Finally played a Duende

[glassjaw7]

I went to try a Twin Jet through Uber Kab last weekend, which I really enjoyed. That amp surprised me, as channel 1 could almost get into nu-metal scooped territory while the 'Uber' channel was much more creamy and smooth. I was expecting channel 1 to be almost XTC blue meets Marshall only thicker, especially after some of the clips I've heard, but it was something completely different.

Anyway, while the TJ was sweet I still prefer the Rev 2 Ubers. So I looked at the other amps they had in stock and ended up plugging a Tom Anderson Hollow drop top classic and a vintage LP custom into a Duende. I've heard these in person before but didn't really pay attention or care until now. Holy crap, what an amp!! It's hard to pinpoint what made it so great, but it just feels so alive! Obviously at 15 watts and 6V6 and H30 speaker it is voiced with a vintage vibe. Beautiful verb and tremolo onboard. It was somewhat like a more organic and open, less stiff Shiva. Just beautiful clean, light breakup through classic rock tones, and could get into more pissed off gain tones but that's not what it did best.

I've only played a couple other amps that I felt this connected to. Just a great vibe that was so responsive to my playing. If I wasn't so into heavier tones still and didn't need a lot of volume, this would be my next amp.

 

[Ventura]

Yep.

All the new mini-maulers that Reinhold's putting out are pretty addictive. I've envisioned a room full of these combos - just ripe for the picking. Cuz, c'mon, it's so easy to crank up a 15W or 22W or even a 30W amp to have it really bloom versus a 100W mega head with matching 4x12... The sweeter tone's will always come from the smaller packages.

Glad you liked it.

 

[glassjaw7]

For sure man. Just like putting my Mark IV in low power mode and class A, it just gets easier to play on and oozes that vibe. But Bogner does it at the next level! Guy does something special with his amps for sure. The Twin Jet was really cool too, but I didn't get to really crank it up past 2 or 3 on the master and even that was LOUD. I'd love to grab one for a weekend and try it with my band.

 

[Ventura]

Uber isn't a low volume happy head.

But these little biscuits that Reinhold's putting out are killer. Tons of available set ups, and all of which I am sure have their own unique vibe different from their brethren.

Get the Duende

Then again, there's a phat, brand new barely test-driven 20thA-6L6 that'll soon be for sale a la Stevie. Dayum. Even my thoughts are wandering to a place of "two 20thA's, two types of powervalves...fap fap fap".

 

[richedie]

I have never once thought of a Shiva as stiff. Not even close! I have an EL34 20th Shiva and there is nothing stiff about it.

The clean channel on my Shiva is so incredible, I am done buying amps. All I need are good pedals now.

 

[ubermetaldood]

I also prefer the Rev B Uberschalls. I tried the Twin Jet on a few different cabs and didn't care for it too much. I had a Rev B for a while and my impression was that it was more versatile than people typically give it credit for. I wish I still had that amp because it had a great lead sound.

The Duende is an amp that I've been wanting for a long time. Oh man do they have one of the most pleasing voicings of any amp. One amp that I really love is the Two-Rock Studio Pro 35 which has two 6L6's. It's one of the absolute best sounding pedal platforms that I've ever heard, with an incredibly good clean channel, and one of the best reverbs I've heard. That compares very well to the Duende 6L6 model. Both of them are incredible amps. Too bad Bogner only makes the 6V6 version now.

Actually, not "too bad" because the 6V6 15w Duende is a powerful amp with loads of clean headroom, if you want it, but also a superb drive. In fact, I like it better than the drive of the Goldfinger 45 (I prefer the Goldfinger 90 over the 45 by the way). Not only that, it sounds supreme with pedals. For 15w, it's loud enough for many different applications. With a 4x12 cab, you could easily do most gigs.

I wish the Duende was priced a little cheaper because at that price you have to consider so many other options AND brands. I think they're asking for something like $2600 for them now.