Engl Powerball 100 Head

Brand New 2006 model with improved voicing and noise gate

All humbuckers. An old PRS Custom 22, Jackson KV1 Flying V, Gibson SG w/EMGs

I had it since the first of Jan 06. No problems other than way too much feedback/noise.

Went through a middle man. Cannot rage Engl's customer support

This amp delivers very high gain with a heavy low end. I have played through many amps and currently use the Powerball as my high gain channel, switching to a Marshall Silver Jubilee 50 watt for my clean channel. The Powerball clean channel is not nearly as articulate, crisp and toneful as my Marshall. The high gain channels sound great, but there is WAY too much feedback/noise. Even with the improved noise gate it just does not deliver for live shows or recording. I have done both since I got this amp. I'm forced to invest in a Decimator rack mount to solve this problem. The current noise gate on the amp is not smart enough and thus allows clipping during palm muting etc..The gain channel just as the clean channel in my opinion also lacks articulation especiall when playing in drop D or near the first fret. I have actually gone back to standard 440 tuning since I got this amp to ring out my strings and get better tone and less rumble. When playing arppegios this amp does not ring out individual strings as well as a Marshall, Bogner, VhT etc..Expect a rich low end gain that rules over many amps. Do not expect all your hard practice and shredding to be appreciated like they would with a quieter, more articulate amp. But if you need that heavy gain and low end..This amp rules..

I have owned many amps over the years and decided after reading tons of reviews to go with the Engl Powerball.I bought this amp without trying it. I did have some conversations with the owner of the company I bought it from. I was originally going to buy the Blackmore but the Powerball seemed to have more features and a little more options in the sound department.
Running it through an Avatar 212 with a 12" Vintage 30 and a G12H30.For guitars I have used this with a 97 Blackmore Strat, American STD Strat, Carvin Holdsworth and Jackson USA Fusion. I Play hard rock and Metal such as AC/DC, Zepplin, Dream Theater, Dokken, but mostly Neoclassical shred ala Malmsteen, Vinnie Moore, Joe Stump etc..
The clean Channel is beautiful, very full and clear with a little reverb I would say it competes with many Fenders I have owned.I do not use channel 2 much so I will get right down to Business on the high gain channels.
I was concerned that this amp was going to be too brutal after reading many of the reviews mainly because a lot of people using this head are playing Hard metal and thrash but I must stress for other shredders out there this amp has got it in the high gain department. The lo gain channel has great crunch and definition and yet is very fluid when playing fast.The high gain channel has that great creamy tone that allows you to just relax and fly. I can't quite explain it but the amp just has a different sound than anything else I have ever owned. I just can not help but love this thing. It just screams and more so to me with single coils,harmonics are very easy.It just plain does everything I have never been able to get another amp to do. I will probably use Engl for he rest of my life-no bull. I have never had another amp that I did not have to run an overdrive in front of to get any kind of gain. This amp has all the gain you could ever ask for but stays very articulate. It is plain amazing.

Have not had it that long so I can not say.

I have been playing for 25+ years and I am telling you there is nothing like it. Anyone who gave this head a bad rating just can not play period. There is no sound you can not dial in if you spend the time with it. I bought a Madison Divinity at the same time I bought this and I must say that is a great head too but just does not have the saturation in the gain channels that the Engl has. Truly amazing!!!!!

Just replaced a MesaBoogie LoneStar with the Powerball.

The Mesa had great features which the Powerball also has. The ONLY thing lacking is a reverb, however I'm finding that playing with a totally dry sound is pretty cool. Makes the sound very crisp and cuts through the mix nicely.

4 channels and the tube overdrive is sensational and awesomely loud.

Lots of control over individual channels and all accessible via the Z5 foot controller.

Now we get down to it.

The clean is great with plenty of head room without breaking up.
The crunch is excellent for bluesey stuff.
Low gain is very big and is what I use for most of my solos.
High gain is shredder paradise.

The A/B levels are great for kicking in a bit more volume when necessary.

My only beef is the built-in noisegate is not very effective and the saturation noise of this amp is considerable. Now it's not a problem at low volumes but on stage it's noisy and I have to make sure I switch to clean at the end of the song.
However that is a small issue considering the blistering sound I can get from this beast... and it looks mean on stage as well with the red LED's behind the main power valves.

