Engl Fireball

[old Skool]

Got to play through one of these yesterday. Wow! Basically a 60 watt two channel head with gain out the wazoo. Very tight & aggressive. The gain was only on two and was crunchin' like a fat kid with a bag of Doritos. As you turn the gain up the amp still retains definition although that much gain is probably not honestly "usable". The clean channel was just as impressive, very "Fender" like. I've always heard good things about the Engl Powerball head and now I see why. This one was running through a Marshall 1960 4x12 with standard issue Celestions. I'd really like to hear it with some Vintage 30s. I see why Joe (Metalchurch) dumped his ADA in favor of the Engl preamp. Oh and by the way I was playing an ESP w/EMG 81s. Hmmm I didn't think to check if it was one of those Ltds that Joe molested ha, ha! Just kiddin' guys, chill! Seriously though if you're looking for a tight high gain amp check out Engl.

[bassist_25]

The gain was only on two and was crunchin' like a fat kid with a bag of Doritos.

Jettisoning the fog quote - This is this week's OS quote!

[metalchurch]

Kenny, did you find this in a store around here?

music123 carries their products now, and I'm thinking about getting the E530 preamp. It has a Low - Low Mid - High Mid - and High adjustments like the Metal Zone Pedal, so it might work better for me.

A Fat Kid with a bag of Doritos that's alot of crunch.
But the Engl's crunch lasts longer than the little chubby bastard.

[PanzerFaust]

crunchin' like a fat kid with a bag of Doritos.

Tood puts down the Doritos

[metalchurch]

metalchurch with the munchies, snags them up and runs.

[old Skool]

Yeah Joe it was local, at Guitars-n-Stuff. Terry just got it in yesterday. If I were in the market for an amp I'd think pretty serious about it. The general vibe of the amp leads me to think that your Engl preamp may be killer with a VHT power amp. VHT seems to have that same aggressive, tight vibe to it. I haven't checked but I'm guessing Engl makes power amps too. That may be the best combination.

[metalchurch]

Kenny,
was this head used or new?
Do you know how much it was?

Engl does make a Power Amp, check these out:
http://www.engl-amps.com/index2.html

[Team Transylvania]

Of course Engl rules. Dimmu's guitar sound is awesome.

[old Skool]

Joe, it was used but looked brand new. I didn't ask Terry the price on it, kind of was half afraid ha, ha!

[metalchurch]

Kenny,
Engl's prices are way scary for sure.

One more thing that I forgot to ask you, was it quiet or did it have a noticeable hum to it?

My preamp has a low hum.
I'm running Emg 81's in 2 of my Jackson V's which are hot pickups to begin with, and then into the MT-2, with the gain cranked up and the level knob at
9 o' clock.
Then into the clean channel of the Engl, but I have it's Gain cranked up also.

I ran the same setup with the ADA, and the hum is a little bit lower than it was, but I think that it's something that I'm gonna have to live with.

I wonder if a Hush Super C would help that out?

[Killjingle]

Kenny hit the nail on the head with his description of this amp...

although I fell in love with the idea how easily I could get my low string to squeal in the key of "M"...

I went to 4 on the gain and that was enough for me... I would like to try it at stage volume level with my Mode 4 cab....

[old Skool]

Chad that Engl may sound pretty good through a Mode 4 cab. Those Mode cabs are designed to handle big bottom end right? Also I checked with Engl and they assure me that their amps will crank out all the "M" tuning you can through at 'em although they are still testing for "P". Yuck, who wants to be a "P" tester? Ha, that there was funny!

[orangekick]

I had an Engl Fireball for a little while and it was pretty cool. I had it on top of a Soldano 4x12 w/ Vintage 30's. The crunch channel was killer, but overall it felt really stiff after a while and just didn't feel natural to me. I also thought that the clean was a little sterile.

[Killjingle]

Chad that Engl may sound pretty good through a Mode 4 cab. Those Mode cabs are designed to handle big bottom end right

Yeah the Mode 4 will handle serious low end... but thats not what we as guitarists are supposed to contribute to our band's overall sound. I mean dont get me wrong; its nice to hear that fat ass bottom but I dont really push the lowend to extremes... I just like the way the speakers break up and the tone projects from these cabs... the throaty mid of my 5th and 4th string (tuned F and A# respectively) sound real good to my ears.

The crunch channel was killer, but overall it felt really stiff after a while and just didn't feel natural to me

I get that way with any amp that I use... I guess after awhile I just get used to hearing the same thing and then the eternal quest for tone begins again. I had to give up on that journey; too damn expensive!

