Bogner Ecstacy History

So I found a more recent used 101B and a new 20th 101B locally. 101B is a good price. 20th 101B is crazy expensive. But... I think from all the research I've done, the 20th is more appealing. Wish I could a/b a 20thA and 20thB, but what are ya gonna do. I typically prefer EL34 amps. But I can kinda see how 6L6s in an XTC would sound great and help balance out the amp a bit.

Man... just grabbed a Helios 50 and I have an Uber on the way. I might be turning into an overnight Bogner fan. I don't know what's happened to me lol. That said, to this day, the best clean sounds I've ever personally gotten out of any amp were in an old Shiva 2x12 combo EL34 Reverb that I played in a store around 2006.

Here's one of the best sounding Ecstasy clips I've found. 20th 101B thru VHT cab.

 
Just played a 20th Anni. 101B. Interesting amp. First, it looks badass with the metal grill and gold faceplate. Second, it has a lot of tone-shaping capabilities. Clean channel was good. Not mind-blowing. Maybe with some reverb/delay it would come alive. Blue channel sounds good, but maybe a little buzzy. Could have been the cab (Bogner 2x12 w/V30s, brand new, not broken in). I prefer Mesa V30s. But for that classic crunch, Greenbacks or Creambacks would certainly have been better.

Red channel was super fizzy. Until I got the volume up over 10:00/11:00. Really came alive then. Sounded very similar to the Helios 50 I have. But then I started playing with all the switches. Run in Class A, Old... lots of chewy goodness. Excursion switch and Pre-EQ switch are key. V/M switch just seemed to add more gain. Anyway... it's a great amp. I do think the 6L6 version might sound better. Just a hunch. And I'm waiting to form any real opinions until I'm able to play one.

Will check out an older 101B tomorrow.
 
FourT6and2 said:
So I found a more recent used 101B and a new 20th 101B locally. 101B is a good price. 20th 101B is crazy expensive. But... I think from all the research I've done, the 20th is more appealing. Wish I could a/b a 20thA and 20thB, but what are ya gonna do. I typically prefer EL34 amps. But I can kinda see how 6L6s in an XTC would sound great and help balance out the amp a bit.

Man... just grabbed a Helios 50 and I have an Uber on the way. I might be turning into an overnight Bogner fan. I don't know what's happened to me lol. That said, to this day, the best clean sounds I've ever personally gotten out of any amp were in an old Shiva 2x12 combo EL34 Reverb that I played in a store around 2006.

Here's one of the best sounding Ecstasy clips I've found. 20th 101B thru VHT cab.

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That clip sounds great. Loads of bottom end thump and high end cut. Always a great sign of an amp when the sound is already fantastic with the knobs all starting at 12 o'clock.

The clean channel sounds best with the volume at max and use the Gain knob for actual level. It gets some nice BF Fender tines with a little scooping
 
FourT6and2 said:
Just played a 20th Anni. 101B. Interesting amp. First, it looks badass with the metal grill and gold faceplate. Second, it has a lot of tone-shaping capabilities. Clean channel was good. Not mind-blowing. Maybe with some reverb/delay it would come alive. Blue channel sounds good, but maybe a little buzzy. Could have been the cab (Bogner 2x12 w/V30s, brand new, not broken in). I prefer Mesa V30s. But for that classic crunch, Greenbacks or Creambacks would certainly have been better.

Red channel was super fizzy. Until I got the volume up over 10:00/11:00. Really came alive then. Sounded very similar to the Helios 50 I have. But then I started playing with all the switches. Run in Class A, Old... lots of chewy goodness. Excursion switch and Pre-EQ switch are key. V/M switch just seemed to add more gain. Anyway... it's a great amp. I do think the 6L6 version might sound better. Just a hunch. And I'm waiting to form any real opinions until I'm able to play one.

Will check out an older 101B tomorrow.
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Wow, you are on a Bogner Journey👍
 
SQUAREHEAD said:
Wow, you are on a Bogner Journey👍
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lol yup. Returning to my roots, so to speak. Back in 2004, I bought my first real boutique amp: Rev 2 Uberschall. Had it for a year or so but never really got to open it up because I had it with me in a college dorm. I wound up selling it over the next summer. I played a Shiva EL34/Reverb in a store and remember the clean channel blowing me away. Like utterly gorgeous tones. But never bought one.

I've had all sorts of amps since then. But never returned to Bogner. I dunno... woke up last week and decided to try an Uber again. And then I found a Helios for sale locally for a good price and grabbed it. I have an Uber on the way. Aaaaand since I never played an XTC, I figured why not. I think Bogner makes great sounding amps. They have a unique feel/timbre. I wouldn't say they're the best or anything, because every single Bogner amp seems to have some weird operational quirk that makes them a PITA.

Anyway, that's my story. I've had or played so many other amps. Just been 18 years since I had a Bogner and figured why not.
 
Played a 101B today. Black chassis. Got to really crank it. It was ok... not my cup o' tea. I liked the 20th more because the 101B was much smoother, had more presence; with more of a forward, in-your-face sound. The 20th 101B had more of a bark. I think the Helios can cop 101B sounds. I did manage to pick up another Bogner 4x12 at a good price though. The guy has like 10 cabs.
 
