Engl Blackmore... do I need one?

[jgcable]

Nah not interested in a Powerball, I always wanted a Savage and that's what the Blackmore is based on... The Powerballs are bit more "solid state" sounding... Now an SE or Invader on the other hand.... Hmmm...

Trust me.. the Blackmore and the Savage sound very different.

I will still stick to my initial post.... get yourself a Rectifier. You will be extremely happy. Single, Dual, Triple, Tremoverb, doesn't matter. They are all great.

[magh8]

I've located a Blackmore for sale with the Z5 footswitch for $1200 and I've always wanted an ENGL and have been intrigued by this particular model for a while, but I've heard mixed reviews... I'm sure it has more than enough gain for what I need, but I've heard people say that these amps sound thin and that the mid knob affects some weird frequencies and that the amp in general sounds very scooped and doesn't cut through very well... Of course I've heard the gleaming reviews as well, but this sort of has me worried, since right now I'm using a 5150 which we all know is a super thick, mid heavy amp and I'm very happy with the tone I have now...

The other option I was considering was a Single Rectifier, as I've always loved that Nevermore style signature Mesa tone that those guys get and it would be nice to have a bit of variety around my project studio... Do you guys think I'm better off going with the Recto for flavour and that I'll probably end up liking my 5150 more than the Blackmore anyways? I know Fragle on here was not really happy with his Blackmore at all...

Really I guess though, at $1200 for the head + footswitch, if I didn't like it I could easily unload it for the price I paid for it... Maybe I should buy it and at least give it a run, because I can find Rectos all day long and I'll always have that Engl itch if I don't at least try one

that's a good price.I bought one last year for 1200 without FS to compare it to the powerball I had and the BM lost.if you don't like it you could always re-sell it and get your money back or turn a small profit...

[Fragle]

"If you love the 5150 and you want a completely different tone.. get the Blackmore. If you want something that is just as heavy as the 5150 but with a more traditional death metal type tone get the Rectifier. Personally.. I think that most 5150 players and Rectifiers share the same likes and dislikes in their metal guitar tone. A Blackmore will be totally different."
+1, he's dead on.

as you already mentioned, i used to own a blackmore, and still own a block letter 5150. i will NEVER part with that amp, come what may.
back when i had the blackmore i didn't really like it that much, especially for the style of music i was doing back then (death/thrash, as opposed to the modern melodic metal i'm doing right now). i'm not saying that the blackmore can't deliver enough heaviness for death/thrash, actually it's quite a heavy sounding amp. i just thought that it was a bit on the trebly and thin side. however, imho most if not all engls share that sort of fizzy high end quality...glassy is another word that comes to mind. but then again, i know players (e.g. my other guitar player) that make the powerball/fireball etc sound really awesome, but whenever i plug into my other dude's powerball (without changing anything but the player, same guitar, settings etc) i just can't get along with them very well....same thing goes for the fireball a friend of mine owns. he sounds awesome through it, i don't

anyways, from a more objective point of view...the 5150 has much more mids, growl, gain, and sounds heavier in general. the blackmore is more polite, clean, tight, articulate, but still can get pretty heavy...and don't forget the noise...while the 5150 also isn't too noisy as long as you go easy on the gain, it's still on the noisy side of the spectrum, whereas the engls are REALLY quiet sounding amps despite of their sheer amount of gain.
to my ears, the 5150/blackmore are pretty much tonal opposites just like john (jgcable) already mentioned.
as for the powerball, the 5150 sounds nothing like a PB....the 5150's much closer to the blackmore (still not really comparable though ). the powerball has quite an unique voicing imho, very heavy and "industrial" sounding if that makes any sense.

bottom line is....i'd suggest you go and try one if you got the cash to spare. i'm not an ENGL guy, so take my word on the blackmore with a grain of salt. maybe you'll get along better with it than i did. but then again, if you like the 5150 tone (like i do), chances are the engl voicing won't be for you either....just my .02$ of course ;-)

[axeman81]

and now, to make sure you don't know what the hell to do next - I chose the Blackmore over the 5150. In fact, I chose it over Mesa DR, TR, 5150, various Carvins, ENGL powerball and ENGL fireball. The only thing I didn't dismiss was the Diezel Herbert but that is of course in an entirely different price league! I run the blackmore with a V60 loaded Engl standard cab.
It sounds great and has been sounding a lot better now that the cab is broken in.
I play metal inspired mainly by Metallica, Maiden, Dio, early Arch Enemy etc. etc.
Good old palm muted stuff. It has plenty mids, so that's why I went with V60 rather than my usually favored V30...the V60 tones down the mid-heavyness.
The amp will run 6L6 too, so I suppose you could try that out as well if you don't like it stock.

