ENGL (Powerball) Tubing/Mods Thread

[vanhendrix]

(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

That is pretty great eh? Both are dirt cheap and require no kind of surgery at all

 

[Pedrojoca]

That is pretty great eh? Both are dirt cheap and require no kind of surgery at all

yup oh this thread <3

 

[spaghettipomodoro]

Any of you jam with guys using 6505s or other mid HEAVY amps? Curious how this amp holds up against them now..... And I had the pleasure of turning my amp 3/4 of the ways up yesterday and (using earplugs of course) it sounded so tight and you could hear every single note CLEARLY... truly amazing. Curious to hear how it would sound without earplugs though.... bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

 

[PrestoDone]

Great Thread...i Have a Powerball II Coming in tomorrow afternoon....if and when i decide to retube it I will keep the preamp retubing guide in mind.

 

[ara_]

I'm using a PBII, I think I'm going to order 4 Mesa 6l6 tubes, 3 12ax7 tubes, not sure which brand yet, probably Sovtek, and a TAD 12at7. Did I miss anything?
(Just to make sure, I really don't need to bias the powertubes? What about the quoted paragraph?)

-Power Section Retubing
I don't have much info in this section but everyone seems to think that after you retube the power section you get a nicer tone, as ENGL default tubes kind of suck. Also, when biased (as it comes stone cold), you should notice a huge improvement.

 

[Pedrojoca]

I'm using a PBII, I think I'm going to order 4 Mesa 6l6 tubes, 3 12ax7 tubes, not sure which brand yet, probably Sovtek, and a TAD 12at7. Did I miss anything?
(Just to make sure, I really don't need to bias the powertubes? What about the quoted paragraph?)

Yes sir!! You got it perfectly right.
The bias part. You would bias the amp for OPTIMAL results, as it can be tweaked to your liking, but it's safe to pop the new 6l6GC in there without biasing and it makes for good results as well

 

[spaghettipomodoro]

I'm using a PBII, I think I'm going to order 4 Mesa 6l6 tubes, 3 12ax7 tubes, not sure which brand yet, probably Sovtek, and a TAD 12at7. Did I miss anything?
(Just to make sure, I really don't need to bias the powertubes? What about the quoted paragraph?)

Exactly this, I did the Tung Sol 12ax7s but I'm sure Sovtek would be good too. The Mesa 6l6GC's are glorious.

 

[Leec]

I'm using a PBII, I think I'm going to order 4 Mesa 6l6 tubes, 3 12ax7 tubes, not sure which brand yet, probably Sovtek, and a TAD 12at7. Did I miss anything?
(Just to make sure, I really don't need to bias the powertubes? What about the quoted paragraph?)

Mesa don't actually make their own tubes. I can't remember who makes them (I want to say they use several companies, but I can't remember the details), but they're just rebranded tubes. I'm pretty sure most Mesa users swap their tubes out, too. I certainly swapped my TriAxis's tubes out and got much tighter, better results.

 

[spaghettipomodoro]

Mesa don't actually make their own tubes. I can't remember who makes them (I want to say they use several companies, but I can't remember the details), but they're just rebranded tubes. I'm pretty sure most Mesa users swap their tubes out, too. I certainly swapped my TriAxis's tubes out and got much tighter, better results.

Interesting. I was looking around for various 6l6 tubes but Ruby were too dark and the JJ's.... ehhhhhh.

 

[vanhendrix]

Interesting. I was looking around for various 6l6 tubes but Ruby were too dark and the JJ's.... ehhhhhh.

Mesas are just tested and rebranded JJs. They work great for me!

 

[Pedrojoca]

Many people love the SED "C"s, when i retube mine, i'm really going to have to choose between the rebranded Mesas or the SEDs without trying them

 

[ara_]

Hey again, I'll replace the tubes today (didn't get to it before), I just bought the preamp tubes for now because they're a lot cheaper. I've got 3 Electro-Harmonix 12ax7 tubes and one TAD 12at7. I'll put the 12ax7s in V5, V7 and V8, and the 12at7 in V6, is that right?

 

[Pedrojoca]

Hey again, I'll replace the tubes today (didn't get to it before), I just bought the preamp tubes for now because they're a lot cheaper. I've got 3 Electro-Harmonix 12ax7 tubes and one TAD 12at7. I'll put the 12ax7s in V5, V7 and V8, and the 12at7 in V6, is that right?

it is don't forget you'll have to bring the gain knob a bit higher.

 

[ara_]

I just got home. It took me a while to change the tubes, I've never done this before and I had to look up which slot was which on the internet (I must have lost the manual...).
It's awesome! I really like the tone now, I can't exactly pinpoint the difference, maybe when I hear myself in band context, especially recorded. I'm not used to hearing this amp alone because I only use it when rehearsing, so this isn't my final rating, but for now, I give this modification 5/5 stars. Cheap, easy to do yourself, big improvement in tone.

 

[vanhendrix]

I just got home. It took me a while to change the tubes, I've never done this before and I had to look up which slot was which on the internet (I must have lost the manual...).
It's awesome! I really like the tone now, I can't exactly pinpoint the difference, maybe when I hear myself in band context, especially recorded. I'm not used to hearing this amp alone because I only use it when rehearsing, so this isn't my final rating, but for now, I give this modification 5/5 stars. Cheap, easy to do yourself, big improvement in tone.

Glad to hear it dude. We're here to help

 

[aviel]

just a question. i saw in other threads people talking about changing V2 and V4.. anyone tried it?

 

[aviel]

just a question. i saw in other threads people talking about changing V2 and V4.. anyone tried it?

 

[Pedrojoca]

just a question. i saw in other threads people talking about changing V2 and V4.. anyone tried it?

YES! Me and vanhendrix (throughly) tested the possible combinations, including the 12at7 in the V4 (V8 actually, in preamp tubes) and it just underpowered the clean and crunch channel a bit on my case, with no noticeable improvement on the lead channels. Read the last pages of the thread pretty well, the great info is all there.

 

[Mikeyprs]

Can someone either explain (w/ photos) how to get into the PB (V1) and change tubes over? either i'm shit and can't use google properly, or that there doesn't seem to be decent online resource of which to find out how to get into the amp to do the changes?

I'd really like to reduce the rediculous amount of hiss from the amp (unless that's just the nature of the beast, I know i won't kill all of it... just would prefer to reduce it by as much as possible) and all the while dealing with the compression and gain levels....

 

[vanhendrix]

Can someone either explain (w/ photos) how to get into the PB (V1) and change tubes over? either i'm shit and can't use google properly, or that there doesn't seem to be decent online resource of which to find out how to get into the amp to do the changes?

I'd really like to reduce the rediculous amount of hiss from the amp (unless that's just the nature of the beast, I know i won't kill all of it... just would prefer to reduce it by as much as possible) and all the while dealing with the compression and gain levels....

Hang in with me here, I'm not the best with posting pics. But you want to start off by opening the back of the amp. Here are the screws to remove: