ENGL Powerball questions

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UltraGary

UltraGary

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I'm considering getting an ENGL Powerball, but could use some advice from the many experts here:

1> The 2 channel/4 mode function of this amp has me a bit confused. If I get the proper foot-switches, can I access all 4 'modes'? I do understand the shared gain controls keep it from being a true 4 channel-type amp.......but it'd be cool to toggle between 4 sounds, rather than just 2. (am I making sense?)

2> I already know this amp seems to kick a** for metal.....but how are the clean & in-between sounds?

THANX for any light anyone can shed on this for me!

PS> I'm aware that a S.E. is closer to the flexibility that I'd want....but I have a shot at getting a Powerball, and the S.E. is just too far out of my financial reach.
 
UltraGary":59sx1qv3 said:
I'm considering getting an ENGL Powerball, but could use some advice from the many experts here:

1> The 2 channel/4 mode function of this amp has me a bit confused. If I get the proper foot-switches, can I access all 4 'modes'? I do understand the shared gain controls keep it from being a true 4 channel-type amp.......but it'd be cool to toggle between 4 sounds, rather than just 2. (am I making sense?)

2> I already know this amp seems to kick a** for metal.....but how are the clean & in-between sounds?

THANX for any light anyone can shed on this for me!

PS> I'm aware that a S.E. is closer to the flexibility that I'd want....but I have a shot at getting a Powerball, and the S.E. is just too far out of my financial reach.
Click to expand...

You can definitely access 4 different sounds but it really is a 2 channel head but with some clever usage of the controls. The 2 master volumes were cool to have as well.

The clean and inbetween sounds are pretty good and it also depends on what type of speakers/cab you use. I found that the higher the wattage was on the speakers the more processed sounding the amp got. In other words when I used 30 watt g12-h30's I could get a very cool hard rock tone and on the higher the wattage speakers (like a cl80 celestion) the amp seemed to sound more processed and less open.

The amp takes well to v30's,greenbacks and h30's IMHO.

I hope this helps.
 
the Powerball is the "ENGL" that i would recommend!!! it has all the good features,such as "bass-boost" and "mids-shift",without all the all the "whistles & bells",which unless you really need them,"propels" the price of the amp.for super-high gain "metal",this amp,imo,cant be beat.it's got ALL the gain you'll ever need,but it's a smooth tone,not buzzy like,say,Peaveys.to me,it's basically a two-channel amp.it has a really good "clean" channel and a killer "gain" channel,which is channel 3(low-lead).the 2nd channel,which is a "crunch" channel is okay,and channel 4 is basically an even-more saturated channel 3,suited better for lead work...hope this helps!!!
 
Awesome, I really appreciate the feedback. (no pun intended)

Is this amp any good any lower volumes?.....or is it pretty much a 'loud only' amp?
 
Powerballs sound great at low volume, probably the best sounding high-gain tube amp that Ive owned or even played that sounds good at almost no volume.
 
The Powerball is extremely versatile. I've had mine for 5 years or so, and still love it. I'm running it through a genz benz 2x12. Haven't tried it through any other cabinet though.

In my opinion, the clean channel is one of the best aspects of the amp. I run mine clean with a boss SD-1 (super overdrive) and you can nail a lot of the 80's tones. Without the OD, it has a very bouncy/spongy feel -almost fenderish. The knock on the gain channel (channel 2) is that when it is maxed at "10", it seems that I'm searching for just a touch more gain, but the channel comes very close to a thin lizzy type sound. With an aggressive pick attack, you can get close to the Dokken type sound. Channel 3 and 4 are your hi-gain channels, and are very good.

I think it sounds awesome at low volumes and is fun to play. I really think you can't go wrong.
 
Once again, this site has proven to be an EXCELLENT source of information from EXCELLENT people!!

THANX so much for the info folks!

I'll let y'all know how this turns out........... (you know how multi-dimensional big gear transactions can be!)
 
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