New Amp: ENGL Raider E344 1x12 Combo

Yet another amp on my list to add to the stable was an ENGL of some kind. I’m not really that well versed in ENGL amps, while I know the popular models I have very little experience with how they sound or what models are designed for different things, besides the obvious ones (Retro Tube 50 for example).

However, I love the tones from the ENGL Savage I’ve heard in Ola Englund’s youtube videos (back when it was Fearedse).

On a random search of the Guitar Center used listings, this combo amp popped up with a huge price reduction. I didn’t know much about it, but I was tempted to find out. It’s not a very popular model and didn’t sell that well, but it is a top of the line combo so I figured it couldn’t be that bad.

Sadly it arrived missing the footswitch and with one spring broken in the spring reverb tank. Luckily I was able to work out a deal over the phone for a partial refund, repaired the reverb tank spring, and ordered a replacement Z-9 footswitch online (quite expensive).

What a great sounding amp - there are some really great tones in here and it’s 4* channel design covers a tone of ground. The footswitch is programmable yet still uses a standard guitar cable which is great. Buttons 1-4 can be used to select the channels, pressing it a second time engages the 2nd master volume, and it does remember which volume is selected if you choose another channel and come back. That’s great because my favorite setting for Channel 2 is with the gain maxed, but that makes Channel 1’s clean far too loud to use the same volume. Instead, I set up channels 1, 3 and 4 to use the 1st volume control, and channel 2 set to volume 2. This keeps them balanced in volume.

I always feel I should put an asterisk when calling this a 4* channel amp. Channels 1 and 2 share the same gain, EQ, and reverb controls. The only difference is the “high gain” switch is turned on automatically on channel 2 - and 4 for that matter since channels 3 & 4 also share controls. Since the gain and EQ can’t be set separately, it does limit the options somewhat as a channel switcher.

That said, Channel 1 is a fantastic clean channel though I have it set with some dirt because I love channel 2 with the gain maxed. It has a nice natural mid scoop but is still very thick in the low mids and is great for classic rock tones. Channel 3 picks up where 2 left off with a similar amount of gain around 6-7, but a bit darker, less scooped, and much tighter/bouncier low end. Channel 4 is just channel 3 with the high gain switch on, adding more gain and saturation to the same core tone.

Channels 3 and 4 are the essential ENGL sound, which is what I was after in the first place. High gain palm mutes are saturated and have a quality that is hard to describe but distinctly ENGL. It’s the same type of glorious palm mutes I hear in the aforementioned Ola video that made me so interested in this type of amp to begin with. I’ll link the video below do demonstrate what I’m talking about.

Another great feature is a built in, adjustable noise gate that is active on channels 3 and 4. This gate works perfectly and I set it one time and totally forgot about it from that point forward. It’s threshold is adjusted on the back panel.

Overall this is one heck of an amp and I can’t help but think it just wasn’t advertised that well or perhaps the form factor and lack of a direct head equivalent killed this one before it even got going. The Sovereign combo amp is similar in design but geared more towards metal players and thus sold a little better to the usual ENGL shoppers. I think if there were a raider head, or if they’d just made this as a Powerball combo or Savage combo it would’ve sold much better. Either way, I won’t complain because those amps sell for double what I paid for this combo amp, but the tones are nearly the same!

Listen to these palm mutes - amazing.

New Amp: Peavey 6505

Ever since selling my EVH 5150 III, I’ve been considering adding one back to the stable. My main concern was that hollowness to the mids of the EVH amps, despite adding some nice clarity to the notes and many reviews online citing the EVH as a clearly better amp than the old 6505/5150 I/II, I just had to find out for myself.

So I worked out a deal on this 6505. I’ve heard the standard 6505/5150 models are a bit more aggressive and have a little better drive tones than the 6505+/5150 II’s, so I went for this model instead. I’m not sure how true that is, the more I learn about it the more I think it’s just internet hearsay, but since I don’t own a 6505+ I don’t know for sure.

Any mids the EVH was missing, this amp has an excess of. This is one of the thickest, fullest sounding amps I’ve ever had and it really needs to have the mids scooped out a little to make it more clear sounding. Much like the EVH, it also has an extreme amount of gain and gets very saturated sounding.

