tweaker 40 vs tweaker 15 ?
- Thread starter jamme61
- Start date
shimmilou
Member
Hi jamme61,
New to this forum, and Egnater amps. Not an amp snob or anything, but my favorite is my HRDlx, and the Twkr 40 gives it a good run for it's money.
I know that this thread is a little old, but thought that it deserves an answer and I just happened to buy both recently. You are correct that as well as more power in the 40, the 15 is Cathode biased, and the 40 is fixed. But another difference as far as sound is that the 15 has 6V6 and the 40 has 6L6. The 40 is also two-channel, which is a big plus. The 40 can get very close to the 15 sound, and both have identical controls, the 40 adding more controls for two channels. I found the 15 sounded great, really nailed the sweet 6V6 tone that I like, but no channels to switch sounds, and limited in clean volume before distortion. Plus, as Tim Allen says; "I needed more power, o-o-o."
I have been looking for a small amp head with that 6V6 sound and after trying the Rebel 20 and 30 heads, I bought the Twkr 15. Although a great sounding little amp, for me it was just lacking a little bit as mentioned, so I traded up to the 40. Very pleased with the fact that the 40 can get very close to the same driven sounds as the 15 with the addition of the extra switches on the 40, and also that the 40 has a much better, louder clean as well as the included channel/effects foot switch. I use an 8-ohm HRDlx 1x12 ext cab and it seems a perfect match for the 40, and the amp probably would sound even better with a 16-ohm cab, maybe even a 4x12.
The controls on both 15 and 40 are identical, extra control switches on 40, and seem very familiar even though this is my first Egnater, I just like the layout a lot. In the end I didn't care for the blend or variable watts features on the Rebels, and I found that reverb isn't essential, so the 40 was just what I was looking for in a small, light, powerful amp head. If you just want great 6V6, Cathode biased, creamy distortion, go with the 15, and for more versatility and power the 40 is great. The weight difference between the two isn't much either, and about $200 price difference.
I took the 40 for it's first trip out of the house for an impromptu jam at friend's last night, and it is really a very nice sounding amp, and so far has great reviews. Time will tell as far as reliability, but it seems well constructed and I have confidence in it being solid.
New to this forum, and Egnater amps. Not an amp snob or anything, but my favorite is my HRDlx, and the Twkr 40 gives it a good run for it's money.
I know that this thread is a little old, but thought that it deserves an answer and I just happened to buy both recently. You are correct that as well as more power in the 40, the 15 is Cathode biased, and the 40 is fixed. But another difference as far as sound is that the 15 has 6V6 and the 40 has 6L6. The 40 is also two-channel, which is a big plus. The 40 can get very close to the 15 sound, and both have identical controls, the 40 adding more controls for two channels. I found the 15 sounded great, really nailed the sweet 6V6 tone that I like, but no channels to switch sounds, and limited in clean volume before distortion. Plus, as Tim Allen says; "I needed more power, o-o-o."
I have been looking for a small amp head with that 6V6 sound and after trying the Rebel 20 and 30 heads, I bought the Twkr 15. Although a great sounding little amp, for me it was just lacking a little bit as mentioned, so I traded up to the 40. Very pleased with the fact that the 40 can get very close to the same driven sounds as the 15 with the addition of the extra switches on the 40, and also that the 40 has a much better, louder clean as well as the included channel/effects foot switch. I use an 8-ohm HRDlx 1x12 ext cab and it seems a perfect match for the 40, and the amp probably would sound even better with a 16-ohm cab, maybe even a 4x12.
The controls on both 15 and 40 are identical, extra control switches on 40, and seem very familiar even though this is my first Egnater, I just like the layout a lot. In the end I didn't care for the blend or variable watts features on the Rebels, and I found that reverb isn't essential, so the 40 was just what I was looking for in a small, light, powerful amp head. If you just want great 6V6, Cathode biased, creamy distortion, go with the 15, and for more versatility and power the 40 is great. The weight difference between the two isn't much either, and about $200 price difference.
I took the 40 for it's first trip out of the house for an impromptu jam at friend's last night, and it is really a very nice sounding amp, and so far has great reviews. Time will tell as far as reliability, but it seems well constructed and I have confidence in it being solid.
bluesstrattone
New member
Hey shim,
Glad to see you bought the 40,
FYI put some mullard 12AX7 and really
fattens up the cleans.
I've been experimenting with 6l6 tubes.
It has rubys, I tried sed winged c 6l6,
Lowered the bias to 55 because at 65 it felt
To hot.
But IMHO the tubes I liked better(funny)
GT 6l6S the crunch overdrive sounded
Better to me, the cleans sound better with
The sed's but not by that much.
It's easy to bias it has 2 test points that you probe at the
same time.
