Bogner 101B vs Bogner red and blue pedal?

H

hopkinWFG

Well-known member
Hi all !! Been have new excitement here as i just pulled a trigger on a Bogner Ecstacy 101B its an earlier pre 2004 model i guess its one of the "better" sounding XTC in respects to what ya looking for..

Just wanna find out what will the difference be comparing this Bogner XTC 101B both blue and its red channel to the Bogner blue and red pedal?

Does the blue/red channel more on the 101B speak same as the blue/red pedal? Or its more modern tighter and gainier on the pedal ?

I play predominately metal old school trash for most of the time.. just wondering if this amp be a golden purchase for me?

Will any metal players show me his/her settings without pedal boost..
 
I just gotten the XTC... it can sound pretty tight but i felt it retain as an early metal amp more of a players amp that it friendier...nice tones anyway !! But i which this amp could have more lowend !!
 
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glpg80 said:
I find my 74 Marshall tighter than the Bogner. The 101B is more of a soloist type of amplifier, very chewy and easy to play. It doesn’t hold together well with low end notes and breaks apart like shale rock so to speak. It has its place in my stable but if I wanted tight and aggressive, I’d be looking at Mesa Mark series IMO.
Click to expand...

Have tried the MV at the back panel using a jumper loop to crank up the power section... am getting a tighter response and more rich sound !!! Thanks to Bogner genius design and it gives alittle more flexibility to the amp !!
 
I have an Ecstasy Classic as well as the Red pedal. The Classic isn't quite as tight or snarly as the 101B but is a bit more raw and open in the voicing and the bass is a bit boomier. I didn't realize this until I spent a lot of time with each. The 101b is definitely the tighter amp while the Classic sort of roars but has less bite.

The Red pedal does a great job emulating the real amp, especially when I play it through the Ecstasy's clean channel. I can't do an exact comparison since there is no classic mode on the pedal, but it really does get super close to the feel and tone of the amp's Red channel. I would say the pedal is definitely tighter but when you really crank the volume, the amp's blue and red channels have a bit more soul and life. Like any amp vs a pedal, the amp is going to bloom and "breathe" a bit more and just have that certain thing that you love but can't put your finger on.

Still, the Red pedal has been my favorite 'amp-in-a-box' type pedal since I bought it when they first came out around 2013. I recently got the Friedman Smallbox pedal which is also really cool but a bit more finicky to dial in since the controls are very sensitive and it has controls for midrange, treble and presence. Getting the high end dialed in on all of these AIAB pedals where it cuts but doesn't sound grating and harsh is tricky but they do a great job overall.
 
I use the Blue pedal, and have used it to boost a Bassman. I don't play metal, but I would say it is NOT a metal pedal..I have used it with a few higher gain amps to boost it and I can think of other pedals I would use for the application. As an OD pedal and light boost, I absolutely love it though.
 
I've seen the blue pedal on a lot of country rock boards. I bought all 3 at same time..red and blue my favs over the uber pedal.
 
I owned a fairly early 101b (I believe first 100 serials). I have tried the pedals. The 101b is very chewy and saggy. I agree with glpg80 I would not call it a tight amp and I feel the voicing is darker and more compressed than others. The reason I say this is because the pedal will react really differently depending on how it is fed into an amp or a power section. I personally feel the pedals do not sound like the respective channels on the amp (or at least exactly like them). I think the red channel on the 101b is hard to be usable for me, the blue sounded great. The pedals sounded a little bit more mid-forward (which I think makes it seem tighter) and less compressed.

Personally, I play a lot of old thrash and did not bond with the 101b. Some people dig it, I got it mostly because I wanted to try it. I had it at the same time as a Shiva and an Uber. Ultimately, I sold all of them. I kept my modded Marshall flavors from various manufacturers (which is the tone on so many iconic thrash albums) and a Mesa MK IIC++ and a Mk IV along with some others. Some people may disagree with me, but I think the 101b is too saggy and chewey to be used for thrash unless you throw a lot of stuff in front of it. At least for how I want the amp to respond and sound. Even then, at that price, I think there are other things I would greatly prefer over it for that. As always, take it with a grain of salt.
 
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