New Amp: ENGL Fireball 60

After picking up a few ENGL’s, and being especially impressed with the Savage, I’ve been on the lookout for a few others to try out. I’ve always wondered what exactly makes them all different in terms of tone design - features are easy to read off of a website or manual, but for example, why are there so many 4 channel ENGL heads with seemingly very similar features?

The amp at the forefront of my list was the ENGL Powerball - but when I spotted this Fireball for an incredibly low price, I couldn’t resist.The Fireball shares much of the same DNA as the Powerball, with a nearly identical design in the lead channel, just missing a few features, and of course no crunch channel/modes, and a shared EQ with the clean channel. While I’m a big fan of crunch tones, and still hope to find a Powerball, there is something of an instant gratification with this amp, and I can see why it is so well liked. Simply plugging in with all of the controls (including gain) at halfway, and it’s a powerful, ripping metal tone right off the bat. It has a little less of a nasal quality compared to the Invader, and much more bass-heavy than the Savage. I’ve read comparisons that the Fireball/Powerball lack mids and thus have trouble cutting through, but so far I’ve been very impressed.

Even better, I bought the amp without any pictures from Guitar Center, and a relatively recent one with the new smooth shell covering arrived, and in mint condition! It’s a rarity to acquire something in such good shape from a GC used section, especially for a far below average price, so I’m very happy with the whole situation.

New Video: "New Gear Episode 3: Rivera Bonehead, Ceriatone AH 50 Deluxe"

I’ve been sick for the last week or so but a number of great new pieces of gear showed up at my house. I finally was able to play them after feeling a bit better and as usual, I’m very pleased with the new gear.

First up is a late 90s Rivera Bonehead, an amp designed either for or with Steve Lukather, and very similar to a Knucklehead Reverb. This amp is 100 watts, 3 channels, and has a really thick and full tone. The bass is quite loose but the transition from clean to distortion is very smooth as they share the same core tone and thickness. The clean channel, as expected from a Rivera designed amp, is a highlight with 3 pull switches and really fantastic tones. The drive channels both feel like they have a similar amount of gain, but with separate EQ’s they can be set up differently. They can nail a classic rock tone quite easily, and pushing into metal territory there is a characteristic grittiness to the tone that reminds me of the last time I played a Knucklehead - my best guess is the circuit is very similar between these just with some value and voicing changes in the Bonehead. All three channels also have a footswitchable boost which adds more volume and gain, as well as tightening up the bottom end on the gain channels, although it’s no substitute for a proper bass-cut boost pedal like a tubescreamer or SD-1 for more aggressive/modern metal tones. Overall, a very exciting amp and quite a bit different sounding from any other amp I have in the arsenal.

Next is a Ceriatone AH50 Deluxe, which is a point to point clone of the Friedman BE50 Deluxe. This amp has a much more sparkly clean channel, with a bright switch to make it even snappier. The two gain channels have that classic Marshall bark but with more gain, and adding the saturation switch on the rear panel pushes it well into modded Marshall gain territory although it may still need a boost pedal for heavier styles. The most noticeable difference after playing the Rivera is that this amp has far less bass and more upper mid cut on the gain channels. In fact, it feels almost anemic in the low end in comparison and I think this amp could probably use a bit more bass and low mids to thicken it up - but then I suppose the aggressiveness and tightness would be sacrificed. Still, I’m finding myself running the bass on 10 just to keep it thick sounding, and while I love the core tone it’s just a tad too thin sounding at my first playthrough. I’m going to keep tweaking though, and I can’t wait to compare it to the Ceriatone King Kong 50 that I also have - that amp has very aggressive gain and bright switches on the gain channel so I’m excited to test the two back to back. Two amps both designed to do that modded Marshall type tone but accomplishing it in different ways - awesome.

And the last thing - I picked up a new Mesa Mark IV medium head. Finally! I know have way too many Mark amps at this point but I really regret selling my original 1997 Mark IV medium head and this new one dates from 1999 and is a very close replacement - and sounds just as awesome as I remember my old one being. The combo amp has been sent back to Guitar Center, but I will sure miss that Celestion C90 speaker and will probably one of those speakers for comparison tests too.

