NAD - Engl Gigmaster 15 Clip added!!!!!

Audioholic

Audioholic

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Clips Added!!!

Click Here

http://www.energiestudios.com/Files/Engl%20Jam.mp3



New Amp day for me today. After a very hard choice deciding, I took a chance on the Engl Gigmaster 15. Not much info out about it, but it sounded promising. and it arrived today from Matts Music!


Will post more of a review as I get to try it out some more, but plugged in a strat and PRS with humbuckers into it, at very low volume. I like it thus far! Plenty of gain on tap, and I like how its laid out with the input gain and lead gain. You can push the clean channel just into breakup with a strat with input gain all the way up. I like the cleans too. Gain channel is nice. Overall this amp actually reminds me a bit of the egnater rebel 30, only a bit more modern sounding in the drive I guess. Rolling back the guitar volume works great on the drive channel.

The amp really feels great to play through. I think with some tube changes, it will sound better then stock. I have yet to try the efx loop. Will do later. Mid boost function is nice, allows you to achieve different mid frequency, I think at least through my cab, I preffered it on, and dialing the mids back just a bit on the eq.

Only real let down is that the power soak feature only works with the 8ohm jack. My cab is 16. While I believe it is a safe mismatch, going from 8 into a 16 ohm cab, it was a noticable sound loss using the 8 ohm out into 16 cab. The power soak works, but the amp sounds best to me full power. Good for late night playing, overall volume drop particularly noticable at 1 watt setting. Master works good though. I like the look of the amp and it feels like a solid build.

So far I am digging it. Will post clips later.
Gigmaster.jpg
 
Hnad! Very cool man. Welcome to the Engl family, one of the most hated brands on the net. :rock: I don't care what "they" say, Engl rocks. :thumbsup:
 
Gsxrbusa":7gfdy4si said:
Hnad! Very cool man. Welcome to the Engl family, one of the most hated brands on the net. :rock: I don't care what "they" say, Engl rocks. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...


Cool. This is my first Engl. I have only heard clips of other amps, which I thought sounded good when done right ya know. wonder why so much animosity? It was kinda a gamble, since I could not play it first hand, and there are several other small heads contending. I hope it works out, but so far it seems fine enough for me.
Clips coming soon, hopefully tomorrow.
 
Here is more of a review with my opinions:

Pro's --

I like the look and weight of the amp, nice small package thats easy to transport. Seams built well. I like how the controls are laid out, with the ability to control input gain as well as lead gain, allowing the possibility for some breakup on the clean channel. Mid boost function is cool, helps to achieve different sounds in conjunction with the other eq knobs. Has efx loop. Possibility to step down the output power from full (15 watts), down to five and one watt and silent recording with filtered output. I have heard negative things about the filtered output, but I thought it didn't sound half bad, but there is a catch noted below. Has enough gain for me, and the gain is usable in all positions. I am plenty fine with the clean channel and the drive channel, like the overall sound, and I think it can be used for a variety of applications, such as rock, and bluesy stuff. Can connect an 8 ohm cab, 16 ohm cab, or 2 8 ohm cabs. Master volume works good, you can have it at full power and still get pretty quite with master down. Works well with rolling off the volume on the guitar to achieve different levels of gain, all sounds great throughout the spectrum

Cons --
The power reduction works ONLY in conjunction with the 8 ohm output. Since my cab is 16, I have to have a mismatch in order to use the power grid. Even with full power, I noticed a sound difference using the 8 ohm into 16 ohm cab, a little more muffled then with proper match, so that right there effected how all other power rating sounded, at least for my setup. This amp is geared toward a single 8 ohm cab. While I have been enjoying the sound and it works plenty fine for me, I think the top end is slightly fizzy at times, not bad by any means, I have a feeling a tube change will take care of this nit pick for me. Both channels share the same EQ. I notice that the clean channel seems to have more bass then the drive, not that big of a deal, but I am picky about my eq, so not completely ideal from switching back and forth live, but not an issue either. Some people, not me, but some may say this amp doesn't have enough low end. For me it is just right. The amp at this price point should come with a footswitch, it does not, you have to buy it extra. Only has one preamp tube, so I believe it is somewhat of a hybrid tube amp, not a big deal for me. Filtered output mostly will need a special cable, as noted in the manual. It calls for a balanced cable, but when trying it, it had a big ground loop, which the manual said would probably happen. It suggests removing the ground from one side of the cable, to cut out the ground loop. Haven't tried it but I am sure it would help. Not sure if a unbalanced cable would work better.



