Played the Ironball This Weekend

[UberMetalDood]

It's a really, really nice amp. Before I can tell you about the Ironball, I have to review a couple of things about the Gigmaster. I used to have a Gigmaster 15 head and it was really great. I can't criticize the Gigmaster clean channel because it's pretty good, but I wanted just a little more headroom. In retrospect, I wish I would have kept it because it was a solid good amp. Now the Ironball is every bit as good as the Gigmaster. It's a bit smoother, more versatile sound perhaps because it doesn't necessarily sound as thick as the Gigmaster tone. The clean channel of the Ironball is better than the Gigmaster clean channel, but the Gigmaster clean channel lends itself better to clean sounds you would hear in thrash music.

I knew the Ironball is loaded with EL84's, but it seems to sound a bit more like a 6V6 amp than an EL84 amp. It's hard to explain but there is something about the way it sounds that reminds me of a 6V6 power section. Somehow it sounds like that because of the tight low end, smooth sound, mids that aren't spikey and congested like EL84's typically produce, and a range of low to high that resembles 6V6's more than EL84's. I think that if someone played it and didn't know it had EL84's, they would think it has 6V6's.

I want to say that the Gigmaster is actually a bit louder, but I'm just going on how loud I remember the Gigmaster to be which was very loud. The Gigmaster 15 does not disappoint on volume. I think the Ironball has enough power and punch for small gigs, but it's certainly not going to shake rumble the walls of a stadium.

It has a nice reverb that doesn't sound synthetic so that's a plus. I was able to dial in a variety of sounds, except for bone crushing brootz. I think the Gigmaster has a slight edge on thrash, but the Ironball can get pretty heavy. It has a great lead tone that's smooth and feels natural. Some people say Engl amps have a tiny bit of processed sound, but I think the Ironball is very natural sounding and you can really hear it come through with neck single coils.

For the price, I think the Ironball offers a huge value. It sounds great with a V30 and even better with a Classic Lead 80. I did not try it with any other kinds of speakers. The Engl 1x12 is a fantastic cab that projects great so if you were to buy a 1x12 cab for it, you couldn't find a better match.

 

[1b4n3z]

Re: Played the Ironball This Weekend

Nice review, thanks I tried one at a store and liked it quite a bit, but in the end went for the Mesa Mini Recto. Most likely because the Engl store only had Marshall cabs in the test room whereas the Mesa store had similar Mesa cabs I have at home. I've had my doubts lately if I made the right decision, though..

I had a Fireball 60 before, and I just love the Engl highgain voicing through a well-designed V30 cab. The Mesa is great too, but it does require quite a bit of volume to sound 'right'. The Fireball sounded better at bedroom levels for sure, but I needed a small-sized amp. Well! Around here the Ironball goes for €880, which is quite a low price for a high-end amp. For comparison, the Mini Recto runs at €1300 or so. I may have to get me an Ironball as well

 

[UberMetalDood]

Re: Played the Ironball This Weekend

Nice review, thanks I tried one at a store and liked it quite a bit, but in the end went for the Mesa Mini Recto. Most likely because the Engl store only had Marshall cabs in the test room whereas the Mesa store had similar Mesa cabs I have at home. I've had my doubts lately if I made the right decision, though..

I had a Fireball 60 before, and I just love the Engl highgain voicing through a well-designed V30 cab. The Mesa is great too, but it does require quite a bit of volume to sound 'right'. The Fireball sounded better at bedroom levels for sure, but I needed a small-sized amp. Well! Around here the Ironball goes for €880, which is quite a low price for a high-end amp. For comparison, the Mini Recto runs at €1300 or so. I may have to get me an Ironball as well

I can see what you mean, and the Mini Rect does have an authentic Rectifier grind to it. I owned one for a month or so but I prefer the sound of big tubes types like EL34's and 6L6's. I have a Dual Rectifier multi-watt (new version) and I've been THRIVING off of the pushed clean and 3rd channel vintage mode which provides such an incredible solo tone. The Mini Rectifier is one of the absolute best amps in my opinion because it offers so much and the tone is outstanding, and it has quite a bit of power for a small enclosure. One of the things that eventually makes me go back to bigger tubes is because the smaller tubes sound a bit like smaller, congested versions of their big tube counterparts (el84>el34, 6V6>6L6). The Mini Rect has that quality which made it hard for me to dial in just the right amount of mids and treble that gets along with my ears. One of the things I liked about the Ironball is that it doesn't really have that kind of congestion. For an EL84 amp, it's pretty open sounding in my opinion. I think the only improvement that can be made to the Mini Rect is if you could swap EL84's for 6V6's the way their bigger amps can switch between 6L6 and EL34.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Played the Ironball This Weekend

yeah, I find EL84 amps sound different, and dont care for them as much. Even tho there a so many cool lil amps out now that I like, you cant get the same tone from those tubes. I mean, Im sure thats a no brainer, but Id think that if you are gonna make a mini version of a big amp, you would use say one EL34 vs 4 in the big amp, instead of EL84s.

 

[UberMetalDood]

Re: Played the Ironball This Weekend

yeah, I find EL84 amps sound different, and dont care for them as much. Even tho there a so many cool lil amps out now that I like, you cant get the same tone from those tubes. I mean, Im sure thats a no brainer, but Id think that if you are gonna make a mini version of a big amp, you would use say one EL34 vs 4 in the big amp, instead of EL84s.

Exactly. I really liked the idea of the Marshall SL-5 because it was based on a single EL34 power section. I think the SL-5 had a lot of potential, and was pretty good for a Chinese made amp, but fell short of what we all wanted I think. As a side note, I thought they should have based it on a real AFD circuit and used a 6550 like the AFD100 which I think sounds phenomenal. Anyway, I'm not saying that small tubes don't sound as good. I just prefer the sound of bigger tubes, so I wholeheartedly agree that at least some mini versions of amps should use less of the same tubes their counterparts use.

Blackstar makes and HT20 which has EL34's but lower power and smaller transformers if I'm not mistaken, and I absolutely love the sound of that amp. I wish they would make a Series One version of it. That's one lower wattage amp that utilizes the big tubes and never ever leaves you wanting more.

If there's an exception to my own preference, it might be the Friedman Pink Taco which has THE best plexi sound I have ever heard in an EL84 amp. However, it did occur to me that a single EL34 version of the Pink Taco would sound even better.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Played the Ironball This Weekend

Yeah, I'll agree with that. I appreciate EL-84's and 6V6's, but would love to see more single big bottle amps.

I'd love to see some lunchbox amps featuring 2 or 3 12AX7's and 1 KT-88 or 6550 power tube.

 

[UberMetalDood]

Re: Played the Ironball This Weekend

Yeah, I'll agree with that. I appreciate EL-84's and 6V6's, but would love to see more single big bottle amps.

I'd love to see some lunchbox amps featuring 2 or 3 12AX7's and 1 KT-88 or 6550 power tube.

I know next to nothing about vintage amps, but I have seen a few pictures and old newspaper clips of amps with single KT88 or other big bottle tubes. I'd like to know if this was a common design with vintage amps.