Tweaker 40 update info?

[jwebb1970]

Hey all Egnater fans...long time lurker here....

So why post now all of a sudden? Well, I've owned a Tweaker 40-112 for almost exactly 1 year. Purchased new from GC in 2013. Within a week of purchase I swapped out the stock 6L6's w/ EL34s & re-biased (per info & a thumbs up to do so from Egnater) and had the amp running great & sounding even better almost daily up until about 2 weeks ago. Long story short, I too suffered the blown power transformer problem other Tweaker owners have dealt with .

Contacted Egnater service the following Monday & was issued an RA by Blad. During our e-mail conversation, Blad mentioned my need to have the Tweaker "updated" - including a new, upgraded PT & a fan.

As of earlier today, was told the amp would be shipping back to me this week.

While I am sure I'll be popping it open to survey the new stuff inside once it arrives, I was wondering if Bruce might chime in here & go into a little more detail on this update. If nothing else, this info could help those on the fence about a Tweaker 40 get some reassurance that if they do have an issue while under warranty, it will be taken proper care of.

Lastly, I have to add that my service experience w/ Blad & the Egnater service team in SoCal has been very positive. Based on a lot of what I have seen online (mostly concentrated over a particular time period with much happening not all that recently) regarding a lack of good customer service from the amp maker, I just want to say that MY experience has been more than satisfactory (other than lacking my Tweaker for a couple of weeks)

 

[jwebb1970]

Update on my revived Tweaker 40-112...

Amp arrived early this week back from SoCal. While I have yet to open the amp up, it looks as if a possibly larger (?) PT (still with the Egnater Tweaker 40 sticker on it) and a fan mounted to the rear center grill pointing up towards the PT were cleanly installed.

Amp returned with the same GT EL34Ms it had in it when I sent it off. I assume a bias check was part of the work involved.

Fan is very quiet. And where as the amp would get fairly warm in the past, as of yet it remains cool to the touch even after extended power-on periods.

Would like to hear more about any power tranny spec changes that may have been part of this Tweaker 40 update....

But so far...so good. Amp is rockin' nicely.

And I will add again that the service from Egnater's end - especially Blad - was solid. No complaints from this Tweaker owner.

 

[thickwood]

I thought the tweaker 40 had a cathode bias and is self bias by voltage on the cathode ?

 

[danelectro]

The transformer on my Tweaker 40 died earlier in the year and luckily the amp was just inside on the warranty period so I contacted Egnater and sent it in for repair. A new tranny was installed along with a cooling fan. The tech (cant remember his name) told me that the new transformer is much improved and it will last the life of the amp. I've been using the amp practically every day since then and so far so good.

 

[jwebb1970]

I thought the tweaker 40 had a cathode bias and is self bias by voltage on the cathode ?

Nope, adjustable bias with internal test points.

 

[jwebb1970]

The transformer on my Tweaker 40 died earlier in the year and luckily the amp was just inside on the warranty period so I contacted Egnater and sent it in for repair. A new tranny was installed along with a cooling fan. The tech (cant remember his name) told me that the new transformer is much improved and it will last the life of the amp. I've been using the amp practically every day since then and so far so good.

I have noticed since getting my amp back that the once rather warm-to-the-touch Tweaker 40-112 (esp. after long sessions) is now very much cool to the touch.

 

[MJRoberts30]

So does the tweaker 40 combo normally come without a cooling fan and is only installed after a warranty claim?

 

[jwebb1970]

So does the tweaker 40 combo normally come without a cooling fan and is only installed after a warranty claim?

The fan was not originally part of the Tweaker design. It & the upgraded PT are part of a service update.

I would assume that any Tweaker 40s made after a certain date and/or any being produced now have the PT upgrade & fan installed out of the gate. I know mine, which was upgraded under warranty after the original PT went to sh*t, had been sitting in its box for possibly up to a year in the local GC's warehouse prior to my buying it in July 2013.

Hoping to finally hear from Bruce here on any specific details on the upgrade......

 

[Joepeggio]

Thread revival!!!

Good to see this post. My 40 PT just crapped out. Same situation as OP, about 10 months after purchase. Blad is very kind and responds very quickly (and answers phone most of the time ).

Warranty work on its way...

One question for jwebb1970.
Do you think the fan could be heard in recording situation?


Thanks.

 

[jwebb1970]

Thread revival!!!

Good to see this post. My 40 PT just crapped out. Same situation as OP, about 10 months after purchase. Blad is very kind and responds very quickly (and answers phone most of the time ).

Warranty work on its way...

One question for jwebb1970.
Do you think the fan could be heard in recording situation?


Thanks.

Potentially, yes. The fan - at least the one on mine - is pretty quiet. A slight, but noticeable hum comes from the fan when you first power up the Tweaker. Hum emanates from the rear of the combo, so if you are close-miking the amp, said hum is likely negligible at worst. They mount the fan inside (pointing up towards the PT) to the grill covering the opening of the rear of the combo. A mike close up to the speaker may likely not pick up the minor fan noise at all. I've had old tube amps in the past that were far more noisy when idling without a fan than the updated Tweaker is with one.

Recently added a Tweaker 112 cabinet to the mix. Even for a semi-open cab, getting more "chunk" now running it along w/ the combo speaker - not as much as I got during my 4x12 rockin' days, but definitely getting some nice, deep low end "chug" that the combo struggled to produce on its own. Plus, cool to have a "1/4 stack" of sorts.

If the fan seems too noisy for you in a studio situation, maybe run an ext cab a certain distance away from the Tweaker & mike that up? I ran my Tweaker 40 thru a buddy's Marshall 1960B cab recently - now THAT was chunky!

 

[Joepeggio]

Thanks for the info. Blad said if its too noisy they have a resister mod for the fan to "quiet" it down (just slow it down I presume.)

I also have a tweaker 15 head and 112 cab. Which I used at a last Sat gig. I stacked the broken 40 and used its speaker. It did ok for the small backyard event. Sounds like micing the extension is the way to go (the G30 does mic nicely).

Thanks again.