Getting an ENGL but need help choosing!

Sep 2, 2010
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Hey guys,

I've read lots of reviews but could use some extra guidance. I'm rebuilding my rig and I've decided on ENGL for my head. Don't bring up other amps please because other than ENGL, i'd want a Diezel and simply can't justify the cost. ENGL is my choice. I had the pleasure of going to the ENGL showroom in Hollywood, CA (I live in Southern California) and played the Powerball II, Savage 120, Invader 100, and Victor Smolski Limited Edition. I also had Michael, their Artist Relations rep dial in tones for me. He used to tech for Dio and some other big acts and knows his stuff so needless to say, every amp sounded killer. I played these amps only because the others do not fit my needs or are too expensive.

Let me first tell you my tonal needs. I do not play super brutal, black, death, grind, etc metal...There are hints of different kinds of metal throughout my playing but I'm looking for a relatively diverse tonal palette. The application that this will mostly be used for is live playing modern rock/metal. Not one tone the whole time: clean, tight crunchy rhtyhm, liquid leads, and other places in between. (think the sonic diversity of say, Dream Theater...not necessarily prog, but tonally diverse). I do NOT like a scoope mid sound. I like the guitars to sound warm and crunchy, organic...yet for rhythm very tight and articulate, punchy and crisp. I nice full saturation but constant clarity. For lead i like it very liquid and kind of loose but not fizzy. One example off the top of my head would be Oli Herbert's lead tones from All That Remains.

So, back to the amps. The Savage had the most killer rhythm tones out of all of them. With that said I think the clean and lead sounds weren't as up to par with the other 3 amps. So now it's between the PBII, Invader, and Smolski. I know the Smolski and PBII are similarly voiced amps, with the VS having more gain on tap. The Invader is pretty much my first choice as it's the most versatile: 4 channel (seperate EQ), midi, and sounds fantastic. It's also about $900usd more than what i could get the PBII for. Like I said, EVERY amp sounded abolutely fantastic to me but i didn't spend tons of time really getting to know each amp.

What I'm hesitant with is 3 things.

1. Powerball fizziness. I've heard on this forum that the Powerball I isn't that great and can be fizzy. Has this issue been resolved in the PBII? Like I said, it sounded good but i didn't play it for too long.

2. Channel functionality. I've always liked the idea of having 4 channels with independent tonal shaping ability (eq, etc). The Invader has this but the others have shared eq between clean/crunch and lead 1/2 with seperate gain and volume for each. Also there is a seperate treble for clean/crunch.

3. $$$. The Invader will take longer to get, and push other gear I need for my rig further from my reach. I want the answer to be PBII/Smolski is awesome and will do what I need...but is the Invader really worth the extra $$?

I could always get the more inexpensive one and if I hate it, sell it and pony up the rest for an Invader. But i want to get things right the first time. Again, this is for live/rehearsal use. We can always rent stuff for recording.

I appreciate your guys' advice.

Cheers.
 
Also, here is a link to some demos of the music that I will be using this amp for. Keep in mind that these are ROUGH demos, used only for writing purposes so don't get on me about tones and mix and all of that. I played everything and sang myself but we now have a singer. Drums were programmed.

http://soundcloud.com/undercurrentmusic

This will give you the jist of the type of music and maybe provide you with a better idea of how to advise me amp selection.
 
i have powerball 1. find it better than the 2nd version.. anyway the fizz can be fixed by changing the v6 tube...i am fairly happy. it makes it much more organic
 
Agreed. I'm actually getting the head first, then a new cab. Right now I have a Marshall Mode Four (mf400) cab. It's oversized and has celestion k100s? Too boomy. I'm thinking about having Avatar make me a cab similar to an Uberkab with the x-pattern. I've heard good things about Avatar cabs and they're cost effective but I want to get the head out of the way and then try out some cabs using my head once i have it.
 
The Blackmore effectively has 4 channels... It's two channels each with two modes (all footswitchable IIRC). Yes, versatility is cut down somewhat by lack of individual EQs, but the basic tone is there.
 
