amp search continued... Egnater Rebel 20?

[FuseG4]

Went to guitar center and tried 5 amps.

Marshall haze 40: Pretty decent clean. Decent attack and clarity. Reverb's ok. But the dirty channel didn't sound good until I really opened up the volume. Like, almost full blast. Then, i was like WOAH this is it, this is the distortion I've been looking for. But. with the master down, there was so little dirt compared to when you run that master. it was weird. Maybe with an attenuator it'd be cool, but honestly I don't have the ability to crank that one almost ever and run that amp the way one should.
Overall: great sound, too many watts, too loud.

Vox Night Train: Tried it through a Epiphone valve jr. cab. Has a decent chimey clean. Good headroom, certainly loud enough! The bright-thick switch really was nice, actually! Cranking the gain and having the master on half in the bright mode really got this chimey, crunchy thing goin that sounded pretty fantastic. The thick mode on full gain did sound a tad fizzy, but it wasn't too bad.
Overall: a good amp! Simplicity and good tone. Could be really great with a nice cab/speaker/tubes.

Egnater Rebel 20 head and cab: The options on this thing, the bright and tight switches, the wattage knob, and tube mix were kinda confusing at first. I tried the amp with the wattage knob on 20W the whole time. The distortion on the 6v6 side with the gain cranked was loud and bold, just the right amount of grind. The bright/tight switches got a bit annoying at first, especially with the el84's, when I got a good tone on the bridge pickup, the neck pickup was a lil muddy, and when I dialed it in for the neck pickup, the bridge was pretty bright. Then I figured out that the tight switch is good with the gain cranked and the bright knob just needs some experimentation. My bridge pickup might be too close to the strings.
The clean tone was pretty nice for both types of valves. The effects loop leaves the possibility of adding some decent verb or delay to my tastes.
Overall: Really a great amp! That 6v6 side.. is pretty badass! The EL84 side felt like the blackheart I used to have, but much tighter and louder. That amp is like having what I wish my SCXD was, mixed with the blackheart I once had, but on steroids. If I had the money with me at the time I'd prolly have dropped for it right then. well, OK no. Sales tax is dumb.

Compared to the night train: The egnater really seemed to beat the NT at it's own game. I was really suprised. The blending in of (or switching to) the 6v6's was a way cooler feature than the bright/thick on the NT, and the wattage knob kicks the ass of a pentode/triode switch.

Fender NOS blues jr.: Not feeling this one so much. If I only played blues, it'd be a winner. But the clean tone is too thick for me. It's warm to a fault. The gain cranked and the master rolled back yielded some great blues tone. But I just didn't dig the clean tone. Not if it was my only clean tone. I will certainly buy a blues Jr sometime later when I can have a few amps, cuz that lil guy is really great for what it does. But for me it's a one trick pony.
Overall: not this time. Good amp but not what I call versatile.

Fender Twin reverb: My mom was with me and she doesn't play but was wanting to get into learning. She wanted to try a strat, so they plugged her into a Twin Reverb RI. LOL thats guitar center for you. Anything sounds good through that amp, so it's a great sales tool for first time buyers. Anyways, that trem channel is just soooo sweet! I can't even believe how smooth and full it is, and how the brightness just is soo rounded, and not blaring. I only turned it up to 2.5, but I have never heard such a beautiful clean sound in my life. Played the stock mexican strat and that neck/middle notch position was just like !!! tonegasm.
Overall: I need to play a deluxe reverb. If it's anything like that amp, I bet I'd dig it.


final thoughts for today: That egnater's pretty bomb. Regardless of the price it's really great. It's as versatile as my SCXD (not counting the DSP FX), but sounds 2x as good.

So who has an Egnater Rebel? Speak up, and let me know what cab/speakers you like it with, and if you think this amp has any inherent flaws or whatnot.

 

[J Moose]

Re: amp search continued... Egnater Rebel 20?

Maybe the Haze 40 you played wasn't working right... because the ones I've played sound good at lower volumes & have plenty of gain on tap. Especially with the boost switch... I think that combo is my new "music store tryout" amp. Meaning when I go into a shop & wanna try a guitar or pedal, that's what I'll plug into when they don't have anything else I wanna play through.

