Synergy introduces high-gain Engl Powerball preamp module
Compact version of classic head is ideal for direct recording and lower-volume setups

Last year, Synergy introduced the Engl Savage preamp module, and now the company has unveiled a second Engl collaboration, the all-tube Powerball guitar amp module.
Custom-designed by Engl’s Horst Langer, the unit features a pair of 12AX7 preamp tubes with two channels (blue and red) that offer switching between overdrive and high-gain distortion.
Controls include volume and gain and a three-band EQ, and there are also two Gain Lo/Hi and Mid Boost switches per channel.
Other features include a Dual/Single switch that allows the module to be used with older Egnater and Randall hardware, and a three-position cathode select switch to configure the input tube bias setting for optimum input gain and bass response.
The Engl Powerball preamp module is available for $399.99. For more information, head to Synergy Amps.
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that Mark Sampson was the father of the boutique amp revolution”: An interview with the late, great Mark Sampson, the trailblazing amp designer behind Bad Cat and Matchless
“If you’ve ever wondered what unobtanium looks like in amp form, this is it”: Played and revered by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Carlos Santana, and John Mayer, Dumble amps have an almost mythical reputation. But what's all the fuss really about?