New Video: "New Gear Episode 2: EVH 5150 III 100w Head"

I picked this amp up for a good deal after hunting for a 50w for a while. I really loved the early version 50w 5150 III I owned before - I regret selling that amp and when I came across this 100w model, I couldn’t resist. The blue channel on this amp has less gain than the 50w model but I understand that’s only 2 value changes in the circuit, so I may make that modification but for now I think the blue channel sounds great already.

It was quite dusty and grimy when it arrived, so I cleaned it up and it turned out quite nicely with no major tears in the tolex or other damage. It’s loud but has a good master volume, and so far I only have two minor complaints. The first is that the power and standby switches are on the rear of the amp, so I have to reach behind it - since I use shelves for my amps, it’s a little difficult to do but not a major problem. The second is that it didn’t come with the footswitch but that’s more of a Guitar Center / Used Purchase issue than anything else… now to hunt down a footswitch online.

New Video: "New Gear Episode 1: Kramer Baretta, Mesa Mark IV, Peavey XXX"

A few things lined up recently and several things I purchased all happened to arrive on the exact same day - so I took this opportunity to start a new series of videos. They will probably be a bit inconsistent since it depends on when/how often I get new gear, but I think it’ll be cool to do a more casual video whenever I get some cool new piece of gear and talk about it briefly before doing a comparison video or deep dive review.

Of course, this is a lot at once this time as I got both a guitar and two amps all at once. Here’s the video, but keep scrolling for some pictures and some other thoughts on the gear.

First item: a 1987 Kramer Baretta. This one sat on Reverb for a long time and had a few price drops, and I have to give the seller a lot of credit for an accurate representation of the guitar. It is playable, but the frets have been leveled and it is probably due for a refret job very soon. The body has some surface scratches made very clear by the black finish but no major damage, and the neck is really sharp. Sadly, the original JB is missing and replaced with a very cheap pickup from Amazon or similar, and the original floyd rose is missing too - but luckily it was just replaced with a more recent German made OFR. The pickup was wired very strangely - sounded like a single coil or like it had a short - so I swapped that out for a black/white SH-10 Full Shred that I’ve had waiting for a guitar just like this for a while now and it sounds fantastic.

Second: Mesa Mark IV… again. I’ve been really missing my Mk IV head, so I’ve been on the prowl for another. This was listed on Guitar Center used as a head, but sadly it is a combo on arrival - I’m a bit disappointed by that but in a rare act of customer service, the person shipping the amp at GC actually called me and let me know that it was a combo in advance and asked if I wanted to cancel the order! I really appreciate that but I went through with it anyway, since it was described to be in excellent condition.

And wow! That was not a lie either - it is in truly impeccable shape with the original cover too. Sadly the footswitch is missing - that’s very disappointing because they are pretty expensive to replace but we’ll see what I can do about that. This is the “short” combo which means some controls are on the rear panel (like the mid gain/harmonic mode switch) and the factory speaker is a Celestion Black Shadow. I’ve heard lots of praise for this speaker but never tried one - my initial impressions are very positive though. This particular amp also has a very high serial number, much newer than the head that I had, and puts the date closer to the 2008 end of things (likely this was made 2006-2007 or so). Mark IV production ended in 2008 so it’s nice to have one that is a full decade newer than the one I had before, as far as component life goes.

Last: I’ve been looking for a Peavey Triple X or JSX for a little while but waiting for the right deal to come up - these amps were regularly available for 250-350 bucks or so for years so I found it hard to justify paying the current prices of 500+ for them. Luckily, I spotted this one online for only $299, which is about as good as it is going to get amp shopping in 2022, especially for a USA made tube amp like this. I’ve only played it a little bit, but it is super gainy and sounds really great so far. Bang for the buck, this is hard to beat, and I’d argue that in the right hands a skilled player with an amp like this could sound just as good as any expensive boutique amp (within the limitations of what the amp is designed to do of course - high gain). The active EQ really broadens the range of the amp as well, and even though it’s super cheesey, the front panel “girls” grille has grown on me in more of an ironic/nostalgia kind of way (these amps were all over the place when I was first learning to play guitar).

