Egnater TOL 50

I bought this one on a whim after hearing the Egnater Rebel 20
(fantastic amp!).

I gather it is probably late 1990's, and I don't know the history of the amp. Many features (read elsewhere) .. essentially a two channel
wit common eq, reverb + loop facilities.

The "clean" channel isn't quite Fender, it is a little dirtier.
Both channels feature a gain + master, so the variation in drive can be extensively dialled in.

Many ways to set tone, switchable for bright, boost, etc, probably too many options.

The 10w setting is very loud.. sounds even louder than the 50w setting in my small space.

Overall, very versatile especially with over driven sounds, could be a tad more clean on channel one.

I am using it with a few guitars, but I have started focusing on just one (Yamaha SG500) and that sounds fantastic thru the amp.

I play everything from clean twang to full rock overdrive.

The amp does generate a little bit of hum, but the overall tonal quality of the amp is very good.

dunno

read elsewhere

I'm in Australia

Having sold my vintage AC30, I was keen for "something special" and the Egnater is very impressive. I own other amps (Marshall, vintage Fender, Sound City, etc) and I see the Egg as being my main amp from here forward.

Presently using with single Jensen Neo 12".

For pure overdrive tone, the Rebel 20 has the edge, but the TOL 50 is much more versatile with reverb and channel switching...etc.

Not too heavy, and reasonably compact, and with foot switchable functions, you might conclude this is one of the best gigging amps on the market.

Although not perfect, and especially for the price, I rate this amp as way above many others out there.

Most impressive and useful amp, and I'd gladly recommend it to almost any kind of player. I see this as being the only amp I need for almost any situation.

1-12" version. The feature-set is well described elsewhere. Don't mind the shared EQ at all. One wish: the boost status on the footswitch applies to both channels. Would have liked to see independent boosts for each channel, so that I could go from CH1 boost off to CH2 boost on just by channel switching. Right now, this would require two button presses. "Channel" then "boost". Other than this, everything I could want.

Ah! This is where the amp won me. First, gorgeous clean channel, especially on the vox voicing and the boost engaged. This is tone you could wrap your arms around. Responsive - the entire envelope from attack to decay is just amazing. I hang out here for hours.
The dirty channel -sweet and singing. This is not super high gain. But with the boost engaged and the gain cranked, she will sing for you. Real nice single note lead tone to great classic rock tone.
The best two channels I've ever owned.

No reason to doubt. Built like a tank.

Contacted rocktron, who faxed me a copy of the manual at no cost. Kudos. I also understand that Bruce Egnater is very approachable.

Been playing over 20 years. I currently own Rivera and SD amps, both of which are great in their own right. This is an amp I tried in GC for a half hour, and I knew I had to have it.
An awesome, toneful, and inspiring amp.

Read other posts for full line of features. Mine is the head version, purchased special-order in the fall 1999.

I'm giving it an 8 overall because of the only three compaints I have with the amp. I sort of wish that it had separate EQ for rhythm and lead channels. By no means does this compromise the excellent tone, though. Simply, it just doesn't offer that feature, which would add versatility to the amp. Also, it would be nice if it came with a reverb switch. I made one out of a broken Rat pedal. Finally, the footswitch cable that came with the amp was only 15 feet or so, and I had to buy a longer stereo guitar cable for it. All these points are moot since they don't make them any more.

I play a Warmoth Jazzmaster - Ash body, maple/rosewood neck, fixed bridge for increased sustain, and American Reissue Fender Jazzmaster pickups. I use both the clean and lead channels on the amp, occasionally (but quite rarely) the boost with the lead channel, running through a mid-80s Marshall 1960AV with Vintage 30s. I have no additional distortion pedals, but simply a tuner, wah, and Boss tremelo. I also use the built in reverb on a rare occasion. It should also be noted here that after several years of use of stock preamp tubes, I recently changed them out for some NOS Silver Special 12ax7s. I also use Electro-Harmonix EL34 power tubes.