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played one of the 100s at makin music but can’t remember exactly which one—but it was pretty stiff and wasn’t my cup of tea (felt the same about the fish preamp) 101b which was nicer to me, and XTC Classic and preferred the classic by a long shot.

 
I went through a Bogner love fest for a while myself. I find them to be great amps but each one having a very specific eq curve and voicing .... Out of them all the Helios Eclipse I had was prob the most balanced sounding. The issue for me with that amp was the high gain tones were very compressed and smooth, similar to BE100s...... With that being said if you find a great sounding XTC hold on to it. Ive tried about 6 of them , all sounding different. A friend of mine had one that was the best sounding out of all the ones I tried. It was just a "regular" 101b , so I bought a brand new one and it was fizzy and blah sounding go figure lol.
 
the4thlast1 said:
I went through a Bogner love fest for a while myself. I find them to be great amps but each one having a very specific eq curve and voicing .... Out of them all the Helios Eclipse I had was prob the most balanced sounding. The issue for me with that amp was the high gain tones were very compressed and smooth, similar to BE100s...... With that being said if you find a great sounding XTC hold on to it. Ive tried about 6 of them , all sounding different. A friend of mine had one that was the best sounding out of all the ones I tried. It was just a "regular" 101b , so I bought a brand new one and it was fizzy and blah sounding go figure lol.
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I’m reading all of these replies from solid dudes and just shaking my head because mine isn’t smooth at all. Compressed I can agree with but certainly not smooth. It will take your head off if you want it to.

I’m just shocked and if anything it makes me want to hang onto my XTC even moreso since I’ll apparently never be able to replace it.

How many have tube rolled their Bogner? How much is contributed to preamp tube choices?
 
glpg80 said:
I’m reading all of these replies from solid dudes and just shaking my head because mine isn’t smooth at all. Compressed I can agree with but certainly not smooth. It will take your head off if you want it to.

I’m just shocked and if anything it makes me want to hang onto my XTC even moreso since I’ll apparently never be able to replace it.

How many have tube rolled their Bogner? How much is contributed to preamp tube choices?
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Maybe something to do with the Mercury Magnetics👍🤔
My cousin has one of these from the late 90’s and it is not polite or smooth at all.
 
glpg80 said:
I’m reading all of these replies from solid dudes and just shaking my head because mine isn’t smooth at all. Compressed I can agree with but certainly not smooth. It will take your head off if you want it to.

I’m just shocked and if anything it makes me want to hang onto my XTC even moreso since I’ll apparently never be able to replace it.

How many have tube rolled their Bogner? How much is contributed to preamp tube choices?
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I am talking about the Helios not the XTC. I had the Helios "Eclipse" version (3 channel) .... I remember that in the lower gain settings the amp could sound aggressive yes.... But in the 80s or Eclipse mode it was not. So as far as the Helios Eclipse goes if you want a raw rock tone you can get it but the higher gain stuff was too compressed and smooth , at least for me anyways. Now its possible the regular Helios (non eclipse) version is more aggressive. I have considered getting one to see for myself. A friend of mine had a 50w Helios that he loved but I never got a chance to try it. Glpg80 do you have a Helios and an XTC ? Im confused.

The XTC is a different animal. There are several different versions throughout the years. Some of them being smoother and more compressed than others but overall its just a different amp compared to the Helios. Helios having more of an upper mid Marshall voicing.
 
A lot of variables at play. Probably a lack of proper amp setup is to blame. The 101B I just played yesterday... when I got there, the guy had it sitting on top of a Bogner 2x12 and Bogner 4x12. 2x12 = 8 ohms. 4x12 = 16 ohms. He had both cabs plugged into the amp, set at 16ohms, running half power. Not only that, but he had replaced the tubes at one point and never bothered to bias the amp. So... you've got potential OT problems, cab impedance mismatch, running half-power, which also messes with impedance. Not only that, but who knows what his amp was biased to and who knows what his mains voltage was.
 
the4thlast1 said:
I am talking about the Helios not the XTC. I had the Helios "Eclipse" version (3 channel) .... I remember that in the lower gain settings the amp could sound aggressive yes.... But in the 80s or Eclipse mode it was not. So as far as the Helios Eclipse goes if you want a raw rock tone you can get it but the higher gain stuff was too compressed and smooth , at least for me anyways. Now its possible the regular Helios (non eclipse) version is more aggressive. I have considered getting one to see for myself. A friend of mine had a 50w Helios that he loved but I never got a chance to try it. Glpg80 do you have a Helios and an XTC ? Im confused.

The XTC is a different animal. There are several different versions throughout the years. Some of them being smoother and more compressed than others but overall its just a different amp compared to the Helios. Helios having more of an upper mid Marshall voicing.
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Oh you don’t have signatures turned on?

I don’t own a Helios/Helios Eclipse, but I do own a 1998 XTC 101B with class A/AB and stock Mercury Magnetics OT/PT.

Here’s a video of mine boosted with an SD-1:

 
Out of all the Bogners that Ive owned the Ecstasy is the only one I actually liked. I've had 2 101bs, a Shiva 20th, Rev green Uber, and rev blue Uber.
20190303_202846.jpg
 
I remember when Bogner Brand arrived here in Brazil with all 20Th models. A friend of mine bought every model and I played them.
I was looking like a teenager to play the XTC and almost bought one without play it first.
Big disappointment, too congest like a blanket in front the cab.
 
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