Am i strange ?? (engl content and questions)

[skarhead]

Hi

I'm currently on hollidays in Paris and because Polish Engl distribution is practically nonexistant i went to a store a couple of days ago to check out to Engl most metal amps - Fireball and Powerball

the setup was following :

jackson rhoads w emg 81 into one of those heads and a mesa recto 4x12 oversized cabinet

I turned the amps pretty loud (not make your ears bleed loud) but all amps on about the same level that was acceptable for the store owner.

First the Fireball - quite nice clean ( imho - but i'm no clean specialist ) and the hi gains were very nice - nice mid sound ( after all those soundclips and opinions i thought it'd be the most scooped sounding engl ) nice highs , nice lows , the harmonics were okay but not that stunning - but then again if the amp would be louder it could sound better.

So after being nicely suprised by the FB i was awaiting to get stunned by the Powerball.

After turning the head on i checked the clean channel - thought it was definitely colder sounding than a FB so i turned the amp a lil' bit higher and switched to the gain channels (4th gain channel i think).

First thing i heard was horrible noise - the FB was really noiseproof especially compared to this one - after engaging the built in noise gate the head got quiet.

okay so here it goes - the PB was imho really processed sounding , darker also than the FB even with the low end boosts disengaged. The mid open mode was okay but then i switched to mid focused - sound became really dry in a bad way .

Okay so i have question to all your Engl owners here :

Was it my bad day , a worse PB/better FB unit, my deaf ears or something or is really the FB sounding more natural , is less noisy than the PB ? The question especially goes to those ones who owned both heads or played them for a long time period

Also is the amp quicker in response if you turn it up louder - especially PB gets recommendations for sounds ala suffocation and pantera so i was thinking it'd be pretty immediate in responsiveness.

pS.don't get me wrong - neither one amp was bad actually i liked them pretty much but i liked the FB better - maybe it was something with the settings i overlooked so therefore i'm asking

[yabba]

Re: Am i strange ?? (engl content and questions)

that the fireball sounds a bit 'rawer'/less processed/more natural than the powerball is a fairly common comment that I've seen. (and I agree with it; although as a caveat, I've only played the fireball for a significant period of time, the powerball just a very little bit)

[Death]

Re: Am i strange ?? (engl content and questions)

i prefer chan 3 on the pb..

[horns666]

Re: Am i strange ?? (engl content and questions)

I'd bet my uber would eat those amps..

I never did get to do that challenge...one of these days.. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

I should call my dude at GC and take it over there and compare them...side by side...and he plays fast and heavy like me...so it's a fair fight.

[Inearthed]

Re: Am i strange ?? (engl content and questions)

Sounds to me like you landed a bad Powerball, possibly with really old tubes.

Quite frankly, I always played on channel 3 with the Powerball, 4 was sort of the "over the top" channel that I'd reserve for that little extra boost in the lead department.

[shadowcat]

Re: Am i strange ?? (engl content and questions)

I have a Fireball, but tried a Powerball in the store several times.
I like the sound of my Fireball better. As commented before, it sounds a bit rawer and more natural.

That said, for distorted rhythm you should definitely use the THIRD channel on the PB which for some odd reason is called "Low Gain"... believe me, it's everything BUT low gain. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

But it is much tighter than channel 4 and thus works much better for rhythm. Channel 4 is really over the top, probably can be good for leads but I didn't try that much.

Another thing... you have to be careful with the gain on these ENGLs.
On my Fireball I have the gain at 4 and get crushing death metal distortion. With more gain it looses the tightness.

[Ozz666]

Re: Am i strange ?? (engl content and questions)

I've also played both the FB and PB side by side at a store...needless to say I've owned my FB now for about 3 years and couldn't be happier!

[skarhead]

Re: Am i strange ?? (engl content and questions)

btw are those amps becoming faster (attack wise ) when they are turned up louder ?

If i get a chance i'll try the PB one more time.

i put the gain at about 10-11 o'clock for death metal - not a gain overdose i think [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Ozz666]

Re: Am i strange ?? (engl content and questions)

Oh....and the Fireball just KILLS the Uber!!! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[skarhead]

Re: Am i strange ?? (engl content and questions)

i'll try to check the Uber on the rectocab ( so i can compare them kinda "directly" - not the same stores - if they only let me check it at all )

as for now let's just say i have a head that i like better than the PB/FB but i'll think about one of those (rather FB) as a second head - i think the character of engl would compliment my current head's sound nicely.

Have to play around with the PB a lil'bit more.

btw how would you compare those things to a Framus Cobra ?

[SixStringSuicide]

Re: Am i strange ?? (engl content and questions)

Engl makes this sweetass rack preamp that I tried out, the name escapes me now (it wasnt that outrageous midi one they have, but a simpler 4 channel one) and the tone was a hell of a like like my mark IV. Did have some noise though. I drove an hour away to the only main ENGL dealer in northern illinois just to try em out. Nice fuckin amps, not gonna lie. I went to the music store where this dude sold them and all I saw was pianos. Im like "you carry engls here right?" and hes like "Allow me to show you to the back room..." and there was this room stocked full of every ENGL model they make. It was pretty awesome.

[Ozz666]

Re: Am i strange ?? (engl content and questions)

Hey...is that the place in Skokie? I still need to head over there to check out the Preamp...the E570...not the midi one. I was last there over 3-4 years ago and played the PB and FB before I bought mine.

- Joel

[ozzuk1]

Re: Am i strange ?? (engl content and questions)

Damm anyone got any good pic's of the Fireball i'm really digging te simplicity of this head, and will try and get one next year....

Hey six how you doing didnt realise you were registered here...

Ozz

[Ozz666]

Re: Am i strange ?? (engl content and questions)

Check the classifieds....there's a pic of the FB posted in there for one that's for sale...

[SixStringSuicide]

Re: Am i strange ?? (engl content and questions)

yea joel it is in skokie! Its a nice place. Hes got some cool shit in there, and the dudes really nice, though I forget his name. He also sells most of the stuff online too. At ozzuk1....have we met? Off another forum perhaps?