Zado
Active member
yeah ENGL should blend the two with a Invage or Savader model.
Engl Savage 120 tone in a mix: Can't understand the hate for this amp!
- Thread starter nightlight
- Start date
yeah ENGL should blend the two with a Invage or Savader model.
glpg80
Well-known member
The Savage SE is the only one I’d own. It’s the savage model but with a proper 120W 4x 6L6 power side. I love the SELE until you go listen to amp comparisons and it seems like the amp just doesn’t have any teeth or aggression. The funny thing is though Engls record amazingly well but live or compared to other amps they seemingly fall short tonally.
Speeddemon
Well-known member
I actually got both and like both for different reasons.
But the Invader would've been a desert island amp if CH2 had more Savage 'kerrang' in it and CH4 was more like Lead 2 of the SE.
nightlight
Well-known member
OK, here's another Engl. A Fireball 100. This is also a love or hate amp, I think. This is just me mindlessly riffing on a drop tuned guitar, but there just seems to be so much tonal goodness that I can't imagine why so many folks were dissing on Engls in the "Which amp did you sell and not regret" thread.
PurityS.L.G
Well-known member
Ha! Thats funny and seems to be true even for myself. I did actually like the Steve Morse model however. It had a much better mid voicing to my ears.
TotallyRadGuitars
Well-known member
I see the phrase "synthetic" thrown around a lot when describing ENGLs, even on this very thread.
And no offense to people who say that, but ENGL is a very varied brand with a lot of different sounding amps, and they aren't new, they've been making amps since 1985 so it's not like the Powerball was the first ever ENGL, even if it's the one most people got to play in the US. I can see the argument of "synthetic" for stuff like the powerball, fireball, maybe certain channels/modes of the invader. But that doesn't describe the Retro, Savage, Blackmore, Straight, etc.
It would be the equivalent of playing a Marshall JTM45 and saying "all Marshalls are low gain amps," while knowing the JVM and DSL exist.
Long story short, if you played a Powerball and didn't like it, I totally get it. But close your eyes or something if the brand is going to color your opinion, and go play a Savage, and I doubt you'd say ENGL's "all sound synthetic" after that.
*The only "gotcha" about the Savage Mk1 is that it's really a two channel amp. If you are on the Lead 2 channel, BOTH gain controls are active, not just the Lead 2 gain. I once had someone tell me their Savage was really dry and low gain on lead 2, saw the picture, Lead 1 gain control was set to 10 O'clock - no wonder! The Mk2 is more of a "true" 4 channel amp, but you lose the niceties of being able to manipulate the tone with both gain controls, which I personally like a lot.
Oh, and the repairs do suck ass. Circuit boards are mounted upside down inside and not silk screened. Kind of a dick move IMO, I've vented about this before but I do worry about very long term reliability (i.e. not now, but 15 years from now, will my 90s Savage be serviceable?). I guess it's not any worse than a gooped up modded amp though.
And no offense to people who say that, but ENGL is a very varied brand with a lot of different sounding amps, and they aren't new, they've been making amps since 1985 so it's not like the Powerball was the first ever ENGL, even if it's the one most people got to play in the US. I can see the argument of "synthetic" for stuff like the powerball, fireball, maybe certain channels/modes of the invader. But that doesn't describe the Retro, Savage, Blackmore, Straight, etc.
It would be the equivalent of playing a Marshall JTM45 and saying "all Marshalls are low gain amps," while knowing the JVM and DSL exist.
Long story short, if you played a Powerball and didn't like it, I totally get it. But close your eyes or something if the brand is going to color your opinion, and go play a Savage, and I doubt you'd say ENGL's "all sound synthetic" after that.
*The only "gotcha" about the Savage Mk1 is that it's really a two channel amp. If you are on the Lead 2 channel, BOTH gain controls are active, not just the Lead 2 gain. I once had someone tell me their Savage was really dry and low gain on lead 2, saw the picture, Lead 1 gain control was set to 10 O'clock - no wonder! The Mk2 is more of a "true" 4 channel amp, but you lose the niceties of being able to manipulate the tone with both gain controls, which I personally like a lot.
Oh, and the repairs do suck ass. Circuit boards are mounted upside down inside and not silk screened. Kind of a dick move IMO, I've vented about this before but I do worry about very long term reliability (i.e. not now, but 15 years from now, will my 90s Savage be serviceable?). I guess it's not any worse than a gooped up modded amp though.