Engl Screamer 50

50W All-Tube combo, 1x12" w/ Celestion Vintage 30. Made in 2006...

4 channels, reverb, and a nifty little trick called "VLS", which is basically two switchable master volumes. One shared 3-band EQ for all four channels, bright switch, lotsa gain...

It loses points for the lack of separate EQ for each channel and the weight, but makes up for it with providing 4 channels in a pretty compact little package. A solid 8 right here...

I'm using this thing with a heavily modded Pacifica 812v that kicks ass, along with a (more or less) stock Ibanez SA160. Both guitars absolutely rip with the Screamer.

With a GT-8 connected via 4-Cable-Method for effects and switching, the Screamer is the ultimate weapon in terms of price/features/weight/tone for someone like me, who needs versatility, but doesn't want to sacrifice decent tone.

Channel one (Lo-Gain Clean) is pretty much your run-of-the-mill clean - not bad, but it can't quite live up to the Laney VH100R's Twin-killer clean channel. Breaks up pretty quickly. It's fine for funky single coil stuff, but if you're looking for something that stays clean and just gives you power out the yingyang, this isn't it.

Channel two (Hi-Gain Clean) is the Screamer's crunch sound. Sounds a bit thin, but that makes it perfect for intros and the like - think of stuff like "Basket Case" by Green Day or "Hush" by Kula Shaker... Just a single thin, crunchy intro guitar, then the rest of the band sets in and the guitars turn into absolute monsters. Definitely more of an "effect" sound than one I'd use regularly. For proper crunch, I use channel 3 and roll down my guitar volume a little...

Channel 3 (Lo-Gain Lead) is AWESOME. As some other reviewers have mentioned, this channel alone is worth the amp's (rather reasonable) price. Not quite American, not quite British, the sound is somewhere in between a Randall chug and a hot-rodded Marshall (which would again lead back to the VH100R :D). The channel pretty much nails AC/DC lead sounds with my Ibanez, or any SG or Les Paul, for that matter...

Channel 4 (Hi-Gain Lead) is pretty much the same, but with gobs and gobs of gain. Again, not as tight as some amps, but tighter than the VH100R, which is in turn a lot tighter than most Marshalls. This has actually been one of my top concerns when it comes to amps, and the Screamer is the first that passes with flying colors.

My Randalls were too tight in the low end, which led to leads sounding a bit sterile and less fluid. I found Marshalls (TSL60 combo, JVM410H, JTM45 w/ boost) and my old Laney VH100R absolutely awesome for lead stuff, because the notes would just flow - it was like my guitar was playing itself. But sadly, the saggy low end on these amps completely killed playing rhythm for me...

With the Screamer, I get the best of both worlds. It's not too spongy and loose for riffing, but it's also not too tight for nice fluid, flowing leads.

As an added bonus, the DI out actually sounds halfway decent. I've been forgoing the usual e606/e609/nt2a in favor of the DI out recently, which allows me to use beam blockers for my stage sound - awesome! :)

All in all, I'd give it an 8 for sound.

This thing is a freakin workhorse. I got it second hand, and while unpacking it, I noticed a huge crack running along the right side. Upon closer examination, it turned out that the board on the right side had cracked clean through, and any decent amount of pressure from above would probably take the amp apart. I'm assuming that GLS (who still haven't paid a cent in damages, even though the package was insured) forgot to close a rear truck door and the package fell out at 50 km/h... Or some idiot dropped it down a flight of stairs, or threw it off an overpass.

Nevertheless - the amp itself, as well as the speaker, are in perfect working condition. I applaud Engl for building an amp that you can pretty much throw off a cliff without worrying that it won't work afterwards... The housing may get cracked in half, but it'll still work and sound awesome :D...

Definitely a 10 here...

When I got the amp, I got on the phone with a service rep here in Germany immediately, and they provided me with an invoice for a new housing for the amp chassis immediately. Very competent, very friendly, and fast!

I've been playing for about 6 years now, mainly in Top 40/Pop Rock cover bands, gigging quite a lot in the past 3 years or so.

