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Little lunchbox to feed ya'all.
Been an ENGL fan for a long while, just wanted a lunchbox sized head after we had a baby, to play in bedroom level. Sold my Gigmaster 30 for this little monster and I'm more than happy with the size, the tone and the price of the Ironball 20 head.
Before reading more, please note that I'm a bedroom guitarist who plays on his own, for a few hours in a week because of hard work and a 1 year old boy and this review will express my personal experiences as a home player, I'm not quite sure about this amps performance in small gigs or garage band practices.
I'm using the head with ENGL's paired 112 v30 cabinet and they are the perftect match. Even in the low volume level, the amp is easy to crank up without the built in gain boost. Personally, I do not like the built in gain boost switches so I'm using a modded SD-1 as a booster to enrich the gain tone. Also looping a Carbon Copy delay, BBE sonic stomp and Boss PQ-4 to enhance my tone.
Having three different types of axes (A Gibson Traditional LP, an American Fender Standard Strat and a Jackson SL-1), the Ironball is quite adaptive and responds to all types I'd like to play. I'm not much of a Fender-clean guy but the clean channel is quite "clean".
For those who live overseas and would like to purchase this amp from Thomann, I live in Turkey and my order has arrived in exact 10 days. Unfortunately, the guys in local customs were a bit curious about the package content and invited me for a customs check to pick it up. Apart from that, the packaging and postal service is more than "perfect".
Thanks to ENGL and Thomann for a great deal!
Before reading more, please note that I'm a bedroom guitarist who plays on his own, for a few hours in a week because of hard work and a 1 year old boy and this review will express my personal experiences as a home player, I'm not quite sure about this amps performance in small gigs or garage band practices.
I'm using the head with ENGL's paired 112 v30 cabinet and they are the perftect match. Even in the low volume level, the amp is easy to crank up without the built in gain boost. Personally, I do not like the built in gain boost switches so I'm using a modded SD-1 as a booster to enrich the gain tone. Also looping a Carbon Copy delay, BBE sonic stomp and Boss PQ-4 to enhance my tone.
Having three different types of axes (A Gibson Traditional LP, an American Fender Standard Strat and a Jackson SL-1), the Ironball is quite adaptive and responds to all types I'd like to play. I'm not much of a Fender-clean guy but the clean channel is quite "clean".
For those who live overseas and would like to purchase this amp from Thomann, I live in Turkey and my order has arrived in exact 10 days. Unfortunately, the guys in local customs were a bit curious about the package content and invited me for a customs check to pick it up. Apart from that, the packaging and postal service is more than "perfect".
Thanks to ENGL and Thomann for a great deal!
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YT
Overall pretty good
Very good clean channel, if you have push/pull pot for the pickups it becomes very versitile. Due to the gain boost,the lead channel has all the gain I need. The mids knob doesn't shape the sound as much as the trebble knob does. The mids knob on my Marshall amp changes the sound more for example. I'm pleased with this amp.
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S
Irona Ball
Just keep the OD Volume on 3 O'clock and Master on 9 . for OD channel or keep Mater and OD Volume always in the same amount.
the only problem is sharing EQ which makes your Clean channel in more treble but it will be resolved perfectly with an EQ pedal .
the only problem is sharing EQ which makes your Clean channel in more treble but it will be resolved perfectly with an EQ pedal .
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l
Amplifier more than you think
I think it's impressive that this little amplifier contains the sound of engl The sound from the amplifier wasn't as rough as I thought, and it's a pretty high quality sound...only downside is that the some knobs is too stiff and the reverb is behind the amplifier
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M
Amazing high gain amp
Great sounding amp. One of the best I've ever had! Very, very good clean, good crunch (not the best here) and absolutely amazing high gain tone! Creamy distortion with huge gain reserve for every kind of heavy rock and metal.
The built in boost works pretty well and so do all the EQ controls. I was worried about the shared EQ but I find the voicing of the two channels are perfectly matched. It sounds great also at very low volume, reason why I decided to buy it.
Overall quality is outstanding.
Considering the price it should have come with a footswitch (BTW a generic 2 button footswitch with stereo jack works - I got an FS-2 for 10¤ and does the job).
The built in boost works pretty well and so do all the EQ controls. I was worried about the shared EQ but I find the voicing of the two channels are perfectly matched. It sounds great also at very low volume, reason why I decided to buy it.
Overall quality is outstanding.
Considering the price it should have come with a footswitch (BTW a generic 2 button footswitch with stereo jack works - I got an FS-2 for 10¤ and does the job).
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M
Great Quality Great Sound
Wether for recording, playing live or in your bedroom, great sound in any case.
Can't find any flaws since the 1 year I've had it, very good price-quality ratio, definitely would recommend for high gain, rock or clean guitar.
Also, it feels sturdy, built like a tank.
Can't find any flaws since the 1 year I've had it, very good price-quality ratio, definitely would recommend for high gain, rock or clean guitar.
Also, it feels sturdy, built like a tank.
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M
Metal monster with incredible clean tones
It has lots of gain. I'm not sure if i'll ever need some pedal to boost it, because it sounds amazing alone. Sounds really clear on high gain. I didn't expect such a nice clean tone. Very warm and if you have Seymour Duncan jazz in your neck pickup, it's even better. Built quality is very solid. As good for home use as for gigging!
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N
Great little amp!
It's a real gem for the money. I fall in love with this amp at first evening. It's small but powerful gear for home playing - versatile, with warm and deep sound, pleasant to operate, nice looking. Many thanks to Thomann for prompt order processing!
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AB
Amazing amp. Bought it about 7 years ago (in 2015). Since then only one tube was replaced. Numerous rehearsals and gigs done with it, kicked, thrown, fallen, hit... Just works. Needs some effort to dial it in the right way, but afterwards, for me, it is just IT. Enough said.
PS: the built in reverb is just meh...
PS: the built in reverb is just meh...
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