Engl Thunder 50 Head

50 watts tube-amp,lots of decibels.
channels; clean,crunch,lead. NO footswitch included.
overall EQ; bass, mid, treble.
gain, crunch volume and lead volume.
FX Loop whith ballance pot.dry/effect.
Footswitch connetor(clean,crunch,lead).
What more do you need:footcontol to switch the channels, speakers,guitar.

I play in a cuverband for 2 years (U2, Fleetwood Mack, Liam Linch,etc.)I play on a Mexican Fender Stratocaster.
closed speakerbox 2x12 inch BOTS speakers.
Marshall JFX-1 (Reverb-echo-chorus) conected to the FX loop.
Behringer fcb1010 midifootcontroler conected to JFX-1, and conected to footswich connector on the ENGL-amp.

The clean sound is super, no noise, Hi-Fi, tube music. IF there is noise its from a singe-coil pick-up from me guitar.
Crunch is just O.K. dont use it mutch.
Lead is super, nice harmonics, more gain gives more high.
this amp is organic sounding, yes its alive.

I buyed it second hand in a musicshop, at home I found out that the amp crackels at high volume, the amp was repeared the next day at the shop, thee resolderd a bad contact in the amp.After that I never had a problem. its extreemly solid build.It will survive me.

The sound is super.
Also at lo volume you can make a nice sound.
Dont need to tweak allot for a good sound.
I payed a lot of euro's for amp. but it keeps his value high.

It is an all tube amp, with 50 Watts.
I mostly play Metal and Rock, and this Amp is simply made for that styles.
It is a single Channel Amp, but ja can switch to a lead oder crunch mode, which creates a typical lead distortion. The crunch channel does not work very crunchy.
One more channel would be cool, but even with it's single channel it is very versatile.
For a 50 Watts Amp it is very loud, on high gain it screams like hell and the punch is enormous.
I use it for live and in rehearsal.

I use a PRS CE 24 with HFS Treble and Vintage Bass, and a Larrivee LS-1 Custom with it. The combination just works perfect.
I guess that Amp was built for rock and Metal.
The clean channel distorts a bit at high volumes, but hell, that sounds really good, especially when i split the Humbuckers, i get the pure rock tone.

Very reliable.
I own it for a year now, never had any problems.

not dealt with em..

I play for 5 years now. I owned a Marshall JTM Superlead and a small Marshall solid state combo, the Engl just beats them down.
If it were stolen, i would try to get another Thunder 50 for a good price.
I don't like Marshall sound, so i choose the Engl, of course it does not have the tone of a rectifier, but hell, a recti is much higher in price.

Here's an update to my previous review. The Thunder just got louder! Also a much bigger soundstage with even more tone!! If you own one of these bad ass puppies here's what you need to do - Change the Engl/Sovtek 5881 output tubes for Harma STR 6L6GC tubes & change the ECC83/12AX7WB tubes for Sovtek 12AX7EH tubes. You WILL notice the difference! After all the years wasted playing thru Marshall & Mesa Boogie's etc. I have finally got the Big, Fat soundstage I was looking for!!

Thanks must go to the guy's at Watford Valves for putting me straight on how to improve my sound even tho' I thought there was no way I'd be able to just by changing my amp's tubes.

www.watfordvalves.com

As previously stated, not many!. This is a simple amp with only one quirk. When playing clean, the input gain becomes the clean volume, in other words, if you set up a high gain sound and switch to a clean sound,the rise in volume can be shattering!.Therfore,finding a balance with the Master volume is essential for parity of volume across the channels. This is an Amp made with Classic and Heavy Rock very clearly in mind,and,as such, does not dissapoint.

I use a duo of Peavey Wolfgangs as well as an Eighties Fernandes Superstrat(STJ175).I like to think that my style is reminicent of the great Eighties icons such as EVH,Lynch,Degarmo et al.It is easy to attain the Brown /Powerful sounds associated with these players. The Clean channel is just that, if a tad sterile without some Delay/Chorus etc. The Drive channel on the other hand, is why anyone will buy this amp. Superb clarity with quality pick-ups,even at very high gain levels. The need for very high gain settings diminishes as the Master volume is increased. The Power amp saturation is nothing short of astounding!.

After I had owned the amp for 4 months, it went down at a band rehearsal. I returned it to my dealer and after a trip to Synergy,the distribitor,it was repaired in no time. It turned out to be a dry joint on a valve base.I do believe,however that problems with Engl products are extremely rare.

The warranty is one year. The above repair was done under the warranty with no problem.

