Egnater Tourmaster 4212

This thing really does have a lot of positive features. Regardless of what some reviews say, there are four distinct channels. It takes a while to dial in the sound you want, but when you do it's beautiful. I think the problem that some reviewers are having is that they don't understand how to dial in tone. There were a few complaining that the contour sucks out tone. Well, when you depress the contour and dial in the frequency, you have to make adjustments to your eq to compensate. The power grid is actually pretty neat. If you drop the wattage, make sure to turn down the gain and crank up the post to get some tube breakup. My favorite part is actually the assignable effects loop. You can drop all of your effects onto the clean channels, the dirty channels, the footswitch, or keep them on all of the time. I use a lot of effects, and I like to be able to drop them all on my clean channels with a few distortion pedals in the loop and have the ability to kick straight into a dirty channel without effects and not have to turn off 5 different effects before hand.

Like I mentioned before, this thing has killer tone. You just have to take the time to set it up. Don't expect to walk into a store and ANY amp to sound brilliant. With kids going in there constantly and turning the switches all over the place it's going to sound like crap.

Unfortunately, the reliability is a bit low. I got mine and two days later the effects loop tube burned out. I have a new one on the way and we'll see how it does.

Haven't dealt with them yet. Hope to never have to.

I've played through plenty of good tube combos, and this one by far has the best tone and the most versatility.

This amp has it all...4 independently voiced channels, EQ, Contour, Gain, Volume and vintage/modern switch. Egnater celestion elite 80 speakers, massive footswitch for channel, FX loop, and Reverb switching. Power grid in the back is selectable from 10 to 100 watts. Line out with level control which is great for recording, so on and so on....

This thing is a tone lab! You can get pretty much any sound out of this thing that you could ever want. The clean 1 channel sparkles like a twin and perfectly compliments your single coil strats. Channel 2 is similarly voiced but can get a little more gain to it, tubes will break up a little earlier for your southern rock and bluesy tones (gain around 2-3 oclock). Might need a tube screamer or other OD pedal to get your SRV tones but it gets pretty close. Channel 3 is your ideal classic rock channel that emulates ac/dc to the fullest, think jcm 800. Channel 4 just rocks! The heaviest of the 4, its great for in your face hard rock rhythms and leads depending how you use it. Not quite your modern high gain metal but its VERY close. Again try throwing a tube screamer and an EQ in the chain and your happening with all the dirty you could want. My ONLY reason i could deduct a point from this category is the gain channels can get a bit noisy. If your turning your gain knobs past 2 oclock and your master volume more than 2 oclock (on 50 or 100w setting) youll notice a little hiss. Got a little annoying during recording but on stage wouldnt be a big deal. I threw a isp decimator at the end of my fx loop and that was that, goodbye noise.

I bought this thing used about 4 months ago and havent had a single problem with it (besides the bit of noise). The guy before me installed wheels on it and that makes it easier to roll around. I've read a few peoples reviews bashing the tourmaster in this category...play before you buy is all I have to say, ive had no problems.

I could go both ways on this one...the 2 times I tried to contact them about things was completely hot and cold. The first time customer support emailed me within the day with a perfectly detailed description of what i was asking (tube layout and replacement). The second I called and left a message and never heard back from them. So id say when you do get a hold of em, their staff is pretty knowledgeable but that second time threw me off a little bit.

Overall I love this thing...I was thinking about getting a little more 'high gain' half stack recently and after 2 weeks of looking up different heads the Egnater's spirit slapped me in the face and asked what are you thinking... you will have a hard time finding a more versatile amp than this (besides a mesa roadking:))for the price and quality. Highly recommended 'lifer' combo!

As I'm sure you're well aware, this amplifier has 4 channels of increasing gain. Each channel has a 3 band EQ, contour knob, volume, and gain. Also, a vintage and modern switch.

The effects loop can run in series or parallel.

Also, there is the Wattage grid. A lot of you are saying that it is 'useless' and doesn't really do anything at all. I called the guys at Egnater about it, and they explained to me the subtleties of it. Double the wattage is something like a 3dB increase. This doesn't change much, but does change things slightly.

You can remove half the back to change the personality of the cab as well.

To get this amp to payoff, you have to dedicate a tremendous amount of time to it, but the payoff is HUGE. I had a fender twin before this amp and a couple other tube amps. The Fender is great for people who like to know that everytime they plug in, it'll sound good. This amp can give you EXACTLY what you want, but you have to mold it. I have gotten my Egnater to sound better than my twin ever did.

