Well, as a Bogner Shiva diehard, I finally tested a Bogner XTC 101b on Saturday. All the negativity on the clean channel was correct. I was expecting it to be too thin, but instead it was really flubby and just lacked personality. The Red channel was nice and the blue channel was pretty hot. But really, and I guess I am in the minority here, the Shivas gain with the boost on is just tastier to my ears. It might not get quit as hot as the xtc, but do I need to spend an extra $1000 for what the 101b offers? Definitely not. Now if I could just get my hands on an uber to demo!!! ~thomas
Someone agrees with me! XTC did nothing for me at all. LOVE the Shiva!! One of the best switchers ever imo.
While I like the entire Bogner line up (each is very good for the category IMO), it is nice to still see Shiva fans around here. That is the amp that really got me into diggin' the boutique amp thing and remains one of my favorites. Evan.
I felt the same way about the XTC. Shiva was great but not enough gain for me. Would love to try one with a good boost though. The Uber on the other hand I love! Had one, traded it and now want another again. Pretty much a one trick pony, but what a trick!
I had a Shiva for a little while but went with an XTC(6L6) for versitility that I needed. Right away the clean was a dissapointment. I do really dig the Blue channel. http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=81418 I don't gig with it anymore and use it in the studio as a one tone amp, variations of Blue Ch. Not sure how long I am going to keep it around for just that. Peace, Duffy
I wasn't able to make the XTC work for me either. I hear other people doing amazing stuff with them...but I wasn't able to. Dug the Shiva quite a bit more, but the Orange Rockerverb is the channel switcher that really works for how I like to play. To each his own...
Yeah, that's why I have the Classic instead of the 101b. The clean channel is quite a bit better in the Classic to my ears. It sounds a lot like the clean channel on the Shiva the way I have it dialed in. However, when I really want clean sounds, I generally use other amps than an XTC or Shiva for recording purposes.
+1 on the XTC, but I've heard some players make those amps sound like the best thing on the planet. I wanted the Shiva to be "the" amp for me, but it just fell short for what I do,....which isn't much. I picked up a Rockerverb 50 used from Steve Snider and I tell ya it's one smokin amp. The gain channel is what I wanted the Shiva to be, and the clean channel is almost as good as the Shiva. It won't replace my Recto's, but it's a fantastic amp for sure. Thomas,..the Über is an awesome sounding amp and my personal favorite of the Bogner line. For thick, chunky, super heavy distortion it's hard to beat in my book. Clean isn't great but usable,...I liked it better than the XTC's clean.
I liked the Bogner Classic Ecstasy I had, but the Shiva remains my fave Bogner. No dog in this hunt, but that's my opinion.
I love the XTC blue channel. Some of my favorite crunch tones. Love that channel for certain stuff. Some good clips on the Bogner site for all the models if you anyone has not heard these amps. Evan.
I have a 101 A and it rocks, I had a 101B and agreed with all the reviews, but the 6l6's made a differrence
Chalk me up as another who could never get the 101B to click. I spun knobs all day long (and there are sure a lot of knobs and switches) and nothing ever felt quite right. Now I need to try a Shiva.
Couldn't get the 101b to work for me. The Classic is cool. The Shiva a little easier to dail. The Uber is unbelievable. I really have little use for one these days but what an amp.
I had a 101b and bought a Classic hoping it would have fixed the problems I had with the tone of the 101b. It did and it didn't. I didn't really like the Classic either. It fixed some problems but created some new ones (at least for me). The Shiva is a great amp though. Much more musical and harmonically rich than the Ecstasy, in my opinion. The Uber is good for what it does, but if I were playing metal I'd much rather have a used, older VHT Ultralead.
I've given an XTC Classic two tries. Unfortunately, like others have said, I've heard others make them sound great, but I can't.... I prefer the voicing of the Shiva. But I've tried many other amps that work better for me than the Shiva's gain channel. Their cleans are quite good, though ....
