HELP: Egnater Tweaker TOO BRIGHT!!!

[guitars4god86]

First off, I want to apologize for posting this if it has already been covered somewhere...I searched through part III of the Tweaker Roundtable and didn't find it, but I just don't have the time to go through parts I and II, so again, sorry if this has been covered...

I got my Tweaker 15 Head this past Sunday and I'm finding it to be INCREDIBLY BRIGHT. Like, ridiculously! I know everyone has their own subjective opinion on what a guitar amp should sound like, but through reading reviews and posts on this site, most everyone seems to agree that this amp is generally dark in tone.

I'm wondering if maybe my unit is defective? The reason I say that is because I'm having to keep the settings (with any tone stack) set to vintage, normal and deep and keep both the treble and mids at 9:00-10:00 or it literally starts to pierce my eardrums. I have to keep the bass at above 1:00 or there's no fullness.

I was trying to get sounds similar to my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and Vox AC15 just for comparison's sake (both of which I generally run pretty crunchy and full), and to get even anywhere near those tones, I was having to do drastic cuts in the treble and mids. I'm using an open back cab with a Cannabis Rex which is the same cab I use for my Hot Rod and sounds amazing. This happens with any guitar too - G&L Asat, Hagstrom Super Swede, Ibanez hollow-body...

If I keep the master volume below noon, I find that it's a little better tone-wise, but still not what I'm used to as far as where the controls go. As soon as I crank up the master volume past noon the character of the whole amp changes and the high-mids become really pronounced and I have to cut more before I ruin my ears.

Is anyone else having this problem? Any suggestions on what to do? I feel like I know what I'm doing when it comes to setting EQs - I have my HRD and Vox set just fine - and those controls aren't anywhere near as drastic as I'm having to use on the Tweaker. Maybe I need some schooling in setting the EQ for this amp? Does it sound like a defective amp? It was a floor model at the store.....

 

[hipfan]

I think you received a defective amp. Maybe it's just a tube.

My Tweaker's not a dark amp by any stretch, but what you're describing is nowhere near what the amp should be doing.

 

[bizzwriter]

Yeah -- I thinking you've got a bum tube in there somewhere. Start swapping them out to see if one is bad.

 

[lang.murphy]

Concur with the other responders; swap some tubes. I had a Tweaker for about two weeks and it was not overly bright by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[Rod]

New tube time. What speakers are you running?

 

[AXXA]

My Tweaker has never seemed too bright to me, but you are right that cranking the master past 1:00 makes the sound significantly brighter. I think it sounds great cranked like that though. I usually dime the treble and mids, with bass around half way, for clean or dirty sounds. It never sounds harsh to me by any means though.

I have never changed the tubes in mine, but maybe a tube is the issue, as others pointed out. Its a great amp IMO, so hopefully you can figure it out and enjoy some nice sounds!

 

[MartinCliffe]

Agree with all above. Which speaker, and which mode? Fender mode is significantly brighter than Vox or Marshall. Very unusual sounding behaviour. I've got two Tweakers and played several others, and none have been overly bright. With the wrong speaker, often dull in fact. Although running the bass high isn't unusual - I run bass at 5:00 in Vox mode and 3:00 in Marshall mode.

 

[skunx]

Getting the volume past one o'clock opens up the tone and feel of the amp considerably. I thought the Voxy tones on the Tweaker I had were considerably better than many Vox amps I have played. Chimey, and throaty sounding with full but not nasal sounding mids. Sold the amp in a moment of weakness. Kinda miss her, she was pretty sweet.

 

[guitars4god86]

Well, I'm getting a whole new set of JJ's all around today, so we'll see if that helps. Also, I'm playing out of a custom made open back cab with a 12" Eminence Cannabis Rex. Thanks for the suggestions everyone...I'll update once the new tubes are in.

 

[guitars4god86]

Any suggestions on which tube(s) I should switch out first? I bought a whole new set just because I like to start out every amp fresh, but I'd like to pinpoint where the problem is. Probably the preamp, right?

