Bogner Alchemist Demo

[jmcerlain]

Hey All,

Reinhold and my good friends at Bogner had me at the NY Amp show to demo some of their great amps. Here is a clip of me playing the Alchemist, Reinhold wanted me to play some slide so here you are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_O_1NT7jNI

I was really impressed with the amp I think they have knocked it out of the park on this one, especially for the money.

Full disclosure: I was working as a rep for Bogner that day and have been an endorser for many years. That being said, I thought the amp sounded great.

[1973Marshall]

wow
whats the guitar you are using

If these are under $1000 I would HAVE TO HAVE ONE!

What a sound! Reminds me of the Shiva or the Duende (more the Duende)

Any info on the specs?

[jmcerlain]

The guitar was a tele from some German maker that is Reinhold's. It was pretty nice. My understanding is that the amp will be out in the fall. The head will be about $1000 and the 2x12 combo around $1200. It has built in delay and reverb by Line6 with a tap tempo. The amp is all tube and the effects are mixed in. It's 20 or 40 watts selected by a switch on the front, it drops the plate voltage so it is done right. It sounds great, I liked it at 20 watts at the room volume, which was LOUD. It uses 6L6's.

Each channel has 2 voicings and a boost. Clean side has a Fender like setting and a plexi kinda setting and the gain side is full on rock. The amp is not a metal amp to my ears, and Reinhold's. More of a rock amp to modded Marshall. Similar to the XTC on the gain channel. Like I said , great sounding amp. It's a very smart amp in terms of setup and design. I'm sure it will do very well. I would like one myself...

[Bryan T]

Your clip sounded great - very open. There are a few others on youtube that sounded much more congested. Maybe it is channel 1 vs. channel 2?

Bryan

[jmcerlain]

Thanks Brian, I lean towards cleaner distortion so I think it's a matter of how you set the amp. I did use both channels in the clip, I just didn't really crank the gain on the dirtiest setting. The 1st setting on the dirty side was enough for me. The amp can get very gained out, but I didn't find it difficult to dial a number of good sounds in right away. I like amps like that.:cool:

[B_of_H]

this is allsome newz.

I've been thinking about getting a new amp this fall and i was looking at the overtone because it was in my price range. I really wanted a shiva but couldn't afford it.

it sounds to me like a shiva with built in delay for ceriatone prices. genius.

[Lution]

getting excited for this amp!!!!

[NitroLiq]

I got the t-shirt. :D

[SealNYC]

Fantastic amp. I played them at the show too. The effects are brought in in Parallell to the dry tone. Big difference. Your dry tone is never affected by the delay/reverb processors. It's got something like the Suhr MiniMix built in.
I loved the amp and will own one.

[Rod]

Great sounds Jeff!!! Thankx!! When are these amps going to be available???

[astigtigas]

Great sounds Jeff!!! Thankx!! When are these amps going to be available???

+1 the amp sounds great on the vid...

[jmcerlain]

Reinhold said they were hoping to have it out in the fall. I don't know any more than that, as soon as I hear more I'll let you know. Oh yeah, the cab was a 2x12 open back with celestions (not sure what type though, sorry).

[Ed DeGenaro]

Very nice Sir!

[B_of_H]

the website says it has a 4 button footswitch (channel, boost, reverb, delay). Did the footswitch you tried have a tap tempo as well? or did you have to hold it down or something to engage it?

[ecbluesman54]

Very nice playing, sounds great! I am looking forward to getting a chance to play these amps as well.
Thanks for the video!

[sickboy79]

Great playing and tones! Nice work!

[EdMan57]

Can the delay and reverb be used at the same time?And will the amp feature an effects loop,as well?Btw,loved the playing and tone.

Ed

[Electric I]

Digs on both playing & tone.

Price on the 112 combo ?

[Jim S]

I just came! OMG......

:bow:bow:bow

[wsaraceni]

what the hell did you do at the :15 mark?

[jmcerlain]

Can the delay and reverb be used at the same time?And will the amp feature an effects loop,as well?Btw,loved the playing and tone.


Ed

Yes, yes and thanks!

Digs on both playing & tone.

Price on the 112 combo ?

