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Deleted member 27494
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I got my ENGL Powerball II last week! WOOHOOOOO!
ENGL is one of my favorite brands, I just love them! My Fireball 100 is one of those amps that never lets me down. The cleans are beautiful, very sparkly and chimey and what I really love about that clean channel is that you can push it up to a nice "vintage" overdrive. So it's a clean channel with a large dynamic range. Luckily the clean channel on the Powerball II is just as amazing! The bright and bottom switches are a nice touch too.
The Powerball II has something that my Fireball 100 (or 25) doesn't have and that is the crunch channel. The crunch channel is really cool and it basically bridges the gap between the clean channel and the lead channels. With medium gain it's great for classic rock, especially with the mid boost, and with the gain up all the way you can get some great 80s/90s rock tones!
The lead channel on my FB100 is amazing, tons of gain on tap and plenty of tightness/clarity but without losing that organic tube sound. I was curious to see if the Powerball II would be able to match that because for me personally it's very hard to beat the lead channel of the Fireball. The Powerball definitely has 2 amazing lead channels, both with a unique voice. Perhaps not exactly the same as the FB but not far off either when dialed in. I still need to compare them side by side. Channel 3, the first lead channel has a big, wide and fat sound with a slightly loose bottom end, so great for rock and slower types of metal in general. Channel 4 has a more chunky and tight sound, so more modern basically and great for extended range guitars because of that. Overall the Powerball seems to have a little bit less gain than the FB100 but it still has more than enough tbh. Just a more useable range basically.
The bottom switches are a nice touch on the lead channels, it can make the low end go "ooompppffff" a bit more. The mid boost is also cool for solos! One thing that's very similar to the Fireball is that the lead channels really come to life when you crank the treble and mid controls. It just opens the amp up a lot basically.
The built in gate is also amazing, just as on all the ENGL amps. Very silent and you definitely don't notice that it's there... Anyway, LOVE this amp so much!!
I went overboard with my review this time because I really wanted to experience how a very wide range of guitars sound through the amp. The guitars I use in the video are: Yamaha Revstar Standard, Gibson Les Paul Standard, Gibson Les Paul Custom, ESP LTD Phoenix Deluxe 1000, ESP LTD Phoenix Black Metal, ESP LTD SC-607B1H, ESP LTD SC-607B, ESP LTD NW-44, Ibanez M80M and the Schecter Damien Platinum 9. So all channels and switches are covered. It was a LOT of work but I hope you enjoy it!
ENGL is one of my favorite brands, I just love them! My Fireball 100 is one of those amps that never lets me down. The cleans are beautiful, very sparkly and chimey and what I really love about that clean channel is that you can push it up to a nice "vintage" overdrive. So it's a clean channel with a large dynamic range. Luckily the clean channel on the Powerball II is just as amazing! The bright and bottom switches are a nice touch too.
The Powerball II has something that my Fireball 100 (or 25) doesn't have and that is the crunch channel. The crunch channel is really cool and it basically bridges the gap between the clean channel and the lead channels. With medium gain it's great for classic rock, especially with the mid boost, and with the gain up all the way you can get some great 80s/90s rock tones!
The lead channel on my FB100 is amazing, tons of gain on tap and plenty of tightness/clarity but without losing that organic tube sound. I was curious to see if the Powerball II would be able to match that because for me personally it's very hard to beat the lead channel of the Fireball. The Powerball definitely has 2 amazing lead channels, both with a unique voice. Perhaps not exactly the same as the FB but not far off either when dialed in. I still need to compare them side by side. Channel 3, the first lead channel has a big, wide and fat sound with a slightly loose bottom end, so great for rock and slower types of metal in general. Channel 4 has a more chunky and tight sound, so more modern basically and great for extended range guitars because of that. Overall the Powerball seems to have a little bit less gain than the FB100 but it still has more than enough tbh. Just a more useable range basically.
The bottom switches are a nice touch on the lead channels, it can make the low end go "ooompppffff" a bit more. The mid boost is also cool for solos! One thing that's very similar to the Fireball is that the lead channels really come to life when you crank the treble and mid controls. It just opens the amp up a lot basically.
The built in gate is also amazing, just as on all the ENGL amps. Very silent and you definitely don't notice that it's there... Anyway, LOVE this amp so much!!
I went overboard with my review this time because I really wanted to experience how a very wide range of guitars sound through the amp. The guitars I use in the video are: Yamaha Revstar Standard, Gibson Les Paul Standard, Gibson Les Paul Custom, ESP LTD Phoenix Deluxe 1000, ESP LTD Phoenix Black Metal, ESP LTD SC-607B1H, ESP LTD SC-607B, ESP LTD NW-44, Ibanez M80M and the Schecter Damien Platinum 9. So all channels and switches are covered. It was a LOT of work but I hope you enjoy it!