Practical Info And Tips - Engl INVADER II Operator's Manual

4. Two 16-ohm cabinets connected to the 8-ohm jacks;
Summary: 16 Z + 16 Z -> connected to 8-ohm + 8-ohm output.
5. One 16-ohm cabinet connected to the 16-ohm jack;
Summary: 16 Z -> connected to 16-ohm output.
6. An 8-ohm cabinet connected to one of the 4-ohm jacks in combination
with a 16-ohm cabinet connected to one of the 8-ohm jacks
Summary: 8 Z + 16 Z -> connected to 4-ohm + 8-ohm output.
A few words from the designer on your ENGL INVADER II Amp's sounds and
settings as well as some practical tips:
On the Subject of Sounds and Settings
A lot painstaking attention to detail and a great deal of time went into tuning this
novel amp head. You'll find that the four channels' gain ranges overlap a bit. There's
definitely some similarity at the crossover points. Channel 1 and Channel 2 share some
common ground, as do Channel 3 and Channel 4. This is intentional, and serves some
very sensible sound-sculpting purposes. Higher Gain settings in the 12-to-3 o'clock
range push Channel 1 into moderate overdrive, depending on how hot your pickups
are. Activating High Gain propels this channel into the dirt zone that much earlier. This
means you can use this channel for ultra clean chord work or for grittier riffs and leads,
with the amount of dirt hinging upon how hard you attack the strings. If you add the
guitar's volume knob to the sonic equation, you get a vast spectrum of subtle tonal
variations in just this one channel. The same goes for Channel 2: Its spectrum ranges
from clean with the Gain knob set to around 1 o'clock or lower, again depending on
the pickup, to a touch of vintage-style grit with Gain when set no higher than about 3
o'clock. At higher Gain settings and with High Gain activated, hotter pickups such as
humbuckers will even serve up enough oomph for punchy leads. Channel 1 and
Channel 2 are voiced differently, with Channel 2 eliciting a slightly different frequency
response.
The four channels' tone controls also respond differently, so I suggest you perform an
initial sound-check by setting the knobs between 10 and 2 o'clock and auditioning the
results. This amp employs passive EQ. Note that its range is narrower than a
comparable active EQ. I opted for passive tone controls simply because they sound
sweeter in combination with tubes.
Note that High Gain mode affects all preamp channels. This lets you conjure two
sounds with markedly different gain structures and voicings for each channel.
This successor model is not just INVADER "I" reloaded. All four channels' sound
structures have been modified somewhat, so let's take a closer look at the four
channels' gain ranges:
Channel 1 in Low Gain mode
squeaky-clean tones. It won't start to break up until you dial in relatively high gain
levels, which will just roughen up the edges of the preamp signal. This channel sounds
very warm with midrange frequencies figuring prominently.
is relatively sedate and great for conjuring sweet,
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