Each channel has its own personality, and they all have great potential.

I must admit, though. The reverb leaves something to be desired. It's not bad, but if you want gig or studio quality verb, you'll have to buy a pedal. The Reverb makes it a 9 rather than a 10.

I gig regularly with it in venues of all sizes. I've never had a single problem with it. Love it.

So far, it's been 100 lbs. of pure reliability. I've had it for almost a year now.

Fantastic. If they don't answer your call, they call you right back. One time I had about a 30 minute conversation with one of the guys over there. He explained all the highly technical aspects of every single knob on my amp. Great stuff.

Overall, this is a fantastic amp. It's worth its pricetag.

I purchased this amp from Guitar Center in DesMoines almost exactly a year ago. I play in a cover band that gigs two weekends a month all year-round. I'm able to achieve every playing style our music demands with this amp, from Staind to Jimi Hendrix. I utilize every channel of this 4 channel monster. Clean - Clean with a little grit - Overdrive for gainy songs - and a louder overdrive for leads. I use just about every feature the amp has to offer. I mic the front of the amp as well as run direct out of the speaker simulator into the mixing board. Those two tones are then mixed together and sound killer. I run all my effects through the effects loop in parallel mode. When practicing at home, I take the amp down to 10 Watts to saturate the tubes at low volumes. When playing live, I rarely go over 50 Watts (The amp is capable of 100).

I use two Schecter C-1 Classics, one with the original Seymour Duncan JB and 59s and the other with EMG 81 and 89s. I also run my Ibanez Jem, RG, and ESP Horizon (all with DiMarzio Evolutions in the bridge). The amp really brings out the diverse tonality of each pickup I use. My band plays 90s to current rock tunes (smashing pumpkins, linkin park, korn, staind, jimi hendrix, buck cherry...) whatever the fans want to hear pretty much. Myself, I play a lot of Protest the Hero, Skindred, Deftones, Taproot... This amp can do it all! At high gain settings, much like many tube amps, this amp gets a little noisy. I have introduced a noise suppressor and now, it's so quiet, you can hear a pin drop. The clean channel works perfectly for what I need. I've heard that some bluesy players don't like it but I used to play a lot of jazz and the clean works beautifly for that. The overdrive channel has everything I used to love about my mesa dual rectifier rackmount but it fills in the tones I couldn't get out of the mesa. Very nice. The amp also sounds great with an overdrive pedal plugged straight into the clean channel. I've used a line6 podxt live, metal zone, and marshall shredmaster this way, and all are very killer and distinct. It just depends on what you like.

I'm not sure how to rate the reliability of the amp. Like I said, I've been using it for a year now (two weekends a month gigging and daily at home practicing). Up until recently the sound has been consistent but the other day at band practice, I lost a ton of volume all of a sudden. I emailed Egnater about the problem and John Ewing called me back within minutes. I have now purchased a set of four ECC83 Gold Groove Tubes (there are 8 tubes total) tubes and I'm going to replace those tonight. I'm confident the amp will be back to it's old rocking self again afterward. This amp get's banged around in our trailer and in my car A LOT! So far so good.

I couldn't speak more highly about Egnater's customer support. John has called and emailed me on several occasions and he treats me like a rock star, even though I'm in a cover band. He values my oppinion and loves to hear about how improvements can be made and how well the amp is holding up on the road. I've never had service this good. I can't say the same for Guitar Center in DesMoines who made me wait at the counter, money in hand for more than 45 minutes before asking me if I needed help when purchasing the amp. Because of this, I lack the faith in them to make repairs on my amp and do my own bias adjustments, and tube replacement. Caution: That will void the warranty! I've been working with tube amp for over 15 years, so I'm pretty confident I know what I'm doing. I still consult John first though. I'm not sure how long the Warranty is under Egnater, I'm sure it's competitive though.

I've been playing for more than 15 years. I've owned tons of equipment of the years and frankly, it would be pretty boring to list it all. It would also be very depressing to mention all the equipment I wish I still owned. I just bought the 212X bottom cabinet for my Egnater last night and can't wait to try it out today...after I change my preamp tubes.

If my amp was stolen I would replace it immediatly. Actually, I might even switch from the 4212 to the 4100 head insead. Either way, it would be a Tourmaster.

