Early Bogner Ecstacy (318) differences...

Danjel

New member
I looking into trading to a Bogner Ecstacy 101b for my 2014 Friedman BE100.
The Bogner has the symbals as serial signs. It is nr: 318. From what I understand this amp was made in 1997.
I know the Bogners are excellent amps and I LOVE the BE.
Has there been any changes from the new 101b and one from 1997?
Should I look into trading the BE for a newer 101b or is one from 1997 exactly the same?

Thanks guys!!
 
The last XTC's up dates was back in 2004. They are better then the old ones.
more modern with more gain slightly more compressed.
 
They all have the new/old switch. Some have the class A switch and some don't. I prefer the old spec pre 2004. I had a customer that had the newer version and wanted me to mod the red to old spec but keep the blue to the new spec. The red channel on the new spec has way more gain and is super compressed and fizzy.

Here's the amp after I was finished with it. It's pretty much the pre 2004 old spec.

 
BrentSP":1va7rgi8 said:
They all have the new/old switch. Some have the class A switch and some don't. I prefer the old spec pre 2004. I had a customer that had the newer version and wanted me to mod the red to old spec but keep the blue to the new spec. The red channel on the new spec has way more gain and is super compressed and fizzy.

Here's the amp after I was finished with it. It's pretty much the pre 2004 old spec.


So I'm in the same boat as the OP but didn't realize Bogner made changes to the blue channel in 2004?

Obviously I could install the pre/post/Cameron mod but I'm really torn between trading my BE100 for an XTC or sending it in for a 2016 and SS100 clean channel update/grade.
 
IMHO Get the XTC. I think the BE sounds great. But the XTC is just an all around killer amp. It is the Swiss army knife of amps. Killer , Killer tones to be had for any and all genres. You're not going to find the kind of flexibility in a BE .
 
BLUE channel never changed...only the RED channel (post 2004) which is only an extra cap and resistor on R12. What BLUE channel changes are you referring to?

BrentSP":1bny6hw7 said:
They all have the new/old switch. Some have the class A switch and some don't. I prefer the old spec pre 2004. I had a customer that had the newer version and wanted me to mod the red to old spec but keep the blue to the new spec. The red channel on the new spec has way more gain and is super compressed and fizzy.

Here's the amp after I was finished with it. It's pretty much the pre 2004 old spec.

 
SLOgriff":1obo3xwk said:
BLUE channel never changed...only the RED channel (post 2004) which is only an extra cap and resistor on R12. What BLUE channel changes are you referring to?

BrentSP":1obo3xwk said:
They all have the new/old switch. Some have the class A switch and some don't. I prefer the old spec pre 2004. I had a customer that had the newer version and wanted me to mod the red to old spec but keep the blue to the new spec. The red channel on the new spec has way more gain and is super compressed and fizzy.

Here's the amp after I was finished with it. It's pretty much the pre 2004 old spec.


Post 2004 the 2nd gain stage of BOTH lead channels went from 2.2uF to 1.5uF so yes it did change.
 
[/quote]Post 2004 the 2nd gain stage of BOTH lead channels went from 2.2uF to 1.5uF so yes it did change.[/quote]

So how big is the tonal difference is there between the pre and post 2004 blue channels? I can't find any clips or articles/discussion even addressing this change.
 
Post 2004 the 2nd gain stage of BOTH lead channels went from 2.2uF to 1.5uF so yes it did change.[/quote]

So how big is the tonal difference is there between the pre and post 2004 blue channels? I can't find any clips or articles/discussion even addressing this change.[/quote]

On the blue channel not much difference.

On the red, post had much more gain in the high end, way more compression and if set to high can get fizzy.
 
Early versions of XTC has carbon comp anode resistors, which for some sounds different than metal film. Carbon comp ones tend to damage with time though.
Structure cap was lowered from 2.2uF to 1.5uF and the change is noticeable. Also, in 2004 Red channel was modded for more gain.
 
DragonCrestPC":3rs3wt6g said:
I would be curious to see what some of you guys think of the BE-100 vs the XTC ( new ones )

I did get a Bogner Ecstacy. However, I bought a new 20 Anniversary. I still have a Friedman BE100 and I will never sell it. Ever.
There is quite a huge difference between the two amps. First off, both are tone monsters and great sounding amps. They both have their strong points and are really well built.
I would say that the Bogner is rougher sounding than the BE. It feels like a perfect mix between and Rectifier and a great Marshall. The BE sounds like the best Marshall ever!
Both sit well in any mix thanks to them having awesome mids.
The Bogner has more bells and whistles, but has way more noise. Especially the red channel which I think is REALLY noisy and hissy. The BE100 is really quiet though.
I think the clean channel on the Bogner is superior to the clean on the BE100.
The BE channel is absolutely fantastic but when the HBE is switched on it becomes a little too loose. Not as tight a lead channel as I would like. This is one of the Bogners strong sides though so I am a happy camper.
I would have a hard time selling any one of these two.
 
Something may be wrong in the chain on your Red channel if it is that noisy. I have the BE100 and have had 4 XTCs (including 20th Ann B&A) and the red channel noise floor was on par with the HBE.
 
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