Bogner Shiva Head

The bogner Shiva is an 80 watt, el34 design. The shiva has many useful features. Tube buffered effects loop present. Foot switchable reverb and boost as well as master volume and presence controls. You also have the ability to adjust the reverb levels of each channel independently of one another. The gold piping and faceplate complement the aesthetics of the tolex and grill to imply an old school rock and roll vibe about the shiva, very fitting.

UTILIZATION

These amps can take a beating. Very rugged design quality. I enjoyed the foot switchable reverb and boost immensely in the live setting. Allows the Shiva to function as though it had a third channel. It is easy to dial in and covers plenty of sounds, though the Shiva excels at gainy tones.

SOUNDS

Played with a Gibson Les Paul Custom. Mesa 4x12. Xotic EP booster.


Boost pedals work very well with the clean channel to get dark fluid leads. I found the onboard boost to be more than adequate for any genre of aggressive music. No outside pedals necessary. The onboard reverb lent itself well to adding a Hi Fi sheen over anytone I dialed in. The Shiva does the marshall sound very well but has it's own signature thing going on. The presence knob was very responsive and was useful in shaping the flavor of the gain. I enjoyed rolling the presence off mostly and making the Shiva darker and thicker sounding.

OVERALL OPINION

The Shiva is great value in the used market. I feel that overwhelming number of competitors makes little case for the list price of the shiva at $2499. With amps like the Mesa Boogie Royal Atlantic and Bogner's own Goldfinger 45 dominating at the vintage flavored rock game, it is hard to see a proper fit for the Shiva.

- Two footswitchable channels
- Boost (footswitchable)
- Reverb (optional)
- Bright switches on both channels
- Optional metal grill
- Two EL34's (also available with two 6L6's)

UTILIZATION

This is your standard two channel amp. It has a separate eq for the clean and the gain channels (although the clean channel has no mid knob). It has a global Master and Presence as well as a volume for the Boost. There is an option for Reverb as well. It also has bright switches on both channels. The amp is fairly easy to equalize. The channel switching is fast and accurate.

SOUNDS

The clean channel on this amp is really fantastic. It sounds Fenderish while doing its own thing. The clean sound is thick and rich and will satisfy most people. The gain channel is similarly thick and rich sounding. Some people might find the amp a little too dark sounding, but with the bright switches, you can get it a bit more bright. The reverb (which is option) is also fairly nice sounding. You basically have two great sounding channels with zero sonic compromises.

OVERALL OPINION

I really feel this was Reinhold Bogner's finest moment. If it where three channels and 100 watts, I would be in even more enamored with this amp. The boost does a decent enough job at emulating a third channel but if this had an actually third channel, it would be the amp the Bogner Ecstasy wants to be but never can.

It is slightly odd to me that Bogner claims that this amp puts out 80 watts via two EL34's. That seems way high to me considering the average two EL34 amp is rated at 50 watts. I'm not sure where that comes from or what it's based on.

I prefer the EL34 version over the 6L6 version because it amp tends to be a bit on the dark side and benefits from the extra mid range that the EL34's offer. Either option is great, however, the 6L6's would probably be better for single coil players.

This is a fantastic amp and the best of the Bogner lineup. I would love to get my hands on the Anniversary edition of the amp to try that out, although I am slightly worried they tried to fix what wasn't broken.

The Bogner Shiva is simply one the best amplifiers ever to have been created. Reinhold is a genius when it come to getting amplifiers to give you that immediate sound gratification. His amps just sounds so good when you get these some juice and gain and will keep you playing for hours. The Shiva head is probably Bogner's closest voiced amp to a classic Marshall tone. Most of his amp have a distinct Bogner tone and very familiar British flavor to them but most of them have their own characteristics to them. This amp comes with either El34 power tubes or 6L6 power tubes. The tone i think with the El34's will be a bit more midrange focused and with distort a lot quicker than the 6L6 power tubes. You will get an even closer tone to a Marshall with this power tube arrangement.

UTILIZATION

Features

80 watt amp head
Footswitchable 2 Channel All-Tube Design
Footswitchable Boost, variable on Ch.2
Tube-buffered series FX-Loop
Ch. 1: Bass, Treble & Volume controls, Bright Switch Ch. 2: Bass, Middle, Treble, Gain and Volume controls, Bright Switch
Global Master Volume and Presence control
Functions on footswitch: channel switch, boost, reverb (reverb models only)
Power tubes EL34
Dimensions: 11-1/2"H x 24 1/2"W x 10 1/2"D
Weight: 41lb.




SOUNDS

This amp has an exceptional clean channel. However, with the El34 you won't get as good a clean channel as you would the 6L6 power tubes. The 6L6 tubes have a lot more headroom in the tone and the clean channel will stay cleaner for a lot longer of the volume sweep. The cleans are very robust and chimey. The cleans alone are enough to buy this amp. But the best part about the amp is the distortion grind.

The distortion is very thick and huge sounding. With these power tubes you will get a meatier midrange tone and the distortion will be a bit thicker than the 6L6 power tubes. It still has a nice thump in the low end and a even better sweet midrange that will fit in most if not all music. Maybe not death metal or anything but this amp can cover a lot of ground.

OVERALL OPINION

At new you can pick these amps for right at around $2050, which is one heck of a deal for a two channel boutique amplifier with 80 watts of power. The Bogner Shivas are a great rock amp and a nice introduction to the higher gain custom amps from Bogner. These are a bit high in price for a lot of people and understandable, but if you ever get a chance to plug into one of these amps you'll immediately know something you have been playing is missing.

One of the best amplifiers ever to have been created. Reinhold is a genius when it come to getting amplifiers to give you that immediate sound gratification. His amps just sounds so good when you get these some juice and gain and will keep you playing for hours. The Shiva head is probably Bogner's closest voiced amp to a classic Marshall tone. Most of his amp have a distinct Bogner tone and very familiar British flavor to them but most of them have their own characteristics to them.

Bogner Shiva Features:

Footswitchable 2-channel all-tube design
Footswitchable boost, variable on channel 2
Tube-buffered series effects loop
Channel 1: Bass, Treble, and Volume controls, Bright switch
Channel 2: Bass, Middle, Treble, Gain, and Volume controls, Bright switch
Global Master Volume and Presence controls
Functions on footswitch: Channel switch, Boost, and Reverb
80-watt EL34 power amp section

UTILIZATION

Details
Type Tube
Number of Channels 2
Power 80W
No Effects
No Reverb
EQ Treble, Middle, Bass
No Amp Modeling
Preamp Tubes 4 x 12AX7
Power Tubes 2x EL34
Inputs 1 x Instrument
Outputs 2 x 1/4" Speaker Outs
Footswitch I/O
Effects Loop
Height 23"
Width 24.25"
Depth 10.5"
Weight 68 lbs.

SOUNDS

This amp has an exceptional clean channel. The cleans are very robust and chimey. The cleans alone are enough to buy this amp. But the best part about the amp is the distortion grind.

The distortion is very thick and huge sounding. It has a nice thump in the low end and a sweet midrange that will fit in most if not all music. Maybe not death metal or anything but this amp can cover a lot of ground.

OVERALL OPINION

The Bogner Shivas are a great rock amp and a nice introduction to the higher gain custom amps from Bogner. At new these amps come in at around $2300. These are a bit high in price for a lot of people and understandable, but if you ever get a chance to plug into one of these amps you'll immediately know something you have been playing is missing.