All user reviews for the ENGL E650 Ritchie Blackmore Signature Head

When I purchased this head, I had been looking for a high gain, metal-capable amplifier. I had my aim on an ENGL head due to a previous experience with a Powerball. I had no memmory of how it sounded, only that it roared, so I wanted one. Then I stumble upon this baby. The name did scare me a bit like it does to many people when they see it, but I was so wrong.

I use this amp is rehersal and stage. My bands play Power/Symphonic Metal and Pagan/Death Metal respectively. I haven't recorded with it yet, but once I get to it I intend to use it if I can since it's my main head and it bears MY kind of sound.

It was my 4th amplifier in 16 years. After using rack gear (ART and Rocktron), owning a Marshall JCM 900 SLX (the single channel JCM800 on steroids version, not the Dual Reverb or the MKIII) and a Fender Blues Deluxe, I found one amp that, in my opinion does it all and in a better way.

I got to compare the sound of all those amps, plus the Powerball that I wanted against the Blackmore and there was simply no contest. Where the Powerball "sucked" the tone to sound heavy, the Blackmore shined while keeping it brutal, more clear and articulate. It's an incredibly tight amplifier, you can leave the Tube Screamer to tighten up those Mesas and Marshalls because the Blackmore does NOT need it.
- The rack gear, I know the Blackmore it doesn't have all those features like the ART SGX 2000 Express pre-amp that I used, but those features felt a little overkill. Too complicated to use and program (I had a pro for that) especially for a guy who likes it simple like me. I used a Rocktron Velocity 250 as a power amp but I feel it's no way near what the 4 tube power section of a tube amp gives you, a whole other level of "juice", it's simply an entirely different world. May be debatable but it's my opinion guys so please bear with me.

The Marshall was a great amp, I'm not spreading Marshall hate here. The JCM 900 SLX was used by Kiss and Cannibal Corpse, so you can see the range of that beast. It did some nice AC/DC, but once you went to the metal ball park the distortion did need a little bit of tightening, like most amps do when you want them to "ultra chugg". Although an impressive power beast, it was a single channel amp and thus not versatile enough for my humble needs.

The Fender Blues Deluxe, from my "blues days" did on the other hand, have that neat Fender cleans and reverb but... it had no flamethrower!!

The Blackmore has 2 channels (Clean and Lead) divided into 4 different gain stages.
Clean channel:
-Lo gain clean - gives you the fenderish clean, just as bright and shiny but less ice picky. I do prefer the Blackmore's rather than the Fender.
-High gain clean - breaks up the sound. Awesome for some dirty blues and 70's stuff.

Lead Channel:
-Lo gain lead - gives you that Marshall voicing, it does some nice plexi tones, AC/DC kind of tone, it's pure and simple badassery.
-High gain lead - it's the flamethrower!! Lock up your daughers and shoot your sons. This amp goes to 12! It packs all the gain you could ever want (most of you), it's super tight and mean. It will do Metal with it's eyes closed. Incredibly punchy and it just roars. Just clear up your game because if you make a mistake the amp will show. The distortion is full and rich, and it won't lose tone. Just don't roll the mids all the way back like a noob and you'll be fine

There's a countour/reverb button so it rounds up the sound and boosts mid frequencies so that your leads will sound even better. However it does not have controlable reverb knob.

The pros of this amp are: 100 watts of tube powaah!! Flawless tone, sparkling cleans and BROOTALS!! The single EQ makes it's really easy to dial in a fairly decent sound. It's very versatile and can do from Blues to Death Metal with ease. The FX loop allows you to blend it with some extra effects. OH and it has 4 red lightbulbs inside that give it a red glow!! How cool is that?? It's super tough and the quality of the construction is incredible, it should be called Panzer!

The cons are: if you don't have the z5 footswitch you are screwed. Some people might find the shared EQ a flaw (I don't). It has no MIDI port, so might not be the smarter choice if you are into that kind of thing. Like I said before since the amp is tight and clear, it will display your skills, so polish your technique (not necessarily a con).

