ENGL Savage VS Powerball

[slash13]

Hey guys, my old account was fucked up, so i started a new one.

Anyways, I'm in the market for a new amp, and I've narrowed down my choices to a few. I have never played ENGL amps before, but I've heard enough good things and I've seen other people play em. Of course, i'll have to try one out before I dish out that kinda cash, but anyways, I would like to know from owners or users of either the Savage or the powerball, as those are the two choices I've come to, how they are and what they're like etc. and which you think is "better"

I play a lot of diferent music, so I need something that's pretty versatile.

Thanks ;]

[Guitarslingerans]

Are you in a band, or play more mainly by yourself at home?


-Ans-

[LosingReality]

never played a savage ....but i love my Pball.

[chevy Z 302]

^same.

IME engls are pretty damn versitile. I cant wait to try an SE but that'll be alot of luck and random farm animals flying before i'll get that chance.

[esp_gaijin]

never played my sausage ....but i love my balls.

:x:x:x

[Donting101]

the powerball is a monster in any situation, i like it a lot. never played the savage either though. i think the PB looks better though in pics :p

[xXxEvilCorexXx]

Powerball is a good amp, has some little things that are not that spectacular but it is a solid amp with 4 channels that you can do alot with.
good luck

[BrazilianBootyLover]

Go with the savage, if you plan on playing live.

[Lord Raptor Jesus]

Savages sound alot better recorded and are easier to dial in.

I still love my Powerball and will never sell it though.

Everytime my Powerball is used live or I see bands playing them they sit in the mix perfectly as the guitar should.

[slash13]

"Are you in a band, or play more mainly by yourself at home?"

well, I am in a band, and we are going to start gigging more often, so I want something that can handle that (I'm assuming both can very well).

I play nearly every type of music. I want something that I can shred on with great tone and sustain, and some lower and mid gain on it two. I also play blues, so a good clean channel is a must.

I appreciate the help guys :D

[slash13]

Oh, by the way, if anyone has any closeup pics of the control panels for either one of these amps, it would be much appreciated.
thanks again ;)

[Guitarslingerans]

"Are you in a band, or play more mainly by yourself at home?"

well, I am in a band, and we are going to start gigging more often, so I want something that can handle that (I'm assuming both can very well).

I play nearly every type of music. I want something that I can shred on with great tone and sustain, and some lower and mid gain on it two. I also play blues, so a good clean channel is a must.

I appreciate the help guys :D


The others on here may not agree with me, but the Savage is a must better amp for what you are doing IMO, than the Powerball. I'll leave it at that.

Serarch my username on YouTube for some ENGL tone test vids, including the Savage 120. :)


-Ans-

[slash13]

hey ans, sick playing man!

how do you like the other channels on that thing?
I can definetly tell that the lead channel is fucking brutal :evil

[Lord Raptor Jesus]

Yeah the Savage sounds a better option for you.

The Powerball is Hi Gain and a Clean..that's it....

[slash13]

thanks guys,

yeah, i was leaning towards it, but I just wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing. All I need now is to find somewhere to play one, and another thousand dollars! :D

[JeanPaul du Vinnie]

Everytime my Powerball is used live
I thought you're strictly home-recording?

[Lord Raptor Jesus]

I thought you're strictly home-recording?

Correct. I am strictly home recordings ( as opposed to my friends bands who use it because they own SS Marshalls). :p

It's probably been used in 5+ different venues with no problems at all.

Check "Belakor"...they may have some live videos on youtube..not sure... probably crappy ones though.

[Moloch]

I've had my savage120 for about a week & a half now. Love the hell out of this thing. Sounds like it'd be perfect for you. I've got it set up so I basically have 12 footswitchable sounds coming out of it.

I've got the presence a/b on one function switch, going from a low presence to a high presence (well, both are lower than 12oclock...but relatively higher). So thats two sounds on every channel. And then the other switch controls the master volume a/b and the rough/smooth setting on crunch2/lead. So I can take a real real REAL gradual walk from glassy cleans to some ridiculous nasty distortion.


One thing that does bother me about the amp though, is that the eq's on the channels don't seem to do a hell of a lot. The bass seems like the most powerful control, high the least so. Its been kind of a bitch to dial the highs & presence in so that every mode is usefull. But I think I've finally got it there.

I'll post pics in a second.

edit, pics
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g152/Moloch6/ENGL/l_559b678a567bd713d847409added9e06.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g152/Moloch6/ENGL/l_e80c3500427512949326bd707fdb05de.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g152/Moloch6/ENGL/engl.jpg

If you want any more, let me know I'll snap some more usefull ones, these are just from my new amp day porn.

[slash13]

thanks for the pics :)

could i bother you for some close ups on the controls? Because I want to have an idea of the layout and eq's etc.

thanks ;)

[Moloch]

yeah sure, I'll see if I can get those up tonight (its about 1 in the afternoon now).

[Moloch]

here ya go dude. if you need even closer I broke it down into 3 sections just for my own purposes. But I figure this'll give you a perfect idea of what the layout is. Wanted to snap these cause I just nailed the settings exactly where I want them, so if they get bumped I don't wanna have to fuck with em (until I get tweak happy by tomorrow afternoon...)

anyways here you are.
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g152/Moloch6/CIMG0684.jpg

[slash13]

hey man,
thanks a lot for the pics.
this really helped me a lot. :D

[FaceEraser]

I used to own the Powerball and recently sold it to get the Savage. I loved the PB, but I think the Savage edges it out a little more in tone. You're going to get more gain out of the PB, so much in fact that I never even used the 4th channel. I play music along the lines of Himsa, Darkest Hour, Killswitch, etc etc.

The Savage I use the 4th channel mainly, with my gains set around 4 o'clock, and thats plenty. I also noticed it was easier to dial in a tone on the Savage. The PB cut, but it took a lot of tweaking. The Savage sounded good out of the box with everything set at 12 o'clock, and only got better from there.

One thing I do miss about the PB is the noise gate. It wasn't great, but I'm not a fan of pedals. I need to get one now for the Savage because it can get fairly noisy at high volumes. The line out on the Savage is pretty cool though, my drummer uses it when we track so I can play along without having my amp bleed into his mics.

As far as tone goes, the PB sounds alot more compressed, or saturated. It's a really smooth sounding gain to me. The Savage is crunchier IMO, maybe more of an edge to it.

My vote is for the Savage if you can afford the extra couple hundred bucks.

[BrazilianBootyLover]

Too many knobs for me. I'll stick to my blackmore.