Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Alex on September 14, 2013, 05:03:51 PM
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I've now got an ENGL Ironball, as I wasn't getting on with Laney's gain character for rhythm sounds. Despite all its EQ options I just couldn't get it to sound how I wanted.
I've just had it since today and spent about 90-120 minutes only playing it, but so far I'm very happy. Somehow I guess you know when it feels and sounds right quite quickly, and I think I spent a total of 10-15 minutes only dialling in the EQ and pretty much left it then as it is!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/theonlywarlock/Guitars/IMGP3899_zps988f8cbb.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theonlywarlock/media/Guitars/IMGP3899_zps988f8cbb.jpg.html)
I'll probably comment more on its sound once I feel more confident its not just first impressions. One thing though, the amp feels very solidly built in every aspect!
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ENGL makes great stuff. Enjoy!
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i've always wanted to try ENGL. i'm quite satisfied with my mesa boogie dual rec but i'm always curious about new stuff.
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ENGL are *very* popular in Europe, and I'm assuming with good reason. Everything they build seems to be of excellent quality, including their cabs. They aren't sold in Australia anymore, I'm assuming because the dealers decided that they were too expensive at one point due to changes in our dollar versus the Euro.
What are some of the specs on it? I'm assuming is is more powerful than that Laney it replaced, or is it another one that can double as low-wattage practice amp?
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Congrats! Hope you get on with this one.
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yeah i first heard of ENGL because hammerfall (sweden) played them . at least in the early days and they sound amazing.
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nice :D
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I've played it quite a lot by now with my EMG-loaded Eclipse. It has a very usable and well-known sound. In general, more modern stuff sounds more authentic - everything that's recorded with Rectifiers/5150s and so on. I'm very happy with it. The Laney maybe had a bit the edge with the clean channel, but the gain channel on this one is much more easy to dial in and sound very good. The sound has more chunk and character and sounds very powerful somehow, without being excessively loud.
I played some Hammerfall, some Black Dahlia Murder and some At The Gates and it sounded really great. On the other hand, Ozzy (Rhandy Rhoads stuff), Skid Row and Megadeth did not sound very authentic - the sound is definitely more in the Powerball/Rectifier style.
I've also used the baritone with it and it has no problems handling the low B-string! :D
It's 20 Watts, it has a powersoak (which I'm not using) and some other features as well (gain boost, Reverb, headphones out, effects loop). What I noticed is that it is quite heavy for such a small amp. It looks small in the picture, but it is rather deep in the back.
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HNAD, hope you enjoy it
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The way you make it sound is quite tempting.
I am more for old school, but if you can get a good At the Gates out of it that is cool!
Congrats on the new one!
Maybe you can get it to sound a bit more old school when you turn the gain down and boost / od more. Perhaps also a touch of EQ for the mids.
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I am more for old school, but if you can get a good At the Gates out of it that is cool!
But the At the Gates sound is a boss heavy metal pedal through a peavey bandit :P
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Maybe At The Gates is a bit off in terms of authenticity... I meant to say that the song I played sounded really good. The Miracle Man in the baritone works really great with this amp, awesome tone.
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I am more for old school, but if you can get a good At the Gates out of it that is cool!
But the At the Gates sound is a boss heavy metal pedal through a peavey bandit :P
I donīt need the exact sound, but a sound that does this music well. Their sound in itself is not directly good, but it works for what they do. Get a better sound that is just as fitting and that is cool. Get what I mean?
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After I've now had some time to get more used to the amp I must say that I like it more the more I play it.
One thing I noticed is that it shows the character of the guitars/pickups a bit more than the Krank or Laney did. I'm surprised, as I didn't feel that the Krank colored things a lot, but it is interesting.
The amp has a lot of low mids which makes it sound very fat and modern. It is interesting, because it has a nice treble like Marshalls, but the mids are sooo different. With the Voodoo LesPaul/Nailbomb the tone I get reminds me a lot of the last Accept record. It also highlights the abrasive mids of the Nailbomb. With the Miracle Man in the baritone, as said, things sound massive and huge. When I played the guitars through the Krank it sounded good, but now through the ENGL I hear more nuances. Also, the volume difference of the guitars shines through much more (the baritone, due to the scale and strings, is way louder). THat is interesting as it's not just "more saturation". The gain is very dense, but has a lot of "structure" and transparency, and a lot of "thump" to it punch). As I said it sounds quite modern overall, but in a good way. You can see why people such as Steve Morse are among ENGL users.
