You sound similar to me and are kind of all over the place with the wish list. I actually looked pretty hard at al those amps and ultimately took them off my list. I either got something that's equivalent or another amp took it's place on the list.
Of your list I's probably go with the ENGL Artist because I'm a little partial to ENGL's.
A couple of other amps for you consideration that would probably fit the bill:
The next couple I don't own, but have stayed on my list. You may like them too.
- Get on the list for the next run for a Headfirst Alta 100 - It's a fucking awesome amp, I love mine. Packed with Marshally tone goodness
- EVO Amps TM50 - Made by Rob DeAntionio of Jaded Faith mods. It's a 50 watt 6L6 tone monster.
- ENGL Steve Morse - To me it's a better version on an Invader. Ch3 gives so much control over shaping mids.
- ENGL Inferno - Though it's more straight forward with controls, I consider it ENGL's best sounding amp
- Peters with Fire Hammer or Plasma Blade channel - I have a Vega. It's less gain than the current models but can get into trash metal territory and sounds damn good.
If you're still thinking about Synergy stuff, maybe look into the older Randall RM100 heads. 100 watts and 3 module slots. Try to find one that already has the dual channel upgrade and Foglifter mod. If you're lucky and find one with the MM Transformer/Choke upgrade grab it right then and there. They sound darn good with stock transformers, but the MM ones take it to the next level. Or find a stock one on the cheap and send it to Rob for the full works.
- Science Decolonizer
- Morris Sirrom
- Fuck it, get a Wizard
I got lucky and found one with all upgrades except for the cathode bias switch. It can compete with my other amps pretty easily, especially with the Jaded Faith modded modules I have.
The Alta100 is THE shizz!
What I appreciate mucho is the ability to plug in and get a great tone very quickly and get lost in the chase….
The amp loves Creambacks.
The MIDI is powered in the amp which is dope AF!
The effects loop is killer also, no noticeable separation or artfifacts, designed right!
It’s also a great deal in today’s bludgeoning
boutique amplifier market.
Well..now it’s time to click outta’ standby and bring some relentless “Machine Gun”(Jimi)
through channel 2, Strat neck pickup.
By far the best seamless match dirt pedal is the
Kraken pedal.
Damn.., like crazy good.
I actually was a bit on the fence about the Kraken, I definitely was into it but the low end frequency feels was a touchy match.
Man, not so here.
Also worth noting,
Fulltone OCDv1.4,
LPD Pedals 87 Deluxe & 68 Deluxe
The Soldano SLO
-all were great matches but
the Kraken was roughly two solid notches above the other pedals in the showdown.
-For just sounding like a great extension of the amp in a new way that has a abundant range of flexibility in the equalization controls and is powerful as hell and gladly will do all the heavy lifting if need be.
So you can take it far as hell while sounding killer.
RIPPING lead tones.
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