OK, last time I posted xDx helped me out a lot with my tone problems. Since then I ditched the MT-2, and the PQ-3. I also bought a Randall Cyclone and an Orange cab with V30's. I hate this Randall and I am not overly impressed with how the Orange handles high gain. I decided to stop being cheap and sell my soul for either an Engl Savage 120, Framus Cobra or Madison Divinity. I havent heard the Madison but have a friend that heard one at NAMM and said he was suprisingly impressed. Does anyone know of where i can hear one? I am looking for a tone similar to VDOP and Pierced from Within. The one thing that was pulling me towards the Madison is that it is cheaper than the other two. Although I heard a clip of the Savage on Rocksolid and it totally fucking slayed.
Oh yeah, my pickups are a SD TB-4, and a Dimebucker in the other guitar, (both of which I am thinking about replacing with either Bill Lawerences or DM x2n's.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

I'm all for the Savage

those Madison things look pretty good but I haven't ever heard or seen one in real life, I guess they're not available in europe, else I would have known about them...

I own a bunch of Engl's and don't think I'll buy anything else soon, they've got just the tone I was looked for, since then I never bought another brand...

The Cobra is badass too, though it's not as agressive as a Savage or Powerball, they're voiced quite differently, more like hot-rodded marshalls or something, for me it was 'missing' something. but they're great amps, no question, just not my piece of cake.

those Orange cabs sound heavy as fuck but I also think they're crap in the hi/mid frequencies, if you want more of a mid 'honk' get a v30 cab, loads of good cabs have those speakers (IE. Engl/Bogner/Diezel/VHT/Mesa cabs)

oh, did I mention they look rediculous too?

The Orange does have v30's in them. Although you are absolutely right about the high/mid freq. With the rest of the band that cab was drowning. What do you think about any other speakers, or is it just the cab and not the speaks?

its the cab. compare the orange v30 cab with a mesa v30 cab.

I just got my framus cobra a week ago or so. And it sounds awesome. The high gain is very brutal.And very clear. I use 2 mesa boogie 4 x 12" cabs with it. I liked it better than the engl powerball I had

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so what, you got rid of the powerball?

don't know much about this madison thing... but framus stuff is amazing.. as is engl.
framus = modernized super marshalls.... almost soldano-ish.

engl = well, a tone of their own... not very mesa-american-like, but not to "marshally" either. certainly into the modern high gain tones though... hell, even on my 1986 straight 100 combo..

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you got the straight, you bitch???

like you see, to each his own, just try out all 3, preferably next to each other... the powerball really counts on the cab you connect it too, it sounds pretty horrible on an orange cab or 5150 cab. it sounds good on my marshall cab but even better on diezel cab with the diezel speakers (instead of the v30's)

Ive never played a Madison, but Kris from Darkest Hour used one when i saw them. The rhythm tone was absolutely fucking insane, i loved it to no end. The lead tone, however, wasnt quite so beautiful. Kinda trebly and screechy, but not to a disastrous degree. It wasnt terrible, but it didnt live up to the amazing rhythm crunch it had.

heck yes i did... traded some bro the voodoo modded mig 100 i had straight up for it.

value wise, he kinda got a little more out of the trade... but i got the better amp... and considering how hard these things are to find... i wouldnt be suprised if later down the road it's worth alot more. engl is starting to get alot bigger in the u.s.

and i'm pretty sure diezel just relabels and or modifies specific celestions or eminences for their speakers. just like thd does.

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i want to hear some Splawn clips mang

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OK, I talked to Derek from rocksolid and he was telling me to get the powerball instead of the savage or cobra. The thing is, I like the clip of the savage on his site more than the powerball. The sound I am trying to go for is the Pierced from Within sound of a vh-140c ampeg but without all the hassle of not being able to find one. I really want a precise and crunchy tone that is not muddy at all but sounds like hollow crystal if you know what i mean. So, Powerball or Savage? Alas, I can not try them out next to each other because I live quite a ways away from Rocksolid.

Hey man sounds like im in the same boat as you for a guitar tone

IM looking at a powerball to do a suffocation type sound as well


whats dereks email adress, i need to email him soon.

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rocksolidamps@bellsouth.net

Otherwise just go to his site and call him. I talked to him yesterday and he seemed like a pretty cool cat. anyway Powerball or Savage 120?

I'm so sick of looking for an amp it makes me want to !

I traded my powerball with this german fellow I spoke after a gig. He really liked the tone and asked if I would sell it to him. Fomr one thing came another and I got to his place and played the cobra and just like the tone a bit better for death metal. So we made the trade.

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ENGLs are one of the few amps with a tone that's their own, really. Marshalls/Mesas/Fenders have that, but all the other boutique amp companies tend to copy them. it's a very "open" tone, with a lot of useable gain.

they probably do, its done by many, many brands.. it just amazed me how much better the diezel cab with their 'own' speakers sounded then the diezel v30 cab..

way to go on the straight, those must be damn rare over there, seeming they're allready rare over here, except for Germany ofcourse..

Like halfmasttrousers said, engl's are one of the few amps with a really destinctive tone, I love it, you might not, so you'll just have to try one

as for DM, I'de take my powerball over a savage 120 too, it's just a bit more 'raw' and more geared towards metal IMO. I've been using my Powerball for quite a while now and it's never let me down tonewise or technically, it's a real tweakers amp too, I keep fiddling with the eq's and settings because they're so precise, for me it's good fun, for some it might be a pain in the ass.

what band do you play in man? sounds like a good deal, if you liked the framus more!

I play in a band called "catacomb" The name is kinda wierd but they already had that name when I joined it And we make death metal in the style of dying fetus. And the framus has something too it that I liked very much. But the powerball was amazing too for the time I had it. But there's soon coming a site of my band. with pictures and soundbits. I'll be posting the link later. Sorry if this is spam

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Hey Shroud Of Serpent's it was good talking to you the other day. Anyway I just recently was turned on to the Madison's and just heard a recording of one of onethat sounded killer to me. It's a pro recording done by a Colorado band called Skinned and I do not know how representative it is of the amp but like I said it sound's killer in this recording and I might just have to check one out myself.

http://www.skinnedweb.com/fiendforflesh.mp3

There's a place in Florida that sell's them for $699.00 which is pretty f'in cheap so maybe you want to check them out. Like I told you over the phone the Engl's arte my Favorite amp's but that' just me and you might have the opposite opinion.Let me know if I can help man.

Derek