Bogner Alchemist Head

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I am using this amp with:
-1x12 Bogner Metropolis Cab w.V30 made in England
-BadCat Leash Attenuator
-PRS Custom 24 / Gibson LesPaul Special / Fender Custom Shop 57 Strat / Fender Am Series Fat Strat w.S.Duncan JB / Yamaha Mike Stern Pacifica w. S.Duncan PRail & Dimarzio Twang King / Ibanez RG / Gibson 1959 Melody Maker / Gibson SG STD / Gibson Les Paul Std 1978 w. T-tops / etc...

I am runing this amp along with a Matchless Chieftain Head thru a Greenwood Custom HeadSwitcher with the Metropolis Cab and a AxeTrak in Parallel straight into a Focusrite ISA Mic Pre-amp into ProTools..

Basically i use the Matchless as my main Amp (or channel since i can switch between heads as if they were channels) for everything that uses pedals clean crunch and some Dumble style od tones. The Bogner is my Rock ''Channel''. Everything that is more overdriven than SRV i will use the Bogner...

I prefer the Matchless for most of the clean, Dumble style (w. Clean Boost) , Country & Blues stuff. I don't really have a use for the Gold Channel yet... the Matchless is just perfect... The Bogner sounds thin and harsh compared to the Chieftain... but it still is an excellent value.

As for the Mercury Channel it is amazing for the money!! Great All Around Overdrive /Distortions. Anything from Blues & Classic rock to shred and metal including Vai EVH Satch ... etc I love it!!

The FX are ok but not great... but they still get the job done.

Had a problem when using the Footswitch after less than 3 weeks of use. Had it fixed by my tech (Greenwood in Montreal)He basically changed a few switches with higher grade components.

I also changed the tubes... especially the crappy chinese tubes.. i used Mullard for all 12ax7 and EH for Power. This made the amp more focused and less fuzzy.

I did call customer service and they actually hung up on me... i guess they don't like to be called 30 minutes before closing time... tipycal for a large corporation(line6)so i paid a visit to my trusty tech for my switching problem...

I am a full time luthier in Montreal ( i litterally see hundreds of guitars a year from every brand, models and price bracket) and have owned 67 guitars 36 amps and countless pedals over the years. I have gigged professionaly for 15 years and been playing for close to 20 years. I play rock, blues, country-rock, blues-rock and instrumental music. I have owned many great amps Vintage and new (Bogner, Soldano, Mesa, Fender, Marshall, Orange, 5150s etc...

This amp is a well made instrument at an affordable price. You will get very decent tones for the money and a few really great ones... I think it is a good deal, but it's not perfect, as in everything made for the masses.

-40W max power; selectable power section for 20 or 40 watts
-6L6 class-AB power section with five 12AX7 preamp tubes
-Channel 1 (Gold) controls include gain, treble, mid, bass, volume, crunch mode, variable bright and deep switch
-Channel 2 (Mercury) controls include gain, treble, mid, bass, volume, variable bright and mid shift
-Shared controls include in-parallel, reverb type, reverb level, delay type, delay level, delay repeats (feedback) and tap tempo
-Eye catching retro-modern fit-and-finish
-4-button footswitch controls channel select, boost, delay and reverb
-Inputs: 1/4" guitar, effects loop return and footswitch jack
-Outputs: 1/4" speaker (4 or 8 ohms), effects loop send
-Includes power cable, 4-button footswitch and manual

the guitar(s) i am using are an Ibanez Artist Single Cutaway with Seymour Duncan JB Bridge/Jazz Neck pickups and Ernie Ball Skinny/Heavys. my other guitar is a Schecter Blackjack with Seymour Duncan Blackout Active Pickups. both killer sounding guitars.

signal chain is guitar>Maxon OD9>Boss NS-2>Bogner

I can get ANY tone i want out of this amp. i only use the Maxon OD9 to 'brighten & tighten' my tone a little when i play metal, but i don't really need to use it to get a killer tone. this amp can do it all; my clean tone is a slightly overdriven, blusey bright tone (similar to In Flames on the song 'Zombie Inc.'). if you don't believe how heavy this thing can sound, find my user name on youtube and check out my video 'rugbyguitargod'. this amp does everything from crystal clear jazz to all-out metal. too much on the gain setting will mush up your sound, so to get a nice tight sound, you need to be sparing with the gain and the bass setting. once dialed in, it's good to go!

never had any problems with it. i have owned it for 3 months and have gigged on it religiously!!

