Amp decision 5150 vs. Engl Fireball

[RyanShatteredAx]

Hi, just wondering if any of you had any opinions on this.

Basically I'm thinking of a new amp to replace my Marshall TSL60, I need something a lot chunkier sounding - just heavier basically. I'm torn between getting a Peavey 5150 and the Engl Fireball, both are about the same price new (£700 ish) but the Peavey is much easier to pick up 2nd hand for a lot less cash. problem is, there is an Engl dealer near me but they don't have any Fireballs or Powerballs in stock at the moment so I can't really try it out, heard a lot of clips though and I like it a lot and I can easily do a trade on my Marshall. Oh and i'm not really too fussed about the difference in power 60w would be enough easily.

Any thoughts?

 

[Hexer]

personally, I liked the Fireball a little better than the 5150 (compared them directly). It sounded a little "heavier" but I dont know exactly what sound you had in mind of course....
what I didn't like about the fireball was, that it doesnt really have a clean-channel. you can produce clean-sounds in the crunch-channel, but not with full distortion on lead-channel.
the powerball is the REAL thing, this was the amp I liked best so far (it has double the channels of the fireball and some other nice functions and sounds even better (in my opinion))

what kind of sound are you after?

 

[RyanShatteredAx]

Well basically I'm after a kickass metal rhythm amp first and foremost, I play a few solos in my band so that's pretty important, I really like the simplicity of both amps. I don't need a clean channel as such, I'm using EMGs anyway and at present, my other guitarist plays any clean sections in the music. When I bought the TSL I was more interested in versatility, but now I've come to realise that I just want something that just has a killer metal tone, also i think the 5150 has kind of been used to death, especially within melodic death bands, I'd like something more original really. The TSL covers a few bases, but none of them are done spectacularly and it just doesn't have the low end thump on the palm mutes, I just retubed it with High gain graded JJ's and JJ E34L's which has improved it a lot but it still lacks MY sound.

As far as the powerball goes, I've heard that the noise gate is next to useless, and i don't really need all that extra stuff or extra power really, so going for saving the extra £330 seems a bit pointless to me.

Looks like i've more or less convinced myself on the Fireball really doesn't it

 

[oneshotendsthiswar]

dont know much about the fireball or powerball, but i have the 5150 II and i could not possibly be any happier. all the gain you'll ever need, separate channels and eqs (even if the clean is nothing special), and as rugged as they come. these amps have the tone to blow a hole in your chest.

 

[Strigoi]

The Fireball is a great sounding amp, I had one before I got my Powerball. It's 60 watts and I believe the Peavey is 100 or 120. So depends on whether you want that great cranked sound early or need the extra headroom. The clean channels on both amps are pretty useless imo. Maybe check out www.rocksolidamps.com for some sound samples of the Fireball if you haven't had a shot with it first hand.

 

[Hexer]

yeah, looks like the fireball is pretty much your thing

personally I thought the metal-sound of the fireball was better than the one of the 5150, but thats probably a matter of preference

 

[Indiooo]

Engl Savage!

 

[Hexer]

Savage is cool, but seems to be a LITTLE more expensive

 

[bobvex]

Engl is coming out with a new power amp, basically the power section of the Savage, 100 Watts a side i think.