about amps

[Hexer]

ok, I'm thinking about buying a new amp, and i noticed, that I really like the stuff ENGL makes, the question is: which modell should i get. I tried the fireball, which I really liked, the only problem I had with it is, that you only have 1 gain-controll for both channels, so you can't switch from clean to heavy distortion (a function that i would need). the fireballs "big brother", the powerball, doesn't have that problem (4 channels), but is pretty expensive (1440€) the savage costs even more. and when buying a head, I still would have to buy a cab (and those aren't exactly cheap either).
ENGL also makes some quite good 50W combo-amps, now my question is: would one of these (Sovereign, Thunder, Screamer) be good enough for stage-use, too?
I'm in no hurry with buying an amp at the moment, but I don't want to throw away a lot of money with buying a small combo, when I still need to buy a 100W-head as soon as I want to play live.

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

just get the powerball. price shouldnt mean anything. that shit last a LONG time.

 

[baldyboy]

one of our guitarists uses a line 6 veta-i would absoulutely recommend them as amps,totaly versatile with great sounds,in fact pretty much any sound you want!dont know how much they cost though.only drawback we found out last night at the gig we were doing was that you need a venue with a good power supply,not something that hasnt been changed for 50 years.

 

[Pita Bread]

You should try out Mesa/Boogies, they have a nice clear sound, even when the gain is turned to max.

 

[Hexer]

Krigloch: I thought about just doing that, getting the powerball and a cab which means I would buy it in about a year at the earliest. well, lets see how far we are with our band at that time, maybe I wont even need a new amp no great sense in buying a 120W halfstack just for playing in my room, is it?
I have a Marshall G30RCD (30W combo) and an Ibanez TM5 distortion at the moment. I noticed that I have problems being loud enough with it when rehearsing with a friend who plays drums (though that may partly be, because he hits his drumkit so hard )

 

[Episteme]

The ENGL Screamer 50, is the ENGL Blackmore Signature amp's smaller cousin but still packs more gain than you can swallow. I tried it out and I was surprised such a huge sound was coming out of a 50 watt amp. It's well worth it. Although, I myself would pick a Laney VH100R or TT100H over any other amp cuz they are so versatile and they still give you heavy as shit gain The Laney VC50 is the lesser wattage combo version of the VH100R.

 

[Iced In Flames]

I've got a ENGL Powerball. It beats the shit out of any Mesa you will ever hear. I suggest ya try one of those out!

 

[Pita Bread]

What kind of tone does an ENGL have anyways?

 

[Hexer]

Pita: I'd say: pretty powerfull, with quite some punch, but still very transparent, most of them seem to be able to produce huge amounts of gain.
pretty versatile, too as far as I have seen, though most modells seem to be designed especially for for heavier stuff........
well, I have little experience, only from what I have heard other people play/talk and from what I was able to try out in shops. I am pretty impressed by those amps though.

 

[Pita Bread]

Since we're on the topic of amps right now,

Is it odd for a tube amp to have slight background noise when turned up?

 

[Lord of Delusions]

One of the heaviest setups that I have played thru, with budget in mind, is a 100w Fender bass amp w/eq, and a bass metal distortion pedal. Make a big 'ole smiley face out of the eq sliders and you have a bone crushing metal sound! I loved it! It made me wish I had bought an amp like that before I bought my Princeton 65, which is not very good for metal tones by itself, but transparent enough on the clean setting if you use an effects pedal for the distortion.

 

[Sunbane]

Since we're on the topic of amps right now,

Is it odd for a tube amp to have slight background noise when turned up?

My valvestate did that (on the lead channel only), and it only has preamp tubes. It sounded like a (very) subtle hiss, sometimes accompanied with a faint popping sound (the latter probably being electrical interference).

'bane

 

[Hexer]

any sugestions on other amps that sound similar to ENGLs?
I'd love a Powerball, but it still would cost me about 2200€ including a cab. quite a lot of money....
btw: what are teh differences between the cabinetts with the Celestion V60 speakers, and the ones with the Vintage 30 speakers (ecept that there are about 200€ price difference)
haven't I read something about a 60W version of the Savage somewhere??? any experience with those?

 

[bobvex]

ENGL > Mesa
Bogner = Engl
Mesa > Fender
Mashall > Fender
Fender > a shoebox

 

[7 Dying Trees]

Peavey 5150, if you can, find the original second hand, shouldn't be too much, although the clean channel isn't everyone's favorite but does well. The 5150 II is good also, and both will not break the bank, but will deliver all the gain you'll ever need and have nice n tight poweramps. I'd go for one of them to be honest, as you can just plug in and play. Excellent metal Amp.

 

[7 Dying Trees]

You'll also, as a general rule need at least 50w tube amp wise and 80w transistor amp wise to play with a drummer and hear yourself. Just as advice, oh, and you can get away with 50w heads as well, just means you don't have to blow your ears of to achieve power tube saturation (= fucking nice sound )

My advice always remains to buy as much as you can second hand, it's cheaper, and when you sell it you can pretty much get back what you put in cash wise

 

[bobvex]

My advice always remains to buy as much as you can second hand, it's cheaper, and when you sell it you can pretty much get back what you put in cash wise

Thats what i did, most of my rack consists of ebay purchases.

 

[Nocturnal Emperor]

i can safely say that from personal experience the engl powerball is indeed a terrific amp *looks to the corner of his room and smiles*

 

[bobvex]

Fucker







JK

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

I own the Marshall jcm 2000 (it fucking rocks by the way. way better than Mesa). If I could go back in time I would have gotten the Engl Powerball!!! Marty and Doc need to pay me a visit.