What do you all think of the XTC 101b??????

[RG955TT]

I just put KT77's in my 20th, definitley worth doing if you ask me...sounds even better at low volume as well...

 

[se7en]

I just put KT77's in my 20th, definitley worth doing if you ask me...sounds even better at low volume as well...

Very cool. Pros/cons? I take it you prefer them over 34's?

 

[TheMagicEight]

I came across this video the other day and never heard a 101b sound like this. This 20th sounds incredible!!

Actually, both of those are through the VHT cab. Just something to keep in mind.

The second video says they used a Bogner cab with Scumbacks. Either way, I love the way this amp sounds in this combo.

We should have shot a clip with the Bogner cab, but alas, we didn't. But yes, the 20th --> VHT 412 was killer!

 

[richedie]

I have a 101B and love the amp!

What are you going for that you don't get in the shiva? That is a great amp!!!

The Shiva us much more Marshall like than the Ecstasy. The Shiva is slightly different with the KT88's but that's a good thing. If it had the EL34's in it, i think it would be too similar to my Marshalls and wouldn't be worth having. The 20th Ann. Shiva is alot more open sounding than the 101B. To me, the red channel is pretty much usless. I owned 2 different 101B's and a 101A. I didn't care for any if them but that's just my opinion. I hear the 20th Ann. 101A sounds great though. Nico, have you tried a 20th Ann. Shiva?

I personally didn't like the 20th Shiva with the KT88s, other than the clean. I love it with El34s! Sits in the mix great and sounds like the best or should I say a better Marshall. I say that because I am not a big Marshall fan...I tend to like other's take on the Marshall thing....Bogner, PWE Event Horizon, Splawn, etc.
I have owned a few Marshalls through the years and sold all of them.

I thought about KT77s in my Shiva but the El34s sound so good. I would be afraid the 77s could make it too stiff!

As a reference, my favorite guitar tones are classic rock, and some 80s and 90s hard rock. Big Rush and Van Halen fan.
But I love some newer stuff, Alice in Chains, Tool, APC, STP, Bonamasa...just to give a reference of tones I like.

Looks like I will be running with the 20th Shiva, a new reborn Dual Rectifier and Mark V.

 

[rcm78]

I've been having a bit of a love hate relationship with my XTC Classic. I havent had it long but I think I finally figured it out.
Dialing in a nice clean is easy. No problem there.
The shared EQ with the Blue/Red channels was giving me fits. I was concentrating on the blue channel, trying to dial that in. Then when I switch to Red the amp would get burried in the mix.

So I tried dialing the red channel to taste. I've found the key is to NOT max out the gain. I have the gain set at 3oclock on both Blue and Red. Red pre EQ on B1, Blue Pre EQ on N. Treb 3oclock, mid 11oclock, bass 2oclock. Excursion on L, Presence 3oclock.

Poweramp is on full power, old, class A.

Set up like this I get a great lead sound on red, and a really nice boosted marshal on Blue.

I'm running it through a 2X12 with V-30's but need to try a set of M75's...

It was said before in this thread but I'll reiterate. Turn up the Presence!!! These amps do not get harsh with the highs dialed up. The highs sound very musical, even standing right in the speakers beem at a decent volume.

 

[RG955TT]

If you have an issue with blue vs red, set up the presence controlls so that clean and blue are on the first presence control and red is on the second. I run my presence levels at about 2-3 oclock on both my 20th and 101b and the ability to make presence change from blue to red channel really helps with the differing gains of those channels. I run treble at 12 oclock and mids at 1 or 2 bass at 2-3 oclock.

The KT77's in the 20th I think work really well as a balance between the 6L6 it was designed with and the EL34 growl. I use the Gold Lions and run at 50 watts and it to me sounds better than the =C='s I had in there which was a suprise to me. Just a bigger overall sound (a little better bottom, a little nicer top end) without losing what makes the EL34's great, that mid growl and swirl. I run them biased at about 32-34 mA, the thing kicks butt.

My 101B is at Bogner now as it had a nervous breakdown the night I brought the 20th home so they are going thru it, some issue with pre-amp tube heaters. It's a 2003 which honestly I do not find too much more significanty compressed than the 20th I have. These things are very sensitive to pre tube changes and what I found works well in the 101B (Tung Sol in V1, JJ gold pins in V2 and V3 these help with the compression as they are not super high gain) does not work as well in the 20th (Tube Store preferred in V1, Ruby AC5 HG+ in V2 and V3) so I guess if they were tubed the same the 20th would be less compressed.

 

[rcm78]

If you have an issue with blue vs red, set up the presence controlls so that clean and blue are on the first presence control and red is on the second. I run my presence levels at about 2-3 oclock on both my 20th and 101b and the ability to make presence change from blue to red channel really helps with the differing gains of those channels. I run treble at 12 oclock and mids at 1 or 2 bass at 2-3 oclock.

