Most disappointing amp

[braintheory]

OG…was excited to get one based on the description…never found anything I liked. Traded it for the XTC. It was better but always had that headcold sound and hated the feel. Finally got my Wizard, got rid of the XTC and never looked back.

Wizard's and Bogner's are in many ways polar opposites. The OG Uber when set up right is an incredible amp for brutal metal, but not so much outside more aggressive styles. Probably just not the right tool for what you play, but if you can't acknowledge (when dialed in right (crucial point)) the cartoonish brutality and power it has (while also maintaining so much musicality and chewy low mid richness) then I don't know what to say. Maybe the Snorkler could be more up your alley. Voicing wise it's my favorite Bogner hands down, but doesn't have the power or brutality of a Rev 1 Uber

 

[braintheory]

I am not a fan of any version of the uber i've played, but I haven't played an Uber Ultra yet.

Is it that different? The twin jet, etc, are all "fine" in that they don't sound like complete ass or anything but I've never been wowed by them at all. Weird EQ, hard to dial the tone to where it isn't blanketed by fizz, weirdly dark unless you use something hyper bright like an SH6 or an EMG81, I just wasn't super impressed with any of them - especially for the boutique price. I think the helios/eclipse is a way better sounding high gain amp, and from all the clips the snorkler sounds way better too.

It was very different for me. I haven't tried any other Bogner amp with an inherently filtered, cardboard-y sterile flavor like that. It was pretty off putting/unexpected for me, but I guess it otherwise was the Uber flavor like the c+ mode of a mark V or 7 is vs a real c+ LOL. Didn't have any of that signature Bogner chewiness or richness in the low mids either, but still had the overall Uber profile that is very low mid dominant. Also, while it technically could sound very tight, it somehow still didn't track nearly as well on very fast riffs as my Rev 1 Uber, despite the Rev 1 feeling a lot bouncier and not as tight. It was the same exact story when I AB'ed the Mark 7 C+ mode vs a real C+

The Twin jet I remember sounding very generic/bland in character, but it's been years now, but my least favorite Uber based on memory at least. The Uber Rev 1 is one of my all time favorite high gain amps, but imo not well suited for your style and needs very unconventional eq settings. The Rev 1's also varied under the hood (I heard he was experimenting more back then). I liked some a lot more than others, but still thought all the Rev 1's I played were top tier amps for what they do well. I thought I remember you liking the clips of my Rev 1 Uber pretty well, but it's been a while

The Helios is a great amp, one of the better Bogner's, but I didn't find it to have much overlap with the Uber's at all nor most other Bogner's (almost apples vs oranges to me). I thought mine was more of just a really good Marshall-y type amp, sorta like a good modded late '70's JMP2203. It actually when AB'ed for me was like a slightly better, brighter version of the Gower Rockmonster I had at the time. I love my Snorkler 50. Voicing and feel wise it I think is my favorite Bogner. It's a great amp they got right. Maybe they did that to make up for the UU LOL. But it doesn't do what the Rev 1 Uber does in cartoonish brutality and hugeness

 

[EyesOfTheSouth!]

Mesa Road King 2x12 combo…..weighed 3 tons and sounded like shit

Friedman Small Box…..a nice Marshall with its nuts cut off

Orange Rockerverb……mud city. But was a bad choice for my style. I understand the doom/stoner thing

EVH 50 6L6 and Stealth 50…..,too plastic/fake sounding.

Jet City 50h……worst of them all.

And lastly……..the high dollar Voodoo mod that ruined my old DSL 50. Total garbage mod that cut the tone and dynamics right out of the amp.

 

[Metalhex]

Hughes and Kettner grandneister 40
Hughes and Kettner Black Spirit 200

Both sounds the same. Grainy gain structure that is annoying and inherent.

Sounds decent in a recording I'm sure but not solo.

(My Black Spirit head is for sale if anyone is interested. Foot controller too. Name your price)

 

[stratjacket]

Awesome, 8 pages of people admitting they don’t know how to dial in an amp
Just joking everybody.

PS. If any of those Ultra Uber’s are still disappointing anyone, please ping me and hopefully I can take it off your hands.

The Windsor. I was at GC and it was so loud I just decided to buy it. Had it at home about an afternoon, packed it up and returned it.

Bogner Eclipse. At the time I think I was living near major power lines or had bad power or something. It had a bad whining sound I could never shake and never could dial in a great sound, always thin and trebly. Sent it to Bogner and they said it was fine. I think it was the hand wired and the place I lived screwing it up.

Soldano Decatone. It was good but I was just expecting better, heavier.

 

[Greazygeo]

Wizard's and Bogner's are in many ways polar opposites. The OG Uber when set up right is an incredible amp for brutal metal, but not so much outside more aggressive styles. Probably just not the right tool for what you play, but if you can't acknowledge (when dialed in right (crucial point)) the cartoonish brutality and power it has (while also maintaining so much musicality and chewy low mid richness) then I don't know what to say. Maybe the Snorkler could be more up your alley. Voicing wise it's my favorite Bogner hands down, but doesn't have the power or brutality of a Rev 1 Uber

Nah I hate the Bogner headcold, hair around the notes sound and their feel. Dialed in right for me is with the power switch set to off.

