Egnater Armageddon Head And Cabinet

Once again I've had the pleasure of reviewing another Bruce Egnater creation. This time, it's the Egnater Armageddon. The idea behind this amp is pure METAL. Bruce spent three years designing this head so he could once and for all silence his critics who say that Egnater amps don't do metal. This amp is a 3-channel, 120 watt brute with 6 x12AX7's and 4 x 6L6's that's capable of producing a wide array of tones anywhere between pristine cleans to soggy saturation. The first channel is primarily a clean channel with volume, gain a three band EQ, two voicing switches for “Tight” and “Bright” as well as a “High/Low Gain” switch. I was able to get some lovely round clean sounds reminiscent of warmer Fender tones of days gone by. Accessing one of the three independent reverb knobs on the back of the amp really brought this channel to life especially with the cool “spill-over” function that keeps the reverb tail in tact when switching channels. Adding some chorus or delay in the effects loop will do wonders in mimicking a classic metal clean tone. Next in line is Channel 2, which has the same features as Channel 1, but the gain structure changes to provide crunchy, Marshall-esque tones or scooped “Hi-Fi” modern rhythm sounds. I really loved going for a mid-heavy Marshall tone, then boosting the “Midrange Depth” and “Level” for a wonderfully fat Darkness style tone. Increasing the gain and scooping the mids made for a killer tight metal rhythm, then incorporating the onboard ISP Decimator noise reduction took that sound to the next level of “Uber Chug”. Switching to the Channel 3 ensures some tonal consistency to Channel 2, but allows for more mids, gain or reverb by tweaking settings. In addition, using the massive multi-button allows you to permanently switch in the master midrange so a mid boost is available between channels 2 and 3, perfect for guitar solos. Other features on this amp include Master Presence and Density, tube biasing on the back, and full Midi capability if you wish to use a Midi footswitch or incorporate other midi gear as well. Finally the AR-412A Cabinet is an absolute beast of a cab with 2 Egnater Celestion Elite 100 speakers and 2 Celestion GT-1275's.

The Egnater Armageddon is an amazing amplifier that really does it all, and would not only suit metal enthusiasts but players that are after a wide array of high quality guitar sounds.

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