Cheers and thanks for reading!

Hello

I played guitar for 12 years now, I have not tried all the world's amps but not bad. my tastes are pretty typsmtal (or heavy metal), and having tried the Marshall JCM, Valvestate, and the last that I can remember the name, and MarkIV mesa, I can tell you that this is the best sound I've ever heard!

I was at the guitar store qd a guy branch his guitar on this machine. everyone at the store followed the sound of this amp like zombies (including me!) and we stood in line to take the guitar and try Feb. 3 notes! was killed, believe me, hard hard! in fact, the one I tried is the combined head + cabinet (I do not know if there are combo). if you have the money, dark! : D

USE

See above

SONORITS

See above

NOTICE GLOBAL

See above

The technical features have been mentioned already.

USE

Simply looking at it, it's hard to imagine that it has four channels, but it does!!!
No need for a manual, it's plug and play. It's very easy to find the sound you want.

SOUND

This is where it starts getting interesting!
At the beginning it's obvious that it has the Ritchie Blackmore signature and that it's an amp to play Deep Purple...but don't deceive yourself!

The clean channel is a simple clean channel, you can get a decent sound with it

The crunch channel is one of the amp head's main strengths. It delivers a big and powerful crunch. If you increase the gain you can play power rock without a sweat!

The lead channel is the BIGGEST SURPRISE with its huuuge distortion! It doesn't sound as tight as a powerball or invader, it's a bit raspy and comes perfectly well through the mix. The attack and response are precise.
It's perfect for what I do, play heavy metal, that is.

OVERALL OPINION

I bought it last week and — call me crazy — I got rid of my Invader to be able to afford it.
The Invader is a great amp head for really fat metal, but I think the distortion sound lacks lots of mids. I had a hard time trying to come through the mix.

I foolishly tested the Blackmore, because I knew it was based on the same technology than the Savage (which I covet). I was dumbfounded and fell in love with it right away. The bottom line is, it's simple and super effective.

This amp head is responsive to the guitar changes (active/passive), you simply need to fiddle a bit with the pots and you're on your way again!

A tip: Insert a noise gate in the effects loop because it produces a lot of noise with distortion sounds. That's what I did with a ISP Decimator and it's simply prefect.

It's an amp head with a truly excellent value for money.

I used The E650 Ritchie Blackmore Amp to travel and practice with, and it has exceed my expectations in every way. I really love the built in effects. That is probably my favorite feature. I also expected such a small (2 watt) amp to have a very thin or sterile sound. However, the sound coming out is very full and deep. Just amazing! I wouldn't recommend this amp for "band" practices. But if your looking for a great practice amp packed with effects and different amp sounds, then this amp is for you.

UTILIZATION

This amp is loud enough to be heard over a rumble 25 bass amp and a pulse drum kit. i use this amp with an ibanez g10 and it works perfectly. and all these rumors that started about two watts are wrong. this amp is 30 watts.


SOUNDS

On the downside, Its distortion effects will honestly, unless you play it in a low gain, and 1 pick up, and volume down, will sound like shit. I couldn’t even play Unholy Confessions by A7x and that’s not even deathgrind. And when i tried playing FINITE by origin it was just awful. This amp is bad for distortion and metal guitars. So if your planning to be in a metal band, Dont get this guitar. But, this amp does have an upside. If your just starting out on guitar, and are planning to play more acoustical music. This is a good amp to start with. Not the best, but it has a nice acoustic sound. So this is good for acoustic people.

OVERALL OPINION

Overall, a good amp for acoustic players or beginners. I suggest looking into some of the cheaper Roland amps that sound a little better than this one and are a little cheaper. You will find something better for this price range. This will leave you unsatisfied if you aren’t a beginner.

100W all-tube amp, 2 channels each possdant two modes of operation (low gain / high gain), or 4 of his ability (ENGL said four channels ...).

an EQ common to four channels.

