Anyone have or had a TOL? How do they compare to Bogners?

  • Thread starter Thread starter richedie
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It does appear the XTC classic is warmer and sweeter.....but were some of the same tonal elements somehow incorporated into the regular XTC? On a side note, I am surprised to see Joe Bonamassa playing a Bogner XTC.

I never see the TOLs used and not sure they ever had a50 watt head. I think having a TOL would be redundant since I have the Mod 50.

How did you use the BB Preamp, just for additional gain or a mid boost? I never found it to work like a Tube Screamer as in a lead mid boost.
 
mentoneman":eidvaox6 said:
you may have seen my tol 100 demo but in case you haven't:



pretty accurate to how i hear the tones i set on the amp and what i love about the amp---flexibility, quality on all channels, and a velvety fat lead and crunch tone with note definition and dynamics.

the squish and forgiveness is very pleasant, but that can work against you if you desire that bold, glassy plexi thing you get from low preamp gain and cranked power tubes ala jtm 45. mojaves have that in spades but the tradeoff is they are very unforgiving and stiffer. germino, ceriatone, and komets are more forgiving and still have that glassy plexi twang
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Great tones. Is channel 1 totally clean or will it break up? It kinda reminds me of channel A of the T/D module.
 
richedie":19o9dyip said:
It does appear the XTC classic is warmer and sweeter.....but were some of the same tonal elements somehow incorporated into the regular XTC? On a side note, I am surprised to see Joe Bonamassa playing a Bogner XTC.

I never see the TOLs used and not sure they ever had a50 watt head. I think having a TOL would be redundant since I have the Mod 50.

How did you use the BB Preamp, just for additional gain or a mid boost? I never found it to work like a Tube Screamer as in a lead mid boost.
Click to expand...
Steve snider is selling his rocktron tos modded tol 100
tos stands for "tone of snider" btw!
He's a member here and can describe the mod in depth.

There was a tol 50 head sold by rocktron. Before that Bruce had a head he sold prerocktron called the dual tone or something like that which was more or less the precursor to the tol 50. 50/10/5 watt switch clean dirty channels with global boost.

The bb is a great match with the tol channel 3/4. The top end of the pedal is very complimentary with tol, and quietly adds more touch sensitivity. Also has an interesting effect on ch 1 but volume jumps more.
The compressor/tube screamer thing is great with ch1 and 2 and not so great on 3/4.
 
Wagster":2a54a1jo said:
Great tones. Is channel 1 totally clean or will it break up? It kinda reminds me of channel A of the T/D module.
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very clean/hard to break it up...very twin like.
 
mentoneman":2c73meft said:
you may have seen my tol 100 demo but in case you haven't:



pretty accurate to how i hear the tones i set on the amp and what i love about the amp---flexibility, quality on all channels, and a velvety fat lead and crunch tone with note definition and dynamics.

the squish and forgiveness is very pleasant, but that can work against you if you desire that bold, glassy plexi thing you get from low preamp gain and cranked power tubes ala jtm 45. mojaves have that in spades but the tradeoff is they are very unforgiving and stiffer. germino, ceriatone, and komets are more forgiving and still have that glassy plexi twang
Click to expand...

Really....germino, ceriatones have squish? LOUD as hell though I am sure....that is the problem with most older Marshall types. Not very practical. If they were I'd have a nice JCM 800 for gigs.....Oh well!

I think some of us hear something like the TOL or the Mod 50 and say...wow, squishy and forgiving...others might say, yuck, stuffy and congested. Depends on the person.
 
Hi all.....
Recently I had a chance to test a Bogner 101B side by side with my Rocktron TOL100.
The clean on the TOL is better and channel 3 and 4 are more open sounding.
I liked my TOL much more. Needless to say the very expensive Bogner went back to the store.
The TOL100 is the best amp I've ever had.

I've modded it a bit....Mecury Magnetics Iron is installed.
Two weeks ago I had a tech install the TOS-mod.
But I like the stock tonestack more.....maybe I'm just used to it and it works for me.

But I have to say......
I too have a lot of hum, especially on channels 3 and 4 (obviously)

Vinni
 
PSGuitar":2qw8vjbp said:
Really....germino, ceriatones have squish? LOUD as hell though I am sure....that is the problem with most older Marshall types. Not very practical. If they were I'd have a nice JCM 800 for gigs.....Oh well!

