Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 28 Sep 2018 9:56 am |
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I got one from a big box store about 8 or 9 years ago to check out. I liked it for some guitar and lap steel styles - those that were a bit more high-gain - but it wasn't spanky clean enough for clean pedal steel and guitar tones, at least for me. This was the orignal version of the amp. I gather there's a Mark II out now redesigned for higher gain - after my experience with the Mark I, definitely not something I would be interested in. But original Rebel 20s are out there.
The main hallmark of this amp, and what drew me to it, was its ability to mix 2-6V6 and 2-6BQ5/EL-84 power tube sections. Some reviews stated that it effectively moved between something more or less like Deluxe Reverb and Vox AC-15 types of sounds, and I can hear some of that. But in the end, I found it an interesting concept that, for me, didn't succeed and is one of the very few things I have ever sent back. I guess I found the sounds generic, and could never really dial things back to get the kind of spanky clean tone I often need.
I was also concerned about the PCB construction. Nothing specific about Egnater, that's just something that leaves me a bit leery. If the amp had really done what I wanted, I probably would have taken the chance to deal with what, for me, too frequently turn out to be difficult servicability problems with most modern factory PCB construction amps.
So much of this is dependent on personal taste. What doesn't work for me may well work for you. Probably a good idea to check it out for yourself. If you have a "chance to use" one, what do you have to lose if you can check it out without buying it?
Xenia, OH - spent the early-mid 70s in Yellow Springs, was there for the April '74 tornado - in fact, in Xenia that day. Yikes, that was unbelievable. |
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