Engl Ritchie Blackmore Signature

I must admit that I don't like to fiddle around with a truckload of controls (used to play that ol' marshall with the british setting) - the volumeknob on the guitar must do.

This amp sounds even better than the mesa rectifiers, the soldanos or Reussenzehns. Great distortion, even at moderate levels - this is indeed the first amp at all that doesn't need to have its poweramp driven into saturation to produce a powerful and dynamic distortion!
This amp has tone and character, while a marshall is just loud.

Built like a mercedes-benz. Even a brainless roadie will have a hard time breaking it.

Very kind and interested, I talked to the guy who designed this wonderful amp, he made no secret out of the details I wanted to know. Great!

I think this is the best Amp for around 1000 bucks, if mine would get lost I#d have to get a new one immediatedly.

The RB is one of the most versatile and easy to use amps I have ever played through. I play in a variety of different styles, ranging from stoner/punk rock through to detuned metal/industrial/ambient hip hop, and this amp suits each to a tee. Although all four channels run off the same eq on the front, each has a distinctive (and EXTREMELY powerful) sound. Although I don't use the effects loop in my live setup at the moment, I have played around with it. It's simple to use and allows you to control the effect input level. A seperate input for the clean and dirty channels would be nice as I tend to use a lot of effects on my clean sound, and few (if any) for the dirty stuff. The lack of a reverb unit, again especially for clean playing, is also a limitation. For this reason I have to AB to my old Fender for clean stuff with effects, which is a shame, because I actually prefer the tone on the Engl.

This amp is, quite simply, MONSTROUS! The clean channel is crystal- clear, even at high volume settings, the low gain and crunch channels are plenty warm and bouncy, and the high gain channel simply has to be heard to be believed. I like to use a lot of chord inversions rather than just bashing out power chords, and with the RB, each note in the chord can be heard clearly, even using heavy distortion. The bottom end is about the fattest thing I've ever heard, and notes on the top end of the scale just sparkle out at you. Because of its clarity, as previous reviewers have noted, it is extremely unforgiving and every mistake sticks out like dogs' balls, but the last time I checked, an amp is only responsible for what comes out of it, not what goes in. You can't really fault it for the shortcomings of its player. It does have a tendency to be somewhat noisy in live situations, but I think this is more to do with my guitar and pickups. I'm currently using an ESP Viper 100 with Duncan designed pickups. I plan to upgrade to EMGs sometime soon, which should eliminate some of the noise. Until then, a simple noise suppressor on my Korg multi-effects unit does the job nicely.

I've only been gigging with this amp for a couple of months now, so it's hard to say just how reliable it is, but it's built pretty tough, and the simplicity of the design significantly reduces the risk of minor technical hiccups. The Engl 4x12 box would take an antitank missile to take it out!

I haven't had to deal with the Engl people yet. I'm hoping that I'll be able to find a qualified tech in Australia.

I've been playing for 15 years and this is far away the best amp I've ever used, or even heard. I was previously using a very nice Marshall JCM 800 that needed a whole string of effects to get anywhere near the sound that the Engl gets straight from the guitar. The only thing I've used that's even close to the RB is a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier. It's a close call, but I have to say I'd choose the Engl if given the choice again. Since I started gigging with this amp, I have never received so many complements on my sound. Love it!

Four differnt gain stages a very tasteful EQ and a footswitchable contour that boosts the mids for solos.... It's a working mans dream. Simple and A Monster when it comes to pure tone and hi gain without the mud. Add to that footswitchable master volumes and you've got every combination you'd could aask for. It's possibly the ludest amp I've ever played. Very sesitive.

I've been a Marshall player for nearly 20 years and I've got a new tone partner. ENGL. This Ritchie Blackmore model is flawless . I play in a rock cover band we cover music from Van Halen to Stevie Ray Pink FLoyd to Willie Nelson and this amp covers every tone I need. The footswitchable contour is the greatest feature for leads. I've read a few other reviews and I can see where this isn't the amp for some players. If your sloppy and want to hide wi a quagmire of distortion this isn't the amp for you. But for ringing clean tones and tight warm singing leads this is the amp for you. The crunch is great on AC/DC covers and ZZ Top like rhythm playing. And the Lead tone is mouth watering. I mean there's presence and bottom. and the middle frequencies cut right through the mix . I've never had so many complements on my sound as I did tonight. Our first night together. IT's THE BEST AMP I"VE EVER PLAYED

Tonight was our first gig together. But it's built like a tank. I'm sure she'll last for years to come

I don't know but I've heard there very prompt and professional about dealling with there US dealers

This is the tone I've always wanted but didn't think I could afford. It's a great deal.