Lately I've gone through quite a few amps:

Randall RG100SC, RH100, RH200, RH150G3
Laney VH100R, VC50, VC100
Peavey XXX, Bandit 112 (red stripe)
Fame GTA-15 (Pro Junior clone)

All I have left are the GTA-15 and the Screamer combo, along with a few cabs - and although I do miss my 1st-gen RG100SC a little, I couldn't be more satisfied with my current setup. I use the Screamer with a GT-8 and MIDI switcher for big-stage gigs, and the GT-8 with the GTA-15 for pub gigs and the like. Awesome tone all around...

And now the negative parts:

1. The weight
2. The weight
3. Even with the tiny output transformer, it's still way too loud... I'd like to get some actual power tube distortion without blowing the drummer right off the stage...
4. The weight

All in all, this little monster is an awesome amp - all tube tone, decent clean channel, AWESOME dirt, with usable reverb and nifty dual master volumes... In terms of bang for the buck it's a 12, but overall, I guess I gotta give it a 9 :)

The key to this amp is it's versatility, if you want a tube amp that has 4 channels, will do everything from clean to metal, has great reverb, a built in boost, fx loop, xlr out, is small and sounds huge this is the amp for you!

I use a PRS Custom 24 with this amp and together they are a match made in heaven. The amp sounds so good i've pretty much dumped all my effects - it just sounds so sweet on it's own.

It's German....

Built like a tank, no worries. So far so good.

n/a - not needed yet

I've been playing for 17 years and had many amps, I can honestly say hand on heart that the Screamer is the best all round amp i've ever had, lovely clean and lovely dirt, what more do you want ?!

If you want to see my short video demo go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in4z9Rk3pQM

All I will ever need at a amp.

This is a great Rockamp, very good cleans, stupid light chrunch ( not for me ), amazing overdrive channel ( my favorite ) and a fantastic lead channel. This is a versatile amp its all at the gain, mids and reverb potis, form Jazz to scooped Metal all is possible in a very good quality. I play it since 3 years most of the time with a Custom Fender Telecaster, a Fender tuned HH Strat or a Gibson Les Paul. The amp brings out every charakter of the guitars and dont washes the guitar. Man I had some Marshalls and Fenders and sure the top models are expensive and good but for 1000 bucks you get waste compared to the screamer from Engl. I have a Boss dd3 in the effect loop and it sounds bad also a digidelay but now i have a analog delay and its absolute great, that shows me that the screamer likes only very, very quality good pedals. I also tested some pedals in front of it, like the boss overdrive, maxon ts 9, fulltone 70...and I always come back to the pure sound of the engl, that shows me that he is very picky with effect pedals ;)
I have the z4 footswitch that only has two switches to stomp on, but thats works for me.

Nothing can destroy his amp !! But take care anyway !!
3 years without any problem !

?

I play some Indie, Roots, Heavy Rock Blues Alternative stuff. Around 20 years, I played some stages and joined some studios with different Bands, I would descripe myself as a semipro...
When it get lost and I have only 1000 bucks to spend on a Combo I defenatly go back to this !! If I had more money I would test the souveraign 212 before. I love the tone and versatile of the amp and hate only the "modern metal" outfit. Maybe I change the grill sometime against a smoother one, but thats all.

****I got this one fresh and new in the summer of 2007 and though it was definitely a HUGE change to my previous "Peavey Classic 30 Combo", I'm happy to this very day****

- The amp technically has four channels (You can switch between 'clean', 'crunch', 'soft lead' and 'heavy lead') that can be switched via optional footswitches or by hand on the front of the amp. (I highly suggest you buying a pedal of ENGL's Z-series, they're rock solid, good looking and practicable all the same)

- FX-Loop, of course - with a knob on the back where you can balance out the "dry-wet" relation, which can be helpful if you crank up the volume and notice a mod-effect like a delay cuts through too significant.

- It has a built in booster, which is basically the setting of two different Master Volumes. You can change the difference between those two with a (very tiny) knob on the back. Very nice feature! No particular use for an external booster pedal anyomre, especially with a good footswitch like the Z5 in front of you!

