New Amph in 3, 2, 1...

[Tig]

Those magic words appeared on the UPS tracking page:
03/24/2010 7:30 A.M.OUT FOR DELIVERY

More to follow, because this thread is worthless without pictures or reviews...

* 15 Watts All-Tube
* 2 x 6V6 Power Tubes
* 3 x 12AX7 Pre-amp Tubes
* Master Volume, Gain and 3-Band EQ
* Modern/Vintage Amp Voicing Switch
* Buffered Effects Loop
* Selectable AC, British and American Tone Controls
* Clean/Hot Gain Selector
* Tight & Bright Voicing Switches

 

[marnold]

Might that be an Egnater Tweaker perchance?

 

[mainestratman]

I had a GAS heart-attack not too long ago.. saw the "out for delivery" on the tracking screen, then watched Brown drive right past my house.

I was FREAKING out about it and called UPS and let them know that their driver had driven right past my house and have him turn around, and... and.. and..

So they asked for the tracking number... I gave it to them and the lady on the phone laughed.. "Umm, sir..? That's a FedEx tracking number."

*facepalm*

 

[Bloozcat]

I had a GAS heart-attack not too long ago.. saw the "out for delivery" on the tracking screen, then watched Brown drive right past my house.

I was FREAKING out about it and called UPS and let them know that their driver had driven right past my house and have him turn around, and... and.. and..

So they asked for the tracking number... I gave it to them and the lady on the phone laughed.. "Umm, sir..? That's a FedEx tracking number."

*facepalm*

**Doesn't react well it in a crisis situation**
oke

 

[Blaze]

This one ??

 

[mainestratman]

**Doesn't react well it in a crisis situation**
oke

Probably not a great bullet to put on my EMS resume.. ;-)

 

[Tig]

Might that be an Egnater Tweaker perchance?

Ding! Give that man a cigar! :AOK

The Tweaker Head, BTW. I'll plug it into my existing 12" cabinet for now. I've been tube amph-less since the EVJ went out on me.

MSM, your GAS heart attack delivery story might be the post of the week! Made me laugh a solid belly laugh! :rollover

 

[Commodore 64]

I thought the egnater tweaker had 2x 12ax7 not 3x 12ax7?

 

[duhvoodooman]

...More to follow, because this thread is worthless without pictures or reviews...

I'm glad to see we've established that right up front....

 

[M29]

Awesome Tig, I am anxious to hear more. :happy

 

[FrankenFretter]

Right on, Doug! That amph looks very tasty. Let me know if I should sell my Vox Night Train and get one of those.

 

[marnold]

I thought the egnater tweaker had 2x 12ax7 not 3x 12ax7?

MF and GC's sites both say two, but everything else I've read says three. It's not on Egnater's site for some reason.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Cool, very cool! These amphs look very exciting to me!

 

[MAXIFUNK]

Great to hear someone picked up one of those to be reviewed here!
I can not wait to hear what you think.

 

[duhvoodooman]

If it's anywhere near as good as my Egnater Rebel 20W head (and I expect it will be!), you're gonna love it....

 

[Tig]

A quick first impression:
The cleans out of the amp are so much better than expected. I've heard this type of glassy clean out of $1800 boutique amps, but a $400 lunch box?

The construction is very solid and clean. I love the wicker grill. The tubes are all mounted above the PCB for heat to travel up, right out of the top vents. It likes pedals, and I've placed the delay in the oh-so-cool effects loop, while the wah/OD-boost/distortion run into the input.

Pic's and more info soon... Time to play!

 

[Tig]

Pic's

Full frontal nudity

The obligatory gut shot. 3 12AX7 tubes, to answer the earlier question. 2 6V6GTA's on the right. Output transformer is in the middle, and the Power transformer is on the right. No wonder it weighs so much for such a little thang.

Top shot of the vents.

And here's a nice guide to get you started with various tone settings. Each of the clean's are amazing to my ears (Shimmering (AC), Fender (USA), and British). I spent only a little time on the higher gain settings, so I'll be researching for a few hours to get acquainted. :AOK The Blues Deluxe and Rock Crunch settings are very enjoyable.

Back to the tone lab to sweat and labor my fingers to the bone...

