Tourmaster Just got Some Competition: Bogner Alchemist

[EWSEthan]

Looks like Bogner is entering the boutqiue tone at a price point for the masses market with their new head called the Alchemist.

http://fr.audiofanzine.com/videos/index,action,play,id_video,205,idmarque,0.html

I think it sounds pretty good. Im not blown away or anything and I think the Tourmaster has more tones on tap having 4 individual channels instead of two with boosts. From clips I also think the Tourmaster sounds a little better.

Id take either over any TSL, JVM, Line6, etc though. I think some of these big amp companies are going to be in trouble if this trend continues.

 

[3 Mile Stone]

Yea dig it Matt, I just read about it on Harmony Central on the news section. Looks like a great amp, I don't know what the price tag on that one is. Didn't look like it was going to be quite as competitive pricing wise and still one less channel.

 

[RP Rad]

The clips sound ok, kinda remind me of a Genz Benz EL D. Which that amps sounds good in the store but not live. We will just have to see when they come out.

 

[bscfo1]

Ok clean sound - not rich with harmonics to my ears like our Twin or VX or even the Tourmaster. Did you notice where the bass EQ knob was on both channels? Pretty much maxed on both. I wonder why? I would hate to run out of EQ.

That's what I like so much about the Egnaters. If your settings get bumped, you could still put everything at 12 o'clock and sound great. To me, that's one of the signs of a good amp.

 

[bbaug14]

Ok clean sound - not rich with harmonics to my ears like our Twin or VX or even the Tourmaster. Did you notice where the bass EQ knob was on both channels? Pretty much maxed on both. I wonder why? I would hate to run out of EQ.

That's what I like so much about the Egnaters. If your settings get bumped, you could still put everything at 12 o'clock and sound great. To me, that's one of the signs of a good amp.

Agreed +1.

I think the marketing of these amps is going to make a huge difference as well. With the Tourmaster being available at GC, it's getting a lot of face time. Not sure where the Bogner will be made available.

 

[chunktone]

Ok clean sound - not rich with harmonics to my ears like our Twin or VX or even the Tourmaster. Did you notice where the bass EQ knob was on both channels? Pretty much maxed on both. I wonder why? I would hate to run out of EQ.

That's what I like so much about the Egnaters. If your settings get bumped, you could still put everything at 12 o'clock and sound great. To me, that's one of the signs of a good amp.

Agreed +1.

I think the marketing of these amps is going to make a huge difference as well. With the Tourmaster being available at GC, it's getting a lot of face time. Not sure where the Bogner will be made available.

I have not tried the New Bogner line yet, but I just tried the Tourmaster, and was a bit disappointed. I was looking for a tighter, more focused low end on the high gain channels. I also compared it to the Diezel Herbert and VH4. The Tourmaster has some great, useful features, but it does not compare to the Diezel stuff for a modern metal tone.

 

[TheGrooveking]

I agree the Herbert sounds better in the low end, for that type of music, but it should seeing it costs twice as much.

TheGrooveking

 

[Orren]

First of all, nobody should judge what the final tone of the amp will be based on these video clips for two rather important reasons:
1) You're hearing the tone of the amp through a tiny (and tinny) little video camcorder microphone. Even a good mic-to-cab hard disc recording clip is compromise compared to hearing it in person...a camcorder mic is good for the broadest, most general idea of how something sounds only.

2) This is the prototype. By the time this gets to a Guitar Center near you, the shipping models may sound different anyway.

As far as price, some folks have guesstimated retail prices around $1000, others extrapolate from the "one thousand Euros" comment it will be about $1500.

In the sense that the Tourmaster competes with any amplifier in its price range, this certainly will compete with it. However, I think it has a distinct enough set of features that it will appeal to a different segment.

For those who want to footswitch between more than two channels, the Alchemist isn't as interesting. The Tourmaster also has a more variable power grid, which makes it more interesting to players who want an amp for both the bedroom and the clubs. Tonewise, I'd imagine that the Tourmaster can get higher gain tones. I think the Alchemist's high gain options are supposed to be more like a supercharged Plexi than anything more modern.

OTOH, the Alchemist comes with built-in Line 6 reverb and digital delay. That's very interesting, especially for those playing live with just a delay pedal.

It will be interesting to see what the Alchemist offers as far as output options (line out? effects loop?) when it ships.

Orren

 

[Phishphood]

That clip sounded like ass to me Of course I think people put waaay too much faith in videos when juding amp tone