Egnater Renegade reliability

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gforce_15

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I was wondering what to expect in terms of reliability of the renegade. I ordered a new one from my local store this week and am expecting it mid week. Im a bit uneasy after going through the first 10 pages of threads in this section....seems like each page has like 3 or 4 threads regarding issues with the renegades (tubes, transformers, footswitches, fuses, etc.)

While i realize forums tend to have more people sharing problems and lookin for help, i am wondering if any of you have been able to enjoy yours for years troublefree??! I gig about 2 times a month and amp will be travelling around in a bus/truck, in and out of my house ,etc.

Should i be worried or give it a whirl? Thanks in advance :rock:
 
I have had a Renegade for years. No problems. It is possible to distort the digital reverb on it if you turn the channel volume up past about 2 o'clock and play hard. Never been a problem for me; I don't use reverb much, and when I do I just keep the channel volume down a bit and work the volume through the guitar or through the two master volumes. No problem.
 
Thanks Len. Does your renegade get hauled around a lot or does it stay in your music room or jam space mostly?

Any other comments appreciated!
 
I've had mine for 3.5 years now. That isn't a long time in the big scheme of things, but it's held up just fine. I've traveled with it to another state a couple of times. Played a few gigs with it. Rehearsed quite a bit. No tours though. No loading in and out of instrument trucks and the like.

Issues? There was the above described issue with the reverb that was fixed by Egnater about 2.5 years ago. I'm assuming the new ones have this taken care of. When I got mine, the fan was quite loud. Again, fixed by Egnater right away with no issues since. That's all.

I used the stock tubes for 2.5 years without issue. When I replaced them it improved the amp, but it wasn't "bad" before. And if you're around these internet forums at all, you know that "replace the stock tubes" is the first thing people tell you to do when you have a new amp and aren't happy with the tone. Frankly, I think stock tubes get a bit of a bad rap, but arguably, every time I've replaced mine in an amp, the amp has sounded better. I've never had stock tubes from any manufacturer be bad for me though.

I've never heard anything about the stock tubes in a Renegade, or any Egnater for that matter, being any worse that stock tubes in any other amp. I've also never heard of transformer issues in a Renegade. That is the Tourmaster that has a history of transformer issues.

While I've seen that someone's foot pedal broke, I've seen nothing here that indicates that it's a chronic problem. One thing that makes me nervous in this regard, is a short in the cable that comes from walking on it or rolling things across it. I'm careful about that but that is hardly Egnater's problem.

I've got nothing but good things to say about my Renegade and the Egnater service that resolved my only two minor problems with it.

-On a side note. The "Made in China" thing really bugs a lot of people who will go out of their way to find problems with these products. If the same problems arise in a mad in USA or UK product, it is overlooked and chalked up to "nobody's perfect". When they happen to a Chinese product, these imperfections are pointed to and announced from mountaintops as proof that it's an inferior product - whether it is or not. In short, Marshall and Fender get away with A LOT more in this regard, IMO, than companies like Egnater do. That may just be my opinion though. Others may not see it this way.

I think you'll be happy with your Renegade.

Congrats!
 
Hbucker- what did Egnater do to fix the reverb? I never heard about this and might want to get it done.

Mine is mostly in my room but it occasionally gets hauled out to gigs and things.
 
I don't know what they did, but Bruce developed a repair that was done by an Egnater service center and now it's fine.
 
I had no problems with a heavily used renegade, nor had any problems with a heavily gigged rebel 30. Diferrent story with a first run tourmaster with a pre m coded transformer.
 
Hbucker, thanks for your great reply and sharing your experiences (thanks ramblin390 as well) . I feel more confident in my near future purchase. I guess i got the 3 year warranty to use if needed...can always sell it then if the amp lets me down!
 
You are bound to find any number of positive experiences with any amp from any given brand. But just from doing your research online, you will find that both Egnater and Blackstar are among the worst about breaking down. They are great when they work. But we should be getting high reliability for $1000+. But instead we are getting the reliability of a $200 amp. That might be the wrong way to put it since the Fender Mustang is cheap and reliable. It's pretty sad when a modeling amp is more reliable than a tube one. I read somewhere online where a tech stated that the components used in Egnater and Blackstar amps are el cheapo parts. Makes perfect sense. Because if you imagine what the consequences of cheap parts would be, that fits the real world scenario that surrounds these amps. There's no way in hell I'll buy Egnater. I love the sound. But reliability comes first or not at all. Its why I bought the newer Fender Mustang IV. I didn't want a modeling amp. But at least it won't break down right after the warranty expires like these new tube amps will.
 
