WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

[Red_Label]

So I've been thinking about taking the plunge and upgrading from my EL34 Shiva to an XTC lately. I've been watching some auctions on Ebay for them and there was a fairly mint Classic that was sitting at $2100 yesterday (last day of the auction) with no bids. Yesterday afternoon someone bid $2150 on it. So last night I thought I'd just throw a $2200 max bid up there as a "joke", never thinking I would win at that rate. Classics seem to go more for $2400-2800 used normally. So I sleep very restlessly all night, worried about what would happen and finally crawled out of bed about 4AM this morning to quench my curiosity (auction ended about midnight). I won at $2200! Looks like a guy had outbid me at $2225 and then retracted his bid.

Needless to say, my very patient and loving wife was NOT overjoyed when I told her I'd need to loot my savings, and borrow some from her dream vacation savings account until I can sell the Shiva. I've got a guy who's supposed to buy it next week for $1500, but who knows. If not, it'll be back on Ebay so I can pay the wife back and restock some of my savings.

Anyways... sorry to ramble-on. I'm tired and excited about possibly having my holy grail amp coming next week. VERY tired of GAS and hope this cures it for a while (that and the Eleven Rack that gets delivered today). Been selling off amps lately and hopefully this is the end of the road (at least for a long time).

Anyone have Classic experience out there? I'm reading that it's less compressed and more woody and open-sounding than the 101B. Which is fine with me because I like good old Marshall JCM800 type sounds. How does the Classic compare to say my EL34 Shiva in the OD department? Thanks for taking the time to read all of this... LOL. :friday:

 

[ricc]

Re: WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

congrats man - I was watching that one as well. Not to buy, just out of interest. I'm pretty stoked with my Mesa - but please, full review when you get it?

 

[Red_Label]

Re: WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

congrats man - I was watching that one as well. Not to buy, just out of interest. I'm pretty stoked with my Mesa - but please, full review when you get it?

Definitely! :knockedou

 

[Kam]

Re: WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

Congratulations, man! :friday:

That seems like a whole metric ****load of amp you just got yourself.

 

[Red_Label]

Re: WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

Congratulations, man! :friday:

That seems like a whole metric ****load of amp you just got yourself.

I'm hoping so! Not that my Shiva was lacking anything... but I'm hoping the XTC has even more (of whatever it is that I'm endlessly looking for).

 

[Tor]

Re: WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

Nice! Grats!

 

[d1dsj]

Re: WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

Nice one, looking forward to your review and comparison to the Shiva. With a bit of luck you'll be able to compare back to back before the Shiva finds a new home.

 

[Red_Label]

Re: WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

Nice one, looking forward to your review and comparison to the Shiva. With a bit of luck you'll be able to compare back to back before the Shiva finds a new home.

Yeah... that's what I'm hoping. At least for a day or two. Won't be too long as the wife will surely be giving me the evil eye if she thinks that I aim to keep both!


WOOT! The Eleven Rack just showed-up! Wish I was at home so I could give her a test drive. Will have to wait until later tonight.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

That's the cheapest I've ever seen a Classic sell for. They're twice that amount new.

Between that and the Eleven rack, you're done! You won't miss the Shiva.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

amazing!! Congrats!!! CAnt wait for your review!

 

[Red_Label]

Re: WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

That's the cheapest I've ever seen a Classic sell for. They're twice that amount new.

Between that and the Eleven rack, you're done! You won't miss the Shiva.

Yeah... that's what I thought too. That's why I threw that low max bid out there as I lay in bed last night ready to go to sleep. Thinking that I'd wake up this AM and have been outbid. I think that's why the wife took it as well as she did that I haven't sold my Shiva yet and still did this -- because she knows I've always wanted an XTC and I told her that the Classic usually goes for $2400-2800 used on Ebay. Being a woman -- she's pretty keen on that getting-a-deal thing when shopping! LOL.

Anyways... I really do plan to be done soon one way or the other. I'm dead tired of GAS, and my wife is too. I told her that this really is the end of the road as far as upgrades go. If for some reason I decided to send the XTC packing -- it's back to another Shiva or "way down" to an Egnater Renegade 65 head and then it's over. I tried one out last week and it did a kick-ass job of the Fender/Marshall thing. My checkbook just doesn't have the ability to GAS beyond an XTC though. It's been my grail for far too long.

