# Egnater Tweeker 15 watt amp head



## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Did my first gig with this little combo head and Mesa 12 in. cab last night and while it sounded good, I'm looking for more cleans at full volume. I read changing tubes would give it an extra boost to clean it up.
I did not have the gain turned on more than 2 and volume up to 9-10 and while it sounded o.k it just was not clean enough for my style of music.
Anyone done this and can let me know what I should be looking for.
Thanks


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Sounds like 15 watts will not be enough for you. For gigging, 15watts is very little for a clean sound. You will not get more than 15 clean watts no matter what you do to the amp.


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Considering I had a Blues Jr. and a Vox AC11 a few years ago and they had plenty of clean power, I'm sure something can be done. Bare in mind, I play in two duos doing pop,rock and roll,country and disco so no need to have a ton of watts to get the job done.


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## bluesguitar1972 (Jul 16, 2011)

marcos said:


> Considering I had a Blues Jr. and a Vox AC11 a few years ago and they had plenty of clean power, I'm sure something can be done. Bare in mind, I play in two duos doing pop,rock and roll,country and disco so no need to have a ton of watts to get the job done.


You can try changing the 1st 12ax7 to a 12ay7 which would tame the breakup a bit, however, I found the Egnater tweaker is just shy on headroom. It likes to break up earlier than a Blues Jr. I had the same problem with the Tweaker 4w - just didn't have the headroom I wanted and it was a 40w tube (or 44w) I did the tube switch in mine, and it helped some, but then it's not a 15w amp either.


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## NB_Terry (Feb 2, 2006)

I love the Tweaker for Marshally type sounds, but it's clean sounds are just so-so. 

Like others have said, there's not a lot of headroom with this amp. I get a clean sound I like with the Master on full and the gain at half or so, but it's not a truly clean sound; it's breaking up a bit.


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## washburned (Oct 13, 2006)

TRy rolling back the guitar volume a bit.


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## corailz (May 1, 2008)

15watts amps normally dosen't have alot of clean headroom...Your best bet would be to try an amp with more watts. Sometimes, depending on the amp, having for example, 2x12" speakers instead of one can offer more headroom and more clean....I'm really surprised about how much clean headroom i have on my TopHat ClubRoyale(15/20w) 2x12 combo compared to many of my friends 1x12 TopHat ClubRoyale.


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## bluesguitar1972 (Jul 16, 2011)

corailz said:


> 15watts amps normally dosen't have alot of clean headroom...You best bet would be to try an amp with more watts. Sometimes, depending on the amp, having for example, 2x12" speakers instead of one can offer more headroom and more clean....I'm really surprised about how much clean heaadroom i have on my TopHat ClubRoyale(15w) 2x12 combo compared to many of my friends 1x12 TopHat ClubRoyale.


Yeah, an extra speaker can make a big difference or even changing to a higher wattage rated speaker. But sometimes amp wattage isn't the indicator you think it is. Try a Blues Jr and compare it to a Fender Supersonic 22w - Blues Jr has a little more headroom. If you want a smallish amp, the relatively new Traynor YGL1 is a 15w 12" combo, and I found it to have a little more headroom than a Jr. My Egnater tweaker 44 had significantly less clean headroom than my Budda V20 (though this Budda pushes like crazy for a 20w amp, it's stupid loud).


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Thanks boys for all the info. It seems like I'm gonna look to get maybe 30 watts or more to handle the cleans. I've tried most of the tricks recommended here except tube change. I had read that it would help out but gonna see if I can get a set for cheap and go from there.


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## marauder (Oct 19, 2009)

I had a 5751 tube in mine, and it helped a bit.


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## bluesguitar1972 (Jul 16, 2011)

marcos said:


> Thanks boys for all the info. It seems like I'm gonna look to get maybe 30 watts or more to handle the cleans. I've tried most of the tricks recommended here except tube change. I had read that it would help out but gonna see if I can get a set for cheap and go from there.


tubestore.com
reasonably priced tubes - JJ's are pretty decent and inexpensive tubes. Really, I'd just start with the 12ay7 in the 1st position and go from there. It'll be around $12.99 plus shipping. If you have an L*M close by, they're 16.99 there, but no shipping. Cheaper in the long run, if you want to try just the 1.

Cheers and good luck.


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## Wild Bill (May 3, 2006)

marcos said:


> Did my first gig with this little combo head and Mesa 12 in. cab last night and while it sounded good, I'm looking for more cleans at full volume. I read changing tubes would give it an extra boost to clean it up.
> I did not have the gain turned on more than 2 and volume up to 9-10 and while it sounded o.k it just was not clean enough for my style of music.
> Anyone done this and can let me know what I should be looking for.
> Thanks


There are lots of techie things that would have a BIG influence on things like headroom. Changing the plate voltage on the first preamp stage for one. You can also use a lower value of plate load resistor or even go to a split load setup.

If you have a tech who understands his electronic theory in your neck of the woods you might want to talk to him.

Going to a 12AY7 or even a 12AZ7 for the 1st preamp will make a difference but in the main, unless you actually understand the circuit and can change values of resistors and capacitors you are like a guy trying to hot rod his car by carefully positioning racing stripes on the exterior body.

Wild Bill/Busen Amps


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## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

Thank you Wild Bill.


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