Tube
Amp
Powerball
Full Tube
Guitar Amplifier
Operator´s Manual
Please, first read this manual carefully!
A four-channel, all-tube powered head, the 
Powerball offers sound-shaping options unrivalled by any other amp. Designed to satisfy the exacting demands of discerning players, it delivers all the tonal hues and colors you need to paint the most vivid musical pictures imaginable. Housed inside this newly designed enclosure is a powerhouse 100-watt amp boasting 6L6GC tubes. It delivers the sonic goods you need to dial in everything from contemporary ultra-high gain lead tone to crystal-clear clean and punchy crunch sounds. An astonishing amount of gain reserves, remarkable tonal versatility, and bone-rattling bottom end have crowned the Powerball king of the heap among modern-day guitar amps. Courtesy of its ability to crank out tight, focused low end, glossy top end and jaw-dropping sound pressure levels, this amp provides the contemporary guitarist with richly detailed tone and the kind of cut-thru-the-din assertiveness that sets standards for amps of this class. And in keeping with the ENGL tradition of engineering excellence, it sports a host of hip features: a second master volume, electronic power amp monitoring, an adjustable FX loop, and a Depth Punch knob that shapes the power amp's response by beefing up the low end. But that's not the last word on this ENGL head's innovative features: You also get two different sound voicings, Open and Focused. We created these voicings to extend the range of lead sounds you have at your disposal by tweaking mid-range response to suit different playing styles and applications.
There are few more handy features to rave about: The amp ships with a Z-5 Custom Footswitch Port. Designed to take the ENGL Z-5 footswitch that lets you control all key sound-shaping functions remotely. ENGL added another new audiophile wrinkle - an adjustable noise gate for the Lead channel. Old world craftsmanship and highest quality components are part of what makes ENGL amps so special, and the Powerball is no exception. On that note, please read and heed the guidelines on handling all-tube amps. You'll find them on the last page of this manual. The ENGL team is convinced that this amp will delight and inspire you. The Powerball will rock your world!
Frontpanel
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2 |
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Ch I Gain |
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Bass |
Middle |
Treble-Clean |
Treble-Crunch |
Clean Volume |
Crunch Volume |
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Presence |
Depth Punch |
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Bright Bottom |
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Powerball |
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Tube |
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V1 |
V2 V3 |
V4 |
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Amp |
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Power Tube Monitor |
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6L6GC |
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Input |
Ch II Gain |
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Bass |
Mid-open |
Mid-focused |
Treble |
Lo Lead Vol. |
Hi Lead Vol. |
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Master A |
Master B |
powered |
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Lo Lead Hi Lead |
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open/ |
Ch I /II |
Gain |
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Bottom Bottom |
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focused |
Lo /Hi |
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Stand By |
Power |
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1819 |
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1 Input
¼" unbalanced input. Plug your guitar cord in here.
2 Ch I Gain
This knob determines input sensitivity of Main Channel I (Clean & Crunch), in other words, the input level of the preamp in Ch I. In Crunch mode it determines the amount of preamp saturation.
A tip from the designer:
The amount of distortion depends on the type of pickups your guitar is equipped with. Single coil pickups may overdrive the preamp when the knob is set to about the two o'clock position in Clean operating mode, pickups with very high output levels (humbuckers or active pickups) will evoke distortion at even lower settings. If you want squeaky clean tone, simply back off the Gain knob accordingly.
CAUTION: Extremely high gain and volume levels in Crunch mode can produce strong feedback. Avoid feedback squeals, they lead to hearing loss and damaged speakers! Reduce the Gain, Treble and Presence levels at higher volumes in order to avoid uncontrolled feedback!
3 Bright
Alters the EQ by boosting the upper treble range; effectiveness decreases at higher Gain settings; the Bright feature affects Clean and Crunch.
A tip from the designer:
For a crisp glassy tone, set the Bright switch to the On position.
This setting boosts the treble response of muddy pickups.
4 Bottom
Alters the EQ by boosting the low end range; the Bottom feature affects Main Channel I Clean & Crunch.
