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Ever since Bill turned me on to Primal Fear a while back I've been a huge fan of their guitar tones. I thought they had one of the best hot rodded "Marshall" sounds going...only I come to find out that most of their material was recorded with a Savage.
Fast forward to Saturday and I have the opportunity to play one for about 20 minutes. It wasn't enough time to really figure the thing out, but it belongs to a friend who was able to help me get at "the good stuff" pretty quickly. All I can say is that I was blown away by the tones I was getting...and I wasn't overly optimistic since I hated the Powerball when I played one (almost solid state sounding).
Cleans were stout but not particularly "pretty"...easily good enough for the clean work that I do with my metal band though. I have other amps that do the "sweet" clean thing, so this more muscular take on clean is actually kind of cool.
The crunch channels were great...everything from classic AC/DC to VH to 80's pushed Marshall sounds (Unchained and Lay it Down sounded brutal).
The lead channel was very "in your face" yet still flexable with the different voicings.
The overall tonality of this amp is just...different. It definitely lies in the Marshall camp but is much more aggressive without being harsh. It's not as warm as some other amps, but it still has a largeness to it that you really only get with tubes (or perhaps an Axe-Fx???). It really has its own thing going on IMO.
My question...anyone here have any experience with this amp? My buddy doesn't actively gig so I really can't get any feedback about its performance. I have heard whispers that ENGL amps are poorly built and not road worthy (cheap components, board mounted tube sockets, plastic shafted pots, etc), but it seems like a lot of great players are using them. Any thoughts and experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Fast forward to Saturday and I have the opportunity to play one for about 20 minutes. It wasn't enough time to really figure the thing out, but it belongs to a friend who was able to help me get at "the good stuff" pretty quickly. All I can say is that I was blown away by the tones I was getting...and I wasn't overly optimistic since I hated the Powerball when I played one (almost solid state sounding).
Cleans were stout but not particularly "pretty"...easily good enough for the clean work that I do with my metal band though. I have other amps that do the "sweet" clean thing, so this more muscular take on clean is actually kind of cool.
The crunch channels were great...everything from classic AC/DC to VH to 80's pushed Marshall sounds (Unchained and Lay it Down sounded brutal).
The lead channel was very "in your face" yet still flexable with the different voicings.
The overall tonality of this amp is just...different. It definitely lies in the Marshall camp but is much more aggressive without being harsh. It's not as warm as some other amps, but it still has a largeness to it that you really only get with tubes (or perhaps an Axe-Fx???). It really has its own thing going on IMO.
My question...anyone here have any experience with this amp? My buddy doesn't actively gig so I really can't get any feedback about its performance. I have heard whispers that ENGL amps are poorly built and not road worthy (cheap components, board mounted tube sockets, plastic shafted pots, etc), but it seems like a lot of great players are using them. Any thoughts and experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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