Tourmaster Series Amps-Is There Something Wrong With My Hear

[Guitarvc]

For the record I want to say that I am the proud owner of a Mod 50 with TD and SL2 modules and it is the best amp I have ever had. The tones equal that of my Bogner Shiva and it is more versatile. That being said, I also love the tones of the TOL series amps, as well as the seminar heads. My experience with Egnater has been very positive and the team over there excel in the customer service area. I say all this for the record for a reason.

I have tested the Tourmaster head with Egnater 4x12 and 1x12 combo on 2 separate occasions. While I like the clean tones I hate the overdrive. To me it sounds loose and harsh. I compared it to the new Marshalls ( which I hate) and the Marshalls sounded better. Is there something wrong with my hearing? I would like to hear from the rest of you who have heard both the Mod series and the Tourmaster series. Am I just spoiled? I have heard nothing but rave reviews of the Tourmaster amps, and the You Tube demo sounds fantastic. It sounded like a different amp than the 2 that I tested at GC. Am I hearing things? What is the deal?

 

[Audioholic]

It took a bit of tweaking to find a drive sound that I liked when I played the Tourmaster, got something that I liked, but still, it is much more looser sounding, so in that we agree.

 

[blumuz123]

the knobs on the 4100 are very sensitive. A light bump or turn makes a huge difference in tone.
It takes a lil time to get used to it. also if the wattage settings on the back were on different power settings
and not dialed in on the front properly, it can be less than desirable sounding for the moment.
(we had bought a second tourmaster and almost sent it back because we thought something was wrong with it compared to our first one. and it was the power settings)

I have to say that the slant GC 4x12 sounds loose and harsh on its own (also with my mod50).
the GC 4x12 straight is much better sounding.

IMO the tourmaster can hang. match it up with a great cab/speakers and it will not disappoint.

 

[mmorse]

I tried the Marshall JVM when it came out and thought it sounded terrible. I could not dial out the thin fizziness of the OD. I also tried a Tourmaster when it first came out. Initially it sounded much like the JVM on the OD channels. Very disappointing. But I continued to dial it in. I ended up turning the contour off and keeping the classic/modern switch in classic mode. I was then able to dial in some very respectable OD tones. Something I could not do with the JVM.

Even at rather low volumes, the Tourmaster delivered nice, full, punchy OD. and that was thru the Egnater slant 412. I think the Tourmaster is the amp the JVM should have been. It has that over the top modern buzzy uber gain if that's what you want but it can also do the classic rock crunch thing with the best of them. And at reasonable levels.

I almost bought one but have decided to wait for the Rebel. Love the clips I've heard and it will fill my needs better.

 

[prsplayer_2000]

It takes a while to dial in the TM overdrive. There are SO many variables, like the vintage/modern and contour switches, as well as the power scaling. I have the 2x12 combo, and love the OD tones, but it took a while to dial them in to my liking.

 

[jkdsteve]

I dunno if I buy that...there's something awry with the amps design if ya can't just put everything at 12 o'clock and get useable, balanced tones in either voicing or each of the power settings.....granted the tone produced might not satisgy a Dumble'dor or a aby-eating death metal fiend...but tones should still be good with these simple criteria IMO.

It works like this on the MTS stuff and it's always a good starting point...the rest is by ear and feel.

 

[aeroic]

I dunno if I buy that...there's something awry with the amps design if ya can't just put everything at 12 o'clock and get useable, balanced tones in either voicing or each of the power settings.....granted the tone produced might not satisgy a Dumble'dor or a aby-eating death metal fiend...but tones should still be good with these simple criteria IMO.

It works like this on the MTS stuff and it's always a good starting point...the rest is by ear and feel.

I agree w/ you JKD. I just played a tourmaster combo into a 4x12 Egnater today in Vegas. I set everything at 12, and it was awesome!!! The contour switch I really don't like much, but the modern / classic switches are quite interesting. I did feel that the Tourmaster set at 12 o'clock sounded great w/o the contour. I had the clean at 100w, the dirty channels at 25w and it was awesome!

I just ordered one . I really dug them a lot! Definitely very Egnater sounding, and as good of quality as the USA made stuff. I prefer the M4 / Mod50 because of the modules, but the Tourmaster is a nice bad ass 4-channel amp. I do feel I could easily do gigs w/ it as my main amp though too!

Eric

 

[3 Mile Stone]

Played one for about 30 minutes at GC in San Antonio. I thought it sounded great. I played it through the slant 4X12 and thought it was one of the best sounding 4X12 cabs around. I almost went back and bought the cab, but I don not need a 4X12. And I do NOT like Vintage 30's at all. I didn't remember that each channel has a power scaling set up on it until later on after I was done jamming on it. It must have been set fairly well by someone there at GC. I have no idea what you are hearing that would make it sound so displeasing. It sounded all Egnater to me. I will echo some of the concerns others have expressed about the contour voices. I initially did not care for what it did, but like I said, I only spent 30 minutes with it.

 

[Jeff Hilligan]

glad your digging it! Now back to your MOD 50!

 

[3 Mile Stone]

RIGHTO! Back I am.

 

[jmgman69]

glad your digging it! Now back to your MOD 50!

Jeff,is there no life after Mod??????I think NOT!!!!