Koch Powertone

[Shamgar]

For a long time I want to have a Koch Powertone. I hope to buy one this year, but before I do, does anyone have any remarks about this amp?

Currently my main guitar is a Jackson Rhoads Pro with active Reflex pickups, and I have a (borrowed) Marshall Valvestate 100 top at home and we use Marshall JCM 900 Combo's/tops in the rehearsalstudio (no we don't own them), but those Marshalls lack the gain I desire for a nice metalsound (I play blackmetal most of the time).

[Dave L]

Re: Koch Powertone

I actually haven´t tried the Powertone, so I´m sorry for not really answering your question, but all the other Koch´s I have tried have been super.

Have you tried it out, Shamgar? How did you like it?

[Shamgar]

Re: Koch Powertone

Well in last spring I tried a few amps with the guitar of my friend (an IBANEZ JEM with dimarzio pickups).

I tried these tops of around € 1500 :
Koch Powertone (very good clean sound, great gain)
an ENGL amp (good clean sound, very good gain)
Peavey 5150 II (very good clean sound, decent gain, but I expected more because of all the things I heard people say about this amp).
Marshall TSL 2000 (typical Marshall sound, which I am not xtremely fond of)
and a Rivera I think, but that one was too expensive, and I already was quite satisfied with the Koch

I liked the sound of the ENGL and Koch most, but the ENGL didnt have separate gain-knobs for the clean and gain channel. they both use the same so either your clean sound is distorted or the gain sound doesnt have enough gain when you press the pedal without adjusting the knob again.
Koch just ruled them all out.

Have tried the same ENGL later on with my own Ibanez, but the fact that it didnt have a separate gain-knob for the clean and gain channels, made me lose interest.

So far I havent tried the Powertone with my Jackson Rhoads. I am mighty curious however, cuz those Reflex humbuckers even make a battered JCM 900 sound good.

Anyway I hate it when amp doesnt give me enough gain, I want to use as little side-effects as possible, so I am looking for an amp with a good gain and a good clean sound.
the Powertone proved to be good at both when I tried it, but I heard there is a Powertone II out already.

Anyway in may/june (when I expect to buy it if possible) my budget would be about € 1500-2000 for amp + good speakercab.

Hopefully I can find an used Koch Powertone, but I don't know how to assess the quality of an used amp, wether it's pretty worn out or in near mint condition.

[ January 07, 2003, 03:06 PM: Message edited by: Shamgar ]

[Dave L]

Re: Koch Powertone

The Engl you tried out was probably a Fireball, and you might want to look into its bigger brother; the Powerball. That one´s got four channels (two channels w. gainboosts), and actually is a pretty killer head. It costs a couple of 100 Euro more than the Fireball, if I remember correctly, and therefore should cost about the same as a Koch Powertone.

Personally I´d choose an Engl over a Koch, but as I said I haven´t tried the Powertone. It should be easier finding a used Engl than a used Koch, though.

[Shamgar]

Re: Koch Powertone

Koch is a dutch brand and I live in holland, so I think Koch is easier to find generally.
Havent seen an used Powertone for a while though. Last time I saw one was a year ago and I didnt have any money then.

and definately have not seen an used Engl Powerball

[ January 10, 2003, 03:09 PM: Message edited by: Shamgar ]

[Dave L]

Re: Koch Powertone

The fact that you live in Holland probably makes the Koch amps easier to find, yes. In the rest of Europe, however, I think Engl is more common.

Good luck on your amp-hunt!