I have been playing on and off for 24 years and have owned a lot of gear. My amp prior to this was a Mesa Heartbreaker which was an awesome amp. I replaced it because getting "that" sound was not easy due to the ridiculous number of bells and whistles on it. It is the simplicity of the Engl that I like and I would definitely buy it again. I would like to point out that whilst this amp is fantastic value for money, it is NOT point to point wired as has was suggested in a review for the Combo version. It is based on PCB technology which is why you are getting the 'boutique sound' without the cost, indeed,were this amp point to point wired,you could expect to pay almost double the price. After all is said and done, a truly superb Rock/Metal amp for the discerning Rock/Metal player.Me!.

Built 2003, this amp was bought after having read all the positive reviews in this section. The amp is not that versatile, basically I found it to be a "typical" hard rock/heavy metal amp with lots of distortion but not too many different sounds except clean and distorted.

Well, I am a beginner and probably not in a position to comment on the matter, so do not take my words as the be-all and end-all.
I am playing the Engl Thunder with a cheap Ibanez GIO with humbuckers of unknown origin (experts might know better). The clean channel of this amp is clean even when played at high volumes, I for one could not hear anything disturbing or "not wanted". The distortion, on the other hand, can be brought to the extreme when the gain knob is adjusted accordingly. What I miss, however, is the thick, broad sound I hoped for. Probably a second-hand version of the Marshall JCM 800 (is that the correct name of Marshall`s legendary Rock amp of the early eighties?) would have suited me better...

No need to bring along backup equipment as this amp seems to be built in a most sturdy and reliable way - and I do throw it about when the going gets tough.

Not applicable as I have not had to deal with them so far. Warranty is 2 years, as far as I know, in accordance with European law.

I have been playing this amp for some six months now and would probably not replace it with the same model. It is not that I am unhappy with it, it is just that the sound is not one hundred percent the one I expect. I have now obtained a Roland GP-8 to alter the sound to a more compressed, thick one but I feel a good amp should have means to do that itself, without the player having to buy external devices.

OK, I purchased this little mother secondhand when it was 3 months old. This amp travels light - do NOT buy if you want lots of buttons & knobs.......or Reverb! I like to switch on, turn the volume right up & ROCK, and this rocks like no other! 50 watts of tube power & is loud!! It drives my two 4x12 cabs easily.

I use an Epiphone SG with Kent Armstrong pickups and pumped thru my Engl/Behringer stack this set up delivers all the white trash heavy shit I want from it!!! I'm into low down filth like Unsane, Kyuss, Clutch etc. I don't need a clean channel so it is Gain all the way. The Crunch channel for Rhythmn is superb, take it up from 4 & it just get's better, all the way to 10!! The Lead channel is AWESOME - tone, tone & more tone plus the best Bottom end power I have ever heard from a 50 watter!

German built - that will do for me!

I will let you know if & when I have to deal with them.

I have bought & sold many amps tryng to find "the one" & I believe I have now found it. After reading countless reviews on this site I decided to try out a Soldano HR50XL, a VHT Pitbull 50 & the Thunder 50 head. The Engl wins for simplicity, tone, ease of use, no reverb & power! My last amp was a Mesa Boogie Tremoverb 2x12 combo - I thought that it would last, I could get most of what I wanted & was looking for until......I plugged into the Engl for the first time.

This amp is definetily reduced to the max. It is a amp made for people who know what they want. It has no unnecessary functions, knobs and led's. Very easy to handle.

It has a clean, crunch and a gain channel.

I give a 10, because of its simplicity.

I use the Engl with a `93 Hamer special FM with a seymour duncan 59 and a Jeff Beck pick up.
I use the head with a Engl standart 2x12 cabinet.

Although this amp has only 50W it is VERY loud.

The clean channel is realy clean (Gain at 12), it has this special tube sound which i like very much. The sound is warm and rich. This channel was the main reason for me to buy this amp.

The crunch channel is great. If you work with the volume poti at the guitar you get excellent vintage sounds.

The gain channel...what should i say. I didn't realy tested the gain channel before i bought the amp. Therefore i didn't expected anything from that channel. It ROCKS, it was a real surprise for me. It has a lot of gain. In the past i always thougt you can't have enough gain, but this amp does.

You can use this amp for any style of music. Metal (gain channel), blues (crunch channel) and whatever (clean channel). Therefore i give a 10!

I have been playing for 10 jears now and this amp is the best i ever played. You can use it without any problems at home, because of the master volume. The amp i had before was a class A tube amp which was loud as hell, less volume wasnt possible.

This one has everything a real rocker needs:
-it is easy to use
-it has three great channels, fantastic sound!!!
-you can use it at home and it can be loud as hell!!!
-it is affordable, i think there is no comparable amp in this price category

Engl did a good job with this amp. It is a workhorse which is not going to disapoint you.

