Some Uber Ultra action

[TheGreatGreen]

Never played an OG Uberschall. I have owned two Bogners: a XTC 20th EL34 and a Cantrell-modded Fish Preamp (used with a VHT 2150 power amp).

This amp is much brighter and noisier than either. It is difficult to dial in like the Fish. The XTC was much easier to get a variety of tones out of.

I owned an Ecstasy 20th for a bit as well and still have an XTC 101b. Compared to the 101b, the XTC 20th's Blue channel was less gainy but more harsh in that it had a kind of ice-picky treble you couldn’t dial out. Strangely, the XTC 20th's Blue channel was harsh in the way solid state transistors get harsh when overdriven, just really hard, raspy distortion built into the Blue channel, like somebody turned a hidden Presence knob to 10 and locked it there. But, funny enough, the XTC 20th's Red channel was one of the best high gain tones I've ever heard.

Can I ask you how the Uber Ultra compares to the XTC 20th's Red channel?

 

[hellzington]

I owned an Ecstasy 20th for a bit as well and still have an XTC 101b. Compared to the 101b, the XTC 20th's Blue channel was less gainy but more harsh in that it had a kind of ice-picky treble you could dial out. Strangely, the XTC 20th's Blue channel was harsh in the way solid state transistors get harsh when overdriven, just really hard, raspy distortion built into the Blue channel, like somebody turned a hidden Presence knob to 10 and locked it there. But, funny enough, the XTC 20th's Red channel was one of the best high gain tones I've ever heard.

Can I ask you how the Uber Ultra compares to the XTC 20th's Red channel?

The XTC 20th’s red channel was much smoother than the Uber Ultra. The gain, while a lot, was much more manageable than the Uber Ultra. The Uber Ultra has the harsh, ice picky frequencies you’re describing. It’s just part of the amp. I’m going to see if I can dial some of it out tomorrow. Those frequencies are probably good for really down tuned metal.

 

[hellzington]

Have you tried the Fortin Zuul? Only gate I’ll touch anymore. That is pretty wild how over the top that is. I’m sure some people here would take it off your hands too!

I have and I did like it better than any other gate I had tried. I remember it being kind of complicated to set up with all the cables but it did work well.

 

[thegame]

Like you said in the video Hellzington, it seems there is a major incompatibility issue between this amp and the Power Station. Strange how the Omega amp going through it yielded a perfectly fine recorded result. But this seems so off, to the point that something sounds literally wrong or broken with the UU in this particular recording/setup.

 

[loganflynn294]

Cool, thanks. Very interested in your settings. I’m going to use some darker guitars today and see how that goes.

This is how I’ve got mine dialed in. I was playing a homemade strat in dropped c with an Arcane Powerdozer, pretty high output alnico 8. These settings gave me a pretty awesome chug tone. Channel 2 in Uber mode with the switches set to Fat and Focus. Depth and Density up pretty high around 2:30 and the first switch set to Hair. Definitely needed some volume too, I had to dial it in a lot different at lower volumes.

 

[loganflynn294]

I should also mention that I had to swap power tubes already too haha. One of the stock tubes arced and popped a fuse after a few days. I swapped in a quad of JJ E34L’s and the amp immediately sounded chunkier and less ice picky/clanky.

 

[leib10]

What are the stock tubes nowadays?

 

[hopkinWFG]

I got my Uber Ultra yesterday. Got to admit, it was not a great first "ride." I'm sure it can sound awesome and I'm going to play around with it more today but my initial impressions are documented in this video, when I turned off the standby for the first time. (Warning: there is a lot of noise.)