Effects loop.

Can be controlled by two jacks Stros or ENGL pdalier expensive, with an interface "midi" (the dsignation of the mark for a 9-pin connector type SERIES PC, the receiver does not dCode info twelve o'clock program change or other, such as communication of the brand might suggest).

A contour switch that provides a boost in the midrange for a solo passage.

A bright switch to make the light a little slam (which I think is not too ncessaire ...).

No frills button, we will most ...

UTILIZATION

You plug the guitar, the speaker is turned on, it leaves a little heat, there is an eq noon, and it opens its ears. THAT'S ALL!

The DIFFERENT rglages are just variations on a same THEME: If you like the sound with the rglage indicated above, take it, otherwise, forget it!

The unique eq for all channels suggests a galre in search of her, but the voicing of each channel is very well think this poses no problem, except I think a lot of too low the clear sound, which tends nuke everything in its path ... This can be corrected simply with a lgre eq in the effects loop, which opens the voice changes to sound more radical.
the eq is effective but does not mtamorphoser sound.

In short, an amp that you must type in the ear ds dpart (which it does in most cases), trs its great simplicity of use as an addition when you love the sound and an obstacle when looking for something DIFFERENT ...

SOUNDS

I play Death and I needed a real clear sound and a high gain distortion with a lot of grain.

This is exactly what this amp:

A channel that clean the rest draisonnables same volume (in any honntet russi I never put the light back, even in RPET being protected by bab, volume dlivr is beyond any normal ...). With EMG and a boss chorus is the sound metallica, the best clean I've heard of a high gain amp in this price range. All styles are available to him.

The high gain is a killing, just what I was looking for: Hyper prcis, he leaves no problem in RPET without having to mount the volume as one does, it respects the sound of scratching (I play Jackson Dinky with a Seymour Duncan in a Lag Rockline by EMG) and does not bleed.

Only small default: I find that the breath of the canal "big distortion" tends not bad when you blow up in volume. A noise gate in the effects loop is the solution I used, and everything is moving.

The crunch has a volume monster hard rock fans will certainly find their account, personal I do not use hardly any except for a few DLIR acdciens or maideniens ...

I put 10 because I have not heard anything better price.

OVERALL OPINION

I use this amp for over a month, test RPET, at home, on scne and recording.

In all situations he can get his Pingle of the game, if you know how to play on an amp lamps and having a baffle correct (I play on a Marshall cabinet Slash signature V30).

Its advantage is no great simplicity of use, which may be a default for hackers. Personnellemment hack me a pass: I plug in my guitar, if a ring j'achte if I spend my way ...

I use a JCM900 rgulirement with a JCM 2000 DSL, a Peavey Triple XXX and I possd a 800 before. I rather liked the 900 with lamps that gave me a carefully selected his staff trs, but ENGL ct gives the impression of having a bandwidth much more tense in both low and treble, as if the head came out of the water!
Of all the amps deficits above, the high hand winner ENGL out for its grain gnial, even if some of the gadgets Triple XXX t have fun.

A small power splitter output would have such good apprci t ...

Finally, I give some samples to download on a personal page:

http://guillaume.pille.free.fr/

- What type of amplification technology does it use (tube, solid state, ...)?
- What's the output power?
- What are the connections?
- What controls, effects etc. does it have?

Ultra-powerful tube sound
No effects — no need for any

USE

- Is it easy to dial in?
It couldn't be easier

- Is it easy to get the right sound?
It always sounds fine. You can play ANY style you want (even funk/jazz, with the clean channel)

- Is the user's manual clear and comprehensive?
User's manual?

