Bogner Shiva 2x12

Made in 2008. It's not an extremely versatile beast, but does all of the right stuff for me. The controls are well designed, so it's hard to get a bad sound with it.
The reverb is nice-sounding and I agree with Bogner's default set-up of a true bypass on the reverb. It's a simple mod (one resistor) to change it back to the "permanently loaded" configuration that most other reverb amps offer if you can't live with the volume drop between reverb off and on. The amp sounds so nice that I leave the 'verb off unless I'm playing in an extremely dead space.

This is the best-sounding amp that I have ever played through. I use it with a Strat (w/Kinman Woodstocks), Anderson Hollow Drop-top, and Ibanez 335 clone. The amp is extremely quiet and responds really well to all of the guitars. It doesn't do 5150 high gain, but that's a bonus for me, not a drawback.

It's new. No problems.

Emails to Bogner were answered promptly and were helpful.

I've been playing for over 30 years and this amp makes me smile EVERY time I play through it. The dynamics are out of this world - you can go from a whisper to a scream just by changing your attack. This has forced me to pay closer attention to my own technique to get a consistent level without compression.
I'd replace it if it got stolen or destroyed.

Let me start bij saying that I have had this amp for about 8 months, and now sold it. NOT because it's not any good, because it is, but because it doesn't suit my style.

Very nice amp. Not so many features, but all you'll need. I like the boost function on the footswitch!
Mine was the 60Watt 2x12 Combo, 6L6 loaded, with spring reverb(true bypass)
the effect send/return needs a special bogner-cable. and then the shiva boosts up your signal. I don't like this effect loop. I loved the loop on my triple rectifier more. it had more possibility's

I play covers, from ska to heavy rock. This amp suits ska to rock well, BUT IT IS NOT FOR metal or high-gain types of music.

I play a PRS McCarty 10-top into it. The clean is excellent and the best i've ever heard. Full sound. Tweak a bit with the bass & treble. really, there's not one bad sound in it!

Nice reverb, but i don't like the 'volume-drop' when switching on the reverb. Bogner says it's because they like the open sound of the amp. Ok, that's defenitly true. But I wouldt go with the reverb then (it also cost about 300 euro's more-> enough for one hell of a reverb pedall???)

channel two goes from crunch to rock. such nice saturation! just play some chords and enjoy the sustain. Hear it. If this distortion is enough for you, then buy it!

The reason i sold it, is because 'the distortion doesn't go far enough (for me). Before the Shiva i played a recto, end actually that's more my thing. I know some of you Shiva players won't agree, but hey, it's just not for everyone, and potential buyers who read reviews (like I allways do before buying any amp) should know this.

no problems...

haven't dealt with Bogner, but with the importer for the Benelux. They were very friendly and helped me with a cover for it. (there are no covers for it here in Europe, but the Vox AC30 model fits perfect!)

been playing for 12 years and have had Marshall's (Marshall always breaks :) sooner or later) Engl Rithie Blackmore(engl =ok, but the ritchie B signature sucks bigtime), Mesa Rectifier (why oh why did i ever leave you) and this Bogner.

If the amps capabilities suit your playing-style then you can't go wrong with this. If you also like metal, hardrock, Nu-metal, down-tuning etc tec. Buy an Ecstacy, Uberschall or a Mesa Rectifier!

My first Bogner amplifier, EL-34 power tubes. A basic and highly effective tone machine, a purist's amp, not a techno-geek amp.
This is not a negative whatsoever. Be aware that this amp was designed for tone first, Bogner feels that adding a bunch miscellaneous stuff into the signal path will alter the tone, and not for the better.
Now that I've played it, I totally agree.

10! 10! 10!
If this not the best sounding amp out there, then I would be scared to hear what could be much better. Seriously, I purchased a Mesa Lone Star earlier this year for my clean work, but it isn't a really good rock/distortion amp. I looked around for a while, to make a long story short, I kept hearing "Bogner" coming up in the HC reviews... even for other amps! So I checked out their sound bites on their website. I was very intrigued. Turns out that they have three dealers in Texas, and one of them is ten miles from where I work! So, needless to say, I checked them out.

I walked in thinking the Ecstasy was the amp I was most interested in. Unfortunately, they had none in stock. They did have an Uberschall, a couple of Shiva's (a head with a 2x12 cabinet, and an EL-34 2x12 combo), and a Metropolis 1x12 combo. I played with all of them for a couple of hours, and walked out with the Shiva 2x12 EL-34 combo.