Thank you. It's a fun amp. I don't know much about the price other than what Reinhold told me. I hope they make a 1x12 that would be great.


I just came! OMG......

:bow:bow:bow

Thanks... I guess...

what the hell did you do at the :15 mark?

It's a secret......:munch



Actually, if you put your slide over the 5th, 7th, or 12th fret and pluck the strings on the headstock side of the slide you get those mondo cool harmonics.Be sure not to mute the srings at all. If you wobble the slide back and forth you can find the sweet spot and some cool vibrato. It's real easy but sounds awesome on both electric and acoustic. Makes for a cool ambient background pad to play stuff over.
The other thing I did at 1:18 is to play the harmonic at the 12th fret on the high E and quickly bring the slide up starting at the nut and you can slide the harmonic. I love that trick.

[Wayne]

The guitar was a tele from some German maker that is Reinhold's. It was pretty nice. My understanding is that the amp will be out in the fall. The head will be about $1000 and the 2x12 combo around $1200. It has built in delay and reverb by Line6 with a tap tempo. The amp is all tube and the effects are mixed in. It's 20 or 40 watts selected by a switch on the front, it drops the plate voltage so it is done right. It sounds great, I liked it at 20 watts at the room volume, which was LOUD. It uses 6L6's.

Each channel has 2 voicings and a boost. Clean side has a Fender like setting and a plexi kinda setting and the gain side is full on rock. The amp is not a metal amp to my ears, and Reinhold's. More of a rock amp to modded Marshall. Similar to the XTC on the gain channel. Like I said , great sounding amp. It's a very smart amp in terms of setup and design. I'm sure it will do very well. I would like one myself...

I really enjoyed your video. BTW, how heavy is the 1x12 combo?

[MartinC]

That was very tasty playing!

Chinese made or otherwise, if it sounds like that, with the features included ... that's pretty good value. I'm assuming the quality is as you'd expect for a factory built amp with a respectable badge on it.

[aman74]

Well. it's the same price a "boutique" amp hand built in the USA.

All I'm saying is, surely a mass produced "boutique" amp built in China by cheap labour, should be cheaper.

Not too many $1000 handmade boutique amps, let alone one's with 2 channel's, effects loop and effects built in.

Care to list some?

[kwaves99]

In the NAMM video Reinhold mentions 1000 Pounds, that's $2000.
I asked Reinhold at the jersey Amp show and he said that the head would be around 1,000 DOLLARS.

[bluesmain]

nice indeed.. some sweet slide work bro! Kudos to you and Reinhold

[jmcerlain]

Marshall's are made in China (except the HW series) and they are over 1k, many without the options of the Bogner. I don't feel it's overpriced, especially after my discussions with Reinhold and Jorg about the quality level they are trying to deliver with the amp. I know they are serious about putting out a high quality product at a lower price point. Also the amp didn't feel inexpensive, pots felt solid, good switches etc... and it certainly didn't sound inexpensive.


Wayne, the 1x12 wasn't at the show so I can't tell you the weight. The 2x12 was heavy but not like a Shiva combo which is a monster.

[TNJ]

Big Bogner fan here...and the Alchemist looks (and sounds) to be all that.
I agree that the slidework was fabulous! Open E or G?
Metal or Glass slide? I prefer glass meself...but whatever you used, you used it good.
Great feel...
:cool:

S.
j

[jmcerlain]

Big Bogner fan here...and the Alchemist looks (and sounds) to be all that.
I agree that the slidework was fabulous! Open E or G?
Metal or Glass slide? I prefer glass meself...but whatever you used, you used it good.
Great feel...
:cool:

S.
j

I'm in open D using a glass slide, it's a real bottle neck actually. Matt Umanov here in NYC has them. Zeke, who works there often let's me know when they get some good one's in. I'm really picky about the size and weight. I also love Nunwell slides, they are hand-blown and sound and feel amazing. They are a litttle heavy so I usually use them on my National.