SOUND

It kicks ass with a good 4x12
I think this amp is amazing
It has only one drawback: No pedal, but a Marshal switch is enough

- Which sounds do you prefer?
All the sounds this amp produces. Otherwise, I like to hear the sea and birds

OVERALL OPINION

- How long have you been using the product?
I had it two years.
I needed money and sold it
What a jerk

- Which features do you like the most / the least?
All channels sound great. The clean channel is perfect

- Did you try any other models before buying it?
Lots

- Based on your experience, would you choose this product again?
No amp has every thrilled me more

Hello voii a notice about this kind suplmentaire ^ head amp ...
I would quote what is said before .... visibly posseseurs of bte seem to be agreement on the main functions of this dernire.
So quick to rpndre the questionnaire:
- What kind of amplification (lamp, transistor ,...)?
Lamp base has, + one can blame! but the modern kind, not 10 minutes of ignition, the sound of true 3 minutes ...
- What is the power dlivre?
The issue I have rponds; better than you, and sometimes even better than I ...
I laugh I test a lot of amp heads:; the Valvestate, the JCM 800, 2000, 5150 ...
I found one on the way I looked for: fat, especially Submitted .. Submitted ... it's crazy .... This head is used in a DIFFERENT places PACMAN for the other zicos .... a fourth one is too hard, half it is the guitar.
-What are the rglages the effects? ... not need too many effects ... the sound is with us .... I will not talk about rglages ... i they are simple.

UTILIZATION

- The configuration is it simple? yes it is, like a tube amp in a few turns of knobs found a sound that gradually widens and becomes personal, and covers other manly tools.
- Gets it easy to sound good? Because of the simplicity of knobs, it is more than easy to find a good sound, the sound of pedals well agrment rtro 'Electro Harmonix' (not supplied).
is a journey through the 70's, but the purpose of dvastateur mtalcore tends stoner ... Brief own ....
- The manual is clear and sufficient? ... oh yes! see a picture of Blackmour, with a photomontage showing the doubtful there playing with these amps shekels signatures is laughable! knowing that the artist is no longer that of the lyre and mandolin in his band mdievale and rebirth ....
short clear yes ... but as we often say, the manual? pourqoui do?

SOUNDS

Is it your style of music?
rather yes, There are power, grain and round I needed ... and the sound is beautiful ...
With what (s) guitar (s) / low (s) or effect (s) do you play?
I plug in a Gibson Explorer and a Dean V 79'dans the bte dja which produces a solid and well! I rhausse qqs the leads that I did with the "memory man" Electro Harmonix
and its a massive vlop rtro ... I need ...
What kind of sound you get and with what rglages ("crystalline", "bold ",....)?
mmm clear sound level, it is quite crystalline n'crte it was not 2 / 3 of volume (like 5150) I will not m'terniser the above I am not the necessary clear sound ...
the distortion, it is raging I configuration sets up such leads to the max, you click on the buttons chtis compresses a little while and I fly! Attention push the volume to half walls and fall ... the sound has obtained a reasonable amount!
What are the sounds you prfrez, you dtest?
I want I want .... if I find I have to say!

OVERALL OPINION

How long have you use it?
3 months including a concert and rpeter bte and has delivered on two fronts, a well Submitted which filled the space ....
What is the particular feature you like best and least?
In addition to the sound that I think is the best I have used I find the subject trs beautiful aluminum bars hide a few lamps lit in the dernires as small red leds ... trs made fun of scne! if one has BMOL otherwise: in the footswich otion ... trs and expensive (about 150)
Have you tried many other models before acqurir?
A yes! cit useful as I have previously, a Valvestate head, a JCM 2000; a JCM 800 and a Peavey 5150, all with a grain and its nice but not sufficient, but if I have the roundness of the Marshalls, missing potato, which I criticized the 5150 is that the sound is trs aggressive, but lack of roundness ... ENGL head with this I find a good compromise! ah if I command the head in audiotubetech, and again I am delighted their services ...
How do you report qualitprix?
correct, as I remember saying o ENGL heads are an alternative to Amricains for a price much lower. So it was worth it is anything but fly.
Exprience with, you will do again this choice? ...
one would say yes!