The Uberschall did not impress me that much. I guess I'm getting to be an old fart or something, but the Uberschall was just too much gain, not very sweet sounding. Sounds like they put a distrotion pedal in the front of the signal chain with the distortion set on "10". They did not have a Uberschall cabinet, so I played the head through a Beringer 4x12 (which really sounded shitty), and the Shiva 2x12 cabinet (much better). So, in fairness, w/o playing through the correct cabinet, I may have the wrong impression, and I may be missing out on the whole Uberschall thing. To me, that amp is something you buy for a single style of music... very very heavy heavy metal! Not very much tonal variation to be had. Still, for that style of amp it was fine, although I would have to compare it to a Diezl, a Recto and a 5150 to conclude whether it was better or not. Not the sound I was shopping for today.
The Metrololis was VERY intriguing. What a nice little amp! It has a fantastic sound, very sweet, but it seems a bit limiting in the ooposite way of the Uberschall. The gain it has is very nice, sparkling and complex, but there isn't a whole lot of gain you can dial in. With the Schizo switch, there were plenty of tonal variations, but it's primarily a blues or country style amp. That being said, I really like it, it sounds much different than the other Bogner amps, and may well buy one once I get the bucks in the bank.
But I kept going back to the Shiva. Wow, what an amp. It has the best rock crunch I've heard (think the best Marshall sound you've ever heard). The distorted tones are so beautiful and harmonically rich, and (dare I say it agin?) COMPLEX! And the distortion sounds wonderful at low gain and high gain, and there's TONS of gain to be had. It all sounds good a bedroom levals and at high volume too! How'd he do that? The tone controls do not turn the sound to mud at any setting, but are actually very useful throughout their range. I've never experienced an amp that does that before. It's damn near impossible to get a bad sound out of this amp. The clean channel is also very sweet, it tends to breakup a little bit (in a good way), it's not quite as nice of a clean sound as my Lone Star (IMHO), but it sure as hell is a nice tone.
Guys, I can wax on all day, but the hype is true, this is one badass little amplfier. Don't believe me, please go try one out yourself. If you don't like it, what can I say? You're either tone deaf or you've found something better, and I would like to know what that would be. Maybe a Dumble, but wouldn't know how to even find one, much less afford one. The Shiva WILL hold it's own against any amp that I've heard or played through, and well, frankly, it smokes them.
It does have some small annoyances, like having to get a special cable to drop the signal level on the SEND jack to be compatible with floor pedal signal requirements, and engaging the reverb does knock the sound volume down noticeably. Of course, this is by design and it goes b

Too new to tell.

No reason to contact yet.

I think I said it all already. For a 2x12 combo, with EL-34 tubes, it has THE sound. I'm loving it!
Thank you Reinhold!

This is a follow-up review after 8 months of playing this amp. My first review was on 9-25-2004. I think follow-ups are a great idea because the "honeymoon is over" after a few months and I think I can give a better or more useful opinion now.

First off - I am now using the built in reverb and love it. Still not sure if it's worth the nearly 400.00 $$ though. Secondly I have added a boogie 2x12 rectifier cab because frankly I feel this amp has too much body in the bass section for a combo rig. The combination of the two cabs is stellar. It sounds exceptional plus it fits in my car. The recto cab is extra big so the bogner sits on it in a very stable fashion. I also put beam blockers on all the vintage 30's which gave a huge improvement in the upper mids. I have since added a keeley modified ts808 which runs into a barber tone press then straight into the amp. Again, I am very pleased with this sound and feel. Am really getting the true vai sound now. I have gotten some nos tubes which have improved the tone a bit and am now using jan 6l6gc's which aren't supposed to be used at this plate voltage but after 6 months still working fine. I couldn't get the bias below 50ma with them though. They sound awesome but again this is not recommended. I could be headed for a big surprise in the near future. Only thing in the loop now is a maxon analog delay which is also one of my favorite buys.

I feel this amp is built extremely well. I've been inside a couple of times for bias work and was impressed with what I saw. Especially compared to some marshalls and boogies I've poked around in.

I called once to ask about pricing to switch it over to an EL-34 model. Apparently they change transformers and a couple of small parts. The cost was around $275.00 plus shipping. I've come to love the 6l6 tubes now. Plus the el34 models are 80 watts instead of 60. I prefer the lower wattage. Anyway, the guy I talked to was very helpful and curtious. We discussed my questions for nearly half an hour and he didn't even flinch. Pretty cool.

