Bogner Shiva vs Ecstasy

[weinergod]

Which one do you prefer?

The Ecstasy is much more versatile and can get some amazing lead tones, while the Shiva has much more 'character' and is much more distinguishable, in my opinion, but is a bit underpowered.


Also, how do the Ecstasy's cleans compare to the Shiva's? I love the Shiva's cleans, but never heard the Ecstasy's



(For the record, my favourite Bogner product is the Fish.. but I'd have to sell some organs for that aha)

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Bogner Shiva vs Ecstasy

People seem to prefer the Shiva's cleans to the XTC and the XTC's overdriven tones are simply better.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Bogner Shiva vs Ecstasy

Both are excellent amps. You mostly have to decide whether 2 basic channels and 60-80 watts is what you need, or if you really want 3 fully moldable channels with the headroom of 120W. Not to mention that it costs a whole lot more.

There are a lot of internet myths floating around about......well, pretty much every amp, but the Ecstasy is a very complex amp, and most who write about it only demoed it for 5 minutes.

A perfectly biased XTC with good tubes sounds amazing, and it's really up to the user to determine which tones he's going to use, because it's really like an all tube modeling amp, from crystal Fendery clean all the way to extreme EL-34 heaviness, and unlike most of it's competitors, it also does everything in between perfectly. It's clean channel is no less than the Shiva's in tone, and far more tweakable. You can shift it more glassy, more tweed like, more Dumble-like...anything you want. The feature everyone forgets about is the assignable 2nd presence knob. If you assign it to the clean channel and turn it almost all the way up, it brings out the chime and glassiness......something you might miss by playing with the amp for a few minutes in a store.

Some people think that it's a bad idea to share EQ on the blue and red channels, but there are many ways of shifting things around. The 1st presence always controls the blue channel and whichever channel the 2nd presence isn't controlling. So, you can assign the 2nd presence to the green or red channel, either to give the cleans more sparkle or the red channel more crunchy bite.
And that's before you even start messing with all the mini switches that reconfigure the overall ground floor gain level of each channel.

 

[weinergod]

Re: Bogner Shiva vs Ecstasy

Both are excellent amps. You mostly have to decide whether 2 basic channels and 60 watts is what you need, or if you really want 3 fully moldable channels with the headroom of 120W. Not to mention that it costs a whole lot more.

There are a lot of internet myths floating around about......well, pretty much every amp, but the Ecstasy is a very complex amp, and most who write about it only demoed it for 5 minutes.

A perfectly biased XTC with good tubes sounds amazing, and it's really up to the user to determine which tones he's going to use, because it's really like an all tube modeling amp, from crystal Fendery clean all the way to extreme EL-34 heaviness, and unlike most of it's competitors, it also does everything in between perfectly. It's clean channel is no less than the Shiva's in tone, and far more tweakable. You can shift it more glassy, more tweed like, more Dumble-like...anything you want. The feature everyone forgets about is the assignable 2nd presence knob. If you assign it to the clean channel and turn it almost all the way up, it brings out the chime and glassiness......something you might miss by playing with the amp for a few minutes in a store.

Some people think that it's a bad idea to share EQ on the blue and red channels, but there are many ways of shifting things around. The 1st presence always controls the blue channel and whichever channel the 2nd presence isn't controlling. So, you can assign the 2nd presence to the green or red channel, either to give the cleans more sparkle or the red channel more crunchy bite.
And that's before you even start messing with all the mini switches that reconfigure the overall ground floor gain level of each channel.

Wow man, really nice explanation.
If you were a salesman, you'd have sold me the XTC aha


I can't comment on the XTC other than the clips I heard/say since I've only played a Shiva, but I'm really curious about it. Tracking one down to play without ordering it is going to be hard though

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Bogner Shiva vs Ecstasy

And one thing the Shiva Reverb has is obviously a nice reverb, which you can control independently on the 2 channels. That's one thing I wish the Ecstasy had, because the XTC only has a mixable FX loop. Therefore, I usually use a Holy Grail pedal in the loop, set very subtle. I can shut it off from the footswitch if I want a dry sound.

Another nice thing about the Shiva is the slightly lower headroom, so in a small club it's easier to get the power tubes cooking. The Ecstasy can be used in a small room, but it has to be reigned in more. But if you get the chance to hear any Bogner amp at full tilt, it's a tone that'll make the hair stand up on your arms.

 

[weinergod]

Re: Bogner Shiva vs Ecstasy

Doesn't the XTC have a half power switch though?


Though I wouldn't work how well those work... I don't know much about them and never used one

 

[B2D]

Re: Bogner Shiva vs Ecstasy

Doesn't the XTC have a half power switch though?


Though I wouldn't work how well those work... I don't know much about them and never used one

Mine has a half-power switch that removes two power tubes from the circuit as well as an old/new switch that puts the amp from Pentode to triode mode and makes the overall character more like an older amp.

It doesn't take off very many dB, but it does lower the headroom to get more grind. I prefer full power because it's a more open sound and this is the onlytube amp I've used that sounds good below 4 on the volume knob.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Bogner Shiva vs Ecstasy

Funny thing to me is that no one has mentioned that there are 2 very different Shiva models...both can be had with and without reverb, which drastically changes the tone and feel of the amp not to mention the gain so there are no less than 4 fairly drastic different Shivas that can be had. The 60 watt 6L6 version as well as the 80 watt EL34 version...both w/ and w/o reverb...

FWIW, I prefer the 80 watt non reverb model...killer amp. The 60 watt versions are like a big Super Reverb sort of sound to me, which is fine but not amazing...the EL34 version(s) are killer in a Twin Reverb + Plexi/hot rod JCM800 kind of way...

 

[PVFan]

Re: Bogner Shiva vs Ecstasy

Funny thing to me is that no one has mentioned that there are 2 very different Shiva models...both can be had with and without reverb, which drastically changes the tone and feel of the amp not to mention the gain so there are no less than 4 fairly drastic different Shivas that can be had. The 60 watt 6L6 version as well as the 80 watt EL34 version...both w/ and w/o reverb...

FWIW, I prefer the 80 watt non reverb model...killer amp. The 60 watt versions are like a big Super Reverb sort of sound to me, which is fine but not amazing...the EL34 version(s) are killer in a Twin Reverb + Plexi/hot rod JCM800 kind of way...

add a 5th, even more different. "Modern" overdrive and unreal clean. KT88s in this one:

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Bogner Shiva vs Ecstasy

add a 5th, even more different. "Modern" overdrive and unreal clean. KT88s in this one:

I've wanted that 20th anniversary head so bad, the reviews of it have been off-the-wall. Maybe one day I can scratch together enough to add it to the stable.

As far as the older Shivas go, I do prefer the non-reverb myself. There's more punch to my ears. Reinhold himself made non reverb models because he felt it sounded better without the reverb circuitry added.

 

[weinergod]

Re: Bogner Shiva vs Ecstasy

I'm curious about the anniversary Shivas, but they aren't even for order here, and the videos I've seen of it do it NO justice :|