The rhythm channel can be set clean or crunch mode, but crunch is essentially just another high gain channel. The gain maxed in crunch mode feels close to the gain around 5-6 on the lead channel, but really the lead channel isn’t really usable with the gain set higher than that anyway. This would be great if these channels had separate EQ’s, so you could dial in two different high gain sounds - but this is not the case. Even though the rhythm channel has a bright switch as well (which affects both the clean or crunch modes), it’s not a big enough difference to make it sound much different from the lead channel.

Ultimately the best way to set this amp up is to dial in the lead channel to taste, sacrificing everything for that perfect lead tone, then set the rhythm channel to clean and just deal with the way it sounds - with the tiny bit of flexibility of the bright switch on or off.

I’m sure the 6505+ would do the two high gain sound thing much better than this - but I wonder what I’d have to give up as far as the lead channel to do so. I suppose I’ll have to find out someday. For now, this is a killer amp and I find I like it a lot more than the EVH 5150 III on the lead channel, but I do miss the separate EQ’s that amp had for its channels.

New Guitar: 1988 Carvin DC125 - Pointy Headstock!

This will surprise a lot of people, but growing up I was a really big Bangles fan - even before I played guitar. I enjoyed their musical style, and I appreciated the melodies and guitar riffs, largely played by Vicki Peterson. She was a Carvin endorser during this time and could be seen playing DC125’s and similar models all the time - usually with the “V” headstock but occasionally with the pointy shape too. This band is the same reason I ended up with the Jetglo Rickenbacker 360 too, especially early on in my guitar learning experience.

So I’ve finally gotten a proper, 80s Carvin DC! These are tough to find, and in hindsight looking at the catalogs and pricing I can’t believe these weren’t selling like crazy, especially now that I have one to play. The quality, fit, finish, and hardware is impeccable. Mine is equipped with gold hardware, including an gold original floyd rose (not so common back then!) and Carvin brand tuners which feel very high quality. The pickup is an M22SD, which is a high output mid-heavy pickup perfect for rock and metal, plus a coil tap. Even the mounting screws of the pickup are gold - a nice touch - along with the input jack plate too.

You can also differentiate this 1989 model from 1988 models by looking at the strap buttons, mounted at the tip of the upper horn. 1988 models have the upper horn strap button is mounted on the underside, towards the neck instead of on the tip. It’s also noteworthy that during this time, these could be ordered with flat mount Kahler 2300 tremolos (as used on ‘86 Charvels and plenty of others), tune-o-matic bridges, or Original Floyd Rose bridges.

This one has the “Jackson” style pointy headstock, although this is not exactly a Jackson shape - it has a much thinner profile especially evident on the bottom edge nearer to the nut. This shape was only available for 1988 and 1989, prior to that the either had a more traditional 3x3 headstock, or the “V” headstock I mentioned earlier (check out the Hazy Shade of Winter video for a clear view of that shape, on Vicki’s DC200). From 1990 onwards, Carvin reworked their shape, likely to avoid any copyright conflicts, to a new shape which I also really like. Here is my ‘89 headstock shape below so you can see just how long and thin it is, and held side by side with a Jackson they are actually quite different.

Another interesting thing is the rear of the headstock which has a very large volute, and no screws through the neck for the locking nut. This is also really unique for the time, manufacturers like Hamer and others continued mounting the locking nut screws through the headstock well into the 90s.

Considering the price - this guitar would’ve been under $700 back in 1989 - this is a heck of a guitar and I’m glad to have one in such great shape. Other than the gold hardware, mine looks nearly identical to this one in the 1989 catalog ad - very cool. I’d love to get my hands on another one, especially with some slightly different options (block inlays maybe?).

New Amp: Mesa Triple Rectifier 3 Channel

I got a local trade offer on my 2009 Splawn Quickrod for this lovely Mesa Triple Rectifier. I’ve wanted a rectifier on and off since I first got into guitars, and spent tons of time in my college town’s music shop demoing the Dual Rectifiers they had there. I’d never really considered the Triples, thinking they’d be way overkill and too much wattage to handle in my studio. I’m surprised that the volume can be kept pretty reasonable, especially with the loop output control combined with each channel’s volume controls.

The clean channel is really great sounding, if lacking much character with the gain turned lower. I find the gain maxed out in clean mode is my favorite setting, it does not get distorted like this but does add a little more chime and sparkle to it.