This is an update to my previous review, for I had the amp modified by Horst Langer himself.
First, I had the boost-ratio from Lo-Gain to Hi-Gain modified, Mr. Langer installed a control-pot on the backside of the amp so now I'm able to adjust the increase of gain to the amount really needed (which is mostly less than the standard increase when switching from Lo to Hi.) This makes the amp even more versatile - very useful.
Second, I had different Master Volume pots (now logarithmic) installed, which makes the amp easier to adjust loudnesswise at low to medium-level volumes. Note: This mod isn't necessary for the MK II models, which are recognizable by the Z-5 footswitch port - they've got a completely different circuit and already include a similar mod.

As far as I could notice, the boost-ratio mod seems to have warmed up the high-gain setting a bit, which is not bad. I really enjoy this modification for it gives me the possibility to give me a nice fat rhythm sound in normal lead mode with a slight "extra-kick" when switching to high-gain lead (more useful than just using the midboost for soloing)

Mr. Langer has made good efforts to make this modification very reliable, he used lots of silicone to secure the new parts & cables inside the amp - looks pretty stable. This is even more amazing for it isn't so easy to modify printed circuits. Congrats here!

AAA-Grade Customer support. Mr. Koch (Engl-Distributor) sent me a original Blackmore Amp package set via UPS and arranged all UPs tranports via UPS - I just had to be there to give UPS the amp, which made it very easy to get the amp safe to Engl and back. Contact via phone and e-mail was excellent both with Mr. Koch and Mr. Langer.

...

One of the first Engl Blackmore 100s, made in 1996. Two channels with Low Gain/High Gain function, etc... (see other reviews).
The only thing I don't like about the older Blackmore model is that it doesn't have the Z-5 footswitch port, so either you have to do tapdancing on two stereo footswitches or to get the Z-11 midi switcher to use this amp with a midi controller. aLso, you can't update the older models, so this amp gets a only a 7 for features due to usability.

Even with only one EQ for 4 sounds this amp is quite versatile. Depending on what cabinet you use. With a closed back 4x12 Vintage 30 you get excellent hardrocking and bluesy sounds out of it, while played via a 2x12 open back with JBLs this amp does nice twangy country sounds as well. The high-gain lead is nice for "metal" for it has lots of gain, but setting gain too high will lead to uncontrollable feedback, so beware.
Interesting is than this amp retains his own character, no matter how you adjust it. So the clean is no "Fender Clean", the Lead is no "Marshall or Mesa Lead", it is "Engl" all the time. It fits most guitars, but you have to adjust the EQ carefully to get the best out of it. The EQ is - in contrast to the last review - very effective imho. If you had set the EQ for playing with your favorite Strat, you won't be pleased when changing to your Les Paul and vice versa.
Originally this amp came with Sovtek 5881, but I replaced them with 6L6GC-STR for chimier highs and a rounder sound. (This change is highly recommended). The nice thing about the sound is that it sounds very "honest" i.e. it doesn't allow you to play sloppy. This amp won't make you sound good if you have a bad tone. Kind of "nowhere to run, nowhere to hide" amp. You if you don't like to work on your playing, get another amp!
For the high-gain leadsound is sometimes not creamy enough for my taste, this amp get a 9 here, for it produces lots of very usable sounds depending on the cabinet used.

The amp has never broken down, but as it is a tube amp I'd always take some replacement fuses & tubes to a gig. (or my rack for emergency cases). The only problem I had once was the input jack, it broke once when I stumbled ove the cable. Easy fix.

Here it comes, the big 10. Engls distributor, the Erich Koch GmbH is among such class acts as Bill &Becky Lawrence, Rockinger and Reverend.
Great service, very friendly and very easy to deal with. I've dealt several times with them and also never heard any bad story about the Engl service from others.

I've been playing for about 11 years, although that doesn't mean anything. I buy my gear for tone, and not for the name on it. And this amp has tone for two. As long as you adjust it correctly. Imho this amp works best with medium to low-output pickups, a quality cable and a quality cabinet. No FX necessary. Don't kill the preamp section with too much input - let the amp do the work. and don't put the Lead Gain on ten, let the amp breathe and you will get very nice result.
This amp is a very nice alternative to the classic Marshall/Mesa Stuff. Not only feature wise, but soundwise. I won't sell this one, for I will always have an Engl to be able to really "hear" my playing. If I got lost, I'd get another Engl, perhaps not a Blackmore, for Engl produces lots of other nice toys.

