New Amp Day! Bogner Shiva

  • Thread starter Thread starter defpearlpilot
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Probably the only Bogner amp I don't dig ..... other than Alchemist :D
 
I played BrentSP's, sounded nice, but even better after he modded the gain channel. Brent was some sort of Bogner Ho, he had an Uber, Shiva and Ecstacy all at the same time. :)

Pete
 
SgtThump":2ykx70x3 said:
I've been keeping this quiet, because I planned on trying to trick people with a "guess the amp" type of thread, but I'm too lazy to do that now. I traded "strungup" that awesome gold PRS McCarty Standard for his Bogner Shiva head (EL34, no reverb.) I've been wanting to spend some quality time with a Shiva for many years and now I have my chance. I think we all know "strungup" is a great guy. It was a pleasure trading with him!

Got it yesterday and promptly fired it up. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed. I don't require alot of distortion, but it had less than I expected. It also had this SUPER woofy and muddy low mid thing. The clean channel was also breaking up much earlier than I expected.

I opened up the amp and checked the bias. It's supposed to be around 33.9, but it was set at something like 55!?!?!?!?! It seems like the bias got off in shipping or something? Anyway, I set it properly, then headed out to band rehearsal. It sounded a million times better after the bias was set. The difference was unbelievable, actually. Much more distortion, clean channel stayed clean, low mid woofy mud was gone, etc...

The guys in the band loved it. It has a unique midrange voicing, which may take me a second to get used to. The jury is out on whether or not the tone will work for me, but I know one thing... The amp FEELS freaking killer!!! Stuff was just flowing out of my hotdog fingers last night. It was very enjoyable.

Just spent another 30 minutes or so with it today and yep, it sounds pretty cool. Nice amp for sure.

What does everyone else think about the Shiva?

This is a 2002 model that has the factory "adjustable boost mod" and possibly a factory mod to make the effects loop work without that goofy weird cable. I haven't confirmed the effects loop stuff yet, though.

Chris
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Congrats Chris, great amp. :)
 
I tried one years ago and liked it - a little woofy and grainy as I recall but it had very nice distortion characteristics and the clean channel was amazing. I always wanted to try another one but never got around to it.

If I had one now I'd definitely try the mod Brent details on the Bogner forum. It's incredibly simple, like wiring a jumper over a resistor or something like that. You could even use a pair of alligator clips to see if you like the difference before you break out the soldering iron.
 
I had one and it lasted longer than alot of other amps but the XTC always haunted me. I waited and hunted for awhile.... now I have a XTC classic that I play on the blue channel mostly which is what I wanted out of the Shiva. The XTC is a bit tighter than the Shiva. Dont get me wrong I really like the Shiva and had I not found a good deal on this XTC I would still have it.

I really really like the Bogner voicing. Im going to go try an Alchemist at some point becasue Im thinking it would be a great second amp for back up.
 
Very cool and congrats. I played Bob's Shiva at TM. I liked it alot. I think his is modded.
 
ejecta":ganyzivt said:
I had one and it lasted longer than alot of other amps but the XTC always haunted me. I waited and hunted for awhile.... now I have a XTC classic that I play on the blue channel mostly which is what I wanted out of the Shiva. The XTC is a bit tighter than the Shiva. Dont get me wrong I really like the Shiva and had I not found a good deal on this XTC I would still have it.

I really really like the Bogner voicing. Im going to go try an Alchemist at some point becasue Im thinking it would be a great second amp for back up.
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Yeah I really like the Shiva too, but still like the xtc classic best, I think Thump would like that one too. Its been kicking some ass lately :D

Happy NAD tho Thump! Not surprised you like it tho ;)
 
MARK1970":fbu35rql said:
Very cool and congrats. I played Bob's Shiva at TM. I liked it alot. I think his is modded.
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I think Bob's is modded for more gain. :lol: :LOL:
 
Shiny_Surface":2an89dxq said:
MARK1970":2an89dxq said:
Very cool and congrats. I played Bob's Shiva at TM. I liked it alot. I think his is modded.
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I think Bob's is modded for more gain. :lol: :LOL:
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I thought he might have mentioned that on here.
 
Chris the trade was a pleasure, and it was nice talking through emails I didn't realize we had so much in common. If I didn't want your gold top I would have kept the shiva I liked that amp.
 
Congrats. I have one on my workbench roght now for mods (again :D ).
Is it a newer or older model, Chris?

I like it, btw (even unmodded, except the loop, which sucks). The clean is very nice, the gain channel smooth, could have some more for me, but anyway a very nice amp.

edit: just saw its a newer one. Thats better. If you should want to mod it, let me know - I'm on my second now (to mod, not to own).
 
Call me crazy, but I didn't care for the Shiva. We compared Ivan's Shiva with his Legacy and it wasn't even close IMO. Both had great clean channels, but the Legacy's gain sounded much better then the Shiva's. Both amps were a bit dark sounding, but the Shiva sounded woofy IMO.
 