I play indie/heavy rock, similar in style and tone to Shiner, Houston, Molly McGuire, Proudentall, Jawbox, Burning Airlines, Jesus Lizard, etc, if this gives you any clue the sound I go for. Call it medium gain, 99% "rhythm" playing (no musicalmasturbation guitar solos), lots of mid range but heavy, twang with sustain.

This amp is sent from the heavens. I cannot imagine playing through any other amp, short of Bruce Egnater's new modular preamp creations (which I have yet to hear, but look really cool). I could rant on and on about this, but won't. I could throw around catch phrases and buzz words, but won't. Suffice to say I have yet to hear another amp that comes anywhere near what I hear in my head when I hear the tone I'm looking for.

As I mentioned before, it was a special order. I had tried out the 2x12 TOL50 in the music shop and knew from the strike of the first chord that it was the amp for me. When I brought the head home, the footswitch was somewhat crushed, but the head itself was in good shape. I took the footswitch back to the shop and got a replacement from the store demo.

About 10 months later, I was at practice and it fizzled and faded out. Assuming I blew a power tube, I bought new ones and took it to the shop for biasing. When I went to pick it up, the repairman asked if I had dropped it ever, or had purchased it used. I said no, but remembered the crushed footswitch, and explained. He said the tube bases were cracked and there were several loose wires, which he had fixed at no extra charge (Jim Munzer, Tempe, AZ). Amazing - 10 months of practice and gigs with cracked tube bases and not a single whimper from the amp.

Since then, the amp has been loaded in and out of the back of a pickup truck for probably 75 shows in 2 states, and countless other moves. It's still on the same set of power tubes and has given me absolutely no fault of any kind. So, long story short, despite initial problems caused by UPS's rough handling (who else could it have been?), I am giving this amp a 10 for reliability. I never take a backup amp to a gig.

I had to scramble to get the cash together for this amp. I was saving up to buy it when I read rocktron had declared bankrupcy and B. Egnater had split off to form his own company. I managed to get one of the last of the stock from Rocktron, and my certificate of authenticity wasn't signed by B. Egnater.

My point is, I've never dealt with Rocktron because I always assumed that they wouldn't know much about the Egnater stuff. Plus, I don't think I ever had a reason to contact them. I did send an email once to Egnater.com about what kind of cable to use with the footswitch, and they got back to me within two days, but that really isn't enough to base a review rating.

I've waited three years to write this review so I could give myself time to get used to owning the amp, to give it time to break on me at the worst possible moment (hasn't yet), and to give it time for my tastes to change (they haven't). It is by far the greatest amp I've ever had the privilege to own.

However, having never heard a TOL 100, IE4, or any of the new modular preamp designs from Bruce Egnater, I won't say it's the best amp out there. I would love to check out some of these amps. I can safely say that I will never sell the amp in order to buy another. Other guitarists who I know and respect have told me I've got the best tone in Phoenix. My wife, who is my biggest critic, loves it and thinks I should never change my rig in the slightest. Overall, I could not have asked for a better quality, better sounding amp.

This is a Rocktron production Eganter TOL 50 head. 50 watts 2-El34's and 4 preamp tubes. 2 channels: channel 1 has a British (vox) and an American (fender) voicing switch plus bright and boost buttons. Channel 2 is OD with bright and boost. Also had shared EQ with an added density pot that dials in a more full bodied sound. Spring reverb. Effects loop with a button that switches between a parallel and series loop. In parallel the the fx level pot mixes in the fx loop level. In series it acts as a master volume for the whole amp.
Lastly the amp has a 10 watt and 50 watt option with the flick of a switch.

Being as the amp is designed to be more Vintage and not modern metal it is extremely versatile and very usable in gig situations. It is plenty loud even in the 10 watt setting.

