Gigged the Bogner last night - loved the flexibilty!

[Twinfan]

Well it was a hot and sticky night in the Derbyshire hills, and by the end of the gig I was dripping wet through.  Great gig though!

The Ecstasty took a little bit of dialling in to get the balance across channels etc, but I now have a base setting.  I think it'll get better and better over the next few gigs as I learn how to set it up.  There are so many options that you need to try things to find out what works for you.  So far, I'm finding that:

1) The clean channel sounds best with the channel volume up full, then using the gain control as a volume.  This gives a Fender-y tone with a hint of crunch, think Keef or SRV.

2)  The blue channel is a great classic Marshall rhythm sound, then by adding the boost on top you get a more 80s rock rhythm.  Unboosted = Whitesnake or Free, boosted = Dio or Ozzy

3)  Independent channel volumes are really nice for gigging!  I can set the red channel up for solos at a louder volume, then match the green (clean) and blue (crunch) levels for rhythm.  I also have a boost on the clean channel to highlight certain parts (e.g. some arpeggio stuff in a few tracks), plus that boost on the blue channel to pick some parts out in quieter songs if required.

4)  This is a rock amp, and it wants to be LOUD.  I had the masters around 9 o'clock using Class A mode (to cut power a bit) and it was only just ticking over, yet it was punchy and beefy.  I now want to play a massive stadium gig to get the thing REALLY cooking!  :lol:

5)  The FX loop is really, really good.  I run a delay and a reverb through it, and being able to switch the loop on via the footswitch means I can hit the red channel and loop switches at the same time to get a delayed solo tone, then switch it off again with one stomp.  VERY handy.

So overall I'm dead impressed with it.  I've got to swap the mute stomp switch today as it was sticking a bit, which is a common problem with modern switches, otherwise it's good to go for its second gig next Saturday!

[dave_mc]

nice :D

the switch to switch on or off my loop is the one thing I miss with my engl (actually the one thing i miss is that the footswitch leads are way too short so i can't really use them easily :lol: ). It has two separate loops, but then if you have an effect which you would use on both channels, you're screwed. :lol:

[d1dsj]

Sounds like a winner. Now you've hit another good point ref the volume because if you like the sound now.... just wait until you can crank it! Apparently, they sound mediocre at low volumes but once they're opened up you will be in God's land! Fantastic that you already have useable gigging tones, as you say it can o0nly get better.  8)

[Twinfan]

I don't suppose I'll ever get the chance to hear it at its absolute best, which is a bit of a shame.  I need to explore the power cutting options a bit more to see if they can get that cranked tone at a bit less volume.  Supposedly you can get it down from 100 to 7 watts!

[Philly Q]

It all sounds rather scary!  :lol:

Glad you're pleased with it though.

[Twinfan]

:lol:

Definitely not your kind of amp, Phil!  If you need a wide range of classic and modern rock gain tones at different volumes though, it's got to be a hard amp to beat...

[Philly Q]

In the highly unlikely event that I ever need a gigging amp, it's going to have Volume, Tone, maybe Gain - and a couple of pedals in front of it!  :lol:

[Antag]

1) The clean channel sounds best with the channel volume up full, then using the gain control as a volume.  This gives a Fender-y tone with a hint of crunch, think Keef or SRV.

Interestingly, I found exactly the same with both my Engls, but my Mesa was almost the opposite & needed the clean gain on 6 at least.

Glad you like your new amp :)  Consider me firmly in the "multi-channel with lots of bells & whistles" camp :)

[HTH AMPS]

I don't suppose I'll ever get the chance to hear it at its absolute best, which is a bit of a shame.  I need to explore the power cutting options a bit more to see if they can get that cranked tone at a bit less volume.  Supposedly you can get it down from 100 to 7 watts!

100w IS alot of grunt in an amp and the power switching never works that well for me (tonally).  You could always try running it into a small valve power amp if you want a cooking output stage.

Glad its working out for you, Bogners are great amps - its tough to get everything balanced out in a channel switching amp so all the various tones are equally great. 

[Twinfan]

The power switching actually works pretty darn well.  You get that extra compression and 'juice' going on, rather than it being firmer and cleaner - just as you'd get from a cranked amp.  I'm really impressed that all the features do what they claim to do, and they don't sound bad - just different.  It's a very well designed and thought out amp.

Here's a rough and ready clip of it, using my Top Bound Esquire:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPuyplVeQGc

[roland_rat]

Glad to here that the amp worked nicely for it's first outing.  What did Martin and the rest of the band think of it?

One more question what was the reverb  and delay you were puting through the loop?

I have had a listen to your clip good job it sounded good otherwise you might have had a hasbo coming your way compiments of your neighbours.  Sounds very nice I particually liked the dirtier  tones.

[Twinfan]

I use a Malekko Chicklet reverb and an MXR Carbon Copy delay.

The rest of the band didn't have much to say about the amp to be honest!

[_tom_]

Sounds good to me :) It'd be tempting to get a good channel switcher in the future if I ever get a band and get gigging again (and if I have the disposable income :lol: )!

[dave_mc]

sounds really good :D

I'll have to try the clean channel volume thing too.

[Ian Price]

Nice Dave - probably too much amp for my simpleton playing though! That's a nice sounding Esquire

Is the Malekko a new pedal for you? I don't recall you mentioning it before.