I need a little help before deciding if I buy the M4 :-)

[Ping]

Hi, this is my 1st post

After reading many reviews, I am very interested in the Egnater M4, but I don't have the opportunity to hear it, so it's like a blind date :roll:

I've recently had a not 100% satisfying experience blind-buying a Mesa Triaxis. I don't say that the Triaxis is bad, but after 1 month tweaking it, I still can't find myself there.

My question to help me with the decision is very simple:

Is it possible to get a gilmourized tone with the M4? & Wich module may I use in this crussade?

I mean a "clean" lead tone in the style of "Shine on your Crazy Diamond" or like in the Division Bell album.

One of my guitars is a Strat American Deluxe with EMG SA pickups and the EMG SPC mid booster and EXG expander. With that guitar I can take very nice tones from a Boss Gt-Pro that I'm not able to get from the Triaxis.

Besides my eternal search for Gilmour tones, I'm playing in a covers band, so I also need the flexibility of having a wide tone palette.

Cheers!

 

[ImNoShredder]

Ping

After buying and returning/selling almost every amp known to man over the past 2-3 years I also was reluctant to buy another one without being able to try it first. Believe me when I tell you I took every amp at GC home for a spin - even the crappy ones I knew wouldn't work, because I didn't want to leave any stone unturned. I also bought other amps without trying - eg: Splawn Quick Rod. Great amp, but one trick pony. Pre ordered a MB Roadster - yuk! HK TriAmp, Diezels etc etc. I 'settled' on the Vox modellers after owning Johnson and Line 6. They do lots of stuff OK, just nothing great. Been using it for about 8-10 months but still longed for "my amp".
I also play in a (female fronted) cover band - everything from Alanis and Michelle Branch to Poison, Journey and Evanescence. My sounds must also run the gamut.

Ran across the Egnater stuff by accident while researching the Randalls. Called and talked to the guys at Indoor Storm, then Frank at Egnater. All sounded great. I thought, what the hell, I've tried everything else. So I took a chance on a M4. Gave me more options (4 pre amps and 2 chs each) than the Mod 50 or 100. And costs less - I had a PV 50/50 pwr amp.
After about 2 weeks now, I can honestly say I love this amp! Still tweaking, but if I HAD to play a job tonight, I wouldn't think twice about using it.
Now, you will need to buy FX - ESP to get the Gilmore thing (LOVE his tones BTW), but, you're NOT gonna get that out of a single amp without some outboard devices. I think he uses a bunch. I just watched the new Pulse DVD and he has a sizeable floorboard!
But, I think you would be very happy with the M4.
I have the DLX, VX, SL2 and ERect mods. The VX (vox) is the sh!t!! Back of the volume a tad on my strat (w/hot rails), play the Daytripper riff - it's Beatle mania!! All the modules are great sounding.
My band schedule kicks back in next week and I'll be busy for the year, about 4-8 jobs/month.
I'll be getting a couple more of the modules, but, I am very happy with this amp!

Hope this helps
Joe

 

[Ping]

Thank you very much for the reply Joe

My other main rack equipement for the guitar (besides the Mesa Triaxis, the Axon AX100MK-II and Synth modules for Midi guitar) is a Eventide Eclipse, a Boss Gt-Pro that I use for modelling speakers and a Lexicon Vortex. I always play through Full Range Flat Response amplifiers (Roland KC-350) with direct stereo connection to Mixer/PA

Cheers!

Manuel

 

[xspiderfingersx]

i use an 80s tokai 62 strat copy with the emg gilmour pickgaurd and an RM100 with the blackface module and it gets that sound for sure. You need a quality reverb and a nice delay of course, but it works. Im moving up to a mod50 because im a little over having 100 watts and i like the tones im hearing from the egnaters. But if you check the mod50 videos at indoor storms page you can hear they really do get an amazing clean.

 

[John Czajkowski]

Thank you very much for the reply Joe

My other main rack equipement for the guitar (besides the Mesa Triaxis, the Axon AX100MK-II and Synth modules for Midi guitar) is a Eventide Eclipse, a Boss Gt-Pro that I use for modelling speakers and a Lexicon Vortex. I always play through Full Range Flat Response amplifiers (Roland KC-350) with direct stereo connection to Mixer/PA

Cheers!

Manuel

Hey Ping,

I'm sorry to say that I think a huge component in those tones is actually in the (tube) poweramp stage. Therefore, even with the best preamp in the world (that's the M4 in my oppinion) you are still going to be scratching your head. I do the synth/sampler thing, but I keep that singal and speaker path seperate form the guitar. It's more gear, but it sounds right to me. You really me want to look into a MOD 50. I'm planning to pick one (maybe two!) up soon for some more rig strategies.

 

[3 Mile Stone]

I think the M4 is up to it. It will depend on what amp you run it into as John has mentioned. With the Randall / Egnater system I have found one of the cool things is the possibilities of running different power amp tubes to get what you want. Just off the top of my head I would say to get a very good Gilmour clean sound (Yep, who wouldn't want to sound that good!) try this:

Egnater DLX (Fender Deluxe)
6L6 or 6V6 power tubes (Randall RT 2/50?)
Compressor Pedal (Demeter?)
High Quality Chorus and Delay (TC Electronics are pretty pristine sounding, but good pedals wil do it too)


To get a high quality sound like Dave's ALL the components in your signal path will have to be excellent. Including things like what speakers you run with it etc. And let's face we still will not sound like him, 'cause he is who he is and we're not. :wink: But you could get some darn good Gilmour like stuff, I'm sure of it. I have found that with my Egnater gear, often in pursuit of a tone similar to soemone else I discover wonderful things, like some of my own versions of that tone that I like even better, that sound more like ... me.

 

[Ping]

Thank you for the answers

I've already placed my order!! Now I'm on the long countdown melting gas

Since it's second hand I couldn't choose the modules. It comes with this ones:

- Egnater Erect
- Egnater Modern HiGain
- Randall Plexi
- Randall Clean

So, I believe that I'll take my time to digest all that modules before I start a search for a new one, but I'll keep an eye on the DLX