Hey chaps, and chapettes,
I need a little advice regarding my amp setup.
I currently run my 11r exclusively at home for recording and practice, running it into my stereo via laptop, however I am hankering to get back into a band and if not gig ( God forbid) I am looking at rehearsing as a full band, soooooo
I have a Marshall 1981 JCM800 50 watt combo 1x12 ( I love this type of amp for portability and usable power) it's a beast however the 11r and the JCM don't play nice together, the ethos of the JCM is driving it to hell, but as its a single channel no fx loop, no reverb vintage amp, it's hard to link up with the eleven, it also doesn't take pedals well, either virtual or hardware.
I have my eye on an Engl Screamer 50 50 watts, 1x12 vintage 30 speaker, 4 modes ( clean, crunch, soft lead and heavy lead) reverb, fx loop with a series parallel blend control and midi.........
So my dilemma is, I can only afford the Engl if I sell/px the Marshall. Should I?
The Marshall is vintage and possibly worth something in the future, but the Engl is useable right now and has the best connectivity to the 11r ( 4 cable method, midi etc etc)
Thoughts???

Why run an Amp at all if you have a PA? Run the 11R direct, use a monitor for hearing it and be done.

Yeah I get that, but a PA is way more expensive than I want to/could afford, plus I am still a lil dubious about not running an amp at all, I mean 11r is cool for recording and home practice and all, but does it cut it live with no amp? the guy I bought it from used it that way and frankly he had an awful live sound, totally swamped by the other dude in the band running a cheap Marshall head and 4x12, and that was through a really nice PA with full set up, monitors etc etc AND. A really good sound guy, one I've watched, gigged with over several years, who knows his stuff and gets reliably good sounds.
Plus not even sure if the room we are gonna practice in has a PA! Lol.

Have you tried the Engl with the 11r yet? It would be very unfortunate to sell the Marshall if the results aren't much different - even with Engl's connectivity options.The problems might not be the head, but what the 11r can do pushed through an amp instead of a PA.

To answer William :. I still haven't tried the 11r through an amp yet so I don't know if I would be happy with the sounds I can get or not. Of course one option is using the amp head for it's natural tone and distortion and the 11r for it's fx only and not the preamp or amp modeling. This might sound ridiculous to most, but I get a very awesome live tone with a patch I have for the PODHD500 run through a good tube amp. Why would I do that? Because this patch gets a better, more sustaining distortion tone than the head's preamp in my opinion. I can get different tones just by changing guitar/pickups and or amp head channels for any sound I need. To each their own...

[quote=Doom Fiend]Have you tried the Engl with the 11r yet? It would be very unfortunate to sell the Marshall if the results aren't much different - even with Engl's connectivity options.The problems might not be the head, but what the 11r can do pushed through an amp instead of a PA.

lol good question, I have not actually tried the Engl yet, either on its own or with the 11r, however I played the Engl Thunder a few years back and totally lost my heart to it, just did not have the funds to get it at the time.
And the Screamer is essentially pretty similar, I obviou wouldn't part with any gear/cash without hooking everything up first, but I just wanted to see what people thought, the option of using the 11 as a fx only solution as well as a control brain for my switching needs was the main draw I guess. I don't plan on using the amp modelling/speaker sims at all, just the fx.

I gig with the 11R direct to FOH with good results. You need to work on your rigs to make them sound good live. What works on headphone/studio monitors usually don't sound good thru a loud PA.

William didn't suggest to buy a PA, he suggested to use the one provided by the venue.

Other thing is that we don't have amps onstage, guitar goes to 11R and XLR to FOH, bass goes to tube preamp and DI to FOH, so no need to "compete" with other members amps. Drummer have acoustic drum and with front monitors we have no problem to hear ourself.

Hey thanks for the reply, sorry I was prolly not making myself clear, there is not ( and hopefully never will be) a venue so the PA angle is pretty much out, as I am assuming any vocal rig in the practice room will be very small.
I am also assuming any other guitar/bass will be amped up as that is the norm, not many of us digital guys yet out there( at least not in the UK) hence the need to match, if not actually compete, with the other dudes plus a drum kit.
I get the whole FOH thing, but that requires a PA and venue with monitors etc etc, btw I have the Singtall super pack and a pretty good knowledge of what tones work and why.
So would you suggest a frfr wedge? Yamaha DTX is a possibility powered wedge, but again, funds dictate sale of Marshall first, then I am in the position of having NO amp lol and a bloody scary place to be.......

What I have learned with my 11R is this;
I just don't really like it without a real amp. Just something about what I am looking for from my sound. But, the quality of the amp is much less important to get that great sound. Why are you looking to stretch as far as an Engl? All you need is a good amp with a nice and crystal clean. My favorite is an ebay $250 Crate BV 50. Get the warmth of some decent tubes, get the growl of a real speaker. No need to break the bank. I even ran for a while in a clean channel of a solid state deal. The key is a great clean channel.
I say just borrow one from a friend and jump-wire it to the 12 in the marshall. See if you like it before you spend money.

What I do at home with great success is run my 11R into a Peavey Classic 60/60 tube poweramp and in a 4x12" Celestion G12K-85 loaded cab. Rig no cab but with different presets.

Or you can team-up with your singner and bass player to buy a 12" powered speaker and a matching subwoofer. EV ZLX12P + Sub will go around $1000 ($333 each). Bass player will only have to get a tube preamp or a Tech21 VT Bass DI. Good practice PA for cheap and the band will be cover for many situation including small party gigs.