I got this amp new in 2003 no reverb though, so i guess they haven't addressed that problem yet.The features of this amp are quite simple. but its meant to get godlike tube-tone, not have a bunch of useless features. Quite versatile, and the controls for bass, middle, and trebble... extemely reactive. this amp covers my brutal gain styles, and my funk metal and clean stuff quite nicely.

2 CHANNELS, EACH WITH ITS OWN BOOST SETTING (CLEAN/CRUNCH1) (CRUNCH2/LEAD).ALSO HAS EFFECTS LOOP WITH NOB TO ADJUST LEVEL AND VOLUME CONROLS FOR EACH CHANNEL AND MASTER VOLUME.

CLEAN CHANNEL, VERY BRIGHT. HAS THAT NICE "TUBE-SHIMMER". FIRST IMPRESSIONS WERE NOT THE MOST FOCUSED MIDS BUT THAT IS EASILY FIXED WITH THE TWEEK OF A KNOB, AND THE CLEAN CHANNEL STARTS TO DISTORT AT HIGH VOLUME LEVELS, BUT I LIKE TUBE OVERDRIVE SO ITS GOOD FOR ME.

THREE BAD THINGS: 1AMP COMES WITH NO FOOTSWITCH, (((wHy)))
2.NEEDS SEPERATE GAIN NOBS FOR CLEAN AND LEAD CHANNELS.
3. NO REVERB, NOT A BIG FAN, BUT IT COMES IN HANDY SOMETIMES WITH THESE TUBE HEADS. OH WELL, I'LL JUST HAVE TO GET A HOLY GRAIL.

I USE AN EARLY CHARVEL MODEL 6-7 SOMETHING LIKE THAT, SWAMP-ASH BODY WITH AN EMG-81 IN THE BRIDGE POSITION, AND IT SOUNDS F**CKIN GREAT.
I PLAY SHRED AND OTHER SPEED METAL, AND THIS IS THE BEST AMP I'VE EVER EVER EVER HEARD. THIS IS WHAT THE AMP IS MADE FOR, NOT A BUNCH OF KNOBS AND SWITCHES, JUST GREAT TONE, NOT TO MENTION THE VOLUME. AND THIS IS WHAT TUBE DISTORTION SHOULD ALWAYS SOUND LIKE. AND THE CRUNCH CHANNEL IS AWESOME TOO, IT SOUNDS GREAT TO SWITCH BETWEEN THE CRUNCH AND THE LEAD GAIN CHANNELS. THE CLEAN CHANNEL DOES GET A LITTLE OVERDIVE BUT THAT IS BECAUSE BOTH THE TWO CHANNELS SHARE SAME KNOB AND I HAD GAIN SET AT ABOUT 3 O'CLOCK.

BRAND NEW, LOOKS LIKE TYPICAL TOP-NOTCH GERMAN ENGINEERING.

((((ONE THING THAT SCARES ME THOUGH IS THE AMP GETS QUITE HOT, AND THE FRONT GRILL IS MADE OF METAL. DON'T THINK SO, BUT THE TUBES COULD OVERHEAT IF PLAYED AT EXTREME VOLUMES FOR LONG TIME.))))

HOPE I DONT HAVE TO DEAL WITH THEM, I LOVE THIS AMP

I'VE BEEN PLAYING FOR ABOUT 4 YEARS NOW AND I THINK I FOUND MY FAVORITE NEW AMP FOR LIFE, I WON'T SAY THAT I'VE TRIED ALL THE HIGH GAIN AMPS OUT THERE, BUT I DID REVIEW A BUNCH (MARSHALL TSL, BOGNER OBERSHAUL, H&K TRIAMP), THEY'RE ALL NICE ESPESCIALLY THE BOGNER, BUT FOR THE PRICE I PAID YOU DON'T GET A BETTER DEAL.IF IT WERE STOLEN ID BEAT THE SHIT OUGHTTA THE GUY THAT DID IT AND GO BUY ANOTHER ONE.

This is a brand spankin new amp that I got right out of the box! This amp can do just about anything and some more. It's got 3 channels.....clean, crunch, and lead. It has an effects loop although i haven't put anything in the chain to see how good it is ..but none the less I don't use it so that's ok. The features are perfect! Simple and well designed. Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, Crunch Volume, Lead Volume and Master Volume...outstanding feature for including that! This amp uses 2 x 5881s for a loud 50watts of pure tube power! But here's where I have to take off points ...it doesn't include a footswitch you have to buy it!! unreal!!! If it wasn't for that i would've given it a 10 it gets a 6 for making me spend an additional 40 bucks and a 1 point off for no reverb ,only there combo has it!