I don't get why you're so caught up on ENGL. Based on the description of your ideal tones/amp setup I'd recommend a JVM.


Normally you decide on a specific item, not a brand in general, unless you get some kind of deal cut on the price. I'd never go shopping for a car by saying "It HAS to be a Ford."
 
Another vote for the Blackmore. The Invader is a fantastic amp, but steep as you know. You may want to try a 60w Fireball... It has a great hard rock tone and kicks nuts with a mic in front of it, if you know what you're doing. I have a Fireballz 100 and hump it daily.
 
I'm not "caught up on Engl". I've just narrowed my selection down to those 3 models. My decision isn't born out of some blind ambition to get a product driven by identifiable marketing or that my favorite artist uses it. I like the tonal characteristics of them. Every one i played sounded fantastic immediately, with eq flat. That's rare to come by in my opinion. Where I live, in the states...specifically Southern California, the heavy music scene is so saturated with the same amps. Mainly Mesa and Peavey. Nothing against those amps but they don't produce what I'm looking for. And I've owned both. I first played Engl years ago, and have had my eye on them ever since. Maybe it's because i'm used to hearing and seeing the same amps all of the time but there's something about German amps in particular that catch my ear and I find appealing. They have this roar and balls with a high-end feel (in terms of quality, like a luxury car). Very responsive and articulate. Fat yet retaining tightness and clarity. Also the cleans are actually usable. I like Bogner and Diezel as well as Engl but Diezels are out of my price range, as is the Ecstasy, and the Uberschall doesn't have the channel options i prefer. So, my question wasn't "should I buy an Engl?", despite my best efforts of filtering that type of response I guess it was bound to sneak it. I understand people's arguments against wanting a certain brand and I appreciate any advise but I'm more looking for testimonials from those of you with experience to these particular models. Mainly the Powerball II, as I don't seem to hear about them too much. Also, yes...I'm getting a deal. I'd be buying straight from Engls' North American A&R rep and will get a price cut along with warranty, servicing, foot controller and extra tubes. Not as cheap as getting used but cheaper than getting from anywhere online for brand new, plus the added goodies thrown in. I know a lot of guys on this forum are overseas and are probably just as sick of German amps as I am American haha. To each their own. The point is their tone inspires me and that's important. I'll look into the JVM but i've never been fully satisfied with Marshall for high gain.
 
Just try them out more thoroughly, and pick the one that fits. FWIW, I gigged with a Laney VH100R pretty hardcore, and it too only has two EQ's for the four channels. Didn't really stop me from getting great tones.

Oh... and popular opinion on this forum is that everything apart from a Recto and 5150 sucks.... so ignore most comments here.
 
Yes, I've noticed the fondess for Peavey and Rectifiers. I played a 6505 recently and despite lots of tweaking, I couldn't find a tone I liked. I'm sure there's one in there but I don't believe in spending hours dialing in ONE usable tone (that's just me)

So, Blackmore fans, how would I go about getting a different lead sound from rhtyhm with a shared eq? I usually like my leads to not be as tight as my rhythm sound and usually more mids, bass and treble depend on the amp...but for my leads i generally like it to sound a bit different from rhythm, not just louder (for live application). Do you use an external eq? I plan on incorporating a TC G-System to do all my switching so i can have my patches set up so I don't have to tap dance. I know the g-system has eq in it. Your thoughts on getting and controlling different tones in an amp with that kind of set up?
 
After checking out the specs, it looks like with the contour and low gain/high gain modes there is some versatility. I do wish that it had at least 2 eq's, one for clean and one for heavy, like powerball but I'll check the amp out. The price is right. As long as i can control everything via footswitch it's worth considering.
 
From my understanding, the fourth channel is voiced with more gain than channel 3, so you have greater compression. It's been over a year since I was as familiar with this amp's features as I was the back of my hand, so forgive my fuzzy memory.

I'm wanting to think the modes have slightly different voicings, where
Ch3 is tighter and clearer, and Ch4 has some more girth along with the extra gain. That may translate to what you're looking for. If you can find one, I'd give it a shot.