ENGL Fireball 100... thoughts? (my miraculous amp journey)

[Whizzinby]

After having spent some more time with the Helix‘ Fireball model I am now 99% sure that I want to buy that amp. I have a week off at the beginning of March so the timing would be very appropriate. ;-) A Suhr RL is already ordered.

Shits about to get real.

What cab are you pairing it with, or just straight IR?

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

s***s about to get real.

What cab are you pairing it with, or just straight IR?

I ordered a Suhr Reactive Load and will use the amp with IRs. Next week‘s gonna be gooood!

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Aaaaaand… ordered. Amp should be here by the weekend.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Aaaaaand… ordered. Amp should be here by the weekend.

Yesssss

 

[Whizzinby]

Aaaaaand… ordered. Amp should be here by the weekend.

Awesome!!!

Let’s plan a Zoom call and we can do a dueling Fireball rendition of We Are The World

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Awesome!!!

Let’s plan a Zoom call and we can do a dueling Fireball rendition of We Are The World

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Damn, I was hoping the amp would arrive in time for my week off. Ordered it last week and expected to have it by the weekend. Now it's Tuesday and I'm still waiting... but according to DHL it should arrive tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

 

[la szum]

Agony!

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

And to make it even worse: Yesterday and today my wife had to go to the office and I would have had the opportunity to play the amp loud. The next two days she‘s working from home.

 

[la szum]

Good news is amp will be with you long time.

 

[Whizzinby]

And to make it even worse: Yesterday and today my wife had to go to the office and I would have had the opportunity to play the amp loud. The next two days she‘s working from home.

That sucks man. Brace yourself, the amp is LOUD. I could work loose roof shingles with it.

This def calls for you to play the Top Gun theme song at full blast when she jumps on a meeting. Then relive the moment in your mind while sleeping on the couch.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Okay, the amp has finally arrived an hour ago. First impression: A little bit disappointed. Somehow I can't get the low end to sound tight and punchy. There's a certain fuzzy compression that prevents the low end to be tight and punchy. The Artist Edition I once had definitely sounded much more percussive. And the gain is a little bit tricky, too. It's a very thin line between under- and oversaturated. Well, perhaps I just need some more time to learn how to dial it in properly.

Just ordered a JVM205H to compare with the Fireball. One of them is going back.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Okay, the amp has finally arrived an hour ago. First impression: A little bit disappointed. Somehow I can't get the low end to sound tight and punchy. There's a certain fuzzy compression that prevents the low end to be tight and punchy. The Artist Edition I once had definitely sounded much more percussive. And the gain is a little bit tricky, too. It's a very thin line between under- and oversaturated. Well, perhaps I just need some more time to learn how to dial it in properly.

Just ordered a JVM205H to compare with the Fireball. One of them is going back.

Sucks on the initial impressions but I am betting you will be winning either way

 

[spawnofthesith]

That's a bummer, hope you can get it dialed in to your liking, lack of tight/punchy lowend isn't what I would typically associate with an ENGL


JVMs are dope too though, definitely a different gain structure going on there. Like @JiveTurkey said surely you'll end up happy one way or another

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

[...] lack of tight/punchy lowend isn't what I would typically associate with an ENGL [...]

Yeah, the Engl Artist Edition I had before definitely was more punchy and percussive. The low end of the Fireball is huge, but it has a very broad, kind of "cinematic" character.

 

[Whizzinby]

Okay, the amp has finally arrived an hour ago. First impression: A little bit disappointed. Somehow I can't get the low end to sound tight and punchy. There's a certain fuzzy compression that prevents the low end to be tight and punchy. The Artist Edition I once had definitely sounded much more percussive. And the gain is a little bit tricky, too. It's a very thin line between under- and oversaturated. Well, perhaps I just need some more time to learn how to dial it in properly.

Just ordered a JVM205H to compare with the Fireball. One of them is going back.

100% on the finicky nature of the gain knob. 8:00, 8:30, and 9:00 all have pretty dramatic changes in the gain profile. (I never go past 9:00 and generally park it about 8:30 with an OD)

Re: low end, weird I’ve never considered it to have loose low end. I’m assuming you don’t have the Bottom or Mid Boost engaged correct? (If not disengage and never use them lol)

I hit mine with a Bonsai.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

100% on the finicky nature of the gain knob. 8:00, 8:30, and 9:00 all have pretty dramatic changes in the gain profile. (I never go past 9:00 and generally park it about 8:30 with an OD)

Re: low end, weird I’ve never considered it to have loose low end. I’m assuming you don’t have the Bottom or Mid Boost engaged correct? (If not disengage and never use them lol)

I hit mine with a Bonsai.

I‘m using a Boss SD-1 and set the Gain on the Fireball between 2 and 2.5, Mid and Bottom Boosts off. The low end isn’t really loose or muddy, it‘s just… I don‘t know… lacking thump. The amp has a lot of low end, but it‘s kinda compressed. I tried some different settings and the best result so far was Bass 3, Mids 8, Treble 6, Lead Volume 5, Master 4, Presence 4.

 

[la szum]

 

[Whizzinby]

I‘m using a Boss SD-1 and set the Gain on the Fireball between 2 and 2.5, Mid and Bottom Boosts off. The low end isn’t really loose or muddy, it‘s just… I don‘t know… lacking thump. The amp has a lot of low end, but it‘s kinda compressed. I tried some different settings and the best result so far was Bass 3, Mids 8, Treble 6, Lead Volume 5, Master 4, Presence 4.

Looking at mine:

Bass: Noon
Mids: 3:00
Treble: 3:30
Presence: 11:00
Gain: 8:30
Lead Volume: 11:00
Master: 11:00
(Into PS100 into 412)

No bottom or mid boost engaged. Bonsai, almost full level, no gain, tone a little past noon.

You might try watching Sonic Drive Studios demo, he uses very little presence, but can’t remember the rest.

It’s not a tweaker amp, so it’s not got some hidden config to be revealed after a prolonged break in. Crank mids and treble, dial presence and bass to taste and slam with an OD. It’s either your thing or not

 

[Whizzinby]

Here is Jon’s video, look at the settings at various styles:

(Crosses fingers it helps you)