Just Couldn't Bond- Bogner Alchemist

As several of you may remember, I showed up at home at the end of October with a Bogner Alchemist 2-12 combo. I told you that it was the worst amp that I had ever heard. In all fairness, I rarely return anything and I thought that maybe we could get along. I replace the preamp tubes with 12AT7s instead of 12AX7s. The amp was very sterile to begin with and I compared it to my Twin Reverb Custom 15. The preamp tubes really added some life to this amp. At this point I figured we were cool. About this time I also trade a Pro Reverb for a Cyber Twin SE. The Alchemist got put on the back burner while I order a Midi foot controller for the Cyber Twin and at that point I am consumed in programming the Cyber Twin. Back to the Alchemist. I would plug it in once in a while just to give it a fair shake. I was always disappointed and no matter which channel or what I adjusted, it never had the WOW factor. It had a nice tap delay and a good reverb. So at the end of four months I talked to the manager at the local GC and told him about my dilemma. He said, bring it back and we will take care of you. I picked out a light weight American Special Tele. That is the one I did bridge surgery on yesterday and I am very happy with it. At least I will use it.

As for Amps, I probably will not buy another one. The Twin Reverb Custom 15 is perfect for me but I tell you, The Cyber Twin Se is one heck of an amp. It is what I use all the time and It is soooo programmable and you can basically get anything out of it that you want. You just have to spend a little time learning how to take advantage of it. With the Midi controller, I couldn't imagine a better rig for me. So all is fine after all!-- Darwin

Since the Alchemist is pretty much a Line 6 with tubes it's not too surprising you found it lacking. If it were a Shiva for example I think your experience would have been quite different, but you seem to have things covered with the Cyber Twin and Custom 15. Ever look at Egnater amps? Their cheapies are pretty cool. Btw, here's a thread on the Alchemist you might find interesting:

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=365898

I did a lot of research on this before I bought it. It had Celestion Speakers in it which I thought were made in England. When I read the fine print on the speakers, they were also manufactured in China. I think that they will be replaced with a Line 6 tube line. Line 6 is already advertising a new line of tube amps.-- Darwin