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ENGL Powerball vs. Fireball ?


vicknott

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How are they comparing ? Is there any difference soundwise ? Considering I don't really need 100W power (60W is more than enough), do you think Powerball is worthing 500 Euro more ?

I play modern metal (groove/hardcore/metalcore) and I have mahogany guitars equipped with EMG81 or SD Distortion.

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one thing that you guys didn't tell him is that fireball (from what i heard the same goes to powerball) is pritty dark amp and since you have mahogany (dark) it could be very dark combination :) maybe your bright MEG 81 would balance it out.

If you play with 2 settings (clean and distortion) that go with fireball. If you use clean/rock/metal/blues tone in one song, than go with powerball.

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could you add, say a tubescreamer for the fireball, wouldn't that give you a nice overdrive on the clean channel, and a nice boost for the distortion channel?

 

 

Like run the amp on a half-way clean/dirty tone? Maybe I dunno........the amp has a {censored} load of gain on tap all the way before 9 oclock........as far as clean boosting goes that's exactly what I'm doing with my Fireball........sounds awesome.........but that's half gain on the amp and no gain or tone on OD pedal...just volume.......

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could you add, say a tubescreamer for the fireball, wouldn't that give you a nice overdrive on the clean channel, and a nice boost for the distortion channel?

 

 

That'd be a pretty cool idea.

 

 

Although, you can just turn down the volume on one pickup, and switch between pickups for super clean and dirty-clean/overdrive tones, then switch channels for the heavy distortion.

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Take note that the Gain in BOTH of these videos is at 9 o'clock.

 

Everything else is the same, including the volume controls on the guitar (both max)

 

Normal Channel, Neck pickup

[YOUTUBE]broQemTcd1k[/YOUTUBE]

 

Ultra Gain Channel, Bridge Pickup

[YOUTUBE]hNQOxD9pr8g[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

Yes I went apeshit on the chorus :D

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Like run the amp on a half-way clean/dirty tone? Maybe I dunno........the amp has a shit load of gain on tap all the way before 9 oclock........as far as clean boosting goes that's exactly what I'm doing with my Fireball........sounds awesome.........but that's half gain on the amp and no gain or tone on OD pedal...just volume.......

 

are you clean boosting it with a ts? that's something i would like to do (if i decide to buy the fireball)

 

and basically i wanna add the tubescreamer when using the clean channel, not for main distortion but for a nice overdrive.

 

doing that could turn it into "3 channels", maybe?, and using another ts (or just a clean boost for solos), it'll be like "4 channels" :p

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are you clean boosting it with a ts? that's something i would like to do (if i decide to buy the fireball)


and basically i wanna add the tubescreamer when using the clean channel, not for main distortion but for a nice overdrive.


doing that could turn it into "3 channels", maybe?, and using another ts (or just a clean boost for solos), it'll be like "4 channels"
:p

 

Yeah I'm clean boosting it if that's the same thing we're talking about....but just to be clear a "clean boost" in my definition is minimal coloration and "gain" from the pedal as far as the tone and gain knob are concerned......in the literal sense I suppose I am adding gain from the pedal even if I'm using just the volume knob on the pedal........well something is being added in some form at least....I'm doing this for feel myself......

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When I had a Fireball I tried boosting it with several pedals and it just seemed like it didn't want them at all. The amp itself has gain for days and has a considerable amount of compression. After monkeying around with it I found I actually liked it best without using any kind of boost. Looking back at it now, I wish I would have tried an eq in the loop more than anything. In the long run, this amp didn't suit my style so I sold it. It is a dark amp, that has pronounced bass and low mids. With my mahogany guitar it got muddy when playing, unless I kept my guitar in standard tuning. Best of luck to you, but my suggestion is try it before you buy it!

 

Cole

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I use an Engl Fireball, and my mate has the Powerball. From experience, there isn't much difference between these two amps. Most people probably haven't given them much chance when they make quick assumptions.

 

The Fireball is slightly darker/bassier than the Powerball, which has a slightly more gritty tone to it (with similarish settings to the Fireball). I think it's all about how you set the EQ as to what sound you get. My Fireball has everything at pretty much 12 o' clock on the EQ settings and I think it sounds sweet for lead and rhythm and has a great clean sound, so no need for the extra channels and such.

 

The whole shared gain thing isn't a big deal. I usually have my gain set at around 10 o' clock and there is plenty of gain for the lead channel, and the clean only starts distorting on the bridge pickup when I really give it some. The cleans can be super warm or have a 'glassy' kind of sound depending on your EQ/if you use the bright or depth switch (I generally don't concern myself with these, the depth is only noticeable if the bass is quite high).

 

I can't really write much for the Powerball except this. The Powerball is pretty much a Fireball with more verstility to it. If you need an amp that can do a variety of sounds, get the Powerball. If you just need an amp that has one good lead channel and a great clean sound, then the Fireball would be better as it's cheaper.

 

But the main rule would be... Buy with your ears.

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