- The built in reverb is solid. Definitely better than the Classic 30's, but still not comparable to a good vintage pedal or the likes. It's usable, still, especially in the lower ranges.

- I use the Screamer live as well as during rehearsals. I never had to fully crank it up to be loud enough on stage and it works particularly well in the lower volume ranges as well, which is very practicable for our rehearsals, because most 'the times we're playing with synth-drums in the background.
Like most (if not all) tube amps, it changes it's characteristic on high volumes, though, so you better play loud and check your settings before rocking at a gig. :P


- It's got a three way eq. The usual for smaller tube combos.

- The 'Lead Presence' knob lets you drastically(!) alter the characteristic of the distorted channels. It gets anywhere from mellow over bright up to friggin earpiercing! (It's the "Screamer", after all ...)

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A solid 7/10
No special features, but a very nice variety of sounds to get out of it!
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- I play a 'Framus Camarillo Custom' through a couple of effects.
( guitar -> Dimebag Crybaby -> Whammy WH4 -> TS9 -> Korg Tuner -> Amp )
( FX send -> DD-20 -> EQ-20 -> FX Return )

- Suits the style of our bands music pretty well. We're orientated on a more modern rock approach, which ENGL amps are pretty much a perfect fit for.
It can get messy for 60's, 70's or early mid 90's style, though. You know, those crisp and muddy sounding stuff. A tad "too" modern this one. But I guess a decent external distortion would make up for a lot of it.

- You can get a lot of different distortion sounds out of this one. The "Lead Presence" knob is the major key here. (Apart the gain, of course ;))
I'm not into metal, so I can't tell if it really has THAT much reserves of gain, but hell, it sure goes way beyond anything I would ask for. (I hardly turn the "Lead" knob up to 12 o'clock. I do add gain and sustain in solo parts with the TS9, though)


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A brilliant 9/10
The strong suit of an amp should be its sound. This one sure knows how to dress!
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- It's not yet a year old, but from what I can tell thus far: It won't let you down!

- Never experienced problems to this day


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no rating
A rating would be pointless at this time
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- Never had to deal with that


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no rating
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- I play for about three years now. I pretty much summed up all the amp-related gear I own.

- I'd definitely try to get a new one, if my current Screamer would hit the fence, but I'm not as narrow minded not to try out some other stuff either.

- I could compare it to my previous amp, of course, and on all the stuff other guitarists I have met own. It's especially interesting how it works together with our bands current second (or first? ;)) guitarist, who owns the cracking ENGL Special Edition Head and the fitting 2x12' combo. I'm very pleased with our rehearsing sound, you do not notice much of a difference. Then again, we do play at very "friendly" volumes. On stage, I'm sure, the superior power of the SE could beat the Screamer to shreds. But what else ya expect? It never came to a power-duel, though.

Made in 2007, I play all styles mainly hard rock but do also play blues (kicks my Orange amps arse at that too!)and a bit of modern nu-metal.
This amp also has a direct line out so it makes life so much easier for recording and live gigs....
Very loud for a fifty and my bass player has a 750 watt ampeg so it has to be.

This amp came make ANY sound I'm sure of it look you can get brilliant cleans blues crunch 80's metal and modern gain and if the amp can't do it.... (haven't found that yet) it takes pedals so well. I use humbuckers mostly and its the most noiseless amp for the amount of ridiculous gain you can get. Just make sure you don't go cheap on the cab otherwise you lose so of its incredible voicing...