I love everything about the amp.

I hate how heavy it is, but hey, it's worth it.

I originally was going to buy the JSX 212 combo but I tried it, and a line6 Bogner, and a peavy Triple X. I fell in love with the Egnater, now I won't go back.

The amp has everything I need. The only problem I have is in my own personal pedal setup. I'm looking into getting an Amp Gizmo that will allow me to switch channels on my midi fx board while simultaneously switching channels on the amp. Not the amps fault...

The amp has quite a bit of features although not all of them are useful. The contour dial as mentioned in earlier reviews seems to just suck the life out of the tone.

The amps has some ok tones on the vintage setting. The tone on the modern setting on channel one sounds like one of those acoustic emulators. Not so good. With some work you can get some good tones, but many lack some life.

This is where the amp really doesn???t make it. I gave it a rating of ???1??? because that???s how many I played out of four that worked. I ordered the amp from musicians Friend. The first one they sent was in the shred of a box and the reverb did not work. The other two came in good boxes. The second work for 20 min and then blew fuses. I sent it back and received the one I have now. The reverb does not work on this one. If the amp can???t survive being shipped it will never survive constant shows. So the only one I ever player that worked was in the store.

Some may think amps really can't take a beating. I had one of my own amps crushed when shipped back to me. It still worked.

Musicians friend was great and did a lot, including sending the amp by different shippers to help. Egnater didn???t return my call yet.

I'm looking for somthing else. I agree with most of the complaints about this amp below. I also agree with what someone below wrote. They said, now someone will write a review with all "10" that some what resembles the egnator selling points. Maybe they will get smart and start to write more moderate reviews. Not much will help but better packing and better manufacturing.

lots of features to many In my opinion.

I guess this is hit or miss with people but I love the way this amp sounds maybe it takes a little more time to get "dialed in" but when you do its really great.

People talk trash about P.C.B. and praise the point to point wiring. Im calling bull on this electricity moves just as well through PCB and if you take proper care of an amp (keep an eye on the condition of your tubes and using the right tubes for your amp) your not going to have anything to wory about. The guy below me he did not understand that and he ruined a great amp.

I am a guitar instructor and this amp is great no hesitations with it what so ever. With the over seas manufacture you can get awesome tone with minimal investment.

Lots of great features....all of them mediocre. A four channel amp that is supposed to cover a lot of territory.

I play a PRS ce22. The guitar has killer pickups. My style is a bluesy/classic rock. Been playing for 30 years. It can do everything from Fendery clean to Mesa Recto. There are some good sounds in this amp, but you have to work to get them out. It can also get quite loud. 100 watts.

Here it is guys!!!!! Don't bother. I should have followed my gut when I was testing the first one out and it died right there in the store. I had played on it a somewhat low volume and it farted out....and didn't come back! So I went to another store and tried another one out, played for a few hours and bought it. I was trying to get Egnaters custom built amp tone in a easier on the wallet budget. What I got was a 95lb paperweight. It presently does not work. Died during practice a couple days ago. This is the second time in 6 months it will be going into the shop. The first time the output tubes only a few months old started making some freaky sounds. This time there is no sound...only the still hushed voice of the fan. If you want Egnater tone, YOU HAVE GOT TO BUY THE HANDBUILT ONES MADE IN THE U.S.A. I however will not do any such thing because if Bruce is going to allow his name to be turned into crap so he can make some more $$$$$! He has lost more than clients. MADE IN CHINA!! Need I say more?

Customer support is very weak for these. If you bought a handbuilt from Bruce he will take care of you. It will not be long before he see's he created a repair nightmare. When lots of guys start sending these things in, that might give them the clue that "going on the cheap" was not such a good idea.

