Engl E606 Ironball Amp

[hellaboogie]

The mini heads are in full swing, sounds pretty darn good

 

[maddnotez]

Eh, im not into the angry bee sting sound lol....

Something about these mini amps just doesnt quite get it there for me. It does sound really good but just missing the hugeness, the oomph, the balls if you will. I wonder what a boost and maybe cranked volume would do.

 

[Aztec]

Sounds good, but yeah something is missing, something you get from amps like the Blackmore, Savage and SE.

 

[glassjaw7]

I'm sooo tired of seeing all these lunchbox amps. I can sort of see the point if you ONLY record in the studio, but if you jam with an even remotely loud drummer, get a full sized head with a good master volume and just turn it down. Or a half-power switch.

 

[mjtripper]

I'm sooo tired of seeing all these lunchbox amps. I can sort of see the point if you ONLY record in the studio, but if you jam with an even remotely loud drummer, get a full sized head with a good master volume and just turn it down. Or a half-power switch.

More then half the people I jam with use electronic drums and these lunchbox amps are perfect. With kids, families, neighbors, etc it allows us to play a LOT more then we could otherwise. One night we had 3 guitarists using those marshall 1 watters and it was still enough. I prefer the big amp, real drums, etc but if it's e-drums and small amps or nothing - well, I'd rather play.

 

[mjtripper]

oh yeah - I think this is cool but I'll need to try it in person first. This and that jet city 20hflex really have my interest right now for a smaller and lighter rig when I don't want to take the big one out.

 

[moltenmetalburn]

I'm sooo tired of seeing all these lunchbox amps. I can sort of see the point if you ONLY record in the studio, but if you jam with an even remotely loud drummer, get a full sized head with a good master volume and just turn it down. Or a half-power switch.

More then half the people I jam with use electronic drums and these lunchbox amps are perfect. With kids, families, neighbors, etc it allows us to play a LOT more then we could otherwise. One night we had 3 guitarists using those marshall 1 watters and it was still enough. I prefer the big amp, real drums, etc but if it's e-drums and small amps or nothing - well, I'd rather play.

I have a few tube poweramps and for this reason love the tiny heads that have fx loops or slave outs. They serve as awesome practice or mobile jam rigs, then when used as a preamp give me full size sound when needed without buying full sized amps.

It's far more financially viable for me to have ten sub $1000 heads than ten $2000 plus .

I think of the mini amps ( with fx loops) as preamps with tiny practice power amps built in for convenience.

Since the advent of the smps power supply I've been collecting tube preamps disguised as pedals as well. Kingley, effectrode, swell and coopersonic to name a few. I can guarantee you this is the new norm. We will soon seen dozens of all tube preamp pedals with smps power supplies.

 

[Devin]

Since the advent of the smps power supply I've been collecting tube preamps disguised as pedals as well. Kingley, effectrode, swell and coopersonic to name a few. I can guarantee you this is the new norm. We will soon seen dozens of all tube preamp pedals with smps power supplies.

On the flipside, those ss AMT Legend preamp pedals sound friggin great too! So far I've played P1, R1, and V1 - all awesome IMO.

 

[mjtripper]

I thought I saw a thread about fortin coming out with a tube preamp in pedal/floor format as well and I think even traynor has one.

 

[JerEvil]

Since the advent of the smps power supply I've been collecting tube preamps disguised as pedals as well. Kingley, effectrode, swell and coopersonic to name a few. I can guarantee you this is the new norm. We will soon seen dozens of all tube preamp pedals with smps power supplies.

On the flipside, those ss AMT Legend preamp pedals sound friggin great too! So far I've played P1, R1, and V1 - all awesome IMO.

Yeah but they aren't fancy so no one cares about them! LOL! I still want to try mine out with the .44 Magnum.

 

[glassjaw7]

Good points above, just sick of the trend.

 

[mjtripper]

True, most products are very much a me too product and that does get old. I don't get the soldano mini hot rod for instance, it's SO close to the 50. Probably sounds great but that one I just don't get. This engl seems like a good balance of size and features and I like how most of the small jet city stuff is setup, full preamps with smaller power sections. Keeps the size, cost, and weight down. But you are right, the trend is old at this point - being small isn't enough anymore.