I use channel 2 in vintage mode, which is thicker in the mids than modern and can get pretty close, especially boosted, to classic metal sounds though since I have a few Marshalls and the Mesa Mark my standards are pretty high here and I think the best use for channel 2 vintage is actually as a more mid-heavy lead tone to use over channel 3 modern’s rhythm tone.

Channel 3 is the perfect modern metal tone machine, especially boosted with a tubescreamer, although I like it plenty without the boost. It has plenty of gain and gets very thick, especially tuned down a few steps for heavier modern styles. The sizzle can be dialed up or down with the presence control, which really affects the voicing of the entire channel - turned up reduces the bass as well and tightens the attack, but turned down it can get a bit more full sounding if a little more muddy in complex chords. It’s a great rhythm channel though I find it a little piercing for leads, unless that’s the desired outcome.

More Details Here

New Amp: Egnater Renegade

This was another amp I remember testing out and enjoying around 2009 or 2010 when I was new to guitar. The idea of being able to blend power tube types was genius at the time - and still sounds appetizing today. These are very inexpensive online, and I spotted this one at a very low price on Reverb and grabbed it.

The clean channel is extremely full and thick sounding, I’d wager it’s one of the best clean channels I’ve ever heard really. The digital reverb is also fantastic sounding and can get really over the top. I found this channel best with the gain maxed out (don’t worry, it still stays clean) and the tweakable bright/deep switches can add some nice variation to the tone. I preferred this one turned all the way to 6L6 mode.

The drive channel is a bit underwhelming. Obviously my ear for tone has improved greatly over the years. I prefer it turned all the way to EL34, and with the gain around half it does a very good Marshall low-mid gain impression with good grit. However, keep turning the gain up and the amp becomes very flubby even to the point where when hitting an E chord for example, the upper strings cancel completely out and you can’t hear them at all because the bass takes over the whole sound. In hindsight, I understand this has to do with the voicing of the amp itself, so perhaps a few modifications to the circuit could open this up more to be more useful. The problem is even worse with high output pickups.

So it’s not what I dreamed of - an amp that would do the classic 6L6 high gain sound as well as the EL34 modded Marshall tones - but those expectations were probably unreasonable to begin with. What it does do is a pretty killer clean tone, maybe even a Twin Reverb impression, couple with a nice mid gain rock tone that allows the character of both tube types to come through.

New Amp: Splawn Quickrod (2009)

Picked this amp up for a great deal and couldn’t resist, despite owning another QR head already. This one is from 2009 and shares the same darker, mid heavy circuit of my 2008 model. One added bonus though, this one has the loop master volume, making it far more usable at lower volume levels and at home.

The flames “hot rod” head shell is not really my style, but it is a trademark Splawn amp look. Tones are exactly as I expected - thick and full sounding and a killer modded Marshall tone with a nice usable clean channel.

New Amp: Splawn Streetrod 1x12 Combo (2018)

Picked up this beauty using Guitar Center’s online used section. It was marked down in price and the idea of a miniature Splawn like my 2008 Quickrod, coupled with a Creamback speaker, sounded great to me.

This amp is much larger than I expected it to be - nearly 2x12 sized, despite housing a single speaker. The production date is from 2018 so it is the most recent circuit, although lacks the B+ voltage switch some of the newest ones are optioned with. The Blue tolex is gorgeous and contrasts nicely with the Marshall-like gold front panel and knobs.

This amp is both brighter and more scooped than my Quickrod head. The bass is much stronger and full sounding, and is definitely not as much of a “classic” sounding amp as the QR. The 2008 QR is an older circuit design, so I’m not surprised they are so different. I do find this Streetrod can get lost in the mix a little and when turning up the volume to compensate a little, it starts to sound a little thinner because the attack is concentrated in the upper upper mids, accentuating some of its flaws. Played alone however, it sounds fantastic - maybe the right mixing would bring this amp to life. The clean channel is extremely similar to my 2008 QR and I wouldn’t be surprised if it is identical in circuit, although the SR lacks the gain control of the QR heads here.

New Amp: ADA MP-2

I’ve had a lot of fond memories with my ADA MP-1, a few times while moving around it was my only amp and it pulled double duty as a practice amp, a microphone preamp, even a headphone amp run through my PC with an IR back in the early days of IR’s just to have something to practice on.

I knew that an MP-2 existed, although it isn’t as highly regarded as the MP-1, so I’ve always wanted one to find out for myself.

