• Egnater Tourmaster Series 4212 100W

  
  As reviewed by Rick Forbus on 6/6/2010

  This is one fine amp. Do not be discouraged in the least by the country it is manufactured in. The amp?s lineage is strictly boutique; much in the same way that Ferrari?s street cars owe their pedigree to their racing counterparts. This amp sounds like Bruce Egnater. To those familiar with his TOL models (Tone Of Life), this amp will not disappoint (especially when you factor in the seriously non-boutique price)! By the way, there are four true channels, not boosts or E.Q. variants! The 1st channel is unabashedly Fender-ish; clean, sparkling, complex, as much high-end as you can stand, very responsive to the knobs and it has headroom for days (more on that further down). The 2nd channel sounds similar to the 1st to my ears, but with a bit more gain and growl at the smaller numbers on the volume knob. I would assume that a combination of a Bassman and an AC 30 might have been the intention: This also is very usable channel for coaxing out Stones, George Thoroughgood, SRV, Tom Petty, etc: As I stated, a very usable channel, and to some players, probably their favorite. In the way that channels 1 and 2 sound similar, so do channels 3 and 4. Marshall and Soldano are what I would use as reference amps for these channels (not Triple Rectifiers or Uberschals). Sustain with none of the grainy distortion that you would expect from say, a Blues Deville. Just searing, lyrical tube tone. I love these channels. If I said that you could hear each note in a chord, you might mistakenly assume that the gain is weak. No, it is not. One ingenious feature is that the individual channels can be rated at different wattages allowing you to determine how early you can get genuine amp breakup without blowing out the back wall, or how much headroom your clean sound needs. The back panel has lots of routing features, in fact I can?t think of anything more that could be included Cosmetically speaking, I find these amps gorgeous: Two-tone without being retro, knobs that are easy to ascertain their position and a salt and pepper grill. Of course, an amp this pretty needs a road case which leads to its only drawback. You will probably need a band-mate to help you lift it into the truck because in the case it easily exceeds 100lbs.

  12 of 12 people found this review helpful.
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• tourmaster 4212

  
  As reviewed by Jon in Reno on 12/9/2009

  I bought this amp from a friend who was only playing it amp at home,so he wasn't able to play it gig volume,were it definatly comes into its own. I was liking this amp alot until I took it to rehersal, now I love It! This ampp speaks so clearly, and is so responsive,it was easier to hear every note I played at a lower volume which improved our mix considerably. The clean 1 channel is pristen, I can strum hard with no cliping. Clean 2 is for great for blues played with the neck pick up, eadgy and crisp. Overdive 1 is perfect for distorted chord work with just the right mix of "fur" and headroom. Overdrive 2 is thick and sustainy, perfect for soloing with a great tendency for rolling feedback without squeal. Having the ability to change the volume of each channel will let me tailer my lead boust to any acoustic environment we're likely to encounter. I don't like high wattage amps, they're cold and "clanky". Running this amp at the lower wattage settings gives it warmth and life without sacrificing its increadible clearity. The tube driven reverb is the best in amp verb I've ever heard. It does'nt smother the sound but is very apparent when you stop playing, very tranparent. Overall, one of, if not the best amps I've ever owned. It has inspired me to play even more and really furthers my self expession.

  8 of 8 people found this review helpful.
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• Just buy this thing!

  
  As reviewed by In The Know on 3/23/2010

  No big surprise here by now everyone knows about these amps. I can't believe how great this am sounds and the versatility, nothing can hold a candle to it in this price range. The clean tone for my money is the most clear pristine clean I've ever heard. Better then my Vintage 66 Super and then some. I purchased this amp for it's clean channel, most don't so I wanted to mention it. The two overdrive channels can be dialed in to the California or the British tone, this thing is incredible. One thing I would like to mention, the record out is not really a record out. It needs a Direct box and if you want silent recording for the studio you need something to carry the load from the speaker output. It's not like the the rebel 30, it's not a balanced output. Still it's 5 stars all the way. Buy one in store if you can, GC sends it fedex freight and they just suck. My box was tore up and open by the time it arrived, thank goodness the amp was ok.

  5 of 5 people found this review helpful.
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