What would you choose?

[UberMetalDood]

My choice basically comes down to this: I can keep my Blackstar S100 and Mini Rectifier or trade them back to the store for a brand new Bogner Shiva EL34 head. I have been gassing hard for a Shiva so that's the only reason I'm considering it. I am totally enchanted with the Blackstar, but at this point I'm kind of wanting to narrow my amp collection down to amps that last the test of time and I just don't feel like a Korean made amp will be of much value 5 or 10 years down the road. The Mini Rect isn't that expensive so I suppose I could get another one not too far down the road. I'm getting weary of buying and trading amps so I really want a few that I can keep for a very long time and still carry good value.

That's my thinking at this point, but you know how it goes. My third option is to get $1200 back for the Blackstar and save up a few hundred more and buy a used Shiva which sell in mint condition or new condition in the $1400-1600 range. What say you experts and gear whores? Advice?

[Red_Label]

Having owned a Shiva, I'm biased.

I miss my Shiva. My current Engl Powerball 2 and DSL50 more than fulfill my current needs and the Engl is far more versatile than the Shiva was. But... I still miss the Shiva. I miss it more than the XTC. The XTC Classic was basically a Shiva with an extra, slightly more metal-oriented channel (red channel). But there was just something about that Shiva and the reason that I gassed for one for about ten years before I finally got one. Someday, I'll get another and just leave it. Will likely replace the DSL (which I really dig, but I'm just into having a few great amps and calling it good).

Anyways... my ramblings notwithstanding, if you're gassing for the Shiva then I think that it's gonna bug you until you get/try one. I've never played the Blackstar or Mesa that you currently own. So I can't compare the Shiva to them. But there's NO doubt in my mind that if you're looking for an awesome amp to do blues, jazz, country, classic rock, alt rock, grunge... basically anything up to modern metal genres... it's HARD to beat the Shiva. Plus, there's just something very cool about being in the "Bogner owners club". It's a cooler club than the Mini Mesa or Blackstar S1 owners club! LOL!

[mwalluk]

I'd go shiva

[Van Noord]

Surely the Shiva.

For what it's worth, I only own, and will own, amps made in:
-USA
-England
-Germany

Love my Korean ESP LTD's though!

[Gearjoneser]

My favorite Bogner is the early 101B that included Class A and fully mixable FX loop.
I've used it since 2000, and haven't found an amp I like more since then.

[some_dude]

Both those amps are common and easily replaceable should you decide you don't dig the Shiva as much as you thought you would.

[Bludave]

I love my Shiva. The drive channel is great, but judging by your user name you may not be happy with the available amount of gain. I am a blues/blues-rock type of player and for me the Shiva is outstanding. I've had mine about 5 years now and I see no reason to get rid of it. In fact I have always been a two amp kind of guy. I A/B the Shiva with a Komet 60. Most of the time I would say the Komet is a better sounding amp. more articulate & she has tremendous clarity, but in some ways the Shiva is a tad more versatile due to the two channels. I typically use the Komet for those amazing cleans & I love the drive of the Shiva!

[That90'sGuy]

Having owned one for a lot of years (actually two of them), I can tell you they're wonderful amps. Quite a few amps had come and gone during the last 10 years and once I discovered the Shiva, that amp search stopped. The reason why mine is being sold is because it's a) too loud to fully utilize (80w tube is some serious amplification to "open up") and b) I'm not into head and cabinet setups any more. These days I just want a 1x12'' combo that is low wattage so I crank the crap out of it and use my controls to get various shades of dirt. I just sold a Bogner 4x12'' on consignment (that's the greatest 4x12'' cabinet out there, but it's heavy and not practical to gig with) and if you check eBay, that's my red tolex Shiva head that's up for grabs.

As with any amp there are qualities some people will like and some people will hate. What I love about the amp is just how good the clean and the overdrive sounds are. I can't tell you how many channel switching amps I've played where you get one or the other; there's always a compromise. The cleans have a fullness and a nice chime in the highend that you wouldn't expect from an EL-34 amp. The overdrive has more of a low midrange focus (as opposed to the upper midrange punch you typically get from Marshalls) and with the right tubes (aka Reinhold's recommended Shuguang pres and Winged C EL34s) you have more than enough gain for even harder rock/metal applications. The magic of this amp is how it sits in the mix. With Vintage 30s, in a band mix it's present without being overbearing. The only thing you'll have to judge is how the amp feels to you because there's a bit of sag to the design, the low end isn't as tight as a lot of metal inspired amps out there and there's a unique compression that these amps have (it makes things sound fat and rich, but yet still retains clarity). What amazed my studio recording engineer friend was how effortlessly it records and how little he had to tweak to get great results during mixdown. The thing I miss right now about it is that with the master volume it could get better tones at lower volumes than even my current P-T-P hard wired Vox AC15 (which is why I'm selling that). Kinda frustrating not having that right at the moment, so I'm settling with my overdrives through my Fender at low volumes.

Right now I've got a boutique AC15 inspired amp with power scaling incoming and if that doesn't work I may actually check out the new Bogner New Yorker... seems like that one's designed for what I'm looking for these days. The Shiva is a different beast altogether and I think for anyone who does any serious gigging this thing is a life saver. It's truly one of the best channel switching amps out there. With the Shiva there's no need to bring a dedicated clean amp and a dedicated dirty amp with an A/B switch. It does it all well under one relatively simple design.

[everdrone]

what other amps do you have?