LunatiBSW":2qsr1m54 said:
I mean the 20th shiva and uber. Sorry. That's what this whole thread is about in case you missed it. Never even played a regular shiva, so can't even comment on it.
I've not played the BS, and I have to admit at the time of release, most of the YT clips sounded like shit. But Reza's opinion came in pretty strong on the notion this amp is a keeper in the brootz department (the BS) - just haven't had a chance to try one yet. My Friedman acquisition is still hovering over the JJ.
But I have had a LOT of experience with Bogners. And FWIW, the regular Sheevs is a premium amp, no question about it, but the 20th version loaded with a pair of 88s is massive. One of the few amps I've had with 88s that doesn't get all glassy and glaring when cranked - sounds more like a warm EL34 loaded amp with massive headroom. But where the Shiva makes me giggle is that it's probably one of the most "heavy" amps out there - even though it's touted as "great crystal cleans and smooth gain" and such. Thing blows fucking windows out - it's got brootz on tap!! Great great amp for everything, and it's simple to use - not too many dials, knobs, and switches. Great amp.
I've run the gamut on Ubers too. All of them. I've kept a Rev.2/Green and a Purple modded TJ to this day - the Purple TJ is by far one of the most delicious insane nuclear massive amps I've played. I screwed with a mess of different preamp tubes and power tubes to get it where I wanted it to go. And now it's like a sonic chainsaw. And really REALLY sounds lush and rich. I love it. It's got teeth.
Rev.2 is a great amp - and I'm still tone testing it with strategic placement of a 5751 bottle in the tonestack to reign in the gain. May sound counter-intuitive, but too much gain is a pain when recording - the track gets bee hived and lost. I love mids and clarity - even in the high gain department, so I've continued to experiment with my Rev.2 But it's a great amp - definitely has its own tone that nothing else compares to. But if I had to pick a rig for playing all sorts of shit on, out of the two I'd opt for my TJ. Out of all my amps, it'd likely be the 20th XTC EL34 head - but that being said, I'd miss my 20th Sheevs.
Problem is Bogner makes fucking great sounding amps. Can't say no to any of them.
Anyway - would love to try the BS one day, would REALLY love to A/B it with the JJ. But I'm not planning on flying down to LA any time soon, probably not until the end of current president's term anyway
Peace, Gents...
