Waiting is driving me nuts...Tour Master

  • Thread starter Thread starter rizla
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learned to dial her in...spent a ton of time doing it...and LOVE IT!
 
Len Rabinowitz":18vqn9cj said:
Yeti- You can bug out on me, man! The ever-shrinking Tourmaster club... AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:rock:
If its any consolation to you, Im totally digging it. Still going through the opening stages of the relationship but it seems to have met and gone passed my expectations so far. Its a great rock amp. :thumbsup:
 
dammit
going back and forth on it...not sure im gonna trade.

fucking tubes!
 
yeti":2w8em0yf said:
dammit
going back and forth on it...not sure im gonna trade.

fucking tubes!
After the short time Ive owned it Im pretty certain it will be a piece of gear that hangs around for a while. Its just very useful and well thought out. It delivers good and familiar sounds.
 
yeti":hv6d46co said:
dammit
going back and forth on it...not sure im gonna trade.

fucking tubes!

Keep it- There's obviously something you like. Maybe there's another head or something you could get to cover the other bases? You can always get rid of it later, but once it is gone it is gone.

Besides it is LONELY here in the EXTREMELY EXCLUSIVE Tourmaster club!

;) :D :lol: :LOL: :rock:
 
Yeti......sorry you are having an "internal conflict" with your amp. I don't know what questions were not answered but I do apologize for that. Have you ever tried a graphic equalizer in the loop? You will be amazed by what it can do for you, especially for getting more "metal" tones from an amp that doesn't quite do it by itself.
 
Len Rabinowitz":2gzt465q said:
yeti":2gzt465q said:
dammit
going back and forth on it...not sure im gonna trade.

fucking tubes!

Keep it- There's obviously something you like. Maybe there's another head or something you could get to cover the other bases? You can always get rid of it later, but once it is gone it is gone.

Besides it is LONELY here in the EXTREMELY EXCLUSIVE Tourmaster club!

;) :D :lol: :LOL: :rock:

Hey Len,

I'm still a member! I'm thinking of sell the Rebel 30 combo and I might sell my VOX but I am KEEPING the TOUR MASTER! Everybody that's heard it says the same thing,"Man, that amp sound great." And I agree!

Duff

Duff
 
:doh:

for now, it's staying. there IS something i like about it. there IS also, something that i want to achieve on the metal end that i'm not getting...almoooost but not quite. maybe i will try the eq trick. i think i started backwards for some retarded reason (buy a tube amp, start messing with power, the pre amp tubes, then looking at mods) instead of the normal route i'd usually take...pickups/cables/outboard gear (pre and post), so the tubes really wore me out quick. i've given this amp a break for the past month (new baby and such!), but now im itching to move some air lately.....

for sure, my gear/tone search won't end. as with most of us.

but, as i told a few friends in a review recently, it's the best sounding multi channel tube amp with the most versatility i've ever played. and i'd recommend it to anyone. obviously, im really, REALLY picky.

that being said, Bruce, while you're around, can you answer 2 questions for me?

can each respective channels contour switch be modded to a standard tip/ground jack configuration so i can make them footswitchable?

can the same be done for the vintage/modern switches?

i've modded a bunch of effects pedals this way in the past to make them remote controllable to shorten tone paths (before i could afford channel switching a LONG time ago).
 
bruce egnater":33vu5yn0 said:
Yeti......sorry you are having an "internal conflict" with your amp. I don't know what questions were not answered but I do apologize for that. Have you ever tried a graphic equalizer in the loop? You will be amazed by what it can do for you, especially for getting more "metal" tones from an amp that doesn't quite do it by itself.
Hey Bruce,
Really liking the TM4100. Great work. :cheers:

