Egnater Rebel 20

[Dr. Vegetable]

On paper it is exactly what I want, and it gets great reviews. In actuality, I'm having a hard time dialing it in. It sounds a little harsh.

Who out there is using one of these? What are your favorite settings? What do you use for a cabinet?

Halp!!!

 

[MojoMonster]

Re: Egnater Rebel 20

I've got a Rebel 30.
IMO, these little amps *need* 212 cabs.
I've using a G12H30/Vintage 30 and/or a G12M/Vintage 30 and both are amazing sounding.
I find that I'm partial to the EL83 tube in the mix... about 10 o'clock on the dial.
The rest I adjust depending on the guitar.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Egnater Rebel 20

That's very interesting...I also have a Rebel 30 and set the tube mix at about 10:00 to favor the EL 84 attack. I haven't tried the Rebel 20, though. Can't imagine that it would be alot different sounding than the 30. I think that the Rebel has a really good solid clean sound. Crunch isn't bad, but I prefer to get all of my OD and dist from pedals when using this amp.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Egnater Rebel 20

I tried both the Rebel 20 & 30 shortly after they came out and couldn't dial in an overdriven sound that wasn't muddy poo IMO. My extremely poor opinion of these amps kept me from trying a Tweaker for quite a while. I finally plugged in, and I really dug it so I bought one.

Running the Rebel clean and getting any overdrive/distortion from pedals may be an option, but I've never liked doing things this way so I can't offer any advice there.

 

[Dr. Vegetable]

Re: Egnater Rebel 20

That's very interesting...I also have a Rebel 30 and set the tube mix at about 10:00 to favor the EL 84 attack. I haven't tried the Rebel 20, though. Can't imagine that it would be alot different sounding than the 30. I think that the Rebel has a really good solid clean sound. Crunch isn't bad, but I prefer to get all of my OD and dist from pedals when using this amp.

I've got a Rebel 30.
IMO, these little amps *need* 212 cabs.
I've using a G12H30/Vintage 30 and/or a G12M/Vintage 30 and both are amazing sounding.
I find that I'm partial to the EL83 tube in the mix... about 10 o'clock on the dial.
The rest I adjust depending on the guitar.

In my limited trials with the 20, I had also found 10:00 to be the sweet spot. I guess we all have the same Signature Sound(TM) or something. :cussing: I haven't noticed that the "Watts" control does very much of anything, either.

Maybe I should look at the Tweaker instead.

 

[Dr. Vegetable]

Re: Egnater Rebel 20

Ok, I think I figured out my mistake. I was fooled by the "Watts" control which has a very subtle effect on the tone, so I thought I could use it to keep the amp at practice levels. But the amp gets pretty loud no matter where I set this control. As a result, I wasn't really pushing the Master during my first test of this amp.

:smack:

So I had another go at it yesterday. Put it through a Hot Plate and cranked the Master. I discovered that it is necessary to have the Master beyond 3:00 before the EL84 side really comes to life. Once I did that, I was able to bring the Tube Mix over to about 2:00 and it got really liquid. There were several other sweet spots that opened up with the Master at full throttle.

I had hoped the Hot Plate would be unnecessary with this amp, but at least now I know how to make this amp perform more to my tastes. Maybe I can re-bias the amp to get it into this zone at a lower volume? I have more research to do, apparently.

I should mention that I'm mostly a Fender guy when it comes to amps. I've been looking for a good way to add a bit more Brit to my rig. I think the Rebel is a keeper, but time will tell.

Thanks for the input, guys!

 

[MojoMonster]

Re: Egnater Rebel 20

Yea, the "watts" control is more about headroom/breakup than loudness.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Egnater Rebel 20

I just brought my Rebel 30 out of the closet a few days ago. I can dial in cleans every bit as gorgeous as my Marshall (VM) or any Fender, but I still find that my Marshall has the most wonderful crunch.

I also find that the speaker cab makes a huge difference in the Rebel's tone/performance. Get the right speakers and you get the right tone.