[OrangeAD30TC]

Little off topic, but mods i dont really think this should have been moved as If I had not been reading the thread during the move I would not have noticed it. Seems like new amps of interest like this are acceptable in amps and cabs. Reinhold didnt post it... What is the point of the disclosure rule if not so that we all can see that the OP is affiliated with Bogner, we are smart all smart enough to realize he may have a bias but there is little more than discussion of a video and really the guys playing. This is no where near the fine line between spam and discussion.

[Funky Monkey]

Beautiful. Thanks!

[jmcerlain]

Little off topic, but mods i dont really think this should have been moved as If I had not been reading the thread during the move I would not have noticed it. Seems like new amps of interest like this are acceptable in amps and cabs. Reinhold didnt post it... What is the point of the disclosure rule if not so that we all can see that the OP is affiliated with Bogner, we are smart all smart enough to realize he may have a bias but there is little more than discussion of a video and really the guys playing. This is no where near the fine line between spam and discussion.


I tried not to sound like shill for Bogner. Yes, I was employed by Bogner that day but I am not an employee or getting a percentage of amp sales. I was paid for my time. I know there is a lot of buzz about the amp and I was impressed with it. Obviously I have a good relatonship with the company and am happy to discuss their product, also if I didn't like the amp I wouldn't have posted the clip. I only answered price questions and release dates because I was asked and I just passed along any info the was told to me by Reinhold. I was sent the vido clip and liked it and thought I'd share it. Honestly, I don't see a difference between my post and Pete Thorn's Badger posts.

Anyway, I think the mods do a great job here and enjoy TGP quite a bit. I thank them for the forum and the work they put in. It seems to be quite a thankless job at times!

[OrangeAD30TC]

I agree your post isn't much different than the badger 30 stuff, And this board is my favorite because the mods keep in orderly and on topic. Thanks you for your work mods, didnt mean to sound like a jerk. I suppose I will have to become a supporting member because of my guilt.

[Orren]

Hi Jeff,

Great playing and clip!

The amp is not a metal amp to my ears, and Reinhold's. More of a rock amp to modded Marshall. Similar to the XTC on the gain channel.

I think it's funny when people suggest a "modded Marshall" level of tone is not "metal." :) I know what you mean—there are amps out there that specialize in nearly square-wave white noise clipping, and this isn't one of them. But a lot of quite brutal metal records have been made by layering modded Marshall levels of gain. My own project (Ember After, below) is basically industrial/metal/etc and my brutal "metal" tones are layered Egnater SL2 (Modded Marshall) modules, usually with the gain no more than 65% up (about 1 o'clock). Anyway, not criticizing you, just making a point. :)

BTW, did you notice if the head had anything like a line level output?

Thanks again, and I'm looking forward to giving this head a spin! :BEER

Orren

[jmcerlain]

Hi Jeff,

Great playing and clip!



I think it's funny when people suggest a "modded Marshall" level of tone is not "metal." :) I know what you mean—there are amps out there that specialize in nearly square-wave white noise clipping, and this isn't one of them. But a lot of quite brutal metal records have been made by layering modded Marshall levels of gain. My own project (Ember After, below) is basically industrial/metal/etc and my brutal "metal" tones are layered Egnater SL2 (Modded Marshall) modules, usually with the gain no more than 65% up (about 1 o'clock). Anyway, not criticizing you, just making a point. :)

BTW, did you notice if the head had anything like a line level output?

Thanks again, and I'm looking forward to giving this head a spin! :BEER

Orren


I know, I played in metal bands for years and used an 800. I agree with you, it was metal enough for me! I guess I was more referencing the Ubershall sound wise. That scooped mids thing. What's really funny is when you listen to old Judas Priest records, the amps are almost clean. I didn't give the back too close a look, so I'm not sure.

[Kyle Ashley]

This "fall" release date is worrying me:worried I just got back from a string of dates in the islands using a Spider Valve. It got the job done, but wasn't a whole lotta fun and I'll be selling it off. I have to return in mid September and REALLY wanted to take the Alchemist with me the next time around, but mid Sept is really more like late summer than fall. Let's hope this thing drops by August.

[jmcerlain]

Jeff

Just watched the "Twister" video samples...fantastic stuff.


Thanks, I liked that one as well.

I'll be doing a new Truefire dvd this summer. This one will be really cool!