Bogner Shiva (NHC)

[jisham]

When I play my Shiva I'm pretty sure I see god. That is all.

[Jack C]

I've never heard it called a "Shiva" before but it is fun to play with.

Wait, are you talking about an amp?

[jisham]

Juvenile...go to your room!

Probably should've worded it differently but Bogners are simply unreal IMO. I've been through more amps than I care to admit and gotta say that the Shiva's simplicity is a godsend. I haven't found a bad sound in the amp, no matter where I set the knobs. And it has a master volume that actually works.

[Jeff R]

Agreed, Jaye. Cajun Boy has one driving a Marshall 4x12 that will tear your head off. I dialed in a good "stun gun" setting at his house for the holiday Monday, plugged in my 2HB Centaura and practically peeled the paint off the walls of his gear room.

[MCChris]

I'd love to have an EL34, no-reverb head.

[DavidE]

Have you tried an "old" Naylor?

[jisham]

Have you tried an "old" Naylor?

Nah, never heard of them either. I'm set at this point -- Shiva EL34 head with reverb with an oversized 212 Bogner cab that will slay most any 412 cab IMO.

Chris: the cool thing about the reverb Shivas is that it's footswitchable and when you disengage the reverb you get a slight boost that solved my lead boost issue -- now, I just punch out the reverb and noodle away. Way cool.

[jisham]

Agreed, Jaye. Cajun Boy has one driving a Marshall 4x12 that will tear your head off. I dialed in a good "stun gun" setting at his house for the holiday Monday, plugged in my 2HB Centaura and practically peeled the paint off the walls of his gear room.

What were your "stun gun" settings?

[MCChris]

Chris: the cool thing about the reverb Shivas is that it's footswitchable and when you disengage the reverb you get a slight boost that solved my lead boost issue -- now, I just punch out the reverb and noodle away. Way cool.

Interesting. But what about the actual boost function?

Those Bogner 2x12s are nice, ain't they? What speakers do you have in yours? I have G12H30s in mine.

[Jeff R]

What were your "stun gun" settings?

Can't recall for sure 'cause we were drinking and hollering a lot, but I know I scooped the mids to about 2, dimed the gain, put the volume on 6 and put the master on about 3 or 4.

Punishing. Sounded like "Angry Chair" by AIC.

[gregc]

I love the Shiva, specially with the Bogner dual front- ported 1x12 cab. The verb is good but I can live without it. I prefer the EL-34 version. I've been through 2 of em. I'll likely get another at some point. They're always a victim of some trade..... last time it was for a new Fender Tweed Twin repro.

gregc

[MCChris]

What were your "stun gun" settings?

Can't recall for sure 'cause we were drinking and hollering a lot, but I know I scooped the mids to about 2, dimed the gain, put the volume on 6 and put the master on about 3 or 4.

Punishing. Sounded like "Angry Chair" by AIC.

You are one sick fuck, fella! Thank God you were driving a Shiva and not a car LOL!

[jisham]

Chris:  the cool thing about the reverb Shivas is that it's footswitchable and when you disengage the reverb you get a slight boost that solved my lead boost issue -- now, I just punch out the reverb and noodle away.  Way cool.

Interesting. But what about the actual boost function?

Those Bogner 2x12s are nice, ain't they? What speakers do you have in yours? I have G12H30s in mine.

The actual boost function doesn't really add volume, at least on mine. It adds another gain stage I believe.

Yeah, the Bogner cabs are absolutely killer. I've got one V30 and one G12H30 in mine.

[thecajunboy]

Gotta agree with ya Jaye. There's not much bad in it. Not a whole bunch of versatility, but nothing at all is bad. I used to run the gain wide open, but lately have backed off to about noon to 1 o'clock. The mids are what I vary the most. Mine's a no reverb model, but I use a Holy Grail reverb pedal in the loop, and only on the clean channel.

[jisham]

I called the Bogner factory a couple of weeks to find out about mixing the V30 and G12H30. Turns out the guy who answered the phone was Reinhold Bogner himself. We BS'd almost 45 minutes and he was really into discussing the Shiva, asking what made me buy it (duh -- it makes me see god!), would I change anything on it (maybe a little more gain?), and different speaker options. Super nice dude and it impressed me that he could've just answered a quick question and sent me on my way, but he didn't -- he started asking ME all kinds of questions. Very very cool.

I agree with Cajun that it's not really versatile like say a JSX, but it does its own thing remarkably well: Fenderish clean and one seriously bad ass Marshallesque gain.

[gwayne]

Jaye,

Did you A/B it with an XTC? I love My Bog 101B and will never, ever sell it, but the Shiva has me intrigued. I hear the cleans are to die for.

Gary

[jisham]

Jaye,

Did you A/B it with an XTC? I love My Bog 101B and will never, ever sell it, but the Shiva has me intrigued. I hear the cleans are to die for.

