Are The ENGL Powerball Version 1 & 2's Loud Enough & Cutting

  • Thread starter Thread starter Charvel1975
  • Start date Start date
Charvel1975

Charvel1975

Active member
I'm still getting torn on another amp :doh: I've been looking at the Peavey 5150 II's/6505's but I find myself coming back to researching ENGL's, researched a lot of Youtube videos, I'm on a budget and I know that might be a funny thing to say when considering ENGL's but who knows? So my main amp is the mesa tremoverb head and cabs you can see in my sig but the mesa is one of a kind due to my brother-in-law who passed away some time ago converted the mesa to a head and the 2x12 mesa combo he converted to a closed back so I really don't like taking the mesa out using it live cause I can barely turn it up before the sound guys freak out and cause of the age of the amp too, I bought the tverb combo new in 1995! I already sold my Line 6 Flextone 2 head & floorboard I've had for years and that amp even though it was a modeling amp served me very well with almost zero problems and I definitely got my use outta it, I was even considering getting the line 6 HD 147 head and floorboard that replaced the flextone 2 head.

But back to ENGL's, I saw on this forum there's some Powerballs for sale but have heard people saying that the older versions 1 & 2 don't cut thru the mix live, aren't loud enough, etc. Now our band is a 2 guitarist band, me and the other guy. He's currentely using a Boss GT-6 thru the front end of the clean channel of a B52 AT100 tube head thru marshall 1960 cabs with Madison speakers and he definitely cuts thru no problem, but can anyone share their experiences of peavey 5150 II/6505 vs ENGL Powerball/Fireball, etc.
 
I've also heard the version 2 Powerball there were a lot of changes too?
 
Charvel1975":28ymaedn said:
I'm still getting torn on another amp :doh: I've been looking at the Peavey 5150 II's/6505's but I find myself coming back to researching ENGL's, researched a lot of Youtube videos, I'm on a budget and I know that might be a funny thing to say when considering ENGL's but who knows? So my main amp is the mesa tremoverb head and cabs you can see in my sig but the mesa is one of a kind due to my brother-in-law who passed away some time ago converted the mesa to a head and the 2x12 mesa combo he converted to a closed back so I really don't like taking the mesa out using it live cause I can barely turn it up before the sound guys freak out and cause of the age of the amp too, I bought the tverb combo new in 1995! I already sold my Line 6 Flextone 2 head & floorboard I've had for years and that amp even though it was a modeling amp served me very well with almost zero problems and I definitely got my use outta it, I was even considering getting the line 6 HD 147 head and floorboard that replaced the flextone 2 head.

But back to ENGL's, I saw on this forum there's some Powerballs for sale but have heard people saying that the older versions 1 & 2 don't cut thru the mix live, aren't loud enough, etc. Now our band is a 2 guitarist band, me and the other guy. He's currentely using a Boss GT-6 thru the front end of the clean channel of a B52 AT100 tube head thru marshall 1960 cabs with Madison speakers and he definitely cuts thru no problem, but can anyone share their experiences of peavey 5150 II/6505 vs ENGL Powerball/Fireball, etc.
Click to expand...

As with any question You are most definitely going to get a bunch of mixed opinions because we are all different and each players requirements/experiances are different.

I can only go by my experiance when I owned the first series of powerballs. I was one of the first people to own one. I bought one as soon as the PB first came out and I loved the amp but if Im being honest, My powerball was one of the Lowest 100 watters volume wise that Ive ever heard. Anyone who knows me will tell you that Im not a volume whore but being that I own many amplifiers I can honestly say that my V1 Engl PB was not loud at all and because I always give something the benifit of the doubt, Maybe there was something wrong with mine but to give you an examle my Marshall 50 watt head would eat that amp alive.

Now with that said, I have heard people say that the earlier versions don't cut live but Ive never used mine Live so I can't comment.

I will say that the amp recorded really well and It had a great tone.

This may or may not be a help to you or not but one thing I can say is that you if you like the Engl tone, most of it comes from the Preamp section IMHO, so If I were you, Id get an Engl preamp and a kickass poweramp and i bet that you would have a killer rig. Ive heard that combo live and it crushed ;)

All IMHO!

~R~
 
Short answer: No.

Long answer: The version 1 & 2 Powerballs have undersized transformers which limit their power input and output... Hence the lack of volume mentioned above. The v 1/2 PBs also have a smooth, compressed, scooped mid voicing which makes them even harder to compete in a band mix. They supposedly fixed this with the PBII.

I'd recommend the Fireball 100. It has full-size 100W transformers and cuts much better. It's just an all-around better sounding amp compared to the PBs.
 
I guess maybe I should just go with a Peavey 5150 II right now, even the used fireball 100's are still expensive
 
No. I use a PB at our rehearsal space and the other guitarist uses a 5150 II. I am constantly drowned out.

-C
 
i will take a peavey 5150 over any engl made if im using it in a band situation, hate me all you want but the peavey is a proven winner and i owned most of the engls and i think they are overrated.
 
Gainfreak":14mc5s9e said:
I can only go by my experiance when I owned the first series of powerballs. I was one of the first people to own one. I bought one as soon as the PB first came out and I loved the amp but if Im being honest, My powerball was one of the Lowest 100 watters volume wise that Ive ever heard.

I will say that the amp recorded really well and It had a great tone.
Click to expand...

Definitely agree with what Gainfreak said! I owned a V1 powerball for about 2 years.
I LOVED the amp recorded and when I was jamming by myself. In a live setting though, I always felt like i couldn't get loud enough or cut through without using the contour button, but I didn't like what that did to my overall sound.
I toured with this amp while the other guitar player used a Framus Cobra and in another band I used this while the other guy had a mesa triple rec. Both bands, different styles, I always felt lost in the mix. I definitely wasn't scooping my mids out or anything like that...in fact it's probably the opposite :lol: :LOL:

It still is a great amp and if you're playing venues where they actually mic the cabs and give you monitors I wouldn't imagine you'd have a hard time hearing yourself.
 
I owned a V1 and also noticed that it was not an overly loud amp for 100w. I did not like the way it was voiced, it seemed like it had a "hollow" hole in the mid range that I couldn't dial out. I then acquired a Herbert and thought the PB sounded like a cheap rip off of the Diezel sound. Can surely say there were no regrets when I sent that amp down the road.
 
I owned a Powerball v1 for several years and it sounded NOTHING like a Diezel.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top