Need a New Amp....

[Texas_minor_blues]

So have decided to part with my Bogner Shiva (not a for sale post yet). Looking for suggestions for it's replacement. Play mostly blues and rock (some metal). Not really interested in Kemper or Axe FX, looking mainly at tube amps, what do you recommend

 

[AP515]

It's a pretty open field. In general, PRS guitars go well with PRS amps (of course) and Mesa's. For blues I like the Mesa Lone Star Classic. For rock I'd say the Custom 50 (I use the earlier version of it which was the "H"). Many in here will say the HxDA for both. To truly get to Metal territory you will probably love the Archon. I'd say try a bunch and choose.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Based on your moniker, I'd recommend the HXDA. The DA stands for Duane Allman.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I wouldn't sell that amp.

 

[WeFixFlats]

I wouldn't sell that amp.

If you've had it for years and had great pleasure playing through it. the moment someone hands you the cash, then puts it in the trunk of their car, drives up the street and turns the corner, you will regret it. Take it from someone who did this...it's a bad feeling that doesn't go away knowing you let one go that didn't have to go after all.

 

[László]

I totally understand if the Shiva isn't your thing. Wasn't mine either when I had one in my studio for a tryout. I respected what it did, but the tone wasn't quite what I had in mind.

Here's what I like about a single channel amp for the kind of music you're doing:

A two channel amp has a clean channel designed to be clean, and a gain channel designed to be dirty, but it's hard to live in that sweet spot for blues and rock where you're able to get the goods between clean and dirty simply with your picking hand, without even touching the volume controls on guitar or amp.

In my humble opinion, only a single channel amp will let you live and thrive there.

I have a Mesa Lone Star that's designed for the kind of music you're talking about, but even it will not give up the goods in a truly organic way like my single channel PRS amps.

For the kind of music you like to do, the HXDA is (for my taste) THE amp. Period, bar none, best ever, etc., etc. I do like those plexi style tones, and as much as I like other PRS amps, and other non-PRS amps, it's been #1 in my life ever since I first put one in my studio.

If you're more of a Tweed guy, there's the DG30, something I think of as more of a roots music amp in my own use of it; the amp has a hauntingly beautiful tone, especially at lower gain, and at higher gain settings breaks up really nicely, but in a different way from the HXDA. The DG also seems to need more volume to really shine than the HXDA.

With the HXDA, I have the amp set up so that by setting the guitar volume to 5 or below, I get gorgeous, shimmery clean tones; above 5, the tone gets thicker, and by 6-7 is purring along nicely. At full guitar volume I'm in RAWK territory.

The only two channel amp I've had that could come close to this kind of responsiveness was a Two-Rock Onyx, an amp that's been out of production for quite a while. I've had some of their other amps, but the Onyx gave me that rock-blues thing with great touch sensitivity to a greater degree than their other models.

So that's the two of the three PRS amps that are currently made that are single channel. I'd love to try a DG50, which sounds like kind of a cross between the DG and HXDA in clips, but I haven't been able to play through one yet.

Of course, there are any number of choices on the used market, but I've never really been excited about buying an amp without a warranty.

 

[elvis]

I'm not sure how happy you are with your Shiva. If you like it but want to try something new, you might consider keeping it. If it's just not your thing, you can always get another one, I see them for sale used every day. They are a bit of a pain to sell, though.

If you go the Les route with a single-channel amp, you will very likely want to keep the Shiva for rock/metal.

 

[László]

If you go the Les route with a single-channel amp, you will very likely want to keep the Shiva as a paperweight.

Fixed it for ya.

Seriously, if you occasionally need more gain with the HXDA, just goose it with a $100 pedal, and bank the balance you get from the Shiva.

 

[vchizzle]

So have decided to part with my Bogner Shiva (not a for sale post yet). Looking for suggestions for it's replacement. Play mostly blues and rock (some metal). Not really interested in Kemper or Axe FX, looking mainly at tube amps, what do you recommend

What do you like and dislike about the Shiva? What makes you want to let it go?

 

[elvis]

Fixed it for ya.

Seriously, if you occasionally need more gain with the HXDA, just goose it with a $100 pedal, and bank the balance you get from the Shiva.

Well-played...

Can you really get a tight, gritty, gainy rock tone from an amp that was designed to be soft + a pedal? I'm not sure I buy it.

