It would be an understatement to say that I was excited to have the opportunity to review one of the finest quality amps of the modern era. Engl are an amazing company that has brought quality German engineering and affordability to guitarists in search of flexible and quality amplifiers. I remember the early days when these amps first arrived at Billy Hydes in Blackburn, Victoria, where the Screamer combo simply blew my mind with its juicy lead tones and crystal-clear clean tones.
The Engl Powerball II is a second generation marvel that boasts four discrete channels of tonal bliss for the rock/metal enthusiast. On top of that, there's a separate mid boost for each channel, as well as two independent master volumes for even more flexibility.
First up, I plugged into the Clean channel and was rewarded with extremely clear tones with endless amounts of headroom perfect for contrasting clean/heavy tones that have been around since the early '80s. Increasing the gain pushed the amp into Fender Deluxe/Bassman territory with thicker, juicier drive perfect for anything from blues to indie rock.
The next channel was the Crunch channel, which was perfect for guitarists into rock or old school metal, where the gain was not out of control and the sound was very tight and responsive. Up next were the two lead channels, which were essentially identical and could be used for dialing in a metal rhythm tone and a metal lead tone with a difference in lead gain and master volume, or by either utilising the mid boost function to boost solos. A wonderfully subtle noise gate sat on top of these channels keeping them extremely quiet even at the loudest of settings.
All the switching took place with a Custom Engl Z-9 footswich, except for Master Channel switching, which required a separate footswitch. This amp pumps out a roaring 100 Watts with four ECC83 (12AX7) preamp tubes and four 6L6GC power tubes offering massive gain, headroom, volume and bottom end for a guitarist that wants an amp to do it all.
For more info, head to imd.com.au. Review originally published in Australian Musician.
