Egnater M4 Preamp

Built 2008-2009.

Modules:
Twin/Dlx
SL2
Vx (Vox)
COD (California Overdrive)

4 channels, 2 modes per channel (usually lower gain vs. higher gain).
Master volume plus ModeA/ModeB masters on each channel.

In general, excellent control over gain levels at key points in the amp signal chain.

MIDI implementation is basic. Program change (PC) message support works great and is the main way folks will switch channels on this unit. Continuous Controller (CC) message support works as documented - but the design is a little screwy and not all that useful. That is about my only knock on this thing at all - and since I only rate it about 1/10 of a point off, I round my 9.9 to a 10 here ;-)

I use primarily humbuckers (PRS Custom 24, Yamaha Pac1511 Mike Stern with Duncans). I do also occasionally play a highly-modified standard strat with the Eric Johnson pickup set and bridge installed. All of these guitars sound fantastic - and the individual personalities are nicely retained.

I play jazz and fusion - and then cover Christian Pop/Rock with our Church band. This unit has all the sounds I need.

The A side of the Twin/DLX module gives a well-rounded classic clean Fender-like tone. I use this a lot with a Duncan Jazz2 pickup (on the Yamaha) and a touch of detune and delay. It sounds exactly as I had hoped. The B side lets you dial in a nice, touch sensitive, slightly-distorted tone that makes a great solo boost.

The SL2 is essentially a hot-rodded Marshall-like tone. A side is moderate distortion. B side has a crunch do die for. This is my fave of the 8 sounds I have available - just add a little delay and go.

The pleasant surprise is the Vx module - which has a lively jangle that I am making more use of than I thought I would. Rhythm work with a mild reverb sounds fantastic and almost bell-like on the A side. Adding some chorus works well too. The B side, which is a high-gain Voxy-sound retains the bell-like quality, but has enough grit to be very satisfying.

The last module I put in is the California Overdrive. This gets as brutal as you would expect it to.

ALL of the channels cut through the mix beautifully.

Just got it. Built like a tank - but only time tells on these things.

New Egnater M4 preamp. 4 interchangeable dual sound modules. Mine is loaded with --
DLX - Fender deluxe
VX - Vox
SL2 - Hot rod Marshall
MHG - Soldano
Each module has 2 channels (a & b). B = more gain.
4 modules = 8 channels!!
It has no fx loop.

This is absolutely the best amp I have ever owned. The different modules can get you any sound you want. From Fender Twin clean to Rectifier brutal.

I play a wide variety of styles. Country, pop, rock and harder rock.

Path is ->
EB volume pedal (with T-2 in the tuner out) -> Snarling Dogs Blues Bawls Wah -> TS-9 -> Keely OD-1 -> M4 -> Rocktron Xpression -> Peavey Classic 50/50 pwr amp -> Avatar Vintage 2X12 w/celestion 30's
Rocktron MidiMate to control.

Guitars -
1989 Fender Ultra Strat with Duncan Hot Rails (replacing the original lace sensors)
1989 Fender Pink Paisley Strat w/hot rails
1974 Gibson LP
Taylor T-5

This amp makes me smile everytime I turn it on and play it. The sound possibilities are limitless.

4 months and no problems. Don't expect any.
Bruce Egnater has been building and designing cutting edge amps for some time now.

The Egnater folks are top notch.

Frank has got to be one of the most patient, knowledgable amp guys I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with. Makes great suggestions AFTER listening to your wants/needs. Everything from the amp to your FX situation.

I've even called and spoken with Bruce Egnater on occasion. GREAT PEOPLE!!

I initially ordered a ERect module. I didn't really like it. Called Frank. Told him what I was looking for in the sound. Shipped the ERect mod back to him and he sent the MHG mod. Freakin' awesome!!!

Can I give 11's?? Every category!!

I've been playing for 30 years. I've been through enough amps to get me divorced :) -- twice
All the usual suspects - Marshall, Mesa, Fender, Peavey.
Then the boutiques -- Diezel, Splawn, Hughes and Kettner, Bad Cat, Bogner.
Nothing did everything I needed. Some did great distortion - some great clean. But in every case, I needed more.

Now I have it. This Egnater M4 is as good as it gets!!

If you need versatility, this is your amp. 10 different dual module choices with more being developed.
Or load it up with all the same modules and do eq tweaking on each.
If you have been looking for that right sound - this is it.
If you are just 'settling' on the sound you get out of your current rig - you gotta try these.
Endless tonal possibilities!!

I would replace it in a minute - maybe buy 2 so I had a backup.

