What we have here in the Powerball EP645 is a Made-in-Germany highest quality components High Gain Distortion pedal which Engl have built themselves to sound as close to their own well-loved signature Metal Amp.
On the surface the pedal looks rather elegant in its simplicity - just a 3-Band EQ with Volume and Gain - no additional clipping, gain structure, brightness or tightness controls - and no resonance or presence. Yet the output is a very satisfying dynamic and full amp-like ...
So last year I did a sort of 15 Metal Pedal overview - but I’ve come across a few more since - and there have been some new launches - so I thought it opportune to do a more extensive round-up. This is actually the first of a series of 4 articles featuring my favourite High Gain, Distortion, Fuzz and Overdrive - pedals - one feature per category - with 24 pedals in each overview. I have been doing these for the last couple of years and this is the 2019 series as such.
These are ...
This article was prompted by my earlier piece on the Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal Pedal / Alternatives, as well as a reader request to review the KHDK Dark Blood. As always though I never review anything in isolation - I try to take the pulse on the larger category and see what pedals are competing in that category and are worthy of consideration.
Even metal pedals as such have varying degrees of distortion, but I’ve tried to focus on those here that are intended as principally high ...
I have so far acquired 3 amps along this tone quest. I rather naively though I could get by with purely solid state - with largely onboard effects - i.e. moddelling. My first acquisition was the 150W Fender Mustang IV V2 - which excels at reproducing Fender’s classic amp tones, but does not quite have the full throttle grunt for harder styles of playing - it’s generally a very good amp with some excellent effects, and very even tone - most will be able to dial in something pretty ...