Spent Enough Time With The Bogner Ecstasy 104BV to Have An Opinion

[ChurchHill]

Yeah. This is the first Casey Crabtree guitar I've ever held, and I'm really impressed. I don't know how it compares to the Neal Moser ones which I've never played, but it's the nicest made guitar I've ever owned. I just wish it had stainless fretwork.

The Alnico II Pros seem to mate up well with a mid-heavy body with that thick cap. Their high end extension helps with the dark nature of the Bogner too.

I don't know much about Casey Crabtree, but I've got a Moser made Rich Bich from 2024. It's on par or better than anything I've seen out of Gibson Custom, ESP Custom, PRS Private Stock, or Jackson Custom. Obviously a very different thing than any of those, but the quality, attention to detail, fretwork, fit and finish, everything, is at least as good and better than most.

 

[ChurchHill]

Yes, I would be all in for a simpler focused one channel true early 100B or Fish amp.
I wonder how the Helios is close to that btw?

Yeah, I'd be all over something like that, too. I've got a 101B and a Helios 100, among others, and they can get close, but the 101B has the edge. The Helios is more modded Marshall, more upper-mid cut. It can get those really vocal overtones and some of the chewy low-mids, just not quite like the 101B can, though.

The Snorkler is another thought, maybe a little closer to the XTC than the Helios in that it sounds more like a Bogner than a Marshall, but it isn't the Blue channel, either. It's thicker, a little more compressed, and not quite as organic.

IDK, maybe the Shiva 30th, but it's got its own thing going on, too. It's open and organic but doesn't get the overtones that the XTC does.

 

[tonedog]

Is the zero the same as the jb45?
I dig my 101b but have to say I'm tempted by the bv!

Not at all. I love the JB45 but it cannot go where the zero channel goes.

 

[Lightning]

Rackman nice set up what speakers are you running in your Soldano 4x12 cab

 

[tonedog]

Bogner really should make a 1 channel 100w Ecstacy based on the blue channel alone. After all these years that still seems to be Bogner’s most beloved tone. Keep the amp feature rich with the various voicing switches and perhaps some additional ideas but again, limit the scope to fundamentally a one channel Blue.

They should make an amp based on the Purple or Zero channel as it can be dialed in to sound like the blue but with a huge variation of tones based on the balance between the volume and gain knobs combined with the scooped switch or mid position and the three way bright to dark switch. Good amount of gain in that channel too. Has an impressive vintage type feel.Really great channel just as the blue is but different.

 

[tonedog]

I am a Bogner freak and after 50 years of buying and trying almost every amp and mod out there I always come back to Bogners and have settled on these.

 

[chris lykins]

Same, I have a 101, GF SL, and 20th anniversary shiva and love them!

 

[Rackman]

Rackman nice set up what speakers are you running in your Soldano 4x12 cab

UK V30s. I bought it for my X88ir/SM100R rig. I like the light weight for a 4x12.

 

[Lightning]

Thanks

 

[Rackman]

I don't know much about Casey Crabtree, but I've got a Moser made Rich Bich from 2024. It's on par or better than anything I've seen out of Gibson Custom, ESP Custom, PRS Private Stock, or Jackson Custom. Obviously a very different thing than any of those, but the quality, attention to detail, fretwork, fit and finish, everything, is at least as good and better than most.

I definitely feel the same way about this one. It's just a work of art. I play my KE2 more but the Mockingbird is the better sounding guitar. They both play good. The KE2 got refretted and pleked.

 

[Jccobb2]

I am a Bogner freak and after 50 years of buying and trying almost every amp and mod out there I always come back to Bogners and have settled on these.

View attachment 450855
View attachment 450854

That GF SL is pure sex. Love mine. I have a green uber, 90s XTC, and a GF SL. Would love to try one of the lower gain combos from the early 2000s…