I've said it before and I'll say it again: Egnater modular series ROCKS.
Since I've got my mod50 a few years ago it has 100% cured any amp related gas for non-modular series stuff. I got the mod50 and an m4, and looking for another m4 to fit the rest of my modules in.
I left the forums for about a year and I guess during that time a lot of people jumped shipped which I just don't get. Does the amp you have still sound amazing and do what NO other amp out there can do? The guys at Egnater are always super helpful and back up their products and easy to get a hold of. And even i they weren't, the modular series are still rock solid and sound great. So i don't get why you'd jump ship.
Either way, they're the best solution for me by a long shot. To me, it's the solution to a bunch of problems WITHOUT any of the compromises. First of all, I can use the mod50 at bedroom levels and I still like the sound, which is not something that is common amongst big heads like that (it does have a low wattage feature which is cool). It has a series loop, a parallel loop, and MIDI switching already built in. Bone head easy to use, and if you want a new amp sound or feel, just switch out a module! Much cheaper and easier than buying and selling heads every few months, and take up much less space too.
What's really cool is sometimes your ears just want to hear a slightly different sound, and swapping modules gives you that. Also, some guitars and module combos may work better for you, so if you have more than one guitar, it's fun to pair them up and so it always sounds great no matter what you are plugging into.
I got to say I'm probably one of the hugest self-proclaimed mod series fan boys out there. If I ever meet Bruce Egnater, I'd like to shake his hand and personally thank him for completely solving that part of my guitar rig/life. Now I can just concentrate on buying more guitars
(and new modules gadgets when they come out!).
For what it's worth, for me, I've never even thought about modifying modules. Firstly, I don't have soldering skills, but mainly because it's one of those "if it ain't broken, don't fix it". I think it is great though that they are so easily modifiable and that people are out there offering that so you can have so many different people with the "same amp" but still getting drastically different tones that work for them. I think the bass/treble boosts are great though and make the amps very versatile. When I'm playing, I just get lost in enjoying the sound and feeling like the guitar and amps are extensions of me, rather than having that little voice in the back of my head that says "something about the sound needs a slight tweak but I can't figure out what it is" that I used to have with other amps. Honestly there have been times where I have been playing, and then looked back at the amp and just smiled because it so perfectly nailed what I was going for. Some modules are really fun to play as well and have different feels, like the COD module will kick your butt if you are sloppy but is a blast.
I used to have a dual rectifier, which for me fell into the category of tweaking forever to dial it in just right. The Egnater is the opposite, you'd have to tweak forever to find a bad sound. Each module is incredibly versatile and dynamic.
I really can't wait for the rebirth of the modular series! I'd love to see some of the things they talked about before (E2!) as well as any new cool things they've got up their sleeves. I suspect that with the popularity of their guitar center line, that might open the doors and get their modular series more exposure than it did before. It was popular here since it's the egnater forums, but I would say even amongst most forums it's still not that well known or talked about, and outside of it, most players don't know about it. Hopefully the word will get out now that there is some recognition to the Egnater name, and when it does come out all those players will say "hey, what's this cool new idea?" Same for the E2, anyone can add that to their existing rig. I can definitely see up and coming guitarist starting out with a more affordable (yet still awesome!) rebel, and then liking the sound but wanting a bigger amp and more channels, maybe looking at the Mod series as something to save up for.
Maybe an entry level Egnater22 would bridge the gap between the two?
Either way, I think it's great that they'll now have a wide range of products to chose from, even outside of the modular series.
You can never tell what the future will hold, but for me personally, I don't foresee something coming out that would make me want to ditch the mod series. I like playing such a wide range of music, it just makes the most sense (and again, I DON'T fee like I'm compromising and getting a jack of all trades master of none). The AxeFx sure seems cool, but one of the biggest benefits that I hinted at before was the ease of use of the modular series. I can reach down add a hint more of treble to my sound and not have to go through menus etc. No matter where I put it, it'll sound great. Bone head simple to use, yet flexible as can be.
Long winded....but in summary: YES I STILL DO, AND I DON'T SEE THAT EVER CHANGING!
oh, and yeah, check out the looper gadget, fixes the problem of using pedals in the loop!
What a great amp!