 

[László]

Well-played...

Can you really get a tight, gritty, gainy rock tone from an amp that was designed to be soft + a pedal? I'm not sure I buy it.

Here's an ad I used the HXDA on for the tight rhythm tones goosing it just a little with a pedal. You might or might not think it's gainy enough. That's up to you to decide. It was gainy enough for me.

If memory serves, the lead lines were done by one of our session guys -- those aren't HXDA, though I could duplicate them quite easily with my amp.

 

[bodia]

Well-played...

Can you really get a tight, gritty, gainy rock tone from an amp that was designed to be soft + a pedal? I'm not sure I buy it.

Depends on how tight-n-gainy we're talking. I'm not going to be playing any Dream Theater on it, or Djent, but with a Suhr Koko Boost I'd toss out some Maiden, Priest, Rush, Zep, et. al.

 

[elvis]

Pretty heavy, but not so gainy and tight. I wouldn't try Metallica with that tone, or even Shinedown or Alter Bridge. Sounds great, though. You could do a LOT with that tone for sure.

 

[László]

Pretty heavy, but not so gainy and tight. I wouldn't try Metallica with that tone, or even Shinedown or Alter Bridge. Sounds great, though. You could do a LOT with that tone for sure.

The client wanted "gained up garage band!" So that's what I dialed in. That's with the amp's gain set to about 1 o'clock, certainly no more, with one of the Way Huge green pedals in front goosing it.

When the client is around, one says, "Is this the tone you want?" And if they say, "Yes," you're in business for a nice payday.

Put the right pedal in front, and the amp can sound pretty much like anything you like. I may be old, but the ears still work.

 

[elvis]

Put the right pedal in front, and the amp can sound pretty much like anything you like.

My problem with this is that you could argue the same thing for a JC120 or Mark I as well. But I think the more you modify the tone with the pedal, the less of the amp you hear and feel (not that a JC120 has anything you could call "feel" ).

Philosophically, how far from the native tone can you get before you lost the amp's magic qualities?

 

[nosidamde]

What version of the Shiva do you have? I just earlier placed a hold on a 20th KT88 Shiva inbound to Sweetwater. It took me awhile to decide but now that I have I am really excited to get the amp.

 

[elvis]

I am not actually sure. It's an EL34 dual-reverb. It has the green chassis and is definitely not the old-old version. It may well be the last design before the 20th.

I am very curious about the KT88 version. I have found I really prefer 6L6 to EL34, which is part of why the Archon knocked my socks off. I also with I had the extra gain of the 20th. Still, the Shiva I have is awfully nice.

 

[nosidamde]

I am not actually sure. It's an EL34 dual-reverb. It has the green chassis and is definitely not the old-old version. It may well be the last design before the 20th.

I am very curious about the KT88 version. I have found I really prefer 6L6 to EL34, which is part of why the Archon knocked my socks off. I also with I had the extra gain of the 20th. Still, the Shiva I have is awfully nice.

I really prefer the 6L6 tone myself, especially in my Archon. I'm hoping these KT88 tubes will sound as good I'm hoping. (sound to my ears at least)

 

[Texas_minor_blues]

Thanks for all the replies keep em coming

To clarify a few things
Currently run a EP Booster and Full Tone Fulldrive 3 into the amp for different tones.

It is a 20th Shiva with the KT 88s. To be fair the amp sounds wonderful just finding myself growing out of it. Been leaning more towards Old Storyville, Lance Lopez, Buddy Guy tones and on the rock side more steve morse kind of stuff

 

[Boogie]

Been leaning more towards Old Storyville, Lance Lopez, Buddy Guy tones and on the rock side more steve morse kind of stuff

Totally get that. After playing a Boogie MkIII for 20+ years, one day I woke up and decided, I'm done. Went from a 3 channel amp with a loop and tons of gain to playing it clean with pedals then to buying a single channel amp. Redefined my entire rig philosophy and never looked back. I still have the Boogie for sentimental reasons but when I play it next to the Super Dallas, I wonder if I should sell it. That probably won't happen but I changed drastically and probably won't ever go back.

If it doesn't rock your world, don't apologize, just do what you need to do. And for the tones you described, I'd be leaning toward an HXDA if you can handle the volume. If not, I'd consider a Fargen MiniPlex III or a 65 Amps Empire.