I thought the XTC would be the one, after a year and a half of trying, nope. It’s been 20 years now with my Wizard, perfect for me. Some guys like em, just not me.

 

[braintheory]

Nah I hate the Bogner headcold, hair around the notes sound and their feel. Dialed in right for me is with the power switch set to off.

I thought the XTC would be the one, after a year and a half of trying, nope. It’s been 20 years now with my Wizard, perfect for me. Some guys like em, just not me.

I can see the head cold thing with the XTC's, but if you had that with a Rev 1 Uber that just sounds like dialing it in very poorly. It is though ultimately a brutal metal amp and so maybe if you tried to make it work for your style it could get that head cold sound, but at the point that's sort of like trying to use a spoon as a knife or vice versa. Probably just not the right tool for the job you wanted. I can see the hair around the notes part. I think though if any Bogner is the one for their signature chewy sound they excel at most it's definitely the Snorkler to me. The Uber Rev 1 is more like their brutal metal behemoth and not as versatile elsewhere

 

[DanTravis62]

Awesome, 8 pages of people admitting they don’t know how to dial in an amp
Just joking everybody.

PS. If any of those Ultra Uber’s are still disappointing anyone, please ping me and hopefully I can take it off your hands.

The Windsor. I was at GC and it was so loud I just decided to buy it. Had it at home about an afternoon, packed it up and returned it.

Bogner Eclipse. At the time I think I was living near major power lines or had bad power or something. It had a bad whining sound I could never shake and never could dial in a great sound, always thin and trebly. Sent it to Bogner and they said it was fine. I think it was the hand wired and the place I lived screwing it up.

If that Eclipse is still disappointing you, please ping me and hopefully I can take it off your hands

 

[stratjacket]

If that Eclipse is still disappointing you, please ping me and hopefully I can take it off your hands

I traded it away a couple years ago. The receiver said it worked great, no hum or thin sounds. So I chalk that up to probably my setup and surroundings, but still disappointing.

 

[dead-pan]

Man. I damn near bought the sabot. I am so glad i didnt after all the reviews i hear here..

The v3 with extra gain stage is amazing. With the extra tube off i don't like it. The input impedance changes from 500k off to 1meg on.

 

[alund]

2.) Hughes and kettner Grandmeister deluxe 40. What an absolute turd of an amp. Smallest sounding 40 watt head ever, especially for tube. You spend hours trying to configure tons of patches for none of them to level out with one another, etc, etc.

This. I didn’t play it for years and I don’t typically sell so the amp head and cabinet sat there until recently when I used a 1x12 Marshall cabinet. And then line out of the GM40 to the PS2 with a second speaker G-k Theile cabinet. It’s a totally different tone which works really well for small stuff.
The fizzy buzz is covered? Or dissipated by the speaker type or the reamp… idk. It just works and allows me to feel better about a shitty purchase.

 

[Music&Chaos]

This. I didn’t play it for years and I don’t typically sell so the amp head and cabinet sat there until recently when I used a 1x12 Marshall cabinet. And then line out of the GM40 to the PS2 with a second speaker G-k Theile cabinet. It’s a totally different tone which works really well for small stuff.
The fizzy buzz is covered? Or dissipated by the speaker type or the reamp… idk. It just works and allows me to feel better about a shitty purchase.

Tube swaps can help. Also, turning treble all the way down to 0 and using presence to dial it in instead. It just never had that tight, in your face sound I was trying to get out of it. It is alright, especially if it is not your only amp, but for someone who spent every penny they saved up for years and it was the most I had ever dropped on a piece of gear - disappointed. Was trying to struggle through until the whole - we stole the autographed part of of your amp and sent it back without doing any repairs.

Absolutely horrible experience with that company.

Never again.

 

[skoora]

Mesa Road King 2x12 combo…..weighed 3 tons and sounded like shit

Friedman Small Box…..a nice Marshall with its nuts cut off

Orange Rockerverb……mud city. But was a bad choice for my style. I understand the doom/stoner thing

EVH 50 6L6 and Stealth 50…..,too plastic/fake sounding.

Jet City 50h……worst of them all.

And lastly……..the high dollar Voodoo mod that ruined my old DSL 50. Total garbage mod that cut the tone and dynamics right out of the amp.

Feel that way about the Smallbox too. Like, where’s the grunt, the push?

 

[ZEEGLER]

When I hear someone say that the Uberschall is too fizzy, I am initially mystified. Fizzy is the exact opposite of how I would describe my rev blue. It makes me wonder just how different two examples of the same amp really be. Different pickups, different tubes, played through different speakers are for sure going to sound different, but are they going to change the fundamental characteristics of an amp?

I really like what I'm getting from my Uber, and I would describe it as dark, heavy in the low mids, Grindy like an 800, but not fizzy like a 5150. The lack of a proper presence control actual prevents the fizziness IMO, and is actually a bit annoying as I might sometimes want to introduce some of that top end sizzle.

