Bogner Snorkler Deluxe

[hellzington]

It's finally here! I don't know if people other than me were waiting on this release but the Bogner Snorkler Deluxe is officially for sale: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...49ed53f4226b60ada0&_index=production_products

Mine is coming tomorrow, so I'm going to do a little informal video of first impressions. Then I'll follow up with a deeper dive as I get to learn the amp a little more.

Quick synopsis: New mode "purple," Density control from the Uber Ultra, Tight Mod, Ecstasy presence switch, Bite switch, EQ shift, Deep and Bright switches

BUT - I'm MOST intrigued by this claim: "You also get a retooled EL34-fueled power amp, tweaked to appeal to 100-watt aficionados."

 

[LP Freak]

Looks cool. Really wish this was just the red channel with a footswitchable boost.

 

[technomancer]

Cool to see this is out (or at least real specs are up). I'm curious if it's quieter.

 

[LP Freak]

Cool to see this is out (or at least real specs are up). I'm curious if it's quieter.

Mine’s actually very quiet and I have the gate off

 

[technomancer]

Mine’s actually very quiet and I have the gate off

Mine was not. I am guessing you don't have much RF interference where you are. It's one of the downsides of the two gain stages that have no grid stoppers early in the circuit.

 

[Sixstringflannel]

Can’t wait for the review on this one man. That 100w bit is interesting.

 

[Eazy-ESP]

How do people even know about things like this in advance?

 

[hellzington]

How do people even know about things like this in advance?

Great question. The answer is twofold.

First, you need to have a sales rep that knows you, knows you spend a lot of money on gear, and knows what you're into. In other words, a rep that will make you a priority.

Second, that you need to contact that sales rep literally the second you hear even the slightest whisper of a new product that you want. Your rep will probably tell you that they know nothing, but this is either a lie (because they're under NDA) or they haven't spoken to the gear company's rep recently. Usually my rep will say something like, "You know more than me right now but I'll look into it." Then he'll come back a week or so later with a small amount of info, and typically take a preorder.

One trick for you: ask them if they have a SKU. Even if they're under NDA, if they have a SKU, they'll usually take the preorder because you ordered without him breaking the NDA -- you brought up the item and the SKU, not him.

So for this Bogner Snorkler Deluxe here's what I did. There was talk on some FB groups and some gear text threads I'm on where people were saying a 100w Snorkler was coming. Obviously I was intrigued but it wasn't enough for me to do anything at that point. Several months later, a video leaked on Instagram from a Japanese guitar shop showing a Snorkler Deluxe. It was hard to make out the exact features but you could tell it was a bit different looking from the stock Snorkler 50 and clearly some kind of new take on it. BINGO! Called my rep immediately, told him about what I had seen, he said he knew nothing but would look into it. Three or four days later he calls me back, says he talked to Bogner, and it's confirmed; but, they didn't have a SKU yet so he made one, right there on the spot, and took my preorder. He told me I was the very first person in the queue.

That's how you get things like this in advance. I made a video where I talk about about this in the first section @ 0:25 - 6:55:

 

[Eazy-ESP]

Great question. The answer is twofold.

First, you need to have a sales rep that knows you, knows you spend a lot of money on gear, and knows what you're into. In other words, a rep that will make you a priority.

Second, that you need to contact that sales rep literally the second you hear even the slightest whisper of a new product that you want. Your rep will probably tell you that they know nothing, but this is either a lie (because they're under NDA) or they haven't spoken to the gear company's rep recently. Usually my rep will say something like, "You know more than me right now but I'll look into it." Then he'll come back a week or so later with a small amount of info, and typically take a preorder.

One trick for you: ask them if they have a SKU. Even if they're under NDA, if they have a SKU, they'll usually take the preorder because you ordered without him breaking the NDA -- you brought up the item and the SKU, not him.

So for this Bogner Snorkler Deluxe here's what I did. There was talk on some FB groups and some gear text threads I'm on where people were saying a 100w Snorkler was coming. Obviously I was intrigued but it wasn't enough for me to do anything at that point. Several months later, a video leaked on Instagram from a Japanese guitar shop showing a Snorkler Deluxe. It was hard to make out the exact features but you could tell it was a bit different looking from the stock Snorkler 50 and clearly some kind of new take on it. BINGO! Called my rep immediately, told him about what I had seen, he said he knew nothing but would look into it. Three or four days later he calls me back, says he talked to Bogner, and it's confirmed; but, they didn't have a SKU yet so he made one, right there on the spot, and took my preorder. He told me I was the very first person in the queue.

