TotallyRadGuitars
Well-known member
I've been really taking my time posting this one. It's been a busy summer and I've hardly had time to even play lately.
I snagged this 100B and finally had a few moments to sit down with it, so here are some initial impressions. I need to spend a bit more time dialing it in and something I've been adamant about is that I think you need to own an amp for a month or more before you make decisions about the tone, so keep that in mind. I used a 2003 Mesa Trad Recto 4x12 with UK Celestion V30 and a couple of 80s Kramers.
First, it is more difficult to dial in at lower volumes than my 101B, but cranked up it feels much more natural - something I've seen in other threads about this amp and it rings true here. The funny thing is I expected it to be easier to dial because the 100B has an overall mv control, unlike the 101B. This overall master is only active when the loop is on, and another interesting thing - you HAVE to have an effect or a patch cable otherwise the loop button just mutes the amp. I'll admit I didn't spend much time playing it quietly so maybe the right combination of master vol + channel volume settings might've helped it at lower volumes (talking about ~90db here in the room).
Cranking it up to more regular volumes, the clean channel really surprised me. I think most people consider the green/clean channel to be one of the weak points of the 101B, but this amp feels quite a bit different. It reminds me a bit of my Bogner Goldfinger GF45. With the gain low, the 3-way bright switch gives a ton of flexibility and super spanky, twangy tones even with a humbucker. It stays uncompressed, can get very acoustic sounding. It's a tone I think funky players would really enjoy playing fast chords on. Turning up the gain and it stays clean, but gets more compressed, and the effect of the bright switches is less apparent. This is different from my 101B where it can get dirty as the gain is turned up - on the 100B, it only gets a tiny bit more hair. Turned way up with the bright switch in the center and it's jazz tone heaven. I'm just really impressed with the range of this channel and consider it to be better than the 101B in many ways (although I'll admit, I'm a sucker for a dirtied-up clean channel so I still love the 101's, in the same way I love the green ch on an EVH 5153). The GF45 comparison isn't perfect but that amp also stays very clean and I feel like I sense a little of the same DNA here, no surprise as it's the same designer.
The Blue channel is classic smooth XTC goodness, but it has a noticeable amount less gain than my 101B does at the same settings. I don't want to just repeat the same things others have said but some of that is similar to the green channel - a bit less compression on the 100B and that affects the "feel" of the amount of gain. I think this is also why clips of these amps sound so similar, but in the room and playing it there's a noticeable difference between the two amps. One other big difference is that the 100B's blue and red channels have 3-way bright switches, labeled "Bright" "Middle" and "Dark." And the Dark is... really muted. The 101B has the same 3-way switches, and I understand that functionally they work the same way, but the values definitely feel tweaked in comparison. The 101B's bright switches are labeled B1, N, B2 - so the middle position is darkest, and that doesn't feel quite as dark as the "dark" setting on the 100B. In short, I can't find much of a reason to use the "dark" setting no either channel on the 100B, it is way too dark for my taste, but I suppose there could be a situation for a solo tone, or some fuzz or whatever where it'd be neat to use, just not something I'll be setting regularly.
Spilling over into the Red channel, it's the same core tone with more gain. I don't have a 100B schematic, but I do have a 101B schem, and on the 101B at least it is the same signal path as the Blue just with an extra tube stage switched in - with a 10k cathode resistor (a "cold clipper," like a JCM800 2203, same value). I can extrapolate that this 100B probably works the same way, but the core voicing of this amp feels a little darker, and a little less... hi-fi. The negative to that is that I actually don't love this Red channel for high gain rhythms. I know any Ecstasy isn't the pinnacle of ultra high gain tones and they aren't meant for that (the reason the Uber exists), but I really feel like I could make a good argument for the 101B's red channel for metal tones with the right combination of bright switches and EQ. Not the case here - this is simply an extension of the blue channel with more gain on tap and a little different texture from that extra assymetric clipping stage. What that does mean though, is if you are a player who just absolutely loves and lives on the blue channel and just wants that same tone with slightly more gain for a solo or fill, this might be the best possible amp for you. It's a very natural transition and if you need a little more cut, set the blue channel to the "M" position and the red to the "Bright" on the 3-way switches and they just work great together when switching.
