HeadRush has announced a new update to its floor-based amp modellers, adding a quartet of amp models inspired by the Engl Powerball II, and effects modelled on classic octave fuzz, overdrive, preamp/drive and bass preamp/distortion pedals.
The update is free and compatible with HeadRush Pedalboard, Gigboard and MX5 units. If you want a quick run-through of the new sounds in order, hit up the video above. And if those demo sounds are agreeable, you can download them to your HeadRush unit.
HeadRush says sample Powerball is a 2011 model, which is a guitar amp for heavy metal guitar players if ever there was one. A four-channel fire-breather, the real-life amp has 100-watts, a quartet of 6L6GC power tubes with four Engl ECC83/12AX7 tubes in the preamp, and a host of features for tightening the bottom end and sculpting mids.
Such high-powered tube amps are something to be savoured in the wild, but they are not easily housetrained and are heavy to lift. As such, it makes perfect sense to use a digital alternative, and this 2.4 update will put that uncompromising, saturated grind into the hands of more players.
As for the effects, well, the big news is that there is a bass preamp and distortion pedal inspired by the Darkglass Microtubes B7K Ultra V2 – a mid-noughties classic that not only delivered a righteous growl, but offered a generous array of tone-sculpting options, with three-way toggle switches for Lo-Mids and Hi-Mids respectively, with three selectable frequencies per dial, plus toggles for Grunt and Attack.
Elsewhere, there’s a Dunlop JHC-01 Octavio-esque octave fuzz, tube amp-like overdrive courtesy of a Boss SD-1 emulation, and a setting called the D250 Drive, which makes a digital facsimile of the avowedly analogue DigiTech Overdrive Preamp 250.
For more details and to update your unit, head over to HeadRush.