First impressions:

• The clean channel is surprisingly great
• Crunch mode sounds a lot like the blue channel on my old XTC 20th EL34
• The Uber mode sounds great with the gain straight at noon
• All the option switches are very cool and greatly impact the feel and tone
• The Metamorph control and the associated switch is kind of confusing
• The Ultra mode is almost unuseable; it has so much gain and noise
• The amp is very noisy: the noise floor is very high and the feedback is out of control
• The amp is overall very bright and does that modern "clanky" thing some people hate
• The amp is easy to make very piercing -- there's a lot of harsh top end frequencies in this amp
• The left channel is completely different from the right channel (much brighter overall except for Uber mode, which is much darker)

I'm going to try some different guitars and settings today and see what happens. I'm not ready to give up on it or anything but it was not one of those amps you plug into and go "hell yeah!" I don't want to make comparisons but I got my Omega Granophyre the same day and I am surprised to admit that I like it a lot more.

gosh thats tons of white noise in there .... lol would ya try not running via the power station and see how it goes? then if dosent work out try looking into changing the tubes if its microphonics? last resort try change V1 to less gain and probably ultra mode try getta lower gain type tube?

 

[RaceU4her]

This amp sounds like an Uber Ultra disappointment

 

[hellzington]

So I spent about 2 hours this morning trying the amp out with several different guitars and speaker cabinets. I also use with and without the PS-100. Here's the exact gear used and my impressions.

Guitars Used:

• Friedman NoHo 24 (Standard Tuning)
• Friedman NoHo 24 (eB tuning and drop C#)
• PRS Standard 22 w/ Lollar Imperial High Winds (Standard Tuning)
• Gibson ES-335 w/ Slash 2.0 (eB tuning)

Cabinets Used:

• Marshall Jubilee 4x12 w/ OG Celestion G12 Vintage 8 ohm speakers
• Mesa Rectifier Slant 4x12 w/ Mesa V30's
• Carstens 2x12 w/ Celestion Alnico Cream and Weber Ceramic Blue Dog 100w
• Diezel Front-Loaded Oversized 2x12 w/ Celestion G12K-100's

Impressions

Guitars

1. You definitely want to use a darker guitar with this amp. Literally find the darkest guitar you've got. Be prepared to use your tone controls on other guitars.
2. No surprise, but this is an amp meant for downtuned guitars. The frequencies become less piercing and the midrange sits better. The "barky" nature of the amp becomes more of an asset.
3. IMO softer A2 pickups sound better with this amp, especially in eB or standard tuning. The Slash pickups actually had a great sound through this amp.

Speaker Cabinets

1. Overall best cabinet was the Carstens 2x12. It darkened the piercing highs in the amp and made the midrange thicker. You could actually use the right channel in bright mode without taking your head off. Did lose some low end "oomph," though.
2. There was very little difference between the two 4x12's. The Mesa was a little darker and had a little more bass. In a blind test, I doubt you could pick out either.
3. The Diezel was surprisingly good but had to be dialed in completely differently. I did like it, though. It's honestly the first amp I've thought sounded good through that cabinet.

The Amp

1. The UU is actually a very bright amp. It has a lot of treble available, especially on the left channel. Be prepared to dial back the treble and presence below what you are used to.
2. I suspect there are diodes on the left channel's Uber mode. The volume drops just like every other SAT switch and the sound completely changes (more compressed, darker).
3. The "Hair" switch sounds completely different on the left channel then on the right channel. It's almost like it functions differently. It sucks a lot of mids out and smooths the amp dramatically on the left channel. On the right channel it adds more cut.
4. The bright switch on the left channel is useless. The left channel is already insanely bright. Far brighter than the right channel.
5. The clean channel is the hidden gem of this amp. It's actually excellent. Very big, bold and bouncy. Uncompressed and in your face. Very cool.
6. The UU does not play well with the Power Station at all. The feedback and noise was significantly reduced when I turned off the PS-100. That said, even with the PS-100 off, Ultra mode is still barely useable. It's very, very noisy and has a ton of feedback. This is at low volumes, too. I can't imagine it would be useable cranked to practice/live volume.
7. Uber mode is my favorite mode. Put the gain at about half and you'll get "the sound." Boosted Crunch mode is pretty fun too.
8. There are a lot of piercing high frequencies in this amp that are just unpleasant. There is this constant ear-fatiguing frequency that just wears on your ears. Reminds me of old JCM 800's: how people would talk about how they cut through the mix but were very ear fatiguing. Feels similar on the UU. The treble is the kind that really gets in your ear canal and into your brain. Your ears will be ringing with that frequency afterwards (mine are right now). None of the cabinets made a difference, even the very dark Diezel cab. It's just how the amp is.
9. The midrange of the amp is very modern and "clanky." If you don't like that sound, you will not like this amp.
10. To me, this is an amp for gain freaks, extreme downtuners, extended range guitars, and people who want a very modern voicing. There are some more classic Bogner sounds to be had in the amp but there are other amps that will do that with a better voicing.