Another option to mention is that on this amp, only the Red channel has "plexi mode." Plexi mode (again, referring to the 101B schematic), drops two gain stages out of the circuit - so the amp becomes a simple two-tube-gain-stage design (just like a "plexi"). You trade the bright/normal or channel jumpering options of a real plexi for the bright switches, air, and exursion options of the Ecstasy. On the 101B, this is available on both blue and red channels, so you can go from a Plexi crunch sound directly to a Red high gain metal tone on one tap. On the 100B, that is not possible, the blue channel is always the same 3-stage design, then you choose whether you want Red to be the plexi or high gain channel - not both. Of course the channels are quite similar, but to do the same thing the 101B does you'd probably need to use red in plexi mode, then switch to blue + add a boost to hit the same gain level.
What else... there is an Excursion switch on the 100B but it is only two-way and it's a master for the whole amp. I do find this to a be a little... inflexible. It's a louder and beefier on the "L" setting, and I like that quality about these amps, but I think the gain channel especially Red suffers in this mode. However I find the "T" mode to be a little too tight, and it doesn't have as much punch as I'd like. Really, the 101B does this better, with two 3-way Excursion switches and two assignable Presence controls - just so much more flexible there.
The 100B also has an "air" switch, which is described in the original manual as adding more lows and highs to the amp. I experimented with turning this on and off while switching the Excursion but I still couldn't quite find the balance I wanted. The Air switch can quickly become what feels like a "mudd" switch, not to trash on it as it's very usable but depending on your gain/bright switches and EQ it can be a bit undesirable. I do not know if the "Structure" switch on the 101B is the same thing - I'd have to trace the circuit to figure that out.
Both the 100B and 101B also have switchable boosts. A difference though is that the 100B boost mode is amp-wide, as opposed to the 101 where you can boost the clean and gain channels separately. I find the boost very usable, they sound good, natural. From what I understand looking at the 101 schematic, the amp with the boost "on" is its natural sound, and engaging the boost sends some signal to ground between gain stages 1-2 on the blue/red channels, which cuts some of the lower frequencies and overall gain amount. Either way, cool feature and nicely implemented.
I haven't had much time to experiment with the loop, but one last feature to mention is that the 100B does not have the Class A/AB switch of some 101's (including mine), but instead it has a built in "Variac" switch on the rear panel. I personally LOVE my 101B in Class A mode and I think I'd rather have that option, to nitpick a little. The Variac switch drops the volume, adds a bit of compression to the feel of playing the amp - it sounds good, reminds me a little bit of switching a Rectifier from Bold to Spongy, but it's a more extreme difference than that. The negative is that I'm spoiled enough to be sitting here in the room with both amps - and if I wanted a more compressed Ecstasy tone, I'd play the 101. The real advantage of the 100 to me is that it's a bit more raw, uncompressed, and therefore the effect of all of the voicing switches is different. I can see why this feature went away because the Class A/AB switch "feels" much better, but this is only my opinion. I'll spend a little more time with Variac mode and see if I can warm up to it.
Overall, I really pleased to have the chance to own an amp like this... this is the first amp I've owned that I'd consider to be kind of "amp royalty." It's an impressive amp especially for the time and I can see why people are so attached to these, and why they don't come up for sale often. For me personally though, my thoughts are that I slightly prefer the 101B overall, and knowing the value of an amp like this it's hard not to think well... I could sell it and buy two of X...
Thanks for reading. I have disassembled and cleaned the entire amp, so here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure. If anyone happens to have a traced schematic for the 100B already, please send me a PM. Thanks!
