Why No Engl Raider Head?

I had the combo and absolutely loved it. It was a regretful sale because it was a great amp. It's gone under the radar for some reason, and I think it's because they didn't make a head version. I liked it better than some of their other offerings, and that's saying a lot because there's not an Engl that I don't love. Really sorely overlooked amp.

Does Engl perhaps make a head version already under another name? The only other Engl I see that uses 5881 tubes is the Blackmore.

Fuego":3bdnic4z said:

Does Engl perhaps make a head version already under another name? The only other Engl I see that uses 5881 tubes is the Blackmore.

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No the Blackmore is a different beast. The Raider is hard to explain but there are some pretty good videos of it on Youtube. With the gain up a little playing a solo, there's this really cool vocal wah quality to it. The clean channel is oustanding too. The tone is a bit smoother than you might expect. It's a super versatile amp.

Is the overall voicing closer to the Blackmore/Savage (fundamentally British), the Fireball/Powerball (darker, more modern), or something else entirely? I've never seen a Raider in person, much less played one, and Engl's online descriptions are less than, well, descriptive.

Rising Farce":rtx1on5y said:

Is the overall voicing closer to the Blackmore/Savage (fundamentally British), the Fireball/Powerball (darker, more modern), or something else entirely? I've never seen a Raider in person, much less played one, and Engl's online descriptions are less than, well, descriptive.

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I've owned the Savage 120, Sovereign 100 and Raider 100.

For me, personally, the Raider felt different than the Savage and Sovereign, more "american", a bit darker and definitely looser in feel. I would say it is a bit more similar to the Fireball 100 but not quite as modern if I remember correctly. Don't know the other ENGL amps so can't compare.

I liked the Raider, but did end up selling it again at one point. I also owned another Sovereign 100 after that which I personally prefer because it's a bit tighter - but that's just me and probably because I played a Savage as my main amp for 7+ years (the Sovereign and Savage are VERY similar).

The sovereign interests me.

Yeah, the Sovereign sounds great. Both the Raider and Sovereign sound different from the Engl heads, so I never understood why they wouldn't make a head version of both. The Raider has some of the most awesome, wah-like mids I've ever heard from a 6L6 amp. Both amps are very loud, 100w I think, but very comfortable to use at home.