Going to keep playing around with it but I doubt it's a keeper for me. Too much unusable gain, too clanky, many fatiguing treble frequencies and it doesn't play well with my setup. We'll see, though.

 

[Beyond Black]

The Uber takes time to figure out, without question, but the high frequencies some are deeming unpleasant are totally manageable. The is a very aggressive and modern sounding amp, that you really need to familiarize yourself with before making any rash conclusions. Killer tones are in there, and set up properly, the feedback and noise is manageable. I don’t see the point of making a video of this amp at first try, without any clue how to dial it in, only to make it sound like shit and ripe for criticism. It’s like intentionally setting it up for failure.…

 

[braintheory]

The Uber takes time to figure out, without question, but the high frequencies some are deeming unpleasant are totally manageable. The is a very aggressive and modern sounding amp, that you really need to familiarize yourself with before making any rash conclusions. Killer tones are in there, and set up properly, the feedback and noise is manageable. I don’t see the point of making a video of this amp at first try, without any clue how to dial it in, only to make it sound like shit and ripe for criticism. It’s like intentionally setting it up for failure.…

Agreed. This is why I like to spend lots of time with an amp for a bit and fully doing my homework with AB comparisons of amps I know well before really forming an opinion on new gear I get. Helps me bypass the silly honeymoon phases or also the premature disappointment phases lol. I hate myself for all those kinds of phases I had in the past LOL

 

[hellzington]

The Uber takes time to figure out, without question, but the high frequencies some are deeming unpleasant are totally manageable. The is a very aggressive and modern sounding amp, that you really need to familiarize yourself with before making any rash conclusions. Killer tones are in there, and set up properly, the feedback and noise is manageable. I don’t see the point of making a video of this amp at first try, without any clue how to dial it in, only to make it sound like shit and ripe for criticism. It’s like intentionally setting it up for failure.…

I'm glad you like it! I'm not trying to bash the amp. I've said many times in my impressions things like, "not right for me" and "I can see people who would enjoy this." I'm not trying to "make it sound like shit and ripe for criticism." If anything, I've kept my criticism carefully couched as "impressions" and using words like "first" and "trying out." I am no where near any conclusions.

I disagree about making a video of first impressions. First impressions are very useful with gear. You can remember what you thought when you knew nothing, then use that later after you've unlocked the amp. I said many times that this video was a "First Look" and commented throughout that this "wasn't a full review." I just wanted to give people my opinion as I work with the amp, which I think is very fair.

 

[leib10]

So I spent about 2 hours this morning trying the amp out with several different guitars and speaker cabinets. I also use with and without the PS-100. Here's the exact gear used and my impressions.

Guitars Used:

• Friedman NoHo 24 (Standard Tuning)
• Friedman NoHo 24 (eB tuning and drop C#)
• PRS Standard 22 w/ Lollar Imperial High Winds (Standard Tuning)
• Gibson ES-335 w/ Slash 2.0 (eB tuning)

Cabinets Used:

• Marshall Jubilee 4x12 w/ OG Celestion G12 Vintage 8 ohm speakers
• Mesa Rectifier Slant 4x12 w/ Mesa V30's
• Carstens 2x12 w/ Celestion Alnico Cream and Weber Ceramic Blue Dog 100w
• Diezel Front-Loaded Oversized 2x12 w/ Celestion G12K-100's

Impressions

Guitars

1. You definitely want to use a darker guitar with this amp. Literally find the darkest guitar you've got. Be prepared to use your tone controls on other guitars.
2. No surprise, but this is an amp meant for downtuned guitars. The frequencies become less piercing and the midrange sits better. The "barky" nature of the amp becomes more of an asset.
3. IMO softer A2 pickups sound better with this amp, especially in eB or standard tuning. The Slash pickups actually had a great sound through this amp.