Cheers
 
hey there all!
newb to the forum and newb to the 4100. I just picked one up used and didn't put it through all it's paces and to be honest not sure I know what they all are yet. :-) I have found however I tend to prefer OD2, I can pretty much dial that one right into what I like. OD1 is a bit harder right now so I'm playing with it... I've got it a bit shrill for my tastes. CL2 I've just started to play with and CL1 I like so far..... however.... I have a few questions... for some reason the power grid settings per channel don't appear to make any difference at all for any of the channels. I do notice somewhat of a difference between full and half power though. From some reading it appears that it is a subtle difference but I can't detect any tonal difference at all... then again I've not cranked it up and am playing pretty quiet and I've hooked it up to a 30w 1x12 speaker. I hope to get it with my 4x12 this weekend and see what she sounds like then. Also I notice I've dimed the CL1 volume and used the "pristine" setting and I'm just not getting any volume at all (at any setting). Overall the amp seems to lack punch. I'm wondering if I need new tubes.... maybe some direction on how to get/find/detect the power grid settings. I sent an email last night at 10pm MST to the support address and wowza, Nate answered me back almost immediately and pointed me to the tech tips 101 which is nice but I'd already read that and I sent a reply asking for more information and have not been answered back yet. So overall it seems the channels 2-4 I can dial in nice sounds but I can't see any difference with the power grid and I have what appears to be a weak CL1 channel... thoughts, insights for the newb looking for some guidance?

Thanks!,
Mark
 
The power grid isn't an "ear candy" effect. It is more noticable at higher volume levels, but even there it is subtle. Cleans stay clean; overdrives are creamier and smoother. Weird though- I locked right into channel three very fast and am only now after 2 years coming around to channel 4.

:confused: :rock:
 
Yeah thats funny, ch 1 and 3 were instant gratification for me. Chan3/od1 was instant yahoo in either vintage or modern settings. Fun.
I havent got ch1/cl1 set to pristine clean. I dont have a use for that sound. I have the gain around 2:00. Its still a good clean sound for me.
In the short Ive owned this amp a few things have stood out. One being, its loud. It wants to be cranked. The best sounds are at a decent volume.
I think some of the bad press Ive read about this amp stem from people demoing it quietly at a guitar store. pointless.
Another thing you might try is checking the bias. My amp was delivered with a bias of 102mv instead of the recommended 120-130. It made a difference when I adjusted it. Less harsh, scrappy.
As with any multiple channel amp, mesa roadster etc, you have to strike a balance between all channels. You cant have gain and volume cranked on channel 4 and then pull back the settings on ch1. Compromise will find an even level.
I also have a Mesa Lone star, in the 10w mode there is not that much difference between the volume of the 100w setting.Its just mushier at the same volume.
Just have to stress that this is not an amp to play quietly through.
 
thanks for the posts guys, I'll reserve judgment about some of my initial impressions until I get a 4x12 under her and some room to open her up. One thing I did was check the bias and I've set it to 124/5, nice feature I might add. I've not taken her apart enough to check out the quality of the wiring/layout but will soon... when in there are there any things I should look for like things that tend to come loose, maybe some solder joints that need help any modifications that are required? I'd also like more information on what sounds like a "factory" mod for the 4100. Is there anything that Bruce recommends for updating/modding to fix factory "issues"?

Mark
 
I don't think anyone has had any complaints about the build quality of the Tourmaster. What bad press? I am not aware of any. On the combo at least, you have to be a little careful about the fan when changing tubes. I had to resolder the wires once. That was my bad, not Bruce's! The biasing can drift, so check it every once in a while even if you don't change tubes. You might try the Tourmaster 2 X 12 cab- People love it! The very earliest Tourmasters were modified- They have an M on the serial number. If yours is, say, new within the last two years I don't think you need to do it. I think it was done at the factory. Something about tightening up the bass. You could probably call up Egnater and have them check by the serial number whether it needs the mod or not. If it does I am sure they would do it for free or minimal cost, or tell you how to do it.

Look at the issues that come up on this board about the Rebel 30 and Renegade. The ONLY thing I have ever seen onthis board ocassionally about the Tourmaster is the footswitch going bad. Mine did, and that was basically because I am a big guy stomping on the thing constantly. If I did that to you, you would break ocassionally also, believe me! Bruce replaced it free.