But this amp sounds fantastic and I am very happy with it after using it on stage a few times now.

I traded my ENGL Screamer 50watt combo after gigging solidly for 2 years on the Boogie and found that I simply should not have strayed. I'm back in the ENGL fold, and it's good to be back.

Have been gigging solidly with it and had no problems. Can't say the same for the Boogie...

My old ENGL Screamer had the crap played out of it and never missed a beat.

I anticipate the same with the PowerBall.

Just remember these are valve amps and need to be treated accordingly.

Never used them

This is a great all valve kickarse amp and for the money craps on everything else.

Check one out today.

This is a version 2 Engl Powerball brand new out of the box. I play all kinds of metal and this is definately a metal amp. It is fairly versitle to other styles too. I've heard some of the best blues tones come out of thins amp IMO.
Preamp:
From the ENGL site:4 channels: Clean, Crunch, Low Gain Lead, High Gain Lead, 2 Bright/Bottom switches, Extra Crunch Treble
control, 2 EQs, each 4 band, one for channel 1/2, one for channel. Volume controls for each channel. 4 x ECC83 preamp tubes

Master Section:
100 watts (1 x ECC 83, 4 x 6L6GC power amp tubes), Master A/B, Presence, Depth Punch controls.

Outputs:
Integrated Noise Gate for high gain channels, threshold control, fx loop control (parallel to serial), 2 x Z-4 or Custom Z-5 footswitch ports, Speaker Outs (2 x 4, 2 x 8,
1 x 16 Ohms).

I just play at home right now with this amp since I just got it a few days ago, but I must say that this amp even sounds good LOUD. It gets really fucking loud.

I play USA Select Jackson KV-2's with EMG 81's in the bridge and EMG 85's in the neck. I'm using a mesa recto 4x12 cab with vintage 30's (rear loaded), but I am thinking about getting an Engl cab with celestion V 60's or their vintage 30 cab (front loaded).
With active pick ups you can get a lot of feedback if you stand too close. I use the noise gate and I also have an ISP decimator that pretty much eliminate the noise altogether. For a High gain amp, this one was the quietest I've seen so far.
The cleans are pretty good, but this amp was made for gain and thats where it shines. This is the most non muddy and plenty saturated gain I have come across. Absolutely perfect. I'm big on pinch harmonic and squeels. It is easily executable with this amp. In fact you can do a pinch harmonic on 1 fret and drag it up the fretboard atleast 5 frets before it decays. The only other amp that I've seen that can do it better is the ENGL Savage.

I haven't had it long enough. But it survive coming from Germany and Fed Ex so its got that going for it. I haven't heard too many problems with Engl amps. They seem to be built like a Panzer.

I haven't dealt with ENGL yet and hopefully I won't have to.

I've been playing for about 15 years and this is the only amp I own right now. I would never lose it, but if it were stolen I'd hunt down and kill the bastard that took it. Before I bought this, I was looking at the ENGL Savage 120 (great amp just didn't have "the Tone" that I was looking for), A Framus Cobra (I still might get one of these sooner or later),and a bogner uberschall. I chose the powerball because it had "the tone" I was looking for. I have had a VHT Ultralead (too dry sounding) amongst other amps. The Powerball delivered the goods and was the right price. The only thing that would make this amp even better would be if it had a bias switch that would let you switch between 6l6's and EL34's.

Its got alot of features, four channels and settings named depth punch and has alot of tone variations. Very heavy and well built, but I give it a 9 because it could be a little eaiser to find your sound, takes a while to find what you want.

Wow! I think this thing puts cracks in my practice room walls. ( Earth shartering!) I bought it together with the vintage box and I think its the most brutal distortion I ever heard In one word ( Pressure )Its noisy without the noise gate enguaged, but its not really an issue. Clean sounds are great, warm and subtle. Its an all around amp, but mainly for new metal styles.

I bought it on a tuesday played it the same day in practice. Wendsday I went to begin dialing in my sound. Friday it died. My band members took it to the shop and found out that it popped a fuse. Fine it can happen? The follwing saterday came back from vaction and wanted to play a bit POW!! I took it again to the shop and the guy suggested a stronger fuse. So he said play it here for a while and lets see what happens. No sooner the turned it on 5 seconds later it blew again. So I have a new one coming free of charge. German Quality my ass!