Bogner is a great company. I have not personally had to deal with their customer service, but with a company like them, i couldn't imagine anything less than stellar service.

this is not my first tube amp (owned Peavey XXX, Mesa Triple, Marshall JCM 800, own a hot-rodded Bugera 333XL) but i can say this amp has a lot of responsiveness and a GREAT overall sound. this amp will always go with me in the studio and on tour. another great product from Bogner!

the only thing i wish is that there was a matching 4-12'' cab you could buy with it, but i guess my Splawn and Bugera cabs will do just fine for now ;)

Brand new this year. Was searching for a good high gain 3 channel amp head. Hit all the major boutiques and some Marshall's and Mesa's including the new Mark V. This thing slayed them all. Price point, value, tone, usable gain, usable watts. The only thing I played that had better tone was 2 Diezel amps but they were about 2 grand out of my price range. And I would say the were better just different (better for what I play). Though it only has 2 channels they are very usable I am running the 1st channel as a crunch and tuning down for my cleans this works nicely for me. The 2nd channel I crank the gain all the way. Any other amp I have ever had this was a terrible idea...I usually dont go past 1/2 way. This thing screams the more you give it. So every amount of gain is completely usable. So is the wattage I don't play arenas so 100-150 watt amps are useless for me I can never turn them up even at show volumes. 20-40watt makes more sense. Less tubes to replace also...

I play a PRS CE24 mainly also a Parker PM20 and ESP LTD Alexi Lahio w EMG 81's. I play mostly Progressive Metal, hard rock. This thing is very nice for that. Eliminates a few pedals on my minimalist board. A great well rounded amp never thought to try it for what I am looking for. It is quiet as the day is long. 2 6L6 tubes and 12ax7 preamp tubes what more do you need?

Just got I have no idea how it will hold up...

not yet.

Im going with a 9 due to the unknowns but at this price I can afford a few problems.

2 channel amp, each channel has a boost switch, digital Line6 verb and delay, 20 watt "variac" mode, 40 watt full power mode.
I bought this amp from a large on-line retailer with a great return policy. After a week, I returned it for full refund.
There are plenty of reviews for this amp, I won't repeat any of that stuff, but just offer my own observations in testing this amp out.
One comment that I'll offer here, is that for a 20/40 watt amp, it's HUGE! As big as a 100 watt Marshall head, weighs 45 lbs, and I found myself asking "why?".
8 for versatility, less because of tone limitations (more later...)

I played this amp with a wide variety of guitars- Gibson custom shop Les Paul R0 burst top w/ burstbucker pups, an Epi '56 gold top reissue with Duncan P-90 pups and new electronics and other upgrade mods, a Yamaha Pacifica 612V H-S-S superstrat, a '52 Tele clone and a vintage strat. All pickup types, wood types, bridge types, .009 thru .011 strings, etc. Blues, funk, metal chunk, chorused finger picking, Tele twang, VH brown sound, etc etc.
I played it through a Lupo convertible 2x12 cabinet- it has a removable back, so you can play it closed up for a tight, chunky Marshall tone, or open for more of a bright Fender/ combo sound. EV12M speakers.
My current amp is an Egnater Rebel 20, I've owned Carvin amps, Fender vintage amps, and a '71 Marshall 100w super lead.
The overwhelming feeling with this amp, both channels, all settings, is that it's very compressed, as if there's a cheap compressor in front of it sucking the nuance and life from your signal. You can not get it to just sound like an open, organic tube amp. It sounds like you've plugged into a huge rack full of processors, all switched off but all there to suck the life out of your tone, then boosted back up at the end. I want an amp so clear sounding (clean or overdriven), that if I change, for example, bridge saddles, raise or lower the pups, etc etc, I can easily hear the difference. You can't with this amp, there's too much processing between your fingers and the speakers.
There is a brite switch on both channels. but even with the treble knobs almost dimed and the brite switch on, I could not get enough treble, even from single coils. I want tone controls that will go from way too little, to way too much, and I'll find my sound in the middle somewhere.
This is a symptom in a lot of modern amps. Younger players hear a tone on a CD and want THAT tone to come out of their amp. Well, that tone came out of an amp in the studio, and got very processed before it was mastered to the CD. It's not practical to try to get a finished, processed sound out of an amp, but that's what modern amp builders try to do. A tube amp should sound raw and alive, then get tamed and shaped with outboard effects live or processed in the studio. Give me a big, clear (distorted or clean) open sound and let me process it as I want.
I will give kudos to the 20/40 watt switch. I didn't use it as a volume/ output control and I don't think that's the intention. In 20 watt mode, current to the output section is lowered (like using a Variac) so it's a bit starved for power, making it sag when you hit it hard like an old tube rectified amp. It's a nice effect, and is much more obvious when the amp is cranked getting it's saturation from the power tubes instead of the pre-amp tubes. In 40 watt mode, it's slightly louder, but more immediate and articulate. The 20/40 switch should be though of as a tone shaping control, not a softer/ louder control.
There are certain modern players that will love the tone of this amp, no doubt.
Finally, even though the guts are the same, the tone of the head through a cabinet, and the tone of one of the Alchemist combos are different. The combo has more of that open tone that I'm looking for, the head sounds more compressed. If you read the tone geek forums, you'll clearly see that more people are unhappy with, and return the heads, than the combos. I think this is why.
6 for the compressed, tone suck character of this amp. Geez, with a few cap values changed to open it up, this could be a fantastic amp. I wonder if Rheinhold is working on version 2 of this amp, or if they'll scrap it. Online retailers are giving them away now, so V.1 was not a flaming success.

