Bogner Fish Settings Question...

[Bleedback]

A friend is letting me borrow his Bogner Fish for a bit, but I've so far had less than stellar results with it (especially compared to my Mako Mak 4 preamp). Does anybody have any eq settings for the Fish they wouldn't mind sharing? Maybe some in the vein of Cantrell/AIC?

My efforts to coax a good tone out of it, specifically with the "Strato" and "Brown" channels, is always just really compressed, muddy, and blanketed no matter where I set the eq. I don't have a dedicated preamp to route it through right now, but I have put it through the poweramp of my VH4, JMP 2203, and the poweramp simulation of a two notes torpedo live with the exact same overly compressed, muddy, and blanketed tone out of each. I've even run it through tons of different power amp, cab ir's, and 3rd party cab ir variations via my Two Notes Torpedo Live with again the exact same lackluster tone results.

Do the eq controls on the fish interact in some special way? Just for the heck of it I even ran the Fish "Brown" channel preamp model in the Axe FX II straight into the power section of my VH4 and it sounded fantastic! It was tight, articulate, and massive sounding.

I'm just having a tough time accepting that the compressed, muddy, and blanketed tone I am hearing is what the Fish sounds like.

 

[Ventura]

Send it to me and I'll email you all the best settings

 

[steve_k]

One thing is to strike a balance with the master on the back and the channel masters. Trying to remember, but you need to run the master around 1:00 and use the channel masters accordingly. If your friend knows the tube line up, as him what that output tube is (the last preamp tube). If it has a 12AT7 in it, change this to a 12AX7. This will pull the blanket off. Another thing I remember is that the presence operated in reverse. Not sure if this was by design or the pot was wired backwards.

 

[EXPcustom]

Ok, I am just going to be straight up with you, unless you get the Shark channel with a Cantrell mod on it you are not going to get any AIC tones out of it. This is coming from someone who bought the reissue then later found a original one with the modded shark channel.

 

[se7en]

One thing is to strike a balance with the master on the back and the channel masters. Trying to remember, but you need to run the master around 1:00 and use the channel masters accordingly. If your friend knows the tube line up, as him what that output tube is (the last preamp tube). If it has a 12AT7 in it, change this to a 12AX7. This will pull the blanket off. Another thing I remember is that the presence operated in reverse. Not sure if this was by design or the pot was wired backwards.

The presence on my old one was wired backwards as well...It's been awhile, but I think Steve is right about where to set the master on the back to get a more open and bold sound. Well, definitely should help anyways.

 

[mixeduplydian]

One thing is to strike a balance with the master on the back and the channel masters. Trying to remember, but you need to run the master around 1:00 and use the channel masters accordingly. If your friend knows the tube line up, as him what that output tube is (the last preamp tube). If it has a 12AT7 in it, change this to a 12AX7. This will pull the blanket off. Another thing I remember is that the presence operated in reverse. Not sure if this was by design or the pot was wired backwards.

The presence on my old one was wired backwards as well...It's been awhile, but I think Steve is right about where to set the master on the back to get a more open and bold sound. Well, definitely should help anyways.

+1 When I still had my fish I used to run the master at 1:00 or even 2:00 and use the channel masters to set the volumes. Listen to Steve K. on that last tube too. Makes a HUGE difference changing it to a 12AX7. Almost like getting a new preamp.