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.

Notice next to the line out jack there is a Trimpot (optional separate ones for each channel), and three buttons (under "Ch.1 Ch.2 Ch.3") The buttons will switch channels if you are without your footswitch or Medusa. The trimpot is a line out level control. This gives you the ultimate flexibility for slaving. On the front panel, left side, you will find 2 little switches called Excursion A and Excursion B. Excursion is our name for speaker cone travel, and damping factor, the less the cone will travel. With the Excursion switches, you are given control over the damping factor. The Ecstasy offers you three options; "T" (Tight), "L" (Loose) & "M" (Medium). The Tight setting will be more "even" from low string to high string, while the Loose setting will have a much bigger bass sound. The Medium position is midway between Loose & Tight. Notice, to the right of Excursion B, there is a switch called "Presence B Select". If you leave this switch on "O", then presence "A" and Excursion "A" will serve all 3 channels. You have the option of assigning Presence "B: and Excursion "B" to Channel 1 or Channel 3. Let's say you want a very funky, bright clean, not too much bottom. But you want a huge, slamming lead, tons of bottom. You want your crunch big bottomed, too. Simple. Set Excursion A to "L" (Loose). Set Presence "A" wherever it sounds good for Channels 2 & 3. Switch Presence "B" Select to Ch 1. Set Excursion "B" to "T" (Tight). Whatever channel is assigned to Presence & Excursion "B", the other two channels will be governed by presence & Excursion "A".