Question Engl vs. Mesa Boogie, who wins?

[bkrumme]

Well, which one has a great clean, amazing medium gain, and crushing high gain all in one amp?

Again, I'm not implying anything I am just trying to decide if I should check them out.

The same ones I mentioned before. Special Edition or Powerball II.

Though I should mention, the price of a new Mark V will be a bit lower than the price of a new ENGL...so if you're considering a Mark V, the price point is definitely better.

 

[73h Nils]

Engl all the way, but I am biased. I have only tried a tri-rec. I spent a good 30 mins dialing it in and still couldn't get ANY good sounds out of it. I guess I'm used to the easiness of the ENGLs. I have the origional fireball and I love it. Only thing that's missing is at least two different EQs, maybe 3 for clean, crunch and lead. It only has one. Then again I haven't tried any other Mesas. + Engls are way cheaper in Europe than Mesas are.

Triple Recs are borderline useless, anyway, unless you're playing a mountain-sized stadium.

 

[Hendog]

The same ones I mentioned before. Special Edition or Powerball II.

Though I should mention, the price of a new Mark V will be a bit lower than the price of a new ENGL...so if you're considering a Mark V, the price point is definitely better.

$3,999! Forget it!

 

[Hendog]

Would the Powerball II have that great ENGL sound?

Would a cheaper Fireball cut it? How about the Screamer?

 

[roburado]

Anytime anyone ever asks what high-end, high-gain tube amp they should buy, I say the same thing.

You should check out Egnater, because I think they do amazing things. They sound great. They have a large variety of tonal options, because of their modular preamp system. Plus, they're really simple. Mesa has so many freaking knobs it's ridiculous. Sure, they're built like tanks. They have amazing customer service, but I feel like I need to take engineering courses just to figure out how to work their more complicated stuff. I don't have as much experience with ENGL. Plus, I'm not an EL34 kind of guy, but the ENGLs are nice. Egnater's modular amps will take EL34 or 6L6, whichever you want. I suggest the Egnater Mod-50.

Below is a link to Egnater, their story, and the concept behind their modular amps.

Egnater Amplification ? History

Okay, I'll make it easier. Here's what Egnater has to say about their modular series amps.

Multi channel tube amplifiers are nothing new. Lots of great amps are out there each with their own signature sounds. Marshalls sound like….Marshalls. Fenders sound like duh….Fenders. Boogie, Vox, and on and on. Each company has carved out their niche by creating their own unique tones. How many multi channel amps have you played (or owned) where you loved one particular sound it makes, you kind of like one of the other channels and you really have no use for the other(s). Let’s do a little math. Let’s assume it is a 3 channel high end “boutique” model that cost you say…$3000. You love that “Plexi” tone it does. The high gain channel is pretty good and the clean channel is just OK at best. Let’s see, $3,000 divided by 3 channels equals $1,000 per channel. The Plexi channel is outstanding at $1,000. The high gain is just OK so let’s reduce it’s value to half so….$500. The clean channel really isn’t so great but you live with it because you have no choice. Sounds like the $3,000 amp has about $1500 of channels you really don’t particularly like. Egnater has been producing multi channel tubes amps for a long time. We were one of the first to offer an all tube preamp with four individual channels (The IE4). The TOL100 was also one of the first four channel all tube amps. After years of producing some very fine products, we realized no two players had exactly the same needs and desires. We even found ourselves often modifying our own amps!!! “There must be a better way”, we said. Really, we actually said that. How can we make an amp that will work for every player in every situation? “Impossible”, they said (we didn’t say that). “What if we could make it modular” we said? So we did. Now, you no longer have to settle for channels you don’t like just to get that one great one. With the Egnater Modular amps, you pick the channels you want whenever you want. You are never stuck with anything. You pick the channels. You pick the power tubes. You pick the speakers. We don’t make any decisions for you. You build your amp in any configuration you like. Playing with the country band tonight? Plug is the Twin/DLX and the C.O.D. Doing the heavy rock thing tonight? Slip in the SL and SL2, AC/DC to Scorpions. You get it.

 

[D.K.]

I'd go with ENGL Savage 120 anytime! Great clean lots of headroom, and beautiful gain sound with character - although maybe a tad noisier and less gain, than Boogies usually have.

 

[Heeboja]

Would the Powerball II have that great ENGL sound?

Would a cheaper Fireball cut it? How about the Screamer?

Well They all have that great ENGL sound. Powerball is the darkest sounding ENGL they have.

