Played an Engl Powerball II today... WOW!!! ***UPDATED***

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My local fun shop just became an Engl dealer. I've previously played a Ritchie Blackmore (bitchin modded plexi/JCM800 tones in there) and an older Fireball 60 (buzzy bees in there - yuck). But this Powerball was a chewy, organic AWESOME metal machine that could also do good cleans and Marshall tones. Wow!

I've owned or had in my possession Bogner Twin Jet, XTC, Shiva, VHT UL, Elmwood M60, H&K Triamp, Marshall DSL and others. None of them were any more organic and alive than the Powerball. But the Powerball would still be a better amp for power metal than any of them for my tastes. What a bitchin amp! I WILL own one sooner or later! :rock:

Btw... played the head thru the Engl straight 4x12. Was a very beefy sounding cab. Dunno if it was as big sounding as my old Uberkab, but it was definitely big (yet tight).
 
Red_Label":gozhojva said:
My local fun shop just became an Engl dealer. I've previously played a Ritchie Blackmore (bitchin modded plexi/JCM800 tones in there) and an older Fireball 60 (buzzy bees in there - yuck). But this Powerball was a chewy, organic AWESOME metal machine that could also do good cleans and Marshall tones. Wow!

I've owned or had in my possession Bogner Twin Jet, XTC, Shiva, VHT UL, Elmwood M60, H&K Triamp, Marshall DSL and others. None of them were any more organic and alive than the Powerball. But the Powerball would still be a better amp for power metal than any of them for my tastes. What a bitchin amp! I WI :rock: LL own one sooner or later.
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Engl definitely improved it from the earlier version
 
I'm holding judgement back because i have not played one, but i have to say i still prefer the recordings of the original powerball. It had more or the signature engl growl. The newer powerball II and fireball 100 have something in common in each of them that they are changing to, and i cant say i like it under a mic at all. I've always wondered why engl guys want marshall growl from an engl. If you want marshall growl then buy a marshall :confused:

I still believe the best engl is their flagship model Special Edition head for raw versatility. But my favorite has always been the original powerball 1.v2
 
glpg80":3bs5imd7 said:
I still believe the best engl is their flagship model Special Edition head for raw versatility. But my favorite has always been the original powerball 1.v2
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I've definitely been interested in the SE since I first learned of it a couple years ago. Seems like a helluva lot of amp! I would like to be able to use the MIDI functions of my G-System to do all the switching on it and it certainly looks like that would be no problem with that head. Based on what I'm hearing from the Powerball II, I would be that much closer to eventually picking-up an SE even without being able to play one first.
 
I've been tempted to try any ENGL out. Glad to hear you're digging the amp. Do you guys know of any ENGL dealers in either MA or NC?
 
I played (very briefly) on a Powerball and Fireball 100. They are both world class metal amps but the price of German amplification is a bit too much for me. If we can get the exchange rate evened out a bit I'd buy an Invader in a second.
 
hit Brad up and check out the Engl Retro....by far the best sounding Engl I have tried....just an amazing amp
 
Aristocat":1hhragg1 said:
I've been tempted to try any ENGL out. Glad to hear you're digging the amp. Do you guys know of any ENGL dealers in either MA or NC?
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can't remember the name of the Dealer but there is one in Lexington, NC
 
It appears that I may have a Powerball II and Z9 footswitch inbound shortly (trade deal with fellow Rigtalker). So I should be able to give a longer-term review before too long. Looking forward to unleashing this beast!
 
Thor1777":37dnj2g3 said:
hit Brad up and check out the Engl Retro....by far the best sounding Engl I have tried....just an amazing amp
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Definitely an amp I have been curious about! Based on the pissed-off Marshall tones that came out of the Ritchie Blackmore head I played many years ago... I have NO doubt that the Retro can deliver the goods.
 
Red_Label":3qn4h55o said:
It appears that I may have a Powerball II and Z9 footswitch inbound shortly (trade deal with fellow Rigtalker). So I should be able to give a longer-term review before too long. Looking forward to unleashing this beast!
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really nice amp :rock:
 
Aristocat":1q6y4slr said:
I've been tempted to try any ENGL out. Glad to hear you're digging the amp. Do you guys know of any ENGL dealers in either MA or NC?
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theaxepalace.com has ENGL amps and is in Walpole, MA
 
MississippiMetal":37fygl9a said:
Yeah you lost me at "Chewy".
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Never liked that term either......but ENGL's are my favorite amp line. Have owned 2 Fireball and one PB in the past. Have never tried the SE or the redone FB/PB would love to... :rock:
 
Had an SE a few years ago and it was a nice jack of trades but didn't inspire much. The updated ENGL Savage I bought from Brad is killing me. It's just blowing me away how good it is. Supposedly they put the SE transformers in it now, and maybe made some other changes. But it does seem ENGL is tweaking their products in the right direction.
 
shred-o-holic":26wsmq2s said:
MississippiMetal":26wsmq2s said:
Yeah you lost me at "Chewy".
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Never liked that term either......but ENGL's are my favorite amp line. Have owned 2 Fireball and one PB in the past. Have never tried the SE or the redone FB/PB would love to... :rock:
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I dunno... to me it just means that the tone is fat, "organic" and "alive". There was just something there that a lot of amps don't have. My Bogners had it. My VHT UL didn't. It was a great amp, but more "sterile" or flat sounding to me. The Powerball just seems to have some meaty mids there that are real dynamic and seem to interact with a very touch sensitive response.
 
Red_Label":2oyr5vrd said:
shred-o-holic":2oyr5vrd said:
MississippiMetal":2oyr5vrd said:
Yeah you lost me at "Chewy".
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Never liked that term either......but ENGL's are my favorite amp line. Have owned 2 Fireball and one PB in the past. Have never tried the SE or the redone FB/PB would love to... :rock:
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I dunno... to me it just means that the tone is fat, "organic" and "alive". There was just something there that a lot of amps don't have. My Bogners had it. My VHT UL didn't. It was a great amp, but more "sterile" or flat sounding to me. The Powerball just seems to have some meaty mids there that are real dynamic and seem to interact with a very touch sensitive response.
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Do your self a favor and try a 12AT7 / ECC81 in V6 it makes the amp more dynamic and takes away some of the compression
I did this to my powerball II and really like what I'm hearing
 
WOah, I think I stepped through a wormhole and arrived at HCAF 2003.
 
hellaboogie":1nd3etz2 said:
Do your self a favor and try a 12AT7 / ECC81 in V6 it makes the amp more dynamic and takes away some of the compression
I did this to my powerball II and really like what I'm hearing
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Nice! Will give that a shot! :rock:
 
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