Egnater Tweaker 112 combo

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Egnater Tweaker 112 combo

Post by slash-ed »

Friday arvo review. Much better than being productive.

Walked into Jansen last Saturday after U2 and tried out the Tweaker next to the Rebel 30 combo. I enjoyed the clean channel of the Rebel, and the 'verb, but didn't pay too much attention to the drive channel, and it was out of my price range anyway :D

The Tweaker is an interesting gizmo - 15W of 6V6 powered goodness, 3 EQ modes (Fender, Marshall, Vox), 3 band EQ, and a buttload of other mini-switches. Despite its clean looking layout it also boasts an effects loop hidden away underneath as well as an additional speaker out, and a worldwide voltage selector.

On paper, it's extremely versatile, and being cathode biased essentially seems to mean that you can shove any powertube in that'll fit, which could be cool for experimentation purposes down the line.

Housed in a classy looking little cab, with a basket-weave front and curly white script which look suspiciously Bogner-esque, it packs a single 12" Celestion G12H30.

So... heaps of cool features, but what does it sound like?

First thing on my mind was, how much gain does it have, and how well does it clean up?

Winding the gain all the way up in the Marshall (Brit) mode yielded a very familiar midrange girth and fatness with my LP. You won't get high-gain shred levels out of this, but it will do a decent "boosted 800" type of sound, complete with pinch harmonics flying. Doesn't quite have the low-end thump of a big amp, and is a tad looser due to the semi-open back cab, but that's where one of the extra switches comes in - flick the "Deep/Tight" switch onto Tight and it cuts out a little of the lows going into the preamp, giving you a tighter low end. Next move is to use the "Modern/Vintage" switch - putting it into Modern mode then bumps up your lows and and highs to make them more "present" at the end of the chain. This mode has been compared to a Marshall 18 watter, but I wouldn't know.

Rolling back the guitar volume will give you decent dirty-ish cleans, but the decreased headroom due to 15Wness means you won't get sparkling cleans by simply rolling back. That's okay.

Putting the amp into Fender (USA) mode, and winding the gain down and master up, with the mids pulled back yielded a crisp, blackface-inspired clean. Flicking on the Bright switch got it further into that territory, with cleans comparable to the HRD I had recently, but at sane volume levels. That said, it can get pretty loud and pretty treble-ear-kill too. Winding up the gain in this mode gave a bright, crunchy overdrive.

Up next was Vox (AC) mode. With middling levels of gain in this mode, and with the Bright switch on, there was a definite AC vibe with the slightly rounded out, chimey highs, and that distinctive, kinda "boxy" tone. I have no idea how close it comes to a real AC15/30, but for me the feel was definitely there. Could happily have bashed out big open chords on this all day long. Very touch responsive and still sounded big on single notes struck with authority. Had a quick squiz this morning running the M13 into it and pushing it with the M13's overdrive, sounded great! This is my favourite mode so far, and I'll probably be trying this out at my next practice/gig to see how it goes with a band.

All in all, I'm stoked with this amp. Great price from Jansen, showed up the very next morning, and looks cool as!

There you have it, a slightly uneven review of the Tweaker. :) Damn, now I have to do some work...
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Re: Egnater Tweaker 112 combo

Post by Terexgeek »

Are the three modes footswitchable?

Great review too!
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Re: Egnater Tweaker 112 combo

Post by slash-ed »

Thanks, and sadly no. It's meant to be a single channel affair. To be honest, the only thing I wish was footswitchable is the Clean/Hot gain ranges. Would make a great solo boost - something to think about after the warranty expires :D
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Re: Egnater Tweaker 112 combo

Post by Polar Bear »

Christ, it must be a keeper, it's made it into your sig.
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Re: Egnater Tweaker 112 combo

Post by matman »

...of course, a "keeper" for Ed means about 3 - 6 months before it shows up on the xchange! :wink: :mrgreen:.. If he treats his women like he treats his gear he should change his name to jonah-ed (though I'm as yet unconvinced that anyone other than Unique could sustain a committed relationship while maintaining that kind of revolving door approach to gear)...then again, maybe not Jonah...ed usually sells his old stuff before buying new! :mrgreen:
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Re: Egnater Tweaker 112 combo

Post by Benrocky »

Great post ed. Sounds like a killer amp.

Gotta check it out one day, before you sell it :P
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Re: Egnater Tweaker 112 combo

Post by matman »

Benrocky wrote:Great post ed. Sounds like a killer amp.
+1
How much of a difference does changing the setting on each switch make? I mean - if you keep everything else constant is there are really obvious difference between the voicings etc. or is it more the interaction between all of them?
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Re: Egnater Tweaker 112 combo

Post by slash-ed »

You can definitely hear the voicing change even if you leave the EQ the same.
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Re: Egnater Tweaker 112 combo

Post by TMG 03 »

U2 and Jansen ? :shock: the man has no shame. :P

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Re: Egnater Tweaker 112 combo

Post by Slowy »

OK, it's Saturday afternoon. You selling it yet Ed? :D
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Re: Egnater Tweaker 112 combo

Post by slash-ed »

Update:

I used this at band practice yesterday and it kept up no problem. Had the gain in the "Clean" range at about 1.30 o'clock and the master roundabout 11.30. Made itself heard fairly easily even sitting on the floor, although it could probably do with being turned up just a little bit more next time. Voxy dirty-ish cleans sounded amazing, the drives on the M13 need a little bit of tweaking cos the EQing is different to that on the Vintage Modern, but otherwise, stoked with its performance. Will probably gig it this Friday and see how it goes.
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Re: Egnater Tweaker 112 combo

Post by Ironbird13 »

slash-ed wrote:Update:

I used this at band practice yesterday and it kept up no problem. Had the gain in the "Clean" range at about 1.30 o'clock and the master roundabout 11.30. Made itself heard fairly easily even sitting on the floor, although it could probably do with being turned up just a little bit more next time. Voxy dirty-ish cleans sounded amazing, the drives on the M13 need a little bit of tweaking cos the EQing is different to that on the Vintage Modern, but otherwise, stoked with its performance. Will probably sell it this Friday and see how it goes.
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