Used Tube Amp Makeover AND How to Bias Your Egnater Rebel 20

[@jonnybeck6723]

Egnater sez the noise in the "watts" pot is normal

[@oldguyjammin9732]

I’d say you’re right based on something I just watched yesterday. Apparently the noise has something to do with some re-biasing that takes place. Good call and thanks for posting that info :) I’ll give it the pin!

[@jonnybeck6723]

@@oldguyjammin9732 Holy moly... I believe this be the 1st time I've ever been 'pinned' ... ...and I'm only 71 and a half years old

[@joewirkus]

I'll say a few things about baising this amplifier: definitely yes check the bias after swapping tubes, and again after they are burned in a few hours of play time. I replaced all the JJ's with mullards and it was WAY OFF on both. I have also noticed that adjusting one bias point affects the other. I went back and forth 6 or 7 times to get them dialed in to the specified values (within 0.5mVDC). It's kinda funky. Thanks for this video! I agree with you on the tone of the Rebel 20 MK I in particular. I love this amp!

[@oldguyjammin9732]

Coolio, thanks for chiming in! I ended up keeping my Tweaker 15 but have very fond memories of my Rebel 20 and 30, the 30 was a beast that I couldn’t play loud enough to really appreciate.

[@jst601]

Amazing how the Egnater amps have a timeless, classic sound. The Tweaker series amps have their own signature tones; the Rebel 20, 30 & Renegade are each awesome. And the 3 channel Tourmaster? A tone king dream. I *still* crave these sounds after 10 years of amp searching. ABout ready to just cop a few used ones & be happy. The compression in the Rebel 20, 30 Renegade & Tourmaster when the gain is cranked is stunning.

[@oldguyjammin9732]

Ya man, just seeing your comment now for some reason, but totally agree with you. Very unique heavy crunch that you just can’t find elsewhere. It’s daschit for sure, lol. However... and I’ll tread lightly here... I just got a Wangs HD 15 and the crunch from it is definitely something to be reckoned with - OMGarsh!

[@AndrewHorseman]

As I think has been mentioned, the sound produced when moving the "Watts" pot is normal. It's the sound of DC on a pot - usually something we don't want. But this circuit is designed this way and that sound is normal operation.

[@oldguyjammin9732]

You are correct. Not sure when, but over the years I found this out as well. I've since had other amps with the same explanation in the owner's manual.

[@tuckerlane7995]

Egnater never seemed like it tried to be something new, at least tonally... But that bell tone is something you can't get anywhere else. I just received my Rebel 20 (original) today, and it's my favorite amp now. Amazing little head, somehow makes the Blackbird 50 in my HT5R sound good... That said, I can tell the speaker is holding it back, and have a WGS G12C/S on the way. Great video, glad there's a cleaning vid of my amp, especially since it has this (fsr somewhat nice) hum when switched out of standby.

[@davidkastin4240]

This electronic cleaner is a must have in a guitarist tool kit. Works like a charm. I call it magic in a can. I've had to use it mostly on pickup selector switches.

[@oldguyjammin9732]

David Kastin - YES :) magic in a can, ha ha.

[@thisdyingsoul76]

I had a Rebel 30 mk I. It was a great amp. I forget what possessed me to sell it. I'm happy with the amps I have now, but if I ever did buy another, I'd try to find a Rebel 20 mk II.

[@oldguyjammin9732]

I had an MK I as well, sold it… got an MK II but preferred the more organic growl from the MKI…? I think the ‘law of familiarity’ is partly to blame for us selling great amps. We get used to stuff and after a while don’t think it sounds good any more, then sell it, then miss it and just buy another at an inflated price, lol. That’s me anyway, I’m on my 3rd Tweaker 15 but I’m keeping this one.

[@thisdyingsoul76]

@oldguyjammin9732 if I happen across a Rebel amp at a good price, I may buy it, but I have 3 really good amps now. A hand-wired Marshall clone, a modified Bandmaster clone and a little 5 watt microhead that's great for getting those cranked vintage Marshall and Fender tones at low volumes. I still have the egnater Rebel 112 cab. Considering dropping a new speaker in, but haven't decided what. I have a UK made V-30, but if I use that, I limit the cab to the 5 watt head and the bandmaster clone. I have to either make peace with being unable to use the 50 watt hand-wired head with it or buy another speaker... or leave it stock. The stock speaker isn't bad, I just wanted to see if I would like the V-30 or some sort of higher wattage greenback style speaker better.