Good clean and low gain sound. But if you need a classic overdrive saw, choose another amp. In fact you can turn it on and you'll find a high gain setting. If you do so, the amp sounds strange. (fender tele U.S.A. or Kramer). To much mids that you can't get rid of and like very heavily compressed. That means the attacs get thinner the louder the amp is (it's hard to describe). The heavy sound is also very clear; too clear! Altough there is much sustain, you'll hear any little mistake.

The Engl R. B. got a lot of differnt settings that change the sound-characteristics. But one thing I didn't like at all. The EQ - potis (Bass, mid, treb, pres) are too weak. Let me say it's a homoopathic feature on this amp. Specially the mid selection does not change anything

This is an update to my earlier review, and i just wanted to add that my rig has changed a little.
First of all I bought another cabinet and - tadah - the amp sounds even better with it. The Standard marshall 4x12" i had before just wasn't a good match for the amp. I tried several cabinets, the one I wanted should be lightweight, cheap and full sounding, not too many highs. I found the Rathamp TW 412, wich weighs only about 33kg, costs under 1000DEM and comes pretty close to the vintage ENGL cabinet. and plus, it is much better built than those marshall cabinets.
Second, I changed my guitars: I still have my SG Special Ltd. Ed., but now equipped with a P498T. Plus I made a real bargain with a SG '90 in best condition. Unfortunately it didn't come with the original PU, and I still search for a suiting PU. This guitar sounds a little bit muddy compared to the SG special, but has more punch. The ENGL can handle either guitar, and shows clearly the sounds of both guitars.
3. I bought a replifex and an ENGL midi footcontroller. I use a Nobels ms-4 midi switcher and now I have the perfect rig. the FX-loop is perfect, the footboard built like a tank, and I can remote control every desired sound.
All in all a great amp, it has four basic sounds, that vary with th guitar used. everything is possible with just one EQ. Damn cool !!

a few months ago the green master high indicator LED broke. I haven't had the time to fix it. But the amp still runs, of course.
I believe it has still its original tubes in it, only one of the preamp tubes had to be changed one time the amp started to have brittling, sizzling sounds now and then. but thats no big deal...

Made in 2000, Germany. It has got two individual channels, wich can be divided into low and high gain settings. So basically a 4-channel... Effectsloop can be serial or parallel. Has a contour switch for soloing. No reverb. The amp is an all tube 100 Watt head and that will definitely do in ANY situation. If not, you should check an eardoctor!!! Has gain-controls on both channels, and a master for each channel. Only prob: there's no EQ for the clean channel, so you'll have to fix that on your guitar or with your FX-unit. I wish it had that, though. And for the price, I think that it should have a Reverb!!! I wish that the amp had a stereo effectsreturn so I could put my Roland VG-88 into it, but what the hell, it's the sound that matters right?!

I play all kinds of music, and I need a good bottom end clean and a VERY tight and high gain distortion. And that's what it does. The clean stays clean a long way up and the distortion nearly gave me a hard-%n!! Nowadays everybody uses either a Marshall or a Mesa, and everybody sounds the same. This amp wil cure you of that, and will give you a very distinct sound. Oh, PA-people will love you because it cuts through perfectly in a live-situation. Not like those f**ked up Marshalls wich they can only put softer or louder (preferably softer :) ) The clean is very "alive" (good for Jazz and melodic chords and strumming) and with the bright switch on you can play funk with it, or some bluesy shit. The lead-channel will lead you from blueswork to rock ala scorpions to really raunchy (death)metal. I play this with a custom shop Ibanez JEM90HAM (THE work of art!!!) with DiMarzio Evolutions, an Ibanez RG7620 7-string with DiMarzio Blaze's and a Yamaha RGX112. This machine wails!!!! And it is VERY, VERY loud (thank God!!!).

It is built like a German tank, with the steel bars on front that give you sight on all of the glowing tubes. Behind the tubes there a red LED's that shine through the tubes wich looks really spectacular. You can't kill this amp. Never had a problem with it. Neither did a friend of mine that has one too. And we play outdoors, indoors, wet, dry, cold, warm, etc... Built to last!!!

Haven't had the need to contact them yet. Only problem is their website is down a lot.