Still loving the amp. Sometimes I miss the EL34's and I wish it wasn't such a big deal to swap tubes. However, I realize these amps wouldn't be what they are if they weren't built with a speciality in mind. So if you have a chance to try both make sure you do. I still haven't actually played an el34 shiva yet so I may not be missing anything and now I have mine dialed in to perfection so It's all good. Gotta hear one of these combos with a recto 2x12 cab. It rocks! If I had to replace it, I'm fairly certain I would stay with the Bogner name but I think I would try an ecstacy head next over the shiva. Contact me with questions if you want. Not that I have time to waste but I know how big of an investment this is for most of us and if I can help out then it's worth the time.

Pre-2002 2X12 combo W/Reverb. Two Channels: volume for each and a master volume. Seperate volume for reverb on each channel. Bass and treble on clean channel. Bass, middle, treble on dirty channel. Prescence controls both channels. Has a cooling fan, killer serial effects loop. Very nice footswitch which controls channel switching, reverb, and boost function on the dirty channel. I have the 6L6 model. Currently stocked with groove tubes in the power section and electro-harmonix pre-amp tubes.(12ax7) Rated at 60 watts. It fills a room, no problems. Very much unlike a Fender twin in that respect.

This is the amp. Really, Bogner you are the best. If you like awesome Marshall tones. I mean think of the best Marshall tone you can remember and multiply by at least 2. You get an idea. That's what I like about it. It's familiar sounding. Too many pricey boutique amps have quality room filling tone but you are always convincing yourself you like it. Not the case here. I like it, it likes me. Feeling a very good relationship with this tone. I could go on about it but if you really want to hear a great player playing this tone then check out Steve Vai's Fire Garden CD. Songs 2,3,7,18 are all dead ringers for the tones coming from this combo amp. Probably the same amp he is using on these songs I would guess. I play an Ibanez Jem with the evolution pick-ups so it's very close. I've also played a PRS through it(not my fav), Fender Strat, Les Paul, Etc. They all sound very good. The Clean chaannel is so detailed and warm, balanced, dimensional, chimey(but not too much). It's really a great sounding amp. I would buy it again if I needed to. The only opinion I will offer about it is the reverb. It's a very good sounding reverb but I am using a digital reverb through the effects loop instead. The amp looses someting when the reverb is switched on. They admit this in the manual. It uses a true bypass of the reverb circuit when you switch it off, so unlike other amps you can really hear a difference. If you buy a new one, consider skipping the verb and just using a rack through the loop. My opinion is that this sounds better when presented with both options. The reverb option is like $375.00 more or something. For that money you could get a fairly nice effects unit for the loop instead.

I'm confused about other reviewers saying they burn up tubes very quickly. Must be a faulty part somewhere. I don't have any trouble with this one. As reliable as anything else I've owned. I've never had any trouble with amps. Maybe I'm just lucky. Seems very reliable to me.

Haven't dealt with them.

Blah blah blah...I've been playing 25 years now and have had too much gear to mention. Marshalls, Boogies, other boutique stuff. My opinion is get a Bogner, a quality axe or two, and some Fulltone effects pedals and call it a day.

This a 2002 Shiva, before they made it with the ported cabnet (oh well). Channel 1 - Volume, Bass, Treble, Reverb (footswitchable). Channel 2 - Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble, Volume, Reverb (footswitchable). Master Volume and Presence for both channels, and a footswitch with reverb, channel, and boost (for dirty only). No effects loop, no headphone jack. This amp has the perfect amount of features, simple, but it's all you need. 60 beautiful 6L6 American watts. I play everything from a little bit of light rock to heavy rock - no metal really. (nothing harder than P.O.D.) It has more than enough power, and through two Celestion Vintage 12H 30's it sounds unbelieveable. All tube, 2 power 6L6's and 8 12ax7's. 8 because it doesn't have a ton of features but anything else would just hurt the tone in my opinion.

I play a Les Paul Std, with Fralin Humbuckers through it. To be honest the amps range is a little bit on the lighter side for me (you won't get that marshall metal tone out of it). However it has an amazing clean channel, different than a good fender, but just as nice. And the overdrive is literally the best I have ever heard, through any amp I've ever played through or heard on a recording. The crunch you get out of this amp is the tone I've been looking for. Thick, saturated, compressed, melodic, complex, words don't do it justice. It sounds good turned at dorm levels but when you open it up a bit this amp is worth every penny the $2500 plus list price. Don't pay for features pay for the tone. About average on the noise, less than my Deville though. More than suffecient head room on the clean channel, haven't had it break up too much yet. AS I haven't had the amp turned up more than 30-40%. I hesitate on giving a 10, but if this amp doesn't get one than I've never heard one that should.