[@oldguyjammin9732]

@@thisdyingsoul76 - I love my Heritage GB but it’s all subjective. Later in my journey I started really appreciated the oversized cabs, even the 1x12s cause of the extra boom and resonance I got. I covered the port in my Rebel cab and I felt helped make it a bit more punchy. Peavey, Friedman, Mesa and Engl all make some ‘over sized’ 1x12 cabs. It’s nice to have a selection too, some of my really tight amps sound better through an open back.

[@johndory2826]

@oldguyjammin I have the rebel 30 MK2 and just bought a used rebel 20( non mk 2) I think something happened in shipping. It was loud for 3 sec and then it went quiet. There is sound( but very quiet) when the master vol. is in the 11-2 oclock range and then no sound beyond that. Should I be looking at a faulty tube or investigating deeper? What are your thoughts? Any help would be appreciated, thanks

[@oldguyjammin9732]

Gosh, that sucks. I’d take any of the tube covers that may be on, off so you can see all the tubes then turn it on and see if you can see any appreciable difference in glow. Next light tap each tube around the top with a pencil to see if any of them make a loud TINK when tapped. Next you could start putting a new 12AX7 in each tube socket starting with the first and moving on. The first preamp tube is in the socket closest to the input jack. JJ tubes are about $12 from Tubedepot.com. Try this as well since it is making sound. Note wether the volume changes with increase to Gain vs Master (gain is more likely preamp, while master is more likely poweramp - the big tubes) and then with the sound as high as you can get it, make changes to the bass and treble knobs. If you adjust bass and treble and nothing happens it’s most likely in your preamp. Other than that, there are more fuses inside that easy to inspect but you have to pull the chassis. OH - of course try a different instrument cable AND a different guitar to make sure it’s not something other than the amp :) you can also bypass the FX loop tube by putting a small patch cable in the SEND and then the other end right back into the RETURN. Good luck, feel free to come back with anything you find out.

[@joedinsmoor2127]

I own a rebel 20 mk1, and am having issues with it. I was playing it with the gain on full and master at half with the wattage turned up to about 15 watts. It suddenly lost all volume except for a small hum. I’ve tried every troubleshooting step involving different guitars, cables, and cabinets. I swapped in a known good set of el84s, and will be swapping in new 6v6s. Do you have any suggestions for me?

[@oldguyjammin9732]

That sucks man, that's a nice amp. I preferred the mki to the mkii. I dunno, I'd pull the chassi, pull the covers off the preamp tubes to see if they all glow and look around and smell for any obvious burns. I do know that there are a few more fast blow fuses inside on the power board, so you might check those. There was a batch of Egnaters years ago, that came out with faulty power transformers so you might get a hold of Egnater and see what they say. They're very helpful. Transformers have a very specific smell like burnt shellack. Good luck If you have a known good 12ax7 you can try it V1, then put the amp in standby and try it in v2, standby and try it in v3.

[@joedinsmoor2127]

@@oldguyjammin9732 thanks for the quick reply, I’ll check the internal fuses tonight and if those aren’t helpful, I’ll call egnater. Thanks for the help

[@joedinsmoor2127]

@@oldguyjammin9732 no dice with swapping preamp tubes, gonna check the fuses a bit later and keep ya posted. Do you know of a good phone number for egnater? The one on their support page appears to be disconnected

[@oldguyjammin9732]

Joe Dinsmoor - I'll do you one better [e-mail] he's a good guy. They probably won't help with over the phone diagnosis but he can certainly dial you in regarding shipping and repairs, etc. have your SN handy... rumor is they replace output transformers on the cheap if they came from the "bad batch era".

[@joedinsmoor2127]

@@oldguyjammin9732 holy shit! Thank you so much! I appreciate it so much

[@jimthecraftyguitarist878]

@oldguyjammin The reverb in my Rebel 30 does not work. Any ideas? Thanks!

[@oldguyjammin9732]

Hey man, sorry so late on the reply, I don’t always get notifications for some reason. I don’t think that head has a real tank verb so I also doubt there’s a tube driven reverb here. I really don’t have any help other than check for lose wires around the reverb adjusting pot... sorry. I do know that Egnater has always been real helpful over the phone so try giving them a call. Ask for Blad

[@thepeachprince]

hey, question! how do i get the chassis out of the body?

[@oldguyjammin9732]

There’s probably 4 screws on the bottom of the body. Take them out, they’ll be long.