Amp Head for Metal

[Infliktor]

Ok my Painkillers should be here within the next week.  Still saving money for an Head and Cabinet,  I was in Mississsippi last week and got to hear an ENGL Powerball, which is what Ive been leaning towards since I had seen some video/audio demos online.

Anyway I really liked the amp in person.  I tested it out with an EMG loaded guitar. I especially liked channel 3, well actually the lo gain side of channel 2.  I mostly play Metal/ Rythym, and just occasional leads. 

It actually does sound pretty good at bedroom type levels too. I like the flexibility the amp has to get various tones and some of the features it has.

The head is basically 2 grand.  The studio/room I play in is pretty big like 25 by 15.  Eventually i will gig some at small clubs.

So heres my question.  if you are familiar with a Powerball, what other heads  should I be looking at?

Parameters being similar tones, sounds good at low volume.  I have a Mesa Rectoverb right now that im trying to sell locally that I dont like, well actually its a good fit for certain hard modern rock but it doesnt cut it for me for metal.  Its also louder than hell even at low levels

I dont want to spend more than the two grand and actually would like to spend less if i can.

Something maybe with 50 watts even thiough I know it wont be much lower in volume anyway from 100 to 50.  There seems to be alot of knowledge here and really liking this forum.  Thanks Guys

[ailean]

Check out this post by TO

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=15041.0

[Antag]

If you like the Powerball tone, want something cheaper & can live without the flexibility of 4 channels, then look no further than the Engl Fireball

60 watt 6L6GC power section, 2 channels (with shared eq though), fantastic high gain sounds.  You can achieve pretty much any of the Powerball's Ch3 & 4 "Open" mode sounds.  It's a great sounding amp.

You can achieve some good tones with the Engl Screamer as well - there have been some great clips posted in the Players forum using that amp.

All of the Engls seem to hold their tone well right down to low levels.

Interstingly, I had a Mesa Rect-o-verb head for years (sold it a few months ago) & always found it perfectly useable at "home" volume levels.

FWIW, I replaced it with an Engl Savage 120.  The Savage is a great amp with a fantastic high gain metal tone.  I chose it over the Powerball for the 2 FX loops & the 6550 valve power section - it's really "clean" & can achieve great sounds almost down to conversational level (though it's capable of truly staggering volume as well).  However, I know it's more expensive than the Powerball to, so probably not what you want.

Also, take a look at this thread...

[the_bleeding]

personally i'd say the blackmore. its more open sounding, more versatile, and very simple to use. I love the thing. Its guna be my next amp. Gets heavy, but when compared to the powerball, they get heavy in different ways. The blackmore has more of a smooth upper mids thing... and the powerball is just down right nasty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_Swrayd4iE - good comparison video :)

Fireball is sweet, but its tough to gig with... and so is the powerball. They're pretty tough to get to sound good at gigging volumes, just how they sound with the scooped mids and stuff. I love their sound, dont get me wrong, theres nothing betetr for brutal metal than a powerball, it just takes some time to learn how to use them.

[Alex]

Powerball is good. Personally I think most brand name high gain heads on the market are good - there aren't really any amps to be avoided. I'd just go with the Powerball as it's got a good rep. If you don't like it, the resale value would always be quite high.

[dave_mc]

what country are you in? USA? the country you're in will affect prices and value a lot...

[Jonny]

Someone should make stickies. To eliminate topics like this.

Just copy and paste the one you did on UG, Dave, lol

[dave_mc]

i cba, i badly need to update them apart from anything. plus i'd feel like a right tool copying and pasting a sticky i wrote when guys like jonathan feline, wez, and bob from legra post here- i'm asking them for advice, more often than not,  because compared to them i'm a total noob... it'd be like going to university as an undergrad and telling the professor to sit down because you could teach the class better... :oops:

[Jonny]

i cba, i badly need to update them apart from anything. plus i'd feel like a right tool copying and pasting a sticky i wrote when guys like jonathan feline, wez, and bob from legra post here- i'm asking them for advice, more often than not,  because compared to them i'm a total noob... it'd be like going to university as an undergrad and telling the professor to sit down because you could teach the class better... :oops:

Thats funny cause im like that in business economics. And I did a level, took him 1.5 hours to explain what i wrote on half a page of paper, which took 15 minutes.

[dave_mc]

:lol:

you know what i mean :)

[JDC]

60 watt 6L6GC power section, 2 channels (with shared eq though), fantastic high gain sounds.  You can achieve pretty much any of the Powerball's Ch3 & 4 "Open" mode sounds.  It's a great sounding amp.

I thought the fireball was based on the closed mode not the open one, I've never got to play with a powerball but I thought the closed mode was meant to be modern tight sounding and the open mode was more vintage, or am I talking rubbish?

I know it's some to do with mids

[northlane.josh]

it sounds to me that the fireball fits your bill best,
however i would try and check out some other brands also.

Im a fan of the blackmore head as some= mentioned it earlier but to be honest i don't think it packs punch in the sort of league you're after, especially of a recto didn't cut it.

Check out the MI audio revelation, it might be worth a peek.

[Antag]

60 watt 6L6GC power section, 2 channels (with shared eq though), fantastic high gain sounds.  You can achieve pretty much any of the Powerball's Ch3 & 4 "Open" mode sounds.  It's a great sounding amp.

I thought the fireball was based on the closed mode not the open one, I've never got to play with a powerball but I thought the closed mode was meant to be modern tight sounding and the open mode was more vintage, or am I talking rubbish?

I know it's some to do with mids

Not exactly - take a look/listen at the Guitar World review.

To my ears the Fireball seemed closer to the "Open" mode sounds of Ch3/4 than "Focussed".  Both are equally tight, but the focussed mode was much more scooped.

[Infliktor]

Based on that Guitar World Demo I would probably use the Lo-Gain of Channell 2.   I still havent decided what to do as now I am in the middle of a promotion and may be headed to Dallas from New Orleans.

I saw he had an EMG loaded guitar in that Demo.  Wonder what BKP's would have sounded like in that guit

[hunter]

Maybe check out the Laboga Mr. Hector, I think it sounds crushing when Jeff Waters / Annihilator plays it at least
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id1MX-Olw6E