ENGL Ironball Special Edition | The ultimate do-it-all tube amp for the modern player? Review & Demo
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- Опубликовано: 23 июл 2024
- This is my take on the Engl Ironball Special Edition!
A made-in-Germany, two channel lunchbox-sized tube amp head that’ll set you back around €1,200 in Europe, the Ironball Special Edition is Engl’s take on the do-it-all analog/digital amp head. It’s an all-analog signal path with digital FX (delay and reverb), MIDI options and an IR loader, so it’s theoretically perfect for everything from practice, rehearsals and gigs to silent bedroom jamming and home recording.
Get the Ironball Special Edition here: bit.ly/IronballSErwm
Of course, everyone knows Engl as being the metal player’s amp brand of choice - and I am most definitely not a metal player! So my goal for this video is to answer three questions:
1. Can the Ironball Special Edition excel at genres other than metal?
2. Are all the amp’s extra features genuinely useful, or just gimmicks no one will really use? And:
3. Is the Ironball Special Edition the ultimate do-it-all tube amp for the modern guitar player?
And that’s what we’re going to find out! I’ll be playing my single coil-equipped Fender Telecaster and my humbucker-loaded Epiphone Les Paul across a wide variety of genres during the video, and we’ll see how the Engl handles some choice country, pop, folk and indie riffs, as well as a bit of rock and some heavier stuff too. I’ll also do some loops where I tweak the amp’s controls to really see the extremes it can go to, and to test the built-in IRs that ship with the amp, and its delay and reverb effects.
Here’s the links to the various playing samples and info bits:
00:00 Hello!
00:58 Introduction to the ENGL Ironball Special Edition
02:18 The amp’s front panel
04:41 The back panel features
07:14 What we’re doing today!
Clean Channel sounds
08:23 Clean reference chords on all pickup settings
09:10 Poppy barre chords
09:42 Ringing open indie pop chords
10:10 Strummed country pop chords
10:51 Country lead sound
11:07 Country ballad arpeggios
11:34 Airbourne inspired classic rock riff
12:07 AC/DC inspired classic rock riff
13:01 Hendrix inspired classic rock riff
13:35 Hendrix inspired fuzz tone
13:56 Indie rock barre chords
14:48 Greta Van Fleet inspired rock riff
15:13 Indie octave chords riff
16:03 Upbeat indie barre chords
16:32 Indie rock octave chords
17:28 Indie rock rhythm tone
Lead Channel sounds
18:00 Classic hard rock riff
18:36 Hard rock riff
19:10 Glam rock riff
19:39 Pop punk riff
20:06 Pop punk melodic lead sound
20:38 Punk rock powerchords
21:07 Foo Fighters inspired modern rock riff
21:42 Chunky alternative rock chords
22:34 Modern alt rock riff
23:02 Rage Against The Machine inspired groovy rock riff (Drop D tuning)
23:36 Progressive rock riff (Drop D)
24:06 Modern rock palm-muted power chords (Drop D)
24:55 Hardcore chugging riff (Drop D)
25:27 Mastodon inspired metal riff with country twang (Drop D)
25:51 Hardcore punk riff (Drop D)
26:21 Thrash metal riff (Drop D)
26:42 Classic heavy metal/sludge riff (Drop D)
27:48 Fender Telecaster indie rock loop - clean and crunch sounds
29:35 Epiphone Les Paul hard rock loop - crunch sounds
31:44 Epiphone Les Paul metal loop (Drop D) - heavy and chugging sounds
34:17 Epiphone Les Paul clean loop - delay/reverb FX test
37:51 My thoughts and getting used to the Ironball
38:41 Build quality
39:23 Sounds - Clean Channel
41:34 Sounds - Lead Channel
44:48 The built-in delay and reverb effects
46:52 Front panel switches and options
47:34 MIDI - get a foot controller!
48:10 Power soak, volume levels and IRs
49:17 What I don’t like so much: controls on the back
50:38 Shared EQ for both channels
51:50 Balancing output levels when using headphones/IRs
52:41 The headphone out
53:34 What is the competition for the Ironball Special Edition?
56:25 Does the Ironball do more than metal?
57:07 Are all the extra features useful or just gimmicks?
