So I just got a Bogner Alchemist head...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Random Hero
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Rogue":2odf1kqr said:
I played one at Best Buy. They had it running into a Marshall cab. It wasn't doing it. Later they got the matching cab. It sounded better. I've played it several times and never had the same experience twice. Some days it sounded good and others it did not. There was always a kind of oddity in the highs though that I could never get into.

It's a neat setup and fairly versatile, but in the end it just seemed to lack character.
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wierd - i would say it has character but lacks the true clean-tube-type definition tube amplifiers usually carry. sounded like a wet fart with too much breakup/highs.
 
I haven't tried it, but all the clips I hear sound pretty much as lifeless as you describe it. I remember Bogner demoing it in some vid & then he switched to a duende & it was obvious that there was a big difference in quality of the 2.
 
I spent 2 months with an Alchemist sitting right next to a Bogner XTC Classic. The Alchemist more than held its own. It by no means sounded fizzy, thin and lifeless.

Something is wrong with the amp you got.
 
ejecta":1x5wwdsb said:
I spent 2 months with an Alchemist sitting right next to a Bogner XTC Classic. The Alchemist more than held its own. It by no means sounded fizzy, thin and lifeless.

Something is wrong with the amp you got.
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Perhaps something was wrong with yours? :dunno: ;)
 
so Kanye was right? :lol: :LOL:

kanyebogner.jpg
 
Rogue":clz2axff said:
ejecta":clz2axff said:
I spent 2 months with an Alchemist sitting right next to a Bogner XTC Classic. The Alchemist more than held its own. It by no means sounded fizzy, thin and lifeless.

Something is wrong with the amp you got.
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Perhaps something was wrong with yours? :dunno: ;)
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Sounded better than that POS "Reinhard" you are getting. :D
 
ejecta":2yp5e7f9 said:
Sounded better than that POS "Reinhard" you are getting. :D
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I'll give Bob your sentiments and direct him to your webiste. :D
 
glassjaw7":30trrrjo said:
BTW, for that price range the Egnater Renegade smokes the Bogner! :yes:
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Actually, I did a side-by-side comparison of the 2x12 combos of both of those amps at the Arlington Heights GC last weekend for about an hour, and I have to say that I much preferred the Alchemist over the Renegade (though I did like the Renegade more this time than the last time I tried one out). The Renegade's clean just isn't in the same league as the Alchemist. I can see how the gain channel could sound "fuzzy", but it honestly sounds like the amp he got is broken. I thought the Alchemist I played last weekend sounded fantastic, if a little flubby, which I attribute more to the 2x12 combo aspects than the amp itself. Overall the Alchemist has a lot more of a defined "voice" to my ears.

To each his own, of course :rock:
 
:lol: :LOL: Typical forum behavior. I have seen pretty much only very favorable threads on the Alchemist. Yet this thread comes up and most people jump in an agree that they didn't care for the Alchemist.

I have seen this so many times, it seems most people just like to go along with the thread sentiment. I read mostly all good reviews on the marshall 30th anniversary. Then got one and posted my findings after I had sold it and people came out of the woodwork to say they didn't care for it.

Anyway, sorry the amp didn't work out. Hopefully you will have better luck with your next one.... :thumbsup:
 
I thought they sounded cool, but seeing how the used market is going I would never by one new, but they definitely aren't crap. I went to GC during my lunch break when they first came out and got to demo the amp without all the unwanted noise that is always in GC. The amp didn't sound like what you described, but then again I played through the head with the matching 2x12 cabinet, maybe it was the speaker in the 1x12 combo?
 
I got one with matching cab..It isnt my xtc but it holds its own with new tubes,,,But Im selling it or i was till i heard the renegade sux. :lol: :LOL:
 
I played two at GC while 30 other people were playing .... so it was hard to tell what I was hearing ...... one did not sound good ..... the other one I thought sounded a lot better for what ever reason. Could have been the way I set it up different ?
Then I played one a BB a few months later ... it took some time but I found some pretty cool sounds.

I would be guessing if it was just the different ways it was set up, they are built inconsistent, bad tube, I am a idiot that did not know what I was doing ?

Every other Bogner amp or cab I have played on sounded fantastic.
 
Random Hero":69gyd5i1 said:
I'm not trying to be a smartass here but good god, what an awful sounding piece of shit. I plugged it in for 10 minutes but that was more than enough. I bought it unheard, based on clips, because it was pretty cheap and I was curious. My goodness, I have never heard anything so bad. I mean, maybe this unit is fucked, but based on this experience, I won't be buying another, that is for certain. It sounds truly lifeless, thin, cold and harsh. Just about the opposite of what I imagine when I think "Bogner".

Before the usual accusations... yes I turned it up. To about half way infact. And it still sounded horrifyingly bad, which makes me think either it or me is broken.

I'm pretty much lost for words other than that. I am truly aghast at how bad it sounds. It's not exaggeration to say I sat there the whole time thinking "lol, wtf?"

It's being returned tomorrow.
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I agree with you. I have played 6 different ones and they sound terrible on the high gain side. I like the cleans and crunch tones but turn up the gain and it's muddy. Boosted is even worse. I really don't care what anyone else thinks. It's a terrible high gain amp to me. If anyone loves it, good for them. Enjoy yourselves.
 
well having read this thread...

my store finally got one on loan?

anyway i was going into the room with the idea of disappointment.

I was totally blown away! this thing is great!

went back again last night and they had a 3 ch rectifier with EL34s.

so i'm like cool! i own a 2 ch, 3 chs are a little diffrent..

finally after about 45 mins i start jiving with the DR(on 2ch modern)

said fuck it i'm gunna a/b them...

in less then 5 mins i had a better tone(with and without a sd-1)
out of the alchemist...

i'm going back tonight to play it thru some diffrent cabs..

My 2 ch DR might be on the choping block soon!!! :scared:

Brae
 
i played one through the oversized alchemist 2x12 cab. it was OK. nothing stellar. decent gain tones, sterile but ok clean tones. not something i would buy.
 
When they first came out I wanted to try one out. But I never really got around to it, I just walked pastthem probably 100 times...anyway to make a long story short, they had one in the vault at GC the other day running into a matching 2x12 so I said what the hell and plugged in a hellraiser with EMGs and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. For some odd reason I had some preconceived notion that it sucked :lol: :LOL: Im not saying it was the greatest or anything, but I thought it was a lot better than I had expected.
 
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