I think some of us hear something like the TOL or the Mod 50 and say...wow, squishy and forgiving...others might say, yuck, stuffy and congested. Depends on the person.
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yep those NMV marshall circuits have to be pretty darn loud to get the goods...

the tone i'm talking about can be heard in the cry of love/audly freed/highway jones clip someone posted on another thread here, as well as lance keltner demoing a metropolous head in his outdoor garage...glassy but so bouncy, but you really have to make the power tubes and speakers dance!
 
FWIW,

EG3/4 is, in reality, closer to an EG4/4, according to Hilly.
 
alls i knows is when mark cameron heard my tol 100 he knew he was in the presence of a great tone and that says a lot because i think mark has incredible ears for hard rock tone...the best i think in that category...

and when peter diezel heard my to 50 combo at tone merchants back in the day, he also concurred that bruce has "it".
i had the amp down low on the dirty channel and peter held a note that just sang forever. his comment...

"bastard."

in a loving way that is :D
 
Not trying to derail this thread but how does the Mod 50 compare to the TOL if it has the comparable modules and tubes?
 
richedie":1kjmu5bf said:
But it is Rocktron...
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both bruce and dave friedman, two guys involved with designing the amp says the mica and rockron versions are the same circuit

i think the mica heads maybe didn't have reverb and one extra 12ax7 though....?

my rocktron head has tone!
 
mentoneman":34iknlsq said:
richedie":34iknlsq said:
But it is Rocktron...
Click to expand...

both bruce and dave friedman, two guys involved with designing the amp says the mica and rockron versions are the same circuit

i think the mica heads maybe didn't have reverb and one extra 12ax7 though....?

my rocktron head has tone!
Click to expand...

Um-- Ya :rock:
 
mentoneman":2htgqw3m said:
richedie":2htgqw3m said:
But it is Rocktron...
Click to expand...

both bruce and dave friedman, two guys involved with designing the amp says the mica and rockron versions are the same circuit

i think the mica heads maybe didn't have reverb and one extra 12ax7 though....?

my rocktron head has tone!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think the earlier MICA heads didn't have reverb (mine does not) but I've seen at least one or two on eBay that have verb. Regardless, that TOL 100 is a great deal. I don't think there is really anything else out there today that sounds as good or has that much flexibility for under $1K.
 
Wagster":4almy8zn said:
Not trying to derail this thread but how does the Mod 50 compare to the TOL if it has the comparable modules and tubes?
Click to expand...

I can't comment specifically on the Mod 50, but I do own an M4+RT2/50 rig as well as an IE-4 and MICA TOL 100 head. I think the modular stuff is very cool, and when I bought the M4 I was anticipating selling off both my TOL pieces, figuring I wouldn't need them any more. However, it didn't work out that way...I think the TOL stuff is really unique.

The M4 setup is especially nice for recording. However, for live work I really prefer the TOL line. Comparing the IE-4 and M4 preamps, the IE-4 seems more punchy, amp-like, and has a better dynamic feel than the M4. I really prefer the IE-4's 2 clean channels to anything in the modular line. In addition, I like how the 4 channels are voiced on the IE-4...it is like stepping through 4 different gain stages of the same amp. When playing live, I don't really care so much whether it sounds exactly like a Vox, a Deluxe, or a Marshall and in fact switching between those modules on the M4 in the middle of a song can be a bit jarring. For me, the IE-4's channels are tweaked just right and can be used in pretty much any style of music from country to pop to jazz/fusion and classic rock. I think if someone is really into the modern rock/metal thing, then I'd look elsewhere (Armageddon probably), but for anything else, the TOL line works great.

The MICA is in a class of its own. It is one of the ballsiest amps I've ever played. Ch 3 is just awesome...that and a gain/boost pedal would be enough for most gigs. I would use the MICA for all my pop/rock live work but mine is a bit too temperamental (has cut out a couple times at gigs due to excessive heat, I think). I also wish the MICA had a half power switch on it as it's so loud I can usually never get the master past 11-o'clock on gigs or the soundman will kill me. Would love to see Bruce reissue the MICA in a limited run with a few modern tweaks. I know people have said the Tourmaster is based on the TOL design, but I've played the TM and while it sounds great, it doesn't sound or play like the MICA.
 
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