Rebel 30 .. how reliable ???

[Waxhead]

For clarification, the amp didn't arrive looking damaged. The box was PERFECT. The contents looked PERFECT. In fact the amp looked gorgeous straight out of the box. Love the styling and construction. The metal cap on the lift strap was loose and not noticed until notes below the G were played above a very, very quiet volume. Didn't appear to be anything that had been hit or damaged, just improperly fitted. When it started buzzing I checked for the source of the noise and found the cap was so loosely attached that it popped right off w/minimal pressure.

It's not like the box arrived w/a banged up amp. Quite the opposite. It looked AOK inside and out. If it had looked damaged of course I'd have sent it back immediately.

Also, something minor like a small, loose cosmetic fitting doesn't seem to me to be the clear sign that one should immediately return a high end item. Finally, the problems were identified one at a time, not all at once. so, it was not so easy to just say "Aha! Multiple problems, ship it back."

Darned ol' hindsight makes it easy to say what I should have done. But problems w/tubes are common enough that when I started working w/Egnater to resolve this without having to return the amp, that's the first thing that came up. Add to that delays in being able to get help from Egnater, delays due to staff being away or overwhelmed because of NAMM, and delays due to shipping of tubes, and that ate away at the time to return the item.

Delighted to hear that you had one shipped internationally and no problems then or since. Wish I could say the same.

ok well I'll just tell you what I would do and you decide for yourself.

Now lets forget about your problem #1
As for the other 2 problems - if this amp did not work perfectly from Day 1 (even if it took you several days to be sure of this) then GC gave you a damaged amp.
Ok - so then I'd demand a brand new amp (not a repaired one).

Doesn't GC have this 1 month return policy thing I heard about - I'd use it.
I'd say to GC - "please give me a brand new amp cause it was damaged on delivery and I'm sick of stuffing around with repairs."
If they refuse I'd say - "ok thanks I'll return this amp today and get a full refund please"
Then watch them change their tune hehehe

If they give you a refund I'd then go order this amp from another retailer and go pick it up from the store yourself.
R30's are great reliable amp imo.

If you don't have this return policy then I'd still demand a brand new amp

 

[music412]

after reading this post I had to chime in! I have a rebel 30 head, love the tone! I've played gigs with some bigger bands and my little 30 has been lined up next to a lot more expensive amps and still Ive had quite a few players and sound guys approach me and ask me where I'm getting that killer tone! thanks Bruce!
that being said lets get to the sad part. my first rebel lasted 2 days! I returned it for another that was dead on arrival! I was bent. The third one worked great for a few months then the day before a gig poof! dead! however, I emailed nate and as much as I wanted to blow my top I was very nice and they were great, they gave me an order number and I took it to the local repair shop. three weeks later I got my amp back. it was a problem with the circuit board a solder issue. the folks at egnater didn't just sent the bad control part, they sent a whole new chassis so basically the shop pulled my tubes and the case and stuck a new amp in the box. awesome! brand new amp again! took it home and the next day guess what... you got it, same issue! so back to the shop we went!
over all the guys at egnater were great, they held their end of the bargain as far as customer service goes. they were quick, they were nice, and they repaired my amps.. my honest issue is that as much as I love the amp I'm terrified of it now! I literally keep another amp plugged in with an axe ready to roll in case this baby blows. just my personal opinion, but I've yet to find an amp for the price that can do what the 30 does for my needs... but I definitely have had reliability issues.
to be fair, I know for a fact a lot of guys bought these amps and have had no issues so good luck on your tone quest and may your rebel be a good one!

 

[Waxhead]