Also, with more volume the amp naturally sounds better.... and less forgiving! It highlights sloppiness more than on lower volumes.
The clean channel is nice and clear, I think most people would like it. It isn't too far off from the Laney, i.e. clear contures, a bit hard-edged, good cut, works well with pedals. It unfortunately doesn't have that Fender sparkle.
Finally it has reverb and a boost switch. Both do what you expect.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/theonlywarlock/Guitars/IMGP3901_zpsb18092b3.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theonlywarlock/media/Guitars/IMGP3901_zpsb18092b3.jpg.html)
I haven't used the powersoak yet, because you can only uise it with a single 8 Ohm speaker - both my cabs are 16 Ohm. Which leads me to the one thing I dislike about the amp:
ENGL could have designed the connectivity in the back a lot more idiot-proof, as for example Hughes and Kettner do. For example, "you can only use jack A if nothing is plugged in this jack B, but something needs to be plugged in Jack C with a stereo cable." If you do it wrong, the manual says the amp will be damaged. Well... sounds like fun. And there are lots of combinations like this.
Finally, two minor gripes:
- for the price ENGL could have included a footswitch.
- The power tubes have a red light behind them to make the amp look cooler. It really isn't nowhere to what Laney or Hughes and Kettner do. Because the power tubes are not centred but more to the left, ENGL only put the LEDs behind them... it looks a bit off-centre really. What were they thinking? That less is more? Then they could have skipped them right away.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v281/theonlywarlock/Guitars/IMGP3903_zps02bf6018.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/theonlywarlock/media/Guitars/IMGP3903_zps02bf6018.jpg.html)
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I donīt need the exact sound, but a sound that does this music well. Their sound in itself is not directly good, but it works for what they do. Get a better sound that is just as fitting and that is cool. Get what I mean?
I know exactly what you mean. When I play The Exploited stuff through my SG with the A-bomb that's what I get, what I like to think is the sound Big John Duncan wished he had back in 1982, not his actual sound.
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I use a Blackstar HT-5 and get a sound very close to what I want to hear. I like 5150's/6505's but I don't have that tone and yet the HT-5 sounds good for what I do. I like Slayer and I can get a good Kerry King style tone from it. I will get a 5150 as I've wanted one since 1993 or so when I first played the 60 watt 212. But I will use the HT-5 more I feel as I can use the volume and keep my hearing.
It's easy to copy but harder to find something a little different that works for a range of tone. I like chasing tone. It feels like an adventure. :)
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I will get a 5150 as I've wanted one since 1993 or so when I first played the 60 watt 212. But I will use the HT-5 more I feel as I can use the volume and keep my hearing.
The 5150 series of amps is certainly one of the loudest out there! They sound much better as you turn them up too, which is a bit of a bitch because you are stuck at playing around 1 on the dial or 2 at best if the people in the next quarter-acre Ozzy block either side of you happen to be out for the day. Otherwise you only hear them at their full potential in a sound-proofed studio or at a gig at a pub without residential volume limits. They sound incredible though when turned up. BTW we A/B'd my 6534+ against a 5150 II on the same settings (they have the same EQ) and my 6534+ was the clear winner. A lot more mid cut and a tighter bottom end. Peavey prices are going up, up, up in Australia though thanks to the change in distributors. If you hunt around the shops who bought up stock from the old distributor you can still get some bargains. I saved $1500 on the current RRP of my 6534+, and almost $1000 on the current 'sale' price through Allans.
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I would go 5150 III 50 watt. They sound good at low level as I would use the pre amp tubes more than the power tubes. My 60 watt vypyr is very loud so I can only image how loud the 5150's really are. I do remember playing the 212 back in the day and the stop attendant saying please don't turn it up as they wanted to stay in the shop.
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Let me put it to you this way:
The first time I went to my friend's practice room and he was playing through his 5150 II I had to move because my 'boys' were in the firing line of his cab and were starting to feel a bit bruised.
That was the moment that sold me on these amps :lol: