New Amps Day!

[sixstrings]

Egnater Renegade 60w 1x12 Combo. I suck at recording but I'll try my best to post something worthwhile for the forum.

Marshall DSL100

I'm sure the DSL needs no introduction, but let me tell you about the Renegade. When I first tried an Egnater, they had a Tourmaster head and combo. I thought they sounded good but they were monstrous. The head was bulky and heavy and the combo was impractical back then. I don't remember them sounding this good because I kind of held the opinion that they were a bit overrated. I'm glad I revisited them recently.

This thing is actually pretty easy to carry around and sounds incredible. Lots of cool features and all packed into this combo for only $1100!

I have a Mark V combo and I think the Renegade sounds like a cross between it and my DSL. I use EL34's in my Mark V so I'm pretty familiar with how the Mark V sounds either way. I know people loosely use a lot of these kinds of descriptions, but that's how it sounds to me. Pretty much a Mark V and DSL lovechild. The clean channel sounds on EL34 remind me of a Bogner Shiva.

You can use a knob to mix the two 6L6 & 2 EL34 tubes. Although it's a cool feature, I prefer either all the way on 6L6 or on EL34. The mix knob works well but I would be happy if it just flipped from 6L6 to EL34. All the points in between don't do anything for me. However, it's cool to have.

The reverb sounds fantastic, and the controls work very well. I'm really surprised at the quality of sound and craftsmanship of this amp. Honestly, I think it's the deal of the decade.

That being said, I was on the fence between the Renegade and the Haze 40. Although I liked the sound of the Haze a bit more, I chose the Renegade for reliability and because I already have Marshall amps.

Just an all-around fantastic amp. I'd like to get the head version to run through my 2x12 cabs. I put it through a Budda 2x12 and it sounded even better. Great amp!

 

[fek]

I really want a Renegade head. My RM50 and soon to arrive RM4 will have to do for now.

 

[JackBootedThug]

sweet. never been a fan of dsl's, but i tried a new and it sounded great.

 

[TX6Strings]

Congrats! While I'm not a huge fan of the renegade it is a pretty cool amp.

I'm still diggin' my DSL through greenies even after my Mark IV showed up!

 

[sixstrings]

Congrats! While I'm not a huge fan of the renegade it is a pretty cool amp.

I'm still diggin' my DSL through greenies even after my Mark IV showed up!

Man all I've got is a couple of 2x12 cabs, but I really really want to get a 4x12 with some greenbacks. Man I put my JCM800, Bogner Shiva and DSL100 through a Marshall 4x12 with greenbacks and damn it sounded incredible. What about those EVH speakers though, how do those compare? Have you tried those out yet?

 

[TX6Strings]

Congrats! While I'm not a huge fan of the renegade it is a pretty cool amp.

I'm still diggin' my DSL through greenies even after my Mark IV showed up!

Man all I've got is a couple of 2x12 cabs, but I really really want to get a 4x12 with some greenbacks. Man I put my JCM800, Bogner Shiva and DSL100 through a Marshall 4x12 with greenbacks and damn it sounded incredible. What about those EVH speakers though, how do those compare? Have you tried those out yet?

I love my Marshall 412 with greenies but I actually prefered my Shiva through 75's and V30's than the greenies but that cab KILLS with my DSL and Mark IV.

The only amp I've tried the EVH speakers out with was the 5153 through the matching cab. They sounded pretty good to my ears but I actually liked the 5153 through 75's myself.

 

[D-Rock]

That looks like one of the newer DSL's with the black piping instead of white. Correct?

 

[sixstrings]

That looks like one of the newer DSL's with the black piping instead of white. Correct?

Yeah. I researched to see if I could find a difference in the actual components by contacting Marshall, local Marshall reps and putting the question out on the Internet. One sales rep swore they're not as good, but everyone else says it's the same. Marshall's official word is that it's the same with black piping instead.

As far as I can tell, the DSL100MLB sounds slightly more compressed. It's a subtle difference, but the sound of my old DSL is burned into my mind so I can hear the difference. I think it's nothing more than either the tubes or the same difference that you get from inconsistencies in any amp.

Either way, the thing sounds damned good. I'm extremely happy to have gotten a new one. In a world of all these new amps and modelers, the DSL still puts out an incredible sound. It's also been one of the most reliable amps I've owned.

The new Haze amps sound real nice too, but I question the reliability. Furthermore, I would rather have NO digital effects and a lower price tag or some other improvement. Granted the effects are ok, but probably nothing passable in a recording.

