Hayden Hewitt plugs into 100 watts of pure, raging metal noise designed in conjunction with Rage’s Victor Smolski...

Victor Smolski isn’t exactly a household name here in the UK, but a quick search for those not already familiar with him reveals a guitarist who is definitely very metal and definitely very accomplished. The Russian-born guitarist, currently living in Germany and playing with metal band Rage, is certainly no one-trick pony and his amp demands must have been quite specific. This is where Engl comes in. Hardly a newcomer to the world of high-gain amplifiers, Engl catered to Smolski’s every need and has succeeded in producing one of the most accomplished ‘metal’ amps we’ve played in quite some time.

Pre And Power Amp

The Victor Smolski Ltd Edition is certainly no wallflower when it comes to features. Starting in the engine room, the amp is powered by four 6L6 power amp valves and four ECC83 (12AX7) preamp valves. The first great feature associated with the valves themselves is the ‘Electronic Power Tube Monitoring’ (P.T.M.) system. This constantly checks your power valves, alerting you to any voltage issues by the way of an LED (one per valve) and activating the standby in the event of a problem. For a gigging musician the value of this feature is obvious. But the features of this four-channel 100-watt head don’t end there. Switchable effects loop, mid-switch feature, switchable master volumes, built-in noise gate (also switchable), depth punch and presence and two independent EQs – one covering clean and crunch, one for lead 3 and 4 … You’re not going to run out of things to play with anytime soon.

Cabinet And Speakers

The intent of this amp is plainly obvious. The head is covered in snakeskin Tolex and has a metal ‘chain’ front grille, allowing you to see the innards of the amp which glow red when the amp is fired up. The last touch would be the input, which is marked ‘Straight to Hell’. We’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy. The layout is very neat and straightforward given the abundance of features – another plus point. As with pretty much any Engl amp we have tested the build quality is tank-like and really well finished. You can definitely feel the quality here and it certainly seems roadworthy.

Sounds

Time to grab a brew if you can because we have a lot to cover here, starting with the clean channel. The overall tone here is crystalline and incredibly responsive and responds to playing dynamics wonderfully. As you would expect, it’s hardly vintage tweed territory; instead it’s a rich and tight, clean tone which works as well for picking as it does for slapping and other assorted tricks (well, you might as well!). The percussive quality is especially evident with single-coils, and adding gain just to spice things up creates an aural pleasure dome. At the extremes, the gain control here sees the amp slide into a musical overdrive which still responds to your picking dynamics and cleans up effortlessly with the guitar volume pot. With humbuckers break-up does happen a little sooner, though there is plenty of clean headroom available should you require. In past reviews we’ve always been impressed with the clean channels on Engl amplifiers and the Smolski amp doesn’t disappoint.

The crunch channel is something of a comedown after the glorious clean. It’s not bad in any way, just a tad (and only a tad) underwhelming, with the overdrive sounding a touch too processed. Crunch to us means AC/DC through to classic rock, and the Engl always seems like it is straining at its leash. There are still plenty of workable tones here and it will do classic rock without breaking a sweat, just not quite as sweetly as you’d hope if that’s your main genre. Of course, if that was your main genre you probably wouldn’t choose this head, and you really wouldn’t be prepared for what comes next.

The lead channels here are the real tour de force of the Smolski amp. If the clean channel delights you then the leads will see you drooling. Lead 3 is, supposedly, most suited to power chord-type riffs and Lead 4 more for the single-note riffage. The voicings are similar, with Lead 4 being a touch richer in the lower mids. Choosing Lead channel 3, cranking the gain to even the halfway point and dialling in some serious low-end punch with the depth control, sees an absolutely crushing and effortless metal tone banging out of your speaker cabinet. Tight, precise and aggressive, this channel provides an endless stream of grunt for you to play with. Winding even more gain and scooping some mids will see you push into extreme metal without even breaking a sweat, and the Engl never seems like it will run out of steam at any point. No extraneous sag, no drowning in a sea of fuzz, just pure power.

Lead 4 provides much the same with a slightly warmer character, but it’s no less brutal for it. If you have something like the Z9 footswitch you can set up your rhythm tone on either lead channel, then use the mid-voiced control to kick in your solo tone. Mid voice adds even more low-mid richness and a different mid character. With this engaged you can create lush, creamy lead tones which amazingly enough still retain a nice crisp edge to the note even on the neck pickup. If we had to choose one word for the lead channels here then it could well be ‘articulate’. You can nail everything from NWOBHM through to progressive metal, and all the way to grindcore and back again. All authentic, all bang on the money, and altogether too much fun.

Oh, and the icing on the cake? For home practice the Engl produces surprisingly full tones even at low volumes without sounding too artificial. No more ASBOs!

Conclusion

There’s no shortage of amplifiers aimed at the high-gain community on the market these days. The Victor Smolski Ltd Edition seems to offer a hell of a lot for a really rather reasonable price. It is one of the most accomplished high-gain amps we have seen for quite some time and, unlike many competitors, doesn’t skimp on the clean tones in any way. Put simply, this is a very accomplished amplifier that delivers on the promise its visuals imply, yet has a depth of flexibility that surprises us. Top marks all round, Engl. GB