I really wanted to like the little Egnater but I've found to be largely underwhelming. The 3 or 4 I've played including a prototype were rather flat... like playing a POD. Lots of gain but not very responsive to picking dynamics, volume control or even changes in guitars. Sorta made everything sound the same... like a POD.

I like being able to control the amp from my guitar and I couldn't do that with the Egnater. It wouldn't clean up when I rolled the volume back...

 

[FuseG4]

Re: amp search continued... Egnater Rebel 20?

I dug the haze. It had a smooth clean sound, it was pretty well rounded. I really liked the feel of hotrod deluxe the few times I tried one, and the haze had the feel of the HRDx but with a british tone... it's nuts. Those 40W just hit that speaker with sooo much oomph. It's exhilarating.

The egnater did feel a little stiff or compressed. To me it also felt fairly bright, maybe like some low end was lacking? Not as smooth as the Haze's channel 1.

Something tells me that if I really want a *great* 6v6 amp, I prolly better get something that is built *for* 6v6s, and not get an amp that's trying to do everything. I really wanna try a DRRI now. Especially if it sounds anything like the Twin Reverb.
The 15W haze might be OK but I already know I like the combo.

I liked the Haze best, out of all the amps (excluding the Twin). It had had the best tone out of all of them. I just can't open it up like that. I almost feel like getting any of the other amps I tried would be like compromising based on the volume of the haze. Maybe I should snag one? I don't have a problem with attenuators, I'm pretty pleased with the performance of my Weber Load Dump and if the MASS series and THD Hotplates are supposed to be better, then I guess I don't have a problem with attenuators.

I mean, it even has a decent reverb. It wasn't like some of those reverbs out there where you turn it to 3 and you're like woah too much. It was nice and subtle at low settings and was very adjustable. Anyways I gotta wait, though and sort out my thoughts and get some more opinions.

 

[Sanford]

Re: amp search continued... Egnater Rebel 20?

I own the Rebel-20, but I'm not going to tell you to run out and buy it. For what I do, it's just fine. I can get some good tones out of it and my pedals. I've been running it through the matching 1x12, but lately have been thinking that adding a cab would do it more justice (2x10 keeps coming to mind).

As far as settings go I like to run the tube mix right in the middle, wattage usually full up, bright on w/treble knob around 9:00, tight switch usually off, bass knob around 12-1:00, mids adjusted to room, master volume slightly higher than the gain knob (1-2:00 for vol, 10-11:00 for gain).

I have gotten many compliments on my sound from various musicians that I jam with, some who are amp savvy and others who just like what they heard. Would I buy it again knowing what I know now? Probably, but I would have gotten the 2x12 cab to start with. I also would have waited until the Renegade was available (Rebel's bigger brother w/6l6 & el34 tubes, 65 watts, dual channels and reverb) and then compared the two to see which was more applicable to my musical situations.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: amp search continued... Egnater Rebel 20?

How do you feel about the dynamics? How responsive is it to volume knobs? I felt it as being a little compressed even on the cleanest settings.

How would you describe the bass response? I felt like maybe a little was lacking but that was a first impression and not necessarily the whole picture.

 

[Sanford]

Re: amp search continued... Egnater Rebel 20?

I find that changing my picking attack has a greater effect than using the guitar volume. If I set the amp for a loud overdriven tone (gain + volume both around 3:00) then the guitar volume knob seems to do more to clean it up. The bass sounds good to me and I'm not sure what a "compressed clean" means, but overall I'm happy with using the Rebel. I think the amp has good tones in it, but to let those out you need a good multi-speaker cab. The 1x12 is fine for the bedroom or an intimate 3 piece band, but run it through a 4x12 and it becomes the Japanese monster walking through downtown Tokyo version of itself. More cones = better tones with the Rebel.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: amp search continued... Egnater Rebel 20?

Like, in compressed I mean it felt like there was a little lack of dynamics, like picking softer wouldn't affect the volume as much as some other amps. I dunno, I didn't get to play with it as much as I wanted. I did like the amp quite a bit overall.
Well either way I really liked the amp and am considering that one and the Haze. it's gonna be a tough call, as I can think of things I really like about both amps.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: amp search continued... Egnater Rebel 20?

