Engl thing

[Mendel]

hey me and a friend of mine had this really weird idea about engl here it comes.

we jammed at the guitar store in a ENGL Special Edition and wo tried hours for a good sound but even tweaking didnt help. it costed about 3999 euro's ( only the amp ) and the we tried out the Engl Powerball ( 1500 euro's ) and it sounded soo, soo much better.

so i was wondering, why is the cheaper Engl so much better then the expensive one. there must be a reason for this.

 

[commandante]

Actually, the even cheaper one, Fireball, is supposed to sound the best. Did you try that one out also? I am dying to try out an ENGL.

 

[Brooks]

I have an SE, and absolutely love it.

However, you may find that the fewer circuits that get in the way of the signal path, the purer and nore "natural" is may sound. I dont find that to be the case with the SE, but with many convoluted amps, its true.

 

[Canis]

It probably has something to do with taste as well

SE is very versatile, so that would explain it's price; and from what I heard, it does have a different, smoother voicing, which may or may not be to your liking. Savage 120 is supposed to be somewhat similar, only rougher. Man, I'd kill for that amp... I've heard it in a store once and it was unreal...

On the other hand, the blackmore models is sort of similar, they say, and it should fit my budget in some months... hmmmm engl...

 

[Mendel]

Actually, the even cheaper one, Fireball, is supposed to sound the best. Did you try that one out also? I am dying to try out an ENGL.

yeah we saw that one. but we played on the powerball and damn, that tone really was awsome. but ok some say it's taste, but come on, 3999 ? andyou can't get a * nice * tone out f it then i don't understand why people even hould buy it. but you say the fireball is the best ? hmm, well if it get's cheaper and better, why should they make expensive ones .

 

[jani78]

I have Savage 120. It's not only good. It has the best distortion I've ever heard. Also clean is pretty good. The distortion is smooth and every note can be heard clearly. So sweet.

I used to have 5150 and had to change my Marshall cab with G12T-75 elements to vintage cab with V30s. Savage doesn't sound good with G12T-75. The sound is somehow bitter and too steril. V30s do the job.

 

[006]

My Powerball has to have my favorite metal tone ever on it. It suits my own style and my guitars, and my touch perfectly. I tried out a Fireball in a store, and it was amazing...the only reason I went for the Powerball was because the guy told me it sounds "just" as good, but it has 4 channels, which really appealed to me.

Truth be told, it does sound different than a Fireball, distinctly different as a matter of fact, but it does sound just as good...as in same great sound, just a little different. I wouldn't give up my Powerball for the world. Heh.

~006

 

[Black neon bob]

I tried the powerball as well in a store, with a ESP loaded with EMG's... sounded pretty good, then i tried another ENGL, a combo (forgot the name), and that sounded way too thin and tinny...

Then i moved on to the mesa boogie F-50... and man, what a sound! really deep, dark, yet quite crisp... brutal!!..
and that was a 1x12 combo... freaked me out how good it was.

And then i saw the price tag... 1600 euro's for the F-50... i will probably get it one day, but for now, i will just stick with my POD XT...

 

[Noumenon]

Another thing to consider is this. IT might take some time to dial in that killer sound and that sound might be worth the 3999 (insert currency here). Some are easy to get a good sound from and other is harder. The better sound in the end might be the harder way

 

[J the TyranT]

Because its marketing.. and SE stands for Special Edition... like Limited, Deluxe, etc etc, you're paying more for that shit... at least that's how I see it from a business standpoint... not sure if they actually have some massive difference, but I certainly doubt there's 1 grand worth of difference in there.

J

 

[Ermz]

Recorded an ENGL powerball at the last session. I'll have the mix up soon for you guys to pick apart... but the amp definately sounds good. We had the tubes cooking and the amp cranked to 7, the room was almost falling apart.

 

[Fragle]

well, all i can say is that i used a powerball for one live show once, and HATED it. it totally lacked definition imho. it's overgained. i think i had the gain on like 2/10 on the low lead channel and it was still too gainy. it also had quite a sterile vibe imho.
however, i checked out a fireball and thought it sounded better. still overgained, though.
furthermore, i own an engl blackmore head, which i'm going to sell for a 5150 by the way. it's certainly better than the powerball, very versatile, but way too bright and almost piercing no matter what you do. this time they got the gain thing under control, though. it's supposed to be a stripped down savage, which i can't quite understand, as i heared a local band use a savage 120 head and that was about the best live sound i've ever experienced. my blackmore sounds nothing like the savage.

all in all, i think my jcm800 2210 marshall SLAYS them all. it's just way more organic sounding. i'm really digging the 5150, too. it's not as organic as the marshall, but just brutal. great for out style of music.

btw, i'm playing thrash metal, going for an 80's thrash guitar sound (exodus....)

 

[PTE3X]

i like the fireball-killer tone

 

[006]

Lol nice post PTE3X. No negativity there, it made me laugh though.

~006

 

[Hexer]

I have a Powerball. took me some time to get the (great) sound I have now. I (and some other people I've heard of) had problems with cutting through the band-mix with it (I think its voiced a bit scooped over all, but it can be fixed). I also plan to buy a better cab soon (most probably the horizontal ENGL 212) to further improve the sound.

the Fireball is basically a "smaller" version of the powerball, but sounds a bit different.
The Blackmore was designed to pretty much have the essentiall features of the Savage 120. I've never had the chance to try any of those 2, but they're supposed to sound great.
dont know much about the Special Edition so far, but I think I've heard, that its supposed to pretty much combine the Savage SE and the Powerball in one amp...

the ENGL-combos reallys seem to be a matter of taste, some people love them, some say they are too trebly/thin sounding, but there are also the head-versions of the combo amps (Thunder50, Screamer50) which are supposed to sound "better" with a 4*12

the Powerball has very much gain of course, what you need here (my opinion) is good EQ and good PUs (you dont have to use all that gain of course)! myself I play rythm with gain set to 12 o'clock (or a little bit higher) on channel 3 (lo gain lead), but it really depends on the PUs. I think the amp pretty much brings out the tone of your guitar.
I have 2 guitars, one has a Dimarzio X2N in bridge and the other has a Duncan Dimebucker. the X2N is a very high gain PU and it does sound good, but I ended up liking the Dimebucker much better!! less gain, but much clearer sounding and a much tighter, heavier low-end (I normally play the Duncan-equiped guitar with the Powerball)!
a lot of people use EMGs. I've never tried (active) EMGs so far, but I think they're pretty high gain, too, right? so maybe thats the problem... the high gain PUs boost the high gain of the amp even more and I can see how it easily can get too much then...

 

[Spevinator]

I own a Screamer 50 head which sits atop my Marshall 4X12. I have to say I love it... My 2 main axes are both ESP M models, one with active EMGs and the other with passive EMGs. I do take care to adjust the gain of the amp depending on which guitar I am playing. With the gain cranked while playing the active emgs you definately start to wash everyting out with the gobs of distortion. Overall it is pretty easy to manage and I love it!

 

[Hexer]

Spevinator: I think that pretty much confirms my theory about the pickups

its the same with my 2 guitars: switching from the dimebucker to the X2N is like setting the gain-knob about half a turn higher as far as gain-difference goes