ENGL E652 Slow Hand Motion Limited Edition

Like the Fast Hand Motion, the Slow Hand Motion is a limited edition of the Blackmore head. The Slow Hand Motion (SHM) runs 6L6 power tubes (in stead of 5881s) and has some tweaks in the schematic as well. It's an all tube amp with 4 switchable gain stages, overall EQ and dual master controls. You get Engl's typical loop with a control to set the mix making it a parallel/series loop. In the back you have inputs for the loop, the switching functions and the power outputs (2x 4ohm, 2x 8ohm and 1x 16ohm).

These limited edition amps are hard to find as there were only build an approximate 120, not even Engl is sure how much there were build.

UTILIZATION

Although the amp only has 1 set of EQ controls, it is still possible to get a very good balance between the different "channels". You actually have 2 channels, clean/lead and both can be run in low or high gain mode.

Although it has a 4 "channels" it's still a straight forward amp. The only thing that can be confusing are the 2 master volumes as they work differently if you have footswitches connected to the amp. Without switches, the 2 master work with the clean/lead channel. When connecting the switches, the masters are independent and can be used with whatever channel.


SOUNDS

The 1st channel only has a volume control and a bright switch (and the master EQ section). With the volume around 10:00 you have a pristine clean tone, the bright works well with humbucker or darker guitars. Switch to the high gain side of this channel and the tone will get a small amount of gain, a bluesy type of breakup. This works really well with pedals. Pushing the volume higher, gets you more gain and with the volume flat out and humbuckers, you get a nice fat ac/dc-style crunch tone. I prefer my clean tone not to be totally clean so I mostly run the clean channel in hi gain mode and hit it with a pedal for more.

The 2nd channel is the gain channel and it has plenty of gain for sure. Besides the master EQ, this channel has a gain, a volume and a presence control. There's also a little button that changes the mids from more compressed to more open. The 2nd channel in lo gain is still very touch responsive and cleans up nicely. Like the 1st channel in hi gain mode, it works well with pedals. Boosters, OD and fuzz pedals work really well with this channel. Unless you need a really clean tone, you could do an entire gig with this channel and some pedals. The 2nd channel in hi gain has a lot of gain and a very smooth, liquid gain tone. At least that's how I set mine up. It can also do heavy riffing for sure but it all depends on how you set the eq.

Compared to a Blackmore, the SHM is a bit smoother sounding, it's not as bright and in your face as a Blackmore but it sure can be like that if you want. I feel the SHM is a bit more versatile than a Blackmore.

OVERALL OPINION

Although a limited edition of a great amp, these can be had for decent prices, IF you find one. They occasionally pop up on German Ebay and hold their value well.

If you like Engl-tone, this is a killer amp with that sound but with a little twist. It sounds great on it's own, works well with pedals and has a good loop. What else could you need?