Best amp at each category

[glpg80]

What

What in the XTC is SLO- like? Do you refer to the red channel or boosted blue?
are the circuits similar somehow? i've owned 3 101bs, 2 SLOs and 2 Mezzabarbas and the only similarity I’ve found is between the blue ch and the rhythm channels with the mid sweetness sitting on different frequencies between the 2. Lower in the Bog, higher in the SlO and derivatives.
the only think that sounds like the SLO and feels like the 101b is my 2c+ SRGX, kinda..

asking bc i find myself looking for another SLO or SLO AIB to have with my 101b..

When Bogner designed the XTC the blue and red channels were not designed to be remotely the same on purpose. He designed the amp so that you had a dinner plate of various different styles of gain and you use what you prefer. I much prefer blue boosted over red anyday - it’s not even a contest how much tighter and larger the amp sounds while also being the easiest amp to play on the planet with Bogner chewiness that’s addictive. The red doesn’t have near those qualities because it’s a 5 gain stage channel and is loosely based on a modded SLO. The blue is loosely based on a modded 2203.

 

[chris lykins]

Man for 5 gain stages the red channels surprisingly quiet!

 

[angelspade]

When Bogner designed the XTC the blue and red channels were not designed to be remotely the same on purpose. He designed the amp so that you had a dinner plate of various different styles of gain and you use what you prefer. I much prefer blue boosted over red anyday - it’s not even a contest how much tighter and larger the amp sounds while also being the easiest amp to play on the planet with Bogner chewiness that’s addictive. The red doesn’t have near those qualities because it’s a 5 gain stage channel and is loosely based on a modded SLO. The blue is loosely based on a modded 2203.

Great info, and very interesting. Appreciated.

 

[jabps]

I’ve had both and man I was so disappointed in my JVM . It just doesn’t open up like a regular tube Marshall. Too compressed . Good quiet though but no hell razor . And I know you know this

Yeah, I've had the complete opposite experience. It dusted my VHT's at the time when they were going head to head to determine which amp I was going with years ago when my chops were at their greatest point. I did two straight years on the road, 160 plus shows and it delivered every time. And it almost never failed that guys in other bands would ask me about that amp. I remember a player almost getting mad at me because he swore it was modded or I was using an OD, nope...I visually walked him through my signal chain.

But in classic fashion of no amp is right for everyone - my close friend bought a JVM and could never get it to work for him. He loved my tone, I dialed that exact tone in for him and no dice. I finally bought it off him a couple years ago for bone cheap and it works and sounds just like my old faithful.

 

[Techdeth]

Yeah, I've had the complete opposite experience. It dusted my VHT's at the time when they were going head to head to determine which amp I was going with years ago when my chops were at their greatest point. I did two straight years on the road, 160 plus shows and it delivered every time. And it almost never failed that guys in other bands would ask me about that amp. I remember a player almost getting mad at me because he swore it was modded or I was using an OD, nope...I visually walked him through my signal chain.

But in classic fashion of no amp is right for everyone - my close friend bought a JVM and could never get it to work for him. He loved my tone, I dialed that exact tone in for him and no dice. I finally bought it off him a couple years ago for bone cheap and it works and sounds just like my old faithful.

It sounds like you got a special one . I truly liked it . Just that it would not open up .,that’s only reason I got rid of it . It got great tones

 

[Thetorch777]

Best Clean Sound: I've played a bunch, and the Roland JC120 is still the best (Fender tube purists will slam me for this)

Most Versatile: Again, I've defiantly owned some amps that do may things well (like the Diezel VH4) and nothing has come close to the Koch Supernova Head. Five separate channels, and It does so many thing swell and the voicing dip switches (particularly the mid shift) changes the entire character and voicing of the amp.

