Egnater Tourmaster!!

[B2D]

I spent a few hours at GC today test-driving different amps, and one of the prime candidates for replacing my Legacy was a Marshall JVM205H. They had one in stock and I spent about 30 minutes or so playing with it before taking a break. It was OK... this particular one was being pumped through a 1960V 4x12 cab and the tone was decent... had some trouble getting rid of a slightly buzzy top end and woofy lows but alright amp otherwise.

Then when i was taking a break for a second i noticed the Egnater Tourmaster sitting in a corner! I'd heard a bit about these amps from Olin... apparently they've been built specially for GC by Egnater as an exclusive amp.

They were selling the head and the matching 4x12 (loaded with V30s) for $2099 as a package deal. Not a bad deal... considering the JVM was running $1699 for the head alone. I decided to plug in and give it a go, having never tried an Egnater of ANY sort.

Wow.

Rarely do i like amps that are more than two channels because I find little use for more than that... but all four channels on this thing sounded GREAT!! The whole amp has this "Americanized Marshall" vibe with a hint of boutique tones in the overdrive channels. Identical controls on all channels with a master section... Standard gain, volume, mids, treble, bass, and a contour control and a modern/classic switch. I tended to prefer the classic setting... more open, organic, less compressed. The modern settings are no slouch either. Very good built in-reverb, very controllable volume for a 100W amp through a 4x12!

Clean 1 definitely had the vintage American vibe going on... crystalline clean. Smooth and articulate.

Clean 2 was louder, bolder, and more authoritative. Reminded me of a JTM 45 or a cleaner plexi-type amp.

Overdrive 1... this is where the true awesomeness started. Great snarly crunch tones that were really punchy and bold, retaining the top end detail amazingly well. I could play AC/DC and Van Halen all day long on this one.

Overdrive 2... Mah GAWD. Highest of the gain content, but I never needed to move the gain past 5-6 for some seriously heavy tones. Still has that organic, bold sound but it's just louder and more aggressive now. It's REALLY tight and palm mutes have no slop at all, but the response is really fluid, which makes speed runs very breezy. It's closer to a Bogner than anything else I've ever played.

I think I might go in tomorrow and play it some more, demo it with my own cab and possibly put the head on layaway. I played the thing for two hours solid and loved every minute of it. When i went back to the marshall, I found it much less suited to my tastes than the Egnater and wound up not liking the Marshall very much in comparison. The Egnater's just more toneful and sweeter sounding.

I talked to the store manager and he said because it's a GC exclusive amp, they'll sell them for as long as they have success with it after the trial period. This amp sounds so excellent, so i think it'll do well.

Seriously... go try this thing out. Take it in the Loud Room and crank that SOB! It's way cool.

 

[3'scompany]

Re: Egnater Tourmaster!!

Huh. I've never even heard of Egnater before. Not that I'm exactly in the market for a new amp but that sounds very promising. Looks kinda cool too.

I've never had a need for 4 channels before but that fact wouldn't keep me from trying one out or buying one if it blew my socks off.

How much was just the head alone?

Also, how many watts?

And what tubes?



Edit: Wow, I just looked on GC.com and that thing is pretty impressive. Didn't see what tubes it used but being able to choose between 10, 25, 50 or 100 watts... and per channel none the less. All for $1,399. That is a pretty smoking deal.

 

[B2D]

Re: Egnater Tourmaster!!

Huh. I've never even heard of Egnater before. Not that I'm exactly in the market for a new amp but that sounds very promising. Looks kinda cool too.

I've never had a need for 4 channels before but that fact wouldn't keep me from trying one out or buying one if it blew my socks off.

How much was just the head alone?

Also, how many watts?

And what tubes?



Edit: Wow, I just looked on GC.com and that thing is pretty impressive. Didn't see what tubes it used but being able to choose between 10, 25, 50 or 100 watts... and per channel none the less. All for $1,399. That is a pretty smoking deal.

