Even from childhood, in his native Germany, Reinhold Bogner already skillfully soldered his soldering iron to create his own guitar amplifiers. After moving to Los Angeles, his amp mods and models began to attract famous names from the six-string world, including Steve Vai, Steve Stevens, and Eddie Van Halen. So when it was announced that he was going to release an amp made in the Line6 factories that would cost less than $1500, he made a lot of noise.
This new model, called the Alchemist, a handsome 40W tube amp, is exactly what we’ll be testing. It comes in three models: two combos: the first equipped with a 12-inch speaker and the second with two different 12-inch speakers; and a 2×12 amp + cabinet head. This review is about the 2×12 combo model.
It’s quite bulky (two 12-inch speakers take up a bit of space), heavy (80 pounds), and has a very nice neo-vintage look. Everything looks solid and ready to take a beating. Although it is made in Line6 shops, it is still a Bogner! Other more expensive models of the brand therefore pass into the “Custom Shop” class. Appearance and finish wise, the grille, logo, knobs and little diodes all look well done and give the amp a respectable look. Everything about the amp exudes the quality of the brand.
But let’s see if the Alchemist can really turn lead into gold…
inside the alembic
One look at the specs is enough to see that it really does have 40 watts (class AB power) under the hood, but you can also cut the power in half. This is very useful when you want to maintain good relations with your neighbors while pushing the amp a bit… Be careful though, because even at 20 watts the Alchemist produces some serious sound! As far as tubes go, it has two 6L6 power tubes and five 12AX7 preamp tubes; Pretty vintage. As for the two 12-inch speakers, this amp features a Celestion G12M Greenback and an Anniversary Celestion G12H. This setup is quite interesting, because you’ll be able to get two quite different sounds while recording – nice touch! The Alchemist therefore includes conventional, but quality components.
In terms of inputs and outputs, of course, there’s the guitar input on the front panel, plus two speaker outputs (8/16 ohm and 4 ohm) on the rear panel. An XLR connection is used to connect a 4-button footswitch (included) to control channels, boost, delay, and reverb. Lastly, there’s an effects loop and a blend knob. Note that the loop is shielded and cannot be passed through, so the “dry” signal never leaves the amp, so as not to degrade the signal with an external element.
Mixing the Elements
Configuration-wise, note that the amp provides two channels: the “Gold” channel, which is meant to excel at crisp, clean sounds, and the “Mercury” channel, which turns into higher gains. For the first channel there are typical knobs: Gain, Bass, Mid, Treble, Volume, plus various switches: Clean/Crunch, Bright, and Deep (for adding low-mids and bass). Above the Gold/Mercury switch is a Boost switch which, when applied to the Gold channel, adds gain and fatness (with more low-mids to your sound). On the Mercury channel, the boost adds gain and fattens your sound without necessarily increasing its volume. For this second channel, there are also Gain, Volume and EQ knobs, but also a Punch switch which, when positioned to the left, provides a more vintage Californian tone, and when positioned to the right, a more high-gain tone. British. The Mid Shift switch will cut the mid frequencies.
Effect-wise, the Alchemist features a delay (with a tap delay button that lets you quickly adjust its speed to the tempo) with three types: fade (quick cuts), analog, and tape (tape delay). It is also possible to adjust the number of repeats via the ‘Repeats’ knob. The amp also features three reverbs: spring, hall and plate selectable via the appropriate switch.
Given the number of switches, there should be a lot of sonic “alchemy” possible… Let’s see!
Sound
To get started, you can take a look at the Bogner website, which has plenty of audio samples. You’ll hear the Alchemist sounds great when played with slightly overdriven single-coil pickups… It reproduces the typical Stratocaster and Nocaster Twang sound very well! No problem with crunch sounds and the amp responds well to picking variations (thanks to the tubes…): a good flick of the wrist makes the Alchemist crunch in a nice, tasty way! This undoubtedly adds more expressiveness to the performance. The example with a Les Paul does not do justice to this magnificent instrument, it lacks its characteristic roundness a bit…
Samples recorded with a Hamer reveal a rather fat and gritty sound, but slightly muddy, which may please some and annoy others… It’s a matter of taste! This amp is recommended more for stoner rock lovers than for shredders who prefer a very precise and cutting sound. The amp tends to lose definition in the low mids. It sounds like it responds more like an old-fashioned amp than a modern high-gain amp.
For my own sound samples, a Gretsch G5129 was used, fitted with DeArmond single-coil pickups and a Sennheiser MD421 microphone positioned in front of the amp. A tip for mic placement with this amp: There is a wooden bar positioned vertically in the center of each speaker, which is convenient as a marker to place mics in front of the speaker cones, since the cover is opaque. Since I’m not allowed to post links to my sound samples in this article, you can check them out in the original Bogner Alchemist article at en.audiofanzine.com. You can hear a clear difference between the two speakers which in turn multiplies the tone possibilities.
Not too many surprises, the samples confirm what was said before. Delays have a fairly classic sound and can give your sound a nice color if used sparingly. Same for reverts – they sound pretty good and are very appropriate for most situations. These sound examples were designed to allow the reader to hear the difference between each switch on the amp.
Bogner set out to make an affordable amp, and it seems he succeeded. This is an amp that costs less than $1500 (for the 2×12 model) with two channels with very different personalities and two speakers that greatly expand your sonic palette. Add to that a little neo-vintage looks, a clean sound that crunches just as it should, and a fat, distorted tone and you’ve got an amp built to please.
Conclusion
Of course, those who love to complain will say that it weighs a ton, that you’ll need pliers to adjust the little switches, and that it’s impossible to get a modern distortion tone. They would not be wrong. But the Alchemist has personality, and that means he probably won’t please everyone… But what guitar amp does he make? The big advantages:
- A Bogner for less than $1500!
- manufacturing quality
- Good clean/crunch sounds
- two different speakers
- A wide range of tone possibilities.
- Choice of 40 or 20 watts
- The look
- Reverb and delay quality.
Drawbacks…
- It is not easy to carry: heavy and bulky.
- Switches: small and difficult to access
- Distortion sounds that won’t appeal to everyone!