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

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danyeo":34lxvs2l said:
WOah, I think I stepped through a wormhole and arrived at HCAF 2003.

Well... NO doubt your hair is a lot thinner now wormhole or no! :lol: :LOL:
 
Red_Label":3k2fgn3f said:
hellaboogie":3k2fgn3f 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

Nice! Will give that a shot! :rock:
Right on let us know how you like it.
 
Thor1777":3ho2jknl said:
hit Brad up and check out the Engl Retro....by far the best sounding Engl I have tried....just an amazing amp

hey guys I am an ENGL dealer and have sold several Powerball II's and have more inbound fyi...

Brad
 
King Guitar":16lixx8c said:
hey guys I am an ENGL dealer and have sold several Powerball II's and have more inbound fyi...

Brad

Good to know Brad. Will keep that in mind for future purchases. Ended-up working a trade deal with another Rig-Talker. But if I like this amp as much as I think I will, there may be others in my future. ;)
 
Red_Label":4rwz04bt said:
danyeo":4rwz04bt said:
WOah, I think I stepped through a wormhole and arrived at HCAF 2003.

Well... NO doubt your hair is a lot thinner now wormhole or no! :lol: :LOL:

Not really. But my freakin back hurts a lot these days. :aww:
 
danyeo":3l8uei7x said:
Red_Label":3l8uei7x said:
danyeo":3l8uei7x said:
WOah, I think I stepped through a wormhole and arrived at HCAF 2003.

Well... NO doubt your hair is a lot thinner now wormhole or no! :lol: :LOL:

Not really. But my freakin back hurts a lot these days. :aww:

I hear ya there! I had back surgery a year ago and still have sciatic pain. In fact, today my back is pretty tweaked-out. I am thankful for my acoustic gigs that all I generally hump around are an acoustic amp (Fishman Loudbox Mini), spare acoustic amp, couple of guitars and a mic and stand. Sure beats the two half-stacks that I used to hump around for a stereo setup!

Looks like I may be joining possibly one or TWO rock bands shortly. So I'll be wearing my back brace around a lot to load gear again. Friggin OLD man... :aww:
 
***UPDATE***

Ended-up trading into a near-mint Powerball II and Z9 footswtich (thanks 61reissue!!!) and it arrived yesterday.

WOW!!! The minute I plugged-in and hit the Crunch channel I was in LUUUUUV. I could live on this channel alone. Very organic and meaty. Thumpy on the bottom end, but tight. I've got it plugged into a G12-T75 loaded 1960B cab. I can only imagine how she'd have sounded into my old Bogner Uberkab (biggest sounding cab I've ever owned).

After thoroughly enjoying the Crunch channel for some time, I started moving around to the Clean, and Lead 1 and Lead 2 channels. Loved 'em all! Though I could see why Lead 2 was more gain than many reviewers could see using. Still, what I noticed about most of the gain on this beast is that even though it does get some good compression going, the sound is never muddy and the notes stay articulate and defined.

Note that this amp sounds AWESOME at speaking volumes (pretty much all I was able to try at the music store) and like any good tube amp, only gets better when you pour on the coals. The thick chunk and massive bottom really start to come-on with the master at about 9:00 (preamp vols about noonish+). Really couldn't get it higher than about 10:00 in my house for fear of killing the neighbors. VERY loud and house-shaking at that volume!

Just a MONSTER amp and the box I should have had last year with my last modern rock/metal band. I was rocking an XTC Classic and an older VHT Pittbull UL for those shows and though they did fine, I think this Powerball would have kicked so much more ass, For a classic rock gig, I'd probably give my old Shiva, XTC or Triamp the nod. For country, the same. But for modern rock and metal, I think that this beast slays. And for an all-around amp, I'd likely choose it every time over those also very versatile amps. :rock:

VERY stoked about this amp and my poor (but beloved) DSL50 is just sitting there in the corner now... looking like a poor old hag after a Victoria's Secret model walks into the room. :lol: :LOL:
 
Red_Label":3cty2qcj said:
***UPDATE***

Ended-up trading into a near-mint Powerball II and Z9 footswtich (thanks 61reissue!!!) and it arrived yesterday.

WOW!!! The minute I plugged-in and hit the Crunch channel I was in LUUUUUV. I could live on this channel alone. Very organic and meaty. Thumpy on the bottom end, but tight. I've got it plugged into a G12-T75 loaded 1960B cab. I can only imagine how she'd have sounded into my old Bogner Uberkab (biggest sounding cab I've ever owned).

After thoroughly enjoying the Crunch channel for some time, I started moving around to the Clean, and Lead 1 and Lead 2 channels. Loved 'em all! Though I could see why Lead 2 was more gain than many reviewers could see using. Still, what I noticed about most of the gain on this beast is that even though it does get some good compression going, the sound is never muddy and the notes stay articulate and defined.