2005 model with dual switching channels. I bought this new through Indoor Storm with the specific modules I wanted.

Twin- warm cleans with lots of midrange. nice articulation. i love this channel. not too much difference between the A and B channels. I just noticed that the B channel sounds fatter without adding a lot of gain.

BMan - this is one of my favorites. both channels can be set to clean or dirty, but the B channel has a lot of snarling dog to it. it's just fantastic. at 50% gain on both channels they complement each other very well and cover a lot of tone needs. I would pick this one over the Twin if I HAD to choose simply because the A channel here can do a lot of the things the Twin can.

SL2 - hot rodded Marshall. the A channel sounds like Malcolm, the B channel sounds like Angus. its gooood. never played any amp or preamp that sounds this good, with this much articulation. and it's not too noisy.

EG3/EG4 - I feel in love with the IE4's sound, and this module does that. Nice smooth singing distortion/lead. I don't turn the gain up past 50% on these channels either. the B channel can get noisy if you push it.

I am really interested in the ERect and Vox modules. I have heard some great clips on the Egnater Forums. I can already tell that module collecting is going to be a VERY expensive vice for me.

To me, Harmony-Central should have an "11" category for versatility here. the Modular concept allows you to custom build a pre-amp to your style of playing in a compact package.

this is the holy grail of tone. and you get to customize it.

only seems to get noisy with the EG4 module set with more than 50% gain. everything else was manageable. tubes amps make noise. this is no exception, but it isn't near as noisy as anything else i have played.

everything seems good so far.

spoke with Frank at Egnater pre-sales. He was real helpful. Only complaint was that the buid-time took way longer than they originally predicated. they first said 2-3 weeks and it ended up being 12.

Been playing for 20 years. This is simply the best tone I have ever had and have played Marshall's, Mesas, Matchless (that was way good, but only had one trick) and all the iterations of the Line6 stuff. This is the best.

Something everyone needs to tell Bruce about....
the new dual-channel Modules are terrific, but the dual-channel chassis is really stripped down. It needs to be more robust. The dual-channel chassis could really benefit from a midi-controllable parallel effects loop. with midi control over whether the loop is in or and out, and also the Mix parameter of the loop.

Another feature this things desperately needs is the ability to assign different modules to the left or right output, which are summed mono in this chassis. ie, give us a way to engage two modules at once for some bi-amping opportunities. i would use that extensively along with the parallel effects loop.

Egnater could easily market a fancy version of the chassis and charge more for it. People who buy this stuff have tone as their number one concern, and not price. That's why this gear only gets a 9.

Probably the MOST versatile preamp around. 4 slots for different preamp modules and a wide variety to choose from, Twin, deluxe, Vox, marshall SL, SL+, High gain, bogner, etc. You can pick and choose which preamp module you need and just plug them in. Bruce designed these so that you're not limited to just the sounds it comes with, as he comes up with new tones, new modules will be introduced.

I've got the EG1, Vox, SL, high gain and EG4 modules. They all sound great and hit the nail on the head. The EG1 is similar to a twin and EG4 is the same as the 4th channel of the TOL100.

built like a tank

Never had to talk to him but everyone says he's the best.

Killer preamp, can't wait to pick up more modules. It's like have a room full of amps with a switching system to go between a marshall, fender, vox and Soldano. Can't beat that.

This preamp has nice features with the 4 channel midi switching and removable modules.effects loops are covered also. A very well built sturdy peice of equipment. I will use this rig with my cover band.

We play rock-rap-hip hop, i use early 80s gibson and dean guitars with emg 81s and 85s.The egnater came with 4 modules. The SL witch is nice for a bright slightly broken up Marshallesque clean, my fave is the Recto, viscious with gain down for rythm, turn gain half up and get snarling leads, the bass you must be careful with ,it can get flubby, but set right its a killer, the SL++ wich doesnt do much for my personal taste, and the EI4, witch also doesnt do much for me.(I am happy with the distortion from the SL and Recto,thats all)I am having the EI4 modded to the recto then i will use one for rythm ,the other for lead.I also bought a Randall Deluxe for clean to slightly broken up, and like this alot also. I use a TC Electronic G-Major for effects and run this through a Mesa 20/20 thru either a 2x12 marshall 1936 cab with 75s in it or a Mesa recto 2x12 with 30s in it.Also i have a new Korg DTR-1000 tuner and Sennheiser wireless. This rig sounds best with the volume pushed a bit. The modules arent noisy unless the gain is put higher than it has to be ( Recto only). Nice tube tones, thick or glassy, whatever you want.I only wish you could try the modules and not take a guess at what you want, so i will check into the Randall modules since they are at local stores here.A very nice product, cant complain, I love this rack, but will use it only for shows where i can push it volume wise.