Speaker Cabinets

1. Overall best cabinet was the Carstens 2x12. It darkened the piercing highs in the amp and made the midrange thicker. You could actually use the right channel in bright mode without taking your head off. Did lose some low end "oomph," though.
2. There was very little difference between the two 4x12's. The Mesa was a little darker and had a little more bass. In a blind test, I doubt you could pick out either.
3. The Diezel was surprisingly good but had to be dialed in completely differently. I did like it, though. It's honestly the first amp I've thought sounded good through that cabinet.

The Amp

1. The UU is actually a very bright amp. It has a lot of treble available, especially on the left channel. Be prepared to dial back the treble and presence below what you are used to.
2. I suspect there are diodes on the left channel's Uber mode. The volume drops just like every other SAT switch and the sound completely changes (more compressed, darker).
3. The "Hair" switch sounds completely different on the left channel then on the right channel. It's almost like it functions differently. It sucks a lot of mids out and smooths the amp dramatically on the left channel. On the right channel it adds more cut.
4. The bright switch on the left channel is useless. The left channel is already insanely bright. Far brighter than the right channel.
5. The clean channel is the hidden gem of this amp. It's actually excellent. Very big, bold and bouncy. Uncompressed and in your face. Very cool.
6. The UU does not play well with the Power Station at all. The feedback and noise was significantly reduced when I turned off the PS-100. That said, even with the PS-100 off, Ultra mode is still barely useable. It's very, very noisy and has a ton of feedback. This is at low volumes, too. I can't imagine it would be useable cranked to practice/live volume.
7. Uber mode is my favorite mode. Put the gain at about half and you'll get "the sound." Boosted Crunch mode is pretty fun too.
8. There are a lot of piercing high frequencies in this amp that are just unpleasant. There is this constant ear-fatiguing frequency that just wears on your ears. Reminds me of old JCM 800's: how people would talk about how they cut through the mix but were very ear fatiguing. Feels similar on the UU. The treble is the kind that really gets in your ear canal and into your brain. Your ears will be ringing with that frequency afterwards (mine are right now). None of the cabinets made a difference, even the very dark Diezel cab. It's just how the amp is.
9. The midrange of the amp is very modern and "clanky." If you don't like that sound, you will not like this amp.
10. To me, this is an amp for gain freaks, extreme downtuners, extended range guitars, and people who want a very modern voicing. There are some more classic Bogner sounds to be had in the amp but there are other amps that will do that with a better voicing.

Going to keep playing around with it but I doubt it's a keeper for me. Too much unusable gain, too clanky, many fatiguing treble frequencies and it doesn't play well with my setup. We'll see, though.

Thanks for the review. Hopefully you can get some good use out of it. It sounds like it may not be made for the style you’re looking for.

 

[hellzington]

The Uber takes time to figure out, without question, but the high frequencies some are deeming unpleasant are totally manageable. The is a very aggressive and modern sounding amp, that you really need to familiarize yourself with before making any rash conclusions. Killer tones are in there, and set up properly, the feedback and noise is manageable. I don’t see the point of making a video of this amp at first try, without any clue how to dial it in, only to make it sound like shit and ripe for criticism. It’s like intentionally setting it up for failure.…

If you're open to sharing how you have managed the high frequencies, noise, and feedback, then I'd love to know. You sound like you have a lot of experience with the Ubers, which I definitely don't, but I don't think that makes your opinions any more valid than mine. Surely Bogner wants to sell these to people who have never played an Uber before, so it's reasonable to assume I'm not the only one struggling with it. I'd love to check out your settings or hear what suggestions you have to make it work.