Fireball will do what ever you want it to do. It has great clean (no reverb though) , great crunch and more than enough of gain. + the fx loops on ENGLs are really great. It's great for studio use, but if you want to go rocking on stage, the shared EQ really isn't ideal. I just don't like the clean I get when I EQ my lead setting and vice versa. It's not bad, but I can get better sounds out of it. Would have to compromise.

 

[colinboy]

Have any of you guys checked out the new series one range from blackstar?

Ive got the 200head and cab and its an absolute monster of an amp,more tones to suit any musical situation and will defo give any Mesa or Engl amps a run for their money!

 

[mikeller]

I have never had the opportunity of playing the any ENGL models, however, I am very, very happy with my Mesa Electra-dyne.

 

[bkrumme]

Would the Powerball II have that great ENGL sound?

I'm guessing it would It is an ENGL after all, just an updated version of the Powerball.

Would a cheaper Fireball cut it? How about the Screamer?[/QUOTE]

The Fireball is an amazing amp, though limited in what you can do with it. It's 2 channel, but only one EQ. A great amp, but much closer to one-dimensional than the Powerball or SE.

I haven't tried a Screamer so I can't say about that one.

If you can, I'd say find a few shops near your home that carry a number of good tube amps and try them out.

I'm partial to my Mark V, but love the sound you can get from ENGL and other amps. The Blackstar amps colinboy mentioned really are nice. Egnater are great too, even though they're all built in China.

 

[Hendog]

Well They all have that great ENGL sound. Powerball is the darkest sounding ENGL they have.

Fireball will do what ever you want it to do. It has great clean (no reverb though) , great crunch and more than enough of gain. + the fx loops on ENGLs are really great. It's great for studio use, but if you want to go rocking on stage, the shared EQ really isn't ideal. I just don't like the clean I get when I EQ my lead setting and vice versa. It's not bad, but I can get better sounds out of it. Would have to compromise.

So what would you recommend in the ENGL line that is less than 2k?

 

[bkrumme]

So what would you recommend in the ENGL line that is less than 2k?

Powerball comes in right around $2k
Fireball 100 is a bit less around $1600
There's also the Blackmore Signature for around the same as the Fireball 100.

 

[Hendog]

Powerball comes in right around $2k
Fireball 100 is a bit less around $1600
There's also the Blackmore Signature for around the same as the Fireball 100.

How about the Thunder 50 for $999 too low end? Doesn't capture the ENGL tone?

How about the Screamer?

 

[bkrumme]

How about the Thunder 50 for $999 too low end? Doesn't capture the ENGL tone?

I haven't played one personally. So I can't tell you how it sounds. $1k is a pretty good price for an all tube amp, though.

ENGL puts the same craftsmanship into all their products. The Thunder is 50W, 3 Channels. so you could crank it up pretty good and get more tube saturation out of it. You only get 1 EQ, though, which limits your tone selection for live gigs. You could always add a Distortion or Overdrive pedal for some more tonal options as well.

If I were you, I'd try to find one to try out. If you're willing to take the chance, then I think it is a fair deal.

 

[francric]

IMO, bang for your money, Mesa.........................

 

[DaPatrooch]

Mesas take a while to get used to tweaking. I own a Single Rectifier combo, which I love, so I'm used to dialing them in and getting settings that I like. I'm saving up for a 4x12 cab to run it through, and maybe I'll trade it in and get one of the new Dual Rectifier heads. The Dual Rectifier, or any of the variations like a Roadster or Roadking, are my favorite amps ever, they're pretty much the sound I'm going for at this time. Never played an ENGL, but everyone says they're awesome. Depends on what you like, try different models from both companies.

 

[Astrofreq]

I amp shopped last year and tried both brands. I eventually bought an Engl Raider 100. There were ZERO Raider 100 video reviews at the time, so I made a couple.

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L5TgeL6MXg"]YouTube- Engl Raider 100 - Clean channel review.[/nomedia]


[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiDctLS3wDQ"]YouTube- Engl Raider 100 - Distortion channel review.[/nomedia]


This amp can get unbelievably loud, but the tone is just perfect. There were also no dealers anywhere near me, so I had to just go on the sound of the other Engl amps and the artists that used them. Seeing that SO many hardcore metalheads used the amp, I knew the gain would be amazing and it is.

 

[Jerry Jim]

Diezel wins!

 

[DrGonzo5150]

Diezel wins!

Haha... If I was getting involved with the hijack I would say Wizard and Cornford for the win!! But I won't do that

Try both and see what ticks your boxes. Tone is uber subjective.

I would normally advocate for ENGL pretty stongly, but I had some reasonable experiences recording with a mesa recently...
So it's all good stuff, let your ears decide.

 

[bkrumme]

So it's all good stuff, let your ears decide.

+ Eleventy-billion