Just got it so i cant really comment

Egnater has gotten back to me thru e mail or phone calls, so I feel they care about their product, as they should because everyone I talk to about it has no clue who Bruce is ( just us gearheads), but they will know!

I have been playing for 20 or so yrs., I have had everything but Soldano,Deizel and some other boutiques.Mesas and Marshalls are one dimensional, Line 6 i use and can get nice distortion tones but thin cleans. This unit is very versital, kinda like a tube Line 6, I can get a great clean, a broken up clean, a great rock to nu-metal sound and a great lead tone,what more could i want? Especially being in a cover band. I really have to stop spending on equipment, i feel now i will stay with my Pod v2.0 for small rooms and this for the bigger rooms.Beleive me i have blown countless $$$ looking for a tube rig that is verstal for a cover band and for my personal heavy rock tastes, here it is, Pricey, but worth it.Hell you can buy a new Marshall or Mesa head for 1400.00 and what do you get, pretty much one dimensional if you ask me, i love the older amps, not so much the newer versions of these classics. The Egnater is a very nice peice of equipment, I'd recommend to anyone to give it a try

Madfe in 2003. I bought the preamp for a friend in Europe.Bruce designed the preamp so that there is a basic chassis with a mono paralell effects loop,plenty of patching options, and the preamp comes stock with midi control capability.OYu can buy it with any 4 modules installed.AND there are about 10 modules to choose from ranging from very clean to very high gain.

Each module simply pushes into the chassis and as I said, the chassis can hold up to 4 modules.THe model I ordered for my friend had the Twin,Vox,Extra Hot Lead(SL2), and the E-Recto modules.The unit is veyr simple and functional.All the controls are easy to use and straight forward.

The basic chassis has a button for switching manually between modules and has a master volume control

I used my Ibanez models through it and my Lukather Model through it too.The twin module has teh typical Fender roundness and compression to it.I felt that the twin module sounded best without the bright switch engaged but that is personal taste. you can add a decent amount of gain to the tone to make it clip or keep the gain low and keep it clean.

The Vox module has a upper midrange boost in its basic tone curve compared to the twin.The vox module is never totally clean but has a little bite to it, it has more pick attack than the twin module as well.If you turn the gain on the vox module, it starts to change character and get alot more attack.Overall it has a very cool quality to it .Because of the midrange, the vox module kind of has a "sitar" like quality to the sound.

The SL2 module sounds like a very smooth marshall.Definitely creamier highs than a JCM series Marshall head.The gain goes high on it and is capable of doing metal to the extent that a JCM 800 or 900 head can.But teh SL2 module offers a much better adn warmer lead tone than any of the marshall heads out there.The marshall tone is thinner and sharper than this module even though they are similar.The SL2 lead tone is fairly thick like a Mesa Boogie mark 3 or 4 head but is not as compressed sounding.overall, this module's strength is its smooth lead tone.Very good sustain without being overly compressed.There is enough gain for a lead in any style of music.

The E Recto module does only high gain.There is no way to make it clean like a twin.The low end is tight and agressive.The mids are a little scooped and there is more than enough gain to do metal.I never pushed the gain past 50%. I think this module has better midrange control than the Boogie Rectifiers and is easier to keep from sounding shrilly.I engeged the bright switch on the e recto module.I thought it made the tone alot better adn brought the midrange to life.I didn't turn the bass up on it much because it made it thump too much.I kept the bass under 30% but you can add more than that if you like.After 50% , the low end turns to crap.

It seems ot be a very high quality preamp.I only had it for 2 days so I don't know about reliability.My friend contacted me and said that it was kind of noisey and he contacted Bruce Egnater and asked him about it.Supposedly, they came to an agreement on what to do about it.

The egnater company is really great.OYu can call them and actually talk to someone who knows the gear and can answer questions.Bruce is an amp wiz and knows his stuff.I was able to talk directly to Frank his main guy.

I've been playing for about 20 years on guitar and about 7 or 8 years on bass,drums ,piano.Because of the quality of the preamp, I decided to save up for an Egnater IE4 preamp.The egnater tone is really great if oyu like Soldano sound with more control and warmth.Egnater cleans are really good and the gain isn't harsh.True tube circuitry.Lots of good features.I wish the effects loop was stereo instead of only mono but it is paralell atleast instead of a typical useless serial effects loop

see below

Egnater M4 modular preamp with the Twin, Super Lead, Rectifier, and Modern High Gain modules already installed.