By the tone of it I thought it was an EL34 amp. I was so preoccupied with the tone that I didn't even look in the back. There's a video on YouBoob of Bruce Egnater demoing the amp and it's got 5881/6L6 types in there! Sounded most excellent.

I didn't know about the power selection feature either. I think that might have just sold the amp for me.

I'll try it out after rehearsal tomorrow with my cab and see if the magic's still happening.

 

[Mr 9finger]

Re: Egnater Tourmaster!!

Huh. I've never even heard of Egnater before. Not that I'm exactly in the market for a new amp but that sounds very promising. Looks kinda cool too.

I've never had a need for 4 channels before but that fact wouldn't keep me from trying one out or buying one if it blew my socks off.

How much was just the head alone?

Also, how many watts?

And what tubes?



Edit: Wow, I just looked on GC.com and that thing is pretty impressive. Didn't see what tubes it used but being able to choose between 10, 25, 50 or 100 watts... and per channel none the less. All for $1,399. That is a pretty smoking deal.

Egnater makes some killer stuff. Usually high end booteek stuff though. I was surprised to see him doing a distribution deal w/ GC/MF. I want an M4 preamp so bad i can taste it. but that's a lot of coin for a pre.

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Egnater Tourmaster!!

It's funny you posted this Brendan because I just tried the amp out today and was thinking about posting about it.

First off, I have to say I'm very impressed with the number of features on the amp. I think it's awesome you can adjust the wattage so radically on all 4 of the channels. I liked the vintage and modern types of voicings for the channels and I thought the contour switch was cool (along with the pot to dial in that midrange). For those that want their cleans to not break up and their leads to be saturated - it's awesome. I think cosmetically the amp looks fantastic as well - they're obviously going for boutique type looks and a very state of the art amp design.

Everything has to be met with some harsh criticism, so, with that said I'll throw in my .02. I liked the amp, but I didn't love it. While I enjoyed the options and the versatility, the tones themselves I felt were simply "ok". No channels really spoke to me. The amp covers a lot of territory, but the more advanced circuit, the more compromises it seems. It's a warm sounding amp, but I don't feel that punchiness, clarity or aggressiveness that I hear in other amps (which may or may not be a good thing depending on your tastes). There are a lot of options to tailor your sound, but I didn't find anything all that inspiring even after spending some time trying to dial it in.

I think I'm of the mindset at this point that less is usually more. I've found other amps similarly priced or cheaper to sound better to me. Two examples were the Fender Supersonic (cleans to die for and the "burn" channel does a ridiculously nice and unique Fender/Marshall hybrid type overdrive) and the Mesa Stiletto Ace (bright amp, but when dialed in right gets some sweet vintage cleans and the overdrive when dialed in right was as good or better than any Marshall I've played lately including the Vintage Modern). Both of those amps just had more complexity to the tone to me, but YMMV. I will say this - I enjoyed the Egnater a lot more than the Marshall JVM - that amp was another one that was overhyped to say the least.

I hope Bruce sells a ton of these. For the price, I think any cover band should have one. They are solid sounding amps, just don't expect it to do it better than the tones it's modeled after. I heard A LOT of hype surrounding the amp, but putting it through its paces brought me back to reality. I think part of why I was disappointed was because I had unrealistic expectations after reading into all the hype. However, that's the beauty of trying out something for yourself in the store. Tons of people probably don't like amps like the Supersonic or Stiletto Ace, but since I had the chance to dial them both in, I found tones that were inspiring for me. If you don't like what I'm saying - just chalk it up to me losing my mind - after all, I did get to play a Hughes & Kettner Duotone and I think I'm going to buy it tomorrow. Going from Bogner to Hughes & Kettner again - I think I really am losing it...

 

[SOLO GUITAR STEWIE]

Re: Egnater Tourmaster!!