Here is an opinion that goes in the direction of what is said below. It's been five months that it is my home and I do sing). C treeeeesss 100w is really powerful (even when prvoir a powerbrake). I like the cot "" JCM800 "of this amp, c is said that we should not spend hours to make it sound. a few knobs and presto, it comes out as if it rained

small loupiotte that illuminate the indoor are nice and I find its looks wow!

the four common causes no problem. I prfre far as four good 2 bad. (Is not it Jim? )

Sounds at the site of my group
www.thechargers.be ( http://www.thechargers.be )

UTILIZATION

It s used as a toaster!

even no need to manual (as I'm smart)

knob:
clean
lead
equa 3 bands (bass-middle-treble)
presence of lead
lead volume
A master low gain
Master B hi-gain

contour switch (gives more roundness to the sound)
Bright switch (gives more shine)

c qd is even a 4 channel head despite the lack of rglage

1. clean channel: a real clean, no crunch. (Rgler with knobs and clean master A)
2. lightweight with a clean crunch (with the master rgler A)
attention carefully to avoid rgler the diffrence in size. as the best to use a TS9 for clean with saturated lightweight
3.Low gain (set with the lead - lead-lead volume prsence master-A)
4. hi gain (rgler the lead-lead lead-presence-master volume B)
the transition from channel to channel is done through two switches in the facade (logic)).
number of possibilities (arrangement with rpetitions) = 2 = 4 (long live the statistics)
+ c is cool to drive thanks to ca pdalier, optional
if I use almost never the crunch channel because I find with my Start, it's a bit too soft. but with an lp or sg, it sounds dead.

of 6-11-04 edit: I do not at all clean-channel low gain.
the crunch, ca may sound like a plexi (Andy Summers) in
not pushing the lead, and so treble knob of
volume of the guitar half.
I have not even qd a very lightweight Difference in volume between the channel
SETTING THE crunch and lead volume between the two masters equivalent (for a bit +
lead.)

SOUNDS

Clean: fenderiens wish (mmmm with my EHX small clone, memoryman ,...) prvoir rverb good (too bad she is not intgre ...---> 9 / 10)
crunch: Nestl has not made even better (Ca crunch with a simple c + is still soft with a Les Paul).
:::::: lead arrrf c is the hard pure (acdc, guns, motorhead ......... ..... Led Zep guns ...)

Damage to the lightweight blows lead ... Denoiser would be a good add to the rack.

OVERALL OPINION

the +

look
ease and efficiency of the four (ca pleased after going on the marshall)
+0.5 Loupiotte in
heat
Its

the -

have a nice spring rverb t cool (but hey EHX is the holly grail his)
the footswitch is optional and very expensive ... (Z5 price of around 200)
very (too) powerful. rducteur a power Intgr t would welcome (but for that price, I excused his absence)
AC is blowing a lead .. prvoir noise gate in the loop
attention to single coil users: avoid the tones of sperm function and push the knobs too much lead and if not ... hello trebble feedback

very good amp for not very much finally

Amp 100w 4 channel (2 channels with 2 modes actually).

A between all outputs must be HP (1x4, 2x8 and 2x16 ohms), and an effects loop parallle level adjustable.

There are also three connectors to switch the head, the connector for ENGL Z5 (too expensive to buy it), and two jacks for Stereo genre classic marshall footswitch (to change but any con).

Rglages level is from left to right the clean, which is the clean volume and gain for the crunch, a bright knob to clean, lead gain, 3 band Eq, a contour switch (channel lead), the volume prsence the lead and two masters.

I put 8 because a knob lo mid and hi mid have liked, and an eq unit for the clean why not.

UTILIZATION

There is no equa SPECIFICATIONS for clean, but because of the number of knobs trsrduit, once you know a little bte is really plug & play, it can only ring.

SOUNDS

My style of music is the main mtal (pantera the mobilities of more current), meaning it's not his area of ​​prdilection be but I find it perfect, the sound I wanted. I know the powerball and I also greatly prfre my Blackmore.

