Suhr, Bogner, Budda, c'mon in...

[Ventura]

So, might be doing some buying.

I've been horny for the 20th Sheevs for some time, and this will more than likely get purchased. That or the regular Sheevs, not yet decided.

But what can the masses tell me about the Badger? Or the SL68? Or Budda's offerings? Any Budda love?

Thanks Folks,
Mo

 

[ratter]

Had a Badger 30. Great amp. Very immediate, great cleans through crunch. Not a lead amp without pedals. Power Scaling works as advertised, no fuss loop.

Had Budda SD80s, SD18s, Twinmasters, and Stringmasters. A few of each. The SD80 is one of my favorite amps of all time. Great cleans through vintage lead gain. Can get very angry with a boost. No fuss loop. Just big and badass. The 18 is a nice mini-me version for those who don't want that much power. The Twinmaster and Stringmaster are lower wattage, lower-gain non-master amps. The Twinmaster is a modern classic, IMO. Kind of like an 18 watt marshall but...better...and yet simpler.

Love the regular Shiva, but never owned one. Haven't tried the 20th or the SL68. Would probably love both, though.

If I had to go desert island with one of the above, it would be the SD80. Twinmaster and Badger 30 would probably be tied for 2nd.

 

[Ventura]

Great info man, thanks... Budda's are that good, eh?

I know all about the Sheevs, don't need much convincing on that one. But ya, the Suhrs and the Buddas, more love, more 411, greatly appreciated.

Peace,
Mo

 

[fek]

I saw a local guy (Sex Panther) gig with a Budda something or other after a long love affair with a DSL (I think) and it sounded great. Being a good player doesn't hurt either but I don't think you can go wrong with any of those choices.

I bought a Soldano HR50 off of a guy that I saw gig with an older Shiva and he had great tone as well. At that level, either it works for you or it does not.

 

[LP Freak]

I just picked up a Badger 30 and it's a sweet amp indeed. It has a bit more gain than I expected.

I also had a Budda SD45 and a 20th Shiva.

 

[Ventura]

I just picked up a Badger 30 and it's a sweet amp indeed. It has a bit more gain than I expected.

I also had a Budda SD45 and a 20th Shiva.

And where do they all fit and compare to one another in amongst the mix? You know - attack, forgiveness, liveliness at low-med-high volumes, tone, musical styles they conjure, etc.

Thanks LP Freak!!
Mo Lester

 

[hunter]

I used to own a EL34 Shiva and a Budda SD 30. Loved em both. The Budda was a bit weak for the band, but great at home. Now I would like a 20th Shiva and a Budda SD80 FTW!!

 

[RockNRun]

I've got a Cameron modded high gainer, a 5150 III 50w and a Budda SD30 II (head). Love all three for different things but, IF I was asked to sit in with a band and play out, I'd probably take the Budda because it does everything so well. Rich cleans, really thick and mean crunch (think darker Marshall) and lastly, with my Jetter Red2 pedal into the CLEAN channel, I get meaty, liquidy fusiony/dumble-ish type lead tones.

Never played a Shiva but would love to!! From the clips I've heard however, the Budda drive channel set with lower gain and then hit with a pedal of some sorts for a dash of added anger (anything but a TS type that is because the Budda is pretty middy already) actually kinda sounds Bogner-ish if I dare say it. I should note I JUST got my 5150 III 50 yesterday, lol!! Really not fair to include my opinion of it...but so far....dayum!

 

[boost]

I've got a SD80 and am very happy with it. Great amp for single coils IMO. I like the clips I heard of the 80 and 45, but the 18 and 30...not so much. Too compressed sounding to me. To be fair, I've never played or heard the 18 and 30 in person, just heard them in clips so take it for what it's worth.

The SD80 takes cheap power tubes well, FX loop works great, and I have a Timmy and EP Booster in front that work great with the amp. Tons of nice notes blooming into controlled feedback without any boosts on. It's just an amp that reacts very well to what you're playing. Best amp I had so far with single coils. My tele sounds meaty as hell through this amp. Nice big fat gain. The clean sound is really nice and I love the clean with the Timmy or EP on as it just gets nice and big sounding while adding just a slight amount of hair to the tone. Perfect for me. I'm not looking for any other amps at this time.

Can't comment on the other amps as I have never played them.