I only had it for a week, but went over it with a fine toothed comb and played the hell out of it. I've seen a Bogner Ecstacy opened up and taken apart, and I promise you, the build quality of the Ecstacy and the Alchemist is the SAME. Both heavy-duty PC board construction, well laid out, sturdily constructed. Birch plywood cabinet, Tolex covered, thick and bomb-proof. Very very well put together. The transformers are both huge, nothing skimped there. Tube sockets are solid, PC boards are very thick and heavy duty, chassis is thick and solid, etc etc. It is not a "cheap" looking amp by any stretch. My dissatisfaction with this amp has nothing to do with the Chinese construction, it has do with the USA tone design.
Do not let anyone tell you that "made in China" means that it's cheap or poor quality. Rheinhold designs the amp, tells the factory how to build it and Bogner/ Line6 does quality control. Left to their own devices, the Chinese probably have a tendency to do it cheaper, try to use lesser quality parts and construction (it's their history and nature, it's how they do business there), but it's not up to them, it's up to Bogner USA/ Line6. Apple computers are built in China, Nike shoes, etc etc, plenty of high quality, well made stuff comes from China.

I would fully expect this amp to be every bit as reliable as a Bogner custom shop boutique amp. I would not be surprised if a lot of the components are the same.

Customer support for this amp is handled through Line6 USA, not Bogner Custom Shop. I live very close to Bogner though, and e-mailed to see if they could do some mods to open the sound up a little. They seemed willing to do some basic work for me, but never responded after I'd asked for specifics and pricing. Seems to me that if you spend around $1000 for this amp, then give Bogner custom shop several hundred to mod it to make it sound good, you're well on your way (financially) to just buying a used Shiva, etc, so it's a matter of diminishing returns.
My experience with the custom shop wasn't great since they ultimately never got back to me, but I can't rate them because it's Line6's deal.

30+ years of playing on/ off, former semi-pro, trying to get back into the studio/ session game later in life. I listed my amp experience and guitars that I own above. Every player with some experience is looking for a certain tone or range of sounds. This amp did not do it for me, but most definitely will for other players with different needs. It's a good amp, a great amp actually, just not the right sound for me.
If it is the right tone for you, then the price/ quality ratio is so high, I can easily give it a 10. Bogner sound and build quality for a street price of under $1000 new. Go the GC, etc, play the hell out of one, if that's your sound, you won't regret getting it.

Amp made 2008/2009. Tube 40 - 20 watt amp head. I play a mix of Blues - Rock - Heavy Rock & Metal. The amp offers a vast amount of tones with built in effects for delay & reverb all through the footswitch too which is very handy. This is a 2 channel amp but offers many different tones available to both. Also has an effect loop with level control but I have found the amp will work great when something is thrown straight into it.
I really like the delay on this & although I have read other reviews wishing it had a tap tempo on the footswitch I think that would be heading towards overkill really. I have a delay pedal I could use if I needed 2 different delays in any given song.
I use this amp for playing both at home & live in clubs, plus would happily use this for recording purposes as I can get a great sound out of it at lower volumes. I run the head into a Marshall JCM 800 Lead twin cab & it sounds very good.
Maybe I could get slightly more Oooomph out of a quad but my back can't take humping that thing around anymore!