 

[guitarcapo]

I'd probably swap out tubes individually listening for a drastic change and starting from the preamp tubes. It could be other issues but that's where I would start.

 

[FatTeleTom]

Yeah, something's not right there. Hopefully tubes will fix it.

Also, check to make sure you've got the impedance switch set properly for your speaker (I don't know that setting it wrong would cause this behavior, but it's one more potential source of problems to eliminate).

 

[guitars4god86]

Well, I put the new tubes in...no luck. Still way to bright to be normal. I have a trend who has a Tweaker and he told me that the gain knob adds a lot of brightness and to turn that down and the master up - gonna try that. If that doesn't work, I'm gonna do an A/B comparison with his amp to make sure I'm not crazy. Maybe this is just a brighter amp than I'm used to, but I don't think so. To match the sounds I'm getting from the Tweaker, I have to put my HRD controls at treble 3:00, mid noon and bass 10:00, if that gives you any idea of the brightness I'm talking about here...

Any other suggestions anyone has? Return it for a new one?

 

[skunx]

Put the old tubes back in and return it for a new one. If the new one sounds the same you know it just isn't the amp for you.

 

[FatTeleTom]

WI have a trend who has a Tweaker and he told me that the gain knob adds a lot of brightness and to turn that down and the master up - gonna try that.

Mmm, that doesn't sound right.

I only notice the gain knob having an impact on brightness when the bright switch is ON, and in that case, it's the reverse of what is described above (brighter with the gain lower), because the bright switch has more effect on lower gain settings.

Can you take your Tweaker to a Guitar Center or similar and compare it with other Tweaker heads on stock (preferably through the Tweaker cab)?

 

[Rod]

Treble on 3pm with a H Rod Deluxe??...That would peel paint off the walls at 100 feet!!!! sumtins wrong

 

[Gtrmike54]

My Tweaker is full, rich and round. I am running the stock G12H30, but the CR is not a bright speaker. You should take that one back and compare it to another. The first Tweaker I got wasn't right (no feel, tone was fine) and I sent it back to MF for another, no problem, so there can be unit-to-unit variability. Given the nature of its manufacture, this doesn't surprise me, but my experience with Egnater has been very positive. They seem very interested in customer satisfaction.

I have JJ 6l6GCs in mine, a gold pin ECC83 in V1, and a graded and balanced ECC83 in the PI slot, and have better tone than when it was stock. I will eventually get some JJ 6V6s and tube dampers as I have a rattle that I can't find. Not to get off topic, but has anyone had experience with a rattle? I took it all apart and could not find it, and have changed the power tubes, but no help so far. Other than the rattle, I am extremely happy with mine.

You definitely have a defective amp. If you can, try several and pick the best one. You chose a great amp for p&w (I am a p&w player too) so don't give up on it.

Best of luck-keep us posted on what happens. Feel free to contact me if I can be of any help.

Best regards-
Mike

 

[guitars4god86]

@Rod - ya, I don't know what I was thinking...my HRD treble is at 11:00 - I seriously have no clue why I wrote 3:00....by bad

I'm heading to Guitar Center hopefully tomorrow if I can squeeze in the time to check my Tweaker vs another. I'm really believing that mine is a messed up one - I'll update after I find out.

Thanks everyone for chiming in!

 

[Deaj]

I concur - something is not right with that amp. I would describe the Tweaker as warm, full, round, and balanced. Assuming you've already eliminated speaker choice or tubes as the root cause and if the amp is new you should return it for a new one. Let the dealer resolve the issue through Egnater.

That's my $0.02

 

[Glowing Tubes]

I will eventually get some JJ 6V6s and tube dampers as I have a rattle that I can't find. Not to get off topic, but has anyone had experience with a rattle? I took it all apart and could not find it, and have changed the power tubes, but no help so far. Other than the rattle, I am extremely happy

yes, I also have a rattling issue in my tweaker 40 . Have not been able to find the cause. Sounds like a tube but checked them and it does not seem so.


No problems with being too bright, I do run my treble around 10:00 though but have the bright switch on.