High gain lunchbox amp comparison (ENGL, Mesa, EVH etc)

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Hey all,

I'm a fan of lunchbox style amps. I also love big amps but there's something so charming about the smaller tube amps. Before I bought my first one it was almost hard to believe that they actually could sound as good as the bigger heads but now that I've got several I know that they can sound just as amazing! Sure, in a lot of cases there's a difference in headroom and stuff like that but now you even have small amps with 6L6 or EL34 tubes so there's that. EL84 amps can still sound huge depending on the voicing of the amp and loudness.

There are many great high gain rock/metal lunchbox amps out there and since I have quite a few I do get a lot of questions about them and the main question tends to be: 'what's the best one for metal'. So I decided to make a little comparison of 6 different popular small tube amps, just focusing on high gain tones. The amps in this video are: Peavey 6505mh, Mesa Boogie Mini Rectifier 25, PRS MT15, Marshall DSL20HR & EVH LBX 1.

I hope this helps for some folks who are looking for this information and I hope you enjoy it too. Check it out:

 
Fireball and MT15 sound the best to me. For a while now I've been considering trading in my ENGL Metalmaster 20 for one of those 2, but can't make up my mind which one I like best. Dammit all if you haven't gone and made that decision even harder!!! :mad::cool:
 
Marshall, Peavey, and then MT15 for me. I am old though and prefer tones that cut better in a mix as opposed to sounding great by themselves.
 
In a mix all very close. They all sounded good. Peavey seemed least articulate. Marshall sounded like a Marshall 👍. ENGL seemed to have the more bright tone. PRS sounded excellent IMO.
I guess I would say ENGL and PRS to my ears. If price was a consideration between the two PRS wins.
Mesa was cool but lacked the big recto growl. The EVH to me didn’t sound anything like its big brothers.
ENGL PRS Peavey Marshall Mesa EVH. In that order
 
Fantastic video, I love your shootouts and comparisons.

The ENGL and PRS seem to be the winners, with the ENGL voiced for more mid grind and the PRS smoother. A lot of the other amps just didn't feel voiced right, possibly due to their smaller power sections, but possibly something that could be addressed by EQ. I'd be interested to hear the Mesa with a boost. Actually I'd like to hear them all with a boost, another video? :love:
 
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