Haven't had the amp long but its german so I'm guessing its reliable

Haven't had any problems

Been playing 27 years and have played just about everything I can get my hands on I have 5 guitars the best being my 1978 les paul standard custom shop also a jackson, ibanez, cort and my maton acoustic. Have an Orange rockerverb 50 combo too.
I wanted the best amp for versatility I tried all the Engl's, Mesa's I have an orange....its kills it!marshalls tried them all this IS the amp as a fellow punter wrote you can get ANY sound you want from this amp.
Hey it would be good if it had seperate eq for each channel but i really haven't found it a problem at all cant have everything and for the whole lot to be under the price of a mesa head its awesome value for money

its a 2007 model.you can play from country up to heavy rock - not metal but i dont mind.it has 4 channels: (crystal!)clean,clean/gained, clean/gained/distorted, and distorted.yes i use 2 boss pedals with stereo cables switcing all the above plus reverbe and a "vls" function (something like a solo mode-louder). for a 112 combo is fine with me - can play in open lives and training too. 4 ecc83 preamp tubes and 2 5881(6L6). i thing thats why its so clean

i use a Boss GT PRO rack with it so the variety is virtualy unlimited.the distortion is not very "German" not very Marshall not very Fender but somewhere in between to my opinion.it sound good-no worries but i dont have your taste.check it out first.I play mostly classic rock.its not noisy unless you sit on it with high output humbuckers in max volume.

i dont know much , i ve got it 2 months now and it works

i use it with a strat(SSH) and a tele(vintage). yes i would miss this amp a lot if someone stolen it.

very easy, standart amp settings,

Mhh, more modern sounding, I have compare it to a original fender
tube twin amp from the 70ties and its different in clean mode.
But you hear that the engl is a tube amp. very warm, bright belly, sound dynamics. I like that . The chrunch works good with my Paula but not the way I like it with my Strat. ( I boost it sometimes with a keely TS 9 ). the low lead is my main chanel its not thin and not to fat exactly what I want. It react good with the guitar volumen poti. The high lead is for extra punch, I use it to play lead lines or for extrem heavy metal attacks. Its great. And ther is no way to make the chanels sound dirty or overloaded, wich is a great bonus for me
I like to play everything with a littel bit reverb and so I have the engls reverb set at 10 o clock. works great. I use it with a extra 1x12 marshall cab and have test it with a 4x12 marshall greenback cab. works better with the 1x12. ( Punchy energie ).
I have a new TC electronics delay and a Roger Mayer Wah in the effect loop ( sometimes with a Roger Mayer Voodoo Vibe ) and it works good.
In the input I have the Keely Ts9 a Boss Tuner and the guitar. I use the Engl z 4 Footswitch ( 75 euros ). Guitars : Fender Strat, Gibson Paula, Prs Ce 24.
thats the way I like it.

Have it maybe since 5,6 years and after 3 years I have change the tubes
but no other problems...but I dont know what happen in the next 20 years so I give it 8 points.

??

I play since 1977 and have test, play, own everything wich is known in the guitar players scene as popular or important or whatever........
Yes I will buy it again if its lost or stolen, because I love the sound, the handling and its loud enough for every venue ( with a good PA it would do Woodstock easyly ). I hate nothing about it because I love all about it, maybe a seperate reverb dailer for clean/lead would be nice.

Yo!

I believe my amp was made somewhere around '95. I bought it in 97, and it's the old model combo, 2x10 Celestion Vintage 30, and 50W.

Also mine has only 2 channels - clean & lead, a bright switch, a parallel loop, and not much else.

I set up very straight forward, with the amp in gain mode, and (usually) all the way up. Then go from clean to crunch to lead with the volume on the guitar. This means I rarely use the clean channel- the gain ch. is enough on it's own.

I enjoy the loop - being parallel, it allows you to run the unaffected part of the signal directly to the poweramp-section, and then blend in the effects.

I use an old Korg Stage Echo tape machine, which is extremely reliable, and has - well - authentic tape echo sound, without the need to 'model' anything.

I also have an extension cab (2x10) that came very cheap, and it really helps the projection. When playing heavy rock gigs, you really dont want to show up with just one 12";)

I use a M?rch Costum guitar, built to specs - including a hum and 2 singles. I also play an SG, stock.

I play a wide range of music, from 50'ies rock n roll to modern 'Experi-Metal' I also do guitarduties in a Black Sabbath Tribute band.

The Screamer distinguishes itself by being pretty quiet. With the gain full on, and both volumes (lead master and master) at 3 o'clock,
when I turn down the guitar - it's completely quiet. Like if it was on clean.

