Rebel 30 Head - Channel 1 volume knob not working?

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musicmanmu

musicmanmu

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Okay,
I've had my Rebel 30 Head since around November. Last month, I blew a fuse and a power tube and had to buy a new pair of 6V6s. Not an unheard of problem, but a bummer for a brand new amp. I've got an e-mail in to Nate for some new tubes.

Last Saturday, I plugged the rig up for soundcheck at a gig. I was on the clean channel, and the volume was maybe on 1. However, when I turned the rig on, the volume was BLARING, as if it was on 10. I turned the volume knob this way and that way to no avail - the volume was still on full blast. Channel 2 was operating normal. I turned it off, turned it back on, and same issue. Left it on standby for a few mintues, came back to it, kept twiddling the knob (heh), and eventually I started to hear a bit of static when turning the knob to zero, and the volume began to operate normally, and was fine the rest of the night. I figured maybe it was just a fluke, a dirty pot...

Last night, plugged the rig up for practice, and got the exact same problem. The situation repeated itself the same way - volume no worky, then after a few mintues volume worky fine.

So, is this a dirty pot, or a different problem? I really love this amp, but I'm beginning to get slightly perturbed at all these quirky issues I'm having with it. I've got a year warranty from Guitar Center, so I suppose I could always have it replaced if it continues to act up, but I'd like to know from you guys if this is something that I just have to "deal with" as a tube amp owner, or if something else is going on. I'd appreciate any input!

Thanks!
 
Could be a dirty pot, but I would bet against that being as it's so new. :confused:
 
Thanks...Any other theories on what could be causing this problem?
 
Sounds like a bad pot...

I had a pot on one of my modules go.

Since a potentiometer is a variable resistor, when it breaks, it becomes a fixed resistor. It was as if the gain knob was stuck at halfway.

Since your volume sounds like it's full up, it's as if your pot is showing zero resistance, letting all the signal thru.
 
Definitely could be...so does this imply that the problem will get worse? As of right now it seems to 'fix itself,' but I certainly don't want to just keep treading water if it's going to continue to degrade.

I guess I will look into the terms of my Guitar Center warranty :thumbsdown:
 
Hate to dish any negativity, but my experience is possibly relevant. I bought a Rebel 30 head back in November and it came out of the box with the Gain channel volume acting similar to what you describe(tho not staying full on, it wouldn't turn down all the way and it was very noisy). I smacked it about some and it straightened up for a week then started acting up again so I swapped it out for another new head. Rebel #2 was fine for a few days then the Gain channel began sounding thin and low volume until it had been cooking for 45 minutes after each power up. I tried swapping every tube, but no change. I pulled out the chassis and examined with a magnifier and found lots of cold solder joints. I returned the Rebel and upgraded to the Renegade. Haven't had a problem since.

As I said, I hate to say anything negative about this product. I think the world of Egnater products, but my experience with the Rebel 30 caused me some concern.

David
 
Thanks, David. Interestingly, I bought a Rebel 30 combo before the head came out, and it had a similar issue on the gain channel? I'm starting to fear that there's something globally wrong with the Rebel 30 line?

I like the lightweight portability of the 30 head, so I really don't want to upgrade to the Renegade.

I'd like to hear from some folks who have a Rebel 30 head/combo that gigs regularly and has had NO problems, because unfortunately, I seem to only hear the opposite. :doh:
 
I had the same problem with the Bass pot on the clean channel. The connector between the pot and the board was bad so the pot had to be replaced. Got done under warranty.
 
I'm starting to see more of this. I picked up a Rebel 30 head a couple months ago and I was able to play it 2 times, yep 2 times before the volume pot crapped out on me in channel 2. My amp tech tells me he also found a bad relay. I love my amp but I gotta tell ya, my frustration level is getting close to the red after buying a brand new amp and then not being able to use it for months after purchase. Sucks.

Oh yeah, I also live very far from any kind of dealer and will more than likely end up paying dearly to have my brand new amp fixed. Anyone interested in buying a $950 Rebel 30?
 
Strangely enough, the problem I was having seems to have corrected itself. My amp's worked just fine for the past 3 gigs or so. I'm just hoping it stays that way. At least I have a year warranty on it through GC, so if something does happen I'll be covered, and I know a really good local amp tech who can work on it after the warranty expires.

But regardless, these quality issues are definitely disconcerting.
 