 

[hellzington]

Thanks for the review. Hopefully you can get some good use out of it. It sounds like it may not be made for the style you’re looking for.

I'm going to keep playing around with it and see what I can do. I agree that it's probably not the amp for my style, so take that into consideration when reading my impressions. If I return it then it just means I'll keep my Headfirist Alta 100 instead, which isn't a punishment

 

[Beyond Black]

I'm glad you like it! I'm not trying to bash the amp. I've said many times in my impressions things like, "not right for me" and "I can see people who would enjoy this." I'm not trying to "make it sound like shit and ripe for criticism." If anything, I've kept my criticism carefully couched as "impressions" and using words like "first" and "trying out." I am no where near any conclusions.

I disagree about making a video of first impressions. First impressions are very useful with gear. You can remember what you thought when you knew nothing, then use that later after you've unlocked the amp. I said many times that this video was a "First Look" and commented throughout that this "wasn't a full review." I just wanted to give people my opinion as I work with the amp, which I think is very fair.

I don’t believe your intentions were malicious at all, I just think the demonstration was counterproductive, and showed the amp in a terrible light, no matter how polite your opinions of it were. The amp never had a chance.
IMO first impressions of an amp are completely meaningless, especially an amp like the UU, with that many tone shaping options. You can tell by just looking at it, before even powering it up, that it’s gonna take time to figure out.
No offense meant, but the vid just seemed like a vid for the sake of making a vid. It just unnecessarily plants a negative seed of the amp for no good reason, other than proving that you weren’t at all familiar with it. What’s the point of that?

 

[Bxlxaxkxe]

Hellz,

Hair +, presence and depth at noon. Start with density maxed out. Channel 1 Uber- Mids at noon or less, treble 9-10 o’clock, bass around 1 or 2 o’clock. Bright off. Gain at 10-11 or so. Hit the boost for more saturation. Tweak from there.

Channel 2 when using Ultra mode, doom, fat dialed to 1 o’clock. TMB similar to channel 1 though you can get away with more highs and bass I would guess. No need for the gain knob to be above 11 o’clock. This is like uber mode boosted.

Can also dial in channel 2 uber mode for a bigger, looser recto-ish vibe, gain low, and hit with a boost. I’d dial the mids back on the amp and let the pedal add the mids.

This amp confused me a bit in the beginning too, but surprised you’re having trouble still after a few hours. Keep the mids and treble in check after you settle on some power amp settings, but that alone can take a bit.

 

[Beyond Black]

As far as taming the highs, I avoid the brightest options on the switches, and keep the presence and treble lower than I would on most amps. On most amps I prefer presence very high for maximum aggression, then treble to taste. That doesn’t work on this one...For feedback, I keep the gain as low as possible while still having enough for my sound, especially when using Ultra on channel two. It’s not the easiest amp to tame these qualities on, but it’s totally possible.

 

[Dino 939]

I'm glad you like it! I'm not trying to bash the amp. I've said many times in my impressions things like, "not right for me" and "I can see people who would enjoy this." I'm not trying to "make it sound like shit and ripe for criticism." If anything, I've kept my criticism carefully couched as "impressions" and using words like "first" and "trying out." I am no where near any conclusions.

I disagree about making a video of first impressions. First impressions are very useful with gear. You can remember what you thought when you knew nothing, then use that later after you've unlocked the amp. I said many times that this video was a "First Look" and commented throughout that this "wasn't a full review." I just wanted to give people my opinion as I work with the amp, which I think is very fair.

You’ve obviously spent time with it enough to make a decision.

How long is it supposed to take to find a bunch of killer tones?

What..are we searching for the
Lost Ark inside there??

Should be able to turn it on and Walla!!
It’s the new Uber.
People still struggle with those old Ubers TODAY.
comprehending the EQ, etc.
I guess that would explain the name “Ultra Uber”

I saw a video where the feedback controls max out,
For real?
-that’s like Boeing putting the MCAS
in their planes…