I've been playing for 10 years know, and I've done a lot of tone-searching. My gear: Ibanez JEM90HAM, Ibanez RG7620 7-string, Yamaha RGX112, Jackson JRR94 (randy rhoads prototype!!!), BC Rich Bich, Roland VG-88, Peavey Classic 60/60 Stereo tube poweramp, Marshall 1960A 4x12 Cab and soon the Engl 4x12 with Celestion V30's. I've owned all kinds of shit especially crap Marshalls (with one exception: a beautiful 1970 JMP 50 Watt head that I sold, and I still regret.....). This amp delivers that what I ask. For REALLY clean sounds, for example for acoustic guitars I use the Roland straight into the Peavey poweramp, but for insane but defined distortions, this is the amp to have. Really distinct sound, killer looks, and built to last. You'll fall in love with it, I promise!

Quite a lot, the amp is versatile. It has two gain selectors, one for lead and another one fot low gain sounds.

I don't like this amp at all. The clean channel is good, but the distorsions are shitty. I gave it back to the store where I bought it and got a Peavy 5150. I don't like its distorsions because they sound like.....mmmm, I don't know, kind of false, or fake, it's hard to tell. I just thought it was too much money money for this sounds. I mean, they are not bad, but you''ll feel strange with this distorsions.

I think yo can depend on it. German amps are well bulit, they are hard. The matter us whether oyu like its sound or not.

did not need it.

The same as i wrote above

The amp was built back in 1997 or 1998 and has got two channels, which could be both divided into two gain modes, so you get clean/crunch and low gain/high gain. There are also two switchable independent master volumes, a x-tra volume for the lead channel and gain for each channel (clean / lead). About this it has got a classic eq, with presence available for lead channel only. At the back side you will find a pot for fx level, where the fx loop is in parallel and tube driven.
I use the amp for playing rock styles, variing from clean Rock ballads up to heavy metal sounds, like Metallica. The features are ok to me, but I miss two more gain pots, one for each channel. This time you have to find compromise for use of gain settings.
The power rating (100 watts through four 5881) is ok to me. The amp got punch at the low end and even the low end sounds very clear. The preamp section is realized by four ECC83, one for the fx loop.

I played the amp with a selfmade Stratocaster, full scalloped neck and Seymour Duncans Quarter Pounds on it (in general, a Ritchie Blackmore Strat) and I got what I expected: hard sounding riffs and fattened lead sounds, just at the low gain lead channel. It is Ritchies amp, you guess it.
The distortion could have a bit more of an old Marshall Plexi (rough and dirty), but if you are in heavier tones, it is satisfying your needs. The clean channel is almost clean, so the amp gives very clean sounds at very high volumes and it gives you the possibility to play with power amp distortion instead of preamp distortion. The crunch mode gives a range from real crunchy (like Tom Petty) up to distortion of old master volume Marshall and a bit more.
The sounds bandwidth of the amp is very big. You can play from classic Rock style through British Rock up to heaviest Heavy Metal and shape the sound to fit by turning only the mid pot.

I played the amp for about one year without any breakdowns, without any noise of the amp (no clicks and no craz of the pots or the switches, relays). I never used a backup amp, like I did with my Marshalls. The cover of Engl seems to be more weak than the cover of Marshall (elevant grain), but that's all.
Everything looks like built for heavy use and hard treatment, just for use allday on the road.

I am interested in tube amp circuitry and in oposite of Marshalls, Engl amps are not so popular, maybe they will become much more in the future. I could not find a schem so I ask Engl via email to send me one and got it a couple of days later on.
A friend of mine had question concerning his modded Engl Fast Hand (mod by the Engl engineer themselves) and got answer within one day and a very attractive offer for redesigning the amp to original values (100.- DEM ~ $40).
Catalog orders are very easy and they send all the advertisment stuff along you can think off. I never had a serious problem with the amp, so there was no need to contact the support. Compared to other big manufacturers they have got a 10+ support.

In comparison to Marshalls new models (JCM900 series and newer) the amp sounds more direct, true, so to say. It is what you expect of an alltube amplifier: sound, sound, and sound. No x-tra ordinary features, noone will use and noone will miss, no buttons for bass boost, double bass boost and double double bass boost and so on. Just the things installed you need for a live gig to give your play a comfortable range of sounds for soloing and playing riffs.
I also play some Marshalls (hotrodded) and in comparison to them, I miss less sound while playing the Engl. I am used to take several amps and each ones best characteristics and to be true, most times you find only one good characteristic - this amp got more than one and that counts.
I would by it again, as I would by other Engl products, if I will loose the amp. On the other hand side, I think the amp feels sort of lonesome and needs a little brother like Engls Savage 60...