If this reply was refering to my post, I have the 101b Classic. It does not have two presence controls. Probably one of the reasons I was having issues dialing in the seperate channels.

 

[RG955TT]

RCM, yeah I was replying to you, sorry about that I forgot no double presence control on Classic. The shared EQ is not too much of an issue and if you notice I do run the controls pretty similar, but it sounds like you have it down. All of the guys who say "it sounds like it has a blanket over it" don't know that you need to wick up the presence on these to get them to cut, but like you said, not harsh and highly musical....

 

[Rev]

I came across this video the other day and never heard a 101b sound like this. This 20th sounds incredible!!

Actually, both of those are through the VHT cab. Just something to keep in mind.

The second video says they used a Bogner cab with Scumbacks. Either way, I love the way this amp sounds in this combo.

We should have shot a clip with the Bogner cab, but alas, we didn't. But yes, the 20th --> VHT 412 was killer!

Did this amp have the 6L6's or EL34's?

 

[TheMagicEight]

Did this amp have the 6L6's or EL34's?

EL34s

 

[glip22]

If you have an issue with blue vs red, set up the presence controlls so that clean and blue are on the first presence control and red is on the second. I run my presence levels at about 2-3 oclock on both my 20th and 101b and the ability to make presence change from blue to red channel really helps with the differing gains of those channels. I run treble at 12 oclock and mids at 1 or 2 bass at 2-3 oclock.

The KT77's in the 20th I think work really well as a balance between the 6L6 it was designed with and the EL34 growl. I use the Gold Lions and run at 50 watts and it to me sounds better than the =C='s I had in there which was a suprise to me. Just a bigger overall sound (a little better bottom, a little nicer top end) without losing what makes the EL34's great, that mid growl and swirl. I run them biased at about 32-34 mA, the thing kicks butt.

My 101B is at Bogner now as it had a nervous breakdown the night I brought the 20th home so they are going thru it, some issue with pre-amp tube heaters. It's a 2003 which honestly I do not find too much more significanty compressed than the 20th I have. These things are very sensitive to pre tube changes and what I found works well in the 101B (Tung Sol in V1, JJ gold pins in V2 and V3 these help with the compression as they are not super high gain) does not work as well in the 20th (Tube Store preferred in V1, Ruby AC5 HG+ in V2 and V3) so I guess if they were tubed the same the 20th would be less compressed.

Bogners like GL 77'S

 

[vivian]

Hi everyone! proud to be the member of this great community !! i am vivian from florida ,Ak,Anchorage,nice to meet you,hope to know more about you.......

 

[Red_Label]

I've been having a bit of a love hate relationship with my XTC Classic. I havent had it long but I think I finally figured it out.
Dialing in a nice clean is easy. No problem there.
The shared EQ with the Blue/Red channels was giving me fits. I was concentrating on the blue channel, trying to dial that in. Then when I switch to Red the amp would get burried in the mix.

So I tried dialing the red channel to taste. I've found the key is to NOT max out the gain. I have the gain set at 3oclock on both Blue and Red. Red pre EQ on B1, Blue Pre EQ on N. Treb 3oclock, mid 11oclock, bass 2oclock. Excursion on L, Presence 3oclock.

Poweramp is on full power, old, class A.

Set up like this I get a great lead sound on red, and a really nice boosted marshal on Blue.

I'm running it through a 2X12 with V-30's but need to try a set of M75's...

It was said before in this thread but I'll reiterate. Turn up the Presence!!! These amps do not get harsh with the highs dialed up. The highs sound very musical, even standing right in the speakers beem at a decent volume.

I've had my Classic since last December. Took me several weeks to really tweak it to my liking. And I felt a lot like you did until I figured it out.

But for several weeks now I've had an older VHT Pittbull Ultra Lead and I rarely play the Bogner right now. I also learned with the XTC to keep the gain controls at less-than-max. I keep my blue channel gain at 2:00 and my red channel gain straight-up at noon and use the boost on for both channels. I do like the tone there. But then I compare it to the VHT and the VHT is just SO much clearer, more defined, and present. The Bogner almost sounds dark and mushy in comparison. I even liked the cleans on the VHT better too! I run the presence control on the XTC at 3:00. And the shared-treble is usually anywhere from 1:00 - almost 3:00. But right now I'm definitely preferring the VHT and I never thought I'd feel that way. However, I'm gonna give it a few months in case I find myself swinging the other way. But if this doesn't change eventually, I could see myself dumping the XTC and picking up a Sig:X to try. Damn I'd hate to do that though! Cause Bogners have been my dream amps for over a decade. Hopefully I'll fall in love with the Classic again before I have to give her the "it's not you, it's me" speech.

 

[LP Freak]

The Sig X is a great sounding amp too. Tonefinger has one and he just sent it back to Fryette to tweek the lead channel so it sounds more like the Ultra's lead channel. I'll be interested in hearing it when he gets it back.