Anyways I've been thinking about the Night Train, the Rebel, and the Haze.

I almost wanna cross the Rebel off the list, because I liked the 6v6 side but the Night Train sounded better than the el84 side of the rebel. If I want a 6v6 amp I'll find something else. It's alotta money to drop on something where I don't like every feature.

So now if we assume I'm looking at a NT or a haze, for me one wins on tone and another wins on practicality. I like the night train and it's more manageable on volume but when it comes down to it, the haze just had more oomph and a warm, fat, smooooth clean. And the OD is so ballsy.

This is about tone, isn't it? If I don't get another amp for a while, it'd better be.

The Haze has a 2 channels, a *smooth* clean sound w/ a bright switch, plenty of gain, reverb, and a few not-so-bad effects, and an effects loop and a line out. I feel very close to making a decision.

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: amp search continued... Egnater Rebel 20?

How often will you get to crank it up to the levels you liked trying it out?

 

[FuseG4]

Re: amp search continued... Egnater Rebel 20?

...Not sure. In fact, I might be attenuating at least some volume most of the time. It's a loud ass amp.

Is that not a strong argument for the night train? I mean I like both amps but is a haze kinda wasted on my situation?

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: amp search continued... Egnater Rebel 20?

...Not sure. In fact, I might be attenuating at least some volume most of the time. It's a loud ass amp.

Is that not a strong argument for the night train? I mean I like both amps but is a haze kinda wasted on my situation?

Maybe...depends on if you get into a band, where that Haze will be just right.

For strictly home and recording use, the Vox or TT will be good.

I might even recomend the Reble highest of the four...after all, it goes down to one watt. It's still loud, but you might be able to get away with it depending on your neighbors. To boot, it does the 6V6 thing in addition to the EL84 sounds and the blend is cool for sounds none of the others will do.

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: amp search continued... Egnater Rebel 20?

Also, if you're not opposed to a pedal or two, maybe give the Blues Junior another try. The trick is to set the master most of the way up and open the gain to get some crunch just when you hit the strings hard, then goose it with the pedal for higher gain. Depending on the pedal you choose, it can get several different sounds. Kinda loud when ran that way, though.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: amp search continued... Egnater Rebel 20?

it does the 6V6 thing in addition to the EL84 sounds and the blend is cool for sounds none of the others will do.

Yeah i totally dug the Night Train more than the el84 side of the rebel. The rebel is good pretty nice but it was a lil difficult to dial in. The night train and haze were both like "I can't make this thing sound bad" and I definitely hit some settings on the egnater where I was like I hope the whole guitar center didn't think I was trying to make that sound LOL. It also was difficult to maintain a clean tone at volume, when the NT was really good at it. I feel like I should skip the egnater over and when I wanna get a 6v6 amp I'll get a Fender. If I want an EL84 amp I'll get a vox.

The blues Jr had a rockin OD that was straight up American and I can dig that but I tried various settings in the master with really low gain trying to get a clean tone i could really like and it just wasn't there for me. I plan to own a blues jr at some point in my life but there's no way that i could have that as my only amp, not with my current tastes.

I just spent the last hour jamming on the most night-train-ish settings I could get outta my SCXD and then trying to dial in a Haze-like sound and I really felt like anything more voxish really made the stuff I was playing stand out. To be truthful most of my fav artists don't use Voxs as far as i can tell (one does kinda sound like Edge from U2, though, he might be using an ac30, and keith richards used voxes in the early days). But when I played the night train I felt like I found something unique. When I played he marshall or fender twin I thought I sounded like my fav artists.

Argument for vox #1: Cleans and overdrive are good!
#2Perfect for home or recording.
#3: Big step towards finding "my" sound.

Argument for haze #1: Kickass OD and smooth clean. Reverb.
#2: Good for a band.
Argument against: Bad for home without an attenuator.

Argument for egnater: Versatile as hell.
Argument against: EL84's not as impressive as 6V6's. Was difficult to dial in.

Will I be in a band anytime soon? Shoot, i don't know but it looks a lil dim. College is taking up a fair chunk of my time, however college is a great place to find musicians.

This is really tough. I wish I could buy both amps...
oh wait duh I have plenty of time in my life to do that so why don't I get the one that's more applicable to my situation now?