Log in
Log in

or
Create an account

or
< All ENGL E650 Ritchie Blackmore Signature Head reviews
Add this product to
  • My former gear
  • My current gear
  • My wishlist
ENGL E650 Ritchie Blackmore Signature Head
Images
1/306
ENGL E650 Ritchie Blackmore Signature Head

Tube Guitar Amp Head from ENGL belonging to the Signature series

dave_the_fool dave_the_fool

« Blackmore....but not only! »

Published on 06/01/14 at 02:38
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.