Will definitely be giving my impressions of the Eleven Rack after checking it out tonight. I'm not really that much of a "tweaker", so it might take me a while to really dig into finding my tones there. I guess that's why the Shiva was such a great amp for me, because it's very versatile, but very SIMPLE.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

I've never tried this, but I wonder if you can send the output of your Eleven rack into the FX return of the XTC, then use the XTC's FX loop button on the footswitch to go between the Bogner preamp and Eleven rack preamp??? If that's possible, it would be amazing!

The FX loop on the Bogner is switchable in/out......so if it's off, will the Bogner pre go straight to the Bogner power section? I need to try that!

 

[Red_Label]

Re: WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

I've never tried this, but I wonder if you can send the output of your Eleven rack into the FX return of the XTC, then use the XTC's FX loop button on the footswitch to go between the Bogner preamp and Eleven rack preamp??? If that's possible, it would be amazing!

The FX loop on the Bogner is switchable in/out......so if it's off, will the Bogner pre go straight to the Bogner power section? I need to try that!

Interesting... will have to try that!

I'm not really an effects nut. In fact, I'm so effects challenged that I usually run them before the amp. I've never really got along with effects loops. I did try my TC Nova System in the loop of the Shiva, and the delays and verbs sounded great there. But I dunno... something bugged me about it. I will definitely be trying that same setup with the XTC when it arrives though. And yeah... if I can get some good sounds dialed-up with the 11R, I will try that into the XTC. Done the way you suggested, it certainly would give you a million options by combining those two rigs.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

I don't know if it's possible, but now I've got to try it. First of all, the XTC has a preamp that will blow away any digital gear, but the digital gear will give you hundreds of options. Not just FX, but preamp sounds.

I'm really curious to see if this will work, because if it does, I'm getting a POD Pro XT to sit on top of the amp. Imagine 3 channels of the best tube preamp in the world, then endless options beyond that, all coming out of one speaker cabinet! I sure hope that bypassing the FX loop instantly joins the head's preamp to the power section. That's the issue. If it doesn't do that, it won't work.

If it does, you would have a universe of tones. Imagine an analog pedalboard in front of an XTC with an Eleven Rack on top of it, then an additional midi pedalboard. If this works, there could never in a million years be a rig that's better. I mean that's more than anyone would ever need, but it would be the absolute end of the road when it comes to guitar amplification.

 

[ken361]

Re: WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

Congrats! should sound awesome with the Nova system, looking forward to your review!

 

[Kam]

Re: WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

I don't know if it's possible, but now I've got to try it. First of all, the XTC has a preamp that will blow away any digital gear, but the digital gear will give you hundreds of options. Not just FX, but preamp sounds.

I'm really curious to see if this will work, because if it does, I'm getting a POD Pro XT to sit on top of the amp. Imagine 3 channels of the best tube preamp in the world, then endless options beyond that, all coming out of one speaker cabinet! I sure hope that bypassing the FX loop instantly joins the head's preamp to the power section. That's the issue. If it doesn't do that, it won't work.

If it does, you would have a universe of tones. Imagine an analog pedalboard in front of an XTC with an Eleven Rack on top of it, then an additional midi pedalboard. If this works, there could never in a million years be a rig that's better. I mean that's more than anyone would ever need, but it would be the absolute end of the road when it comes to guitar amplification.

^ That looks like I'm being sarcastic but I'm seriously not. I just thought the picture was too cool to not post. This is actually a genius concept. I really hope that works.

 

[Bludave]

Re: WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

Great amp! Enjoy it!

 

[DankStar]

Re: WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

nice score!!

 

[Red_Label]

Re: WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

Thanks guys. I'm sure it will ROCK. The seller contacted me last night and said he should have it shipped by Tuesday. So it'll be a long wait for my impatient butt, but I'll try to keep busy in the meantime dialing-in my new Eleven Rack.

Also, not sure if the deal with the possible buyer of my Shiva is going to go through or not. So I discussed it with my wife and she's cool with me keeping the Shiva and selling some other crap to pay her back, rather than taking a big loss on the Shiva. So who knows... I may be the owner of TWO Bogner amps (both my "dream amps")!

 

[d1dsj]

Re: WOOT! Picked-up an XTC Classic for "cheap" last night!

Result! Sounds like an ideal scenario to me bud. Nice one.