I use an Ibanez S470/stock PU's with this amp. This amp sounds great, plain and simple!!! The clean is not quite a shimmering as a Fender clean but this may be due to my guitar more than anything. There is a ton of headroom on the American voicing and the tone is very full and rich. Turn it to the British voicing and you really get a good AC-30 punch and more break-up as you turn up the gain past halfway. With the boost engaged the clean channel really starts to growl nicely for blues.

The lead channel will take you from slight bluesy OD to mid seventies classic rock crunch to (with the boost engaged) modded JCM800. This channel is simply great with smooth liquid distortion. The single note lead sounds are what I enjoy the best...the pick response is so great and when playing I feel like I can dig in to the strings to get so many variations of overtones.

It must be stated that this amp is not designed to do the modern Hi-Gain sound so it should not be judged on that basis. If you are looking for that sound this amp is not for you.

I had no problem as of yet...seems very well constructed.

Bruce Eganter emailed me back within 6 hours when I emailed him concerning a few questions I had.

This amp easily competes with amps 4X its cost. It is not in production anymore but can be found used from time to time. In all areas it is a great amp and I would be extremely dissapointed to have anything happen to it.

2 Channels, clean is a B+, Lead channel is A++. Voicing very distinctive on clean channel as well as bright. I don't mind the common eq, it sounds great on both channels once you've found your sound. I driven this badass hard every weekend for 2 years in clubs and I wouldn't change a thing about it. Very easy to find your sound. 2 Tube channels each with boost is plenty of different sounds for my needs.

Ok, here's my setup... Gibson '67V Reissue>Vox847 wha> Line 6 Modulation Modeler> Arion stagetuner> Boss ch1> Guyatone wr2> fulltone fatboost>the egg on 10Watts. I thought this thing was fantastic on ch2 before I got the fatboost. Damn...what a difference! I play mostly classic rock and blues and this thing has MUSCLE!! Used to run it through a Peavey 4x12 with Celestions, but bagged it for a 2x12 Genz-Benz G-flex George Lynch cab. It really opened up the top end. I've found my sound and that is it. I've been trying to get a Soldano/Warren Haynes sound from my rig and I came up with something comparable, similar, but uniquely cool. Ch1 is good w/both voicings, bright switch on w/humbuckers, but watch your gain it'll break up, unless you intend it to.

I've been running it hard for 2 years, no real problems except 2 weeks ago my reverb went out on me. Just a loose connection that I got fixed for $48 and a week in the shop...Other than that, not a single problem.

I love my Egg!!

Has been covered already. A lot of the knobs and switches, most of which are very effective in altering the tone. The Voicing and Bright switches on the clean channel change the character of the amp quite a bit. The switches on the lead channel make less of a difference to the tone. Overall, you can get a wide tonal palette by tweaking the controls.

The lead channel is simply fantastic, particularly with humbuckers. Just a great tone machine with almost any setting -- sweet tones with beautiful singing sustain at tolerable volumes.

The clean channel is good, but not as good as the lead channel. Single coil guitars sound a lot better through this channel. With the bright switch and voicing switch engages, it adds a beautiful chime to the single coil tones. IMHO, humbuckers sound a bit lifeless through this channel, and the bright switch adds a hard edge that is not to my taste.

There is a difference in the tones in the 10W setting vs the 50W setting, but not that much difference in volume, at least upto 12 o'clock positions on the volume knobs. It seems incredibly loud for a 10W amp in that setting. I tend to prefer the tones from the 50W setting.

The density knob is unique to this amp. I believe that it is designed to boost the low end frequencies below the range controlled by the bass control. It's effect is very audible when playing alone, but not sure that it makes a diffence while playing with a band.

I have had the amp for two years, and never had any problems. It is built to last.

I have had steller support from both Rocktron and Bruce Egnater directly.

This is a great amp, and I am completely satisfied with it. This is the only amp I have and currently do not have any reason to change that. This is not a super high gain amp, but for what is designed, it does a stellar job. The clean sounds could be better, but they are not bad. Overall, it does a great job of providing a wide array of very usable tones.

