ENGL Amplifiers Fireball 100 100-watt Tube Head Reviews
The ENGL Fireball 100 guitar amp head takes an “all-killer, no filler” approach, serving up scorching-hot tones with a straightforward control set. Loaded with four 6L6GC power tubes churning out 100 watts of power, the Fireball 100 is a turbocharged high-gain machine with a tight chug even at its most ferociously overdriven settings. Of course, shimmering cleans and light crunch tones are on tap if you desire. However, the Fireball 100’s true magic lies in its Lead channel, which overflows with heavy metal fury. (Don't fret: if things get a little too heavy, the Fireball 100 has a built-in noise gate.) Sculpting your sound is a breeze with the Fireball 100’s onboard 3-band EQ, Bright, Bottom, and Mid Boost switches, and Presence control. Additionally, there is a buffered FX loop, which helps preserve detail and clarity when using time-based and modulation effects. For brutal riffage, blistering leads, and drop-tuned grind, the ENGL Fireball 100 is ready to burn up the stage!
Earn $95 back in Bonus Bucks† OR pay $53/month with 36 month financing*
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As low as $53/month
with 36 month financing*
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Highest Rated Reviews
Better than most other amps
I've owned every version of a 5150 and 6505 over the years.
This amp blows every one of them away. Clean channel is great and chimney, takes pedals very well. Lead channel is very aggressive and in your face, way more power and punch over a 5150. Some people complain about engl amps being too compressed, clearly they haven't tried the fireball 100. I use the boss SD1 as a clean boost and have never been happier. I love that it's stripped down and very easy to dial in. I'm never getting rid of this one and it's become my main daily and live rig. So much aggressive power and punch in your face.
Its the real deal
Its the bomb. I got the Fireball 25 watt version, and its sick, completely brutal for metal. Its become my favorite small amp of its kind. You will love it, get one if you want to do metal...chugs great, searing leads, has noise gate! Transparent FX Loop. Looks great. Cool red lights inside when the tubes light up, not dull orange, its bright red. I love how you can turn the speaker load off so you wont blow your transformers when you forget to plug it in or check and see if its plugged into a speaker cab. Never ever turn on a tube amp without it being hooked up to a speaker cab, it will destroy your toy. (Alot of new guitar players dont know that, always have your tube amp plugged into cab, unless its designed to handle it in some way..
ENGL : Fireball 100 watt Head !
OK, I just received my ENGL Fireball amplifier ! within 2 seconds of striking my first cord this head blew me away and that was without even touching the tone stack !!
I do own a few more expensive 100 watt heads....... but I have to say that my new ENGL is probably the only amp I'm going to be playing for quite sometime now, I really don't care to even fire the other amps up !
and I'm not even going to to say " for the price this is a great amplifier" knowing what I know now, I would have gladly paid more for the amp.
Also I never do reviews of products but I felt like this was a review totally worth my time.
I just wish I had made the purchase years earlier..!!
An amazing experience in German high gain.
Sometimes, you just make a leap of faith and I'm glad I did. I've been a long time user of a JCM800 from the 80's and wanted to retire her to the home studio and pick up hotter and more modern. I've been searching and watching the demos and all of the other ground work and I kept coming back to the ENGL products. If you've ever owned a German made car, leather boots or a German sporting tool - you know its quality made. The gain is pure brutality which is the sound I like and play. Running it through the same lead 1960A cabinet with the G12Ts and it does extremely well. I'm still thinking about the matching cabinet with V30s to see how the 6L6s work through it-but this is a great starting place. A perfect upgrade for the Apocalypse and Ben made it a streamline experience for me. Thanks Sweetwater!
Great Versitie Amp
This is a great amp. No frills and simple. Clean and lead channel. The amp can go from cleans all the way to full blown metal. Has more gain than anyone would ever use on tap. Think of a roaring vintage Marshall meets modern articulation and punch. The Clean channel can go from very clean to a nice plexi style crunch. And the lead channel goes from modern crunch to full blown saturation. The mid boost is great for leads and even rhythm playing. The gain structure is tight and treble and presence controls are not harsh. The master A/B is nice to vary foot switchable volumes for the channels for a boost in volume for lead or whatever you would want. The amp has just a nicen sweet grinding harmonic tone. Unlike many modern high gain amps, the single note lead playing is great without being too thin and lifeless. Of all the ENGL amps, this seems to be the best tonally. The others are great, but sometime simple is better.
The Beast! And The Beauty.
This monster is pure tone at it's finest. Lead Gain is everything from High Gain Snarl to Smooth throaty Gain and everything in-between. The Lead Volume is a plus. The clean gain has everything from glassy to bright to clear and loud. Turn up the clean gain and get some really cool Crunch!
Super tight, with TONS of gain
I just received this head today and put it into the studio amp rack. I am not kidding when I say that this amplifier has more gain than any amp I have ever played. I don't see myself ever turning the gain above 3 (10 o'clock) when recording or playing live. This thing is brutal. I have a TON of amps, and this one rates up there with the best. The response is fast, and the low end tightens up amazingly with a boost (Electric Eye Mud Killer). The amp is SUPER tight without a boost if you pull the bass control back a bit as well.
If you are looking at this amp and are on the fence... get off the fence and press BUY!
Exactly what I was looking for.
Low end gain for days.
Now we wait another two years...
After watching hours of youtube reviews on different ENGLS I had my heart set on this one. Sweetwater was out of stock the day I decided to take advantage of financing so I had to settle on the 25 micro version which is sweet.
Maybe when I get the 25 paid off I'll actually be able to order one of these and the day after I buy a different amp it wont be in stock.
Fireball 100
Awesome amp. Bought this to have a backup as a backup live. Ran it during our set at practice and it fit better in the mix than my main amp. And it cut through very well. Amazing built in noise gate. It is a 2 channel beast, and yes the gain channel is crushing, but the clean on this amp is underrated. The clean is pristine and you can mix in just the right amount of gain to cover any genre you want. Honestly, I'm kinda blown away by it.
Fire breathing Chug machine!
I've had this head for a few weeks. I have owned and played through many amps in my life. Mesa rectifiers, 5150's, Marshall's, Friedman BE, 6505's etc. All of those amps I used a Tube screamer to boost them to get the right amount of saturation or to stifle low end flub.
The Fireball 100 does not need it! It has more gain on tap then you really even need. I set my gain between 10 and noon and it is clear,crunchy and very articulate. It chugs like a mother humper!! Pinch harmonics sound great as well as slides. The clean channel is very fender like. Bright, clear and chimey.
I've found that it's really hard to get a bad sound out of this amp EQ wise,but,I have found that by really boosting your mids and treble knobs achieves the best tone in my opinion to cut through the mix.
I am using a Les Paul studio and a Marshall 1960 cab. Settings are
Gain at 10
Bass at 1
Mid at 2
Treble at 3
Lead volume at 10
Master at 10
Presence at 9-10
This in my opinion, delivers optimal tone. And for adjustments, I barely nudge a knob and it gives noticeable results. I keep the low end button disengaged because it provides way to much low end for my liking. But, it does sound good at really low volume settings. The tone button is great for a mid range solo boost, but I usually don't use it. The noise suppressor is great once you figure out where you want it set. At loud volumes, I nearly have it full on. There is no hiss or hum on this amp when that is engaged, which is a nice feature, because on previous amps with a boost and noise suppressor I still got a bit of hiss.
The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars,is because it didn't come with a footswitch.
If your looking for an amp that is simplistic and easy to dial in, that does metal really well, and has a stunning clean sound,you might want to try the Fireball 100 out.