58:11 Is this the ultimate modern home recording amp?
58:54 Final conclusion and goodbye
My setup was as follows: I ran the Ironball Special Edition straight into my Focusrite Scarlett 2i4, which went into Logic Pro X. That's it. No post-processing on the sounds was done. Oh, and I used my TC Electronic Ditto Looper to play the loops.
Here’s some links to those bits of gear:
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TC Electronic Ditto Looper: bit.ly/TCDittoRWM
Focusrite 4i4 (this is the newer equivalent of my 2i4, which they don’t make any more!): bit.ly/rwmFR4i4
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Enjoy!
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Backing music from the RUclips Audio Library: Duck In The Alley - TrackTribe.
#ENGL #ENGLAmps #ENGLAmplification #ENGLIronball #ENGLFamily
Note: certain links in the description are affiliate links. If you click said links and purchase anything as a result, I will receive a small commission. This doesn’t cost you anything extra, but it does help to support the channel. So, if you do that, thank you very much! 
Видеоклипы
Here’s the timestamps for you people on phones:
00:00 Hello!
00:58 Introduction to the ENGL Ironball Special Edition
02:18 The amp’s front panel
04:41 The back panel features
07:14 What we’re doing today!
Clean Channel sounds
08:23 Clean reference chords on all pickup settings
09:10 Poppy barre chords
09:42 Ringing open indie pop chords
10:10 Strummed country pop chords
10:51 Country lead sound
11:07 Country ballad arpeggios
11:34 Airbourne inspired classic rock riff
12:07 AC/DC inspired classic rock riff
13:01 Hendrix inspired classic rock riff
13:35 Hendrix inspired fuzz tone
13:56 Indie rock barre chords
14:48 Greta Van Fleet inspired rock riff
15:13 Indie octave chords riff
16:03 Upbeat indie barre chords
16:32 Indie rock octave chords
17:28 Indie rock rhythm tone
Lead Channel sounds
18:00 Classic hard rock riff
18:36 Hard rock riff
19:10 Glam rock riff
19:39 Pop punk riff
20:06 Pop punk melodic lead sound
20:38 Punk rock power chords
21:07 Foo Fighters inspired modern rock riff
21:42 Chunky alternative rock chords
22:34 Modern alt rock riff
23:02 Rage Against The Machine inspired groovy rock riff (Drop D tuning)
23:36 Progressive rock riff (Drop D)
24:06 Modern rock palm-muted power chords (Drop D)
24:55 Hardcore chugging riff (Drop D)
25:27 Mastodon inspired metal riff with country twang (Drop D)
25:51 Hardcore punk riff (Drop D)
26:21 Thrash metal riff (Drop D)
26:42 Classic heavy metal/sludge riff (Drop D)
27:48 Fender Telecaster indie rock loop - clean and crunch sounds
29:35 Epiphone Les Paul hard rock loop - crunch sounds
31:44 Epiphone Les Paul metal loop (Drop D) - heavy and chugging sounds
34:17 Epiphone Les Paul clean loop - delay/reverb FX test
37:51 My thoughts and getting used to the Ironball
38:41 Build quality
39:23 Sounds - Clean Channel
41:34 Sounds - Lead Channel
44:48 The built-in delay and reverb effects
46:52 Front panel switches and options
47:34 MIDI - get a foot controller!
48:10 Power soak, volume levels and IRs
49:17 What I don’t like so much: controls on the back
50:38 Shared EQ for both channels
51:50 Balancing output levels when using headphones/IRs
52:41 The headphone out
53:34 What is the competition for the Ironball Special Edition?
56:25 Does the Ironball do more than metal?
57:07 Are all the extra features useful or just gimmicks?
58:11 Is this the ultimate modern home recording amp?
58:54 Final conclusion and goodbye
Enjoy :)
Good grief, surely the most exhaustive and thorough showcase of the Ironball SE. Excellent work, my dude
Thanks man, glad you enjoyed it! This amp does have a lot of tricks up its sleeve and I don't think even I showed everything...
I liked the relatable riffs. Too many reviewers stick to the same blues/classic rock licks.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed them! Yes, my music taste is pretty different to lots of the players on RUclips. I'm strictly a rhythm and riffs guy :) Cheers for watching!
