ENGL Fireball 100 vs Powerball II

Guitarjon

Guitarjon

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I absolutely adore my ENGL amps, especially my Fireball 100 and Powerball II. They're both versatile, they both have amazing clean channels, they both do vintage crunch tones really well and they both excell at high gain tones. Obviously the Powerball II can do a lot more since it has 4 channels and two EQ's etc. but the Fireball still is no sloutch!

So ever since I got the Powerball II (I've had the Fireball for quite some years now) I've been wanting to do a comparison both in terms of features and in sound. So I hope this is fun or useful. If you've got any questions about these amps I'd be happy to answer them! Disclaimer: if you're not fond of youtube videos feel free to not click on the video below ;)

 
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I am gigging my PB II regularly. Probably one of the best amplifiers on the market at the moment.
 
HeHasTheJazzHands

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Guitarjon said:
Channel 4 does something that the Fireball simply cannot do so that's a good reason!
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Yeah if I were to judge SOLELY by this video, the FB has it's own footprint, but the existing Ch1, 2, and 3 seem to cover the ground good enough while also having the extra, more modern sounding Ch4. Plus the fact they're actually dedicated channels on the PB.
 
Guitarjon

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HeHasTheJazzHands said:
Yeah if I were to judge SOLELY by this video, the FB has it's own footprint, but the existing Ch1, 2, and 3 seem to cover the ground good enough while also having the extra, more modern sounding Ch4. Plus the fact they're actually dedicated channels on the PB.
Click to expand...

That's why I love the PBII so much! It has a lot to offer in terms of channels and controls. It can do so much and also do it well.
 
KnightBrolaire

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clean and crunch channels seemed relatively similar. The high gain channels I could notice more of a difference with the Powerball feeling a bit bigger and throatier. I think it has a bit more upper mid content as well. I preferred the sound of the Powerball's high gain tone a bit more tbh. I think the powerball's voicing held up with lower tunings better too.
 
MatrixClaw

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I remember back in the day vastly preferring the Fireball to the Powerball because the PB lacked mid content, but it seems like they really fixed it with the second version. It sounds great here!
 
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Guitarjon said:
Cool! Amazing amps! What kind of footswitch do you use? I haven't got a footswitch myself.
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I am using the standard Engl Z9. It is very plug and play and there's not a lot you have to mess with for it. It just plugs into the S.A.C. port with a standard TRS cable (not just a guitar cable to note).

The MIDI functions are very good too. I was pulling my hair out trying to decide what MIDI footswitch to get when rigging up my Engl E570 and a TC Electronic G-Major II when I remembered this had a MIDI socket. It couldn't have been easier. A little reading of the manual and it's easy as pie. My only gripe is it doesn't fit in a standard 19" slot lengthways, my idea was to just pop it in the back of the rack and just drag it out when setting it up. But no, it seems to necessitate it's own carrying bag/case. I just use a Stanley toolbox with all my cables and kit in. So I may end up getting some sort of MIDI switched to go alongside my tuner and wah, something that will fit all in a 19" width rack drawer of probably 2U that I can just carry in the rack with the power amplifier in it. So one rack will be the preamp, TC and a couple of pedals (mainly Eventide Space), and the other rack will be power amp and pedalboard. But I'm still developing the whole idea as funds permit.

One thing I would say about Engl, I have long been told to not stray too far from V30s. I have Celestion V-Types in my 1960AV (the original V30s were all shot) and I much prefer them to the standard V30s. They took a while to break in but now that they have, I would take them anytime over the V30.

I have a 1960B cabinet too that I'm itching to do a speaker swap on, currently deciding between Eminence Legend V1216s or the DV-77s. Bit of a price difference, but I've never been into the speaker mixing thing, it's never sounded right to me. And this isn't for recording, it's live sound and no sound guy is going to give a rat's ass what speaker you have where, let alone dual mic you for your speaker mix. So need something that works first time every time. I know Vader (the band) used Legends in the David Laboga cabinets so that's really drawn my interest.

Sorry I have waffled. To answer your question, the plain ol' Z9 hahaha.
 
odibrom

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Nice review @Guitarjon, thanks!

The clean tones are superb on both amps, the over driven ones are also pretty cool. They are very close to each other in terms of "recorded sound", or, at least, from my listening point, but as you said they do have great range to mess with the knobs, so lots of different tones to play with.

Between the 2, I'd go with the Powerball simply because of the extra options and channels, however, if I was on the look out for a new amp, Synergy would most likely get my money... they have Engl pres as well!.
 
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Guitarjon

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odibrom said:
Nice review @Guitarjon, thanks!

The clean tones are superb on both amps, the over driven ones are also pretty cool. They are very close to each other in terms of "recorded sound", or, at least, from my listening point, but as you said they do have great range to mess with the knobs, so lots of different tones to play with.

Between the 2, I'd go with the Powerball simply because of the extra options and channels, however, if I was on the look out for a new amp, Synergy would most likely get my money... they have Engl pres as well!.
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Thanks!

I'm glad to see the Powerball getting some love! It has always been a dream amp for me and for some reason it has a bit of an underdog reputation. I just want to show people how awesome it really is and sometimes all it takes is just twisting some amp controls to make it shine. It really is an amazing amp!
 
Guitarjon

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vertibration said:
How did you come to acquire all those amps? Studio work? or Youtube channel? Just confused by your youtube channel name. The name Sonic Drive Studios seems like you provide services as well?
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A combination of both! It's primarily a hobby that got out of hand haha! I do mixing work as well as other media creation jobs + YouTube.
 
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