Bogner Uber Ultra -A complex, complicated Monster

[KyleBull]

Hey fellas,
Figured I'd drop by and put my Uber Ultra playthrough here.
I've seen a lot of discussion around this amp, as well as a lot of people either being disappointed or confused by the controls, and how to dial in a good tone.
I will admit, it's very easy to get bad sounds out of this amp if you're not adjusting the many controls to suit the current settings on the power amp controls.

Once you find the spots where everything lines up though, it can be an absolutely monster. Tight, compressed, and incredibly punchy. You guys know me, I'm a boost junky by nature, but this is one of the few amps I truly like better with no pedals in front. Once tweaked (although sometimes with great difficulty) to taste, this thing punches as hard or harder than any other amp I've played.



To those of you who have actually spent some time with one of these - what were your thoughts?

 

[DrewJD82]

I’ve never even seen one in person, never mind played through one.

It‘s always been a curiosity of mine, seems to be the opposite of most Bogners in its gain structure/mids and sounds like it dips some toes in Mesa land. I suppose I’m more interested in how it feels to play, I already know it can do some rippin’ tones!

 

[GreatGreen]

I have the EL34 version and love the thing.

You're absolutely right that there can be quite a few bad sounds to stumble over if you're not careful, but when you find the balance and get it right, it crushes. Under the right settings you can get tons of gain and low end punch but retain all the clear string definition you want.

Awesome amp.

 

[KyleBull]

I have the EL34 version and love the thing.

You're absolutely right that there can be quite a few bad sounds to stumble over if you're not careful, but when you find the balance and get it right, it crushes. Under the right settings you can get tons of gain and low end punch but retain all the clear string definition you want.

Awesome amp.

For sure, It's no 5150. I've already seen many posts of people being frustrated or thinking something was wrong with theirs. It can be a tough egg to crack, especially if you dial with your eyes and not your ears

 

[JiveTurkey]

I always thought Ubers were supposed to be dead simple to dial up. Is this a different beast altogether?

 

[GreatGreen]

For sure, It's no 5150. I've already seen many posts of people being frustrated or thinking something was wrong with theirs. It can be a tough egg to crack, especially if you dial with your eyes and not your ears

Yep I've seen the same thing. For example, I like bright, slicing high gain as much as anybody (I pretty much live on Channel 1 Uber mode), but even I almost never dial the Treble over 11:00. I find anything above that gets just a bit too strident and pokey or notchy, but not necessarily in the "Treble" but instead more like the high upper mids. For me, 8:30 - 11:00 pretty much represents the full sweep of that knob, which seems weirdly low with not much range to look at it with your eyes, but hey that's what sounds best. I use the Presence knob for my actual Treble control and I will sometimes dial it WAY higher than I will with most other amps, like higher than 3:00. Looks weird, sounds great.

And like you said in the video, if you change that Presence switch, you have to totally redial your Mids. But once you figure out what's going on, you can find a ton of cool sounds in there.

 

[GreatGreen]

I always thought Ubers were supposed to be dead simple to dial up. Is this a different beast altogether?

Ubers have always been a little weird. On the original Uber, Mids are Treble, Treble is Presence, and Presence controls the Mids.

The Uber Ultra doesn't behave like that specifically, but its controls are equally weird. Again though, once you find a sound that works, there are very few high gain amps that can compete with it imo for hugeness and punch, but also clarity.

 

[Life Eats Life]

Hey fellas,
Figured I'd drop by and put my Uber Ultra playthrough here.
I've seen a lot of discussion around this amp, as well as a lot of people either being disappointed or confused by the controls, and how to dial in a good tone.
I will admit, it's very easy to get bad sounds out of this amp if you're not adjusting the many controls to suit the current settings on the power amp controls.

Once you find the spots where everything lines up though, it can be an absolutely monster. Tight, compressed, and incredibly punchy. You guys know me, I'm a boost junky by nature, but this is one of the few amps I truly like better with no pedals in front. Once tweaked (although sometimes with great difficulty) to taste, this thing punches as hard or harder than any other amp I've played.



To those of you who have actually spent some time with one of these - what were your thoughts?

If it’s so simple to get bad sounds out of it,
Are the good noisy tones worth all the simple bad tones?
Seems like dudes jumped ship, sold theirs and got
a Hell Razor?

 

[2dor]

If it’s so simple to get bad sounds out of it,
Are the good noisy tones worth all the simple bad tones?
Seems like dudes jumped ship, sold theirs and got
a Hell Razor?

I did start seeing them pop up on the used market for sale even in the EU which really surprised me because the samples I was hearing online sounded pretty good. Guess this juice needs way too much squeeze.

 

[Life Eats Life]

I did start seeing them pop up on the used market for sale even in the EU which really surprised me because the samples I was hearing online sounded pretty good. Guess this juice needs way too much squeeze.

I actually like the demo the Draven Noire
dude did of the Uber.
Reinhold owes that man an amp!

 

[maddnotez]

Guess I had a different experience, will be watching the video momentarily but read the OP. I just got one very recently, the 6L6 version and idk if it's the honeymoon talking but it is the best amp I've ever had. Immediately getting monstrous high gain tones through a not so great cab.

I've had tons of amps from Fortin to MI Audio to VHT and the Original Uberschall and more and this one has absolutely been my favorite no question.

I don't have a cab here so I brought it to my friends house at their band practice. Everyone in the room eyes lit up when we turned it on. My friend has a 5153 Stealth who swears by that amp of being the best amp that he'll never get rid of was immediately saying he's selling the Stealth for the Uber. I haven't looked at a lot of the threads but I can't believe so many people don't like it.

With that said if I could afford an additional 3k I'd sell it for a Hellrazor in an instant as someone else mentioned that amp.

I also agree with Kyle, I boost EVERYTHING but this is one amp that does not need a boost.