Anyone have any experience with Bogner Shiva?

...thinking about picking one up.

I need a 1x12 combo amp that has a good clean channel and a nice hi-gain channel that will get me close to a recto tone.

The Shiva seems like a good fit but it is expensive

Any other suggestions are most welcome.

Thanks,
Chris

I ended up trying out a Shiva and then buying a Bogg New Yorker and a Wampler Triple Wreck pedal for a little combo setup with awesome cleans and a rectifier tone. And saved over a grand.

I didn't think a shiva sounded much like a rectifier. It does have a cult following though.

YMMV

I owned a shiva head for about six months. I just couldn't bond with it. First off, if it's a regular shiva they do not have near enough gain to even come close to a rectifier. Two completely different amps there. A shiva 50th anniversary has more gain, so you might want to look into one of those. IMO the shiva is a great sounding amp with a great clean channel, a great crunch channel and needs a nice OD pedal for anything more. Very nice sounding amp , but just not what I was looking for.

I own a 20th Anniversary Shiva (I think the previous poster meant 20th not 50th) and love it. The difference being that the 20th Anniversary uses KT88 power tubes and the regular Shiva EL34's. However, the 20th Shiva is available in a head only. But if you want tons of gain AND clean then the 20th is hard to beat. For my money anyway.

I use one as my main amp for about three years now and really dig it. They are very picky about cabs and speakers, and the effect loop works only with rack gear even though it has a pedal send (BIG TONE SUCKER) not bad for me because I don't use a lot of delay.
Reverb is nice and you will need a boost pedal to get into metal territory. The clean channel is like Fender, not black face more like new fenders and the gain channel is a more of a 800 style Marshall with a tweak in the upper mids.
The bad rap that this amp gets is from that it is not a bedroom whisper quiet rig and needs to opened up a bit to get the mojo. Another tip is if you end up with the 20th anniversary is to get it modded for EL34's manny find the 88's a little to glassy sounding unless it is way loud, like stadium volumes.
Try to check one out before you buy!

Greetings from a noob.

I know this is an old thread but I'm kinda gassing for the Shiva. All the talk about the effects loop has me a little spooked. I've heard good and bad.

The other rig I was considering was a Maz 38 - stick a high gain style pedal in front of it for the big gain stuff and it has fantastic clean tones.

Any feedback? Thoughts on the Shiva effects loop?

The loop is not bad if you use rack gear that takes line level, the pedal stuff sucks so bad I thought it was funny. AND, it needs to be cranked up to get what it really does, about as loud as a drummer should do it. Add a 808 or boost and your in hair metal country. Clean channel is real clean. Real good for pedals (Which is what I use now) but I hear a lot of people say its Fender or Black Face or bla bla, it is just a clean channel. I would go with the Maz and call it a day. your not paying for anything you don"t need and if you get sick of the way it sounds just buy another pedal.

edub said:

Greetings from a noob.

I know this is an old thread but I'm kinda gassing for the Shiva. All the talk about the effects loop has me a little spooked. I've heard good and bad.

The other rig I was considering was a Maz 38 - stick a high gain style pedal in front of it for the big gain stuff and it has fantastic clean tones.

Any feedback? Thoughts on the Shiva effects loop?

Click to expand...

I have a Maz 38. That is a seriously under rated amp. Loud as holy hell, great cleans, good loop, takes pedals great, pushes a 4x12 well.

The store I bought the amp at had a guy working there with one. Used a triple wreck pedal for gigs. I tried it and oh yeah.... There is your rectifier in a box.

I have played the Bogner amps that are Marshally, tried them a few times. Just could not bond with them. The Über TJ is my fav ultra gainer. But the XTC and Shiva didn't work for me. I like my cheap $600 DSL 100 better.

Tone is so subjective though. Good luck on the tone quest.

edub said:

Greetings from a noob.

I know this is an old thread but I'm kinda gassing for the Shiva. All the talk about the effects loop has me a little spooked. I've heard good and bad.

The other rig I was considering was a Maz 38 - stick a high gain style pedal in front of it for the big gain stuff and it has fantastic clean tones.

Any feedback? Thoughts on the Shiva effects loop?

Click to expand...

I had a Shiva for a few months and I used quite a few pedals in the loop and never really had any problems with it. I ran a few pedals in front of the amp and a few in the loop, mostly Boss pedals, and I was always pleased with the results. I know that the older Shivas weren't very pedal friendly and you had to use a special cable to get them to work properly, IIRC, but the newer ones should be fine with most pedals.

The cleans on the Shiva were some of my all time favorites but for my tastes the amp always seemed to be lacking in gain. I boosted it with a few Keeley Tubedrivers, a Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster, and maybe a few others, but I never really got the sound I was looking for. I ended up trading the Shiva for an Electradyne and I was much happier after that.

+1 on the Dyne