I'am using a Fender American Deluxe strat and an Ibanez AX220 with a sweet looking maple veneer top. The Fender sounds absolutely gorgeous through this beast as well as the Ibanez! The cleans are excellent with a bell like chime but I like my Laney VH100R cleans a bit better, but not by much. The crunch channel is great for a lighter distortion but you can certainly turn the gain up for more crunch to make this amp distort. This lead channel is outstanding!! Unbelievable crunch and sustain ..more than i'll ever need especially with humbuckers!! The best thing about this amp is that it sounds fantastic! Very warm , thick and smooth with alot of crunch unlike other amps that sound buzzy but not the Engl!

One thing that i did do to make this amp sound even sweeter was changing the preamp tubes.

For V1 Telefunken# a great tube!! Great balance, buttery sounding with outstanding clarity!

V2 JANS Phillips# Adds some richness and it's very warm and round sounding tube.

V3 Stock Engl(JJECC83S) Sweet vintage sounding tube

V4 JAN Phillips 12aTA for the phase inverter really smooths out the sound.

This is the amp for sheer tone!! Nothing compares at this price range!

This thing is built to last, the front grill with the Engl logo is all sturdy metal. It can take a licking and keep on ticking..but at this point i can't rate it because i haven't had it long enough to say so but it seems to be built with alot of care.

No opinion on this one but since it's a small company i wouldn't be surprise if they had great customer support...most small companies do.

I've been playing for 6 years and have always been very picky about tone. i've had lots of guitar amps during my time whether i bought it and returned it or bought it and realize it wasn't what i wanted and end up selling it. To name a few that I had and didn't like we're Carvin MTS Combo...now the cleans sound fantastic the best of all amps but the distoriton sounded too bland for my taste and tailoring the sound was a pain I never got a tone that I was happy with. Marshall DSL was pretty sweet but just didn't sound as good as the Engl and not as versatile. Now my Laney Vh100r is definitely right up there with the Engl I love the VH100R because it's so versatile and it sounds great but i had to work harder in getting the tones out of this amp. The Engl was a breeze to achieve great tone at any settings and that's a sure sign of a great amp!. I've tried just about everything out there Orange AD140..Great british sound but too dark for my taste Mesa Dual and Triple recto....Great distortion but not very inspiring in the cleans, Fender family...you name it i've tried it and the only thing i can say is that the cleans are sweet ...that's it...plus they are way over priced as well as the Marshalls and Mesas. Line 6 all of them suck except for the Vetta but that is an amp you have to worry about not going bad down the road..they just aren't reliable unless you happen to find a good one out of the lemon batch. The only other amp that rocks is the Laney and Bogner, but the Bogner is too damn expensive.
If it was stolen i get another for sure not question about it. This amp is everything I would want in an amp ....simple, elegant and just great sound!! Thanks Engl and Horst Langer for making the best amps out there!

Brand spankin new right out of the box!
This amp can do any style and do it with conviction..but it's made for loud rock and metal. It has 3 channels, Clean, Crunch, and Lead. The layout is extremely simple and straight forward. Bass, Middle, and Treble for EQ. Gain, Crunch Volume, Lead Volume and an awesome Master Volume. I wonder why haven't more manufacturers try to include this feature. No reverb..... but after playing it for a while I really didn't care for it but, still every guitar amp should have reverb. Other than that everything i need is there and I love simplicity.. it gets a 5 for no reverb and no footswitch....especially for no footswitch! Other than that i would've given it a 9. They charge you for a footswitch...can you believe that crap??!!!

This head is fuckin unbelievable!!!
very simple and compact and not to mention straight ahead no frills control layout. All the tones you can imagine what a marshall/mesa and fender are striving to accomplish are there inside this head! It's extremly quiet in both channels. The cleans are great! They stay clean even at high volumes which is what i love...The crunch is great also ..it can get pretty crunchy but you have to turn the gain pretty high but that's ok because some of the things you play would require less gain but still retain a good crunch with clarity. The lead is outstanding!! I don't play leads but i use it for stuff that requires more gain. I can't say it's better than a Marshall, Mesa, Fender, Line 6, Orange and many others out there because it is a subjective issue. But i will say this of all the amps i've tried this one beats em by far...except for Bogners, but not by much.. which I consider are the best ..but out of my price range.

this things seems to be built like a tank and the worksmanship is first rate! The front metal grill with the Shiny Engl logo looks great!! and the steel polish face plate adds a touch of elegance.

This is the best head for the money!! I buy another one if it were lost or stolen. I'm thinking about buying another one as a backup I've never brought home an amp and spent less time tweaking it to get great sounds....to me that is a sure sign of a great head. The less time you need to spend tinkering with the settings the better the head. I compared just about all amps out there Reverend, Orange, Marshall, Carvin, Crate, Line 6, VHT, Rivera, Fender, Laney, and so many others. This is by far the absolute best out there not only for you money but in sound and quality! Bar NONE!!