Now Marshall is offering the MA series which is basically a whole line of CHEAP amps. I think they went the wrong way on that because I personally feel they should have improved the DSL series and made the prices more accessible to offer along with the Haze series. Last thing we need is more crappy Chinese and Pakistani amps on the market.

 

[JTyson]

Nice man, congrats would like to hear the new Eggie

 

[glassjaw7]

Congrats on both amps! I love the Renegade, great amp for the $.

As for any differences in the old/new DSL's; I believe it was jerry of FJA mods who said they are identical inside.

 

[D-Rock]

That looks like one of the newer DSL's with the black piping instead of white. Correct?

Yeah. I researched to see if I could find a difference in the actual components by contacting Marshall, local Marshall reps and putting the question out on the Internet. One sales rep swore they're not as good, but everyone else says it's the same. Marshall's official word is that it's the same with black piping instead.

As far as I can tell, the DSL100MLB sounds slightly more compressed. It's a subtle difference, but the sound of my old DSL is burned into my mind so I can hear the difference. I think it's nothing more than either the tubes or the same difference that you get from inconsistencies in any amp.

Either way, the thing sounds damned good. I'm extremely happy to have gotten a new one. In a world of all these new amps and modelers, the DSL still puts out an incredible sound. It's also been one of the most reliable amps I've owned.

The new Haze amps sound real nice too, but I question the reliability. Furthermore, I would rather have NO digital effects and a lower price tag or some other improvement. Granted the effects are ok, but probably nothing passable in a recording.

Now Marshall is offering the MA series which is basically a whole line of CHEAP amps. I think they went the wrong way on that because I personally feel they should have improved the DSL series and made the prices more accessible to offer along with the Haze series. Last thing we need is more crappy Chinese and Pakistani amps on the market.

Interesting. Do you notice anything different with regards to the headshell like size, or the tolex?

Something else I heard was that these MLB's are simply regular DSL's housed in leftover MG headshells.(?)
From your picture, the tolex looks like it has smaller "dimples" like they use on the MG's and AVT's. Where as Marshall typically uses more of an "elephant hide", larger dimpled tolex on their higher end tube amps and cabs...

 

[sixstrings]

That looks like one of the newer DSL's with the black piping instead of white. Correct?

Yeah. I researched to see if I could find a difference in the actual components by contacting Marshall, local Marshall reps and putting the question out on the Internet. One sales rep swore they're not as good, but everyone else says it's the same. Marshall's official word is that it's the same with black piping instead.

As far as I can tell, the DSL100MLB sounds slightly more compressed. It's a subtle difference, but the sound of my old DSL is burned into my mind so I can hear the difference. I think it's nothing more than either the tubes or the same difference that you get from inconsistencies in any amp.

Either way, the thing sounds damned good. I'm extremely happy to have gotten a new one. In a world of all these new amps and modelers, the DSL still puts out an incredible sound. It's also been one of the most reliable amps I've owned.

The new Haze amps sound real nice too, but I question the reliability. Furthermore, I would rather have NO digital effects and a lower price tag or some other improvement. Granted the effects are ok, but probably nothing passable in a recording.

Now Marshall is offering the MA series which is basically a whole line of CHEAP amps. I think they went the wrong way on that because I personally feel they should have improved the DSL series and made the prices more accessible to offer along with the Haze series. Last thing we need is more crappy Chinese and Pakistani amps on the market.

Interesting. Do you notice anything different with regards to the headshell like size, or the tolex?

Something else I heard was that these MLB's are simply regular DSL's housed in leftover MG headshells.(?)
From your picture, the tolex looks like it has smaller "dimples" like they use on the MG's and AVT's. Where as Marshall typically uses more of an "elephant hide", larger dimpled tolex on their higher end tube amps and cabs...

Yeah, I would agree that there's something different about the tolex. My old DSL had rougher looking tolex. I think there was something slightly different about the cab too but I can't put my finger on it. As far as I know, it's the same shit on the inside.

It sounds the same, plays the same, so I'm assuming it's just a different headshell. Shit, I don't really care because the DSL100's used to go for around $1200-14000 and I got this one for $900 new. Pretty good deal I think.

 

[D-Rock]

Yup, that's a great value. Enjoy!

 

[killertone]

Something else I heard was that these MLB's are simply regular DSL's housed in leftover MG headshells.(?)
From your picture, the tolex looks like it has smaller "dimples" like they use on the MG's and AVT's. Where as Marshall typically uses more of an "elephant hide", larger dimpled tolex on their higher end tube amps and cabs...