Note that this amp sounds AWESOME at speaking volumes (pretty much all I was able to try at the music store) and like any good tube amp, only gets better when you pour on the coals. The thick chunk and massive bottom really start to come-on with the master at about 9:00 (preamp vols about noonish+). Really couldn't get it higher than about 10:00 in my house for fear of killing the neighbors. VERY loud and house-shaking at that volume!

Just a MONSTER amp and the box I should have had last year with my last modern rock/metal band. I was rocking an XTC Classic and an older VHT Pittbull UL for those shows and though they did fine, I think this Powerball would have kicked so much more ass, For a classic rock gig, I'd probably give my old Shiva, XTC or Triamp the nod. For country, the same. But for modern rock and metal, I think that this beast slays. And for an all-around amp, I'd likely choose it every time over those also very versatile amps. :rock:

VERY stoked about this amp and my poor (but beloved) DSL50 is just sitting there in the corner now... looking like a poor old hag after a Victoria's Secret model walks into the room. :lol: :LOL:

Congratulations, it's a sweet amp, very clear, very tight at all volumes.

I was running my lead channels at around 9:00-11:00 but, after I put the 12AT7 / ECC81 in V6 I have to run the gain at around 2:00-3:00 to get the same level of distortion, on the plus side the amp is more dynamic and less compressed on the lead channels, I was really surprised by this, it was a very simple experiment which resulted in me liking the amp even more.

my normal approach is to have all high gain 12ax7 / ECC83 boost the amp and run the gain low.
 
I spent about an hr with one today through a mesa stilleto cab. I am impressed the noise gate did a great job on the palm mutes and was able to dial in just about every tone I would need on it pretty easy. You sir got a fine amp enjoy...
 
dwizted said:
I spent about an hr with one today through a mesa stilleto cab. I am impressed the noise gate did a great job on the palm mutes and was able to dial in just about every tone I would need on it pretty easy. You sir got a fine amp enjoy... If anyone in Dallas looking for one they got a mint one with the Z-9 foot controller for 1799 in the Plano store. Take in a pedal you dont use or want and get 15% off.
:rock:
 
Congrats! My PB II was my favorite stock amp, and I've owned more than 50 tube amps, including most of the 'holy grail' amps. It's really, really good.
 
STOP THIS MADDNESS! I DO NOT WANT GAS FOR ANOTHER POWERBALL!!!!! STOP ITTTTTTT!!!!!!

I can never open another PowerBall thread...

:doh: :doh: :doh:

You all are G.A.S. Enablers!!!
 
I've always found the ENGL sound to be extremely niche and with WAY more gain than you could ever practically use. I learned from mightywarlock that at stage / gig volumes less is often more. I'll take my Hughes & Kettner amps (TriAmp MK II, TRILOGY, Switchblade 100C) over any ENGL I've played, and understand I have MAD GAS for an ENGL STEVE MORSE.
 
PB2 is a fantastic amp...a lot better then original version, especially with gain controls for all 4 channels. Goes from sparkly clean to brutal gain, only beef is no footswitch included. I hear the Savage 120 is also pretty monsterous...and Invader, but I have no proficiency for MIDI.
 
racerevlon":35qwzknk said:
I've always found the ENGL sound to be extremely niche and with WAY more gain than you could ever practically use. I learned from mightywarlock that at stage / gig volumes less is often more. I'll take my Hughes & Kettner amps (TriAmp MK II, TRILOGY, Switchblade 100C) over any ENGL I've played, and understand I have MAD GAS for an ENGL STEVE MORSE.

I hear ya on the "less is more" axiom. What works at home is total mush as a gig. I found that to be the case as well my my old Triamp Mk I that I gigged for several years. Same goes for the XTC and VHT UL that I gigged last year. First thing I usually did at a gig was dial back the preamp gain at least 1 or 2 notches. Cleaned things right up that would normally compress at gigging volumes.
 
yngzaklynch":2bck3u07 said:
CLIPS!!!!!

Will definitely get some done eventually. But I've got other priorities right now. My wife was hit by a car (as a pedestrian yesterday). Her and her coworker (who was also hit) were taken by ambulance to the ER, where they did X-rays and found no broken bones. But they both "flew" after being hit and landed on the ground. So they're pretty banged-up, stiff and sore. So I've been playing nurse since yesterday. :aww:

http://www.kulr8.com/news/local/Truck-Hits-Pedestrians-163062356.html
 
xiwiwix":xmh4au5r said:
STOP THIS MADDNESS! I DO NOT WANT GAS FOR ANOTHER POWERBALL!!!!! STOP ITTTTTTT!!!!!!

I can never open another PowerBall thread...

:doh: :doh: :doh:

You all are G.A.S. Enablers!!!


You know you want one!

You know you NEED one!

Give in to the dark side!

LOL!!! When I plug into this beast, and then look at it -- in all of its blackness with glowing red lights... I see/hear an EVIL BEAST!!! (Reminds me of that evil Maximillion robot in Disney's "The Black Hole" because of the glowing red tubes.) :rock:
 
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