Thinking about moving on from the Shiva...what to get?

[djpatb]

The Bogner Shiva has been my main amp for the last few years. While I'm mostly happy with it, I'm thinking about moving on to something similar, but slightly different.

Here's how I use it. I rarely ever use the clean channel, so cleans aren't a huge concern for me. When I do use cleans, I like a semi-dirty clean tone. I use Ch. 2 as my main rhythm tone, and I switch on the boost for my leads. I love the boost sound for leads, but I keep the normal Ch. 2 gain maxed all the time, and sometimes it's just not quite enough. I want to have a bit more more gain on tap here. Overall, I like the layout and simplicity of it. I enjoy the voicing, but wish it had a bit more edge, and would like it to be a little bit more open sounding. These are all minor tweaks, so here's what I'm considering...

CAA/Suhr PT100/PT50
CAA/Suhr OD100se+/OD50se+ (w/ EL34's & Plexi Tranny)
Friedman Marsha
Friedman Naked
Splawn Super Comp w/ EL34's (single channel Nitro)
Bogner XTC 101b (having to deal with all those switches doesn't appeal to me though)
Orange Rockerverb 50 MkI w/ 6V6's. (I've heard some recorded tones from this amp that I've loved.)

Basicly I like a Marshally inspired sound, with a bit of a modern twist...big & thick, but not scooped. I could get by with a single channel amp w/ a footswitchable solo boost actually. But something with more options would be good too as long as it's a simple layout. My style is heavy rock...classic inspired with bits of grunge, stoner, and metal. We tune to Drop-C. I usually run a half-stack w/ an Orange 412, but once or twice a year I get to run a full stack.
Any other ideas? Thanks guys.

 

[nitro]

VHT/Fryette Deliverance,last amp you will purchase.

 

[djpatb]

VHT/Fryette Deliverance,last amp you will purchase.

I used to have the 120 and the 60. I just couldn't do the KT88 thing. I really prefer EL34's.
And it didn't have a solo boost.

 

[SLOgriff]

Soldano SLO with "Depth" option will do exactly what you're looking for.

 

[djpatb]

Soldano SLO with "Depth" option will do exactly what you're looking for.

I've held off on trying a SLO just cuz it's not an EL34 amp. I used to have an Avenger, and it was good for rhythm, but I didn't like it for leads.
Maybe it didn't gel with my V30/H30 cabs too well.

 

[prsguitars1]

I've got a 79 JMP w/ Friedman Kitchen Sink. Freaking rocks man. I do pretty much the same stuff you listed as far as music. The amp covers a ton of ground and I typically only run one channel most of the time which is why I got the amp. But I'm starting to feel like I'm getting to the point where I need a multichannel amp, especially because I'll be doing some session work in the future. So what I'm hinting at is I might possibly be selling mine, but only until I find what I'm getting next. So PM and we can talk some more and I can show you some clips I got of this bad boy.

 

[hunter]

I used to play (and love) a Shiva too, and I wanted the same, a slight bit of dirt from Cleans and a more open drive channel.

Here are amps that still give you some of that Shiva Mojo, but do what you need:
-Budda Superdrive
-Cornford Mk50II
-Egnater MOD
-Shiva 20th w/ EL34

IMO the Extasy does not do it (none of the versions) - the Channel 2/3 are too different from a Shiva (all XTC versions). I tried many amps after the Shiva but still miss it. The Budda was close to a replacement, but my SDII30 was a tad too small for the band (I think a SD80 would have been the shizznit). The 100B was great but too much stuff and still not the tone I missed from the Shiva. The Cornford Mk50H is awesome, but I should have the MkII for the clean channel, as the Mk50H doesn't have real cleans.

Good luck, amp hunting is fun.

My bet is on the 20th Shiva for you, I think it fits the brief best.

 

[rupe]

I see the Marsha on your list...its exactly what you described you're looking for.

 

[lame guitarist]

Stick with the Shiva and throw a modded tubescreamer in the front or an ep booster

 

[se7en]

Well, I can tell you the 20th Shiva has those improvements you listed - more open, more gain, etc. I love mine. I only heard clips of the original Shiva, but found it a bit too compressed and lacked the 'edge' of the 20th Shiva. Unboosted, it has plenty of gain and a killer rhythm tone, kick in the boost and there's way more gain than I could ever use. If you want a more traditional Marshall tone, check out the Marsha.

 

['63-Strat]

Yeah I would definitely look into the 20th Shiva. Having had the 101b, and now the classic (for nearly 10 years) I can tell you that the 101b is not what you want. The Classic is great and is more open/marshally/more edge than the 101b, but it doesn't sound like the Shiva, either.

 

[hunter]

Oh totally forgot: Goldfinger 45 might be cool as well?

 

[nitro]

Swap out the KT88s and put in some 6550s in the VHT/Fryette deliverance and the differance is amazing, much more aggressive and raw,didnt like the KT88s in my deliverance heads they sounded laid back if you know what I mean.KT88s are more of a hi-fi tube then a guitar amp tube....

 

[BAN-ONE]

Wizard Modern Classic
Friedman Brown Eye

 

[DeezDemos]

Diezel Einstein!