Powerblock for metal?

[doc]

Anybody use a Powerblock as your main metal amp? I'm thinking the potential is there, its got a fair amount of power, it will have tight bass and fast response due to being solid state, it sounds kinda Marshally out of the box. Anybody putting a special recipe of stuff in the effects loop or a specific magic stompbox in front and using a 4X12 and gettin all hormonal?

I know, I know, just give up and get a used 5150.

 

[gdomeier]

What kind of metal? I had one for a while. I was able to record some ok stuff with it, but overall it wasn't very inspiring.

 

[doc]

I'm really a southern blues-rocker with a goofy fascination with metal, so no specific target. I like Pantera and Tool. I guess I need to befriend somebody local really into metal that can point out the nuances of "great metal tone" and what amp features help you get there. Apparently most of the amps that are prized for many metal styles tend to have more EQ flexibility and solid low frequency output than the vintage stuff I tend to care about. I understand the "scooped" EQ idea, but apparently there is more to it than that. The reason for the Powerblock question is partly that Dime used solid state Randall amps, and I'm not sure what made them good for that style that something like the Powerblock (or Peavey Bandit, or whatever) would lack.

 

[DrSax]

I put a PB through a Marshall 4x12, as loud and clean as I can get it and run pedals through it. Great sounding. I have a Zen/Twin Tube tandem for everything from mild bluesy overdrive to all out balls. Not quite metal in my setup, but with the right pedal you could surely do it.

 

[doc]

DrSax, got any clips of your rig you could post? I'm real curious how a Zen would sound through a PB.

 

[teemuk]

The reason for the Powerblock question is partly that Dime used solid state Randall amps, and I'm not sure what made them good for that style that something like the Powerblock (or Peavey Bandit, or whatever) would lack.

That's like saying the Epi Valve Jr. should be an ultimate metal machine because Framus Cobra or Peavey 5150 amps are and all of those three are tube amps.


Just because Peavey Bandit, various Randall amps and the Crate Powerblock are all solid-state amps doesn't mean they sound alike or can do the same things. If the Powerblock isn't voiced towards high-gain metal (and my impression is that it really isn't) it doesn't turn into a metal machine because some very differently designed SS amp is one.

The design means everything.

Powerblock's preamp is circuit-wise closer to Ampeg and Crate style designs (e.g. GX-130, VH140 etc.) than Randall or Peavey ones. That alone makes it sound very different from, say, Randall amp. However, the Powerblock doesn't have nearly as much gain as the archetypal "death metal" Ampeg or Crate amps and it's voiced more closer to the hard-rock 1980's Marshall amp type of thing. So it isn't exactly quite like the famous metal machines from SLM/LOUD design table either.

People have had good results using booster pedals or external preamps with the thing.

 

[mvd18969]

I have a PB for backup purposes (which I've never needed to use). I have toyed around with it and I've found that it sounds best just plugging straight in. Sure, you can run a pedal or preamp through it, but to my ears, it just sounds very squashed, muddy and compressed when you do this. Plug straight in and crank it up!