A review almost as exhaustive as the features on the Ironball! Can't beat German engineering.
Yeah, this one can certainly do a lot! And no, you can't beat a bit of German engineering.
Superb video🎉
Man that amp head does it all. Good vid.
It really does! Cheers for watching :)
Damn man, impressive video.
Thanks man, glad you enjoyed it!
I love sea foam green les Paul’s with zebra pick ups and cream pick up brackets .
This would be one for you then!
I love this amp, it’s going to be my next gear purchase. I know that Engl is known for metal, but I feel like this thing is so versatile that it could cover just about any genre very well.
Yes, that's how I feel about it too! ENGL doesn't get much of a look in for stuff other than metal, but this amp really covers all bases really well (as I try and demo here!). Great clean and crunch tones, great high gain, decent built-in FX, and also all the connectivity you need for any situation. Hope you love yours when you get it!
@@RichWordsMusic when you save a preset to a midi slot does it also save the reverb and delay settings that you’ve dialed up?
I'm a classic rock marshall player, but after using UAD's rendition of an ENGL, I've got one of these babies on the way!
Nice! Please let me know how the amp compares when you get it... I've been looking at the UA amp pedals recently, but have yet to try one in person! And happy new amp day!
All the switches and aggression of nuclear submarine smashed into one killer head!!! And still cleans up nice for snazzy jazzy stuffs.
Oh yeah, this is one killer amp! I don't think I've ever heard anyone attempt to play country on an Engl before either ;) Would love to shoot this out against a Revv or two!
@@RichWordsMusic i really like the rev and Dly, that’s a gig ready lil beast very little pedalboard required
@@PooNinja The reverb's good and the delay is really good, I agree! A decent MIDI controller and you can gig with this like it is.
@@RichWordsMusiccheck Steve Morse :)
I own a GT1000 with this amp head. I was wondering how/if I can drop my Z9 pedal, and control MIDI (including changing the amp channel) with the Boss unit. Not only am I not sure on how to do this, but I'm not sure I could find the ability to change the amp channel in the MIDI channels in the manual. Someone suggested I try and connect the Z9 to my DAW interface and record the MIDI data from pressing the switches.
I think it is definitely the best overall dirt amp with all one truly needs to cover the bases. My main concern is live. A small gig has not changed. The rule of thumb is still a backline without mics except for vocals. A loud Metal drummer can knock out 119 dB and I have run into trouble with less than 50 watts RMS. I have an attenuator and quite happy to use it and do. Until they create a volume control for a drummer this is a problem that someone like ENGL knows better than anyone with decades of providing amps for Metal players.
You're right about that aspect, absolutely - the volume standard in those situations is still how loud the acoustic kit is. I don't think you'd have issues with this amp unless (a) you're playing really heavy stuff and (b) your drummer hits fast and hard. And maybe (c) if you need masses of ultra clean headroom! For the more pedestrian stuff I generally play, the Ironball would be just fine (I'm 99% sure, I haven't played it with a drummer yet!). Aside from that, this amp just has everything you could ever need, and I think it'll be very successful among players who don't have volume issues with it.
@@RichWordsMusic Is it possible to plug the amp into a PA for louder volume?
@@uroboric Yes, sure! It has a output for that :)
Which overdrive pedal would suit the best for the Ironball, Ibanez TS9, or Boss SD-1? Thanks!
Great vid man. How's the build quality compared to Marshall or Mesa or EVH????
Thanks so much, really glad you enjoyed it! From my experience, the Engl is built as well as any of the others. In fact, I'd say it's better quality than a couple of recent Marshalls I've tried, which felt flimsier. I have no idea how Engl can build these on Germany for that price.
Ok, ok. I wrote my first comment before watching your conclusions!
Yes I suppose that you do get a hell of a lot for your money. I do own several different amps, but being the dinosaur that I am (Even get confused with my Vox Valvetronic), I always tend to revert back to my simple Marshall. Could you try playing a bit of blues or classic rock on this amp please?
Cheers and stay safe.
