Sometimes we may buy products because of a trend, a fad or simply because lots of people use them. Personally, I try to stay a little on the sidelines, since time is what will tell whether a product is really good.

But the worst thing is holding on to something that has just gone out of fashion. I often make this comment: the style of music that has just gone out of fashion is the most outdated one. A few years ago, when the "nu-metal" movement had just passed, the most outdated thing you could do was start a band in that same style; that is, a '70s band, or even grunge, was more novel. Or when blues rock was fading away, making a record in that style was one of the hardest choices, and so on.

So if we apply this same line of thinking to gear, you often realize there's a lot of perishable equipment; sometimes it's simply a matter of time before it ends up in the box of pedals we no longer use.

There are many brands and products that will have their peak of popularity and then fade. Although I think Bogner could perhaps have been included here in its early days, its new line of boutique amplifiers is an initiative that personally makes me think it will last. Because of its quality and because they've known how to break into the market, thanks both to their "savoir faire" and their wide range of sounds, and perhaps also to their good endorsement policy.

We can say that the company is mainly represented by Reinhold Bogner, who is in Los Angeles designing the brand's amplifier models. Also, the Bogner company has two clear lines of amplifiers:

a) The Custom Shop line, devoted to boutique models designed for high-end sounds.

b) The new Alchemist line of amplifiers, which is based on more current technology while retaining a very carefully crafted sound.

Today we're looking at a model from this second line, the Alchemist. It's a 2x12", 40 W all-tube combo with a Class AB design.

Technical matters
When you're standing in front of this amplifier, the first thing that catches your eye is its size; if you like big amps, this is a clear example. It's larger, especially in height, than we're used to for a 2x12" combo. This means we'll also get a bigger sound. At the same time, I'm struck by the number of knobs it has. Also its switches, which alter the sound of each channel, though I think it holds a secret or two.

It has a handle on top for carrying, as well as a channel-switching footswitch. It also gives us the option of using effects in the amp itself, which is very interesting.

Front panel
Clean channel. The first control is the clean channel's gain control, where we choose how much of the guitar signal we let into the amplifier. The next knobs are the channel's EQ. They go for a complete setup: bass, mids and treble. You'll notice these are very sensitive controls that work perfectly; you can feel them really affecting the signal as you turn them. Finally, there's a channel volume control, that is, the amount of volume coming out of the preamp and going into the power amp.
That's not the end of it, because this amp has numerous secrets, which come in the form of several switches that we'll now analyze.

The first one on the clean channel gives us two options: clean or crunch. As you can guess, the first is a crystal-clear clean sound, and the second gets us closer to a more driven sound. The bright control lets us get higher frequencies, especially for guitars that need a boost at the top end of the spectrum. The deep control, in turn, lets us get more response in the mids and even the low frequencies.

Between the two channels there are two more switches. The first is for engaging a boost that adds extra saturation to our channel. The second switch is the channel selector which, of course, you don't need to operate by hand, since with the footswitch that comes with the amp, you can do it with your foot.

Second channel. We can take it from a crunch vibe to a truly distorted sound. The first control sets the guitar's input gain into the amplifier and, therefore, the amount of saturation we need. I should mention that this control is extremely sensitive. With just two centimeters of travel (to give an example), you'll notice a big difference in saturation.

Moving on, we come straight to the three bass, mid and treble knobs, which work exactly like the clean channel controls. Finally, there's the master volume control for the saturated channel, which, as in the previous case, sends the signal to the power amp to be amplified.

As before, we have several switches that let us slightly modify the characteristics of the channel itself. You could even think of them as switches designed to get closer to the sound you have in your head.

The first one we come to is punch, which, set to the left, gives a boost in the mids, and set to the right, one in the lows. So to speak, we increase the gain of the amp itself.

The bright switch, for its part, provides that boost of the highest frequencies, as we said earlier, for guitars that may need it.

Mid shift is characterized by the midrange boost we often need, which can range from a creamier point to a vibe with more gain.

But we still have a few knobs left. They hold a surprise or two that I personally think is a great idea.

Of course, what almost every amp lacks is reverb. Here it's offered through an effective control with which you choose the amount and the type. Thanks to a three-position switch, we can go through Plate, Spring or Hall. Classic types that all of us use a lot.

There's more. Often you show up with all your pedals and the delay becomes a problem, because we want to run it through the loop and figuring out how to wire it is a mess... To solve this, the amp itself gives you an internal delay. We can choose the type (Ducking, Analog and Tape). There's also a tap button for setting the tempo in real time and a control for adjusting the number of repeats.

Rear panel
It consists of a power input, fuse access, the speaker output and the loop send/return (which works in parallel). Finally, there's the input for the channel-switching footswitch.

Something I really want to emphasize is the good choice of speakers it carries: a Celestion Greenback and a Celestion G12H Anniversary. They give us all the output we need, so we blend in with the band more easily.

Finally, the power tubes it includes are two 6L6s, which makes that American sound even clearer, plus five 12AX7 preamp tubes.

Sound
In the previous section we detailed every nook and cranny of the amplifier, discovering how carefully the details, sound, finishes, etc. have been looked after.

Now we'll focus on the tone of the unit itself. First, I should mention that to test the product I used a Suhr Classic, that is, a Strat® with three single-coil pickups, and I didn't use any pedals between the guitar and the amp.

When I plugged in the guitar, the first thing I went for was the clean channel; I think that's due to my eternal quest to find a great clean channel. The amp sounded completely American, it breathed California sound, and it reminded me somewhat of the clean channel on the same brand's Ecstasy, although on the latter we can find more harmonics.

At first I felt the need for more bass, since the guitar I was using had treble and even mids to spare but was a bit short in the lowest frequencies. Even so, cutting here and adding there, I found a round sound that I liked a lot.

As I mentioned earlier, if you're looking for a crystal-clear Twin Reverb®-type sound you can get close, but it's not as easy as getting a more muted vibe, less pronounced in the high frequencies but blending in perfectly. To give you more clues, I'd say it reminded me of that clean Soldano, Rivera, etc. sound.

Switching to the boost, we get a very interesting vibe, because we move closer to a more British sound, with more mids. What I liked most here is that usually when you kick in a boost, it gives you a jump in volume that knocks you back, but that's not the case here. That detail, which I consider so important, has been taken care of: with the boost we get more saturation and a natural midrange lift and, although we notice a slight increase in volume, it's nothing really over the top.

When we switch to the saturated channel, we can hear how it goes from a crunch sound to a truly distorted one; we could go from the Stones to the less metal Metallica (that is, the Load/Reload era). What really strikes me is how creamy it sounds; it's incredibly thick, which I really appreciate. In crunch, it lets you play rhythm parts with real power. As you turn up the gain, it lets you play solos with a truly outstanding sound.

It comes to mind that I've often wanted to have that sound for a particular moment in a recording session. And considering that we also have the amp's own built-in delay, it's completely ready to sound great.

Conclusion
Sometimes I stop to think about how the products we have today have evolved, and the prices at which we can buy them, and I think about how quickly the quality-to-price ratio has progressed in recent years. For the price of the amplifier we have in our hands today, we get a powerful palette of good sounds. All we can say is that if your budget is in the 1,000–2,000 euro range, if you mainly like rock with a few extras, and you don't mind carrying a bit more weight that your ears will thank you for later, the Bogner Alchemist is one of the best options you can consider.