GigMaster 30
Tube Guitar Amplifier
Operator's Manual
Please, first read this manual carefully!
Welcome to the 
GigMaster 30. This compact tube-driven amp delivers to-die-for tone in a phenomenally portable package! Either version, Combo or Head, is your perfect sidekick for playing gigs, recording in studios, and practicing at home. It comes loaded with a bevy of convenient sound-sculpting features designed to make your musical life easier and more rewarding, including a built-in spring reverb, Gain Boost, and Master Volume Boost. This M.V.B. lets you access two different master volume levels on the fly via footswitch, for example, one for rhythm and the other for leads. Four EL84 pentode power tubes serve up the amp's sweet fundamental sound, while the preamp's ECC83 double triode dishes out lashings of overdrive and distortion. What's more, the GigMaster 30 sports two channels, Clean and Lead, to give you an even wider variety of tonal flavors. And its Mid Boost switch accentuates those middle frequencies that mean so much to the sound of an electric guitar. Six sound-shaping may be controlled remotely via footswitch, which gives you lots of tonal flexibility paired with utmost handling ease! This ingenious little amp is sure to delight with its warm, bluesy tone and assertive mids. But don't take our word for it - plug in, play, and enjoy!
You'll find guidelines on care and maintenance of tube amps handling in certain places of this manual. Please read and heed these before operating your amp. You'll also come across boxes shaded grey throughout the manual. These are located between the descriptions of the amp's functions and contain handy tips on the preceding function. All critical information pertaining to the operation of this amp is preceded by "NOTE" or "CAUTION." Please pay particular attention to these safety tips. The ENGL team wishes you all the best—may you and your amp enjoy a "harmonically rich" future together!
Front Panel Features
Input Gain Lead Drive |
Bass |
Middle |
Treble |
Reverb Lead Volume |
Master |
Input
GigMaster 30
Mid Gain Clean |
Power |
Boost Boost Lead |
Tube |
|
Fuse |
|
Stand By Power |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
1 Input: ¼" unbalanced input jack. Plug your guitar in here using a shielded cord.
2 Input Gain: This knob controls the preamp's input sensitivity. Use to dial in the desired amount of gain for the Clean and Lead channels. It and the Master (12) knob determine the Clean channel's volume. Note: Turning the Input Gain knob all the way down gives the lowest input sensitivity.
A tip from the designer:
If you want to keep the preamp signal pristine clean, dial in a setting between 7 and 11 o'clock for active and humbucking pickups, and between 9 and 1 o'clock for single-coil pickups. The power amp provides a moderate amount of headroom, so be sure to choose a relatively low Master knob setting (lower than 12 o'clock) if you wish to avoid any kind of break-up. Even in Clean mode, you can push both the amp's preamp and power amp hard enough to overdrive the signal.
3 Lead Drive: This knob controls the Lead channel's sensitivity. It and the Input Gain (2) determine the amount of preamp distortion in Lead mode.
Note: The amp's noise floor will increase appreciably if you crank both the Lead Drive and Input Gain knobs!
CAUTION: Extremely high gain and volume levels in Lead mode can produce powerful feedback. Avoid feedback squeals; they can lead to hearing loss and damage speakers! At higher volumes, back off the Gain (Lead Drive) and Treble levels in order to prevent unchecked feedback!
A tip from the designer:
Again, it's the combination of Input Gain (2) and Lead Drive (3) settings that control the amount of preamp overdrive. You can use these two knobs to set the desired amount of Gain in Clean and Lead modes, and then dial in the perfect balance between the two. Note that setting the Lead Drive knob to around 10 o'clock (Gain Boost not activated) will give you a tougher rhythm tone with a little added edge.
4 Bass: Bottom end voicing control of the preamps´s passive EQ. 5 Middle: Mid-range voicing control of the preamps´s passive EQ.