No MG or AVT head ever had a head box that would fit a DSL head so that can't be the case.

 

[gtr31]

Hey Sixstrings congrats on the renegade .great bang for the buck for sure..

I wanted to ask your opinion on the 20th Bogner Shiva, I have read stellar reviews of that amp .
How much gain does it have as compared to say a renegade or Mark V.

is the voicing good for Scorpions ,Whitesnake kinda stuff .
It sounds like the modern mode adds that Upper mid bite to the low mids.

How is the master fro low volume playing and recording?

Thanks man

 

[sixstrings]

Hey Sixstrings congrats on the renegade .great bang for the buck for sure..

I wanted to ask your opinion on the 20th Bogner Shiva, I have read stellar reviews of that amp .
How much gain does it have as compared to say a renegade or Mark V.

is the voicing good for Scorpions ,Whitesnake kinda stuff .
It sounds like the modern mode adds that Upper mid bite to the low mids.

How is the master fro low volume playing and recording?

Thanks man

Honestly, I don't know why Bogner called it a Shiva. When people hear Shiva, they immediately think a JCM800 kind of amp with a nice clean channel. I've been back and forth but finally came to the conclusion that it's nothing like the Shiva really.

To start with, the cleans are very different. They're fuller, not as jangly, and very warm. There's a boost so you can get pristine clean or bluesy cleans, very cool if you use a boost pedal or overdrive.

The overdrive channel has two modes, one has a vintage voicing and the other has a modern voicing. The first gain channel is kind of reminiscent of a regular Shiva except with more gain. Once you engage the modern voicing, the amp increases in gain and the character becomes more modern sounding.

There's plenty of gain for any kind of music. In fact, it goes from a very subtle gain to metal and stops just short of being ridiculous. Compared to an Uberschall rev. blue, which I think had a ridiculous amount of gain on tap, the Shiva gain ends at just enough to do anything.

As if that's not enough already, the amp features bright controls and a tone shift which allows it to take on a more aggressive scooped sound.

For a 90 freaking watt amp, I can't believe how good it sounds at bedroom volumes. I guess Bogner had that in mind when building it. There's also a bass expander knob which allows you to add the low end you need at lower volumes.

I guess it would be on par with the Renegade and Mark V in terms of gain. The Mark V can get pretty damned gainy on some modes, and the Renegade has a surprising amount of gain on tap.

The Renegade is an amazing little amp. I find my self wanting to buy another one as backup just in case they stop making them or raise prices. You can do so much with it yet it's very simple. It's almost hard to believe you can get so much tone and value for your money, but that's the way it should be. That's where I think Egnater does it right and all the other manufacturers do it wrong.

In fact, that's what I think American business should be about. We should build the best stuff and price it affordably. Companies like Marshall and Fender go about it a different way. They make cheap shit for people who can't afford their expensive shit. Egnater makes great shit and prices it for everyone.

Anyway, back to the Shiva 20th. It's an amazing amp in all aspects. The KT88's really have a great sound to them. Everything about the sound of it is warm and organic and blossoms. Even if it didn't have a modern mode, I think the Shiva 20th would still be very versatile. In vintage mode, with humbuckers, I can get Metallica type tones. One other thing is although I'm not much of a clean player, I really really enjoy the cleans.

 

[D-Rock]

Something else I heard was that these MLB's are simply regular DSL's housed in leftover MG headshells.(?)
From your picture, the tolex looks like it has smaller "dimples" like they use on the MG's and AVT's. Where as Marshall typically uses more of an "elephant hide", larger dimpled tolex on their higher end tube amps and cabs...

No MG or AVT head ever had a head box that would fit a DSL head so that can't be the case.

True, but the MG headshells may not have been fully assembled. Could just be the wood and tolex that was set aside for MG's but was never used. So they tailored them to house these DSL MLB's.
Regardless, it's a great value for a new, all tube Marshall.

 

[gtr31]

Hey Six .

Thanks so much for the full review..
Very cool about the playing at bedroom volumes it is nice to not have to crank to rip your head off levels to enjoy good tone.
Egnater is also really good at that.

It sound like a great amp .In the past I have always been a little wary of Bogner as they tend to be darker and thicker and a little bit looser on the low end than I like for Rythms.
It sounds like the new Bog in modern mode does more of that Soldano/Suhr/Deizel upper mid punch as well as the Tighter more percussive attack and added gain..

thanks again