Felt like I should comment here....so I will. FYI, the warranty on Egnater is 3 years, not 1 year (except for tubes and speakers). Here's how the process works with us. We (I) design a new product and everyone is really excited about it. I hand build and test the prototypes. After how ever many prototypes it takes, I decide we are ready for the contract samples. We do the same process over again with our Chinese manufacturer. They sample, we test....for how ever many times it takes until they are perfect. We can be quite demanding but it is worth it. After all the sampling, etc., which typically takes many months, we are ready for the "preproduction" amps. These are the final ones that we approve for full production. Once approved, all the parts are purchased and full production begins. The new amps are built and tested in China and we receive test results/performance and quality reports for each amp. This way we are assured that every one one meets our demanding specifications before leaving the factory. They are now packaged and loaded into big containers and put on a ship for their trip across the ocean (which takes about another 3 weeks.). After they arrive in the US, they are trucked to our testing office in California. This is where John Ewing and his team unbox EVERY single amp and play test to make sure they are still perfect. Then they repackage and ship again where they get put on/off a few more trucks before they actually end up at the stores. By the way, this is why we often don't meet our delivery date "guesses", because, as you can see, they are more hopeful than firm dates. The point I'm making is that from the time of conception to the actual delivery of a new product, there can be many, many months of testing, tweaking and perfecting. Now that I've emphasised our commitment to making the best amps at a reasonable price, I must point out the realities of this world. No one is perfect. No manufacturer can produce hundreds or thousands of amps with absolute perfection and zero problems. Whether it is an American made automobile, an Italian made coffee maker or a Chinese made guitar amp, sh-t is going to happen. I hate when it does as much as you, maybe more. As you may or may not know, Egnater (I) have been designing and building guitar amps for over 30 years. Most have been hand made by us in Michigan. Many were produced by/with Rocktron for a few years. Now, in this big, global economy, many (most?)products are produced outside the US, and not just Egnater. OK, enough rambling. As far as specific problems (Rebel 30?)we encounter with our Egnater production, the percentage of defects is actually quite small. Specifically, the potentiometer (control) issues a few of you have had are not caused by bad soldering or crappy parts. It appears the problems have been caused by rough handling (during shipping?) that caused some stress on the pots. This is the kind of thing no one knows is wrong until, unfortunately, the stress causes the control to fail. Could happen after being put on/off 5 trucks before you get it, or never happens and everyone is happy. This does not mean every amp is bad. We have had about 3 percent of the Rebel 30s experience the pot problem. In reality, this is a very small number of amps. Sadly, the thousands of happy owners do not go on the forums and comment about how their amps have no problems. The majority of times people comment about things is when there is something wrong. I understand this is just the way of the world and I'm good with that. This is often how we learn about issues that we may otherwise not know about. It also helps us respond quicker if there is something of concern. Even though we believe this is a shipping damage issue, we have taken steps to help prevent this in the future by having our custom pots redesigned with a metal bracket and made internally from the same FR4 glass epoxy material as our circuit boards. These steps would be considered by most manufacturers to be a little "over the top" but that is how much I/we really care. I do sincerely thank all of you who have supported and used Egnater stuff all these years. I also can't begin to show my appreciation for those of you who have had any problems with our amps yet still felt compelled to repair or exchange your Egnater amp, even when you did have trouble. This shows real commitment to our brand, and to me, and for that, I am eternally grateful. Last comment about quality and reliability and I'll go away.......tubes??? Nevermind, I won't even go there. Suffice it to say we love the tone of tubes...but we must be willing to live with the issues that come with them.
 
Bruce, maybe a good post for your official website?? Great write up from your side of things and I'm sure many more check out egnater amps.com vs. Rig Talk. Just a suggestion.
 
I have 2 Egnater amps, 9 modules and never had a problem. :thumbsup: :D
 
I truly appreciate your comments, Bruce. As someone new to owning tube amps, I can't be sure if any problem (tubes, pots or otherwise) are attributable to handling error, manufacturing, or what have you. I'm glad to have this forum as a source of information. That being said, I understand that the issue I have/had cannot be helped sometimes, and I certainly hold no ill will toward Egnater. In fact, I LOVE my amp and have definitely sang its praises! I wish you continued succes! :rock:
 
The timing of this discussion is amazing! I am currently having the exact same problem with channel 1's volume knob (on the 112 combo model). I've had the amp since September and had it replaced once by Guitar Center after a week or so because there was a problem with channel switching on the amp itself. I logged on today hoping for reassurance that selling my Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue and paying more for a smaller Egnater was a good choice. The Rebel can deliver a vast array of sounds that are perfect for me, but I worry that it might not hold up when playing out with my band (usually once a month). I do have a backup amp, but the sound quality doesn't compare to the Rebel 30 112 combo. I have to say that Bruce's personal comments on threads originally helped me choose this amp, and I sure appreciate the personal touch, care, and effort on this posting. I'm currently waiting to get authorization to ship the amp back to Egnater under warranty, and now wonder if asking for a replacement (with new manufacturing improvements) would be reasonable, especially if the problem might have been caused by shipping and handling.
 
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