Bogner Helios owners, talk to me

ZEN Amps

ZEN Amps

Well-known member
Tried one briefly a while back and it didn't resonate with me, but am curious again. Think I was having a bad cab day or something, I recall my favourite 2203 also sounded off. Too much wax? Too little sleep? Not sure.

Tell me your Helios success (or otherwise) stories - one has appeared on my radar as part of an interstate trade so can't try first. It's a 50 watter.
 
Had the original 100 and later the Eclipse. I liked the Eclipse more for the foot switching flexibility, and 3 channels. It had some super high gain modes, but I felt those were a bit too compressed and noisy for my style. So I kept it in the hot mode on both overdrive channels. Simple clean was nice. Overall the Helios is the most raw and Marshally of the all the Bogner amps I've had. The Eclipse was housed in the smaller 50 watt head shell too, so that was cool. I can definitely recommend the Helios for someone looking for that hot rodded Marshall bite, but with just a little bit of the chewy Bogner mids that are so addicting!

By the way, I used it with 2 quads of Redbacks and it killed with those speakers!
 
ZEN Amps said:
Tell me your Helios success (or otherwise) stories - one has appeared on my radar as part of an interstate trade so can't try first. It's a 50 watter.
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I owned a 50 watter a while back. Great amp. Liked it best with B1 setting, 70s mode and EQ out. My go to amps for a while have been my old Marshalls and Morris amps... If I didn't already have those, I would for sure grab myself a Helios again.
 
I love my Helios 100, it's one of my favorite amps. However I do think it needs a boost to get the most out of it. To me it sounds and feels like they stuffed a hotrodded Plexi in the preamp and paired that with a modernized, stiff power section. However the lower gain input on ch2 is kind of the hidden gem of the amp and although it doesn't seem to get much mainstream attention, is very much worth checking out. And the clean channel is better than it has any right to be, considering it doesn't even use the tonestack. All you can adjust on it is a 3-way bright switch but that's enough.

Here's a Nuno riff I was messing around with during Nuno Fever a couple weeks back. I'm using a RAT as a boost, but mostly as a bass cut. The Drive knob is set just high enough to not choke out the guitar, so like 8:00 or so. Level is at 3:00.

Guitar -> RAT as a boost -> Helios 100 -> Suhr RL -> mix of GB and v30 4x12 IR's


Here's the same playing reamped through the same settings and IRs but no RAT boost. As you can hear, the RAT definitely helps with clarity.




Here's a test riff I was working out a while back. Double tracked through the Helios 100.
I used a Boss GE-7 for a clean boost with slight bass cut.



An old In Flames riff. Same Boss GE-7 boost as above, but dialed in to be just a bit smoother:



A melodic line I was messing around with for a tone test. Again, GE-7 for clean boost:

 
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Traded my 100w head for a Friedman SB and don’t regret it. As mentioned above I also thought the high gain settings were noisy and compressed and I figured that would only get worse on stage at volume. It did sound great on the hot mode boosted but IMO the Friedman does this a bit better, is like half the weight, needs half the power tubes and is just less complicated. I have no experience with the Eclipse, not sure what that’s all about.
 
I had the Helios 100. I thought it was a good amp, but not a great amp. My old '96 Ecstasy on the Blue channel with proper eq could get close enough (and with better feel) so it was expendable. It was definitely more aggressive and wild than the 2017 BE 100 I had at the time.

Cool amp, but I wouldn't get one again. For that type of sound, my Wizard w800 absolutely eats its lunch.....as does a good real deal 2203/2204 with a boost.
 
I've owned 50 and 100 - thinking about getting the Helios 50 again - loved the Hot input 70s mode but the cleaner Plexi input tones seemed kind of flat and uninspiring to me. Maybe I just had it dialed up wrong
 
You should try a Goldfinger SL. Does 60s/70s/80s like the Helios, but has a clean channel that's easily bogners best (and foot switchable). Add a tailorable boost for each channel and it's my favorite of his designs
 
I absolutely love my Bogner Helios that I bought new in 2015.
The only thing I don't love is there is no real super clean on the high gain side.
 
Had a 50 watter, best mode for me was with the tone stack switched out / off. My 25 watt Wizard MC25 showed up and kicked it to the curb, it wasn’t even a fair fight. I’ve owned nearly one of everything Bogner has ever made, still love his amps, but it was no contest between the two mentioned above
 
I love my 50. Paired with 75w Creambacks. I think it's the best sounding Bogner for hot-rod Marshall sounds. If you don't need channel switching on the fly, you won't have any issues with it. Tons of good sounds.
 
Had an Eclipse that I couldn't bond with; Eclipse modes were too grainy and noisy, the 70's and 80's modes were kinda bland. The general consensus is that the regular Helios 70's and 80's modes are way better than the ones on the Eclipse model. I'm tempted to pick one of those up at some point..
 
loganflynn294 said:
Had an Eclipse that I couldn't bond with; Eclipse modes were too grainy and noisy, the 70's and 80's modes were kinda bland. The general consensus is that the regular Helios 70's and 80's modes are way better than the ones on the Eclipse model. I'm tempted to pick one of those up at some point..
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Actually I think it was an Eclipse version I tried a while back, pretty sure it only had one input.

The trade I'm looking at is on a Helios 50, seems like the guys here are digging it.
 
Had a 50w Helios and it LOVED my Les paul super strat not so much. Great amp but next to my Friedman SB not as 3d. 100w is supposed to be more raw, but a buddy has one and prefers his Small box too. :cool: Elcipse is supposed to be more grainy gain I hear

Here is my 50w helios live from a few angles

 
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