ENGL Artist Edition

espquade

espquade

Well-known member
I think this Engl Artist Edition sounds really good here. Anyone have any experience and is the build quality something to be overblown or ?

 
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Most Marshall sounding of the ENGL line. Nice amp. I liked mine, in fact I traded it plus cash for the Mezzabarba Trinity which was a big mistake. Had I not done that I'd still own the Artist.

I personally thought it blew the Trinity out of the water for straight high gain rock tones. Build quality - the Mezzabarba stuff is immaculate.
 
I had one for a while, most hot rodded Marshall sound of Engl to me. Love the amp, wish I would have kept it. It seemed built well enough.
 
I believe the most Marshall sounding Engl is Inferno. But that's not that imporant. Artist is absolutely great amp, in some way I like it more than my keeper Savage SE.
 
I had one of the Artist E651 100 watters.. Sounded good, but I did have a problem with the build quality for an amp that price. Especially when you have to drop another $250 for a footswitch. My main gripe was the PC board seemed really flimsy on it. When I would change/roll tubes in it the PC board would just flex something awful. Like there was very little support under it. I don't know, maybe the board is a lot tougher than I give it credit for and might never be a problem. I didn't keep the amp very long.
 
mcstinger said:
I believe the most Marshall sounding Engl is Inferno. But that's not that imporant. Artist is absolutely great amp, in some way I like it more than my keeper Savage SE.
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Yeah the Artist was several years before the Inferno. I'd say the Inferno shares alot of the DNA from the Artist...which was supposed to be the Doug Aldrich sig amp. I love the look of the blackout Inferno.
 
I had the 50, and 100. DO IT. But, get the 100. 😁

And for those saying its the most "Marshall" of the Engls? Try a Retro. It's right up there too. In fact, I believe the Inferno is based on a tweaked Retro.

I believe it even says Retro Tube 100 on the back, and is a model E766, when the Retro is an E765... Hmmmm..
 
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napalmdeath said:
I had the 50, and 100. DO IT. But, get the 100. 😁

And for those saying its the most "Marshall" of the Engls? Try a Retro. It's right up there too. In fact, I believe the Inferno is based on a tweaked Retro.

I believe it even says Retro Tube 100 on the back, and is a model E766, when the Retro is an E765... Hmmmm..
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I have an Inferno and nowhere does it say Retro Tube 100 on it. It's not a tweaked one either. There's an article somewhere that talks about the design. They called it a Frankenstein between a Morse, SE, Invader & Powerball; the main amps used on Marty's Inferno album. The only thing sort of taken from the Retro Tube was the control layout. But that same layout is used on several othe amps as well.

I will agree in your assessment that a Retro Tube is more Marshall sounding than an Inferno. To me the Inferno still has the characteristic ENGL compression, just not near as much as say the Savage.

And personally I think the Steve Morse is the most Marshall sounding amp in their line. I have that one too and I get a distinct plexi vibe from it.

To the OP, the AE is a great sounding amp and build quality is sufficient. I think people have a hang up on ENGLs being pcb and ribbon cables. I haven't had any issues with my ENGLs. So unless you plan to throw it out a moving car I wouldn't worry.

And if your seriously looking into getting one check the Blackmore too. The AE was based on it. Main difference is the AE uses EL34 and Blackmore is 6L6.
 
War_in_D said:
I had one of the Artist E651 100 watters.. Sounded good, but I did have a problem with the build quality for an amp that price. Especially when you have to drop another $250 for a footswitch. My main gripe was the PC board seemed really flimsy on it. When I would change/roll tubes in it the PC board would just flex something awful. Like there was very little support under it. I don't know, maybe the board is a lot tougher than I give it credit for and might never be a problem. I didn't keep the amp very long.
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Yeah it should come with a damn footswitch...:eek:
 
Techdeth said:
Dan the Mailman loves Invavder because it the most Marshally he said
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It can get Marshall-y on the first 2 Channels in the same way a strawberry candy compares to a real strawberry, but the high gain channels that guys get that amp for are imo very much the opposite of a Marshall sound. Ch3 in particular is a very modern, smooth, scooped, polished high gain tone
 
John4021 said:
I take it the guts look worse than VCR?
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Yeah pretty much. The Chassis and Headshell could be slimmed down by half and still fit all the components. Ribbons and a pretty flimsy pcb. For the money there are much better built amps out there.

But they do sound pretty good. I had a Steve Morse as well.
 
MadAsAHatter said:
I have an Inferno and nowhere does it say Retro Tube 100 on it. It's not a tweaked one either. There's an article somewhere that talks about the design. They called it a Frankenstein between a Morse, SE, Invader & Powerball; the main amps used on Marty's Inferno album. The only thing sort of taken from the Retro Tube was the control layout. But that same layout is used on several othe amps as well.
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Interesting. I read some claims, (when they first came out), that Retro Tube 100 was on the back, so it's possible they used the same chassis since its basically the same layout. But I did pull up a video they were discussing the Inferno, and the designer stated its totally different aside from that.