Gary

Yes I did Gary. I loved the XTC 101B I played but I kept asking myself if "I" needed its flexibility and ultimately, I don't. If I was an accomplished lead guitarist, I would've been all over the XTC but for what I do, the Shiva fits the bill perfectly.

Here's my little rig:

[BadgerDave]

I agree with Cajun that it's not really versatile like say a JSX, but it does its own thing remarkably well: Fenderish clean and one seriously bad ass Marshallesque gain.

Me too!

I love my Shiva 2/10 Combo. I've found that the boost adds a usable increase in volume if the second channel gain is set to "Billy Gibbons" rather than "Eddie Van Halen". Once you push the initial gain stage too hard, the boost just adds more (incredibly musical) overdrive.

I can get the three sounds I need from the amp (clean, crunch and singing lead), so It's precisely as versitile as it needs to be for my purposes.

As I mentioned in another post, the one negative aspect of the Shiva is that it absolutely refuses to cooperate with outboard OD or distortion pedals. I haven't tried making one of the necessary effects loop cables, so I don't know if that would help. In any event, the amp's built in gain stages sound so good that I don't miss the pedals.

Oh, and it looks pretty, too!

[Jack C]

Have any of you guys compared a Shiva to a Rivera? It seems like they both are aiming for the same basic goal (Fender cleans, Marshall dirt). Just wondering what the Bogner does better/different.

[gregc]

I think the Shiva is the best voiced Bogner; just my opinion. I've owned a Rivera R50/112 and a 2x12 Quiana combo. Th Fender-like clean of the Quiana is, IMO, a tad nicer than the Shiva clean, but overall, I'd take the Shiva. Of course, the Quiana had 6L6 power tubes and my Shiva had EL-34. The 6L6 Shiva might match the Rivera 6L6 clean. I'll say this: the 2x12 Quiana was an immoveable object. TOO DAMN HEAVY! The only reason I sold it~

gregc

[BadgerDave]

I haven't played a Rivera, but I read the Guitar Player review of the Chubster 45 and 55 last night. It reinforced my opinion that Paul tries to squeeze way too much complex circuitry into his amps.

I mean, a push/pull function on every control knob? The amps may sound great and I'm sure they appeal to guys who love to tweak, but I don't have the ear, the patience or the memory to deal with that many options.

The Shiva is plug and play.

[thecajunboy]

What are you guys referring to when you say "Fender clean"? My Bogner is nowhere near as sweet sounding as my BFed SF Super Reverb, and both amps are running a set of Phillips NOS 7581As. That's what I was after when I bought it, but it ain't got it.

Badger, the only things that work in the effects loop are modulation type effects. ODs and distortions have ne business there. My Fulldrive II sounds good in front of the clean channel, but why do that when the gain channel sounds better?

[jisham]

What are you guys referring to when you say "Fender clean"? My Bogner is nowhere near as sweet sounding as my BFed SF Super Reverb, and both amps are running a set of Phillips NOS 7581As. That's what I was after when I bought it, but it ain't got it.

Badger, the only things that work in the effects loop are modulation type effects. ODs and distortions have ne business there. My Fulldrive II sounds good in front of the clean channel, but why do that when the gain channel sounds better?

Well, I gotta fess up and say I've never paid any attention to "real" Fender amps...I just think the Shiva's clean is very pristine with loads of headroom so it works for me. Guess I shouldn't say Fenderish....

[BadgerDave]

My Shiva is the EL34 version and I'm amazed at the clean tone. Compared head to head with my '67 Deluxe Reverb, the Shiva can get remarkably close to the classic Fender BF clean tone, with tighter lows and a bit less of the "zing" on the top end. Not surprizingly, given the disparate power output, the Shiva has a whole lot more headroom.

I suspected that the effects loop was the wrong place for OD effects, that's why I haven't bothered making one of those resistor-equipped patch cords. I can't get my Fulldrive II to work into the front end of the Shiva, though. Sounds like you've had more success there. Every OD or Distortion pedal I plug in sounds like the pedal output is too hot for the input stage - kind of hissy with some unpleasant, almost solidstate clipping overtones. Again, not a problem since the amp produces exquisite crunch and OD tones without any outside assistance.

[Guest teefus2]

I haven't played a Rivera, but I read the Guitar Player review of the Chubster 45 and 55 last night. It reinforced my opinion that Paul tries to squeeze way too much complex circuitry into his amps.

I mean, a push/pull function on every control knob? The amps may sound great and I'm sure they appeal to guys who love to tweak, but I don't have the ear, the patience or the memory to deal with that many options.

The Shiva is plug and play.

i read the same review. i stopped reading when i saw the comment "the tone controls may have too much control". ummm, what? passive tone controls are pretty much passive tone controls. as far as the pull pot on every knob, that sounds more like the "m" series rivera (which is my #1). the "r" series riveras are very straight forward. not a whole lot of tweaking needed imho. nothing like a series III or IV boogie or any modern boogie. the rivera stuff is very well made and definitely worth checking out especially when you compare it to a bogner i price.