New amp for Blues and instrumental Hard Rock/ Bogner 3534

[BadCat]

Sold my only amp and am now looking for new shores. Best amp i had so far for my needs was the Bogner XTC 20th anniversary. Regret that i sold it for way too little money.
So i am considering going back to it. The only thing i did not like with the 20th anniversary was the sheer size and weight.
Like Marshalls too but can`t find they work well at volumes that do not worsen my Tinnitus.
So my eyes fell on the Bogner XTC 3534. From what i hear from YT clips it does not sound as glorious as its bigger brother.
Anyone who has played/ owns/ed both (the 20th anni (i had an EL34) and the 35/34) who can chime in how they compare. Any other suggestions? Helios Eclipse, etc?
Thanks a lot in advance

 

[* velcro-fly *]

I've had a couple different Ecstasy's including a Classic, as well as a 50 watt Helios. I've got a 3534 right now and will confirm its a mini Ecstasy, period. It has nearly all the same controls and little switches.... No, for sure it doesn't have the girth and 'size of sound footprint' of the 100 watters, but its also about 40 lbs lighter and 6" in width smaller, has the same 'feel' and won't / can't produce SPL's that will drive you out of the room. The red channel might be the most aggressive thing Bogner has done, to the point there's an easy gain reduction mod / leg clip ala Shiva bias mod. The green channel rivals the Shiva cleans and is much better than the full sized Ecstasy, you can run green channel backwards like the full size (volume dimed, gain used for volume) ... for me my favorite drive tones right now are the blue channel with the boost on, gain set at about noon / 1:00. Overall its a fantastic amp, highly recommend it.

 

[legend71]

I've had a couple different Ecstasy's including a Classic, as well as a 50 watt Helios. I've got a 3534 right now and will confirm its a mini Ecstasy, period. It has nearly all the same controls and little switches.... No, for sure it doesn't have the girth and 'size of sound footprint' of the 100 watters, but its also about 40 lbs lighter and 6" in width smaller, has the same 'feel' and won't / can't produce SPL's that will drive you out of the room. The red channel might be the most aggressive thing Bogner has done, to the point there's an easy gain reduction mod / leg clip ala Shiva bias mod. The green channel rivals the Shiva cleans and is much better than the full sized Ecstasy, you can run green channel backwards like the full size (volume dimed, gain used for volume) ... for me my favorite drive tones right now are the blue channel with the boost on, gain set at about noon / 1:00. Overall its a fantastic amp, highly recommend it.

I agree with this and have had many 101Bs etc. I find I run the 3534 a lot louder to gte where I want than the 101B. It is a pretty cool amp. FX loop is a little noisier to me and I wish I could assign plexi mode to the Red channel but those are small complaints. The weight and footprint differential is nice too. I enjoy the amp and have made the compromise of not lugging around the 101B and 2x12 anymore.

 

[* velcro-fly *]

I enjoy the amp and have made the compromise of not lugging around the 101B and 2x12 anymore.

I got a vertical 2x12 from Mather that's only about an inch wider than the 3534 head shell. The small footprint is a dream, and that cab also weighs about 30 lbs less than an oversized Bogner 2x12. Cab is loaded with a Blue / G12H30 speaker combo is awesome. I agree that the amp sounds best running loud, but its not 'run you out of the room' loud at that point......flip side is that its a phenom low volume amp too

 

[BadCat]

Thanks a lot for answering! With regards to bedroom/ lower volume playing. I found the XTC had the best mastervolume of all amps i ever had. The 20th can be dialed down to 7 Watts and sounds phenomenal at any level. As i understand you this is the case with the 3534 too/ meaning good to at low volumes?

 

[acidvoodoo]

my favorite drive tones right now are the blue channel with the boost on, gain set at about noon / 1:00.

This is how I run my blue channel too, sounds killer with a dash of plate reverb! Red channel I keep the gain around 10 to noon with EQ in the loop for chuggin. Best amp I've owned?

 

[* velcro-fly *]

This is how I run my blue channel too, sounds killer with a dash of plate reverb! Red channel I keep the gain around 10 to noon with EQ in the loop for chuggin. Best amp I've owned?

The amp is a keeper for sure. I usually have the red gain at about 9 / 10:00 too.

If anybody is interested here's the link to the red channel gain reduction mod info w photos, starts below my response in same thread. I can't vouch for the results as I've not done it yet, but the red side has stupid amounts of gain that most people will find over the top....

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/bogner-ecstasy-3534.2096289/page-49

 

[legend71]

I got a vertical 2x12 from Mather that's only about an inch wider than the 3534 head shell. The small footprint is a dream, and that cab also weighs about 30 lbs less than an oversized Bogner 2x12. Cab is loaded with a Blue / G12H30 speaker combo is awesome. I agree that the amp sounds best running loud, but its not 'run you out of the room' loud at that point......flip side is that its a phenom low volume amp too

That sounds cool. I was using a Mojotone 1x12 Canyon w a V30 but ended up ordering the matching cab. It sounded better to me with the creamback and slightly bigger can dimensions. I really dig combo speaker configurations. My old Dr Z cab had that going on.