Shiva 20th vs. Bogner Goldfinger 90

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ubermetaldood

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I'm on the fence between these two amps and need some advice real quick. I love the Shiva 20th but am infatuated with the Goldfinger 90 at this point. There is not a 90 around here to play but there is a 45. The Goldfinger 45 is terrific, but not exactly what I'm looking for. It's very versatile but I don't think 6V6's will do it for me as I prefer the sound of bigger tubes. I've been playing it a lot to try and get a feel for what the 90 might sound like, but I'm at a loss at this point. There aren't any good quality sound clips of the 90 around except I think one or two. The first one is just some rhythm stuff and doesn't showcase the lead sound, and I think the guy is using active pickups in the other short video. The rest of the videos have a lot of background noise and clipping from the camera mic.

Anyway, I was thinking about the versatility and classic EL34 tone of the Goldfinger. Plus, it has power options which is very useful for me since I play a lot in home and studio and rarely live. The Shiva 20th, surprisingly, sounds awesome at lower volumes. The thing is that I do like KT88's, but am kind of stuck on EL34's mostly, so I was thinking about ordering the 20th with EL34's so I would have the option of going back to KT88's if I wanted to.

On the other hand, even though I'm not much on pedals, I do keep two overdrive pedals so I can color my sound a bit differently. One gives me more of the Marshall crunch and the other is more Dumblesque for smoother tones. That said, whenever I plug pedals into the 20th KT88 Shiva, it still pretty much sounds like the 20th KT88 Shiva. I had an standard EL34 Shiva before and different pedals would give me a bit more tonal variation. For instance, I could get more of a Mesa Boogie type sound or Dumble'ish tone if I wanted to using different overdrives. However, I didn't keep the regular Shiva because I wanted a bit more versatility and amp distortion. I have no idea how a 20th Shiva with EL34's would react with pedals.

In any case, I think they're both great amps and I'm having a real hard time deciding. By the way, I play mostly a lot of Satch, Maiden, Eric Johnson, Metallica, Scorpions, and some blues... occasionally classical. Any advice you can give would be helpful in my decision. Thanks.
 
You might get more traction on this question over at TGP. I don't know how many guys here on RT have/had a Goldfinger 90.....
 
I played the 90 GF and immediately ran back and hugged my 20th sheeves with Kts. But thats me. Lots of people love the GF. The GF 90 will not get as heavy as the KT 20th though. So keep that in mind. Different voicings for different players is all it is. You gotta try one and hear for yourself.
 
RSRD":lmk3fd27 said:
I played the 90 GF and immediately ran back and hugged my 20th sheeves with Kts. But thats me. Lots of people love the GF. The GF 90 will not get as heavy as the KT 20th though. So keep that in mind. Different voicings for different players is all it is. You gotta try one and hear for yourself.

Thanks man. I sure wish there was one around here that I could try for my self. I'm not necessarily going for a heavy amp. I considered several of those kinds of amps like the Engl Invader, Splawn Nitro, etc..., but I'm into more like Joe Satriani kind of stuff. I went ahead with the Shiva 20th Anniversary order but opted for EL34 tubes since the switch back to KT88's is apparently just a rebias and single resistor change.

Honestly, I'm kind of regretting not taking the Goldfinger because I love Marshall type amps. I would have gotten a Cameron or something if I could have afforded it. I might cancel the Shiva 20th and take the Goldfinger if my dealer lets me do it simply because the Goldfinger is a better pedal platform and seems a little easier to shape the sound with.
 
ubermetaldood":1b503ovg said:
RSRD":1b503ovg said:
I played the 90 GF and immediately ran back and hugged my 20th sheeves with Kts. But thats me. Lots of people love the GF. The GF 90 will not get as heavy as the KT 20th though. So keep that in mind. Different voicings for different players is all it is. You gotta try one and hear for yourself.

Thanks man. I sure wish there was one around here that I could try for my self. I'm not necessarily going for a heavy amp. I considered several of those kinds of amps like the Engl Invader, Splawn Nitro, etc..., but I'm into more like Joe Satriani kind of stuff. I went ahead with the Shiva 20th Anniversary order but opted for EL34 tubes since the switch back to KT88's is apparently just a rebias and single resistor change.

Honestly, I'm kind of regretting not taking the Goldfinger because I love Marshall type amps. I would have gotten a Cameron or something if I could have afforded it. I might cancel the Shiva 20th and take the Goldfinger if my dealer lets me do it simply because the Goldfinger is a better pedal platform and seems a little easier to shape the sound with.

The 2oth shiva is just an outstanding amp IMHO. It can do it all and has so much character. It gets pretty aggressive but also backs off into awesome tones. The clean channel is outstanding as well. I dont think I will ever get rid of this amp. :thumbsup:
 
I have played a GF three times, they carry them at GC here, and I was hearing good things in reviews.

I strongly considered it as my clean/dirt/blues and pedal amp. It is very fun to play. The tone shaping has more pre/post power than I was able to figure out in the 45 min or so sessions I played on it. It should serve you well. It was about impossible to get a bad tone out of it. It has a wide variety of cleaner tone shaping. I did not hit is with a boost. It sounds like a bogner.

I didn't get it because I noticed a MKIIC with simulclass, reverb, GEQ and had been wanting one for years. I bought that.
 
Heritage Softail":36snn574 said:
I have played a GF three times, they carry them at GC here, and I was hearing good things in reviews.

I didn't get it because I noticed a MKIIC with simulclass, reverb, GEQ and had been wanting one for years. I bought that.

scream.jpg
 
20thA Sheevs is on my to-do list.

So are a few others. Just gotta sort my year of business sorted out and we'll go from there... But my arsenal needs a Shiva. I'll justify and rationalize any way necessary :yes:

Just sayin',
Mo
 
Mo:

I just took my Shiva 20th to rehearsal last night for the first time in months.

OMG! :shocked: I had forgotten how amazing this amp sounds when really cranked up. :rawk:

The lead tone from the second channel when using the amp's boost is nothing short of jaw dropping. So fat and fluid, and I was playing a Strat - with single coils!

It has knocked a few other amps out of my rotation, at least for the time being.

I highly recommend! :thumbsup:
 
rlord1974":27jduv7x said:
Mo:

I just took my Shiva 20th to rehearsal last night for the first time in months.

OMG! :shocked: I had forgotten how amazing this amp sounds when really cranked up. :rawk:

The lead tone from the second channel when using the amp's boost is nothing short of jaw dropping. So fat and fluid, and I was playing a Strat - with single coils!

It has knocked a few other amps out of my rotation, at least for the time being.

I highly recommend! :thumbsup:
Thanks for this Bro... Seriously, this is a killer amp man. And you're right - it needs some dick to get it to where it starts to happen, but man, when that thing happens?? Golden tone.

Appreciate the pep talk. I know the Sheevs and me will be thick as thieves. I love Bogners, and as I've been going through a pretty big study on AIC and JC songs as of late (learning them, pulling them apart, getting into the layering and tones, and styles and nuances), the ownership of the 20th Shiva is inevitable. I love Diezels, but honestly I play the shit outta my Bogners for "all purpose tone".

I guess I just love 'em both.

Keep the GAS inspiration coming... :2thumbsup: :rawk:

Mojo
 
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