Bogner Helios, Helios Eclipse or Ecstasy 101b

[misterspockyall]

Can't comment on the Eclipse or the 101B, but I'm a pretty happy 100w Helios owner. When I hunted for a modded marshall type, it came down to one thing: Master volume. I wanna play quiet a fair amount and still sound like jesus. I couldn't get that with a Marshall, so I went Helios.

The functionality can be a limitation, but I pretty much live in Hot 80s, and I roll back the volume for clean. There are sooooooo many great sounds in this amp, and playing with it can be a blast. But its the first amp I've played where I prefer the on board boost (80s mode) to any pedal I've thrown in front of it. Good luck with the hunt, buy them both! lol

 

[peckhart]

I have owned 2 Splawn Quick Rods, the EL34 XTC 20th, a 101b, 20th Shiva and now have a Helios 100 and Splawn Super Comp Mini.
To your original question on the Helios, 101b and Eclipse...the Helios is what has stayed for me and I am strongly considering an Eclipse now myself. The XTC amps are really great, but in the end they lacked the aggressive bite I want. Just could never get the XTC amps to sound as mean as I wanted. I have been ok with the versatility trade off as I never play the clean parts in the few spots we have some in our set list so I ride one channel and use the volume to get lower gain where needed. That said I found myself drawn to the idea of the same great tones with a dedicated clean and 2 gain channels I can dial in how I want.
I moved away from Splawn QRs after a while because they just kind of started to irritate me. Hard to explain. Sometimes sounded great, but dialing the high end is a pain and the rear with that Treble blend pot. I ran Treble on 0 to keep the mid bite and thickness of the amp in tact and tried to use the Presence to balance out the high end, but it didn't always work great. Harder to get fat sounding single notes above the 12th fret. They are pretty mean and aggressive, which is a lot of fun. When I could get that amp cooking at some volume it was awesome. Definitely more of a dry JCM800 kind of gain going on.
The Helios on the other hand is much easier to EQ, is super pissed and raw, thick as hell and stays nice and fat on single notes. It is just a bit more alive and complex at all volume levels where the Splawn wants to rip heads off to sound right. More juicy Hot rodded Plexi, which I have found I prefer to the Hot rodded JCM800 tones.
I recently got the Super Comp Mini as a small head to carry in and out to practice and as a backup head when I gig. It sounds pretty cool, but I really haven't put it through its paces yet to totally comment on the tone and really dialing it in.
You can't go wrong with any of the amps mentioned in this thread and you are right....that QR at that price is hard to pass up and you are getting a killer high gain amp!

 

[memberzonly]

3 VERY different amps.

The 101b won't do Helios. It'll ape the higher gain modes of the Eclipse to a small degree.

The Helios & Eclipse are also quite different even in the 70's mode. You can get them to be close but the original Helios is more raw/untamed.

 

[stratjacket]

Can't comment on the Eclipse or the 101B, but I'm a pretty happy 100w Helios owner. When I hunted for a modded marshall type, it came down to one thing: Master volume. I wanna play quiet a fair amount and still sound like jesus. I couldn't get that with a Marshall, so I went Helios.

The functionality can be a limitation, but I pretty much live in Hot 80s, and I roll back the volume for clean. There are sooooooo many great sounds in this amp, and playing with it can be a blast. But its the first amp I've played where I prefer the on board boost (80s mode) to any pedal I've thrown in front of it. Good luck with the hunt, buy them both! lol

I have owned 2 Splawn Quick Rods, the EL34 XTC 20th, a 101b, 20th Shiva and now have a Helios 100 and Splawn Super Comp Mini.
To your original question on the Helios, 101b and Eclipse...the Helios is what has stayed for me and I am strongly considering an Eclipse now myself. The XTC amps are really great, but in the end they lacked the aggressive bite I want. Just could never get the XTC amps to sound as mean as I wanted. I have been ok with the versatility trade off as I never play the clean parts in the few spots we have some in our set list so I ride one channel and use the volume to get lower gain where needed. That said I found myself drawn to the idea of the same great tones with a dedicated clean and 2 gain channels I can dial in how I want.
I moved away from Splawn QRs after a while because they just kind of started to irritate me. Hard to explain. Sometimes sounded great, but dialing the high end is a pain and the rear with that Treble blend pot. I ran Treble on 0 to keep the mid bite and thickness of the amp in tact and tried to use the Presence to balance out the high end, but it didn't always work great. Harder to get fat sounding single notes above the 12th fret. They are pretty mean and aggressive, which is a lot of fun. When I could get that amp cooking at some volume it was awesome. Definitely more of a dry JCM800 kind of gain going on.
The Helios on the other hand is much easier to EQ, is super pissed and raw, thick as hell and stays nice and fat on single notes. It is just a bit more alive and complex at all volume levels where the Splawn wants to rip heads off to sound right. More juicy Hot rodded Plexi, which I have found I prefer to the Hot rodded JCM800 tones.
I recently got the Super Comp Mini as a small head to carry in and out to practice and as a backup head when I gig. It sounds pretty cool, but I really haven't put it through its paces yet to totally comment on the tone and really dialing it in.
You can't go wrong with any of the amps mentioned in this thread and you are right....that QR at that price is hard to pass up and you are getting a killer high gain amp!