:rock:
 
@Len
If you were referring to my mention of "bad press" I was just referring to various posts on different forums where people had stated they didnt like the sounds they found. Either a bit thin, no punch etc.
Ive seen people demo amps in guitar stores. A lot, for what ever reason, are not willing to really open amps up or spend long enough with them to make any reasonable judgment but then skip home and post an earnest sounding report on how the amp didnt measure up to their expectations.
I didnt buy my Mesa LS until I had tried it at a couple of gigs. I wasnt that taken by it at store demo levels. When I started looking in to the Tourmaster I was unable to get hold of one to demo even in a store. I played the rest of the range and read all the reviews I could find. It seemed to me the guys that liked them gigged with them playing music similar to what I do and the guys that disliked them tried them in a store or played with them at home for three or four weeks. Hence my bad press comment.
Having only owned the amp and not yet gigged with it I can only say that my expectations have been met and surpassed so far. Very easy to dial the sounds I want and some I dont want but need.(cover band)
But I dont want to go all Egnater TM fan boy yet until its proven itself in the situation I bought it for. I think it will though.
After having owned a few amps from different manufacturers I expect some component fail rate. With my Mesa's its been ft/s leads and pre amp tubes. Same for Fenders and a Marshall just died mid gig. Some silly 20cent part that failed.

Sorry for the long windy, just wanted to try and state clearly what I meant so that it wouldnt be read that I thought it was crap or that I bought into the idea that it may have been crap.
 
I didn't mean anything by it. I've heard people say they didn't like it, but bad press to me implied something like a magazine review saying "Not good." I had a Mesa rectifier 50 combo for years. Loved it. Great amp, and it had all the same issues- tubes fried, fuse blew, etc... It doesn't mean it was a lousy amp. It means this stuff happens with these amps.

It took me a long time to master this amp, and I agree it likes to crank. I tried it out in GC, but I went back many times and listened to several of them for a long time.

I actually didn't like the Egnaters at first and thought they were ugly. The amp sold itself and won me over. Eventually I noticed how consistent they were- Three different amps all sounded the same and equally good. Now I think it looks really cool!

I still look at amps, and to this day none of them in that price range wins me over more than the Tourmaster, or the Egnaters generally.

:rock:
 
Len Rabinowitz":31gdbnk2 said:
Besides it is LONELY here in the EXTREMELY EXCLUSIVE Tourmaster club!

;) :D :lol: :LOL: :rock:

Len, I am a proud member of the EXTREMELY EXCLUSIVE Tourmaster club!

Maybe we should get Len's Tourmaster Club T-shirts! :2thumbsup:

I have never had any issues with my amp in the four or five months that I have owned it, purchased new (frankly at a killer price, helped me to pull the trigger on the TM4212). I am a satisfied customer and I suspect that 2 years from now the story will be the same.

Good stuff, Bruce.
 
i have really NO issue with the amp. and i'll say it again, if i were to recommend any amp to someone that needed a great all around amp for any style of music, it would be the TM.

my issues are with me :shocked: and my own issues. i have one of those fucking ears ..i dont even want to get into it....

i'm not picky, its inner music ear.
 
I LIKE the T-shirt idea!

Yeti- Maybe you want to try what that guy suggested a while back: Live with it as is for a while. I found that I had to adjust to it to a certain degree.

A thought.

:rock:
 
yeti":u7c8u9mv said:
i have really NO issue with the amp. and i'll say it again, if i were to recommend any amp to someone that needed a great all around amp for any style of music, it would be the TM.

my issues are with me :shocked: and my own issues. i have one of those fucking ears ..i dont even want to get into it....

i'm not picky, its inner music ear.

I know what you are talking about...the sound inside your head...the one that is Yeti. It took me a month and half and 5 different guitars before I found, "my sound", when I first got mine. Funny thing is, once I found "it" I laid down tracks for a song. When that one was done I changed all the settings for the next song and have never gone back to "that sound." I just keep find more.

Duff
 
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