ENGL (Powerball) Tubing/Mods Thread

spaghettipomodoro · Mar 26, 2012

Also how much did the Mesa 6l6s go for?

spaghettipomodoro · Mar 26, 2012

Bmup. Indeed.

vanhendrix · Mar 26, 2012

About 50 bucks a pair. No big deal

spaghettipomodoro · Mar 26, 2012

Haha for a highschool student with minimum wage it adds up

So pedrojaca does that explain my settings somewhat or you still scratching your head about it? (; Any suggestions as to what your settings would be around prior to a tube mod?

Pedrojoca · Mar 26, 2012

Erazoender said:
Haha for a highschool student with minimum wage it adds up

So pedrojaca does that explain my settings somewhat or you still scratching your head about it? (; Any suggestions as to what your settings would be around prior to a tube mod?

it mostly does, thanks for contributing mate :hbang:

spaghettipomodoro · Mar 26, 2012

Haha no worries thank you for the suggestions, just curious how would an EL34 or KT88 mod effect the amp over swapping it out for new 6l6 tubes?

vanhendrix · Mar 27, 2012

Erazoender said:
Haha no worries thank you for the suggestions, just curious how would an EL34 or KT88 mod effect the amp over swapping it out for new 6l6 tubes?

The first change you'll notice will be your bank account. I don't think anyone in this thread has done that mod, and there is little to no data of people doing it out there on the interwebs. You'll be in uncharted waters my friend

Pedrojoca · Mar 27, 2012

vanhendrix said:
The first change you'll notice will be your bank account. I don't think anyone in this thread has done that mod, and there is little to no data of people doing it out there on the interwebs. You'll be in uncharted waters my friend

but still, i've read about 2 other people on the engl forum doing it and saying that "I've never heard a powerball kick so much ass"

spaghettipomodoro · Mar 27, 2012

KT88 or EL34? Because aren't KT88's completely different in the sense that two are 100W so they draw a ludicruous-ly larger amount of power, or am I totally wrong with my idea of how tube branding works? :S Also what about a Tungsol 6l6 opposed to the Mesa? Lastly, forgive me for asking the same question again and again but do the Mesa 6l6s have enough cutting power for live setting? I'm still uncertain as to what tends to give this amp difficulty in live situations, granted I haven't tried it so I'm just basing it off of the other forums I've been reading. I've been inclined to mod my amp for EL34s for the mid punch but I'm worried that the overall tone will be changed to something less desirable....

And I know it's all subjective so I'm not asking "What's the best tube ever end of story?"

God damn my friend keeps raving about the KT88s......

vanhendrix · Mar 27, 2012

Erazoender said:
KT88 or EL34? Because aren't KT88's completely different in the sense that two are 100W so they draw a ludicruous-ly larger amount of power, or am I totally wrong with my idea of how tube branding works? :S Also what about a Tungsol 6l6 opposed to the Mesa? Lastly, forgive me for asking the same question again and again but do the Mesa 6l6s have enough cutting power for live setting? I'm still uncertain as to what tends to give this amp difficulty in live situations, granted I haven't tried it so I'm just basing it off of the other forums I've been reading. I've been inclined to mod my amp for EL34s for the mid punch but I'm worried that the overall tone will be changed to something less desirable....

And I know it's all subjective so I'm not asking "What's the best tube ever end of story?"

God damn my friend keeps raving about the KT88s......

Just try the amp with a band before you quite possibly destroy it with some drastic mod like that. If people have problems cutting through, then they are fucking using it wrong. Period.

Seriously, you're better off selling it and buying an amp you do like than paying for such an extreme mod right off the bat. I wanted mine to sound like a Marshall, it didn't, so I went out and bought a Marshall. Now everyone wins.

/end rant.

I had to retype that 3 times to tone it down. That "cutting" myth just makes me so mad....

Pedrojoca · Mar 27, 2012

vanhendrix said:
If people have problems cutting through, then they are fucking using it wrong. Period.

THIS.

Anyway, i was talking about EL34 before.

spaghettipomodoro · Mar 27, 2012

vanhendrix said:
Just try the amp with a band before you quite possibly destroy it with some drastic mod like that. If people have problems cutting through, then they are fucking using it wrong. Period.

Seriously, you're better off selling it and buying an amp you do like than paying for such an extreme mod right off the bat. I wanted mine to sound like a Marshall, it didn't, so I went out and bought a Marshall. Now everyone wins.

/end rant.

I had to retype that 3 times to tone it down. That "cutting" myth just makes me so mad....