after reading this post I had to chime in! I have a rebel 30 head, love the tone! I've played gigs with some bigger bands and my little 30 has been lined up next to a lot more expensive amps and still Ive had quite a few players and sound guys approach me and ask me where I'm getting that killer tone! thanks Bruce!
that being said lets get to the sad part. my first rebel lasted 2 days! I returned it for another that was dead on arrival! I was bent. The third one worked great for a few months then the day before a gig poof! dead! however, I emailed nate and as much as I wanted to blow my top I was very nice and they were great, they gave me an order number and I took it to the local repair shop. three weeks later I got my amp back. it was a problem with the circuit board a solder issue. the folks at egnater didn't just sent the bad control part, they sent a whole new chassis so basically the shop pulled my tubes and the case and stuck a new amp in the box. awesome! brand new amp again! took it home and the next day guess what... you got it, same issue! so back to the shop we went!
over all the guys at egnater were great, they held their end of the bargain as far as customer service goes. they were quick, they were nice, and they repaired my amps.. my honest issue is that as much as I love the amp I'm terrified of it now! I literally keep another amp plugged in with an axe ready to roll in case this baby blows. just my personal opinion, but I've yet to find an amp for the price that can do what the 30 does for my needs... but I definitely have had reliability issues.
to be fair, I know for a fact a lot of guys bought these amps and have had no issues so good luck on your tone quest and may your rebel be a good one!

Every product ever made has a few hard luck stories like this.
I'll give you guys a tip on the R30.
Spend 50c and put a higher capacity fuse in the back panel.
My amp tech, who is an ex custom amp maker, opined it's slightly under powered there and could lead to frequent blown tubes.
We did this in 10 seconds and..........over past 18 months have never blown a tube, have had zero issues.
It's a very reliable amp imo and I have 100% confidence in it

 

[shimmilou]

Hard to believe that anyone that knows anything about electronics would say that using an underrated fuse could cause tubes to blow, that's ludicrous at best. If someone did say this, it's a good indication that they don't know what the heck they are talking about. Hopefully, you just misunderstood what he said. In fact, the opposite is true, if you use a fuse that is rated too high, that can lead to a blown tube, along with other damage to the amp.

No point in even using a fuse if it isn't the correct amp rating. I wish people could understand that a fuse is for protection, and the old "penny in the fuse slot", or using an over-sized fuse is dangerous. If every R30 made blew the fuses, then maybe the fuse is under-rated. But if the vast majority of the amps fuses are fine, that indicates that the ones blowing fuses have problems, likely tube problems. Just because it hasn't happened, doesn't mean that it won't happen. My wife smoked during her second pregnancy, and our kids are healthy, happy, grown, and have kids of their own. Does that mean that smoking is OK, and no harm to kids from it? I don't think so. Just because your amp hasn't smoked yet, doesn't guarantee that it won't. Maybe the bias is set too high, or the output tubes have a problem?

Foil around the fuse, using a bullet case, using a higher rated fuse, penny under the screw-in fuse, jumping the fuse, all produce the same results----> hazard!

 

[Waxhead]

Hard to believe that anyone that knows anything about electronics would say that using an underrated fuse could cause tubes to blow, that's ludicrous at best. If someone did say this, it's a good indication that they don't know what the heck they are talking about. Hopefully, you just misunderstood what he said. In fact, the opposite is true, if you use a fuse that is rated too high, that can lead to a blown tube, along with other damage to the amp.

No point in even using a fuse if it isn't the correct amp rating. I wish people could understand that a fuse is for protection, and the old "penny in the fuse slot", or using an over-sized fuse is dangerous. If every R30 made blew the fuses, then maybe the fuse is under-rated. But if the vast majority of the amps fuses are fine, that indicates that the ones blowing fuses have problems, likely tube problems. Just because it hasn't happened, doesn't mean that it won't happen. My wife smoked during her second pregnancy, and our kids are healthy, happy, grown, and have kids of their own. Does that mean that smoking is OK, and no harm to kids from it? I don't think so. Just because your amp hasn't smoked yet, doesn't guarantee that it won't. Maybe the bias is set too high, or the output tubes have a problem?

Foil around the fuse, using a bullet case, using a higher rated fuse, penny under the screw-in fuse, jumping the fuse, all produce the same results----> hazard!

hehe thanks for your post but hehehe
I'll take the opinion of my amp tech with 40 years amp building experience over yours any day

 

[shimmilou]

The beauty of math is that opinion doesn't matter one bit, the numbers don't have opinions.

How many years of experience does Bruce Egnater have?

I still say that you misquoted your guy, and it seems that you don't even understand what you think you are repeating. If the fuse were undersized, there could be lots of fuses blown, but absolutely no way that an undersized fuse will blow a tube. Stating that it can, shows a poor understanding of the subject.

You are on an island here, no doubt.