There's a pictures on my website plus the original manual from 1994 & sales receipt. This amp was first sold by Swissvale Music in PA, Nov 1994 - likely one of the last 100B's produced considering the date and serial number (#115).
https://totallyradguitars.com/1994-bogner-ecstasy-100b/
I snagged this 100B and finally had a few moments to sit down with it, so here are some initial impressions. I need to spend a bit more time dialing it in and something I've been adamant about is that I think you need to own an amp for a month or more before you make decisions about the tone, so keep that in mind. I used a 2003 Mesa Trad Recto 4x12 with UK Celestion V30 and a couple of 80s Kramers.
First, it is more difficult to dial in at lower volumes than my 101B, but cranked up it feels much more natural - something I've seen in other threads about this amp and it rings true here. The funny thing is I expected it to be easier to dial because the 100B has an overall mv control, unlike the 101B. This overall master is only active when the loop is on, and another interesting thing - you HAVE to have an effect or a patch cable otherwise the loop button just mutes the amp. I'll admit I didn't spend much time playing it quietly so maybe the right combination of master vol + channel volume settings might've helped it at lower volumes (talking about ~90db here in the room).
Cranking it up to more regular volumes, the clean channel really surprised me. I think most people consider the green/clean channel to be one of the weak points of the 101B, but this amp feels quite a bit different. It reminds me a bit of my Bogner Goldfinger GF45. With the gain low, the 3-way bright switch gives a ton of flexibility and super spanky, twangy tones even with a humbucker. It stays uncompressed, can get very acoustic sounding. It's a tone I think funky players would really enjoy playing fast chords on. Turning up the gain and it stays clean, but gets more compressed, and the effect of the bright switches is less apparent. This is different from my 101B where it can get dirty as the gain is turned up - on the 100B, it only gets a tiny bit more hair. Turned way up with the bright switch in the center and it's jazz tone heaven. I'm just really impressed with the range of this channel and consider it to be better than the 101B in many ways (although I'll admit, I'm a sucker for a dirtied-up clean channel so I still love the 101's, in the same way I love the green ch on an EVH 5153). The GF45 comparison isn't perfect but that amp also stays very clean and I feel like I sense a little of the same DNA here, no surprise as it's the same designer.
The Blue channel is classic smooth XTC goodness, but it has a noticeable amount less gain than my 101B does at the same settings. I don't want to just repeat the same things others have said but some of that is similar to the green channel - a bit less compression on the 100B and that affects the "feel" of the amount of gain. I think this is also why clips of these amps sound so similar, but in the room and playing it there's a noticeable difference between the two amps. One other big difference is that the 100B's blue and red channels have 3-way bright switches, labeled "Bright" "Middle" and "Dark." And the Dark is... really muted. The 101B has the same 3-way switches, and I understand that functionally they work the same way, but the values definitely feel tweaked in comparison. The 101B's bright switches are labeled B1, N, B2 - so the middle position is darkest, and that doesn't feel quite as dark as the "dark" setting on the 100B. In short, I can't find much of a reason to use the "dark" setting no either channel on the 100B, it is way too dark for my taste, but I suppose there could be a situation for a solo tone, or some fuzz or whatever where it'd be neat to use, just not something I'll be setting regularly.
Spilling over into the Red channel, it's the same core tone with more gain. I don't have a 100B schematic, but I do have a 101B schem, and on the 101B at least it is the same signal path as the Blue just with an extra tube stage switched in - with a 10k cathode resistor (a "cold clipper," like a JCM800 2203, same value). I can extrapolate that this 100B probably works the same way, but the core voicing of this amp feels a little darker, and a little less... hi-fi. The negative to that is that I actually don't love this Red channel for high gain rhythms. I know any Ecstasy isn't the pinnacle of ultra high gain tones and they aren't meant for that (the reason the Uber exists), but I really feel like I could make a good argument for the 101B's red channel for metal tones with the right combination of bright switches and EQ. Not the case here - this is simply an extension of the blue channel with more gain on tap and a little different texture from that extra assymetric clipping stage. What that does mean though, is if you are a player who just absolutely loves and lives on the blue channel and just wants that same tone with slightly more gain for a solo or fill, this might be the best possible amp for you. It's a very natural transition and if you need a little more cut, set the blue channel to the "M" position and the red to the "Bright" on the 3-way switches and they just work great together when switching.