Hey man no worries I understand, it's why I'm asking guys with the experience of gigging with it who don't lack the ability of turning up the mids on what they feel of it in a live setting

And I have no experience with tube mods so I'm not aware as to what sort of tonal changes a tube swap that drastic would make.

SO IN SHORT I'll be sticking with the Mesa 6l6GC power tubes and the (something other than JJ, heard negative things about the Tungsol in the Powerball) 12ax/at7 preamp tubes. If you could recommend your settings after said mods I'd much appreciate it!

Now... how the fuck do I open my amp...... :lol:

spaghettipomodoro · Mar 27, 2012

DONE

That was a lot easier than I expected.... hope I don't fry anything....

Anyways she's warming up now and I'll post my thoughts in a bit after I clean up the room!

spaghettipomodoro · Mar 28, 2012

OH MY

OH MY GOD

I am beyond lost for words. Thank you so much for these suggestions, amp sounds so much fucking better!

vanhendrix · Mar 28, 2012

Erazoender said:
OH MY

OH MY GOD

I am beyond lost for words. Thank you so much for these suggestions, amp sounds so much fucking better!

Excellent news dude! Sorry for snapping before. What tubes are you all running now?

spaghettipomodoro · Mar 28, 2012

vanhendrix said:
Excellent news dude! Sorry for snapping before. What tubes are you all running now?

No man no worries I understand the annoyance one can get at teenagers :fawk:

I'm running the Mesa 6l6GC as you suggested and 3 Tung Sol 12ax7 and 1 JJ 12at7 (funny how I wanted to avoid both JJ and Tung Sol... lol)

It plays wonderfully now. Still a hint of hiss, but that's just the nature of the beast I guess, and it's hardly audible. The playing feels so much more organic now, leads are really sparkly and smooth and the gain is FAR more usable rather than a load of FZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZHISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZBAAAAAAAAAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZshit

Now any suggestions for settings? I'm running the gain at 3:00, mids maxed, presence at around 10:30 and everything else at noon.

vanhendrix · Mar 28, 2012

Erazoender said:
No man no worries I understand the annoyance one can get at teenagers

I'm running the Mesa 6l6GC as you suggested and 3 Tung Sol 12ax7 and 1 JJ 12at7 (funny how I wanted to avoid both JJ and Tung Sol... lol)

It plays wonderfully now. Still a hint of hiss, but that's just the nature of the beast I guess, and it's hardly audible. The playing feels so much more organic now, leads are really sparkly and smooth and the gain is FAR more usable rather than a load of FZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZHISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZBAAAAAAAAAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZshit

Now any suggestions for settings? I'm running the gain at 3:00, mids maxed, presence at around 10:30 and everything else at noon.

For me, running the channel volumes no higher than noon (clean channel excluded) will also smooth things over a bit. I keep mine at around 10:30 - That's why I like to play my amp with the masters so high. I get probably 20% of my gain from the powertubes, which just gives everything a creamy goodness, but only works at that volume. If I turn down, I have to turn the gain up to compensate.

Also, the CTFD mod has clearly claimed another victim. Tell your friends!

Pedrojoca · Mar 28, 2012

Erazoender said:
OH MY

OH MY GOD

I am beyond lost for words. Thank you so much for these suggestions, amp sounds so much fucking better!

YOU, YOU, TELL RIGHT NOW!

what did you do? :lol:

Pedrojoca · Mar 30, 2012

(sorry for double post, can't edit the last one)

So far we've come to two VERIFIED tube swaps that do some magic on the amp.

The CTFD mod (preamp tube)
Simple, plain power tube swap, apparently the stock ones are crap :lol:

great stuff

spaghettipomodoro · Mar 30, 2012

Pedrojoca said:
(sorry for double post, can't edit the last one)

So far we've come to two VERIFIED tube swaps that do some magic on the amp.

The CTFD mod (preamp tube)
Simple, plain power tube swap, apparently the stock ones are crap

great stuff

Erazoender said:
No man no worries I understand the annoyance one can get at teenagers

I'm running the Mesa 6l6GC as you suggested and 3 Tung Sol 12ax7 and 1 JJ 12at7 (funny how I wanted to avoid both JJ and Tung Sol... lol)

It plays wonderfully now. Still a hint of hiss, but that's just the nature of the beast I guess, and it's hardly audible. The playing feels so much more organic now, leads are really sparkly and smooth and the gain is FAR more usable rather than a load of FZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZHISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZBAAAAAAAAAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZshit

Now any suggestions for settings? I'm running the gain at 3:00, mids maxed, presence at around 10:30 and everything else at noon.

ENGL (Powerball) Tubing/Mods Thread

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