That's how you get things like this in advance. I made a video where I talk about about this in the first section @ 0:25 - 6:55:

Well, I fail step 1 lol. They certainly love special edition Bogner stuff in Japan don’t they.

 

[reignman454]

Great question. The answer is twofold.

First, you need to have a sales rep that knows you, knows you spend a lot of money on gear, and knows what you're into. In other words, a rep that will make you a priority.

Second, that you need to contact that sales rep literally the second you hear even the slightest whisper of a new product that you want. Your rep will probably tell you that they know nothing, but this is either a lie (because they're under NDA) or they haven't spoken to the gear company's rep recently. Usually my rep will say something like, "You know more than me right now but I'll look into it." Then he'll come back a week or so later with a small amount of info, and typically take a preorder.

One trick for you: ask them if they have a SKU. Even if they're under NDA, if they have a SKU, they'll usually take the preorder because you ordered without him breaking the NDA -- you brought up the item and the SKU, not him.

So for this Bogner Snorkler Deluxe here's what I did. There was talk on some FB groups and some gear text threads I'm on where people were saying a 100w Snorkler was coming. Obviously I was intrigued but it wasn't enough for me to do anything at that point. Several months later, a video leaked on Instagram from a Japanese guitar shop showing a Snorkler Deluxe. It was hard to make out the exact features but you could tell it was a bit different looking from the stock Snorkler 50 and clearly some kind of new take on it. BINGO! Called my rep immediately, told him about what I had seen, he said he knew nothing but would look into it. Three or four days later he calls me back, says he talked to Bogner, and it's confirmed; but, they didn't have a SKU yet so he made one, right there on the spot, and took my preorder. He told me I was the very first person in the queue.

That's how you get things like this in advance. I made a video where I talk about about this in the first section @ 0:25 - 6:55:

Kool to see you on here dude... Your videos are actually pretty awesome man... Especially the JJ comparison one to the bogner.


That said, has anyone been blown away by the original Snorkler 50 reissue? I haven't seen many sing its praises.

 

[tjnx]

You had a snorkler right? Do you think it could use the mods? I've been debating it but the only hang up is that I'd prefer 100w

 

[darkscarf]

Hey Mike, congrats on the DLX! When you have a chance to play yours, would be great to hear how Density and Depth (being both NFB controls targeted for low end) interact. Also Reinhold has been using the "purple" for generally mid gain modes (Helios JB45, 104 etc) so will be interesting to see where it sits on this one. SW description says it's "heavy" but not sure if it means more gain than red tbh. It being a separate switch also is interesting as that mode switch still looks like the same two-way on the normal version. "PUPRP.B." is a typo maybe?

"S.B" is also a weird name for a presence freq shift switch. Wondering what that stands for, hope he detailed more in the manual. Also I don't recall a presence freq switch on 101B, my '09 wheat grill doesn't have it. It has a presence assignment switch. Maybe they are referring to excursion which would be more "depth"? No idea.

I have the standard Snorkler 50, which is hard to make it sound bad tbh. Have a feeling this is giving users more control but it'll be possible to move it out of the sweet range. Like it feels Snorkler DLX is a BE100 Deluxe, while the normal Snorkler is like "Dave's Choice" (whenever that amp comes out lol)

 

[baron55]

Hey Mike, congrats on the DLX! When you have a chance to play yours, would be great to hear how Density and Depth (being both NFB controls targeted for low end) interact. Also Reinhold has been using the "purple" for generally mid gain modes (Helios JB45, 104 etc) so will be interesting to see where it sits on this one. SW description says it's "heavy" but not sure if it means more gain than red tbh. It being a separate switch also is interesting as that mode switch still looks like the same two-way on the normal version. "PUPRP.B." is a typo maybe?

View attachment 459945
"S.B" is also a weird name for a presence freq shift switch. Wondering what that stands for, hope he detailed more in the manual. Also I don't recall a presence freq switch on 101B, my '09 wheat grill doesn't have it. It has a presence assignment switch. Maybe they are referring to excursion which would be more "depth"? No idea.