Those are awesome amps, If you can cough up the dough I would grab it.

even if you only use 2 channels with your efx boards its still worth it (to me at least)

just my ignorant .02 cents again.

chris

 

[LuredMaul]

Re: Egnater Tourmaster!!

I've been GAS'in for a Randall RM100 head for I don't know how long...
It's the cheaper egnator.

 

[B2D]

Re: Egnater Tourmaster!!

I think it's awesome you can adjust the wattage so radically on all 4 of the channels. I liked the vintage and modern types of voicings for the channels and I thought the contour switch was cool (along with the pot to dial in that midrange). For those that want their cleans to not break up and their leads to be saturated - it's awesome. I think cosmetically the amp looks fantastic as well - they're obviously going for boutique type looks and a very state of the art amp design.[/img]

I'm using an attenuator to control my amp's volume right now... to be able to switch wattage so radically would be a godsend to me.

Everything has to be met with some harsh criticism, so, with that said I'll throw in my .02. I liked the amp, but I didn't love it. While I enjoyed the options and the versatility, the tones themselves I felt were simply "ok". No channels really spoke to me. The amp covers a lot of territory, but the more advanced circuit, the more compromises it seems. It's a warm sounding amp, but I don't feel that punchiness, clarity or aggressiveness that I hear in other amps (which may or may not be a good thing depending on your tastes). There are a lot of options to tailor your sound, but I didn't find anything all that inspiring even after spending some time trying to dial it in.

I felt that there were enough options for a versatile amp, but not overwhelmingly so that you'd get stuck in tweak-land all day (Boogie Road Kings and MkIV's do that to me). i had the opposite impression of the tones... the tones on this amp really did sound very good to me and really sounded like something I was looking for. I guess that's just personal preference though. You could probably change up the sound with better tubes (they come stock with GT's I prefer GT Golds or JJ's).

I think I'm of the mindset at this point that less is usually more. I've found other amps similarly priced or cheaper to sound better to me. Two examples were the Fender Supersonic (cleans to die for and the "burn" channel does a ridiculously nice and unique Fender/Marshall hybrid type overdrive) and the Mesa Stiletto Ace (bright amp, but when dialed in right gets some sweet vintage cleans and the overdrive when dialed in right was as good or better than any Marshall I've played lately including the Vintage Modern). Both of those amps just had more complexity to the tone to me, but YMMV. I will say this - I enjoyed the Egnater a lot more than the Marshall JVM - that amp was another one that was overhyped to say the least.

I usually prefer no more than two channels on an amp... I've never been enamored with complex circuits or multiple channels, but for some reason this amp really did the trick for me. It sounded like a much simpler circuit to me. I can't really see myself using channel 2 but 1, 3 and 4 really worked great for me.

I really didn't know a whole lot about this amp except that it was being built for GC only and I was aware of Egnater's reputation before this as being a cool boutique amp. I went in with no preconceptions of how it was supposed to sound and I came away very satisfied.

I heard A LOT of hype surrounding the amp, but putting it through its paces brought me back to reality. I think part of why I was disappointed was because I had unrealistic expectations after reading into all the hype. However, that's the beauty of trying out something for yourself in the store. Tons of people probably don't like amps like the Supersonic or Stiletto Ace, but since I had the chance to dial them both in, I found tones that were inspiring for me. If you don't like what I'm saying - just chalk it up to me losing my mind - after all, I did get to play a Hughes & Kettner Duotone and I think I'm going to buy it tomorrow. Going from Bogner to Hughes & Kettner again - I think I really am losing it...

The hype thing is what happened to me with the Boogie Stilettos... i was kind of expecting something different and was mildly disappointed, but I haven't gotten tones I've liked out of those amps either. The Fender was pretty cool for what it was.

I appreciate your analysis. I'll keep it in mind tomorrow when I head back with a few pieces of my personal gear and go test it again.

