ENGL Artist Edition

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.
Click to expand...

The PCB is held on plastic spacers. When replacing the tubes, the PCB on spacers moves slightly and gives the impression of a PCB bending. I agree, there could be stiffer spacers. However, the construction is not that bad, on the other hand, it could be better without increasing the cost of the amp. PCB thickness is 1,6 mm.

IMG_20221112_233452528_HDR.jpg
 
This is spot-on Retro. This video sealed the deal for me when I bought one. Alot of wankery, but towards the end he gets some mighty chunk. The Retro is very articulate, crunchy, and aggressive. It's a great amp.

 
Last edited:
napalmdeath said:
This is spot-on Retro. This video sealed the deal for me when I bought one. Alot of wankery, but towards the end he gets some mighty chunk. The Retro is very articulate, crunchy, and aggressive. It's a great amp.

Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing the video! The guy demoing the amp is speaking in German which I don't understand, but is demonstrating that the Retro 100 amp can be played with different musical styles with different amp settings. The overdrive channel has balls/punch and is clear sounding. Very Marshall sounding tone. The clean channel sounds versatile, but can also be overdriven as well. The layout is simple and has a nice organic tone to it.
 
Owned an Engl Powerball (original) and an Engl SE34. The Powerball, in retrospect, sounded very plastic with no warmth. Not saying it was bad...it just wasn't what I was looking for in the long term (not a dedicated metal player). I had some fun with it but thought a lot of the features were fluff. I have heard the Powerball II is much better but can't confirm. I actually really liked the SE34. Sounded pretty good but was extremely nervous to even move the amp. I had a problem with the first one I had. I never found out what the issue was as it just didn't sound right and had switching issues. I could not find anyone stateside that would look at it or even knew how to repair the amp. I was able to get a replacement and it was brand new. Sounded great but the lingering issue of repairs loomed over me. I finally decided it wasn't worth owning an amp that I could not get repaired locally if something else happened to it.

I'm sure there are some great Engl models out there but they just aren't my flavor of amplifier.
 
PSA: I saw an engl retro at the Las Vegas - Summerlin GC (not the big las vegas GC) about one month ago. I do not recall seeing it on the guitar Center website. Might be worth a call to the shop if somebody is looking for one.
 
I would not say the build quality is bad by any means. It's not the like the insides of a Diezel but not terrible. The Engls I have can just be a pain to work on because of the way they are built. The ribbon cables can be an issue and the fact that many connections are fixed down using hot glue is a pain in the ass in particular.
What bugs me most though is that the components are mounted on the top side of the PCB (same side as the tube sockets) as opposed to the bottom as most other manufacturers do it. At least my 2011 Savage, 2011 Invader 100 and 2014 Retro Tube 50 are built that way. What this means is that if a resistor or cap dies, you have to unsolder (in the case of my Savage and Invader) or unpug (the the case of my Retro) all the connections to the main PCB, get that damned hot snot off enable to remove and flip over the PCB to get at the components.

I guess they do this for manufacturing reasons. The assembly person can just pop everything in from one side, pop it in the solder machine and it's done. However, gut shots I have seen from a Savage mk II indicate that they changed this paractice as on that photo at least, the componentes were mounted from the bottom.

I am not too concerned about the boards flexing a bit. Have you guys ever changed preamp tubes on a Peavey 5150/6505? That PCB flexes terrifyingly.
 
Always wanted to try an Artist Edition or Retro. I owned a Steve Morse and it was killer, but my KSR Juno did the same style of tones with a bit more rawness and life to the sound.

If someone is looking for an Inferno my buddy has a super clean one that he's looking to sell.
 
Last edited:
Candiria said:
Always wanted to try an Artist Edition or Retro. I opened a Steve Morse and it was killer, but my KSR Juno did the same style of tones with a bit more rawness and life to the sound.

If someone is looking for an Inferno my buddy has a super clean one that he's looking to sell.
Click to expand...
Interesting to know about the Juno compared to the Morse. I've wondered where it fits in with the rest of the KSR line.
 
MadAsAHatter said:
Interesting to know about the Juno compared to the Morse. I've wondered where it fits in with the rest of the KSR line.
Click to expand...

The Juno is different from the rest of the lineup, especially in the clip mode. It's not as stiff and the high end is smoother. The clip mode is basically a Jose style clip on the crunch channel and can do the Fortin thing or more classic 80's tones. It's not 100% modded Marshall, but it's that style.

It covers a lot of the same ground as the Morse, but the clean is nicer IMO, and the high gain tones have more rawness to them. The low-end is a bit more percussive. I liked the midi implementation of the Morse. I wish Kyle would put that into the Juno, since it's in most of his other amps.

I'm not an ENGL expert, but of the ones I've played (Powerball, Invader, Inferno, Savage II) the Morse was my favorite followed by the Inferno. The Savage had an amazing metal tone, but it really only did that one thing. I would have definitely kept the Morse if I didn't have the Juno.
 
I am always surprised too read those posts about ENGL amps poor built quality.
My Blackmore is about the only amp I never had a problem with.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top