Engl Special Edition - Founders Edition

  • Thread starter Thread starter glpg80
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i sold my SE because I read some people had issues getting theirs fixed and they were basically expensive boat anchors at that point.

As a boat anchor expert I'd say your post checks out.

Framus also makes a good one.

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Just wait until they release their even bigger newest flagship, the "ENGL Special Special Special Edition - Founders Edition Edition" amp.

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Hell, I'd buy that! LOL I like simple amps and I like amps with a ton of options, if the options make sense to my ears.
 
Could this New model be used in bedroom volume levels?
The older one was loud as hell and the master/volume sucked hard.
 
Full playthrough videos up now



Good demo!

It's definitely got the signature ENGL Euro Metal thing going on for sure. It's hard to describe but it's so distinct when you hear it. It's sort of refined and unrefined at the same time. Like it sounds controlled and tight, but there's an angry sort of roar or vocal kind of heavy "bwaaaah" thing going on in the mids, and the distorted highs are relatively coarse grained and sizzly but in a cool way.

Unique but cool sounding amp.
 
Full playthrough videos up now


So once you have the founders edition dialed in the way you like , if you were to then A/B it against the Fireball 100 I'm guessing you would still prefer the Fireball. In my experience of owning pretty much all the ENGL amps I found the Fireball 100 to prob be the best sounding.

But Im gonna throw in a wild card here, quick story : I had two different Special Editions. The first one I got sound incredible, that actually might have been the best ENGL tone Ive heard. It was a massive tone that was super tight yet thick, brutally pissed off voicing. I didnt have it long though, someone offered me a straight trade for a VH4. I did the trade only because the VH4 was worth more and I had never tried one. So off went one of the best sounding amps Ive had. Fast forward I get the VH4 and it was ok but something was off about it. I end up selling it and I get another SE. Long story short the SE shows up and it sounds close but not the same as the other one, I change the tubes in it, turn it back on and it goes up in smoke. $600 in repairs later I get it back and its still mediocre. Off it goes.

Whats the point in this. No two amps are exactly the same. Sometimes you get one that just has the it factor. I think when you find something like that you should hold on to it. Unless you are positive you dont need that sound around any more. Ya might not be able to get it back. Ive had that happen a couple times with certain amps, I would sell and think no big deal I could grab another one later on.
 
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So once you have the founders edition dialed in the way you like , if you were to then A/B it against the Fireball 100 I'm guessing you would still prefer the Fireball. In my experience of owning pretty much all the ENGL amps I found the Fireball 100 to prob be the best sounding.

But Im gonna throw in a wild card here, quick story : I had two different Special Editions. The first one I got sound incredible, that actually might have been the best ENGL tone Ive heard. It was a massive tone that was super tight yet thick, brutally pissed off voicing. I didnt have it long though, someone offered me a straight trade for a VH4. I did the trade only because the VH4 was worth more and I had never tried one. So off went one of the best sounding amps Ive had. Fast forward I get the VH4 and it was ok but something was off about it. I end up selling it and I get another SE. Long story short the SE shows up and it sounds close but not the same as the other one, I change the tubes in it, turn it back on and it goes up in smoke. $600 in repairs later I get it back and its still mediocre. Off it goes.

Whats the point in this. No two amps are exactly the same. Sometimes you get one that just has the it factor. I think when you find something like that you should hold on to it. Unless you are positive you dont need that sound around any more. Ya might not be able to get it back. Ive had that happen a couple times with certain amps, I would sell and think no big deal I could grab another one later on.
Couldn't agree more man! I always tell people when they ask me about trades or "upgrading" to a new amp that if they LOVE the amp they have now, to never trade or sell for the next best thing, especially if they haven't actually played or spent time with it. There is no telling if they replace it down the line that the replacement will be as good
 
Jesus christ that amp has so many fucking buttons and knobs. Amp sounds good, but I would lose my goddamned mind with all those buttons. Too much over 6 knobs, I start to get annoyed.

Yeah, I'd be going batshit crazy tweaking instead of playing.
 
Surely a coincidence that both of those amps have no silk screen on the PCB (little text that tells you what each component is) lol

At least the Framus has a schematic on their website
 
Couldn't agree more man! I always tell people when they ask me about trades or "upgrading" to a new amp that if they LOVE the amp they have now, to never trade or sell for the next best thing, especially if they haven't actually played or spent time with it. There is no telling if they replace it down the line that the replacement will be as good
That goes for guitars as well. Damn, I learned that lesson HARD!
 
I've never managed to play through an ENGL, but the clips of this I've heard so far have me intrigued.

There's a second hand fireball 100 near me for a killer price though...so that's probably a better option first :ROFLMAO:

Folks seem to like those too, but there's no where that stocks them near me.
 
This amp totally lives up to the hype:



Obviously the SE has a ton more features, but just in terms of core tone, how would you say this new amp stacks up against the Fireball 100?
 
They can review it with as many YouTube artists as they want. I’ll never buy one because if the amplifier needs any kind of repair, ESP Engl is difficult if not near impossible to get any kind of technical support or customer service in the states. The amps are immensely complicated yet they don’t give out schematics and require certified repair centers likely with backlogs. You’re expected to drive 3+ states away or ship it to an unknown store for repair at risk being lost, not repaired correctly, or even at all.

My Bogner is complicated but if I can’t repair it I can send it to Bogner directly no questions asked and get whatever it needs resolved.
 
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They can review it with as many YouTube artists as they want. I’ll never buy one because if the amplifier needs kind of repair, ESP Engl is absolutely impossible to get any kind technical support or customer service in the states. They don’t give out schematics. You’re expected to drive 3 states away or ship it to an unknown store for repair at risk being lost or not repaired correctly or even at all.
Jeesh
 
Several years ago in a top secret laboratory, fed up amp techs inputted several ENGL schematics into A.I. with the query, "how to repair an ENGL amplifier?". A.I. responded with "fuck this" and belched out the code for the Quad Cortex/AXE/every other digital amp device. The digital amp emulations are getting better and better because ENGL keeps putting out new amps!
 
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