Another option to mention is that on this amp, only the Red channel has "plexi mode." Plexi mode (again, referring to the 101B schematic), drops two gain stages out of the circuit - so the amp becomes a simple two-tube-gain-stage design (just like a "plexi"). You trade the bright/normal or channel jumpering options of a real plexi for the bright switches, air, and exursion options of the Ecstasy. On the 101B, this is available on both blue and red channels, so you can go from a Plexi crunch sound directly to a Red high gain metal tone on one tap. On the 100B, that is not possible, the blue channel is always the same 3-stage design, then you choose whether you want Red to be the plexi or high gain channel - not both. Of course the channels are quite similar, but to do the same thing the 101B does you'd probably need to use red in plexi mode, then switch to blue + add a boost to hit the same gain level.
What else... there is an Excursion switch on the 100B but it is only two-way and it's a master for the whole amp. I do find this to a be a little... inflexible. It's a louder and beefier on the "L" setting, and I like that quality about these amps, but I think the gain channel especially Red suffers in this mode. However I find the "T" mode to be a little too tight, and it doesn't have as much punch as I'd like. Really, the 101B does this better, with two 3-way Excursion switches and two assignable Presence controls - just so much more flexible there.
The 100B also has an "air" switch, which is described in the original manual as adding more lows and highs to the amp. I experimented with turning this on and off while switching the Excursion but I still couldn't quite find the balance I wanted. The Air switch can quickly become what feels like a "mudd" switch, not to trash on it as it's very usable but depending on your gain/bright switches and EQ it can be a bit undesirable. I do not know if the "Structure" switch on the 101B is the same thing - I'd have to trace the circuit to figure that out.
Both the 100B and 101B also have switchable boosts. A difference though is that the 100B boost mode is amp-wide, as opposed to the 101 where you can boost the clean and gain channels separately. I find the boost very usable, they sound good, natural. From what I understand looking at the 101 schematic, the amp with the boost "on" is its natural sound, and engaging the boost sends some signal to ground between gain stages 1-2 on the blue/red channels, which cuts some of the lower frequencies and overall gain amount. Either way, cool feature and nicely implemented.
I haven't had much time to experiment with the loop, but one last feature to mention is that the 100B does not have the Class A/AB switch of some 101's (including mine), but instead it has a built in "Variac" switch on the rear panel. I personally LOVE my 101B in Class A mode and I think I'd rather have that option, to nitpick a little. The Variac switch drops the volume, adds a bit of compression to the feel of playing the amp - it sounds good, reminds me a little bit of switching a Rectifier from Bold to Spongy, but it's a more extreme difference than that. The negative is that I'm spoiled enough to be sitting here in the room with both amps - and if I wanted a more compressed Ecstasy tone, I'd play the 101. The real advantage of the 100 to me is that it's a bit more raw, uncompressed, and therefore the effect of all of the voicing switches is different. I can see why this feature went away because the Class A/AB switch "feels" much better, but this is only my opinion. I'll spend a little more time with Variac mode and see if I can warm up to it.
Overall, I really pleased to have the chance to own an amp like this... this is the first amp I've owned that I'd consider to be kind of "amp royalty." It's an impressive amp especially for the time and I can see why people are so attached to these, and why they don't come up for sale often. For me personally though, my thoughts are that I slightly prefer the 101B overall, and knowing the value of an amp like this it's hard not to think well... I could sell it and buy two of X...
Thanks for reading. I have disassembled and cleaned the entire amp, so here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure. If anyone happens to have a traced schematic for the 100B already, please send me a PM. Thanks!
There's a pictures on my website plus the original manual from 1994 & sales receipt. This amp was first sold by Swissvale Music in PA, Nov 1994 - likely one of the last 100B's produced considering the date and serial number (#115).
https://totallyradguitars.com/1994-bogner-ecstasy-100b/
