ENGL Savage 120 I and MK II

[vx1]

so I am thinking about the ENGL Savage 120 mark II to buy and wondered how the tubes are lasting from version 1 so far and the sound quality .. vs amps with 4 tubes

I am wondering how they are getting 120 watt from 2 tubes.

[aortizjr]

My Savage MK1 seems to be just fine.  The power tubes are KT88's which can put out 120ish watts per pair when run at high voltages.   I think the rating is somewhat generous.  But with guitar amps ratings are somewhat generalized based on the number of tubes when the actual wattage or decibels could be much higher or lower than expected, especially when you consider frequency.    Long story short, the KT88's in the ENGL Savage keep up just fine with any other expected 100 Watt tube amp I own and actually has higher headroom than most of them. 

 

Longevity seems to be on par as well with anything else I have.   They should run hotter, but are also designed to take it.

Realistically speaking even my 50 watt tube amps, like a EVH 5150 III 50W is more than loud enough for any band or stage situation (I play super loud Death Metal BTW).   So really the jump from 50 Watt to 100 Watt is just headroom mostly.  And the KT88's in the Savage 120 is super clean almost hifi style headroom.

Killer amps and very versatile.

 

[Bradman006]

My Engl savage 120 v1 is still a very nice amp (also for sale). Just oozes refined quality. Brutal tones. Solid all round. 

I wouldn’t worry about not being loud enough. Ever. It’s the opposite, the amp cranks. I never had a gig where I didn’t need to turn it down Miked up, even from rehearsal settings. Easily below half volume or around 1 o’clock max, and your cranking. Just make sure you choose a setting with mids. They are somewhat versatile amps ... and there is a killer “scooped” tone to be had which sounds amazing by yourself at home but is lost in the mix. Mids at 2 o’clock on contour mode works for me. Smooth mode and you won’t need to worry about mids as much, cuts through but not as sharp/aggressive, more of a “round” tone. 

When I was rehearsing with it once a week and gigging 10-20 times a year I’d get it serviced once a year by a tech. Every second year this would include a full pre amp tube change with power tubes changed most years (although I’m picky, could have waited a bit longer). Other wise it just needed re-biasing. I had a mod put on mine to allow independent bias adjustments to fine tune the amp. This is well worth doing imo. 

I used a noise suppressor pedal, so that took care of the noise (without this is can be a noisy amp... shhhhhhh). ISP Decimator and no issues, I would have wanted one anyway. 

my tech always commented on the internal build quality of the Savage 120 compared to many newer amps. He especially detested the new peavey’s (build quality). Many parts that will be guaranteed to deteriorate with age are now often fused/printed to the circuit board making it impossible to repair/replace in some circumstances.  You wouldn’t know unless you opened the amp and knew what you were looking at. I’d be making sure this hasn’t changed with V2 before purchasing one. You want an amp that lasts a lifetime. 
 

I’m sure you’ll love the Savage. I used to list here all the time about it. Even had Chris Broderick send me a PM to catch up when he was in my home town while playing with Nevermore back in the day (he used to post about the savage a fair bit as well). I checked my messages 3 days after the gig so missed out on the catch up though, lol.  
 

I’m currently a awaiting the delivery of an axe fx 3. Bring on the new era. Got to love that GAS/new gear feeling 😎
 

Edited November 12, 2019 by Bradman006

[Excess Sex]

I have two Engl Savage 120 VI heads.

A 1994 230 volt & a 2011 115 volt.

Both absolutely rip any other guitar amp into pieces. 

Cabs are important to express your own playing style.

I have two Celestion Sidewinder 4x12 cabs which are the best cab compliment  for the Savage.

Cheers.