I have a few guitars - Peavey Wolfgang Deluxe, 1978 Les Paul Standard, 1972 Fender Japanese reissue with texas Specials & a SD Lil' Screamin Demon Bridge pickup, 1972 SG1, Roadworn Telecaster. This amp suits all my guitars. In fact, I have fallen back in love with the Wolfgang. The thing screams but has such beautiful sustain & a creamy note that still amazes me. I'm also using the neck humbucker in all of my guitars thru this head. It has a way of adding warmth & clarity that was missing in my Orange 30 head.
This amp can pretty much make any sound I want at the moment. From super clean with lush reverb to crunchy ACDC to fat sustaining leads. If I kick the delay off & use the bridge pickup on any guitar it really cuts through & is absolutely wonderful for Rock Riffs. The clean channel will give you a super clean tone at good volume & sounds bloody amazing with a Tele or Strat. This was the deal maker for me as my Orange 30 didn't really have a clean channel & was very 1 dimensional. It had 1 great sound but that was it so I was relying on quite a few pedals to get me through a gig.
I love the gain on the Alchemist. The Boost button is a great idea. Adds mids to your tone & a bit of volume to get the leads out there. I use a Crowther Hot Cake - a Bad Horsie2 wah - MXR EVH Phaser - Boss Flanger into the head. It takes a while to work it all out. There are a number of swithches/knobs that work together so a lot of patience is required - something that some of the reviewers here obviously lack!
The gain channel is really quiet too for the amount of distortion available. If it doesn't give you enough then buy a distortion pedal. It gives me plenty at volume.

I have not had a single issue with it. I don't have the money/room or strength to carry a backup amp. I take the risk whenever I gig. The head did drop off the quad once in transit but fired up no worries : )

I'm in New Zealand but I'm sure the agents here will help me out if there was a real problem. The guys in the store were keen for me to get out & gig with it to hopefully stimulate some interest.
If something was to go wrong I have a warranty with the shop for 12 months.

I've been playing for nearly 30 years now. Touring, playing in original bands + cover bands & have done some studio work for TV etc. If it was lost or stolen I would definitely get another one or save up for the Ecstacy head.
I must admit that this wasn't an instant love affair. I tried the amp out when it first came thru with a Tele. I was in the store to actually try the Tele out & decided to give the Alchemist a blast too. It didn't set my world on fire initially. First of all, I always feel slightly uncomfortable trying gear out in a store. I felt a bit rushed & didn't really like the attention. After half an hour I still wasn't happy so left BUT there was a wee moment when I heard something that I just knew my Orange head couldn't match. It was such a sweet sustaining note. I decided to go back again but this time I brought along my 78 Les Paul. I arranged a time with the store when it would be quiet & I spent an hour wailing away. The more I played with the control panel of the Alchemist the better it got. I knew that it would improve further at home with all my gear so I bought it & I don't have any regrets at all. Awesome tone for the money - seriously. Go to the Bogner website & witness a bunch of hot session dudes going for it. The tone they get is THERE in that amp. I think some of the reviews here are lame.

Just got a new Alchemist head. Tested my unit in the store, made sure all front panel knobs and channels were in operation. Upon getting home, the problems started.

Footswitch: Reverb can't be turned off. Even when reverb is disengaged on the footswitch it stays on. Turning on the reverb switch, engages the delay. Worst part of this, is that it's totally random. Sometimes the problem goes away, sometimes the delay switch triggers reverb.

Parallel FX Loop: Does not go to 100% wet. To my ears, it doesn't even go close to 50%.

EQ Controls: For the large part on the Mercury Channel, the EQ controls make little to no difference in to shaping. The curve is very extreme. E.g. on the treble controls 1-5 have little change, whereas 5-6 is a really drastic change. 0-10 on bass produces little difference.