I'm finding my way back to wanting to buy a hrddlx for a
Grab and go amp. The III series sound great
Glad to see you bought the 40,
FYI put some mullard 12AX7 and really
fattens up the cleans.
I've been experimenting with 6l6 tubes.
It has rubys, I tried sed winged c 6l6,
Lowered the bias to 55 because at 65 it felt
To hot.
But IMHO the tubes I liked better(funny)
GT 6l6S the crunch overdrive sounded
Better to me, the cleans sound better with
The sed's but not by that much.
It's easy to bias it has 2 test points that you probe at the
same time.
I'm finding my way back to wanting to buy a hrddlx for a
Grab and go amp. The III series sound great
shimmilou
Member
Hi bluesstrattone,
Yes, I'm very happy with the 40. I really like the sound of the stock Ruby output and Tung Sol preamp tubes, for both clean and distortion, very nice set. I might try some different tubes in the future, the Mullards sound like a great choice, but good for now. I had a preamp tube start popping, and I sent an email to Egnater and they are supposed to send a new one, but other than that the amp sounds terrific ( I swapped in an EH for now).
Even though I have the HRDlx I, I also want to get a III for the improvements, and I want to turn the III into a 6V6 amp, and keep my I with 6L6. I have already experimented with 6V6 in the HRDlx and I really like it, wonderful tone, but also really like the stock amp and want to keep it as well.
You are right, checking the bias in the 40 is easy, but getting to the adjustment pot requires removing the screens, pulling the tubes, to be able to pull the chassis for access, then reinserting the tubes to check. Obviously, if you want to experiment with different tubes, leaving the chassis out of the cab while testing tubes would be best. I am sure that eventually I won't be able to resist trying different tubes in the 40, as seems to be the case with every amp that I have ever had.
Yes, I'm very happy with the 40. I really like the sound of the stock Ruby output and Tung Sol preamp tubes, for both clean and distortion, very nice set. I might try some different tubes in the future, the Mullards sound like a great choice, but good for now. I had a preamp tube start popping, and I sent an email to Egnater and they are supposed to send a new one, but other than that the amp sounds terrific ( I swapped in an EH for now).
Even though I have the HRDlx I, I also want to get a III for the improvements, and I want to turn the III into a 6V6 amp, and keep my I with 6L6. I have already experimented with 6V6 in the HRDlx and I really like it, wonderful tone, but also really like the stock amp and want to keep it as well.
You are right, checking the bias in the 40 is easy, but getting to the adjustment pot requires removing the screens, pulling the tubes, to be able to pull the chassis for access, then reinserting the tubes to check. Obviously, if you want to experiment with different tubes, leaving the chassis out of the cab while testing tubes would be best. I am sure that eventually I won't be able to resist trying different tubes in the 40, as seems to be the case with every amp that I have ever had.
bluesstrattone
New member
When reinserting the chassis, I push up on the wood above
The 6l6, gives way just enough to slide in.
Yours came with tungsols?
Mine came ruby 12ax7s, currently I have sed winged c 6l6
V1 mullard 12ax7, v2 effects loop tungsol and v3 PI
Stock ruby. The only pedal I use is the holy grail
reverb through the effects loop.
I hardly use pedals, I have the ch 1 set at clean and
Ch 2 distortion .
Been thinking on ordering tungsol 6l6 str,
Or tad 6l6 wcstr just to see the difference in tone.
But thats later.
The 6l6, gives way just enough to slide in.
Yours came with tungsols?
Mine came ruby 12ax7s, currently I have sed winged c 6l6
V1 mullard 12ax7, v2 effects loop tungsol and v3 PI
Stock ruby. The only pedal I use is the holy grail
reverb through the effects loop.
I hardly use pedals, I have the ch 1 set at clean and
Ch 2 distortion .
Been thinking on ordering tungsol 6l6 str,
Or tad 6l6 wcstr just to see the difference in tone.
But thats later.
shimmilou
Member
The honeymoon didn't last very long, and turned into a nasty divorce. I don't care how many fans that they add to their cheap Chinese crap amps, I will never even consider Egnater again.
http://www.rig-talk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=114742&p=1726752#p1726752
Search the forum for many, many similar posts, horrible, just horrible.
http://www.rig-talk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=114742&p=1726752#p1726752
Search the forum for many, many similar posts, horrible, just horrible.
I've had a Tweaker 40 for some time now, played many gigs and have used it for recordings.. An amazing amp. Mine have had no issues. I personally think that it's in a different (higher) league tone wise than any amp Fender makes. Much more pleasing to the ear and the 40 can be tuned to sound very Vox like or Marshall like. The high end is smoother if you use 5881's in it. I personally like JJ 12ax7's in it as well. Great fx loop. If you want to take the tones to a higher level, try a WGS ET90 speaker with it.. The magical combination..