Built like a tank - 84 lbs officially I think, and built well. Never had any problems, probably has around 100 hours or so.

Never dealt with them, lifetime warranty for the original owner. I, however bought it used. Not too worried though. Dealers are few and far between.

I've been playing since I was playing for seven years now. Have had a cheap squire 15 watt amp, Fender Princeton Chorus, Fender Deville 2x12 (great clean, horrible overdrive), and now this. Own a US Strat with Kinmans, US Tele and the Les Paul. This is a completly different calibre amp than any of the others and I've ever owned and it shows. If it were lost or stolen I would replace it. I love the quality, the tone, the vintage look, and the green light is pretty cool. I considered Marshals, the EL34 version, Dr. Z, other Bogners and other high end amps and after playing through one and reading up quite a bit this is what I went with. No complaints, no regrets. Go to their website www.bogneramplification.com The MP3's are great for showcasing their different amps.

TWO CHANNEL, REVERB, SEPARATE VOLUME CONTROLS FOR EACH CHANNEL,AND MASTER VOLUME. VERY SIMPLE WITH NOTHING YOU DON'T NEED. BEAUTIFUL TUBE AMP. I WOULD NEVER USE A SOLID STATE AMP-EVEN AT GUNPOINT.

MY MAIN GUITAR IS A G+L LEGACY WITH A DUNCAN JB IN THE BRIDGE AND G+L SINGLE COILS IN THE MIDDLE AND NECK POSTIONS. I PLAY HARD ROCK, PUNKLY SOMETIMES, METAL SOMETIMES, ALWAYS LOUD. NEVER CLEAN- BUT NOT TOO DISTORTED. I TRIED THE CLEAN CHANNEL AND IT WAS GREAT- REALLY GREAT. THE DIRTY CHANNEL IS NOT AS DIRTY AS ALOT OF PLAYERS WOULD LIKE BUT IT IS COOL ENOUGH FOR MY STUFF. YOU WILL NEVER GET A RECTIFIER SOUND OUT OF THIS. THE SHIVA IS MORE CLASSIC SOUNDING. IT WILL FORCE YOU TO PLAY WITH DIFFERENT ATTACK THAN YOU ARE USED TO IF YOU PLAY MARSHALLS AND BOOGIES. A REFRESHING CHANGE TO MOST HEAVY GUITARISTS- I WOULD IMAGINE. IT WAS FOR ME.

THE SHIVA IS BUILT VERY WELL. OH BEFORE I FORGET TO TELL EVERYBODY- THIS AMP WITH EL-34'S WILL BLOW YOUR HEAD OFF! I WAS AMAZED HOW F'IN LOUD THE THING CAN GET ON LIKE "3" I WOULD GIG WITH THIS THING ANYWHERE WITH CONFIDENCE.

I HAVE ONLY HEARD GOOD THINGS ABOUT THESE GUYS. I DON'T THINK SUPPORT WOULD EVER BE A PROBLEM.

I HAVE BEEN TORMENTING NEIGHBORS FOR TOO LONG. I AM NOT A SHREDDER WHO DOES SCALES ALL DAY AND WRITES CHRISTMAS CARDS TO STEVE VAI. I PICK UP THE GUITAR AND WRITE A SONG. I PLAY PROBABLY LESS THAN EVERBODY READING THIS. I DO WRITE ALOT OF SONGS THOUGH. I LOVE TUBE AMPS. I ALSO PLAY A RECTIFIER WITH 4 12. FOR GIGS. RAYZHELL.COM

2 channels, reverb (different settings on each channel) & a +6db boost on CH2 - I call this limited because I previously was running a Boogie Mk-iv(which has too many features).
Ch1 - basically a Fenderish clean channel - you can get some crunch if you are really looking for it.
Ch2 - basically a voxy/marshall type dirty channel - great crunch noises - not really for metal type stuff but great tones.
This is the 6L6 version - I tried the EL34 1x12 & was not as big a fan of that vs the 6L6 models. I do wish the effects look was switchable & i especially wish they'd do something different than the way they have the effect look set up (it is wired for rack effects &i you want to run stomp boxes you have to use a special cable)

I use this amp with a variety of guitars - mainly a Les Paul Classic or a PRS singlecut. I use a Roland GP-100 + a Rocktron Intellifx - the GP-100 is only on 30% of the time - the IntelliFx is used in 2 songs. I play originals - noisy alt.pop.
This amp sounds awesome - I really liked the tightness the closed back single 12 & was going to buy that until I heard how awesome the 2x12 (which has an open back) sounds.
In the shows I've played since I got it a number of guitar player friends in the audience & sound guy have been complimenting the tone.