Thanks guys, that's 2 great write-ups and definitely the feedback I was looking for. I probably should have waited a little bit longer before buying the QuickRod and there's probably a lesson in there somewhere about buying online after midnight while drunk. But anyway, I think I'll be happy with the Quickrod, it's one of those amps I have wanted to try for a long time but never pulled the trigger on as well.

Sounds like there will be a Helios or Eclipse in my future though.

 

[abbath78]

I have a Eclipse enroute to me right now! I'll put in my 2 cents when it arrives

 

[peckhart]

I have a Eclipse enroute to me right now! I'll put in my 2 cents when it arrives

Where did you get it? Have you played the original?

 

[misterspockyall]

Thanks guys, that's 2 great write-ups and definitely the feedback I was looking for. I probably should have waited a little bit longer before buying the QuickRod and there's probably a lesson in there somewhere about buying online after midnight while drunk. But anyway, I think I'll be happy with the Quickrod, it's one of those amps I have wanted to try for a long time but never pulled the trigger on as well.

Sounds like there will be a Helios or Eclipse in my future though.

Fuck I should read before I post, didn't see you bought the Splawn lol. Those are some buzzsaw tight amps from what I've heard. Enjoy!

 

[abbath78]

I have a Eclipse enroute to me right now! I'll put in my 2 cents when it arrives

Where did you get it? Have you played the original?

I bought a used one off of Reverb. I haven't played the original so kind of just going off of descriptions and taking a chance. Looks like everything I want in a amp so hoping that I'll dig it

 

[Zado]

I have owned 2 Splawn Quick Rods, the EL34 XTC 20th, a 101b, 20th Shiva and now have a Helios 100 and Splawn Super Comp Mini.
To your original question on the Helios, 101b and Eclipse...the Helios is what has stayed for me and I am strongly considering an Eclipse now myself. The XTC amps are really great, but in the end they lacked the aggressive bite I want. Just could never get the XTC amps to sound as mean as I wanted. I have been ok with the versatility trade off as I never play the clean parts in the few spots we have some in our set list so I ride one channel and use the volume to get lower gain where needed. That said I found myself drawn to the idea of the same great tones with a dedicated clean and 2 gain channels I can dial in how I want.
I moved away from Splawn QRs after a while because they just kind of started to irritate me. Hard to explain. Sometimes sounded great, but dialing the high end is a pain and the rear with that Treble blend pot. I ran Treble on 0 to keep the mid bite and thickness of the amp in tact and tried to use the Presence to balance out the high end, but it didn't always work great. Harder to get fat sounding single notes above the 12th fret. They are pretty mean and aggressive, which is a lot of fun. When I could get that amp cooking at some volume it was awesome. Definitely more of a dry JCM800 kind of gain going on.
The Helios on the other hand is much easier to EQ, is super pissed and raw, thick as hell and stays nice and fat on single notes. It is just a bit more alive and complex at all volume levels where the Splawn wants to rip heads off to sound right. More juicy Hot rodded Plexi, which I have found I prefer to the Hot rodded JCM800 tones.
I recently got the Super Comp Mini as a small head to carry in and out to practice and as a backup head when I gig. It sounds pretty cool, but I really haven't put it through its paces yet to totally comment on the tone and really dialing it in.
You can't go wrong with any of the amps mentioned in this thread and you are right....that QR at that price is hard to pass up and you are getting a killer high gain amp!

Good, now I really want a Helios. Thank you

 

[flimz]

I had a Splawn Quickrod too. Fantastic amp. The mids are a bit different than a Bogner. So, its just a matter of personal preference.

Helios, XTC, Quickrod, Eclipse...all amazing variations on the modded marshall theme.

 

[Rdodson]

20th Anniversary 6L6 is the greatest all-rounded I've ever played, with a clean channel that could hang with any Milkman/Fender/ToneKing. I've had 2 101b amps - they were great, too. The only reason I don't still have the 20th is that I sold it in preparation for buying the original Helios (I had #40 or so). HUGE mistake.

If Bogner would make a 30th XTC with a zero-loss loop (a la Metro/Friedman) with a 6L6 power section I'd be all over it.