A tip from the designer:
If you want to ladle an extra helping of bottom-end oomph on crunch sounds, I recommend that you activate the Lo End Punch button. At very high Gain knob settings (> 3 o'clock) and with high output pickups, your best bet is to deactivate this button for a more focused, crisper tone.
5 Bass
Bottom end voicing control of the preamps´s passive EQ for Main Channel I, Clean und Crunch.
6 Middle
Mid-range voicing control of the preamps´s passive EQ for Main Channel I, Clean und Crunch.
7 Treble-Clean
Upper range voicing control of the preamps´s passive EQ for Main Channel I, Clean mode.
8 Treble-Crunch
Upper range voicing control of the preamps´s passive EQ for Main Channel I, Crunch mode.
TIP´s from the Designer:
To help you get acquainted with the amp's fundamental sounds, I recommend that you set all tone controls to the center or 12 o'clock position. For higher Gain Crunch sounds, your best bet is to turn the respective Treble knob well down to prevent the pickups and speakers from interacting at hi levels and generating feedback (the recommended setting is somewhere in the 9 to 1 o'clock range).
The Clean and Crunch channels are equipped with dedicated Treble knobs. This means that you can tweak the top end of each of the two channels separately to suit your taste and the given sonic scenario. You will find that grittier tones generally sound better with a touch less treble because preamp saturation makes higher frequencies figure more prominently in the signal.
9 Clean Volume
Volume control for the Clean channel (pre-FX loop, influences the Send level). The green LED beside this control indicates Clean operating mode.
10 Crunch Volume
Volume control for the Crunch channel (pre-FX loop, influences the Send level). The yellow LED beside this control indicates Crunch operating mode.
11 POWER TUBE MONITOR V1
This LED lights up when the current sent through the V1 power amp tube was too high and the power tube monitor system has switched that tube off.
12 POWER TUBE MONITOR V2
This LED lights up when the current sent through the V2 power amp tube was too high and the power tube monitor system has switched that tube off.
13 POWER TUBE MONITOR V3
This LED lights up when the current sent through the V3 power amp tube was too high and the power tube monitor system has switched that tube off.
14 POWER TUBE MONITOR V4
This LED lights up when the current sent through the V4 power amp tube was too high and the power tube monitor system has switched that tube off.
A few words on the POWER TUBE MONITOR system:
The electronic power amp monitoring system constantly gauges the current sent to the two power amp tubes. If it rises to too high a level, the system shuts down the given tube.
This can occur when the amp is operated incorrectly (for example, if the impedance is wrong due to an incorrect speaker load), at extreme power spikes, or when a tube is defective.
Reset this electronic monitoring system by switching the standby switch off and on again. When you press the standby switch to turn the amp on again, the system again measures the current sent to the tube. If it is still too high, the power amp must be checked by a service technician, and the tube may have to be replaced if it is defective.
15 Presence
This control shapes the hi frequency response in the power amp stage and affects all channels.
16. Depth Punch
This control shapes the lo frequency response in the power amp stage and affects all channels.
17 Ch II Gain
This knob determines input sensitivity of Main Channel II (Lo & Hi Lead) and it determines the amount of preamp saturation in both Lead channels.
CAUTION: Extremely high gain and volume levels in Lead mode can produce strong feedback. Avoid feedback squeals, they lead to hearing loss and damaged speakers! Reduce the Gain, Treble and Presence levels at higher volumes in order to avoid uncontrolled feedback!
18 Lo Lead Bottom
Alters the EQ by boosting the low end range; this Bottom feature affects the Lo Lead mode.
19 Hi Lead Bottom
Alters the EQ by boosting the low end range; this Bottom feature affects the Hi Lead mode.
A tip from the designer:
If you really want to beef up the low end of your lead tone to dial in the type of sound often employed in contemporary styles, press the Bottom button. Note that you can activate this feature separately for each of the two Lead channels.
20 Bass
Bottom end voicing control of the preamps´s passive EQ for Main Channel II, Lo and Hi Lead.
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