Those are awesome amps, If you can cough up the dough I would grab it.

even if you only use 2 channels with your efx boards its still worth it (to me at least)

just my ignorant .02 cents again.

chris

I'll most likely put it on layaway. As far as effects I'm probably going to just use ONE of my overdrive pedals for a gain boost with this and not both like I do now. All of the sounds are great on the amp and I like using pedals for gain boosts to saturate the tone a little extra. The delay, tuner, wah I'll use as well but I may be wiring in the delay differently on this one depending on what happens.

 

[Virtual Kevorkian]

Re: Egnater Tourmaster!!

****, I can't wait to record this thing.

 

[B2D]

Re: Egnater Tourmaster!!

****, I can't wait to record this thing.

Oh... well I really dig the amp so that means you'll probably be unimpressed with it.

 

[skyydogg01]

Re: Egnater Tourmaster!!

didn't Egnater create the first Randall RM series?

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Egnater Tourmaster!!

I stopped by GC Sherman Oaks yesterday, and saw that Egnater but didn't plug in for one silly reason. The only cable was strapped to an amp handle too far away to reach the Egnater! LOL

So, instead I tried the other new brand that GC is carrying....Blackstar Amps. One was like a 100W Superlead, and the other was like an AC-30. Awesome amps, with humongous tone, but they were both extremely loud.....to be expected with handwired 100W.

Next time I'm in there, I'll check out that Egnater. It does appear to be the exact type of amp you need Brendan. Those amps open up a lot better when everythings turned up except for the gains. For low volume at home, it'd be nice to have that wattage control, and heaps of gain on tap. At an affordable price, it's sure a nice step up from a Legacy.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Egnater Tourmaster!!

I plugged into the Tourmaster half stack this afternoon and I have to be honest...it was very ho-hum at best to me...the cleans had little to no life to them and the crunch channel was decent at best...the reverb was as bland as could be and on top of all that the fit and finish on the tolex and grill cloth wsa worse that any junky low buck amp I've ever seen...

I tried to tweak it best I culd to get it to really open up and have a great tone but I wasn't able to dial in one great tone on it, 2 of the sales guys at GC came in and toild me to stop wasting my time trying to dial it in...they said they had been twisting knobs on it since it got there on Friday afternoon and still couldn't be blown away by it!

 

[B2D]

Re: Egnater Tourmaster!!

I plugged into the Tourmaster half stack this afternoon and I have to be honest...it was very ho-hum at best to me...the cleans had little to no life to them and the crunch channel was decent at best...the reverb was as bland as could be and on top of all that the fit and finish on the tolex and grill cloth wsa worse that any junky low buck amp I've ever seen...

I tried to tweak it best I culd to get it to really open up and have a great tone but I wasn't able to dial in one great tone on it, 2 of the sales guys at GC came in and toild me to stop wasting my time trying to dial it in...they said they had been twisting knobs on it since it got there on Friday afternoon and still couldn't be blown away by it!

Are we playing the same amp??? The one in my GC is NOTHING like what you're describing. The reverb is among the best I've heard aside from a Fender tube amp!

I had the thing up at moderate volume in the Loud Room with a Fat Strat and honest to God, I couldn't get a bad sound out of it.

I mean it's not a "blow-away" amp but it was easily among the best amps in the store and very fun to play and easy to get good tones out of.

I'm boggled as to what the disconnect here might be.

 

[TheAbomb12]

Re: Egnater Tourmaster!!

I plugged into the Tourmaster half stack this afternoon and I have to be honest...it was very ho-hum at best to me...the cleans had little to no life to them and the crunch channel was decent at best...the reverb was as bland as could be and on top of all that the fit and finish on the tolex and grill cloth wsa worse that any junky low buck amp I've ever seen...

I tried to tweak it best I culd to get it to really open up and have a great tone but I wasn't able to dial in one great tone on it, 2 of the sales guys at GC came in and toild me to stop wasting my time trying to dial it in...they said they had been twisting knobs on it since it got there on Friday afternoon and still couldn't be blown away by it!

the GC employees must have broke something...