Seems dependable enough so far - but it is new. Played 2 shows since I got it 2 weeks ago & it worked great. But I've owned a lot of amps & wouldn't say anything is dependable until I play a bunch more with it.

Crappy manual comparitive to other amps I've had (mesa boogie & matchless have great manuals). However, it's hard to get a bad sound out of this amp & you hardly need a manual.

This is a super expensive amp that sounds awesome. I A/B'd it with a number of other amps & the presence this thing has is amazing. Even compared to other super expensive amps like Matchless or Boogie.
I do wish the effects loop was switchable & the power cord was detachable.

I feel this is the nearly the perfectly designed 2-channel amplifier. The
"only" thing I would change about this amp is possibly a line out & a
little more user friendly access for rackmount effects. Still, this is the
best overall design I have ever seen. The one I tested was an open
back 2x12 version w/ reverb & 6L6's.

Quite simply the best tones available in the world right now are coming
out of Bogner amps & the Shiva is no exception. Incredible fenderlike
cleans from channel 1. However, this amp does have a unique voice of it's
own. Channel 2 is the best crunch I have heard to date. It is nearly the
exact same as a Dumble & I doubt if I clould tell them apart if I
couldn't see them. Reverb is independent on each channel & is abosolutley
killer!! Overall this is an amazing sounding amp that cannot only cover
the basis of many of the famous "tone" amps. It also has it's own very
distinct characther and sound. I have never heard a better sounding amp!!.

too early to tell, it was tested in Boston Music Works

I have not had to deal with Bogner as of yet

Overall this is the best amp "IMHO" that yoy can buy today. If you are
looking for beautiful, classic Twin Reveb cleans & $10,000 Dumble
overdrive with the sweetest reverb that makes your mouth water then you can have it all in this amp...and more...........
Reinhold is a genius! What is even scarier is that I thought the 2x10
"closed back" Shiva sounded even better.

Wow i think it pretty new,,2000 i got it used but its like new.
last six years been playin blues,I have been playin since age 6 now iam fat and over the hill at 42...lol!!!not.
two channel with seperate reverb is great.clean channel is fat and mmmclean.i play a gibson es335 dot
lately i just play at jam sessiona and open mike nights,,with pros mostly
so far i have only used it at one night..cause i just got it,,but this amp is perfect,,a little heavy to lift but worth it,,
i was using a reissued fender deluxe reverb with vibrato the light tan one 1x12"celestiom sper and 22 watts i think ,,,but i need a little more power,,i got a deal on this amp but man what a amp!!!
What tone,,,thats my most important quality i like about this amp..
fat clean ..like a marhall 4x12 but half that.warm also but has lots of balls when you need it,,for those texas Stevie groooves..

i play mostly gibson es335 reissue dot necks,,but i have a 1973 lespaul custom with blues Dimarzios on both,,
Also a 1991 red Gibson Howard Roberts with some hot humbuckers.mm nice tone.Also a 1961 Gibson es345 stop tail my sweetie.and a custom shop strat..mainly a gibson guy
the variety of the style i play goes from Texas Blues.to rock,to swing blues.some funk,,,outdoors and indoors..not noisy at all
the clean channel is fine for those fat clean Blues shuffles no effects at all ,,mm ok some reverb only a little.high volume it stays clean also..wow

dont know yet ..just got it,,but from what i read its good,

yes i spoke with Shawn ..anserwed the phone right away ,,no fancy operator,,LOL great guy i wanted a Cover for this amp he said he had one,,will cod it to me today ,,wamo ,, done deal ,,but not cheap ,,oh well cheaper than damaged later on right..he said the cover was kinda like those heavy padded gig bags for guitars...kool lets try it he was great and very informative about the amp also .i had some questions about the wiring i thought it was a class A but ,,its a Class Ab ,, the metropolis he said was Class A ..

i been playing guitar since age 6,, i have still original owner of a fender princeton reverb 1967 black face ..all orig . also a 1974 1/2 stack marshall 50w .I recenty got a 100w White Collector half stack
like the older 50w better.a prosonic Fender seafoam green amp 1996 or so .
if my bogner was stolen,,,i would be pissed,,,yes i would get another after insurance paid me,,lol this is the best amp i have.for all around purposes.
i would like it to be lighter its a heavy amp...thats it