ENGL Fireball samples...

[Plec]

Hey gang.. just got my Fireball back from some modifications by Mr. Tommy Folkesson. It turned out very nice! The largest difference from the original is that the harmonics are now much more even compared to the disharmonic fuzziness that really characterizes the ENGL sound and that the amp is much more tweakable than it used to be.

I recorded a few samples with a brighter kind of metal scooped thingy with the gain half way up. Recorded with a SM57 through Neve 1272 preamp.

Amp Sample *warning.. bad Testament impression*

 

[Kenny Lee]

Wow, I didn't know they were so fizzy. But I got to realize that's just the setting you have it at. Here's my Pod Pro XT using a Powerball setting. The Pod Pro XT is on the right and the band/(amp sound) I'm trying to immulate is on the left.
Hey Plec, how do you like that Neve 1272? Is it the Vintech?

 

[Plec]

Yeah.. it's the Vintech Dual 72. It's very nice.. I have the ISA110 and System 9098 as complement. They sound COMPLETELY different from one another. The ISA is very open and extremely clean, and the 9098 is pretty similar to this. You get a high-end from that preamp that you just can't get from anywhere else. It's also much more dynamic and transparent than the '72, more sensitive so to speak which I haven't experienced with anything else.

What you prefer is totally up to the sound you're trying to pull. Since the '72 is much more "compact" and quite a bit darker than the Focusrite stuff, I tend to prefer it on high-gain guitars since it keeps the sound more "together". The ISA just shines on those open vocal sounds, and the EQ is just superb!

I think I'm going to get the Vintech X73 next, which of course is the re-make of the legendary Neve 1073 module.

Meat, Dark, Thick = Neve
Open, Transparent, Brilliant = Focusrite

Don't remember exactly who said it, but the quote goes... "The mic is your paintbrush and the preamp, the color you're using"

 

[Ermz]

Not a big fan of the sound, I must say.

 

[Plec]

Would be nice to know some specifics?

 

[_RiseInside_]

my guitarrist own a fireball too. the sound you recorded sounds like a pod to me, i mean too fizzy, lacks meat...

 

[Ermz]

Pretty much what he said ^. It lacks definition, is way too muddy, and doesn't have enough meat. It just sounds really messy.

 

[Plec]

Well.. I'm not inclined to agree really. The messiness is probably due to the guitar being fit with .052 and tuned down to B and A which doesn't give it that much definition 'cause the strings are too loose. 056 or 058 would be much better for this tuning.
It sounds much more defined and chunkier than any Mesa amp I've heard with this same guitar so far ('94 Gibson Explorer), and compared to the original fireball sound it's way less fizzy.. so I guess it's just hard to understand the "amp" sound when not familiar with the surrounding gear in question. Then there's the question of mixing it in with other sounds. It's better to catch the resonance of the sound when recording and then adding back the needed high freq. when mixing rather than recording a bright sound and then adding bottom. Try boosting at 5K6 on this mp3 'til you get the definition you like... maybe something like this Bumper .. which brings up the harmonics.

 

[alexrookie]

hi plec,
i really,really like your engl sound but the original is much better than the eqed version - i'd like to hear the guits in a whole song !! solo they sound really good!!!!!!

 

[Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral]

I'm sure it'd sound ok in a mix, with maybe a couple of notces and some other things.