New Video: Marshall JCM900 Dual Reverb (Model 4100 Reissue)

Another deep dive and completing my run of the JCM900 series, the dual reverb. This particular amp is a Reissue model made in 2013, but the circuit is the same as any normal production run JCM900 and is equipped with 5881 power tubes (as most DR’s were throughout the 90s). The tones of this amplifier are great for a certain type of music, but I can also see why some do not like this amp compared to more traditional Marshall circuits.

Additionally, there are LED clippers on the normal channel, and diodes on the gain channel too - as well as a multitude of opamp gain stages and some pre-EQing going on for the second channel. It’s certainly not as analog as other Marshall circuits and even if the diodes were clipped/removed, it’s still largely opamp powered - this amp only has one single preamp tube gain stage in it (amps like 2203’s have 3 for example). Still, I think it really rocks for 90s punk tones and other high gain, bright tone - but it wouldn’t be my first choice for classic rock or old school metal.

New Video: Charvel Predator

I was sad to let this one go, but it just wasn’t getting a lot of play time. It was the last guitar I owned with the great sounding Jackson J200R (Rails) version of the single coil pickup, and the 5-way switching really made this a great, versatile guitar. I’m attempting to thin down the collection though and ultimately, I like my Model 4’s a bit more and sent this one on to a new owner. Still, it’s a great guitar and I talk about it more in this video.

New Video: Mesa Mark V Review

It’s been a long requested video - especially after doing a deep dive into the Mark IV - but it’s finally here! In this video I do a similar deep dive into the Mesa Mark V circuit and talk about some of the unique features it has (such as the tube rectifier and Mk I mode) as well as some of its drawbacks in comparison to classic Mark circuits. I definitely miss my Mark IV, but the V definitely has some great tones in it an is a little easier to live with with a very good sounding reverb and arguably better crunch channels.

New Amp: Mesa Stiletto Trident V2

I had been eyeing this Trident on Reverb for quite some time when I finally decided to take the plunge and made an offer. I’ve really wanted to try a Stiletto but really hated the standard headshell’s reptile-skin look, so this beautiful wine red tolex and weave front grille unit really appealed to me.

Sadly, yet another UPS shipping debacle came about with this amp as it was carelessly dropped from so far that it shattered several of the power tubes and all 3 rectifier tubes, as well as cracking the headshell on the bottom side. Talk about a BIG let down!

Luckily Reverb came in and set things straight with a partial refund to cover the damages, but it’s really a shame UPS isn’t being held more accountable. I know I move a lot of gear around but it’s astounding to me just how much of it is damaged! That said, I would’ve packed this amp a little differently than it arrived - I pack my outgoing gear with the assumption that IT WILL be dropped, instead of hoping it won’t be.

Now the issue is waiting for Mesa to make a new headshell - when I called, they weren’t even taking new orders because they are so behind on custom cabinet orders and materials. For the time being, I’ve clamped and glued the box pretty well and at least made it workable, although I’m not sure I’d trust it out on the road - fine for my studio use though.

As for the tones, it’s quite good as expected, with that core Rectifier type DNA to the tone but with a little more attack in the palm mutes. I haven’t had much time to sit with it since I was basically holding it waiting to see if I’d need to mail it back to Reverb - but now that things are all set straight I’ll get to dive in more soon. A part of me expected to hear some similarities to my Triple Crown but it’s really quite different so far - definitely less “British” than that amp. Of course, I still need to order a lot of tubes - with 6 power tubes and 3 rectifier tubes, it’s going to be a very expensive retube job!

New Amp: ENGL InVader 150

I snagged this first-generation InVader 150 from Guitar Center’s used listings, which included the very fancy Z-12 MIDI footswitch. I’ve been looking at ENGL’s for a while but I’m a bit unsure of what they all should sound like - but the Invader, SE, and Savage are all at the top of my list to try, especially after my positive experiences with the Raider 100 combo amp.

