• Egnater Tweaker Half Stack

  
  As reviewed by C LabMonkey on 4/13/2010

  I own a Rivera Fandango 55 watt 2-12 combo, which is a beautiful amp, but a bit much for suburban basement practice on weeknights. "A small amp flexing its muscles can sound a lot more badass than a large amp loafing." (Guitar Player.) If you are looking at small tube amps for practice, gigs in small clubs or recording, you owe it to yourself to check out the Tweaker. It is a pro-grade rig with plenty of features to enable you to find the sound you want. Practicing in my moderately loud 2-guitar-bass-drums rock band last night, the Tweaker shone brightly. At the volume needed to be heard (other guitarist was using a 2-12 50 watt combo), the amp was flexing its muscles without straining, bringing smooth, rich power tube overdrive nicely and effortlessly into the brew. Without A/B comparison, can't comment on the "accuracy" of the "US-AC-Brit" switch settings relative the Fender-Vox-Marshall sounds they are supposed to approximate, but I can say that the switch WORKS, and gives you noticeably differing luscious flavors. The AC-Brit settings did sound very "British" to me, and the US setting had that Fendery twang, pop and bite in the mix. Power: If you need loud enough for a rock band and COMPLETELY pristine clean, this amp won't quite do it. However, I set it for a near-clean, very light AC-DC-type touch-sensitive crunch, and found that it is plenty loud with lots of power to spare, used a Fulldrive 2 to goose it for heavier parts and soloing. It loved the Fulldrive, responded really, really seamlessly well, so well that you couldn't tell an outboard pedal was being used -- just sounded like I had bumped up the preamp gain. (So this would probably be true for any Tube Screamer-like pedal.) As for cleans, they are to die for. Brings out the best in my stock Am Std Strat, rich, sparkly, cutting, biting, mellow, singing, etc. Set preamp gain low and dime the Master and you get just into power tube overdrive, and it's simply breathtaking. The 112 cab (with 30W Celestion) is solidly made with birch plywood, and very nicely matched with the head, works with it very well. Balanced, sparkly highs, chunky mids and nice low end fullness. This amp is a real winner at an unbelievable price. And it's really portable (head 16 lbs., cab 25 lbs.) and . . . cute!

  18 of 18 people found this review helpful.
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• Tweaker's Dream

  
  As reviewed by Mordacain on 4/2/2010

  The Tweaker is exactly that. You can see all of the specs here so I won't elaborate on that. Suffice it to say, the Tweaker provides with dozens of tone-sculpting options that will enable you to recreate various vintage tones and a few new ones. This amp is most useful in low to mid gain. Personally I find the the gain over 3 o'clock far too muddy to be useful. This is not a terribly useful amp for metal, though I have not had a chance to tried boosted settings yet. My favorites are definitely the US and AC EQ settings w/ Modern voicing in Clean. The Tight/Deep and Bright/ Normal toggles are exceptionally useful in every mode and lend colors of Blackface to Bassman and AC15 to Top Boost in the USA/AC modes. The Brit channel I have played less with as it does not sound as stout as I expect a Marshall too. I think this may be just an issue of power as I have not been able to crank the amp to see how it affects the tone in this mode. I also plan on trying EL34s in place of the stock 6V6 tubes. This is supported as evidenced by the videos of the amp posted on Egnater's site. The matching cabinet is a highpoint. Constructions is exceptionally solid and the tone is very well directed for 3/4 open back cabinet and bass is stout, not flubby or muffled as I usually expect in open back cabs. The Celestion G1230 is an excellent match for this cab and is quickly becoming my favorite speaker and cabinet. Overall loudness could easily keep up with the all but the most obnoxious drummers out there (though it might have to be dimed to do it stock). Playing through a good 4x12 you could probably still maintain some good clean headroom in a band situation and use pedals to add dirt.

  12 of 12 people found this review helpful.
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• Awesome!

  
  As reviewed by G. M. "Howlin' Mad Mac" Spangler on 4/14/2010

  Just purchased a Tweaker head & 112 extension cabinet last night at my local Guitar Center. It's got a better BF tone than a Fender with lots of spank, the Brit voicing is like a classic Bluesbreaker but the V_X AC is over the top. More than enough power for small clubs or the rehearsal hall yet not overbearing for practice at home... all in a very lightweight micro stack. Nice, shimmering highs, cut the mid for a great "scooped" sound or dial some in for some "thickness" with a big, powerful, round bottom end. Just add a great Overdrive/Boost pedal for the tiny 3-channel amp of your dreams. Buy one... it's a keeper!

  10 of 10 people found this review helpful.
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