Renegade Head and Emi Speaker pairing Ques.

[xfactor27]

Mornin' All,
So... About 4 mos. ago I traded in my Rebel20 to upgrade to the two channel beast Renegade. I was running the Rebel through a 212 cab of V30's and I just felt that the Rebel didn't have enough to push those speakers, plus I missed having the clean/overdrive capability at the flip of a switch ( or footbutton in this case).
Then phase 2 came with me hearing through the Renegade and V30 mix was what I thought a little muddy and muffled. Was thinking it was the press board cab they were in......
So... my next thought was try a different cab and speaker combo and bought an Avatar 212,.. dropped in a combination of an Emi George Lynch V12 and a Texas Heat. Still doesn't sound what I was hoping for on the distortion end.... No tight scratch, chug when doing chords....
With all the background listed here my Question is:
Did I make a bad choice with trying to pair up 2 speakers which are 270 watt capability with this 65 watt Head???? The stock tubes are still in there,.. Could that be it??
After purchasing the head from GC, I played on it for a few days and did notice after pulling out my Voltmeter, that it was set up way to "hot" on the power tubes . At over 70mv on both sides. Did this mess up the power tubes , as i don't know how long this head was sitting on the floor being played by customers at a proper bias level???
Any help and advice would be appreciated at this point.... Would love to nail down if it's the tubes (Pre or Power) or a bad speaker combination.
Thanks for looking and replying to anyone that wants to chime in.
DJ

 

[jamme61]

70ma is hot but still OK. I had the same problem with my Renegade ( a little muddy and muffled ) on the second channel. I think it's a great sounding amp but channel two was never as good as I wanted it. I was using a THD 2x12 with V30 and Celestion G12.

 

[xfactor27]

Soooo, jamme61, what did you do to solve your dislikes of "tone" when using channel 2???
Tube change, special dial settings, ?? Or did you come to the determination that it was good enough.
Do you still have that set-up and it's a work in progress?
DJ

 

[jamme61]

I tried all that and more, I even tried to mod the amp. In the end I sold the amp. I was just using the clean channel with overdrive pedals(tube screamer works nice IMHO). I still think the Regade sounds great but, channel two was not doing what I wanted. I'm not a high gain guy. I have a plexi RI that I love and that's about as dirty as I need it. I was really thinking of getting the new Tweaker 40 but, after waiting all these months, I bought a tweaker 15 and am very happy.

 

[Joeytpg]

I kind of feel the same way about the Renegade's dirty channel. It's a good channel, but the clean surpasses it by a mile...... IMO the clean channel on this amp it's A++ and the dirty channel is just B+

I'm thinking about selling my Renegade and getting a Tweaker 40 when they come out, but I'm afraid the Tweaker cleans aren't as good as the Renegade's.

Maybe you could enlighten me jamme61...... how would you compare both clean channels?

 

[jamme61]

I only have the tweaker 15, the tweaker 40 will be different. I love the clean channel of the t15 and it takes pedals well too. Renegade clean vs tweaker 15 clean? I don't know, they're both great. The renegade has more headroom and punch, on the 15 watt mode the renegade,starts to sound more like the T15, less headroom more compression, still very different IMHO. I want the T40 but, the T15 is all I really need. I love the size and weight (Tweaker 15) and the peoples faces, when they hear it. Still, Can't wait to try a tweaker 40.

 

[viking22]

I guess speakers are important because i don't know what i could ask more from my Renegade head,especially the Ch 2 !I love Ch1 but Ch2 is what makes this amp amazing!

 

[Anolin]

I have the Renegade 212 combo and both channels sound amazing to me! Channel 2 is very tight and chunky with the WCR Godwood pups in my guitar - perfect for Led Zep through 80s metal. It's very clear and articulate and no where near muddy.

 

[xfactor27]

Hey viking22, just curious what your speaker set-up consists of???
by the by... thanks everyone for chiming in and going over our likes and dislikes on this really wonderfull head...
And I agree with all here, that the cleans are spactacular.

 

[xfactor27]

Thanks for comin' on Anolin'....A question to you...those speakers in your combo are the Celestion Lead 80's
Right???

 

[xfactor27]

You still using the stock tubes??? I'm asking all these Ques. to everyone, cause I know when I had My Rebel, I wasn't truly satisfied with the metal tone until I changed out the stock tubes for Tungsol and Mullards. I don't play a real high gain sound either....More into the classic rock and 80's hair bands....so this head's gotta have that "chug" and scratch"
which is what I'm missing.....
I've got good Seymore Duncans in my Axes....
Maybe i should have chosen to get the TM 212...???? A better Pairing with this Head...???

 

[viking22]

Hey viking22, just curious what your speaker set-up consists of???
by the by... thanks everyone for chiming in and going over our likes and dislikes on this really wonderfull head...
And I agree with all here, that the cleans are spactacular.

I'm using my good ol' Marshall 4x12;it's the basket-weave model (1967-8) with original Greenbacks.I'm still using the stock tubes in the Renegade even though i already have some others,ready for the next stage !

 

[Anolin]

Thanks for comin' on Anolin'....A question to you...those speakers in your combo are the Celestion Lead 80's
Right???

1 x Custom-Voiced Egnater
Celestion™ Elite-80

1 x Celestion™ Vintage 30

 

[xfactor27]

Well, an update here on my " labor of love " with this amp.... I tried a couple of different pre-amp tube swaps...Just some old ones I had laying around... And the tone is a little better, but not quite that "magic" yet like you were talking about Anolin. I still say a new set of Power Tubes would be beneficial and a good investment as I'm not gonna give up on this amp yet.
Some money has to come through first. Will keep updating as I go along.... If anyone has done some tube swaps on their Renegade, please share the results.....
Thanks and have a good one , all
DJ

 

[Anolin]

Well, an update here on my " labor of love " with this amp.... I tried a couple of different pre-amp tube swaps...Just some old ones I had laying around... And the tone is a little better, but not quite that "magic" yet like you were talking about Anolin. I still say a new set of Power Tubes would be beneficial and a good investment as I'm not gonna give up on this amp yet.
Some money has to come through first. Will keep updating as I go along.... If anyone has done some tube swaps on their Renegade, please share the results.....
Thanks and have a good one , all
DJ

I personally run Ruby 6L6's for the cleans and Penta KT88's for the OD.

 

[bartmcartman]

Isn't 70ma pretty much right in the middle of the range for el34's?

 

[jamme61]

Isn't 70ma pretty much right in the middle of the range for el34's?

here's bias info from egnater

RECOMMENDED BIAS SETTINGS
6L6/5881 60mV to 70mV
EL34/6CA7 65mV to 75mV
E34L 70mV to 80mV
6550 70mV to 80mV
6V6 (JJ ONLY !!!!!!!) 30mV to 40mV
KT66 60mV to 70mV
KT77 65mV to 75mV

 

[bartmcartman]

So 70 is right in the middle of the range for el34's. Is that considered too hot?

 

[viking22]

So 70 is right in the middle of the range for el34's. Is that considered too hot?

No !

 

[viking22]

Well, an update here on my " labor of love " with this amp.... I tried a couple of different pre-amp tube swaps...Just some old ones I had laying around... And the tone is a little better, but not quite that "magic" yet like you were talking about Anolin. I still say a new set of Power Tubes would be beneficial and a good investment as I'm not gonna give up on this amp yet.
Some money has to come through first. Will keep updating as I go along.... If anyone has done some tube swaps on their Renegade, please share the results.....
Thanks and have a good one , all
DJ

Btw,what kind of guitar are you using the most with the Renegade?