I too like the Roland for cleans I started playing those after I learned Scorpions used them for acoustic .Also Wes Borlan uses them

 

[Thetorch777]

For me the best cleans have been: 1969 Marshall Tremolo 50w, Alessanndro DAZZ, and 1963 Vox AC30TB

The Roland JC120’s have very nice cleans for solid state amps but IME sound still a bit flat/2D when directly compared to great clean tube amps and don’t feel as good to play. IMO missing a little bit of lushness and beauty in sound

Add the chorus

 

[braintheory]

Add the chorus

I don’t like chorus or fx much in general (it does have a really good chorus though) and even so would have to compare to my other benchmark amps for cleans using the same effects to level the playing field if I were to go there, but prefer to have dry comparisons just focusing on the amp’s tone

 

[Thetorch777]

Ive had so many people over who knew nothing about cost or prestige of amps, and they always rank the hell razor as the best amp Ive had- sometimes tied with the MI . I think its just a really great amp- punch, tightness, clarity, versatility, quick attack

Whats MI ?

 

[Yehuda]

Whats MI ?

MI Megalith Beta- it’s a tighter more cutting and way bigger herbert



Here’s a clip I got of mine

 

[jabps]

It sounds like you got a special one . I truly liked it . Just that it would not open up .,that’s only reason I got rid of it . It got great tones

The two I have now basically sound the same. In fact back when I did a ton of gigging I got rid of my VHT UL and my Sig X because I needed a direct replacement backup and I really wanted to get back to a Marshall sound. Ran the back up on KT77's. I sold that one when I quit playing live but the one from my friend I picked up a couple years ago only difference is just the variances between parts, they are both set relatively close to each other in terms of settings.

Both I have now are bone stock, only thing I've done through the years is replace the tubes. I've had one that was modded with a choke and the NFB for a bit, and I owned the Satch model for a bit. I just prefer the stock ones.

Only thing I do is run the channel volumes high and use the Master to control the overall. Running the master high has zero affect on pushing the tubes harder per Santiago the designer but I had always done that anyway. And my gain was around 11 o'clock, that was it. Cabs at that time were a stock Marshall a slant loaded with 75's and if I was playing local I'd bring my other 4x12 with GB's. Nothing special. I get it though, just didn't work for you and that is all that matters.

 

[Techdeth]

The two I have now basically sound the same. In fact back when I did a ton of gigging I got rid of my VHT UL and my Sig X because I needed a direct replacement backup and I really wanted to get back to a Marshall sound. Ran the back up on KT77's. I sold that one when I quit playing live but the one from my friend I picked up a couple years ago only difference is just the variances between parts, they are both set relatively close to each other in terms of settings.

Both I have now are bone stock, only thing I've done through the years is replace the tubes. I've had one that was modded with a choke and the NFB for a bit, and I owned the Satch model for a bit. I just prefer the stock ones.

Only thing I do is run the channel volumes high and use the Master to control the overall. Running the master high has zero affect on pushing the tubes harder per Santiago the designer but I had always done that anyway. And my gain was around 11 o'clock, that was it. Cabs at that time were a stock Marshall a slant loaded with 75's and if I was playing local I'd bring my other 4x12 with GB's. Nothing special. I get it though, just didn't work for you and that is all that matters.

It’s a grant amp . That’s awesome you found that amp them . Sounds like you’re having fun too with it

 

[ChuggNorris]

MI Megalith Beta- it’s a tighter more cutting and way bigger herbert



Here’s a clip I got of mine

So, more fizzy? Seems to have a fizzy hair on top, like a hairy little thigh pitched fuzz that it there the entire clip... by the end of it I was real glad I have a herbert and not this amp. Maybe it's just your recording and the way you dial it. First time hearing one....

 

[ChuggNorris]

Yeah, I've had the complete opposite experience. It dusted my VHT's at the time when they were going head to head to determine which amp I was going with years ago when my chops were at their greatest point. I did two straight years on the road, 160 plus shows and it delivered every time. And it almost never failed that guys in other bands would ask me about that amp. I remember a player almost getting mad at me because he swore it was modded or I was using an OD, nope...I visually walked him through my signal chain.

