ENGL (Powerball) Tubing/Mods Thread

[Pedrojoca]

Aight People! .. forum newbie here lol, I've recently become an owner of the Engl Powerball! (V1 I believe) and atm, I'm really liking the sounds of the amp on it's own, but at a practise session i recently had with the band.

I found myself getting buried in the mix, which may well have been my own fault come to think of it by running the ch3/4 gain around 6/7 and the master was around 4/5 ... or something like that anyway.. now I've never scooped my mid section either particularly in a show/practise session but it didn't seem to be enough?? the other guitarist in the band was using the studios marshall half-stack which seemed rather overpowering to say the least... (i guess it don't help that he really pushes the amp quite hard tbh...)

In any case... i'm interested in what has been said in this thread i.e tube swapping but would you guys say/agree that it would be wise to give the amp a couple more run throughs with the amp before tweaking incase it's a newbie error at play here??

Thanks,
Mike

Hey there man! Sorry but this isn't really something you can fix with a preamp tube 'mod', you have to mess with the settings. Most people will tell you to turn your presence down but with a band, it is the key to cutting through. Plus, if yours is still stock, the gain should be running about 9 o' clock. Last thing, if this doesn't suffice, the massive low end is probably blocking the rest of the frequencies, lower the BASS a tiny bit and the Depth control until the sound is balanced, from there, once you crank up the volume, you're not just raising a mash o low frequencies.

 

[vanhendrix]

Hey there man! Sorry but this isn't really something you can fix with a preamp tube 'mod', you have to mess with the settings. Most people will tell you to turn your presence down but with a band, it is the key to cutting through. Plus, if yours is still stock, the gain should be running about 9 o' clock. Last thing, if this doesn't suffice, the massive low end is probably blocking the rest of the frequencies, lower the BASS a tiny bit and the Depth control until the sound is balanced, from there, once you crank up the volume, you're not just raising a mash o low frequencies.

I've never had any problem cutting through, but I run my mids all the way up all the time. The amp is voiced pretty scoopy so it balances out. Everything else is more or less at noon.

Hell, you want Marty Friedman's powerball settings? Everything at noon. Easy!

 

[Mikeyprs]

awesome stuff guys! Thanks for the speedy replys
I did kinda think it was more or less a newbie error and hopefully myself and the rest of the lads will get back in the practise space soon and put your advise into action.
Another thing I should ought to have mentioned earlier is that the cab that i'm running the amp through is a Randall RS412XJ.

Thank you for the advise guys

 

[Mikeyprs]

Also, the amp is indeed still totally stock, the guy i bought the amp from recently had it serviced and that the tubes have not been changed in the under his 2 year ownership of the amp =]

 

[Pedrojoca]

what speakers does that Randall cab have?

 

[spaghettipomodoro]

the best positions we found were

V5 (first preamp tube)- 12ax7 V6- 12at7 V7- 12ax7 V8- Balanced 12ax7

This one was discovered by vanhendrix, and I now use it, because it's really the best one. Keep in mind that the amp comes with 4 12ax7, which means that you can only change the V6 to do this. That's like 7$.... For optimal results, i'd reccomend you to change all 4 off them. (keep in mind that 12ax7 is the EXACT same thing as ECC83S).

V5- 12ax7 - This one works best with a Tung Sol 12ax7
V6- 12at7 - Fizz/Gain reduction, a TAD Premium 12ax7 works great here, but you can put a JJ 12at7 aswell.
V7- 12ax7 - Many people really like the Shuguang 9th Gen Chinese 12ax7 here, i'm using JJ but if you put those 9th gen in it, you'll really like it.
V8- BALANCED 12ax7 - This one works well with a 9th gen 12ax7 or a JJ, but remember, it must be balanced!

about the retain the gain part: Powerball gain stage 101

With the standard powerball gain, you would put the gain knob around 9 o' clock, 10 o' clock. The gain knob sets the input level of your guitar in the amp, kinda like a boost would do. After the gain knob, the signal goes to the distortion stages of the amp. The reason why you can't go any further that 12 o' clock with the gain knob and still get good clarity is because this sections adds a bit too much distortion to the signal. When you put this tube combo in the amp, this section adds a less distortion, which lets you push the gain knob further! In the end, you get the same amount of distortion, but it's much more organic, naturally tight and really dynamic. Oh, and say goodbye to the damn fizz...
Plus, remember the 4 channels your powerball has? You'll now be able to use them properly... the cleans are still good, the crunch improved by quite a bit, channel 3 is now a marshall type channel, which recieves a boost really well and channel 4 holds all your brootz and tightness... it's the damn BALLS channel!

Conclusion: people tell me all the time that my powerball sound amazing, when they check out my settings, they're like WTF?! because my gain knob is almost 3/4 of the way up. Plus, people buy them and then complain because their PB doesn't sound that good

aaaaand one more thing I forgot... SETTINGS! (for the lead channels, of course)

Gain- with the mod, I normally run it at about 7/10, play around with it... (keep in mind, I have active pickups...)

Bottom/Lo Punch buttons- a lot of people despise them as they say that the amp has enough low end... and I say F*** that, lower the bass knob and see if you like it On or Off.

Bass- 5/10 with the bottom button ON and around 7/10 with the bottom button OFF.

Middle- I'm a middle guy, plus I have V60 in the cab (mid scooped) so I basically crank it up... around 8/10 ...or 4/5 for scoopers...

Treble and Presence- Never say never, just say DAMN never! These aresome of the knobs that can make the difference between playing a toothbrush with red lights and a 1500$ amp... you have to find the perfect combination between the treble and the presence knob. I usually have Treble at 7,5/10 & Presence at 3,5/10 or Treble at 6,5 and Presence at 6/10.

