Shiva vs Thunderverb vs Elmwood m90

S

steve@russo

New member
I can get all these amps at really good deals right now (we see the one here) the other 2 would be new. My band has been getting a little more mid gain and way less high gain. I do like being able to tap into the extra gain of something like the elmwood if I have to. I have access to the 20th shiva with kt's and regular with el34. What are your guys opinions?

I have an strat loaded with BKP slowhands and black dog. Right now using a v4 cab with govenors. Probably looking to replace 2 of those also. An recommendations on those would be cool too.

I know I can "go play them" which I am when I go into work today, just trying to start some dialog. Maybe even find out about an amp I am not aware of.

Steve :m17:
 
I have not heard them before, I owned a VM that had kt66's and dug them. I like the el34's in my Stage 1, I also liked the el34's more than 6l6 in the single rec I had.
 
If I could describe KT88's in one word, it would be HARD.

Very unforgiving tube.

Pros: Very tight and stiff. Punchy as all hell. Shimmery cleans.
Cons: For me, personally, way too aggressive in the upper mids, slicey, glassy, and not classic sounding at all.

They're a great tube for really high gain stuff where you need the tightness, but for mid gain, I didn't love them. I snipped a resistor, and re-biased my 20th Shiva for EL34s.
 
I cannnot speak for the others but I owned a M90 and I really loved that amp! I only sold it to fund the Fortin but even with the 88's it did mid gain quite well to me. Mine was used for H gain but there is many ways to adjust that amp. If you set the master quite high then barely bump up the channel volume its aggressive as hell plus you still have the fat and edge control on the back for many tonal options. Great amp
 
Having played all the amps you listed, I personally like the Shiva for mid gain rock tones. I'm even more interested in trying the 90W Bogner Goldfinger. I was floored by Lugo's demos of that amp! Beautiful cleans and very old school chewy Marshall mid gain thing happening, but with the ability to get pretty aggressive when pushed. Also has a cool gain eq for shaping the gain to your liking. :thumbsup:
 
Shiva 20th with Winged C 6550. Not glassy at all. Just great tone and thick juicy mids. The 88's actually sounded better in this amp compared to most I have tried them in. The 6550's are awesome. :rock:
 
ok just turned this up with my cab. I think I need to darken up the pre tubes a bit, maybe something that breaks up earlier for the second channel, the first channel has some really nice highs but not sharp sounding.
 
steve@russo":voz2vgvn said:
just played the el34 shiva, it has won
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If the 34 version of the Shiva won, try and get your hands on a 20th Anniversary model with 6550's. It will make you giggle like a fat girl scout :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

This, right now is my favorite production amp from Bogner.


Steve
 
we have a 20th with el34 and kt88, I didn't dig the kt88, seems like the shivas in general get a little fuzz on the higher gain side of things. Maybe I should have been looking at something else by them. For now the mesa is staying put
 
steve@russo":30vm9mjb said:
we have a 20th with el34 and kt88, I didn't dig the kt88, seems like the shivas in general get a little fuzz on the higher gain side of things. Maybe I should have been looking at something else by them. For now the mesa is staying put
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Get a duet of 6550's to replace the 88's. They are too glassy and have "weird mids". The 6550's really open up the bottom, lower mids and turn channel 2 into a beast with nice, thick, creamy Marshall tone. The boost works well too. You can set the gain to about 12:00 with the channel master around 11:00 and the main master the same or a little higher and really get the output of the tubes shining.

I can't speak enough about this amp in that configuration. I don't know what Bogner was thinking with the 88's, in the Shiva or the TJ. They both sound like ass (glass).

Steve
 
Reinhold is like Einstein. There has to be something he can't grasp because everything else is so perfect. In his case he has to shit when it comes to picking the power tubes. Gotta take a shit somewhere when you are genuis. :rock: The smart guys change out the power tubes and holy shit! :shocked:
 
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