As I turn up the guitar, noise comes with it - but then I'm masking it with my playing, and it's barely audible, until you get into the last upper 25%.

If you dial up the volume on the clean channel, you get a rich and bluesy crunch, that's almost as good as the gain channel on either a mild setting, or better yet - full on and with the guitar rolled back, so that's one of the reasons I rarely use the clean. Also it's one less thing to stomp on...

The gain channel is nice and smooth. It doesn't get too scary, except I get a huge bottom if a want it. It's flexible enough to imitate a decent trash tone, should you want it, but it's definetely born as more of a midrange beast. How brutal? How brutal do you play?

I use a Keeley Java Boost to carry me into full saturation-land, and what a sweet ride it is! These two items are made for each other!

I can easily get that wonderful Iommi tone - both the vintage varient, but also a close resemblense to his early 80ies tone.

The 4x10" solution is very neat, since I can always leave two at home when we do a small dance/club gig.

Some people think that using 10's instead of 12's you get less bottom. Not true. You may not get more exactly, but the 10's respond that more quickly than a 12 would, and that keeps the bass response tight. This amp can Thump! with the best of 'em.

This is the amp of my life, having played it some 8 years.

If I had the money, I'd get myself another set right away.

I'd have to say I can and do depend on my Screamer. At one gig, the crew had lined up my speakers wrong - drawing all four on 16 Ohms, instead of the 8. This resulted in the most wonderful tone - and the melting of certain solderings on the mains trafo.. Bottom line - It played until the gig ended. I only found out next day, when it plugged it in at the rehearsal room, and it was utterly silent....

So, until now - no backup....

I haven't changed the tubes yet - I hesitate - it sounds so cool.

During these last 8 years, I've dragged it along for some 150 gigs and countless rehearsals and studio sessions. I've had it loaned out on several occasions, and besides a few knocked off buttons, it just keeps going.

I did remove the speaker cloth, and replaced it with two grilles.

I'm also gonna make a vented backplate, to protect the tubes, but other that - it's pretty sturdy. My tech friend (very pro guy, does gear repair) tells me it's a crap design - with respect to servicing, and he's probably right. You have to remove the entire PCB board to replace just one lousy pot.

Havent dealt with ENGL as such, but I assume they're nice guys.

Did order some replacement parts, but that was through their local agent. Did take a heck of a time though...;)

I've been playiong since I was a kid. Uhm.. I don't own that much guitar-gear, except for the above. Couple pedals - the amazing Parapedal from Chicago Iron, and the truly wonderful Wizard Wah from RMC. - The Keeley Booster. That's it.

I love practically everything about my Screamer. I hate the fact that I only have one...;)

I did shop around extensively - working in gear-retail, I had my hands on nearly everything you might imagine. Including a couple VHT's, Boogies, and whatnot. In another life I had a huge racksystem, and I've had both Laney and Marshall Stacks.

This little 'un does it for me.

Not needing all the channels and switching and stuff, it's hard for me to come up with a shortcoming. It would probably be cool to get that 2 Master-volume feature, that most ENGL's have now, but I'll live..

Made in 2003
The amp is very versitile, the shared EQ can be a bit of a bummer at times but if you get the right guitar with this amp the amp's voicing as a whole isnt that bad and u can achieve good clean/crunch and lead sounds from it
4 Channels with the foot switch, Effects Loop, Solo Boost (VLS).
Seperate EQ's for all 4 channels.
I use this amp for practice, rehersals and live situations it does them all fantastic with great tone at virtually any volume level.
All tube 6L6, great tone

Ernie Ball Music Man Petrucci 6 String, Ibanez S540LTD, Ibanez RG1527, Ibanez JEM7VWH, Gibson Les Paul Standard.

Suits my style fine from blues, Jazz, metal and shred and just about any ground in between I feel like.

The amp is very quiet even at really high gain settings, something I find fantastic

Amazing Versitility and great lead tones from hell or heaven ;)
Clean channel has loads of headroom but you can dial in some crunch by whacking up the "Clean" dial which is basicaly the cleans pre-amp section.