I've never played one, but I'd like too. I had a Retro 50 I bought from Risingfarce, and that amp was more Marshall sounding than the Artist. Definitely higher in the mids, and the Artist was actually smoother, to my ears, (but still aggressive). The Retro was also brighter, a bit more compressed. You'd think "Retro" would be a rock amp, but it's very capable of high gain, crushing tone. You can't go wrong with either, really. Retros are hard to find, I wouldn't pass one up at a good price. They're killer amps. Very raw, modified Marshall flavor.
 
The Artist is basically a slightly refined Blackmore. Probably my favorite ENGL amp. I can't say anything bad about the build quality because my ENGL stuff was and is pretty reliable. Still have a 2×100W ENGL power amp with relatively beefy transformers and some seriously nice features. Tbh I had more problems with Mesa and some handwired boutique stuff over the years than with ENGL and the Artist 100W paired with a Z9 is going strong for 6-8 years now.

There are people on here that are buying decades old Peavey amps that I wouldn't go near with a 10ft pole and even though I could play my Peavey like a Theremin and its circuit boards seemed to be made out of flimsy cardboard I don't read so much about problems with those than I read about hot glue in ENGL amps. Open up a Mesa Boogie and you'll find hot glue or open up a Triaxis and it looks like a C64. At some point I stopped caring as long as the stuff is reliable.
 
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napalmdeath said:
Interesting. I read some claims, (when they first came out), that Retro Tube 100 was on the back, so it's possible they used the same chassis since its basically the same layout. But I did pull up a video they were discussing the Inferno, and the designer stated its totally different aside from that.

I've never played one, but I'd like too. I had a Retro 50 I bought from Risingfarce, and that amp was more Marshall sounding than the Artist. Definitely higher in the mids, and the Artist was actually smoother, to my ears, (but still aggressive). The Retro was also brighter, a bit more compressed. You'd think "Retro" would be a rock amp, but it's very capable of high gain, crushing tone. You can't go wrong with either, really. Retros are hard to find, I wouldn't pass one up at a good price. They're killer amps. Very raw, modified Marshall flavor.
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In this Inferno thread is a video, interview with Engl guys, Inferno is mentioned.

https://www.rig-talk.com/forum/threads/engl-inferno.226091/
 
napalmdeath said:
Interesting. I read some claims, (when they first came out), that Retro Tube 100 was on the back, so it's possible they used the same chassis since its basically the same layout. But I did pull up a video they were discussing the Inferno, and the designer stated its totally different aside from that.

I've never played one, but I'd like too. I had a Retro 50 I bought from Risingfarce, and that amp was more Marshall sounding than the Artist. Definitely higher in the mids, and the Artist was actually smoother, to my ears, (but still aggressive). The Retro was also brighter, a bit more compressed. You'd think "Retro" would be a rock amp, but it's very capable of high gain, crushing tone. You can't go wrong with either, really. Retros are hard to find, I wouldn't pass one up at a good price. They're killer amps. Very raw, modified Marshall flavor.
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mcstinger said:
In this Inferno thread is a video, interview with Engl guys, Inferno is mentioned.

https://www.rig-talk.com/forum/threads/engl-inferno.226091/
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I couldn't find the actual article again but found the old facebook post from Marty that sums it up.

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The the thread @mcstinger linked has this picture. I guess @napalmdeath is correct that Inferno's did in fact have Retro Tube 100 stamped on them at one point. Even old stock photos show this.

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Mine is newer production without that smoke graphic by the power switch which doesn't say Retro Tube 100 anywhere on it. This is how mine is stamped.

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Maybe ENGL used the Retro Tube as a base but ended up with a complete overhaul? Or maybe stamped them like that when they were starting to discontinue the Retro Tube and starting production on the Inferno to be able to use it for either amp. Who knows... At this point all I know is a Retro Tube and Inferno don't sound alike but both are pretty bad ass.

At the time I got my Inferno I already had my Morse and knew I wanted another ENGL. It was a toss up between the Inferno, Retro Tube, and AE as the top contenders. Obviously the Inferno won, but by a relatively slim margin. Mainly because it was Marty's signature amp and I love the tones he uses. Though every so often I wonder about the road not taken. Maybe one day I'll add a Retro Tube or AE to my stable, but the Inferno isn't going anywhere.
 
I had an ENGL SE and needed a repair.
The worst customer service ever.
I liked the amplifier very much but their support and the garbage master volume made me sell the amp.
 
Isn't it basically a Blackmore with 34s? I played one years ago and it was very similar to my Blackmore. Blackmore is the only ENGL I kept after owning 5 or 6 others (Powerball II, Fireball 100, Savage, Invader 100, SE).
 
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