Even though I have listed cons, I am happy with this amp thus far. I am a fan of the little head trend. 15 watts is really all I need. I have previously owned a Blackstar HT-5 and Rebel 30 Head. To me, the Engl gigmaster is somewhere in between those 2. Has a more modern and tighter sounding drive like the HT-5 which I am pleased with, where as I liked the drive of the Rebel 30 tons, but it was a tad more loose and classic sounding I guess. It has a better clean channel like the Rebel 30. The Rebel 30 is slightly more 3D sounding, the Gigmaster is in between the 2 in largeness of sound, possibly the wattage can be the explanation. The Efx loop on the Rebel 30 sounds great, the Efx loop on the Gigmaster is fine. Rebel 30 has more features, but I think the Gigmaster is more of my cup of tea. So there ya go, my opinion on this amp. Solely mine, your experience may differ.
 
Very cool clip! :)
I like the sound too.

Can it do heavier stuff than what you play?
 
ke2":q19c4xnu said:
Very cool clip! :)
I like the sound too.

Can it do heavier stuff than what you play?
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Not sure, probably, This clip is in Drop D, and the bottom remained tight. I am sure you can drop some more and it will sound good. All my gear tends to sound somewhat the same at times, same guitar going into the same cab, etc, so often I get what I get. With different pickups and what not, I am sure you can alter the sound even more to your liking. The gain is aggressive enough for me, perfect actually. Its not a diezel, but I am sure you can do heavier stuff. The eq was pretty much all at noon for this clip. You can scoop away or add much more mids. I don't think this amp is geared towards super heavy stuff, but It does it better then other amps I have owned for me, at least as heavy as I like.
 
lordriffenstein":1hv136ch said:
Thanks for the review and I REALLY dig the tones on the clip.
The heavier sounds have an AIC tone, LOVE it!
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Thanks for listening. I was really pleased with how they turned out as well. Volume wise, it was about top of bedroom volume, not too loud, but a tad louder then what you would want to play in an apartment respectfully. I used 2 mics on my cab, Shure SM7 blended with a Heil PR30, double tracked and hard panned for the rhythm. I added only a multiband compressor on the rhythm tracks, to tame some of the mids and bottom. The mics captured a bit more mids then I expected. Lead guitar and other tracks have no Eq what so ever except on the master. I used a PRS CE 24 guitar, lead at the end was a strat.
 
Audioholic":2y7fvxjv said:
ke2":2y7fvxjv said:
Very cool clip! :)
I like the sound too.

Can it do heavier stuff than what you play?
Click to expand...


Not sure, probably, This clip is in Drop D, and the bottom remained tight. I am sure you can drop some more and it will sound good. All my gear tends to sound somewhat the same at times, same guitar going into the same cab, etc, so often I get what I get. With different pickups and what not, I am sure you can alter the sound even more to your liking. The gain is aggressive enough for me, perfect actually. Its not a diezel, but I am sure you can do heavier stuff. The eq was pretty much all at noon for this clip. You can scoop away or add much more mids. I don't think this amp is geared towards super heavy stuff, but It does it better then other amps I have owned for me, at least as heavy as I like.
Click to expand...


Definitely, it suited your style very nicely!
I was more curious than anything, since ENGLs in general do very heavy metal very well.

And it sounded great, like Yoeri said, I`m also getting an AIC vibe from it :)
 
Hey there, I'm thinking of buying this amp. But I wonder the gain capacity of this little beast, so can u please make a clip with the gain maxed out if u can or have the time. Thanks...
 
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