I have the standard Snorkler 50, which is hard to make it sound bad tbh. Have a feeling this is giving users more control but it'll be possible to move it out of the sweet range. Like it feels Snorkler DLX is a BE100 Deluxe, while the normal Snorkler is like "Dave's Choice" (whenever that amp comes out lol)

The presence shift is similar to what is on the Uber Ultra. It shifts the frequency range the presence knob controls. New to Bogner amps.

 

[peterc52]

Really don’t get why he didn’t make it a 100 watt. I sold mine. Prob wouldn’t have if it was 100 w

 

[darkscarf]

The presence shift is similar to what is on the Uber Ultra. It shifts the frequency range the presence knob controls. New to Bogner amps.

Cheers, that makes more sense. Wasn't familiar with the ÜU, just had a look. Sweetwater description threw me off.

 

[mr70ss]

can't wait to see your video on it, thanks for the heads up.

 

[hellzington]

Kool to see you on here dude... Your videos are actually pretty awesome man... Especially the JJ comparison one to the bogner.


That said, has anyone been blown away by the original Snorkler 50 reissue? I haven't seen many sing its praises.

Thanks for watching. I really appreciate it. I just do this for fun (i.e., no monetization) so it's really nice when people get value out of the videos.

I loved the OG Snorkler 50. The video I did on it is also one of my favorites. (My only regret is that I had not learned how to do proper mastering at that time.) I only sold mine when I saw the new one was coming, but it was absolutely killer across a wide variety of rock sub-genres.

I'm also somewhat surprised it hasn't made a bigger splash on the internet but it is a little bit of a niche product from an already boutique manufacturer. Also, Bogner does not seem to do much, if any, marketing these days. They don't even have a website, lol. So that factors into it too.

 

[Sixstringflannel]

Loved the non-public Snorkler vid you did that you posted on RT.- it was cool to see you shoot the shit and go through the amp conversationally. I think that was a one off vid for someone. Loved the posted video too man. Clearly we’re all waiting with bated breath to see what you think of this new one lol!

 

[hellzington]

Really don’t get why he didn’t make it a 100 watt. I sold mine. Prob wouldn’t have if it was 100 w

My guess is a couple of reasons:

1. The OG Marshall that had the OG Snorkler mod was a 50w 2204, so that's kind of "the sound"

2. The Snorkler is plate-driven so there is no phase inverter cathode follower and that might have an effect where 50w sounds "right"

3. More practically, I suspect Reinhold kept getting requests for 100w and probably didn't want to redo the power section of the amp since the PCBs for the Snorkler 50 were already done and dialed in. The whole "built for 100w aficionados" thing is probably Reinhold doing his best to tweak what he had to feel and respond more like 100w.

4. Generally speaking, the market is asking for lower wattage amps with a smaller form factor. This forum is a market exception where people want big, 100w amps.

Also, with a 50w amp, you can always use something like a Fryette PS-100 to effectively turn it into a 100w amp. Wattage is just headroom for the most part, so just keep the Master low on the amp and then use the "muscle" of the PS-100's power section and you'll get there.

 

[jasonP]

My guess is a couple of reasons:

1. The OG Marshall that had the OG Snorkler mod was a 50w 2204, so that's kind of "the sound"

2. The Snorkler is plate-driven so there is no phase inverter and that might have an effect where 50w sounds "right"

3. More practically, I suspect Reinhold kept getting requests for 100w and probably didn't want to redo the power section of the amp since the PCBs for the Snorkler 50 were already done and dialed in. The whole "built for 100w aficionados" thing is probably Reinhold doing his best to tweak what he had to feel and respond more like 100w.

4. Generally speaking, the market is asking for lower wattage amps with a smaller form factor. This forum is a market exception where people want big, 100w amps.

Also, with a 50w amp, you can always use something like a Fryette PS-100 to effectively turn it into a 100w amp. Wattage is just headroom for the most part, so just keep the Master low on the amp and then use the "muscle" of the PS-100's power section and you'll get there.

I think what you meant to say, respectfully is the amp has no cathode follower if it has a plate driven tone stack.