High Gain Head

[AJDS]

I'm looking to pick up a new amp soon and I was wondering what would be my best option. I'm looking for an amp that can cover as much territory as possible, although it would mainly be used for metal and such. I was looking at the peavey 6505 and the ENGL fireball as I've heard good things about both and they leave me with enough room money wise for a cab as well. I would like to know what you all think about these amps, and also if they have a clean channel that can cut it. Any other suggestions would be much appreciated.

Ta.

[noodleplugerine]

Engl Fireball isn't nearly as versatile as the powerball.

It has 2 channels, ultra clean, and brutal gain.

Powerball has everything from brutal gain to light crunch, etc.

[Stevepage]

The Powerball sounds pretty compressed though. Even with an EQ pedal in the FX loop. It's clean channel is pretty lifeless too. Of course these are just my opinions after owning one for about 5 months and chose it over a Laney VH100R (which is what I would suggest).

If not a Laney, then an Marshall JVM.

Marshall 6100LM if you can find one but the head alone is around £500.

I think the ENGL Screamer is a bit more versatile than the Fireball and not as compressed as the Powerball and has a fairly nice clean tone.

[Roobubba]

I have a 5150-II (same as the 6505+). The cleans are not great, let's get that said. But the distortion is brutal, can be made exceedingly tight, and this amp really, really kicks high-gain buttski. I would recommend trying one out first, though ;) Also, the cab makes a big difference. The 5150 cab is okay, but not amazing. I swapped out the speakers in my 5150 cab and that has made it even more brutal, but I'm sure a better made cab would make things *even better*!
You might also want to consider other amps like the Bogner Uberschall and the Rivera Knucklehead. I've not got experience of these, but I have heard good things on these forums...

Roo

[dave_mc]

pretty much what has been said so far- the fireball only has clean and modern metal (without pedals), while the 5150 has pretty average (at best) clean tones.

unless you're already struggling to afford the fireball or 5150, i'd save a little longer, as around the £1000 mark, amps start to get really nice. there's not much point in settling for something which might not do what you want, when for a little more you could get something which will (e.g. brunetti xlr evo, i've seen them for £1000 for the head, new, on ebay).

[Lord Blakers]

Check this out:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/KOCH-POWERTONE-II_W0QQitemZ170251962928QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item170251962928&_trkparms=72%3A1089%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

These can do everything from sparkley clean to face melting gain. Koch make damn good amps, which can be had for silly money second hand as they don't appear to have built much of a reputation in the UK yet.

[noodleplugerine]

And you get the added feature of being able to tell jokes about playing with your koch.

[Roobubba]

That's a bloody good price for a powertone!!!

[AJDS]

Thanks for your help everyone, my local guitar shop have a powertone coming in in the next few days so I'll go down and have a try. I'll also look at some of the heads suggested that sit at the £1,000 mark.

[hunter]

I owned a 5150 once and loved it, but the cleans are pretty useless.

Engl make good amps but for my taste they lack depth and dimension.


I would definitely add the Marshall JVM410 to the list, it will hardly get more versatile than that.

Also the EVH5150III that I tried once impressed me, actually the cleans were awesome, and Ch2 had enough gain for most applications.

Also a Diezel Einstein (if ordered through Thomann) would almost be in that price range, a very nice amp indeed (I owned one).

Rivera do versatile stuff too, I once had a KnuckleHead and it was crushing, but too tight for my taste.

Do try the JVM (or a DSL if you can find one).

Good luck on your search.

Just my 2Cent from experience: Don't buy too quick. Don't accept any compromise. 1,000GBP is enought to expect 100% happiness before you buy.

[Antag]

If the only thing you need is a great high gain tone then it's hard to look past the 5150 & the Fireball - both are outstanding metal amps.

I guess the problem with your post is the sentence "I'm looking for an amp that can cover as much territory as possible, although it would mainly be used for metal and such."

If you mean that you need a good clean sound, a mid-gain crunch sound & a mega-filth sound at the touch of a button then neither amp will cut it - you need something with at least 3 channels but more than likely will end up spending >£1k.  There are plenty of 3+ channel valve heads on the market, but the only ones I can think of <£1k are Marshall or Laney.

As others have pointed out, the 5150 has no clean sound worthy of the name - the rhythm channel does a decent Marshall impression but really you buy it for the Lead channel :twisted:  The Fireball does at least have a useable clean channel & by turning the gain down you can get some half decent crunch tones - but with a shared Eq & gain control it's not particularly flexible from the footswitch alone.

Regarding Engl tone, the Fireball has a great high gain metal tone - believe it.  IMO the mistake that some make with Engls is winding the mids right back - takes all the body out of the sound.  But as the owner of an Engl Savage I wouldn't trade mine for anything - it has some great tones on tap & is anything but sterile.

So it's really down to how "mainly" you play metal, exactly what you mean by "as much territory as possible" & how much you could live without other sounds.  JMO, YMMV etc...

[dave_mc]

Good luck on your search.

Just my 2Cent from experience: Don't buy too quick. Don't accept any compromise. 1,000GBP is enought to expect 100% happiness before you buy.

agreed wholeheartedly. :)

[bobthemerciful]

Try a Laney TT if you can find one. Good clean, good crunch and face-melting filth ( with either my Warpig or my old active Aria w/2stage pre-amp). Underated amp IMO.

[Johnny Mac]

Check this out:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/KOCH-POWERTONE-II_W0QQitemZ170251962928QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item170251962928&_trkparms=72%3A1089%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

These can do everything from sparkley clean to face melting gain. Koch make damn good amps, which can be had for silly money second hand as they don't appear to have built much of a reputation in the UK yet.

That's a bargain to had there. Mine is the II model which gives you Penthode/Triode (60w or 120w) mid boost mini toggles on both gain channels and a bright switch on the clean. Also has speaker damping from ultra low, low and high. For tight riffing/chugging this thing is insane. These own engls and lots of other pricey amps. I'd get this if i were you or get the II model and forget about mesas and engls. when i road tested one at the LGS I came in my pants.