20th anniversary xtc users past and present

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RSRD

RSRD

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I'm a 20th sheaves diehard fan. Loved it since the day it came out. Had a few different xtcs over the years. Great amps. Love the blue channel and the red, when opened up, is solid for leads. Still a bit too compressed for me. They came and went while the 20 shiva stayed. Now I find myself with a wandering eye for the 20th X. With el34s I'm thinking it could replace my 20 sheaves.

For past 20 X users. Why did you sell it? What did you replace it with that you liked better?

For current users, how long have you had it and what keeps it in your aresnal or as your main amp?

For 3k+ it's an overly expensive amp for me. But my eye wanders... And my ears cry out for something new. The 20 x blue channel. I bet it's surreal.
 
I have gas for these as well but just never wanted to spend that much. Will be very interested to hear thoughts from people who have owned or even played one. Seems like not alot of people have had an opportunity to play one? I will say though that if you want less compression on the red channel of the 101b that is closer to the blue channels compression you can snip a resistor on r12 of the circuit board that will take the compression down quite a bit almost to the point it feels a little dry. Or buy a 101b built before 2004 when they added the compression and a little extra gain.
 
My #1 for a couple of years was a 101B modded to run KT88's. When the chance came up, I grabbed a 20th Anni w/ EL34's and loved it for a number of variances between the two. It's more open/less compressed, voiced towards more upper mids and the plexi channel was much more useable IMO. But in the end, it wasn't different enough to warrant keeping it.

I love the Bogner sound and would still love to have another Shiva. Had a 6L6 NR head and still regret selling it. But the one thing about the XTC is that it never cut through the mix as well as I would have liked. Maybe it's easier in a one guitar band with less competing frequencies but that's not my situation. Or maybe it's better suited to a different style of music than what I play. :dunno:

Thing is, I still loved both my 101B and 20th Anni and firing them up always put a smile on my face. But once in a band situation, I struggled to find the right balance. Right now I'm a dedicated Splawn user and for the hard rock/classic metal stuff we play, it's the perfect amp.
 
And most 20th Anni XTCs are 6L6s. So Im guessing they cut thru even less. My shiva never fails to cut even with kt88s.

Seems like Im better off sticking with the 20th shiva.
 
I have the 6L6 20th - absolutely love it. It doesn't have quite the grind of a Shiva, but it's much more open sounding than a 101b. The blue channel on full gain with boost is UNHOLY. Red channel with the gain at 2:00 is Alice in Chains "Dirt" to a tee.

Haven't tried it in my band yet (use a Herbert for that, another amp that supposedly doesn't cut through...not had any problems!).

-C
 
EL34 20thA-X owner and keeper here. It's my "do all" amp. Covers the most ground of whatever tune I'm playing. Takes stomps up front nicely, I can manipulate the tone to get the usual suspects out of it. I am positive with enough time spent on it, it can do any tone barring the most djent of drop tunings. It's got all the Swiss Army knife adjustments...kazy amount.

All this said, I am eyeballing the 20thA-Sheevs. Why? Because it's a Bogner, it's got a different voicing, it's loaded with 88s which - when matched with an appropriate circuit - are really wide open and mega headroomy (for lack of a better term). I LOVE the 20thA-X, absolutely love it. It's super chewy, brown'esque, and has a lot of bells and whistles. I want the Sheevs in order to have another Bogner voice in my repertoire.

I've run into a few cats who are Bogner fanbois. A couple of them ended up flip-flopping between models till they finally had both. End of problem.

Just sayin'
Mo :thumbsup:
 
Man I wish I could afford both. Maybe when the album sells it's first million.

Great reviews. Thanks guys.
 
20th is great, more grind and top than 101B. I have both EL34 and 6L6 20th XTC and I like both, that said I do gigs w/EL34 because it grinds better at lower stage volume, I have it loaded w/KT77's too. Gold Lion. Both crush and are way more versitile of all amps I have tried. I play covers by U2, VH, Foo Fighters, Metallica, Ozzy, Chili Peppers, GnR, Aerosmith Zeppelin, STP, etc etc and it does everything I ask to a "T"!
Check out our vids on SPLband.com and click the uTube link-not best vid or audio but let me know if you think it cuts and I'm a mids guy, don't like raspy top end at all.
Just a local fun thing (at my age it has to be) but I've been gigging for 30 years and take my tone seriously. Killer killer amp in either form. Highly recommended!
 
I, too have a KT77 loaded 20th XTC (originally had 34's in it). I had a 101b before it, which I was tweaking all the time. The 20th definitely has more bite in there and is more open. It's also easier to dial in.