The tol50 is a 2 channel tube head. The features are a pretty basic. It has a depth control which is pretty cool, presence, boost on both channels, etc, etc, etc.

I use a Epiphone Goldtop Les Paul with a JB bridge pickup. It sounds awesome through this head even though I don't have a "real" cab yet. I think I'll probably put it through a marshall 1960a cab. I paired it up with one and it sounds better than the jcm900 head my friend uses. The clean channel sounds sweet as does the dirty channel. It's pretty easy to get ALMOST any sound out of this head. It doesn't have quite as much crunch as a Mesa or Marshall but enough to kick some butt in the distortion department.

I am a beginning guitarist. I've heard triple rectifiers, marshalls of all types, Fenders, Rocktron(solid state) amps live in action. The only amps I might pick over this is a higher wattage Egnater head, a Soldano, Engl, or Diezel head. I'm very happy with it despite not being the greatest on the dirty channel. Bruce Egnater just builds great stuff.

I haven't had it long enough to know if it's reliable or not. So far, no problems!

Again, haven't had it long enough to know how the customer support is. I contacted Rocktron once though and recieved a response within 2 days, so that's not bad.

I haven't even been playing for 1 year. I'm a total gearhead, I love toys, but who doesn't. If my tol50 was stolen, I'd find another. As I said earlier a Les Paul paired with this amp is a great combination. I also have a Fernandes Revolver Pro Sustainer which doesn't sound as good through it but I'm sure that's due to the fact of the cheap pickup in the bridge of this guitar. Go out and check out an Egnater amp. You won't be disappointed. Even though the tol50 is no longer being made, you might be able to find one used. I've seen a couple on E-bay since I got mine. One downfall of this amp is the dirty channel isn't high octane but I think another reviewer nailed it by saying it gives you the kind of distortion Silverchair used on Frogstomp. Super amp, great sound.

This is a fifty watt all tube head. It has two channels, each of which has a it's own gain and master knobs. The channels also have bright and boost switches (self explanitory) and the clean channel also has a "voicing" switch. When this switch is not engaged you get a marshall (but sweeter)clean sound, push the switch in and it dips the mids a little for a big round, warm fenderish tone. The EQ is shared which is a slight drawback but for me. To be honest, though, if you can get a good dirty tone with it, switching then to clean should also give you a pretty good sound. The head has reverb (which also sounds sort o' fender-esque), presence and density knobs, and a knob for fx mix (switchable to series or parallel). The standby switch is a three way that switches between standby, 50 watts or 10 watts. There isn't really a diffirence in volume between the 10 and 50 watt settings but quite a diffirence in tone (headroom). There is a footswitch included that controls channel swicthing and boost on/off. If you want to turn reverb on/off there is a jack for an additional foot switch. The amp comes with Svetlana tubes.

I use a 40th Anniversery Strat with a Dimarzio "Chopper" in the bridge position and play rock/hard rock (It's original so I can't really give an example). Obviously I run the amps second channel most of the time for what I do. Instead of saying "When I turn the gain to... I get a ...tone," I'd like to mention some other aspects of the sound. First and foremost this amp is VERY picky about what cabinet you run it through. When I bought it I had a Marshall 8412 (Valvestate cab) and thought the amp sounded pretty good. I've tried the head through various Crate cabs (both 4x12 and 1x12), some sounds were very dark, some were thin and whimpy sounding. I am running it now through a Marshall 1960A cab and have completely fallen back in love with the head. What Great Tone! I wish I had bought this cabinet 2 years ago when I bought the head. This amp is also very compressed. You may not like it, I do! Chords and single notes have similar volumes so if you play lead and like to throw in little phases all over the place, you don't have to worry about your notes getting buried by the rest of the band. In terms of actual tones, the head can do country, surf, blues, rock, etc. I've read reviews where people say they can't get enough distortion out of it. I think the question is not how much gain is the amp delivering, but what is your opinion of a heavy guitar tone? If you like guitars that sound like a sworm of livid hornets or that sound like chainsaws, go buy a solid-state randall or something. If you like the kind of gain that's big and has that growling affect when you hit a chord, the kind of tone that beats you up and takes your lunch money this is a great amp. Obviously these tones lie in the gain on 10, boost switched in area, but they sound sweet. The heaviest tone you will get out of this is similar to the first Silvercahir album, it's big, mean and it purrs like a big cat. In terms if volume this amp is fine, I play with it in the 11 o'clock position on stage and it's fine. It's not as loud as a boogie (no other amp on earth is)but it is more than adequate. I don't know what else to say, the amp gives you lots of diffirent sounds, you can't get it to sound like another amp but don't worry, this amp only sounding like itself is certainly not a bad thing!

