Bogner Owners: School me on the Ecstacy

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glpg80

glpg80

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There's the Classic, 20th anniversary, 101B, and I've even read rumors of very rare 101A's a long time ago on here.

Then there's EL34 and 6L6?

Major tonal differences?

Purpose is an all round amplifier - blues, classic rock, and just general playing. I really liked the cleans of the 101B :)
 
The first Ecstacy was the 100. It came either with 6L6 tubes (the 100A, for "American," I think) or EL34 tubes (the 100B, for "British" I think).

I think the next one out was the white chassis 101A and 101B, which had cabinet switching and other crazy bells and whistles. I've never played one, but this is kinda the red-headed stepchild of the line.

Then came the black chassis 101A and B. At some point, the red channel was modified to increase the gain and compression. The "Marvel Mod" let's you switch between the two versions.

Then the chrome chassis 101 Classic. Supposed to be more similar to the 100.

Then the 20th Anniversary, which is supposed to be able to sound like all of them depending on how you set it up
 
Thanks dudes - that's exactly what I was looking for!

Reza, what are your thoughts on the 20th sounding like them all? Have you owned any others?
 
I own a Classic and it's actually called an Ecstasy 101b Classic.

100A = 6L6
100B = EL34
101A = 6L6
101B = EL34
101b Classic = EL34
20th 101A = 6L6
20th 101B = EL34
 
Rezamatix":3rgz3vr3 said:
I have a 20th Anniversary Model. I have to say its fucking luxury. I love the way it sounds and FEELS when you play it. It feels like CLASS, Very strong in the rock Rhythm department, but its smooth and polished Rock. The 3rd Channel is creamy liquid lead sex and the clean channel..is OK..its nice and gets the job done, but not remarkable in any particular aspect, unless you crank the gain on it and make it a dirtier clean.

Whatever, words.
Here is a video I made.
Click to expand...
Sounds great. Some of those lead tones were outrageous. Is that boosted or just guitar straight in?
Nice playing too!
 
cardinal":33qagg99 said:
The first Ecstacy was the 100. It came either with 6L6 tubes (the 100A, for "American," I think) or EL34 tubes (the 100B, for "British" I think).

I think the next one out was the white chassis 101A and 101B, which had cabinet switching and other crazy bells and whistles. I've never played one, but this is kinda the red-headed stepchild of the line.

Then came the black chassis 101A and B. At some point, the red channel was modified to increase the gain and compression. The "Marvel Mod" let's you switch between the two versions.

Then the chrome chassis 101 Classic. Supposed to be more similar to the 100.

Then the 20th Anniversary, which is supposed to be able to sound like all of them depending on how you set it up
Click to expand...

FYI - the 1st cabinet switching was in a couple of 100B's. I played Brett Garsed's amp (Nelson) when it landed in Australia. And yes later some of the 101B's also had the switching
 
Hey Reza, which cab did you use for the Bogner vid?
I'm listening through Beyer DT990 Pro headphones (quite good studio qual. stuff), but I must say, there's quite a 'bitey' edge to the drive tones.
When you said it was smooth and liquid, I expected something more in the vein of certain Engl tones (or a Mesa Mark IV lead tone).

I can tell ya, that my Invader's 'base tone' is a lot smoother. To the point where I want some more grit, but that's where the EVH comes in (which I had/have to tame because of its bright spike (I never run the presence over 10 'o clock for instance).
 
The Ecstasy easily one of the top channel switching amps out there. I mean it is amazing in tones and feel
 
I have an early Bogner 101B (EL34) that I wouldnt trade for any Bogner amp built.

You'll need to let your ears, hands and body feel the differences and make a decision on what YOU think fits YOU better ;)
 
I've had tons of amps from marshalls to fenders, diezels to dr. Zs. The only one I have left is an ecstasy classic... (mic drop)
 
Owned an EL-34 20th Anniversary for several years (recorded both albums with it), and have nothing bad at all to say about it. Every time plugging in brought a smile to my face (well, aside from my own terrible playing). Red channel has stupid amounts of gain to my ears. With the power setting options you have a high number of choices there as well.

Hands down the best amp I've ever owned or played through.
 
I also have an older 101B that I recently got....still haven't NAD'd it! LoL!

Amazing amp in every way! I have dreamed of owning one and it finally happend.

It really met all of my tone expectations and more!

:rock:
 
I have a 20th XTC in 6l6.Love it..When I bought it I couldn't get it dialed right,and neither could any my buddy monster players.Then I had it serviced,re biased,etc,ect..(apparently somebody just went out and threw a bunch of tubes in it with no biasing)....Thing is SICK now!...a tone monster..Clean ch is one of the best ive ever heard.blue ch is what most xtc players use-its real nice,,red gain ch is insane amounts of gain..never have to set above 1oclock for searing pinch harmonics- and that's with a tele!...Even class a mode is nice-thick,rich,chewy gain..so many options on the amp.Its a players' amp though..would love to try all the versions someday.
 
I also own a 20th XTC 6L6. Phenomenal in every regard. The advantage of the 6L6 is better cleans, IMO, but the drive channels are a matter of taste as against the EL34. All I can say is that the red channel with the amp's boost and a nice, slightly modulated delay is lead playing heaven.

For my money, the best amplifier ever made.

-C
 
I picked up a Classic recently. Reza pretty much nailed it as far as the gain and feel/response being very refined and "luxury". The blue channel is one of the most addicting guitar sounds I've ever experienced. It does classic rock,rock and blues with its own voice. Less upper mids than a Marshall but still a familiar rock sound. Plexi mode is amazing on its own when cranked up or with an overdrive or fuzz before it can get QOTSA or classic fuzz tones.

Unboosted Blue is super dynamic and juicy. Boosted takes Blue into higher gain territory but it never loses it's character (doesn't get "hard" like it would if boosted with a TS and maintains a somewhat loose feel)

The Red channel on the Classic is bit more open than the 101Bs I've played. There is also a bit less gain. It's not night and day different though, just a slightly different thing than the 101B. This channel can sort of mimic the Blue channel at lower gain settings but with a slightly different midrange and at higher gain settings it can get a bit aggressive but not in the modern metal camp at all.

Clean, the amp does pretty well. It doesn't quite get as good of a clean as my Mark IV or the Lonestar or Fenders I've used but it's a very nice clean. It's not that far from a Fender sound when set up right, but it has a "murky" quality to it which can actually sound pretty cool. I think the Mesa Mark or Lonestar makes a slightly better pedal platform but they're not worlds apart. Also, I should note that the Classic clean channel sounds slightly better than the standard 101b to me but again, it's very similar. Just a hair more open (less compressed).



Most of the clips in this video below are from the Classic and not the standard 101b, so this should give you an idea of the tones available. Pretty much what I hear when I play mine.

 
Ecstasy Classic is my go to. I have a bunch of sweet amps but for all the tones I need the Bogner fits me fine. Modern Rock Cover band to my own original stuff it does it all. I don't even use pedals with it. No need. As for the clean my Parker Fly set to acoustic on the clean channel is glorious. No I don't do praise and worship so maybe glorious wasn't the right word!
 
My 101b clean channel. Keep in mind the Suhr has the high output Aldrich pickups
 
Im taking my 20th xtc 6l6 to a modern country rock show this Sat night..I ve got it dialed in nice with my tele...Theres so many options,right now I'm going back and forth w/ the modern-vintage switch..heck, I cant decide..both sound killer!!!
 
For the modern country stuff whats in your pedal chain if anything? Can we hear a clip?
 
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