Soo far soo good.

Overall rating is a 4 because the amp sounds great and all that but who cares when its constanly broken.

This amp is versatile enough for anything I believe. It has 4 channels an effects loop, a built in noise gate, depth and bottom boost buttons, bright switch, tube monitors, and it's louder than helllllll!!!!!! I just played it last night through what I think is supposed to be the xxl cab and it blew the entire band away!!! It's a 100 watt metal monster that sounds more like a 1000 watts!!!!

I play metal. All sorts of metal...I have 10 or so guitars and most of them have 3emg's!! 6 and 7 string guitars. I've never heard a more brutal, tight, clean distortion in my life. The amp is real noisy though. You need to use the noise gate at high volumes. It also needs to be played at high volumes to get all the balls out. It is by far the best sounding amp I have ever heard or played. I use the low lead channel with gain at about 11o'clock. Everything is crystal clear and tight as hell. Supercrunch!!!

Well I've only had it 2 days so I don't know about this department yet.

I've been dealing with Engl for a few months now and have always been able to pickup the phone and call Germany, no problem. They really have taken care of me and so has Derick at Rocksolid Amps. Rocksolidamps.com

I've been playing for 15 years or so. I own many, many guitars and different amps. I've been endorsed by different amp companies and guitars. I turned down 3 different endorsements in order to play this amp. All I can say is that it's the best money I've ever spent! I will never play another amp. If this got stolen I would hire a hit man to track down and slaughter the person who did. Then I would sell thier body parts on the black market in order to buy a new one!!!! I do wish it came with the footswitch. I will be buying the fireball and another cab shortly.

4 channel 100w all tube high gain monster of a head, you've read the other reviews you know what its got!!

well what can i say i'm using it with two esp's loaded with emg 81's bridge and 85's neck a viper and an eclipse, both guitars sound similar with them using the same pickups and wiring set up, but with this amp the sound absolutely blew me away, i play mostly metal and hardcore and this amp destroyed everything else i've ever been through it made the mesa dual rec sound like a pile of s*it the gain on the lead channel is amazing on every other amp i've had the gains been cranked to 10 and i dont have to get anywhere near that to create the destructive metal sound i'm into, i literally had to fiddle about for 2 minutes before i got a range of distinctive metal tones that other amps cant get close to. It was a tough call bettween this amp and a framus cobra but this won due to i been slightly cheaper and the extra features such as bright switch for the clean/crunch channel, the depth knob and extra bottom end punch button for the lead channel, so it had more features and was cheaper but they were both very close on sound just the gain on the powerball was more destructive.............it f*cking rules in the balls department, i couldn't be happier with the sound range on this amp, even the cleans with high output active humbuckers are crystal clear but you do have to rol the guiars volume pot back a touch.

built like a tank only had a month but cant imagine anything breaking it except maybe a wrecking ball!!

N/A

i'll give it 10/10 for everything due to its versatility and the fact that its about half the price of any amp tht will even get close to it if your looking for an all round sperb amp with the extra bite for metal/hard rock go and buy this now you will not be dissapointed, amazing buy, if your thinking of buying a peavey high gain amp (6505/xxx)like i was just save a bit extra and go and try this beast.

first i must say that i am a verie bad speller but as long as you understand thats ok. This amp was made in 2005 i think. This is a very versatile amp, i mean you expect line 6 and all that digitel crap to be versatile, more so than this amp but this is a real amp with real valves and real balls! Its got to be one of the most versatile full valve amps ever made. 4 channels which can all be mid boosted or volume boosted via the foot switch. You have 16 posable tonal and dynamic choises at your feet.
1 clean
2 crunch
3 lo lead
4 hi lead
I use this amp in my bed room with volume on about 0.7 and it still sounds grate! I also play many gigs and the loudest i've needed it was about 2.2 (plenty loud)