When I first bought the amp the input jack crapped out on me so I threw another one in there and haven't had a problem in two years. The tubes have not been replaced and don't show any signs of giving up the ghost any time soon. The amp has been used in clubs, stadium gigs, huge outdoor concerts and has been dragged across parts of the country on tour. No Problems, it's built like a tank! And I don't think I can Really hold the input jack problem against them, so I'm giving it a ten.

I can't say although I have heard that it is as rock solid as the amp itself. I fixed the input jack myself as I am a guitar tech and work at the store where I bought it. They have always been good to deal with through the music store.

I have been playing for ten years and am a real gear pig, I've used quite a few other brands, Mesa, Marshall, Fender, etc...... If this amp were stolen I would hunt down the person that stole it and would....well it wouldn't be pretty. I really do think this amp is THAT GOOD! The only thing I wish it had were a three button footswitch with the third button for verb. Other than that, this amp rocks real hard.

This is a 2 channel amp. Each channel has it's own Gain and Master Volume knob. Each channel also has a Boost switch that is selectable via the footswitch (provided), and a Bright switch for a high-end boost. There is only one input. Channel 1 has a Voicing switch...Out for normal vintage, and In for classic American clean. Each channel shares the Bass, Middle, Treble, and Presence controls. There is a knob called Density, which is supposed to "fatten" up your tone. There is also a Reverb knob. The FX Level/Mix knob can be selectable as Series or Parallel (chosen by a switch). If set to Series mode, the knob acts as an overall Master Volume. If in Parallel mode, it acts as an effects return only. The power switch is easily accessible on the upper right portion of the amp, and underneath that, the Standby switch. This is a "3-way" switch...you can choose either the 10 watt or 50 watt mode, or leave the switch in the mid position (Standby).
The back of the amp features: a Ground Polarity switch; a footswitch jack (which changes between Channel 1 & 2 and engages the Boost feature on each channel); a Reverb Mute jack (yes, reverb can also be footswitchable with a single function footswitch); an Effects Send and Return jack; Slave Level switch and Slave Out jack; a sliding Impedance switch; and 2 speaker output jacks.
The amp features (2) EL34 power tubes and (4) 12AX7 preamp tubes...I haven't checked on the brand yet.

