Egnater amps and their issues

[zepplin490]

I had been eyeing an egnater tourmaster for a while and it looked and sounded great from all the youtube demo's. Then I started reading the written reviews and I found for the most part they are horror stories of the amp breaking down all the time and people playing shows and then having the amp shit the bed on em... anyone own one? is all this criticism fair to the amp?
-mp-

 

[marvcus]

I had an M4 preamp + modules for a good bit. The quality and tone was top notch all the way around. I would never hesitate to pull the trigger on the USA stuff.

Don't have much experience with the export line, but there do seem to be recurring issues with the Rebel 30, Renegade, and Tourmaster based on what is posted out there.

 

[zepplin490]

Yeah ive never heard of any issues with the m4's I have an RM4 and a pile of modules also I have all the other mts gear in my sig. But i have never played a real egnater amp, I saw a video where it basically sounded like a souped up JVM but ive heard alot of horror stories about the tourmasters too..
-mp-

 

[fuzzyguitars]

m4

mod 100 x 2

zero issues for the past 4 years

 

[racerevlon]

Too many horror stories for it to be coincidental. Shame, because I'd like to have a Renegade 4x10 something fierce.

 

[snowdog]

Go read through the Egnater sub forum. All kinds of problems and fixes, maybe they should get things ironed out before they go out the door.

 

[DeezDemos]

I've had a Tweaker 40 for about five months now, so far so good. It's a killer sounding & very flexible amp but I don't trust gigging with it by itself due to all the horror stories I've read.

 

[Anonymous]

i have a tourmaster, and had to replace the output tranny in it. im also on my second reverb tranny.

great tone....some headaches, but a learned a lot about amp internals too. it got me started down the modding road.

it seems the "M" modded ones from the factory have the new output tranny in them already and the tighter bass, treble reduction, gain increase mod. i did my own mods to it. i love it for what it is. the combo is heavy as fuck if thats an issue for you at all.

the power wattage reduction in them is an awesome feature, they have a great effects loop (tube driven) that can be serial or parallel, and each channel has a contour button ( a mid scoop feature) and a vintage/modern switch. 4 channels, each channel sounds phenomenal, and transition well into each other.

if it werent for the issues, i would give it a 9.5/10 (only because i spent a lot of time customizing a tube cocktail for it that i like better than the stock chinese groove tubes). if you get a good one, as i suspect MANY have, you'll love it to death...if you despise tinkering and get a bad one that requires you to self service or send it in, then may the force be with you

i love mine.

 

[Wayniac3]

I was at Bruce's amp seminar when he told us that these were coming out.. I'm not a fan of outsourcing like that with your name on it.. it just rubs me wrong. I KNOW that is the way of the world now.. but it sucks.
In the big picture - it helped get his name out there to a bigger audience. Prior to that - who besides hardcore gear heads or those in the industry knew him and his talents?
Bad side of that is - well now a lot of what is associated with his name is a negative.
I like Bruce (was a VERY cool, mellow, approachable no ego guy at the seminar)and I think he has a great ear and a ton of talent... and his US stuff is amazing (had an M4 years back).
Cool if you can support him in any way...

 

[angelspade]

I've been waiting for the previously announced Tourmaster HG (new - "High Gain" version) as the previous version didn't quite "get there" for me in terms of aggression on chan 3 & 4. Quite honestly, the JVM satch has me looking in that direction instead. I have a thing for versatile, 4 chan, high-gainers. In regards to the early run Toumasters reliability? ....I wouldn't go near one, failure rate simply too high to roll the dice.

 

[Viesczy]

I've been waiting for the previously announced Tourmaster HG (new - "High Gain" version) as the previous version didn't quite "get there" for me in terms of aggression on chan 3 & 4. Quite honestly, the JVM satch has me looking in that direction instead. I have a thing for versatile, 4 chan, high-gainers. In regards to the early run Toumasters reliability? ....I wouldn't go near one, failure rate simply too high to roll the dice.

Include me in on the HG version wait list too!

Derek

 

[zepplin490]

Yeah I really have not read much positive about these amps except that they sound very good for the short period that they are working, as alot of youtube demos show. Killer tone but far too many issues. Bruce has designed some really great amps, The Randall MTS series are great amps (not without issues though) and I just got rid of the ridiculous B52 At-100 which has a great feature set for its price and in two years of owning the B52 the only issue was a single blown 6550 tube. I was totally turned off from egnater now that ive read all the horror stories so i ended up getting a late model JCM 2000 TSL 100 Head which seems to do all that the tourmaster did with 4 channels and seemingly does it better with 3 channels.
-mp-

 

[steve_k]

Any problems with the M4 and modules? The current reissue M4's Bruce is doing now, made in USA or China?