I sold my 20th Shiva after having both and A/B'ing extensively. It was just too stiff and lacked an FX Loop on/off switch, which I need. I thought the XTC was much more friendly for lead playing. I wouldn't say one blows the other out of the water, it's just down to what you prefer. Ultimately I found the XTC much more versatile for what I like to do and I prefer the hot-rodded Plexi sound to the aggro-JCM 800 vibe of the 20th Shiva.
 
se7en":a8obz5hu said:
I, too have a KT77 loaded 20th XTC (originally had 34's in it). I had a 101b before it, which I was tweaking all the time. The 20th definitely has more bite in there and is more open. It's also easier to dial in.

I sold my 20th Shiva after having both and A/B'ing extensively. It was just too stiff and lacked an FX Loop on/off switch, which I need. I thought the XTC was much more friendly for lead playing. I wouldn't say one blows the other out of the water, it's just down to what you prefer. Ultimately I found the XTC much more versatile for what I like to do and I prefer the hot-rodded Plexi sound to the aggro-JCM 800 vibe of the 20th Shiva.
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Very interesting. Have you played a 20 x with 6ls by chance?
 
RSRD":324xt5ic said:
se7en":324xt5ic said:
I, too have a KT77 loaded 20th XTC (originally had 34's in it). I had a 101b before it, which I was tweaking all the time. The 20th definitely has more bite in there and is more open. It's also easier to dial in.

I sold my 20th Shiva after having both and A/B'ing extensively. It was just too stiff and lacked an FX Loop on/off switch, which I need. I thought the XTC was much more friendly for lead playing. I wouldn't say one blows the other out of the water, it's just down to what you prefer. Ultimately I found the XTC much more versatile for what I like to do and I prefer the hot-rodded Plexi sound to the aggro-JCM 800 vibe of the 20th Shiva.
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Very interesting. Have you played a 20 x with 6ls by chance?
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Nah, I haven't. I'm sure it's great.
 
The 20th denotes tubes by a and b right? So 101A is 6Ls and 101B is 34s?
 
You cannot go wrong with either the 6L6 or the EL34 variant. Just different flavours, really.

-C
 
RSRD":1d5lyaob said:
The 20th denotes tubes by a and b right? So 101A is 6Ls and 101B is 34s?
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That's right. A forumite recently posted comparison videos of each 20th XTC, as he has both. I'd post em, but am on a cell and gotta get to work now. See what you think.
 
Very cool! I'll search for it. Thanks.

Have received a few PMs from various people saying that the blue channel on the 20 x is not as good as the blue on the 101b
 
RSRD":ebku1fpc said:
Very cool! I'll search for it. Thanks.

Have received a few PMs from various people saying that the blue channel on the 20 x is not as good as the blue on the 101b
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I think it's just as good, if not better. Definitely tighter and perhaps a bit more honest...which can be taken as better or worse depending on what you prefer. I prefer clarity and a tighter rhythm channel. Plexi mode is much better, IMO.

I know the guy who recently posted videos of both the EL34 and 6L6 version, said he preferred 34's for the blue channel and plexi mode.
 
RSRD":iukdmiy6 said:
For past 20 X users. Why did you sell it? What did you replace it with that you liked better?
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The 20th was a nice amp. Everything on it worked. That is to say, all the switches and knobs did exactly what you'd expect them to do.

Tonally, it was great as well. But when it came right down to it, I prefer the tones of past XTCs (save for the cleans, which are better on the 20th). Blue channel was stiff. Compared with 101b Blue, the 20th was flat and dry. It's certainly not bad, but I'd take the 101b Blue any day before the 20th. Red channel had a really nice response to it. It had plenty of gain - quite a bit more than the 101b. However, the same applies here: it was just a little flat when turned up to the sweet spot.

Personally, I think the 20th Ecstasy is the best version when playing at low to low-medium volume levels. It also can't sound bad compared to itself. That is, when I switched from the Blue to Red on my old 101b, it took a second for my ears to adjust before it sounded good again, with the intermittent time sounding a little harsh. Not so with the 20th.

But to be honest, I think the best sounding Ecstasy is the Classic (with 101b not so far off). The cleans are great, and the gain is perfect across all modes. And while I do feel the 20th sounds excellent at low volumes, the Classic opens up as the volume increases, working with the power tubes instead of the 20th, which I feel sounds best with a perfectly clean power section (and even then I feel it lacks depth).

edit: For the record, my 20th was EL34 and 101b was pre '04.
 
So magic, what bogners are you playing? Also, how does the blue on the 101b compare to th blue on the classic?
 
I find the opposite, the 20th seems to open up with volume, much like the Classic in that regard. The 101b blue channel to me didn't open up as much as I'd like, nor did the red for that matter. The compression does make for a cool tone and I loved the 101b I had, but it sorta gets washed away in the mix, at least in a two guitarist band situation. The 20th is definitely more articulate, even with 34's in there...better string separation.

I'm finding that the 20th cuts more, although I'd say any XTC with a clean-ish power section is the way to roll, especially if you're doing high gain stuff. Classic rock, you'd be fine with a stock 101b. And, really they're all some of the most amazing rock machines out there.
 
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