Since I have a Les Paul and a strat, I thought I'd give 'em both a run. Here are my caveats...I have only owned this strat for 3 weeks. I don't know what honk or quack really means. I don't know what 3 dimensional sound means. I just know what I like and what I hear, and I'll describe it as best as I can.
Strat into Channel 1 I started with the gain at 2-4 and the Master at 2-4, and the 10 watt setting. Here I was getting really lush clean tones. Not spanking clean, but clean. I've never really heard "Fender" clean but this sound has to give it a run for the money. The Boost switch, when engages, definitely adds more balls to the sound. As I turned up the Master to about 5-7, I got a little more dirt but still clean. It became apparent when engaging the Boost, I got a little extra oomph...definitely dirtied up the sound, slight but noticeable. When I turned the Master up to 7-10, I got a really sweet clean/semi clean sound. With the Master this low, when I stepped on the Boost, I definitely got extra volume. As I increased the Master, the boost became more of an "slight overdrive".
So I now bumped the gain up to 4-7 and the Master on 4-7. Man...what a nice chimey sound, with great breakup! As I increased the Master to 7-9, I was visited by Voodoo Chile! Oh man what a sound! However, with the Boost engaged at this higher gain level, I got some noisey feedback. Hello Bosstone fuzz pedal.
Next territory was to put the gain on 7-9 and the Master on 4-7. What a beautiful mid-gain sound there. You will find some SRV sounds in this area. When the Boost was engaged, I heard an increase in gain moreso than in volume. When I tried to put the Master on 7-9 and the gain at 7-9, I basically got too much feedback...just too hot for the single coils I guess.
In general, on channel 1, you will find that when the Voicing switch is Out, you get a ballsier and louder sond, with a quicker breakup as you increase volume and gain. With the Voicing switch In, you can stay cleaner a little louder. The Bright switch did not seem to do a lot to the sound, at least to my ears. Yeah, you could tell a little difference, but not a whole lot. As far as the tone controls are concerned, the Mid and Bass knobs are quite responsive, and the Treble knob is very responsive. You can really hear the difference when noodling with them.
Strat into Channel 2 My starting point on this channel was Master at 4-6 and gain at 3-5. Wow. Looks like SRV lives here as well. As you give it more gain, it just gets sweeter. Increase the Master, and now you're just making it hotter. For the most part, I don't see why you would need a overdrive pedal, because of the Boost switch. The unuseable area here is a high Master and high gain region together...a lot of uncontrollable feedback. But give youself a mid-level Master setting, around 4-6, and gain around 5-7, you are in tone heaven.
In general, on channel 2, you will find a lot of SRV and Hendrix tones. You can get an amazing amount of sustain by setting the dials right. Again, the Boost feature seems to add gain and volume with low Master settings, and primarily gain only with higher Master settings. Again, the Bright switch did not was kinda a non-factor. Maybe my hearing just isn't that good or I balanced out the Treble, Mid, and Presence controls to make the Bright switch un-noticeable.
What was amazing to me, was the wide range of USEABLE sounds in these 2 channels. If I wanted really clean, I could get it. If I wanted mid-gain, I got it. If I wanted a straight out rock tone, I got it. What I COULD NOT get, nor would I use, is a high gain tone. When the gain was set high, I got a lot a feedback.

And onto a humbucker equipped Les Paul...
LP into channel 1 I started with the Master on 4-6 and the gain lowered to 2-3. I could hear nice beefy clean tones hear, and could definitely get some fat jazzy tones with the neck pickup. As with the strat, the Voicing switch is very responsive, with a cleaner sound heard when in the I

If this was based on Bruce Egnater's reputation, I would bet on high reliability. But if it's based on Rocktron, then I just don't know. It seems like it's gonna hold up. I do not typically abuse my amps. I always let the tubes cook for about 3-5 minutes before playing. While this will be my primary amp, I wouldn't gig (although I do not gig much anymore) without a backup, just based on Murphy's Law.

I've filled out the warranty card. I've heard that Bruce Egnater will reply to emails (which is great customer support there! (this is not sarcasm)). I have heard that some people are having Bruce do mods to their Egnater amps...I really don't know what he could improve on for me. I'll take mine just the way it is.

They say no amp is the perfect amp, this is no exception TO ME. While I forsee this amp being my workhorse, I do see getting a Marshall just for those sounds that the Egg cannot get. It's that Marshall crunch, grindage, bite, teeth, whatever. That being said, though, this is just a freakin' incredible amp!! It has it's own tone, it's own voice. The amp just simply sings! I got this thing based solely on the glowing recommendation of a respected guitarist friend of mine...never having played it. Thanks, Paul...I owe you a CASE of beer for turning me on to this.
Geez...I didn't even mention the Reverb or the Density knobs. Nor did I mention that by flipping to the 50-watt setting that ALL THE SOUNDS seem to tighten up noticeably.
Great job on this one, Bruce! You have got a winner!!