But in classic fashion of no amp is right for everyone - my close friend bought a JVM and could never get it to work for him. He loved my tone, I dialed that exact tone in for him and no dice. I finally bought it off him a couple years ago for bone cheap and it works and sounds just like my old faithful.

Yep!!!

Tried to tell em!!


You have to know how to dial the amps. There is a reason Alverez is the fuckin DUDE.

 

[braintheory]

So, more fizzy? Seems to have a fizzy hair on top, like a hairy little thigh pitched fuzz that it there the entire clip... by the end of it I was real glad I have a herbert and not this amp. Maybe it's just your recording and the way you dial it. First time hearing one....

If it helps, there’s an another clip on YouTube of the Herbert vs the Gamma version. Not the best quality, but it’s something:
In person I don’t consider the Beta to be at all a hairy or fizzy amp, but with closing mic’ing literally any amp has the potential to come off that way and can be misleading for that reason

 

[jabps]

It’s a grant amp . That’s awesome you found that amp them . Sounds like you’re having fun too with it

Yep, I always come back to it. Double the timeframe I've stuck with an amp. My last big money sojourn kinda burned me out because I'm dropping a ton of coin and it ain't happening. Really the only amps on my radar are the MGL because I grew up on a JMP 50watt, a MOAB because Jeremy's stuff sounds amazing and the Wizard HR. I've owned or played just about everything else except the those. Or I'm leaning the Synergy 50 with modules just because it might be fun, a cool way to own a bunch of different almost there flavors without dropping the coin of the real thing.

 

[ChuggNorris]

If it helps, there’s an another clip on YouTube of the Herbert vs the Gamma version. Not the best quality, but it’s something:
In person I don’t consider the Beta to be at all a hairy or fizzy amp, but with closing mic’ing literally any amp has the potential to come off that way and can be misleading for that reason

I thought that sounded better.
And it was close. Herbert little thicker in the low mids but it sounded pretty similar to me.

Conveys a good in the room feeling here. The all white herb is still one of the best looking amps I've seen. I hate how they went with black faceplate on the III

 

[RedB4Black]

The blackout Herbert is definitely the best looking IMO. Too bad the amp is a mess, no matter which version.. I want to like it for nostalgias sake, but it’s too smooth and compressed for me these days. I used to love it, now it grates on my every last nerve. lol

 

[angelspade]

If it helps, there’s an another clip on YouTube of the Herbert vs the Gamma version. Not the best quality, but it’s something:
In person I don’t consider the Beta to be at all a hairy or fizzy amp, but with closing mic’ing literally any amp has the potential to come off that way and can be misleading for that reason

I think amps sound pretty good here. Herbert slightly thicker and rounder...Gamma a bit brighter with more attack in the top end.

 

[ChuggNorris]

The blackout Herbert is definitely the best looking IMO. Too bad the amp is a mess, no matter which version.. I want to like it for nostalgias sake, but it’s too smooth and compressed for me these days. I used to love it, now it grates on my every last nerve. lol

I gotta thing for loud white bitches.

Listen, I think the herbert would greatly benefit from a mid shift switch or control that actually shifts the mids from stock form into a little higher mid territory. The mid cut is sweet when it's low and gives a boost. But I'd like to be able to shift the preamp mids up a notch or two with a switch.

If I had that, depending where the shift was, it would be a perfect amp because the power section stays and gets more vicious the louder I turn it up. It gets to unrealistic volumes when I personally feel it sounds best and is opened up.

Channels at least around noon or more. And the master up around 10 and it starts changing right in there. The more master it gets the more ferocious it sounds through the redback/f70 the redbacks like volume too so.

I'm still honey mooning with it I guess.
I love the way it feels. It's not as spongey as a marshall or engl to me but it just feels dense as fuck. Quite addicting.