😊😎🎸
Hi Steve! Ha ha, this was a very long video so it doesn't surprise me you were commenting before the end. You know, there's something you can't beat about a one channel amp - it's similar to P90s for me, they just have this purity that you can plug in and enjoy without having to program anything, worry about weird controls you don't understand, etc. And this coming from someone with a deep understanding of complex amps (that's what working at Hughes & Kettner for more than six years will do for you!).
I actually think I might use the Engl kind of like a one-channel amp for when I want more metal sounds. It's great for that. For cleans, I would revert back to another amp that's built to do that. But for someone who wants one amp that can do just about anything, I think the Engl is perfect. I have more videos planned with it, and I'll try and do some blues and more classic rock stuff as well. Should be fun, as these are definitely outside of the typical Engl comfort zone :)
Anyone have the Fireball 25? Does it have the same sonic range as this one does especially on the clean channel?
I don't have the Fireball, but I played one a while ago and I think the Clean channels are very similar. We need an owner to chime though, anyone?
How about a side by side or comparison with the GM40? Great job
Now that could be a shout! I have the Black Spirit 200 these days but might be able to source a GM40 for a video on that ;) They're certainly natural competitors. Watch this space!
I'd like that too.
here's a question, does the clean channel work well with pedals? especially overdrives and fuzzes, that could be important for some people I suppose (I know I care about that at least haha)
Oh, that's a great question, and one thing I didn't cover in this video! I've tried the amp with most of my favorite drives - it's great for that - but not with any fuzzes yet... this is something I need to rectify soon, as I've just got back into fuzz again after years! I might need to make a video about that actually :)
ausgezeichneter Verstärker...hail hydra!!
Oh yeah 😎
Iron ball SE or Fireball 25? It’s for metal, metal and more metal. I do like the delay and gain boost of the SE.
For me, I'd have to pick the Ironball for the added versatility and features, but the Fireball does one thing amazingly... METAL! Of course, the Ironball is also amazing for high gain, as all ENGLs are. I recommend you test both at a store if you can - then you'll know which one works best for you :)
What about the performance with the analog Pedals?
It works very well with pedals! I find it to be a very decent pedal platform. I guess I need to do another video showing this too at some point :)
the bigger question is does it have an expresso machine built in?
Nah, this one only has a milk frother. You need a full-size Engl head for the complete coffee experience ;)
👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks as ever!
I had the amp but returned it. Did not have much low end.
Shame, sorry to hear you weren't that impressed with yours. I don't feel like I miss any low end with mine...
Interesting video overall.
The amp certainly does a lot.
Would I want to pay that much?
Not really to be honest. However, maybe that's because I think there are better amps suitable for my kind of music. I am a bit 'old school' and believe a product should not be aimed at specific genres.
By the way, did you manage to get a video done with Heritage?
Cheers. 😊😎🎸
Hi Steve, just answered your other one! Shows me for not going through these in order ;) But having read your other comment, I totally see where you're coming from. And to an extent, I agree. I guess I'm also more old school in that regard. I don't need complexity, and I like it when there's less controls for me to make something sound worse than it did before! Like I just wrote though, I think the Engl might just become my go-to for heavy stuff - it's not a cleans specialist though.
I got to play a Heritage briefly at 42GS, but not make a video on one, sadly. That is one of the big regrets from the event for me. It was simply a case of the Heritage guitars being in too much demand from the big channels who were there and had priority, or were simply quicker in grabbing them. I loved the brief time I had with the Heritage though (they're right up there with Gibsons, for sure), and I will be trying to ask the company to lend me a guitar or two to do something a bit more detailed.
@@RichWordsMusic Ok thanks.
Look forward to seeing you test one or two if you can.
Cheers. 😊😎🎸
@@stevehanham9266 Fingers crossed, I'm on it! Rock on :)
How about a good Blues tone?
It'll do a decent enough blues tone, yes. I'm not much of a blues guy so I can't really do it justice. Overall though there's probably other amps out there that are dedicated to blues players more, whereas this one really lends itself best to heavier playing. Even the clean channel just wants to rock and roll!
This way too long of a video.
Yes, it's long, but the amp can do a lot - and I wanted to showcase it all. Also, that's why I put timestamps in all my videos, so you can find the bits you want and not have to wade through the rest...