When i first tryed this amp out it was throught the standard engl cab and it sounded good but not amazing. it was only when i put it throught the cab i already ownd that i got a feel for how much of a beast this thing realy was. I am now interested in geting a vintage 30s loader cab as they sound even better.My faverit guitar is my Ibanez prestige S! it comes with QM1/2 pick ups which are modled on di martsois and sound realy realy good. I also own an LTD gl baritone with a seymore duncan JB in the bridge and hot rails in the neck (it was a duncan desinge but i swopped it for the real deal) I also have another Ibanez (550) which i leave in drop D and a Yamaha (persifica). Ok i am a METALER thrash, doom, death, prog, black,nu, hard core and power. i love nothing more than to thrash out a brutal crushing detuned riff folled by an over the top solo! however i also love to play prog, funk, indie, rock, some pop and blues.

Channel 1: Clean, cleaner than my old marshall. Its spiky whilst staying warm and round. it is crystle clean entill you play hard on the brige pick up, then it bracks up a bit even with gain right down. Like most clean channels it sounds better with single coils.

Channel 2: Crunch, yes its bin based on a marshall! This channel is the worst sonnding to my ears. Its colder and weaker than the marshall its trying to be and it shares the gain controle with the clean. This means that in order to Keep the clean channel fully clean, gain needs to be set at about 3 and this makes this channel a little under distorter and weedy. That said this is not a bad sounding channel its just the least good. ;)It dose work well as a purpusly weady intro to a heathy song ie. nu metal

Channel 3: Lo Lead, well thats a lie this channel is anything but (low) gain, it starts geting high gain with gain on about 4 and keeps on going from there. This channel is sick it sounds somewhere between a marshall, a mesa and a Diezel.The high end is extream with out being too harsh and the low end is emense, you can drown out the bassist if you want but thats not what the guitar is for! The gain is thick and gloryus, it just sounds huge! Riffs kick in and sound fat, ballsy and defined whilst lead sounds smooth, liquedy and sustained. I love this channel so much. Its easy to recreat the hi gain tone of many bands with a small tweak of the gain and EQs ect. I have maneged to creat very simuler guitar sounds to Slipknot, Ramstine, (they use engl anyway) Dream Theater, Desturbed and Tool! It is also grate for pinches they just sing out thick and in your face.

Cannel 4: Hi gain, yes it is! Remember what i told you about channel 3, well its that and half again! It has even more bottom end and evan more gain. This has evan more layers of saturation and an even bigger feel. however you shold be carful because this channel can get over gained and there for a little muddy. gain should be no higher than 6.

No probs and if a tube dose go the amp will still work and an LED will show which tube needs to be replaced

NA

I have bin playing around 10 years, i know the sound i want and this is it. if it were stolen or lost i would probaly buy it again because its the best amp for that price. i think it sounds just as good as the more expencive mesa boogies. I tryed it against marshall DSL and TSL and it was deffenatly woth the extra monney! I also lisend to lanny, Fender, peavey, (Line shit), Randle, hi watt, Hughes & Kettner, cornford and ashdown. The mesas were the only amps to match the qualaty and agresion of the engl but at almost dobble the price. There is one amp I've heard that actually sounds better than the mesa or the engl and that's a diezel but they are about #4000 so slightly out of my price range!

If you only have #1100 or so and you want a hi quality hi gain amp this is an amazing buy! You minght also want to try out the peavy JSX or a different engl. I am very happy with this amp it sounds awsome on stage and in my bed room and to record! It continus to amaze me every time i hear it!

4 CHANNELS,TWO MASTERS WITCH WILL GIVE 8 CHANNELS TOTAL,MIDI CAPABLE WITH AN ENGL MIDI SWITCHER AND TWO STERIO CORDS.POWER TUBE LED TO LET YOU KNOW WHEN A TUBE IS GOING DOWN.BRITE SWITCH FOR THE CLEAN CHANNEL,LOW SWITCHES FOR THE LOW AND HIGH GAIN,DON`T LET THE LOW GAIN FOOL YA ITS MASSIVE.TWO SETS OF MID RANGE FOR THE HIGH AND LOW GAIN,REALLY SCOOPED OR VERY ARTICULLATE.ALSO BUILT IN NOISE GATE.