 

[D-Rock]

I had an SD80II as well, monster amp for sure. Vintage lead gain is spades. Not my thing, so I boosted it almost always for awesome modern tones. Finally got away from boost pedals, so although a great amp, I wasn't using it to it's full potential. Loudest amp I've ever heard, no doubt. Ended up trading it for a UL. Much happier.

 

[LP Freak]

I just picked up a Badger 30 and it's a sweet amp indeed. It has a bit more gain than I expected.

I also had a Budda SD45 and a 20th Shiva.

And where do they all fit and compare to one another in amongst the mix? You know - attack, forgiveness, liveliness at low-med-high volumes, tone, musical styles they conjure, etc.

Thanks LP Freak!!
Mo Lester

To be honest, you can't go wrong with any of the three. They all have similarities in tone with the slightly darker voiced mids than a Marshall.

Both the Shiva and Budda have great clean channels with the Shiva on top. The Badger is capable of some nice Hedrix-ish cleans if it's dialed in to be clean being only one channel. It does clean up really well with the guitars volume too.

As far as the gain, they all sound good. Marshall voiced with a lower voiced mid. They all cut through the mix well.

The Badger is a great grab and go, no frills type of amp where the others have more bells and whistles.

Hope that helps.

 

[richedie]

I have had a Shiva 20th with El34s for two years. My favorite amp to date!

 

[Ventura]

The Sheevs is a shoe in.

Now it's up to getting a Budda or a Suhr. I'm doing some shopping. Christmas for Mo.

So with the SD80, any preferred speaker or is it something I would be fine running through my Bogner V30 4x12, Fryette p50e 4x12, or Diezel G12K 4x12?

I'm interested in the Budda for what seems to be its simplicity and puritan approach to tone.

Peace,
Mojo

 

[mrkmas]

Just played a Budda Superdrive 30. Great sounding amp! very usable clean channel and a fantastic drive channel which was very fat sounding and had some very usable gain to it! Great sustain also! I was truly impressed with it.

 

[Heritage Softail]

Buddha SD 80 ?

Thanks for another gas inspiring thread Mo

 

[LP Freak]

The MV on the SD80 is very touchy though....more like an on/off button. The SD45 was much more managable.

 

[Heritage Softail]

The MV on the SD80 is very touchy though....more like an on/off button. The SD45 was much more managable.

I hate that. While my MKIIC is back in Petaluma, I am getting a different taper volume pot on the master.

 

[mrkmas]

I just picked up a Badger 30 and it's a sweet amp indeed. It has a bit more gain than I expected.

I also had a Budda SD45 and a 20th Shiva.

Any plans on a full review for the Badger 30?

 

[LP Freak]

I just picked up a Badger 30 and it's a sweet amp indeed. It has a bit more gain than I expected.

I also had a Budda SD45 and a 20th Shiva.

Any plans on a full review for the Badger 30?

Not much to it. Plug it in, twist a couple of knobs, and wha-la....tone for days. It's a no frills, plug and play amp. It sounds really big for 38 watts.

I run it through a Marshall 4x12 with Scumback M-75's and it's great. It's got ample gain on tap....actually a bit more than I was expecting but it does sound great with my Timmy out front. If you dial back the gain it'll go from you can get some great Plexi cleans out of it. Or roll back the guitar's volume and it cleans up nicely. Start inching up the gain and you get really nice slight break up. Keep going and you're into 70 rock ala Zepplin, Free, ect. all the way up to I'd say about the same level of gain as Freidman's BE. Anywhere you dial in the gain the tone stays full. I've had many other amps where the amp thins out when the gain is decreased.

It's got a pretty typical bottom end of a Suhr or CAA amp to where it's not super tight but not floppy either. It's definately easy to play. Single notes are nice and thick.

The loop sounds great and takes pedals like a champ.

The power scaling is very cool. Same tones at a mouse fart volume.

The build quality is typical Suhr.....bullet proof.

And it only weighs in about 30lbs.

Only thing I didn't dig about the amp were the JJ preamp tubes. I did some tube swapping and found a combo that I liked. It got rid of the JJ blanket and really opened up the amp.

 

[Ventura]

I just picked up a Badger 30 and it's a sweet amp indeed. It has a bit more gain than I expected.

I also had a Budda SD45 and a 20th Shiva.

Any plans on a full review for the Badger 30?

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