 

[mainestratman]

 

[ZMAN]

Funny you mentioned Manatee. When I was in Florida a couple of weeks ago they were talking about close to 200 have died due to the cold weather.
They need water temps of at least 68 degrees to survive

Happy New Amp Day Tig.
I had to take a day off because my fingers were so sore this week.

 

[mainestratman]

Aww... I didn't know that. Poor things. :-(

 

[Katastrophe]

Wow, Tig, congrats!

It really hasn't taken Egnater long to get a following.

 

[Ch0jin]

Wicked nice amp too! I'd love to give one of those a run.

 

[Tig]

6V6 Tube Failed

Apparently UPS did their usual job of treating this package like it had fragile crystal inside, and dropped it. One of the 6V6 tubes is completely dead.
:thwap
I was playing with the higher gain settings last night but it didn't sound right. Looking in the handy top vent, I noticed only one 6V6 was glowing. I checked and sure enough, the dead tube's glass was loose in the base. Having mostly played the clean levels of the amp, I didn't notice.

I emailed Egnater service, and will see what they will do. If for some reason they want me to ship the whole amp back, I'll just get a new set of tubes myself. Egnater uses Ruby tubes, which are fairly nice.

 

[mainestratman]

Ugh. That is really not cool.

 

[Tig]

No reply from Egnater service yet, so I bought a pair of matched Groove Tube Gold Series 6V6's to hold me over, and become backup tubes after I get some from them.

Edit: The hotter gains tones are ef'in wicked!

Found a really comprehensive demo of this amp plugged straight into it without pedals. He plays better than I do, and covers most of the tones available (he covers more of the cleans in Part 1). If you wanna hear what the amph can really do, watch the whole video. Heck, I didn't know it was brutalz capable!

 

[FrankenFretter]

Apparently UPS did their usual job of treating this package like it had fragile crystal inside, and dropped it. One of the 6V6 tubes is completely dead.
:thwap
I was playing with the higher gain settings last night but it didn't sound right. Looking in the handy top vent, I noticed only one 6V6 was glowing. I checked and sure enough, the dead tube's glass was loose in the base. Having mostly played the clean levels of the amp, I didn't notice.

I emailed Egnater service, and will see what they will do. If for some reason they want me to ship the whole amp back, I'll just get a new set of tubes myself. Egnater uses Ruby tubes, which are fairly nice.

That sucks! I've noticed that Eurotubes and Rondo have both stopped using UPS. On the Eurotubes homepage, the top headline is Note: We will NOT ship anything UPS!!! They are horrible!

I hope that Egnater remedies your situation quickly and satisfactorily, Doug.

 

[MAXIFUNK]

That amp really sounded fantastic time to go to GC and take a look.

 

[ZMAN]

Well did Egnater ever get back to you. I would be interested to hear what they are going to do. I would think that you are out 40 or 50 bucks for a new set of matched tubes. The Rubys are pretty nice. I had a 12AX7 go in my 65 Deluxe Reissue and my local guy gave me a ruby to replace it under warranty. They are a fender repair shop. It worked really well and I still have no issues after a year.

 

[mrmudcat]

Tig you should of asked ,im sure ive got some tubes new in boxes......somewhere????????????

Ive been thinking of getting this amp...........kustom has a new 5 watter for $99 bux also..........maybe ill buy both...............that is after a digidesign eleven rack!!!!

 

[Tig]

Mudcat,
Thanks for the generous offer. You rock, brother! I already have a new set or Groovetubes installed, so I'm in good shape. I wanted to get it going that day, being a new amp and all.

Zman,
They never emailed or called back, even though I told them to do either. I guess that rely on phone calls to their service line.

The manual says users should never open the amp or attempt to replace tubes, etc. :whatever: It's not like I'm not spaceflight hardware workmanship certified or anything (I am). As far as they know, nothing has been touched. I can always replace the stock tubes. I'm sure they'll want to send it to one of their certified service centers, but the closest one is about 150 miles away. I may just bite the bullet and keep what I have since it plays beautifully now.

I'd still buy this amp all over again, it sounds so nice. I like it better than the Rebel 20 I played with. Sweeter cleans and more adjustably. She really purrs, yet can roar when driven! I'd compare it to the Night Train, but with the ability to sound like both an AC and a Fender, with much more tone shaping flexibility. (* "like", as in close to, but obviously not the same)