6 Treble: Upper range voicing control of the preamps´s passive EQ.
Tips from the Designer:
To help you get acquainted with the amp's fundamental sounds, I recommend that you set all tone controls to the center or 12 o'clock position. If you want to dial in very soft lead, blues, or jazzy clean sounds, try setting the Treble knob between 11 and 2 o'clock. For more aggressive riffs or funk-approved tone, try a knob position between 2 and 4 o'clock.
7 Reverb: Reverb intensity knob. Twist it to adjust the amount of reverb for Clean and Lead. Turn the Reverb control knob clockwise to increase the effect's intensity. The signal remains completely dry when the knob is set to the 7 o'clock position or if Reverb is deactivated via a footswitch. You can switch the reverb unit on and off using a footswitch connected to jack 18. The reverb unit is always on if you do not plug a footswitch into jack 18.
8 Lead Volume: Volume control for the Lead channel (pre-FX loop, influences the Send level). The red LED above the channel switching selector (11) indicates Lead operating mode. Use this knob to dial in the desired balance of levels between the Lead and Clean channels.
9 Mid Boost: This voicing feature operates globally, affecting both channels by boosting specific midrange frequencies when activated. The LED above the button lights up to indicate Mid Boost is activated. It may also be switched using a footswitch connected to jack 19.
When a footswitch is plugged in, the front panel Mid Boost button is disabled.
A tip from the designer:
Mid Boost targets and shapes specific midrange bands crucial in voicing a guitar's sound. This tone-shaping option is remotely controllable via footswitch, so you can adapt the amp's fundamental sound on the fly, say to better support rhythm guitar work, singing leads, and slashing power chords.
10 Gain Boost: Press this button to increase the Clean and Lead channels' amplitude. The red LED above the button lights up to indicate Gain Boost is engaged. You can also control Gain Boost remotely via a footswitch connected to port 20.
A tip from the designer:
Engaging Gain Boost in the Clean channel slightly increases the gain level and subtly changes the frequency response. This brings out the middle frequencies and conjures a more assertive tone for throaty riffs and gritty lead lines. Activating Gain Boost in the Lead channel kicks up the gain level considerably, saturating the preamp to give you more sustain for playing leads.
11 Clean/Lead: Channel selector pushbutton for Clean and Lead modes, red LED indicate Lead mode; This function can also be activated via the respective footswitch connected to jack 20.
Once a footpedal is connected, the channel selector pushbutton is deactivated.
12 Master: This master volume knob controls the power amp's output (it is located post FX Loop). M.V.B. (Master Volume Boost): This feature increases the master volume level, giving you instant access to two different volume levels for different musical situations, for instance, one for rhythm parts and the other for lead lines.
You can control this feature via a footswitch connected to port 19.
13 Power Tube Fuse: This red LED lights up to indicate one of the internal power tube fuses has blown. You can continue playing, but the amp's performance will be diminished. Normally the loss of a power tube results in an unbalanced signal.
Be sure to have a specialist look over the power amp as soon as possible; the fuse probably blew because of a defective power tube. Once a fuse has blown, it must be replaced by a new fuse.
14 Stand By: Power amp standby switch: Use this switch to silence (0 position) the amp when you take a break. The amp's tubes stay warm, which means that it is ready to roll immediately when you switch it back to full power. The standby switch is also well-suited for muting the amp for brief breaks, for instance when you're switching guitars.
A tip from the designer:
I suggest you get into the habit of using standby during short breaks. In this mode, current is not piped through the power tubes, so they don't get as hot (due to the lack of anode dissipation) and are spared considerable wear. The amp is ready to run when you flip the Standby switch because the tubes are already warm and don't require time to heat up. For breaks of 30 minutes and longer, I recommend that you switch the amp off in order to conserve energy.
15 Power: AC power on/off.
Please note: ensure that the Stand By switch (14) is set to Stand By (0 position) before you switch the amp on. Let the tubes heat up for about 30 seconds before you activate the power amp. This procedure spares the tubes.
CAUTION: After an extended period of operation and higher ambient temperatures the amps's chassis can become very hot, therefore avoid touching the rear panel surface !
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