I haven’t had much time to open it up, but so far my impressions are very positive. There is a lot of online chatter that does not praise this amp - many players say to go get a Savage instead. I certainly plan to add a Savage to the collection, but it’s hard to say much bad about this amp.

It has four channels, and each is voiced very differently and I think that’s one of the things that works against this amp in the “initial impressions” phase. Most players who leave comments online have usually only played the amp in question for a few minutes in a store or with a friend and that’s not really an informed opinion - I know because I did the same thing before I started spending more time with my gear (a privilege not everyone has, of course). If I found this amp in a store and just wanted to check out its metal tones, I’d probably go to Channel 4 and start ripping, and I might walk away thinking it was a bit flubby and loose, with the feel of something like a Rivera Knucklehead without the aggressive growl. It’s a killer lead channel though, very thick and full for solos. And that’s exactly what the amp designer was after - channel 4 is built for thick, middy lead lines! Channel 3 is the aggressive, punchy metal rhythm tone!

So after ripping on Channel 3 and playing with the very dynamic EQ, I see why some might feel like Channel 4 isn’t their thing - if you took both of these channels and stuck them into two different amps, they might’ve sold better.

I also saw another misconception about the bright switch online, where it only works on channels 1 and 2. This is not true - it works on all channels, but the written manual is not clear about this. I contacted ENGL directly to confirm this and it’s true - on channel one, it’s clean, and the bright switch makes it… brighter. But on channels 2, 3, and 4, they described it as more of a “tone” or “mid boost” switch. The way it changes the tone of those channels is completely different - i.e. it’s not boosting the same frequencies, it is different per channel you are on.

And that’s probably the best way to talk about the switching - with the Z12 MIDI footswitch, you can store your settings for each channel - which includes if the bright switch, hi gain mode, fx loops, master A or B, etc are all on. Since that footswitch has lots of buttons, you can get 8+ different sounds from the same amp - you’re just stuck with the same EQ for the 4 main channels. That’s pretty cool - versatile AND a great sound.

Overall, I’m very impressed with this amp. I see that in the V2 they have renamed the bright switch on the front panel to “tone” - I’m not surprised, and if I had to guess there are only marginal circuit differences in that amp. I still plan to add a Savage and maybe a few others - so far I haven’t had an ENGL I didn’t love.

New Guitar: 1987 Robin Medley

I picked up this early Robin recently for a great deal. I’ve been on the lookout for some early Robins - I really have the hots for an RH-1 or RH-2 right now (early Tokai made models) but for now, this ESP-made Medley will have to do. The body shape is a bit smaller than USA made Medleys that came later, but this has the same cool reversed-pointy headstock as those, painted black as was the style of the time, with a bold white logo.

Despite the body having a rear trem spring route, these guitars came stock with a Kahler 2700 series tremolo mounted on the top, similar to ‘86 Charvel model series guitars. It’s quite strange to have the trem route and see the underside of that Kahler bridge but it doesn’t get in the way at all - just unique. This is my first 2700 bridge and I like the ease of adjustment to saddle height and even string spacing it allows without too much effort, unlike a double locking bridge.

The pickups sound great, although the bridge humbucker appears to be wired in parallel instead of series - and attached to a push-pull coil tap on the tone pot (probably not factory). After moving around a few wires, it’s back in action and sounding as full as ever. The pickups are Japanese made OEM pickups - not any familiar Dimarzios or Duncans to compare to, but it’s very middy and high output as expected for a more “shred” oriented guitar like this one.

The neck also shares the same 3-piece maple configuration as Kramer necks of the time (also made by ESP) but this one is well worn in and not as glossy - but it’s hard to say if there was any difference since I don’t have any other Robins from this era to compare to. Either way, a great feeling neck with a familiar shape to me as a Kramer collector and a great change of pace with the Kahler bridge. I hope to find a few more to add to the collection!