No problem. HEAVY. HEAVY. Built like a tank . . the Egnater ones at least.

Never had to use.

This is the best sounding preamp I have ever heard. It blows away the Bogner Fish, Boogie Triaxis, Soldano, even it's predecessor the Egnater IE4. From crystal clean to insane gain in the push of a button and can keep buying modules and have as many configurations as one wishes. Revoultionary.

see below

I have the Egnater High Gain, ERECT, VOX++ and SL++ modules. Feel free to email. I have tried Randall modules in it (Ultra and Modern) comparing them to the Egnater modules. I sent the Randall modules back to the store, they weren't even close to the same as the Egnaters to my ears. The Randall modules didn't have nearly the OOMF behind them that the Egnaters do. The Egnaters had much more low-end also.

The best price I found for a new one was www.amazingtone.com $1695. If you add up the quality of sounds and the flexibility of the Egnater it easily is worth the money compared to a Bogner fish (around $2500, come on) and a used Custom Audio Preamp, around $1200-$1400 used.

See below. It should be obvious that this is at the top in terms of versatility.

I tried the M4 at Nashville NAMM, I must say, they're pretty nice. The Twin and Bassman where incredible sounding. The Egnater Modern Gain and the Recto were both pretty brutal but my favorite was the SL++...very, very hot rod Marshall.

Don't know. Don't own YET. have heard nothing but good regarding Egnater stuff so I totally have full confidence in the gear and service.

See reliability

I've tried the POD, the Vetta, and its simply no comparison. I've also done both the multi head, running a Fender and a Marshall and or Boogie together and racks - Marshall, Boogie, ADA, Soldano. No question to get this and a good power amp and abandon the gear circus train :)

FROM Guitar Player Magazine review By Art Thompson

The flexibility afforded by separate components is reason enough for many guitarists to sideline their combos and heads for a rack that contains a preamp, a signal processor, and a power amp. These new models from Egnater bring some fresh twists to the preamp party.

Each M4 module is basically a shrunken preamp - a rugged little assembly measuring approximately 5"x7" that contains a PC board, a pair of 12AX7 tubes, and a set of gain, bass, middle, treble, and master-volume controls.

You simply slide the modules into the M4's slots and secure them by tightening two thumb screws. You could probably swap all four modules in less time than it would take to replace the preamp tubes on a typical head or combo.
Egnater essentials

The M4 features a channel-select button, an effects level control (for the parallel effects loop), and a global master. The rear panel sports a secondary input jack, a pre-loop out (for sending a dry, line-level signal), series and parallel effects loops, dual post-loop outs, and an international voltage selector.

The optional four-button footswitch connects to the M4 via a standard MIDI cable, and channels can also be swithced using any MIDI controller. (For pedalboard juice, the MIDI connection puts out 9-volt phantom power.) The three buffering tubes for the effects loops are externally mounted for easy servicing. With all the modules in place, the M4 boasts a grand total of 11 12AX7s.

Units were tested through a Mesa/Boogie 2:90 tube power amp driving either a pair of Mesa/Boogie open-back 1x12 cabinets loaded with EV speakers or a stereo Marshall 4x12 with Celestion Vintage 30s. Test guitars included a PRS McCarty and a '50s reissue Fender Strat.

Particularly impressive is the clean Vox module, which provides the compression and shimmering complexity of an EL84-powered AC30. Likewise the Marshall Plexi and Super Lead modules offer the growl and presence of EL34s. The glassy vibe of 6L6 tubes is similarly distinct in the Fender-voiced modules -the Twin is big and tight with extremely punchy mids, and the Bassman offers rich bottom and snarling distortion.

Lead choices fared much better- especially the Egnater Modern High Gain, which offers infinite sustain, superb dynamic response, and a "brown" voicing that keeps the highs in check when you're wailing on the bridge pickup.

Less impressive is the Hot Vox module, the high gain structure obscuring any hint of Vox chime [since has been further tweaked by Egnater].

Though the modules do not necessarily replicate the precise preamp circuitry of the aforementioned amplifiers, the M4 delivers sounds that are remarkably similar to many of these classic amps.

If you think of the M4 as an analog modeling system, you're on the right track. Egnater has done an impressive job of replicating the signature sounds of different output tubes (often the most important distinction between various amplifiers), and the M4's open architecture means that as long as Egnater keeps cooking up new modules, you'll have a system that can expand to suit your needs. There has never been a preamp quite like this, so say hello to a whole new reason for considering a modular amp rig.