DIMENSIONS
and WEIGHTS: Are subject to change anytime,
Please measure your amp carefully
if a Custom Case is being made. All measurements
include handle and rubber feet. Weights include
our shipping box and packaging.
-
HEAD - 10 3/4" height x 27 1/8" width x
10 1/4" depth, 53 pounds
-
2X12 COMBO - 25 3/8" height x 29 7/8"
width x 11 7/8" depth, 109 pounds
The
Manual: Let's begin by hooking up a speaker
to the Speaker 1 jack on the back panel of the
Ecstasy. Be sure to set the impedance switch
correctly to match your cabinet. If you're not
sure what impedance your cab is, open the back
of the cabinet and call your dealer. There are
many ways to wire a speaker cabinet and you need
to know what yours is rated at. Now plug the
footswitch connector into the "Remote Control"
jack on the back panel. Next, with the standby
switch (front left panel) in the "standyby"
(down) position, flick the Power switch to the
"Power" (up) position. Let the amp warm up for
at least a minute! This will stabilize the
circuits and prevent a painful surge from
flashing through your tubes. If you're kind to
your amp, it will reward you with grateful
reliability.
At this
point, it might be helpful to understand the
difference between Preamp and Poweramp
functions. For instance, You are probably aware
that the "presence" knob on most amps is a
poweramp brightness control, while the
"treble" knob is the preamp brightness
control. Your new Bogner has been carefully laid
out so that you have options regarding how the
preamp and poweramp respond, both together and
seperately.
On the
front panel, turn down Vol.1, Vol.2 & Vol.3
(these are your channel masters). Make sure loop
on/off button on rear panel is "off" and loop
light on foot controller is out (more about this
later). Plug your guitar into the "H" (HI) Input
jack on the front panel and flick the "standby"
switch to "ON". Tap the Green channel on the
foot controller. You are now in channel 1 - the
Clean Channel.
Channel 1
has Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble & Vol. controls.
There is a 3 position Pre EQ switch. The Middle
position is "N" or normal. "B1" is bright 1,
which acts like the bright switch on an old
Fender Twin. "B2" is bright 2, even brighter
than "B1". The higher you set the gain control,
the less effect the Pre EQ will have on the
sound. This gives you almost infinite control
over Pre EQ level. Channel 1, like channels 2 &
3, also has a boost, activated by the "Boost 1"
button on the footswitch and/or the "Gain boost
ch.1" switch on the front of the amp. If you are
using the supplied master footswitch or the
optional Bogner Medusa for midi switching, leave
the front panel "Gain boost ch. 1" set to "L"
(Low). The reason for this is: If the front
panel boost switch is set to "H" (High), the
footswitch will be bypassed for this function.
The "Gain boost ch. 1" front panel switch is
there so that you can boost in the studio
without your footswitch. If the switch is set to
"H", the channel will be boosted at all times.
If you haven't all ready, bring up Gain 1 and
Vol. 1 and play in Channel 1. Note: Low end
response changes drastically with the different
positions of the Excursion, discussed later.
Tap the
middle button on the footswitch and you are in
Channel 2. Bring Gain 2 and Vol. 2 up a little.
By now you've noticed that, in addition to the
light on the footswitch, two lights of the same
color come up by the Gain and Vol. of that
channel on the front panel. This is meant to
help you make quick adjustments on a dark stage
when you need to. Channels 2 and 3 have Gain,
Treble, Middle, Bass and (master) Vol. controls
as does Channel 1. Of course, 2 and 3 have the
crunch and soaring gain that made Bogner famous.
As with Channel 1, you'll find 3 position Pre-EQ
switches. Though Channels 2 and 3 share Bass,
Middle, and Treble controls, the Pre-EQ switches
allow you to "voice" the Channels very
differently. Don't under estimate the tonal
power of Pre-EQ. Experiment... Tap in Channel 3,
set the Pre EQ to "B1", bring up the volume a
little. Now set Ch. 2 Pre EQ to "N". Now kick
back and forth between channels 2 & 3. For fun,
see how different they can sound, using Pre EQ.
With the dual Presence/Excursion controls, you
can really zero in on the sounds in your for
each channel.
To the
left of Pre EQs 2 & 3, you'll notice the "Gain
Boost Ch. 2 & 3", "Structure" and the "Plexi"
switch. Similar to the "Gain Boost Channel 1"
switch, the "Gain Boost Ch. 2 & 3" switch is
linked directly to the Boost 2 button on the
foot controller. Remember, if the foot
controller or optional Medusa are hooked up,
keep the "Gain Boost Ch. 2 & 3 switch on "L" or
"Low". "H" of course, is "High". As with Channel
1, if the "Gain Boost 2 & 3" switch is set to
"H", the foot controller will be bypassed for
this function. The switch is there so that if
you are without your foot controller, in the
studio for instance, you can use the Gain Boost
function.
The Plexi
Channel is voiced to please players who love
that wide open 60's British sound. Plexi is a
lower gain channel than Lead. Like the older
amps it emulates, the louder you turn it up the
better it sounds. As you can see, the plexi
channel can be assigned to either Channel 2 or
Channel 3. This enables you to keep intact your
favorite dirty channel, 2 or 3, and kick back
and forth between plexi and your favorite
channel. Note: structure switch and Gain Boost 2
& 3 switch are inactive for Plexi. Some players
use the Plexi Channel as their crunch channel,
and Channel 2 ( and Ch. 2 Boost) as their
highest gain channel. Other players like the
Plexi and Channel 3 for lead. Different
situations call for different sounds. With your
Ecstasy, you'll have them all.
