ENGL Powerball review, WOW!!!
My Powerball arrived yesterday, but nobody was home so I went to the nearest postoffice which is almost half a mile away and had to drag a 45 kilo (that's double in pounds right?) home. Oh well, it was worth it! The first thing I noticed when I opened the package was how solid everything was. This thing was huge, like in bigger than a JCM800 huge and the head-cab was very solid! The footswitch was also very solid and seems to be able to handle a good pair of boots!
After I plugged it into a Mesa halfback loaded with a Black Shadow 90 speaker, and plugged in my Jackson KE2 I started to explore the clean channel. Very versatile on it's own, it even has a very effective bright switch which gives my Jazz neck that little extra sparkle I usually dial in.
Then the Crunch channel. It has about the same amount of gain as a 2555SL Jubilee, and it can sound that way as well. It has the same growly type of gain, and really reminded me of my old 2210 except it had more gain. It'll sound great with a boost, but I use it for those slightly overdriven clean runs. It also has a bottom switch, but I didn't really use it since I didn't turn up the gain very much
The "Lo" Lead channel as they call it hit the spot for me! Very organic distortion, with tons of clarity and incredible punch! This one shook the floor especially with the bottom switch engaged it made my house move (I turned the Master and Poweramp volume to 5). I like a lot of gain, but it has to stay clear, it didn't really lose clarity when I turned it up, but I just felt it was perfect on 5 for me. You can play Death Metal with this channel, but it can do so much more, prolly the most versatile channel on the amp
The "Hi" Lead channel, was like channel three with even more gain. I spend the least time on this channel. It got sterile like an Uberschall on 10, when I moved the gain knob past 12 o'clock. I could totally nail the newer George Lynch stuff (REvolution, Lynch/Pilson, Smoke This) it really sounded like the Uberschall he played on those albums. Basically if ch3 could go to 15 gainwise, 11-15 would be 6-10 on ch4. I know a Trash Metal playing guy who uses ch4 a lot, so I guess it's best suited for that kinda stuff. The Bottom switch did influence the sound more than it did on the previous two channels though, which I liked
I tried the amp with all my guitars, and liked it best with the KE2. The Demon in my V also showed huge Petrucci like picking attack which pleasantly suprised me. The amp also responded to every little touch on the knobs, which I like! I basically wanted to do a review for the USA forum bros who aren't to familiar with this German tank! If you're looking for an Uberschall and don't have the extra green look into this badboy and you shall look no further! Davey asked me for a review so I hope it'll tell you enough. When I get a good mic I'll record some stuff for you guys, but that could take a while. I'll gladly answer any questions. BTW, it's really cool looking for the show offs between us, but warn people it isn't on fire if you don't want water all over it
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Re: ENGL Powerball review, WOW!!!
all the engl amps ive come accross seem to blow people away. they really are worth every penny/cent you pay for them 
Originally Posted by Davey
