Engl Fireball reviews

[jgcable]

I am interested in this amp. Any users with comments??
I really like the Powerball model on my Vetta's. Is the Fireball similar but just 60w?? How does the dual mode channel switching work?
Could I have a clean channel and a high gain channel and be able to boost either one for guitar solo's like the newer Rectifiers??

[Twisteramps]

I'm going to attract flames on this, but the Powerball I played sounded like a solid state head. If the other ENGLs are like that, then they can keep em. If you're spending around a grand and don't like the JSX, you might want to look into a VHT possibly.

Pete

[shadowcat]

The Fireball sounds more "open" than the Powerball (= less compressed).
Tonewise it's a one-trick pony, but for tight deathmetal sounds it is awesome. Clean is not to great, also because of the shared EQ and gain. It is in fact a one-channel amp that can switch between low and high gain mode.

With the two-button-footswitch you can switch independently between low/high gain mode and the two master volumes. As you said, for example you can set the two master volumes differently and use one as a solo boost (but you stay on the highgain or lowgain mode).
Without the footswitch this doesn't work, the master volumes are assigned to the two modes then.

[Ozz666]

The Fireball sounds more "open" than the Powerball (= less compressed).
Tonewise it's a one-trick pony, but for tight deathmetal sounds it is awesome. Clean is not to great, also because of the shared EQ and gain. It is in fact a one-channel amp that can switch between low and high gain mode.

With the two-button-footswitch you can switch independently between low/high gain mode and the two master volumes. As you said, for example you can set the two master volumes differently and use one as a solo boost (but you stay on the highgain or lowgain mode).
Without the footswitch this doesn't work, the master volumes are assigned to the two modes then.

That's pretty much a dead on review.

[jgcable]

I'm going to attract flames on this, but the Powerball I played sounded like a solid state head. If the other ENGLs are like that, then they can keep em. If you're spending around a grand and don't like the JSX, you might want to look into a VHT possibly.

Pete

You know Pete... I am going to check out a JSX myself this week. The few times I heard them live I wasn't impressed but I need to put one through the tone test myself. I would like to check out a VHT but they are pretty scarce around here. So are Engl's.
On my Vetta, the Powerball model sounds a little SS too. Its extremely high gain. My best description of the tone (according to my modeling amps) is that it sounds like a Savage 120 without as much "girth" and bottom end. Is this the correct tone assessment?

[Fragle]

in my not so humble opinion, the engl powerball and fireball heads are worthless. the blackmore i used to own did sound fairly good, just not quite what i wanted, but with my other guitar players powerball i/we just can't get it to sound *really* good. it's either harsh or dull, and midrange wise there is a REALLY REALLY REALLY fine line between super scooped and and ugly amount of lower mids.
plus it's totally overgained. he's using the lo lead gain set to 10 o'clock and his sound is twice as gainy as my cobra crunch channel dimed.

[buzzsaww]

Not Fireball but Powerball info.
I agree here, have had a powerball now maybe about 3 weeks or so. At first I liked it and figured I could tweak it but haven't been able to get a really really good sound out of it. It's either very harsh/glassy or muddy. Very compressed as said above. As Fragle said the mid controls are very touchy. Not a bad amp but not the sound I want.
I'm not so happy with it, I'm probably going to sell it soon. Have been in touch with Rocksolid trying to get a Cobra sent here. Framus is not sold in Japan unfortunately and Bogner is very rare.

in my not so humble opinion, the engl powerball and fireball heads are worthless. the blackmore i used to own did sound fairly good, just not quite what i wanted, but with my other guitar players powerball i/we just can't get it to sound *really* good. it's either harsh or dull, and midrange wise there is a REALLY REALLY REALLY fine line between super scooped and and ugly amount of lower mids.
plus it's totally overgained. he's using the lo lead gain set to 10 o'clock and his sound is twice as gainy as my cobra crunch channel dimed.

[Robotechnology]

Powerballs are ok, greater care has to be taken tweaking them to get a more open sound. Savage 120, Blackmore, and Special Edition are way more open sounding. The SE covers EVERYTHING. Listen to Dream Evil's Book of Heavy Metal CD for an accurate representation of what a Savage 120 sounds like! If you like Mesa Mark IV tones, you'll like the Blackmore... it can be dialed in similar (and of course different). I like the Powerball INFINITELY more than the Framus Cobra though!

[Fragle]

we must have a TOTALLY different idea of a good guitar sound then.
even my bandmates incl. the other guitar player agree that my cobra destroys the powerball, there is NO comparison. the cobra is tighter, smoother, more versatile, better clean channel, more articulate...more everything, really.

and one more thing...the blackmore sounds nothing like a mesa. seriously, NOTHING. the blackmore is much more in the ballpark of marshall, just way more scooped.

[Ozz666]

I was just at my Engl dealer this past Saturday picking something up...unfortunately I didn't have time to bring my axe and stay and check out the other amps, but they had every cab Engl made including the new XXL, they had a Blackmore, a Savage, Fireball, Special Edition, an Invader 150, the E580 preamp and a coupel other amps I didn't recognize. It was a trip being in that small room with all that gear....they had just received a shipment too from Germany...thay had about 20 boxes of heads and cabs they had to unpack too.
I need to get back over there when I have some time and test drive it all.

- Joel

[shadowcat]

Holy shit, I want a store like that around here.
Though our biggest local store got all those amps too, but not all at the same time.
And not usually not all the cabinets at once. I still need to try out the Invader 150, I saw one there last time but wasn't in the mood (nor didn't have the time) to check it out.

[Mordor]

I played my fireball for more than a year, now I play much more my recto in vintage mode (and it rules). The engl fireaball is a gain monster, it has so much gain that it's almost useless over the second half of the pot. I usually had it at 9 or 10 oclock and it was already more than enough. The amp has a sharp, fast and tight attack, almost solid statish. One channel, two switchable volumes and a switchable gain stage. It's pretty scooped but I never had a problem to be heard during concerts, the other guy played a laney GH50L. It's one tricky pony for sure. It's a great extreme metal amp imo. It's voiced like a scooped marshall with a glassy high mid edge if you know what I mean, you may like it or not, but if you're into that kind of sound and into extreme metal then give it a try.

[Fragle]

"It's voiced like a scooped marshall with a glassy high mid edge if you know what I mean, you may like it or not, but if you're into that kind of sound and into extreme metal then give it a try."

my thoughts exactly.

[yabba]

agreed that it's totally overgained; when I had one I put a 5751 in v1 in an attempt to get a little more range out of the gain knob. it worked, but in the end I decided that for the stuff I used the fireball for (tight, fast death metal - as others have said it's not great for non-extreme-metal) I actually preferred the ampeg vh140c I had at the time, so I sold the fireball.

[mhenson42]

I own a fireball. It's a great amp for the money. I like it much more than the powerball and 5150s I used to own.