The Shiva is a bit overpriced for what it is IMHO, and it really doesn't have that much gain. It really needs a boost for metal tones. But the clean tones are pretty nice.

An amp that competes with the Shiva and costs half the price is the Carvin Legacy. I borrowed them both amps and i had a hard time deciding which one i liked better. When both amps are that close and one cost half, then the choice is clear to me.
 
Congrats. The Shiva is one amp that I would love to spend some time with. Almost everything I've heard of it has been right up my alley tone wise.
 
AmpliFIRE":2vn43evm said:
Call me crazy, but I didn't care for the Shiva. We compared Ivan's Shiva with his Legacy and it wasn't even close IMO. Both had great clean channels, but the Legacy's gain sounded much better then the Shiva's. Both amps were a bit dark sounding, but the Shiva sounded woofy IMO.
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For me it was a toss up.
 
SgtThump":3ry1sr7r said:
duesentrieb":3ry1sr7r said:
Congrats. I have one on my workbench roght now for mods (again :D ).
Is it a newer or older model, Chris?

I like it, btw (even unmodded, except the loop, which sucks). The clean is very nice, the gain channel smooth, could have some more for me, but anyway a very nice amp.

edit: just saw its a newer one. Thats better. If you should want to mod it, let me know - I'm on my second now (to mod, not to own).
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Hey Olaf! I think this would be considered an "older one", since it's from 2002 and doesn't have the bright switches and stuff. It does have an adjustable boost, but it looks like that was added at the factory as a mod. Also, not sure about the loop just yet. It works great with my intellifex, but it definitely didn't work well with a Boss GE7 and SubDecay EchoBox in the loop yesterday. I'll experiement more soon. I'd be VERY happy if it worked with the EchoBox. Maybe the GE7 was the problem? I'll see.
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The guy who uses it puts a Delay (this double pedal from Boss) into the loop, cause he needs the tap function. Without the "loop-booster" it sucks too much tone, with it it hums. I'm searching what I can do against that. He also has an I-fex, which works good, but he needs this tap stuff - lol - Fred Astair, you know :D
The other mods are
- more mids for the clean (just a tad, to drop bass actually, thats just changing a resistor)
- adding another pot (to its back, this some unused holes) either for a second master or a second 2nd channel volume - simul. switched with the boost-relay to have three volume adjustable sounds.
 
I owned that exact same amp for 6 years. I have a lot of experience with it, from recording to real world gigs.

PROS: :thumbsup:
1. Great, great tone. Great clean channel. Great Hard rock crunch sound. Strong low mids. Nice and detailed. Signature Bogner British sound.
2. Built really well. Never had one problem with it.
3. Evoked "amp envy" stares from the kids at clubs. ;)
4. Recorded extremely well.

CONS: :thumbsdown:
1. Effects loop was just an enormous pain in the ass that really messed with the tone no matter what combination of resistors and special cables I tried.
2. Only sounded good CRANKED. With 80 watts, I had a hard time ever using it to it's full potential. Id' set it to where I was comfortable, and then the sound guy would look at me like "you've gotta be kidding me, right? TURN IT DOWN!!!"
3. Gain channel should have gone to 12. Fill tilt on that channel with humbuckers was great, but with a tele, it didn't have enough oomph.
4. Power Cable was permanently connected. I know, its a small thing, but that always annoyed me when trying to get it into it's ATA case.

I have since sold the Shiva, and am awaiting an Egnater Mod50. Better master volume, better effects loops, better lower volume sounds, same build quality, 1 more channel (which, 4 channels is becoming a must for me), and a lot more tonal options. I never wanted to admit that I needed a more technical rig, but when I finally did, I realized I had to sell.

Making this decision wasn't easy... It was like breaking up with a famous hot chick that you had lots of fun with, but you just knew that it wasn't working out from a logistical sense. For years, I definitely was a hardcore Bogner fanboy, and the pride of ownership was almost outweighing the actual real-world practicality of the amp.
 
My bad. I mean one just like it.

A 2002 Bogner Shiva EL34, non reverb, with the factory-installed Boost Channel Volume Control.

I do know what you mean about the amp FEELING great. When it was cooking, it had this feel that was incredible. Everything you threw at it, it threw right back, and loved it. :rock:
 
duesentrieb":36p6bz0l said:
The guy who uses it puts a Delay (this double pedal from Boss) into the loop, cause he needs the tap function. Without the "loop-booster" it sucks too much tone, with it it hums. I'm searching what I can do against that. He also has an I-fex, which works good, but he needs this tap stuff - lol - Fred Astair, you know :D
The other mods are
- more mids for the clean (just a tad, to drop bass actually, thats just changing a resistor)
- adding another pot (to its back, this some unused holes) either for a second master or a second 2nd channel volume - simul. switched with the boost-relay to have three volume adjustable sounds.
Click to expand...

Most of your mods seem to be updating it to current specs in this case. :)
 
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