Not sure if the FX Loop and EQ problems are cos of a fluke unit or a design flaw. Either way, it's going back to the store tomorrow.

this is a 2 channel amp with a footswitchable boost for each channel and footswitchable delay, reverb and channel swithcing. it is selectable 20w or 40w. it has a lot of tonal options. the first channel(gold) is the clean channel. it has a gain, treble, mid, bass and volume knob and three switches. the first switch goes from clean to crunch. flipping to crunch allows the first channel to be a mild to medium overdrive if you don't need a clean tone. there is also a bright switch and a deep switch which enhances the bass which works well with single coil pickups.
the second channel (mercury) has the same knobs as the gold channel but the switchs are punch (more gain), bright and mid shift which gives a more 'scooped mids' sound. there is a built in digital delay that has the option of a tape, analog, or ducking delay sound with a tap tempo button and digital reverb that has a plate, spring and hall setting. the effects run in parallel to a 'dry' signal internally. there is a parallel effects loop and speaker outs on the back. i only wish there was a tap tempo on the footswitch and a series effects loop is stead of the parallel loop. that is the only reason i gave it a 9 instead of a 10.

i have owned a billion pedals, fenders, marshals, mesas, vhts, etc. i feel like i know i good bit about tone but it is always subjective. one mans crap is another mans pie.
my rig is as follows: prs single cut, AM strat with fralins, Am tele with fralins or custom warmoth with dimarzios ->EB volume ->crybaby wah ->keeley compressor ->fulltone fulldrive 2 (sometimes a fulltone ocd and maxon od808 instead)-> bogner alchemist input -->send out to line6 MM4 -> line6 DL4 ->return of amp. i play mostly classic and modern rock. zep, pearl jam, muse, floyd, srv, rush, rage, eric johnson, etc. maybe a splash of metal but nothing to brutal.
i love this frigin' amp. it sounds killer. i dont get the negative reviews but to each his own. the combos get good reviews but not the head... go figure. the only difference is the speaker in the 1x12 is a vintage 30 where as the 2x12 combo and extention cab has a heritage 30 and greenback. definately a different sound. i believe matchless uses this same combination in some of their amps. the clean is beautiful. can go chimey or dark. sounds great with my single coils and humbuckers but the knobs and switches need to be set different for each. my fulldrive and strat sound amazing in the clean channel. the crunch mode can do a good vintage ac/dc type crunch or country edgy sound. the mercury channel is awesome. again, versatile and can get a real sweet, sustaining lead that is on the edge of feedback. love it. rhythm is great but it needs to be set just right if you are doing a lot of plam muting. like an old fender, it can have a little flabby low end if not set right. when set right it is great. i would say that if you are looking for something really brutal, probably look else where. i feel it does everything else reasonably well. a great amp for the working musician that needs to do a country gig one night and a rock gig the next. the boost feature adds a very small touch of volume and a touch of grit. i actually wish they would have added a little more 'boost' to the boost feature. it is still useful though. will add just that something extra on your leads.nnthe built in delay is very usable although another delay is needed to complement it for me. i like to have 3 or so different delays set for different purposes. the reverb works for me. just a touch to sweeten the sound. it is not a super fender, gorgeous verb, but i like the hall setting. the spring setting has a minor flaw. when in the middle of playing and you switch channels you will hear the spring 'ping'. it is weird but only does it on the spring setting.
the only real drawback for me is the parallel effects loop. i hate parallel effects loops. they basically render digital effects and processors in the loop useless. the inherent time delay from the digital converters in the effects units creates a phasing problem when mixed back into the amp with the 'dry' uneffected signal. your effects need to be analog or have a option for a 'dry kill' which doesnt allow any dry signal to leave the pedal... only a '100% wet' signal. i now need to sell my dl4 and mm4. i really want the line6 m13 but fear i will have the same problem even though some people on the line 6 form have told me if they set the effects 100% wet it works fine with their parallel effects loop. i am now looking at some nice analog delay and modulation pedals. they sound great but dont provide the convenience of the m13 :(
let me reiterate.. this amp sounds fantastic. like any tube amp, you need to turn it up a bit to really hear it in all its glory. the 40w mode will give you a little more head room on your clean and a little more overall punch.
one thing i will say from my 16 years of experience and gear aquisition syndrome... i have a good feeling that a re-tubing will really make this thing shine. it is amazing what that can do sometimes. if it already sounds this good, cant wait to hear it with a little bit better tub

cant say for sure. only had it a few weeks. seems fairly well built.

haven't had to contact them so, cant say.

i have been playing for 16 years or so and currently own a fender blues jr with a vintage 30 speaker and a vht pitbull 2x10 as well. both great amps as well. the vht is especially versital as is the bogner. i would re-buy if stolen. as usual, i still want some other amps for my studio but i think this will be my main amp, especially for gigging for the time being. it is about the only amp i can grab without any other pedals and feel real comfortable on.

Stock Bogner Alchemist head into the matching 2x12 cab. A couple of good features like the boost but the effects arent really needed in an amp of this type.

