plugin-test-take-2

Would you say this sounds somewhat close to an Invader? I'm using an Engl Invader VST by Vadim Taranov, and it's honestly my favorite VST to use right now. If an Engl sounds or feels anything like this WITHOUT a boost, then god I want one.

 

That sounds really good JazzHands.

I only owned a Powerball, but by the sounds of it that is pretty close. The ENGL tone already kind of sounds like it is boosted from my experience, It has that hi-fi clarity. The Powerball would definitely have more of a buzzsaw sound.

Oh and thanks for mentioning Vadim Taranov, now I have to download everything he has done.

 

I threw a question at ENGL this weekend, just got a response, and thought I'd share:

Me: I've got an ENGL Fireball 100W that I've loved for the better part of 7 years now. I'm looking to upgrade at some point in the future and really like everything I've heard from the Savage. However, some of the new updates (featured on the Fireball 100W and Powerball II) are lacking on the Savage (noisegate, updated look of the front, etc). I was wondering if you guys had any plans to give the Savage an update in the near future?

ENGL: thank you for your e-mail and for playing our amps! I can totally understand that you miss our latest amp features like the noise gate on the Savage 120. We already thought about updating this amp but there are a few other things that we need to work on before we can start this project. I think that we will not find enough time to work on this in 2016. But there definitely is the plan to change the Savage in the future. I hope this will help you!

So, [extremely hopeful voice] 2-3 years down the road? [/ehv]