The
Structure switch is an overall gain reduction
switch for Channels 2 & 3. In the "L", or low
positon, both channels 2 & 3 have a lower gain
starting point. Obviously, in the "H" position,
the preamp will be higher in gain, overall. The
Structure switch was designed with your blues
and country gigs in mind.
Everything
we've talked about so far, gain, tone shaping
and such, have been Preamp Functions.
Now let's
talk a little about where the signal goes from
the Preamp.
If the
Loop Button on the foot controller is off, the
preamp signal flows from the Vol. 1, 2 & 3
controls into the power amp section. Naturally,
you will want to get a balance between the three
channels. Do this now with the Vol. 1, 2 & 3
controls (the masters).
If you
want to put an effect in the loop, plug a
shielded cable from the Send jack on the rear
panel to the input of your effect, and another
shielded cable from the out of the effect to the
Return jack. If the effect has "level" switches,
set them to "+4". Tap the Loop button on the
foot controller. You will notice that the yellow
"FX loop indicator" light under the "presence B"
knob on the front left panel will come on. If
your Ecstasy has the standard Series Effects
Loop, you will have a white knob on the left
rear panel with the words "Master Vol." under
it. Slowly bring up the "Master Vol" Knob. You
should now hear your effect. Use the balance
control in your effect to balance dry signal
with effected signal. The Master Vol. knob is
the Power Amp (return) Volume, and it only works
if the loop is on. The Master Vol. knob
allows you to match Loop on and Loop off
volumes. Switch Loop off, listen to the volume,
then switch Loop on and match that volume with
Master Vol. Of course, watch the input level on
your effect. If the input LEDs are in the red,
turn down the input of the effect, and reset
Master Vol. The Loop button on the Rear panel is
there to switch the loop in and out if you're
for some reason without your footswitch. If
there is no effect in the Loop, Footswitch or no
Footswitch, the Loop button on the Rear panel
must be set to "off", or the Ecstasy will not
sound.
If you
switch your Ecstasy to the parallel loop mode
(located between send and return jacks), the
signal flow is a little different. The dry
preamp signal will always flow directly to the
power amp. The effected signal will be added to
or "blended" in with the dry signal. The white
knob on the left rear panel is called the "Mix"
control. The further clockwise you turn the
"Mix" control, the more effect you'll hear. Now
your guitar signal has come back from your
effect, through the Loop return and Master Vol.
control, (or has been blended through the "Mix"
control), and is entering the Power Amp section
of the Ecstasy.
There are
several ways to alter the operation of the Power
Amp section. First, there's the optional "Power
amp Class A/AB" switch (rear panel, right side).
In the "A" position, the power amp is operating
in Class "A" mode. Many old amps which are
highly prized and very collectable use Class "A"
operation. Class "A" is a very inefficient, yet
incredibly sweet sounding way to run a power
section. Vox AC 30s and todays Matchless amps
are examples of Class "A" amps. A good general
description of class "A" might be: harmonically
richer (2nd and 3rd order harmonics) than A/B,
more sweetly compressed, A little less note
distinction than A/B (more "melted together",
shall we say) yet more "musical". Class A/B is
headroomier, punchier, louder and of course,
less "squished" sounding.
To the
left of the A/AB switch is the Output Power /
1/2 - Full switch. The function of this switch
is to cut two powr tubes out of the circuit and
knock the amp down to 60 or so watts. This
enables you to crank the amp up to redline, and
only hurt your immediate neighbors, not the ones
at the end of the block. When using the half
power switch, reset the ohms switch to 1/2 the
actual value of the cabinet. (A 16 ohm cab
should be set to 8 ohms, an 8 ohm cab to 4,
don't use a 4 ohm cab in half power).
Further
left on the rear panel, you'll find the Sound
Style - Old/New switch. This control functions
as a pentode / triode selector. In "new"
position, the Ecstasy's power section is
operating in Pentode, which means all 4 power
tubes are working, and all elements within the
power tubes are working. In the "old" or Triode
mode, all 4 power tubes are working, but only 3
out of 5 elements within each tube are working.
This cuts power, but it also "smoothes and
sweetens" the sound, and of course, limits
headroom.
These 3
power amp operation switches - Class A/AB,
Output power Full/ 1/2, and Sound Style -
Old/New -all cut power somewhat. By using these
controls together, you can get almost any
wattage or power level you want, from a max of
around 120 (Class AB, Full power, "New"), down
to about 7 watts (Class A, 1/2 power, "Old").
Many pro
players sometimes like to "slave" their amps by
running a "line out" from their amplifiers,
through effects, to another stereo power amp. A
"line out" is an output from the head that is
line level, suitable for feeding the input of an
effect or power amp. This is also known as
"slaving". The difference between a line out and
a send, (which is also line level) is: A send is
a preamp out, and a line out comes after the
power tubes. The way this works is; run the
Ecstasy head to a speaker cab "dry" (speaker
cable from speaker out to cab, nothing in loop),
then run a shielded cable from the line
out jack (rear panel, left side) to an effect
input. Run two shielded cables from the stereo
outputs of the effect to the inputs of a stereo
power amp. Run the speaker outs of the power amp
to two more cabs. Turn them all up and be blown
away! You are now successfully "tri-amping".
Some guys like to mix only effect in
their "wet" speakers, others like a little "dry"
in there, too. Of course, it all depends on your
application. If the extra speakers are to be
used as a guitar monitor for your drummer,
you'll most assuredly want some dry sound init.
If the speakres will all face the same general
direction, you many not want dry in the effects
speakers. You decide. We like them both ways.
You can also use the line out to feed a mixing
board (speakere emulator recommended), or to
send signal to another amp to power more
speakers.