I plug in a jackson DKMG, it sounds prcis and right. With a passive guitar (an old microphones aria no name) it sounds much more fat and less simple microphone gain. It seems logical but really the sound of a guitar is radically changing the other, so that you can do anything with.

I'll do a little review for each channel:

Clean: nice but a little right, difficult to crunch. With my four RULES for the lead there is a little too low, but the bright switch catching good thing.
I recently bought a g-major, with nickel is ca.

Crunch: I used the OCCAZ or for times or to DCON is not too much in my playing style, I prefer more gain => low lead.

Low Lead: trs sound nice, not really mtal forcment because not enough gain, the only criticism I can make it.

Hi Lead: In my salmon prfr!: Mrgreen:
The cannal I use most, I made several dclinaisons with my g-major: Quieter scratch is when my second solo, solo boost and normal. It allows me to tackle gaps in the low gain lead to certain uses.

I put 10 because the reviews I have to do the chipottage, probably with good adjustable lamps pramp, and that provided me this amp sounds excellent base 4 which opens many possibilities with the g-major, even with little effect trs.

OVERALL OPINION

I bought six months ago pile, I registered with, and well done live on RPTES.
100% satisfied with my choice, I dpart eyeing an invader but given the price and my cart use, blackmore suits me perfectly.

Before you choose, I cost of samples of various brands and did my tests. I dj a positive attitude about ENGL, Msa too expensive and it was not what I was looking, the 5150 yuck (dj in the test sample and worse, plus it has failed the test pdt: mrgreen . J'tais dj fix virtually before actually testing.

Report quality / price nickel, in addition to the CTE OCCAZ is not too low if needed to sell it. As mentioned above do not buy the Z5, let alone the Z4, the contour switch is not a great thing especially if you have a dj boost your disposal, and control of the two masters default is nickel , no need to even be able to switch.

If you wanted a Z4, a switch 35 marshall, you transfer the resistors in and it works with LEDs. I used this mthode for almost 6 months.

The Engl Blackmore is a 100 watt, all tube amplifier powered by a quartet of 5881’s. It has one set of EQ controls (bass, middle, and treble), clean channel volume, overdrive channel gain, overdrive channel volume and presence. There are two master volumes; one for each channel, unless the footswitch is plugged in, then one of the master volumes can act as a boost. There is also a bright button for the clean channel and a contour button for the overdrive channel that boosts low-mid frequencies.

UTILIZATION

Because of the limited number of controls, and a well thought out design, it is extremely easy to get a good sound out of the Blackmore. The names of some of the knobs can seem a little ambiguous, so the manual is helpful. It is also helpful in understanding how the two channels and each channel’s “modes” work.

SOUNDS

I used the Engl Blackmore with a Gibson Les Paul Custom, and a pedal board consisting of a Boss TU-2, a Line 6 MM4, and a Boss NS-2. The Blackmore has four modes within its two channels; clean, crunch, lead and heavy lead. The shared EQ works extremely well on all modes. I never found myself wanting to change the EQ when I would change channels or modes, which speaks volumes for the amp’s design. The amp sounded excellent when playing alone at home, but in a band scenario I found my tone getting lost in the mix. I was either too loud or unable to be heard. This amp would be great if I was playing alone or in a recording environment, but in my band the Blackmore failed to perform. However, I have seen a Blackmore used in another band with excellent results.

OVERALL OPINION

Besides the tone of the Blackmore not cutting through in a band environment, when I used the Engl Z-5 controller there was a slight delay when I would change from one channel/mode to another. There wasn’t a popping sound, only a pause with no sound coming from the amp. However, I spoke with other Blackmore/Z-5 users and they did not have this same problem. Knowing what I know now I would probably not have purchased the Blackmore. I still believe it is an excellent amp with excellent tones, but it did not gel with me and my amplifier requirements.