I tried this in a shop for a an hour or so with my Strat loaded with single coils(wilkinson customs) and a mates SG special loaded with a TV jones.
The clean sound is brilliant, its choppy, warm and deep, the controls on this channel are really responsive and help to dial in some great clean tones, ideal for country through to classic rock cleans. I was hugely dissapointed by the drive channel, its either all or nothing in terms of EQ and gain and i couldnt find a usable sound. It really struggled with the bass end of my strat and it made the sg sound brittle. It was quite quiet and i didnt try the effects at all.

I was really looking forward to getting my hands on one of these, but i came away from the shop not owning it. Really disappointing drive sounds, i wanted to hear the great powerful bogner distorted tones but all i heard was a big let down. Good amp for cleans but for drive sounds look elsewhere.

You can read the specs??n??poo from the Bogner website, I??ll tell what I think about the amp.

This amp can cover everything from ultra clean to ultra heavy sounds.

The eq is awesome, as are the punch, mid shift and bright switches.

This amp can be used in bedroom without getting eviction. The sound is very good at very low volumes, but it gets better when you open the tap a little bit.

The built-in delay is a gift from heaven, and the reverb is excellent too.

I have played some Cannibal Corpse songs with my Alchemist head, so if that aint heavy I don??t know what is.

The amp produces amazingly little noise when you turn up the gain on the Mercury channel. Noise is definitely not a problem with this amp.

The Gold channel stays clean unless you switch the crunch to on position -> instant AC/DC sound. Just fantastic.

I have had no problems so far.

The amp is a dream come true, and a definite keeper for me.

I have had a 5150, a Laney Tony Iommi Signature and a few other heads.
The Alchemist beats them all in versatility.

One could play anything from country to norwegian black metal with this monster of an amp.

2008 model, 2 channels (clean and crunch) with seperate EQ's, built-in and reverb and delay, boost, tap tempo, effects loop, 40/20 watt variac switch, yada yada yada. Extremely versatile amp, sparkling cleans to saturated gain, however, if you're looking for modern BrOoTaLz metal, you'll need an EQ in the loop to drop the mids and boost the gain or better yet, buy an Uberschall. This is not a metal amp, so if you're whining about how this amp won't emulate Lamb of God, then you're just lame. Don't get me wrong, this amp can do the BrOoTaLz, but it will need some help like an EQ oe boost in front. If you're playing Jazz, Country, Raggae, Rock, Funk or whatever else, this amp will do it right out of the box.

Bogner fanboys do not like this amp. They feel cheated because their Uberschall or Ecstasy was built in America and cost almost three times as much. Their opinion has nothing to do with how this amp sounds, plain and simple they're snot-nosed, pseudo-elitists who care more about branding then they do about tone.

I have an SG, Flying V and a Strat. This amp sounds fantastic. I don't give a rat's a** that this was made in China, it's sounds killer. First and foremost....REPLACE THE TUBES!!!! When I played the Alchemist in the store for the first time, I knew right away this was a good sounding amp, but I also knew it could sound better with some quality tubes and I was right.

The built-in reverb and delay are actually usuable in a live setting. The clean (gold) channel can be sparkling and/or spanky. Turn up the gain a bit and give it some hair......SWEET! The Crunch (mercury) channel has some really tight gain in it. This amp can cut in the mix too. I play with my buddy who uses a Marshall DSL and it stands right out with it. No getting lost, no turning up to be heard, the frequency response is perfect for jamming with a band. This amp sounds very organic.

Now the downside to this amp. Too much gain (past 2 0'clock) on the Mercury channel will start to mush your bottom-end. You can easily correct this with a boost up front or adding an EQ in the loop, but honestly setting the gain at 2 0'clock is plenty of gain, even if you're looking to do metal. I prefer my gain setting around 11 0'clock, so I get nothing but tight gain.

I've only had it for a few months, but so far I'm pleased with it. No issues so far.

Nevere dealt with them and I hope I never have too.

I've been playing for 25 years. I also own a VHT Ultra-Lead, Marshall DSL50 and Epiphone Valve Jr with bitmo mod. I would say the Alchemist easily holds it's own to my other amps, but my VHT is GODLY, so I won't even compare the two. The Alchemist is what it is, a great amp for the price with great tones. Like all amps, you have to know it's limits and don't expect it to do what it wasn't meant to do. If you're looking for a versatile amp with usuable reverb and delay, this is a great amp to play. I'm definitely happy with it.