Anyway, I thought of another amp that I didn't get along with, but would like to give another try. The Carvin Legacy. I traded a Laney AOR for the Legacy, and at the time I was adamant on going straight in to the amp. I had so far never found a use for boosting an amp. The Legacy is so dark, loose, and smooth that it's just not going to work for getting a tight chunky rhythm sound without a boost. Even then, I'm not sure how well it would do. If I can find one cheap enough I might give it a try.

 

[Greazygeo]

I can see the head cold thing with the XTC's, but if you had that with a Rev 1 Uber that just sounds like dialing it in very poorly. It is though ultimately a brutal metal amp and so maybe if you tried to make it work for your style it could get that head cold sound, but at the point that's sort of like trying to use a spoon as a knife or vice versa. Probably just not the right tool for the job you wanted. I can see the hair around the notes part. I think though if any Bogner is the one for their signature chewy sound they excel at most it's definitely the Snorkler to me. The Uber Rev 1 is more like their brutal metal behemoth and not as versatile elsewhere

When the uber was first released, reading the description at the time was all there was to go on. Sounded like what I wanted, the XTC had been out awhile with the mythical greatness, none around but west coast and mags. I probably got the first Uber in Ohio. Wizard was not in production, so the Uber was a roll of the dice. No amount of time wasting dialing it in, different speakers etc was going to make it sound good. No headcold sound in that one, just bad sound for me. XTC was a much better amp, but still not great.
Finally was able to get in touch with Rick in between tours and got him to build an amp for me (he wasn’t making amps at the time). Away went the XTC…will never have another Bogner. Not my thing at all.

 

[chris lykins]

Im going to be a contrarian and say I dig my SLO, Wizard mc2, and Bogner 101. Also dig my Diezel but it's a Hagen and I haven't seen anyone bash it yet. I'm sure its coming.

 

[Al Chapo]

Vht pitbull - I looked long and hard to get my hands on one. It was still a decent amp, but the legends had me looking for much more.

Soldano slo - Again, decent amp. Didn't do anything I couldn't make a 5150 do well enough though.

I don't know the science behind it, but, I hate metal amps you "have to boost". I'm not into buying stuff I need accessories for to make work "properly". Yet I love slapping clean amps with a sparkle drive

Anything made by Hughes and Kettner.

Purely going by the support/maintenance experience. Say 30 years ago I bought an H&K amp, had it for a few years time came to service. Guess what, no documentation available, and a call to H&K yielded no results. The excuse was the components were not sold anymore, so there was no point giving me the service manual. OK, than you. Got rid of the amp.
A few years ago I got the Triamp MkIII. I like the amp a lot. It did develop an annoying buzz in certain modes, so I approached the H&K for a service manual. Nope, you can’t have it as the end user.

So it is an arrogant, unhelpful company I’d never buy a product from again. And I’ll be the first to say that the products are not bad, the support/company policies is. Time and money better spent elsewhere, getting both great product and enjoyable interaction with the company.

I used an Attax rack pre in studio and ran a triamp mkii for years. Until I had a problem that required some help from H&K themselves. After the response I got, they can kindly fuck their collective hats.

 

[CrystalSky]

Out of 70 amps, I've only hated a handful. The rest of my journey has luckily been positive, and I've honestly liked to loved every other amp to pass through here. Of course voicing, gain structure, tone, how an amp feels under the fingers...these are all subjective things, but for my taste, these amps didn't last more than a week, and I can say that I actually hated these four:

Armored Amps Sabot-(Worst amp I ever owned). The overall tone, voicing, and gain structure was horrible and the loop was extremely noisy.

Diezel Dmoll--(2nd worst amp I've owned) Flubby, bloated, overly low mid dominant mess with no attack and grind.

Peavey Invective (3rd worst amp)-Lifeless and sterile as could be. Horrible tone, voicing, and gain structure. Just sounded awful.

Friedman BE Deluxe 100w (4th worst amp)-Gutless, no punch/balls, voicing and tone just did not sound right at all. Just sounded off.

Invective is expected. I see Misha Mansoor, I blacklist the product

 

[GOHOINC]

Had a diezel vh4s. I got rid of it cus I just couldn't get it where I wanted. I've come to realize my mistake in letting it go, I don't think it was the amp at all that I didn't like. It was the cab, a front loaded diezel cab with evm12ls. It was so bright and harsh sounding I couldnt jive and moved it on. Wish I had put it on a rear loaded cab with some celestions.

 

[Soundstorm]

Worst and most disappointing amp I've ever owned was a Hovercraft Falcon 50. What a piece of shit. The guy marketed it as a small Matamp clone. He'd even post these clips (post EQ'd i'm sure of it now) that would showcase him getting a decent Dopesmoker tone with it. When the amp came in I realized what it was, a modded Jet City amp. He literally glued his own Hovercraft logo over the Jet City one, then used a *sharpie* to black out other things on the faceplate. It sounded like pure static. I had my amp tech friend look inside and he said it was the worst thing he'd ever seen. Like someone had a seizure while holding a hot glue gun.