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Egnater Tourmaster!!

Are we playing the same amp??? The one in my GC is NOTHING like what you're describing. The reverb is among the best I've heard aside from a Fender tube amp!
I had the thing up at moderate volume in the Loud Room with a Fat Strat and honest to God, I couldn't get a bad sound out of it.
I mean it's not a "blow-away" amp but it was easily among the best amps in the store and very fun to play and easy to get good tones out of.
I'm boggled as to what the disconnect here might be.

the GC employees must have broke something...

Same amp and not broken at all...it just felt and sounded very lack luster to me, in fact it did nothing for me at all. I even tried it through a different cab in hopes I'd like it better since Im not a big fan of Vinatge 30's and much to my surprise it got worse! I also tried it in the lower wattage sections in hopes that once I got it breathing good it would start to really sing...no such luck...it just wasn't my idea of a good time...

I guess it just proves that different players like different things...

 

[TheAbomb12]

Re: Egnater Tourmaster!!

no something is wrong... most likely the bias of the tubes (its probably biased too cold)...

that happens all the time with amps, and people plug into an amp thats has a bias a little colder than normal and they think the amp sucks...


I pretty sure that is the case, cause the clean channel is anything but lifeless. Its not my favorite clean (I prefer super super sparkly metal cleans); but it it defintely not lifeless, not by a long shot...

and the crunch channel was amazing for blues...

on top of all that the fit and finish on the tolex and grill cloth wsa worse that any junky low buck amp I've ever seen...

now, you must be definitely talking about a different amp...

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Egnater Tourmaster!!

no something is wrong... most likely the bias of the tubes (its probably biased too cold)...
that happens all the time with amps, and people plug into an amp thats has a bias a little colder than normal and they think the amp sucks...
I pretty sure that is the case, cause the clean channel is anything but lifeless. Its not my favorite clean (I prefer super super sparkly metal cleans); but it it defintely not lifeless, not by a long shot...
and the crunch channel was amazing for blues...
now, you must be definitely talking about a different amp...

Dude...give it up...I know what amp I played through and I know enough about amps to know this one was running just fine...

Just because you like it doesn't make it a great amp for everybody and just becasue I didn't like it doesn't mean it is a bad amp or that it is broken...it just means I dont like it!

Please stop telling me what you think could be wrong with it...it's here, I played through it and based on what I saw and heard today I wouldn't piss on one of them to put out a fire however if you like them cool, buy one!

One other thing to think about is this...maybe it was just a dud...everybody makes one from time to time but based on what I though about this one I won't bother to plug into another one...thats just me. Like I said...if you like them get ya self one and enjoy it!

There is no one amp that will ever please the whole gutar playing world...just not gonna happen!

 

[TheAbomb12]

Re: Egnater Tourmaster!!

but I don't like them... or at least for the tone I want...


but what you're saying is completely contrary to what I experienced. In fact I thought the clean, crunch and reverb were its strongest attributes. However, the gain channel wasn't what I was looking for, and the tonal structure was a different style then I wanted... so thats what turned me off... so it was rather ho-hum for me as well--- just for difference reasons I guess.


I'm just saying, you don't have to be in love with it-- and I understand that cause neither am I. But the things your disappointed about are leaving me scratching my head...

 

[B2D]

Re: Egnater Tourmaster!!

There is no one amp that will ever please the whole gutar playing world...just not gonna happen!

True that.

Most of the time, finding an "awesome" piece of gear is really less about how good it is by comparison and more about finding out what works for you as a player. This amp seems to have worked for me really well and not so well for Christian here.

I've experienced total let downs from classic amps and guitars that I expected to like, because I'd seen players whom I admire getting great sounds from them. I've seen people get great tones out of gear I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole... It all depends on preference and what works for you.

Virtual Kevorkian told me something real cool recently. He said, "It's all about finding what works best for you, and 9 times out of 10 things just DON'T work for you."