I also thought that the clean was a little sterile

it very well may be; I dont remember the last time I actually even changed the channel on my rectifier (LOL) let alone try a new amp with clean tone

[old Skool]

Yeah you're totally right Chad, the bottom end should be left to the bass. I was referring to the response of the cabinet to the low end. Some cab/speaker combinations just sound too flubby with drop tunings and all. You end up dialing out so much bass on the amp to compensate that your overall sound becomes very thin. By the way was that an Ltd or ESP you were playin'? Sounded pretty growly and tight.

[Killjingle]

that was a LTD with the Zakk Wlyde EMG 81 pickups... I love the sound of that guitar; the time has come for me to seriously consider putting an original floyd rose on it; the addons clearly outweigh the value of the guitar but it plays so damn nice I cant bare the thought of not playing it primarily...

I knew you would know what I meant about bottom end on those mode 4's; but I swear I just ran for a band from NYC who had "Marshall" tone and my god did they have the low rumbling to the point where the good tone that they did have in the mid pocket was not even projecting across the FOH...

Jason and I are the only two guys around here that I know use mode 4 cabs; and I guarantee those cabs will handle some seriously silly lowend; but they are often overlooked what they can handle in the lowmid to mid category

[orangekick]

The Mode 4 cabs are one of the best cabs that Marshall has made in recent years.

[bassist_25]

but I swear I just ran for a band from NYC who had "Marshall" tone and my god did they have the low rumbling to the point where the good tone that they did have in the mid pocket was not even projecting across the FOH...

IME, a lot of guys buy Marshalls when they truly don't understand a Marshall's intrinsic tone. Marshalls (for the most part) are built for a jangly, open-midrange tone. Most Brittish amps have that sound to my ears. Some guys buy Marshalls and then expect them to do the tight low-end Mesa/VHT thing. Obviously, the Mode 4 stuff is more suited for the heavier music, but I'm talking more about a JCM800-through-a-1960. For the record, one of the best local Marshall tones I've ever heard is from the lead guitarist of the Allumanati.

[Killjingle]

just upgraded to a dual rectifier and as much as I loved my single; it only gets better...

[orangekick]

I recently got a great deal on a 93 2 channel Dual Rectifier and I couldn't be happier.

[metalchurch]

I'm Mesa illiterate, so please overlook the sheer stupidity of this question;

What is a Dual Rectifier? Does it have 2 gains and 1 clean?
And a Triple, does it then have 3 gain stages , and 1 clean?

I've never owned a Mesa, but I was always curious about this, I guess just too lazy to look it up also.

My next question, what does a Dual do that a Single Rectifier doesn't?
Or does it just pick up where the Single left off?
Same as the relation of a Dual to a Triple if my guess is accurate?
Thanks

[Ron]

Joe, the names have to do with the number of rectifiers (or diodes) in the amp's power supply. A single rect has one (solid state diode), a dual has two (tubes) and a triple has three (tubes).

[orangekick]

Actually, the Dual Rectifier is the only one that has a proper name. It was named for the fact that it has two (dual) rectifiers available, solid state and tube. The DR is the first amp that had switchable rectifiers.

[orangekick]

I'm Mesa illiterate, so please overlook the sheer stupidity of this question;

What is a Dual Rectifier? Does it have 2 gains and 1 clean?
And a Triple, does it then have 3 gain stages , and 1 clean?

I've never owned a Mesa, but I was always curious about this, I guess just too lazy to look it up also.

My next question, what does a Dual do that a Single Rectifier doesn't?
Or does it just pick up where the Single left off?
Same as the relation of a Dual to a Triple if my guess is accurate?
Thanks

The Single Rectifier is a 50 watt amp with one rectifier, solid state. The Dual Rectifier is 100 watts with 2 switchable rectifiers, tube and solid state as previously mentioned. The Triple Rectifier is the 150 watt version of the Dual Rectifier. It still has the 2 rectifier options, but it has 3 rectifier tubes and 6 power tubes. The main difference between all of these amps is how much headroom one needs as a guitar player. The Triple has the most head room and thus has a larger bottom end, but it breaks up harder than the Dual and the Single.

[lonewolf]

Single Rectifier=50W (single pair of power tubes requiring 1 rectifier)
Dual Rectifier=100W (dual pair of power tubes requiring 2 rectifers in parallel, 1st model with switchable SS/tube rectifier)
Triple Rectifier=150W (triple pair of power tubes requiring 3 rectifiers in parallel)

The Dual Rec was the 1st and as Orangekick stated, had the switchable "dual" solid-state and tube rectifier circuit. The others followed and the names took on their new meaning.

Aside from this rectifier circuit, these amps have a unique gain structure where bypass capacitors suck out a lot of the highs in the preamp. This allows for higher gain levels with less buzz and noise.