question about drive pedals for a mate who has an engl screamer

nickp

a mate of mine plays (classic, some prog and some poppy) rock of varying sorts - with a les paul, strat or telecaster into an engl screamer 50 (like mine).

we both think the "crunch" channel can sound quite harsh.  

he is after a crunchy classic rock sound - any suggestions for pedals into the clean channel please?  he is going to use my board on friday and will try out my tc spark booster - lovedrive 11 (timmy clone) - bad monkey combination - but i'm looking (or he is looking) for a suggestion for a drive pedal

thanks

nick

meltedbuzzbox

Toadworks John Bull

RAT

ZVEX Distortron

Jackhammer

Nobels Straight distortion

MattG

MI Audio Crunch Box

ZVex Distortron

ZVex Box of Rock

EarthQuaker Devices Monarch

I'm sure someone will be along soon saying an AMT preamp pedal is what you need

ICBM

What speaker does the amp have - V30?

If so, try changing it for one of the new Creambacks - either the M65 (warmer, middier) or the H75 (deeper, clearer) - which are much more classic-rock sounding than the V30. That might be much more effective than running a pedal into the clean channel and then going through the V30.

MattG

Or.....

just get a RAT

nickp

@ICBM - I think he has the stock speaker - can't remember what it was.  I changed so I'm running (whatever they put into marshall cabs) in the screamer and a combination of two others in my cab - which made a positive difference to me.  

ICBM

nickp said:

@ICBM - I think he has the stock speaker - can't remember what it was.  I changed so I'm running (whatever they put into marshall cabs) in the screamer and a combination of two others in my cab - which made a positive difference to me.  

I'm pretty sure it's a V30 - all the pics I can find show one. Someone I know had one, and if I remember rightly replaced the speaker with a Classic Lead 80, which was much better. (The Creambacks weren't available then.)

V30s are great speakers for some things, but sound worst in front-loaded open-back 1x12"s and can be quite harsh like that. I would definitely change it.

guitarfishbay

Are you sure the amp drive won't work?

My mate had one of these, and IIRC he ran it with the presence really low to counteract the brightness.  That could be worth a go and is free to try.

If it doesn't sort it then I reckon ICBM's suggestion of a Creamback is a good choice.  No harm in trying some pedals but the amp had a pretty good gain channel when I heard it so it might still be worth trying to make it work.

nickp

@guitarfishbay

the presence is only on the "lead" channel - it is a 2 channel amp with a boost to give clean, crunch, lower gain drivey goodness, and high gain drivey goodness

three out of the four channels are good.  it is channel 2 (crunch) that is a bit weak.

I get by OK btw and don't find it a big issue now I have worked out my settings and it does cut nicely in a 2 guitar mix

guitarfishbay

Ah ok that makes sense.  I've not used it in a long time so have forgotten how it all works but just remembered he was running his presence low for his gain sounds.

I thought the clean channel was pretty nice when I had a go!  Seems like quite a nice combo amp.

Dave_Mc

ICBM said:

What speaker does the amp have - V30?

If so, try changing it for one of the new Creambacks - either the M65 (warmer, middier) or the H75 (deeper, clearer) - which are much more classic-rock sounding than the V30. That might be much more effective than running a pedal into the clean channel and then going through the V30.

Yeah.

Also using a smoothing od pedal (like that bad monkey) as a slight boost to the crunch channel would likely help round things off a bit, too.

Or turn the treble and presence down a bit )

In my experience engl clean channels don't take pedals all that well, they're pretty bright and pristine and that translates to ice-pick with most pedals. You might get away with a rat, though.