I USE IBANEZ 770 WITH A DIMARZIO TONE ZONE IN THE BRIDGE AND A NORTON IN THE NECK,WARMOTH STRAT WITH TWO EVOLUTIONS,GIBSON CLASSIC STOCK.ALL GUITARS SOUND AWESOME,AND 440 TUNING SOUNDS AS GOOD AS A HALF STEP DOWN AND A WHOLE STEP IS EVEN MEANER.I PLAY 80s METAL,DOKKEN,OZZY,METALLICA,RATT,WARRENT,G AND R ALONG WITH JOURNEY, STYX,VAN HALEN,AND SO ON,WORKS PERFECT.BELIEVE ME YOU CAN USE THIS HEAD FOR EVERY TYPE OF MUSIC.I HAVE READ THIS IS ONLY FOR HEAVY,(BULLSHIT)SPEND SOME TIME YOU CAN ACHEIVE ANY TONE.
CHANNEL 1 CRISP CLEAN WITH NO BREAK UP
CHANNEL 2 CAN BE DIRTY CLEAN TO ACDC TYPE GAIN
CHANNEL 3 THEY SAY LOW GAIN BUT PENDING WHERE YOU SET THE GAIN IT GOES FROM ACDC TO SLAYER
CHANNEL 4 HIGH GAIN HAS MORE GAIN THEN 3 BUT SOME ADDED LOW FOR THICKNESS,GREAT FOR LEADS WITCH I BELIEVE IT WAS DESIGNED FOR.
SOME NOISE BUT IT IS A HIGH GAIN AMP,IT HAS A BUILT IN GATE WITCH WORKS AWESOME,I JUST ADDED A NS1,QUITE AS A CHURCH MOUSE.
THIS HEAD IN MY OPINION SOUNDS LIKE A MARSHALL MEETS A RECTO,THE WARMTH OF A MARSHALL WITH THE BITE AND AGGRESSION OF A BOOGIE,WITHOUT THE NASAL HARSHNESS.CUTS THROUGH THE BAND LIKE A RAZOR.YOU WILL BE HEARD.

SO FAR SO GOOD,I DO BRING A BACK UP RIG WITCH IS A SANSAMP PS1 WITH A PEAVEY POWER AMP.I WOULD HAVE A BACK UP NO MATTER WHAT HEAD I WAS USING.A TUBE AMP CAN GO DOWN AT ANY TIME.BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY.PLUS MY BACK UP STAYS IN A RACK IN THE VAN.

N/A

I HAVE BEEN PLAYING FOR 20 YEARS AND HAVE OWNED ADA`s WITH AND WITHOUT THE 3TM MOD,ADA VOODO AMP MOD,SINGLE RECTO,PEAVEY XXX,JSX,TRIAXIS,MARSHALL 2205,2203,KRANK,BOOGIE MARKIII,AND I`M SURE I FORGOT A FEW BUT THIS HEAD BY FAR IS THE BEST IN EVERY WAY,FROM THE CONSTRUCTION TO THE AWESOME SOUND.

LISTEN GUYS AND GIRLS THIS HEAD IS THE REAL DEAL,IF YOU WANT A QUALITY AMP HERE IT IS.I PROMISE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DO ANY TONE YOU WANT,ADD THE MIDI SWITCHER AND YOUR FAVORITE PROSESSOR AND YOU WILL HAVE TOTAL CONTROL WITHOUT THE TAP DANCE.I LOVE THIS AMP.

this amp is great from good clean warm tones for the jazz sort of clean ive been looking for for years, to scooped eath metal overdrive, to warm round rock and metal overdrive. the versatility offered by the open/focused midi, and teh boost settings on each channel, and teh presence etc leave infinite customzation to sound

the built in noise gate means that whatever tone u dial in, the result will always be crisp, neat and breathtaking. i would recommend an external noisegate fpor gigging thought im afraid

its built like a panzer, it weighs twice as much and it WILL NOT BREAK ive had this second hand for a year now, god knows how old it is, and the only time ive changed teh valves or had any servicing done is when it started to sound tired like ALL valve amps do on the same set of valves eventually. no matter what u do, this thing will be there with u

teh manual is utter crap to be hionest, very ambiguous. but luckily the head is self explantory, for petes sake my mother could use it, so no worries there at all. never had to u se customer service, anmd i knwo i never will