Lead Volume- This can be really different from person to person. If you like a raw(ish) sound, go for 3/10, even though buying a powerball when you want a raw sound is stupid or you can go all the way to 6/10 if you like a saturated sound. play with it (that's what she said)

Middle Boost- I use it to stand out in leads and stuff, some people like it with rhythm parts...

Depth Punch- This is the power amp low end control. Discover the perfect spot, mine is around 4,5/10 when I use a lot of bass in the preamp section or 7/10 when I don't.

Ok, this was supposed to be a short post... yea turned out pretty short have fun


any questions? feel free to ask them

Could you do me a massive favor because I'm really lost with the tubes....


Long & McQuade - Canada's Music Store, Musical Instruments Find them on this site?

 

[Pedrojoca]

Could you do me a massive favor because I'm really lost with the tubes....


Long & McQuade - Canada's Music Store, Musical Instruments Find them on this site?

here it is Long & McQuade - JJ Tubes 12AT7/ECC81 - Preamp Tube

the site doesn't have TAD, so JJ should deliver.

 

[spaghettipomodoro]

Thank you sir, but what about the balanced one?

 

[Pedrojoca]

Thank you sir, but what about the balanced one?

i'll give you some specific help mate, just tell me, do you want to change the gain tube or retube the whole preamp section?

 

[spaghettipomodoro]

Cheers! Would it be better to retube the whole preamp section? As I think I'd rather do that. At some point I should do the power section but that can wait. Also so you think that the PB would sound good with warehouse guitar speaker veterans?

 

[Pedrojoca]

Cheers! Would it be better to retube the whole preamp section? As I think I'd rather do that. At some point I should do the power section but that can wait. Also so you think that the PB would sound good with warehouse guitar speaker veterans?

yeah, i think it would. Most people love it with V30s and IMO, the Veterans are even better so it must match really well.

If you want to retube the whole preamp section you need:

1 of these:
Long & McQuade - JJ Tubes 12AT7/ECC81 - Preamp Tube

3 of these:
Long & McQuade - JJ Tubes 12AX7/ECC83 - Preamp Tube

I do not recommend you to buy a balanced tube for the phase inverter (V8) because after extensive research and testing, i think that "imperfect" balance on tubes produces an the same autenthic sound, tubes weren't made to be 100,00% perfect.

 

[spaghettipomodoro]

Thank you very much sir! And not to mention the veterans are even cheaper..... Greatly appreciate it! So with these new tubes would it help the cutting through live issue the stock tubes have? As well, would an el34 power tube replacement help that out as well?

Cheers once again! Greatly appreciated

 

[Pedrojoca]

Thank you very much sir! And not to mention the veterans are even cheaper..... Greatly appreciate it! So with these new tubes would it help the cutting through live issue the stock tubes have? As well, would an el34 power tube replacement help that out as well?

Cheers once again! Greatly appreciated

It's ok man, i love helping .

I'm not really sure how to answer as I don't seem to have that problem .
Now seriously, if set incorrectly the PB doesn't cut through, you really gotta read back a bit on the thread man, i know the bass on this beast is SO sweet and it just makes you want to crank it, but keep in mind it totally buries the mids. Plus, the presence control is ESSENTIAL.
Switching preamp tubes won't help much either, but the EL34s definetly would. BUT BE WARNED YOU MUST MOD THE AMP, while preamp tubes don't need biasing, power tubes always do, please do not throw them in there without biasing.

 

[spaghettipomodoro]

That much I am aware of, not to worry The amp is being shipped so I won't get it until next week, as well I probably won't swap out the tubes until I have the money + necessity of recording to motivate me. How much do you think it would cost to mod the amp with el34s?

 

[Pedrojoca]

That much I am aware of, not to worry The amp is being shipped so I won't get it until next week, as well I probably won't swap out the tubes until I have the money + necessity of recording to motivate me. How much do you think it would cost to mod the amp with el34s?

i don't know none of the threads mentioning EL34s on the amp mentioned prices. Anyways, if you still don't have the amp, the belief that it doesn't cut through is perfectly acceptable . It's just that there are a LOT of chugg-only guys who buy this amp and set it up sounding like a modeller, annoying as hell

 

[vanhendrix]

That much I am aware of, not to worry The amp is being shipped so I won't get it until next week, as well I probably won't swap out the tubes until I have the money + necessity of recording to motivate me. How much do you think it would cost to mod the amp with el34s?

Hold on. You don't have the amp yet and it ALREADY doesn't cut through? I am so sick of that nonsense rumor.

At least try the amp out before you consider doing the major surgery required to put el34s in it. A professional will need to do that, and you have to change all kinds of capacitors and whatnot

 

[spaghettipomodoro]

Haha the only reason for me talking about swapping out the tubes is because the previous owner told me that the tubes were dying and suggested to replace them. (It's why I scored the Powerball 1 and a Z-5 footswitch for 1400$ with shipping.

 

[vanhendrix]

Haha the only reason for me talking about swapping out the tubes is because the previous owner told me that the tubes were dying and suggested to replace them. (It's why I scored the Powerball 1 and a Z-5 footswitch for 1400$ with shipping.

That's a whale of a deal my friend, good score. If you read this whole thread then you'll know I just swapped my old tubes. It was dead easy

 

[Pedrojoca]

That's a whale of a deal my friend, good score. If you read this whole thread then you'll know I just swapped my old tubes. It was dead easy

power tubes?

 

[vanhendrix]

power tubes?

Powertubes. No biasing. We went over this already dude