Every amp I've ever owned as had "el cheapo parts" according to those in the know. Even the reliable amps from other companies shouldn't have been reliable, for me or anyone else - according to "experts". I'm so use to people telling me my amp has cheap parts, I don't pay any attention when they tell me, again, how bad my amp is.

If you want the best parts money can buy, those amps are out there. I'm forced to buy the amps that have the parts I can afford.

I know for a fact that Bruce is personally invested in the amps with his name on them. He personally helped me with an issue I had and it was resolved. I find it hard to believe he would have this level of personal involvement but still design amps with "el cheapo" parts (that are certain to malfunction). There is not logic in that for me.

In the mean time, I'll continue to use my Renegade that is working just fine. Cheap parts and all...
 
My last orange amp.. Rocker 30 had more problems, I was scaref to turn it on. My last 2 marshall 2000's couldnt be trustedvto gig with.
 
My friend's Orange 212 combo ($2k or thereabouts) quit after less than a year of very mild use, and was at the repair tech's for weeks after that.

Sounds great when it works though.

Please refer to my statement above re: USA and UK made amps getting all of the benefit of the doubt.

For the record, would I prefer that my amp was made in the US? Yes I would. But it wasn't, and I love it anyway.
 
Egnater stuff sounds great, price is great bruce seems like a very nice guy but, the company does seem in disarray sometimes? Announcements of new amps that take over a year to come out, some never come out? Pedals? Why would a company do that? That stuff has to worry you a little. It seems like some one else is running the company not Bruce. love Bruce, love his products but, it seems out of control. Consistent product Reliability? I don't think it can happen.
 
Well i thought my local dealer was getting better, but the renegade i was expecting this week hasnt even been ordered! They claim they gave me the wrong price, as in too low, and are waiting to hear from their supplier. What a joke.

At this point, im back on the fence. Really starting to lean back towards finding a 20th ann. Bogner Shiva...just need to save alot more pennies. Thanks for everyones replies, keep em coming as im still strongly considering a renegade!
 
Changing the price? DEAL BREAKER.
As far as 'cheap' electronic parts, no such thing. I've worked on electronic devices for decades. Actual component failure, way under 1%. America makes under 5% of passive components, usually for military. Component manufacture moved offshore in the 80's, think Mexico. Last 15 years, china. When components fail, it's due to poor fabrication technique & amateur repairs.
I also doubt Americas ability to mass manufacture any electronic product with better reliability than Asia. We haven't done it in 40 years!! And on that cheery note, I'm going to have a stiff drink.
 
I do find it interesting that Americans think "foreigners" from the UK are able to assemble amps just fine. But when it comes to Asians assembling the same amp, it's all shoddy... Not exactly pc. And I'm saying that as politely as I can.
 
hbucker":manz97zl said:
I do find it interesting that Americans think "foreigners" from the UK are able to assemble amps just fine. But when it comes to Asians assembling the same amp, it's all shoddy... Not exactly pc. And I'm saying that as politely as I can.
Click to expand...

as an american my guess is Marshall. That's why I have no problem with UK amps. I have more faith in Japanese or German cars, then UK cars. I think the Asian negative thing is disappearing. In the beginning the Asian amps weren't that good but, as time goes on, they have been building up there status. I really don't think this is a USA thing, its just common sense. Hey I'm an American but, i'm also part Asian, Vietnamese, French and a little German too. That's america, were all mutts ( a mix of everything) I do believe that is what makes us great :rock: :rock:
 
daviedog":13ew4gjm said:
Changing the price? DEAL BREAKER.
As far as 'cheap' electronic parts, no such thing. I've worked on electronic devices for decades. Actual component failure, way under 1%. America makes under 5% of passive components, usually for military. Component manufacture moved offshore in the 80's, think Mexico. Last 15 years, china. When components fail, it's due to poor fabrication technique & amateur repairs.
I also doubt Americas ability to mass manufacture any electronic product with better reliability than Asia. We haven't done it in 40 years!! And on that cheery note, I'm going to have a stiff drink.
Click to expand...


Excellent point you make there about where parts are actually built.
Similarly, Harley Davidson MC's are an American made brand, but even they use parts sourced outside of the US.
For a long while HD used carb's made oversea's.

As you state, it comes down to the attention given to manufacturing.
It's always possible that somewhere along the line a certain number of products can have a "line" problem that can end up in stores before the problem is discovered and then has to be fixed under warranty.
It doesn't make any fiscal sense to build inferior products with a warranty only to then have to pay a good amount of warranty money to a repair tech in the US. It's better to manufacture the product better while on the line, than to have to constantly repair later losing profit on repair and losing reputation and potential sales.
 
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