Well, I’ve finally gotten one - and I also picked up a 6-slot rack and someday I hope to fill all six slots with various rack preamps - Peavey Rockmaster, ENGL E530, Marshall JMP-1… all on my list to grab someday (I run these through the FX loop in of my Marshalls instead of through a rack poweramp, which is fine for my setup).

I think this is an extremely underrated amp and it is entirely held back by one thing alone - how complicated it is to set up. Most guitar players just want to turn a few knobs and start playing, and even on the MP-1, you basically chose either distortion or clean and a few EQ settings and started playing. On this amp, it’s not that simple - there are 10 different preamp voicings, and each has the usual ADA setup with two gains, a 4-band EQ section (there is a presence control but this is a preamp so it’s more like “very high treble”). That alone isn’t too bad, but some of the voicings are a little less interesting sounding because clearly this amp was intended by the designers for you to use the second part too - all of the effects. This amp has a noise gate, graphic EQ, and several effects including the classic chorus that ADA’s are famous for. The problem is that the amp relies on these to get the optimal tone - as opposed to the MP-1 which is a bit more plug and play, although that one also benefits nicely from further processing - how many MP-1 players say they don’t like the MP-2, but then use a BBE Sonic Maximizer and a rack mount Graphic/Parametric EQ in the chain anyway. It’s just a different way of doing it with the MP2 because it’s all self contained.

All of that said, I still think the MP-1 is superior in tone because I like the voicings better, but I’ve also had the MP-1 for a decade and I’m still new to the MP-2, so that’s probably a big part of it. Someone wrote a computer program to configure the MP-2, if I can get that working I think that will be a huge improvement for me if I can set up some patches in advance and then just download them to the MP-2 instead of having to program on the MP-2 itself. Either way, I think with the same 128 stored presets, and now so many voicing, effect, and EQ options, I would love the MP-2 as a touring musician if I played the same material constantly. I feel like I could program in 2-3 patches for every song in the set and still have space left over.

I’m glad to have this one in the arsenal, but it’s going to take some time to get the best out of for sure.

New Amp: Mesa Mark IV

A while back, I listed my Marshall TSL for sale online. At the time, I was enjoying the 6100LM more and figured it made sense to sell it off if I wasn’t using it. Thanks to a number of interested and chatty folks I met on Reverb, I learned some new settings and grew to love the amp again, so I took the sale down. However, one person was interested in a trade for a Mark IV combo amp - which didn’t go through as he was able to sell it for cash first. While researching the trade, I started to really like the Mark IV tones and thought it would be great to have especially since it would be so different from my mostly Marshall-like collection so far.

Fast forward a few months and I found a Mark IV Medium head for a really great deal and picked it up. I specifically wanted the Medium head so that the “lead voicing” switch was on the front panel. I’m really a tweaker at heart and though I would use that switch with enough frequency plus the medium head is a better platform in case I had to place another head on top.

This is a killer amp - the high gain tones are super tight and articulate, and even sounds great boosted. Throwing a light chorus and reverb in the loop can get tones very close to Whitesnake’s 1987 album tones (even though they used a Mark III), and of course it can nail those modern metal tones such as Lamb of God.

Dialing this amp is a steep learning curve, and I understand now why players come back with such conflicting reviews on the Mark series amps. Their EQ is situated much earlier in the circuit, right after the input gain stage. This is very different to the usual Marshall style post-EQ that most high gain amps employ. On the Mark, you really need to bring up the treble control to maximum, keep the bass low to avoid flubbiness, and use the graphic EQ to shape the sound you want in the room. The idea of maxing out the treble control on a Marshall style amp is totally alien, but it sounds fantastic with this style of circuit.

Caps in this unit date to 1997, and it came equipped with 2x 6L6GC and 2x EL34’s, which sound great to me.

More Details Here

New Amp: Marshall 6100LM... again

I was so thrilled with my 6100LM that I spotted another one for a very low price on Guitar Center’s used lisings, so I pulled the trigger. I figured I could keep whichever one I liked better and sell the other and pocket a few bucks along the way. This unit dates from 1995 and has the same 5881 power tubes as my 1997 model.

Turns out, this one has been modified - and poorly. Channel 1 and 2 feel about the same, but channel 3, the most exciting part of the 6100LM to me, has far less gain and less fullness. Looking inside, there is some shoddy soldering on the lead PCB and I didn’t take the time to investigate further as I’m able to return this amp for 45 days no questions asked.