 

[WildNorth]

Since the advent of the smps power supply I've been collecting tube preamps disguised as pedals as well. Kingley, effectrode, swell and coopersonic to name a few. I can guarantee you this is the new norm. We will soon seen dozens of all tube preamp pedals with smps power supplies.

On the flipside, those ss AMT Legend preamp pedals sound friggin great too! So far I've played P1, R1, and V1 - all awesome IMO.

I am very interested in these. How did you have them connected when you tried them out? Did you give the simulated output a try?

 

[dawnofdreamx97]

Cool ! I like it BUT..... EL84 = Aids to me , i like engl , and it really doesnt sound bad , but I think if they were smart they'd come out with a 60 watt or 100 watt mini head , the SIZE of the carvin legacy 3 or smaller even. With the ability to run el34 and 6l6, with a buffered fx loop, clean and dirty channel with a solo boost that would all be footswitchable. Make that amp with the sound of a savage 120 in the size of that legacy 3 = Serious win. Oh and make it have switchable world mains so I can carry it on the air plane for gigs over seas's =)

 

[Devin]

I am very interested in these. How did you have them connected when you tried them out? Did you give the simulated output a try?

I tried them pretty much every way you could imagine. I personally owned the R1 for a while. The simulated output is OK for what it is but using the normal output with impulses sounds better to me. Cool thing is you could use both at once if you wanted - for instance sim output to FOH and normal output to your stage power amp.

When jamming with the band I'd run it into the FX loop of my lil Crate Powerblock.


Here's a clip of my R1 normal output direct into my interface with impulses:

https://soundcloud.com/devinchaseortego/amt-r1-test


And here's a crappy single tracked improv I recorded using the sim output direct

I overdub a lead part towards the end - I think the sim works much better for recording leads rather than rhythm

http://tonefinder.com/?section=id&value=13050


I realize those clips are pretty much apples and oranges though - one has bass, dual panned guitar tracks, and pre-planned riffage and the other has none of those things

 

[WildNorth]

I am very interested in these. How did you have them connected when you tried them out? Did you give the simulated output a try?

I tried them pretty much every way you could imagine. I personally owned the R1 for a while. The simulated output is OK for what it is but using the normal output with impulses sounds better to me. Cool thing is you could use both at once if you wanted - for instance sim output to FOH and normal output to your stage power amp.

When jamming with the band I'd run it into the FX loop of my lil Crate Powerblock.


Here's a clip of my R1 normal output direct into my interface with impulses:

https://soundcloud.com/devinchaseortego/amt-r1-test


And here's a crappy single tracked improv I recorded using the sim output direct

I overdub a lead part towards the end - I think the sim works much better for recording leads rather than rhythm

http://tonefinder.com/?section=id&value=13050


I realize those clips are pretty much apples and oranges though - one has bass, dual panned guitar tracks, and pre-planned riffage and the other has none of those things

Very helpful.

Nice riffage btw...

Edit: Believe it or not....I prefer the sim tone in the second link. A little less trebly.

 

[gtr31]

I think for what it is its much better than then the gig masters .
Pretty tight and has a ton of gain .reminds me of the Retro amp they released

i think it is a cool product ,Reverb and power soak
i think it competes with the mini recto .which to date has sold a ton for mesa

my buddy works at dealer and he says the mini and Mkv are the big sellers for them

 

[eljodon]

I bought a Vox Nightrain because it was for sale on Sweetwater for $300 new. I like it, it sounds like a hot rodded AC 15. It's not a Metal amp, but you get a nice bluesy bright sound with a nice midrange. I use it when I need more gain than my Vox AC30. It sounds great with a Strat.

 

[university81]

not bad, not sure on the name heh , i'd love to see more 6v6 tube mini amp heads on the market

 

[robertkoa]

not bad, not sure on the name heh , i'd love to see more 6v6 tube mini amp heads on the market

Funny but when someone said something is missing from many MiniAmps- I was thinking bottom end fullness and I wonder if there would be more bottom end from 6V6 s.

There have been fewer medium / and high gain capable Amps with 6V6 -I'd like to see more also , you don't really need EL84s for "British “ tones 6V6 can do it .