Product Review: Egnater Rebel 30 Head and Cab

This product review is going to be on an outstanding amp....The Egnater Rebel 30. Lets start with a little history....30 years ago Bruce Egnater wanted the tones of his favorite players and could not get it with off the shelf amps.He was an electronics graduate from the University of Detroit's Engineering School. He opened his own repair shop in 1975 to help players get their own tone and to make amps with More distortion and louder volume. For 30 years Egnater has been a benchmark of quality and tone. The particular Egnater amp I am going to give a review on is the "Rebel 30." There are many great Egnater models, such as the Rebel 20, the Tweaker, the Renegade and Tour Master series.

Lets get the amp specs out of the way. It's a 30 watt all tube amp. The clean channel has volume, bass and treble knobs. Wattage control from1-30 watts. It has "tight" and "bright" switches and on the back a reverb control knob with "spillover."The overdrive channel has volume, gain and a 3 band eq knobs. Wattage control from 1-30 watts and "tight" and "bright" control switches. There is a tube mix knob to select your taste of a mix between 6V6 tubes and EL84 power tubes. There is also a reverb knob on back with "spillover."There is a xlr direct record out with play and silent mode recording mode. There is a buffered effects loop and a spot for a footswitch to change channels and turn on and off the reverb. the wood that they are made from is birch plywood. The last spec is there is a 100v\115v\230v voltage selector. There is a very classy\timeless look about this amp too. Black and off white with a beautiful black and white speaker grill cloth with a very tasteful, cursive, Egnater logo on top of the grill cloth.

Now let's get to how they sound. I played few different guitars for a good bit of time each on this amp. I will break it down guitar by guitar. On all guitars i used the same settings for each. On distortion channel the gain was all the way up, low at 3\4, mids at 3 and treble all the way. On clean channel had eq all set at 12 o clock. I messed with the tube mix a little on each but always started it right down the middle. Tube watts was always in the middle.

The first guitar I played was Micheal Baideme's 2003 Les Paul Custom Shop Historic Art '59 Re-Issue. This guitar is amazing in it's own right but through the amp it had a full and rich sound. Pinch harmonics took on a new and exciting tone for me. There was a tight low end and was a perfect mix of vintage and modern guitar tones at the same time. With gain 1\2 way it lost no sustain, all the way up it was endless. The distortion was nice and gritty. I turned the tube mix all the way to 6V6 side and it was very Fender sounding. I messed with the "tight" switch and it made a difference. It made playing a "metal chug" sound very clear at any volume. It really does make it sound "tight." For that reason I kept it on for all guitars. No matter how loud I put the amp the notes and chords very very articulate. I was very pleased with this guitar and the amp. They were a perfect match.

The next guitar was my Berkshire "John John" model. This is my main guitar so i know how this normally sounds in comparison to "my sound." With my pick up selector in the mid position and single coil on it sounded very bluesy. Gritty and dirty, just how i like it. I put my "double' coil on it it had a very 90's alt rock sound. Very awesome.Very Pearl Jammy. I stuck the tube mix on all the way EL84 and it sounded very Black Label Society "Stillborn" tone. On the clean channel on my bridge pick up it was very twangy, chicken pickin, git-r-done ish. Pick up's both on it was very 80's ballad, "Nothing Else Matters" tone. Pure money. I loved it. This amp on clean and overdrive was so crisp...so clean. Bass notes clear asa bell on this channel. The pick ups in my guitar are seymour duncan jv and the jazz.This amp was a perfect mix of the Peavey 5150 and VHT classic 6 that I use to get my tone.

The next guitar was an ESP Viper 300 M right off the shelf at Rock Bottom. It has active EMG 81 and 85 pick ups. On the dirty channel it was a terrific monster of modern metal guitar tone. It sounded like a mesa triple rec on steroids. It was Breaking Benjamin and Avenged Sevenfold tone depending on how hard you played. This guitar with these pick ups just growled!!!No matter how fast or how loud i got every note was crystal clear and shimmering. On the clean channel there was still some grit on the sound because of the high out put pick ups.

The last guitar I used was also Micheal Baideme's. This time it was and amazing ORIGINAL 1963Fender Stratocaster.Of all the guitars, I loved the sound of this one the best throughout this amp. They ALL sounded amazing, this one was just it on this day and time for me. Plugging straight in with the same settings on distortion, this thing had huge balls. ACDC Back In Black all day long. With gain halfway it sounded more Hendrix than Hendrix. I listened to Micheal play on it while it was on clean. So much chicken pickin snap. The mids shined, the trebled shined, the bass shined. Freddie King would give his right arm for this sound, as would I. I think this guitar sounded like gold on the clean channel on this amp.


The Egnater Rebel 30 head and cab are just plain godly sounding. Egnater has been around for over 30 years perfecting amps. This one could be called damn near it. They are priced at the Rock Bottom price of $749.99 for the head and $279.99 for the cab at Rock Bottom Music. Jonathon Karow has a wide selection of tube amps at our store. You need to get down to the corner of 8th and Broad and check these out. They are selling quick at that price. We also have the Egnater "Tweaker" in. Micheal Baideme, who graciously let me play his awesome guitars for this review, bought a "Tweaker" head and is in love with it. An Egnater at this price is a done deal for me. We also have an insane deal on the all tube Peavey XXX amp.$900. That's for the head and a 4\12 cab. If your guitar player you need a good tube amp. Get down to Rock Bottom and at least check this out. Tell 'em John John sent you.