“this beauty can do it all”
Amp guru Bruce Egnater is well known as a maker of innovative amps used by players with surnames like Vai, Lynch, Perry, Kulick, Mason and Hammett, and by bands with names like Anthrax, Queensryche, Mudvayne, Sevendust, Guns N’ Roses, Def Leppard, Nickelback, Muse and Linkin Park. Not content with being a pioneer of cascading gain and multi-channel designs, Bruce also patented his revolutionary modular valve amps, which let the user swap around preamp modules to create their ideal amp. Every guitarist should include Bruce on their Christmas card list.
EL34? 6L6? WHY NOT BOTH?
The Renegade is a 65 watt, all-tube amp. Channel 1 is your clean through to crunch channel. Channel 2 is a much more distorted affair, but if you just set the gain control to 10 and have at it you’re missing a lot of what the Renegade has to offer. To begin with, there’s a rather astounding level of control over each channel: a 65/18 watt switch; deep/tight switch and bright/normal switch, in addition to the standard volume, gain, treble, mid and bass controls, but perhaps the most noteworthy is the inclusion of a Tube Mix knob on each channel. This indented pot actually lets you set the ratio between EL34 and 6L6 power tubes. Crazy huh? This means obviously that you can chose to go all 6L6 if you want a tougher, slightly colder tone with firmer bass, or all EL34 for more warmth and looser low end. Where things really get interesting though is that you can vary the mix of tube types so you can have, say, 70% 6L6 and 30% EL34. Unbelievable! There’s also a master section with reverb controls for each channel, plus two master volumes and master presence and density controls which allow you to fine-tune the treble and bass response, respectively, so you can really dial the perfect sound for the room you’re rockin’ in.
Around the back there’s a buffered effects loop, master bias adjustment, balanced XLR cabinet-voiced line/recording out, voltage selector, and jacks to connect the supplied footswitch, which will let you toggle between the channels as well as turn the loop and reverb on or off, and kick in the second master volume as a solo boost.
I HEAR THAT, RENEGADE
Knowing Steve Vai used an Egnater TOL100 for a while in the mid 90s (point your browser to www.vai.com/Machines/livegear_firegarden.html to see it in his Fire Garden touring rig), and having my trusty Ibanez Jem7VWH with DiMarzio Evolution pickups on hand after a restringing, I went straight for Channel 2 and tried to dial in my best Alien Love Secrets tone. I don’t know if I succeeded but with the gain at around 7, the midrange boosted and the treble down at around 4 I was surprised to find a great thick rhythm sound which reminded me a lot of Faith No More’s Album Of The Year — a tone I’ve been searching for for years. At this setting the Renegade absolutely loved power chords and wider voicings, and also sounded great with a little delay added to the effect loop. Turning down the midrange (don’t worry, the Renegade is very generously voiced in the mids, so your guitar won’t disappear from the mix even if you turn the mids to zero) and raising the treble bought out more depth and detail for dedicated lead work. Turning the gain down to 4 increased the expressiveness even further, and the smooth compression of higher gain settings gave way to much more control over individual note volume. This is ideal for those of us who love to shred but like to put more fusion-like dynamics into their noodling, and it also makes for a very cool, crystal clear overdrive if you don’t need to get too metal. But don’t get me wrong: if you want metal, the Renegade can do it with gusto.
SO, IN CONCLUSION…
It’s rare that an amp that appears so simple on the surface is actually hiding a huge array of tone sculpting options. If you can’t find your tone in the Renegade, I suggest you give your ears a thorough cleaning and try again, because this beauty can do it all.
Price: RRP $2250
Distributor: CMC Music
Phone: (02) 9905 0189
Website www.cmcmusic.com.au
By Peter Hodgson