What style do you play? What sound do you like ? What don't you like about the 5150 that leads you to look at a Blackmore? (noise and lack of proper clean sounds are certainly qualified) What cab would you use with it?

The answer to these questions will take you closer to the answer to your OP
finally, I gotta say, for that price you can't go wrong with one.

[DumpyWumpy]

Ahhh fuck! I was 95% decided on passing and holding out for a while and grabbing something else

There's nothing I don't like about the 5150 really, but as always, I'm still on my quest for the perfect tone. Most of my favourite tones on albums have been Rectifiers and 5150s, but I've never heard a band record a Savage or Blackmore that had the production budget that the bands had that got the tones I loved out of the Recs and 5150s...

I'd be using it a Mesa Rectifier cab. I know it's got a great clean tone which is awesome, because the 5150's is certainly by no means good haha... I guess I just want something a little sharper sounding if that makes sense....

Here's a vid of my buddy Mike playing through his E570 preamp... The sound quality isn't great, but it's enough to be able to tell what it sounded like in person if that makes sense... The character of the sound he's got is EXACTLY what I'm after...

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=4809480

I think I'm buying it, like everyone else has said I could most definitely flip it for the price I paid for it if I find myself not playing it... Now let's just hope I don't win the Single Rec I bid on on eBay

[horns666]

I'm a gay Severed Savior fanboy!

That did sound good!!!...complex, heavy and I could define all the palmutisms..

Honestly, that's prolly one of the best Engl sounds I've heard.

[DumpyWumpy]

Mike from SS is a complete gear nut haha, you should see that guys rig. Evidence Audio cables, ENGL E570, some ENGL poweramp, Fractal Audio Axe-FX, APC pickups... I don't think he's bought anything new in a while though so he must be happy by now haha...

[horns666]

Yeah man, I haven't bought one peice of gear since 2002. Except my 7 sring from Chris.

I bought all my other stuff in '95/'96. Before '96 I was buying several amps a month for years. It was like a part time job, and made money to roll over into new stuff. The mid 90's was the best time to buy pointy guitars, les pauls, amps. Only if we knew then what to buy and hold onto..

[DumpyWumpy]

Well as it stands it looks like I'm getting a Single Rectifier AND the Blackmore ... My wallet isn't impressed but you only live once!

[Fragle]

"I know it's got a great clean tone which is awesome, because the 5150's is certainly by no means good haha... I guess I just want something a little sharper sounding if that makes sense...."
define "sharper"
if it's only the clean tone you dislike about the 5150, get a cheap modeler preamp and run it through the fx return for cleans...that's the setup i'm building right now
other than that, i'd suggest you get the rectifier, and trade it for a blackmore if it's not for you
...but don't forget to post a comparison thread between the 5150 and the single recto - i've been GASing for one ever since i started playing guitar

[horns666]

Well as it stands it looks like I'm getting a Single Rectifier AND the Blackmore ... My wallet isn't impressed but you only live once!

Wow..

Well, definitely report back to us! We dig similiar styles, as well as Fragle. So I wanna know what you think of them. I know about Rectos. I wanna see how you do with it, and the Engl!!!

[DumpyWumpy]

Fragle, I'm not really looking to replace the 5150, I'm just adding to the amp collection I'm an aspiring studio engineer so it doesn't hurt to have all this stuff around... I should hopefully be picking up the Recto today or tomorrow but I'm off to Cuba tomorrow afternoon for a week so I won't have a chance to crank that thing until I get back The Blackmore should be here the week of the 28th, but I fly back to work that day so I won't be able to even plug that thing in until mid May! Oh the torture of working away from home....

[horns666]

Don't be said about going to Cuba..take me with you brutha..take me with you!!!

[Inearthed]

I have both a 5150 and a Blackmore. Honestly, I think that the Blackmore on the 2nd Channel High Gain setting sounds very 5150-ish but tighter. Blackmore has a much better clean channel than the 5150.

That being said, I think that a 5150 and a Rectifier would blend better together than a Blackmore and a 5150, simply because the Recto has much more thump (and is a lot more loose)

[DumpyWumpy]

Got the Blackmore a few days ago, Recto should be here today. So far I'm impressed with the Blackmore, it sounds killer. My only gripe is I have to use channel 4 with the gain set to at least 8 or 9 to get a decent amount of saturation out of it... It DOES have more than enough gain, but just barely. I was hoping to be able to get my rhythm sounds out of channel 3 but no chance, so basically I'm only ever going to use channels 1 and 4 Regardless, it sounds killer. The 5150 has a bit more sizzle going for it, but the Engl is so clear, everything sounds so pristine coming out of that amp. We'll see how the Recto stacks up this weekend hopefully!