I bought this AMP new. I am music hobbyist. I just love playing guitar. I like to play mostly rock songs and funk some times. Sometimes I try to shred. About this amp cause of the features. You get 4 channels. Each channel can create a variety of tones. Ch1 can give you some clean tones. Some of the tones on Ch1 give you a kind of tubless sound but they are good for doing some fast strumming like on an acoustic. CH2 is a clean channel, My favorite one. Ch3 makes a bunch of rythmn sounds which are good. Ch4 gives from Ch3 leaves of in gain to a higher gain. The max gain on it sounds like it would be good for puck or some chunky chugging. Each channel has the same adjustments, EQ, countor, volume -gain. Modern/Classic switch and on the back you can select the Watts for each channel. There is master volume, reverb, density and presence. You can really get alot of good sounds with this, its really hard to choose. I really like the instruction book that came with it, It got me started right away messing with the tones without alot of reading. I play in my condo in which i cant get too loud, It has a half power/full power switch for the output section which works out great for me. 2 things I dont like. One, the amp is freagin heavy. Its nice that they put some good wheels an heavy duty handles on it. The amp should have came with a forklift. 2. Why not go all the way and have more options for effects loops. Like an effects loop for each channel would be good since the amp has 4 channels. The quality of the construction on this amp is awsome. Every detail, every corner every screw, molding, its pristine. The amp looks great. All the nobs feel real nice.

I have a newer strat deluxe with SCN pickups. I tried many amps before I bought i decided one. I really like the clean sounds this amp produces. I play alot of chords and aprregiating, I don't do alot of the hot gutiar stuff although i wish I could. The amp sounds very tight on the low end. I like it. The reverb adds a nice touch, i like how they made the reverb. It doesnt go all out like other verbs and you can really dial in the amount you want. You can get a variety of great sounding clean sounds. I don't really play it cranked up all the time. at the lower volumes I usually play at in my condo the amp sound is great. The distortion in CH4 would only have a couple of applications. Its pretty thick. I just play a metal zone pedal with. With this amp, that pedal sounds great for solos. Why not give it a 10? If i can mix the clean of the bogner I tried with the distortions of the Vetta Juice i would probably give that amp a 10. I am very pleased with the sound of this amp, but there is always room for improvment.

I havent had any issues with this amp yet. But it has been sitting in one spot in my house for a while so I can't really comment on this.

havent called them yet.

I love this amp. It looks great. Has the sound I like. Its unique in its look and sound. If it got lost or stolen it would be a consideration for my next amp. There are so many great amps out there, if I had the money I would try to have as many as possible. I tried about 10-15 other amps in the 1000-2000$ price range. This amp had a good marraige of sound and features.

Read below all have been covered

Here is my input, I have had too many amps as most of us have and am no longer gigging. I wanted to like this combo but just seemed congested sounding at first when I demoed it. Tried the head for kicks thru a Marshall 1960av cab, HUGE difference. SO plugged the combo into the cab and same results. Realized that those Elite 80's are totally wrong for this amp. Not sure why companies or Celestion keep putting the Classic 80's in amps. SO found a great deal on a used combo, bought a pair of G12H's and vola instant tone! I also changed out the first two tubes to New Production Tung Sol's these also made a huge difference in clarity and tone. Did not do as much for the overdrive channels so for now the stock GT's will stay.
With these simple changes I really feel that I have an amp that covers pretty much all the tone bases for me. Power Grid is cool and works well, you have to turn down the gains and get the output tubes cooking to get that great OD tone. Good luck!

So far so good, they are a great company!

Not had to call yet so not sure...

I bought it about about 4 months ago and didn't want to write a review until i explore it enough so here it is.

It has more features than other amps out there. Most useful features i come to like is channel specific gain/tone/volume control combined with power grid. I really can't complaint about the features =T

I have two guitars, Fender American Vintage Telecaster '52 Reissue and a Gibson LP Studio with all original pickups. The songs i play range from blues to 70's rock to modern rock with heavy distortion. To be a fair critic, i hooked up my guitars with a few pedals i use normally to Fender SuperSonic combo and Mesa Boogie 30W amps.

Clean Tone: Pretty darn close to Fender. I originally wanted to get a SuperSonic combo and had a tough time deciding between the two.

Overdrive Channel: Mesa offered a little more fuller and thicker distortion sound. I am sure Marshall will give you a little better overdrive sound as well.

I haven't had a problem yet.

Hope i don't have to contact their customer service.

After 4 months of playing, I am pretty satisfied with the amp.

Pros:
- Can't beat the price for what you get.
- Features
- Versitality (it's like having 4 amps in one)


Two things that i wished that this amp can have is...
- a little fuller sound on overdrive channel --> but then again, Marshalls and Mesas will cost you ALOT more. I found that this amp combined with a Keeley modded Tube Screamer and a Keeley Compressor will give you a pretty impressive distortion.
- Light weight... this thing weighs 100 lbs.

Hope this helps!