GOHOINC
Well-known member
20th Shiva and matching cab went very quickly. Cab went locally and the Head went from Cincinnati to San Jose in just a few days. In return I received an Atma and some cash. I must say that so far I am very pleased. I liked the 20th Shiva but still never quite bonded with it they way I had my XTC classic. The Atma on the other hand is great, although it does have some things that could be better.
impressions running through a front loaded diezel 4x12 with V30s and G12t-75s in an x pattern @ 4 ohms:
Vintage/Modern: I've been running vintage mode nearly 100% of the time. Vintage mode uses a tube rectifier and modern uses solid state. The manual recommends starting the amp up in vintage mode all the time and then switching to modern mode after 20 or so seconds or some such nonsense. I find this approach slightly annoying to bother with so I leave it in vintage mode but I honestly think it sounds better in vintage mode. Little less compression and more volume in vintage mode, makes it sound like a bigger amp vs. the modern mode I think.
Clean: What great channel. After having an Uber blue, XTC Classic, Shiva 6l6 and 20th Kt88 I'd say this is the best Bogner clean channel I have experienced. The simplicity of having one tone knob which turned one way delivers blackface tones and turned the other way delivers tweed tones is great. Super easy to dial in anything in the spectrum of Fendery cleans. I have been running mine at around 10-11 o'clock and I think it is just about perfect as it is, although I do throw an EQD Tone job eq in front of it just as a boost some times, the eq is all straight up the middle.
Crunch: Even though this is sold as a 3 channel amp it seems like more of a 2 channel amp with a boost There is a shared gain control for channels 2 and 3 on the front panel. There is another gain control for the Crunch channel on the back panel, but it is not independent of the front panel gain knob, it is more of a gain limiter for the crunch channel as opposed to an actual gain control. The problem is that setting the front gain for a tone I really like on the solo channel creates too much gain on the crunch channel even with the cr. gain knob at 0. All that said there are ways to work with this. I find that the 70s mode gets the best overall performance and separation between the two gain channels. I still have a little bit more gain on the crunch side than I really want but I change my pick attack a little it gets me the ac/dc or gnr kind of crunch I am after. If there is one thing to fix on this amp it is the gain settings between crunch and solo.
Solo: Good separation and articulation even with high gain settings, surprising for a lunchbox amp. Pairs well with my XTC classic lead channel for cantrell type gain. On its own its fantastic for practicing or at home playing and recording and would probably gig great as well. I don't know if it could replace an Uber for metal but it has more aggressive gain and metal tones than my XTC classic so pairing the two is really ideal its a better simulation of the "mad/pissed" two amp approach than I was able to get with the 20th Shiva and Classic. 80s mode can get over the top gain tones. I find 70s mode the most pleasing not too much gain, but still more aggressive than the classic, haven't messed with 60s mode much at all.
1/5/18 watts: This is where the action is for a dad who is past his band days and plays mostly at home or at jams with buddies. This is the first head I have had that I can switch between power settings and not f with my EQ. To my ears it keeps tone in tact at each power setting without adjustment. I really dig it. Especially because it opens the door for more playing time, the 1 watt setting is quiet enough that I can play after the wife/kid are asleep and they dont hear a thing while I'm ripping away. I tend to run 5 watt mode for normal at home playing along with my XTC. Allows me to have a little more power amp involvement. 18 watt mode sounds fantastic as well but I just don't need it at home especially with the XTC on as well.
All in all this is a really cool amp better than any low wattage I've had before in features and tone and so far more to my liking than the 20th Shiva it replaced.
impressions running through a front loaded diezel 4x12 with V30s and G12t-75s in an x pattern @ 4 ohms:
Vintage/Modern: I've been running vintage mode nearly 100% of the time. Vintage mode uses a tube rectifier and modern uses solid state. The manual recommends starting the amp up in vintage mode all the time and then switching to modern mode after 20 or so seconds or some such nonsense. I find this approach slightly annoying to bother with so I leave it in vintage mode but I honestly think it sounds better in vintage mode. Little less compression and more volume in vintage mode, makes it sound like a bigger amp vs. the modern mode I think.
Clean: What great channel. After having an Uber blue, XTC Classic, Shiva 6l6 and 20th Kt88 I'd say this is the best Bogner clean channel I have experienced. The simplicity of having one tone knob which turned one way delivers blackface tones and turned the other way delivers tweed tones is great. Super easy to dial in anything in the spectrum of Fendery cleans. I have been running mine at around 10-11 o'clock and I think it is just about perfect as it is, although I do throw an EQD Tone job eq in front of it just as a boost some times, the eq is all straight up the middle.
Crunch: Even though this is sold as a 3 channel amp it seems like more of a 2 channel amp with a boost There is a shared gain control for channels 2 and 3 on the front panel. There is another gain control for the Crunch channel on the back panel, but it is not independent of the front panel gain knob, it is more of a gain limiter for the crunch channel as opposed to an actual gain control. The problem is that setting the front gain for a tone I really like on the solo channel creates too much gain on the crunch channel even with the cr. gain knob at 0. All that said there are ways to work with this. I find that the 70s mode gets the best overall performance and separation between the two gain channels. I still have a little bit more gain on the crunch side than I really want but I change my pick attack a little it gets me the ac/dc or gnr kind of crunch I am after. If there is one thing to fix on this amp it is the gain settings between crunch and solo.
Solo: Good separation and articulation even with high gain settings, surprising for a lunchbox amp. Pairs well with my XTC classic lead channel for cantrell type gain. On its own its fantastic for practicing or at home playing and recording and would probably gig great as well. I don't know if it could replace an Uber for metal but it has more aggressive gain and metal tones than my XTC classic so pairing the two is really ideal its a better simulation of the "mad/pissed" two amp approach than I was able to get with the 20th Shiva and Classic. 80s mode can get over the top gain tones. I find 70s mode the most pleasing not too much gain, but still more aggressive than the classic, haven't messed with 60s mode much at all.
1/5/18 watts: This is where the action is for a dad who is past his band days and plays mostly at home or at jams with buddies. This is the first head I have had that I can switch between power settings and not f with my EQ. To my ears it keeps tone in tact at each power setting without adjustment. I really dig it. Especially because it opens the door for more playing time, the 1 watt setting is quiet enough that I can play after the wife/kid are asleep and they dont hear a thing while I'm ripping away. I tend to run 5 watt mode for normal at home playing along with my XTC. Allows me to have a little more power amp involvement. 18 watt mode sounds fantastic as well but I just don't need it at home especially with the XTC on as well.
All in all this is a really cool amp better than any low wattage I've had before in features and tone and so far more to my liking than the 20th Shiva it replaced.