 

[zepplin490]

Steve: I have never actually heard of any problems at all with the m4's and ive been a rabid follower of the mts forum for a year and a half. They seem to be rock solid, and Bruce is now doing a limited run of new m4's for only $700! I chose the RM4 rather than the M4 due to the loops and some of the other more modern features that the M4 lacks. and pretty soon its just gonna be the rm4 and a 50 watt rm50 head for use as a poweramp... Ive got an RM100B for sale at the moment..
-mp-
I believe the new production of M4's are gonna be U.S. Made

 

[severinsteel]

I have a Egnater Mod 50 that I love! The import stuff gets a bad rap on the forums, but it seems like most people who comment on the amps are only regurgitating stuff they have read and haven't actually owned the amp. Most people have no idea about tube amps as far as maintenance and think the amp is broken if a tube fails.

 

[gtr31]

I have a Egnater Mod 50 that I love! The import stuff gets a bad rap on the forums, but it seems like most people who comment on the amps are only regurgitating stuff they have read and haven't actually owned the amp. Most people have no idea about tube amps as far as maintenance and think the amp is broken if a tube fails.

I agree to a point but Most of the Egnater issues are not tube related .Most are transformers, bad pots etc.

The US made stuff was great . hopefully their return to US will improve the QC

 

[angelspade]

I have a Egnater Mod 50 that I love! The import stuff gets a bad rap on the forums, but it seems like most people who comment on the amps are only regurgitating stuff they have read and haven't actually owned the amp. Most people have no idea about tube amps as far as maintenance and think the amp is broken if a tube fails.

I agree to a point but Most of the Egnater issues are not tube related .Most are transformers, bad pots etc.

The US made stuff was great . hopefully their return to US will improve the QC

...Yeah, the Egnater flaws in regards to the Tourmaster and it's transformer are real. Too bad, because I felt that the Tourmaster sounded pretty good, and was looking to grab one used and have it modded a bit. If the issues are worked out on the new HG version (assuming it ever is released), I will definitely give it a look.

 

[Anonymous]

What do you expect from stuff made in China...

I had a Tweaker 15 and didn't care for the sound at all, even for 300$

 

[Robotechnology]

I have a Tourmaster vid with a lot of views on YouTube that you probably saw if you were researching the amp. I sold it just over a year ago and the tranformer went after The warranty was over a few months however, Egnater replaced the power transformer and updated it to "m" specs as if it was still covered. I was in the process of selling it when this happened. My friend still has the amp and loves it and he's used it more than I have over the past year than i did with my 3 years with it. He's had no problems with it. So I think they're fine, just the original power transformers weren't. The Tourmaster is a lot of bang for the buck with good tone.

 

[Anonymous]

What do you expect from stuff made in China...

I had a Tweaker 15 and didn't care for the sound at all, even for 300$

im gonna answer that.

actually, in two parts.

first, i actually expect more from MASS manufactured amps than i do from american ones (are there even any mass produced amps still being made in USA???). being that the crop of mongoloids at the local burger joint cant even get my order right, their parents should be happy they dont have their hands in amps that can kill them. as opposed to a communist regime running sweatshops cracking the whip at people that fuck up.....i think china wins out on that one by default.


second, i know most people dont want to hear it, but the Q&A on outsourced work in china has actually improved in leaps and bounds over the past 5-8 years even...and honestly, how can you blame the person assembling the amp for a failed output tranny, or a bad tube? thats like blaming the gas station clerk for a bad batch of gas, or sour milk.

the anti outsourced angle is tiring, and while i CERTAINLY understand it, it's just old and been rehashed so many times here and other places.

go start an amp company, and see how long you last hiring, training and dealing with entitled americans that wont do that for "10$hr?" and see how long it is before you outsource after you land that big contract with guitar center. certainly there's some blame to lay on the early tourmaster issues, and some of the other issues....

but, just like cops doing a great job, you never hear about it....you never hear people praise the tourmaster or renegadge or tweakers cause it's unpopular to do so, lest you get berated for it, or degraded on some forum, or in the least, people look down their nose at you. i've jammed my tourmaster in a bunch of different situations, and while some of the issues i dealt with were frustrating to get it fixed, the tone still stands up. every time.

double edged sword.