The Distortion is brutal enough to do anything and has some lovely subtle crunches and bluesy sounds

Yea it's pretty reliable the ENGL tubes in it went in 3 months of purchase but the Sovtek 6L6'S i've got in at the moment have lasted a long time.

ENGL were hopeless at explaining to me what tubes I could retube this amp with claiming I could only use there tubes and that the amp was fixed bias, when I asked the Tech dept for an Schematic of the amp I found it was adjustable Bias and retubed the amp with Sovtek 6L6's.

If it were stolen I'd try get it back on insurance and get a Mesa/Boogie Mark IV instead :) but i'll never be able to afford that amp so this is the next best thing and it's fantastic for the money.

Love, most of the features, Hate the shared EQ at times.

I compared it to a Mesa/Boogie Nomad 45 and a few other small Mesa/Boogie Combo's, I was in the market for a 5150 II at the time aswell and chose this above the aformentioned, but I just wish i'd pushed myself that bit further and bought a Mesa/Boogie Mark IV instead these days.. but yea i'll add that to my wish list.

- Made in 2002<p>
- Versatility: from Fender like clean to bonecrushing distortion and anything in between<p>
- My styles are clean blues, light crunched blues, let my pain out through the amp blues;-) <p>
- Some say it has four channels, in fact it has 2 with additional overdrive<p>
- One Treble/Mid/Bass EQ for both channels. I mostly use them in the neutral setting<p>
- Channelswitching? Would be bad if it is missing;-))) Ser/Par FX loop buffered, no headphone jack<p>
- Features I miss? None, more knobs would confuse me and give me the feeling that I have not yet dialed in my tone....<p>
- I use this amp in my home, at my friends homes, simply everywhere I want people to hear me;-)) It has plenty of headroom, clean and distorted<p>
- Other features are a DI box, external speaker jacks 8/16 ohms, master volume, full tube design<p>- Footswitchable volume boost, very very useful<p>
- Big adjustable accutronics reverb can<p>- Engl offers a Z5 floorboard that is connected with a computer cable. However, there are two stereo jacks that offer the same switching possibilities. I built two switch-stompboxes with LEDs on my own (can be done very easily) that cost me less then a half of the price that Engl wants for the Z5.<p>

- Use it with std. US Strat, Heritage LP, Heritage 335<p>
- Would I have bought this amp if it wouldn't suit my musical styles?<p>
- No noise at all, especially when the clean channel is cranked full up. The preamp stage is dead quite. Only the distored channel generates some hum, which is normal<p>
- This amp has a warm clean, a superb light crunch, lead and a heavy lead, all channels are sounding extremely good<p>
- Clean is clean, even when cranked<p>
- The overloaded lead channel lets your ears bleed<p>

- Dependability: Yes this is my only amp and it is build rock solid<p>
- Backup? Why?<p>
- One of the factory tubes failed after about 6 months, however, I didn't recognized that at first until a friend came up and told me that the bulb didn't glow. (Read in the customer support section for more info on that) I think it was a lemon tube so I wouldn't blame Engl for bad parts here. In fact, I changed the tubes on my own. All other components are quality parts, sturdy PC-Boards, every part that could become loose, rattle or weak electrical joints is fixed either with glue or with screws. So, yes: I fully trust my screamer.

- Engl guys are the best: Friendly, patient bavarian people. I called them twice to ask them how to bias the new power tubes and they were very helpful and enjoying. Now my amp is as it was at day one:-)<p>
AFAIK Engl grants a 3 month warranty on tubes, so I missed the warranty period.<p>
- Amp construction is very compact on PCBs, so I would assume in case of more severe damage that this design is not that service friendy. The bias pot and measuring points can be accessed without unmounting any parts very easy<p>
- Warranty on all other parts is 2 years in the European Union.<p>

How long do I play? Is that important?<p>
Stolen or lost? Yes I think I would buy it again<p>
Love? Very easy to use, EQing is almost not necessary, just select the degree of crunch and use the guitar. In any setting this amp reflects the characteristics of the guitar very well<p>This amp does reveal all imperfections and perfections<p>