James_E
Member
If you have one of these, how has it held up over time as far as you liking the tone compared to other amps. Using it live?
richardt4520
Member
I had one for a long time and LOVED it for recording. It just sat perfectly in the mix but still had a unique modern sound to it that I haven't heard out of anything else. Live, it was very anemic and had no low mids-plenty of bass, plenty of highs, but no low mids. It got swallowed everytime I jammed with another guitarist until I swapped the ELs for 6L6s, which helped. Plenty of guys love them live so it may have just been how I was dialing it. I had been using Mesas for about 10 years prior to that so my ears were probably more tuned to those low mids because of that. Still, that Engl is one of my favorite amps ever.
shredhead7
Active member
I have the 6l6 version and it all depends on how you dial them. Personally, I never used the low punch setting and rarely used the deep setting. They sounded really cool in my basement, but my bass player brought up the point that it was swallowing his amp. It's true. My modded Marshalls cut better and sounded better in the mix, but the reality is, that they just don't have the butt on them that the Engl does, so the overall room sounded better; the bass sat where it should, the drums where they should, and the guitars where they should. Once I realized that, I started to dial a more mid/treble tone and the Engl cut through just as well. The lesson is that there are settings for a band and settings for at home and they are 20 degrees apart.
Tone Monster
Well-known member
Those amps had over the top gain! I put a 5751 in the V1 spot and it tamed up the gain nicely. Still, overall they sounded very processed and are built like total dog shit.
James_E
Member
Tone Monster":u3zkgzja said:
Thanks for the reply.
I've read various opinions on this. Been googling this a bunch today. I've seen some complaints, but not significantly more than alot of other amp brands really. And coupled with the complaints are a bunch of other saying "I gigged XXX for 6 years with no problems other than tubes." or something. So.. could you elaborate on the "dog shit" part? Is it the "hard to fix when they DO break" problem?
Tone Monster
Well-known member
James_E":2o61pqdq said:
The wiring inside was just laughable. Everything felt flimsy. I believe the tube sockets were mounted directly to the board. It felt like you were gonna break something when fiddling with the tubes.
Tone Monster
Well-known member
I will say this, I owned a Herbert at the same time and IMO they had VERY similar tone. Hifi and processed sounding.
eric_kv2
New member
richardt4520":32esmk0u said:
I think its a design flaw as I had a very similar problem. I would have a good sound dialed in and all of the sudden it would go all midrangey and the lows dropped out. Lower volumes it was ok, but for live, it did exactly like you said. I talked to another Engl user that had the same problem with his SE EL-34.
James_E
Member
Thanks for all the comments guys. Was thinking about this amp as a local shop has marked down a new one to ~$3000 Canadian (+13% tax) for a total of $3390 which is $2650 USD. MF sells them for $4200 USD, which is about $5300 Canadian! I tried it a bit in the store and like it at the lower volume I was playing at. I'll have to go and try it some more.
Tone Monster
Well-known member
just dont buy one, imo. Get a nice used Herbert and if you get tired of it you'll be able to sell it for approx what you bought it for. Plus you don't have to worry about it catching on fire.
richardt4520
Member
They're great amps and with 5 channels, 3 effects loops, MIDI, and all the other features, it will adapt to whatever you want to use it for. As far as reliability, when UPS arrived with it, the driver threw it off his shoulder while he was standing up in his truck onto the pavement, not knowing what it was or how much it was worth. That was about a 9 or 10 foot drop onto the concrete. Other than a dent on one of the metal corners from the drop, I never had a single issue with it and used it daily for about 3 or 4 years.