I was offered a Bogner Shiva 2x12 EL34 combo in trade for my PRS Mira. Off of demos I have heard, I think the cleans sound gorgeous and the gain seems like it is very versatile and definitely tones I like. He said it was retubed four months ago, so it should be good to go for a while.
Wanted to hear from people that have owned or played them and get their opinions.
I don't care much that it's a combo, I mostly play at home but I have lugged a Mesa Road King comb in the past, so this Shiva would be a lighter amp. Looks like it's easy to convert it to a head if I really wanted to.

The shiva is a great amp. One of those ones i keep going back to but end up moving away from again for one reason or another. I think i've had 2 early silver back ones, a green back combo that i flipped, and a 20th anni head. All EL-34 except the 20th which was KT88.

Clean channel on all of them is pretty special. I'd put it up against any channel switcher i've ever owned. Gain channel always felt a little too polite/polished for me in a way that made me lose interest after a while and go with something bitier. They're super thick in the low mids, record great, and have plenty of power.

They have some quirks, depending on the model. Early ones have a really goofy effects loop that needs a booster cable to use for non-rack effects. And if it's a reverb model, the reverb cuts volume when engaged. All of that aside, it's a fantastic amp. It sounds like a great trade to me.

Also, the 2x12 combo is going to be every bit as heavy as that Mesa was. Bogner does not under-build their cabinets or their transformers. It'll easily be 80+ lbs.

lol yeah I looked up specs, weight showed 75 lbs, I think my Mesa is around 110 lbs if not more.
It's a green back one, with bright push button and reverb. Made plans to meet this Saturday, so as long as there's no issues with the amp, I'll be taking it home.

I'd do this trade. Shivas are awesome amps.

Pull the trigger...if you're cool with living with a monster 2x12 combo. Personally, I'm on the old side to be lugging around a 2x12 tube combo but I do think 2x12 combos sound so much better than a 1x12 combo. To my ears, combos with multiple speakers just seem to sound better in the room than combos with a single speaker.

I've already got one monster 2x12 combo so what's one more hahaha.
We are all set to meet up Saturday morning, hopefully I'll be posting a NAD then.
Then maybe I'll sell off some amps and get myself a Les Paul to run through that Bogner, all the demos I have seen where they used a Les Paul, that's the sound I want.

The Shiva is one of two Bogner amps I’d love to get my hands on to at least try. The Ecstasy is the other. I hope you dig it man!

LOL well that trades not happening. Guy emailed me yesterday afternoon to say he can't trade it at this time because a power tube went out. I see the same amp listed on craiglist last night and email the guy from Craiglist to make sure nobody is trying to scam anyone since the guy i had talked to lives 50 miles away from where it's currently being sold from.
The guy from Craigslist confirmed he traded with the guy I had arranged to meet and he only traded it to flip. So they can both fuck themselves lol

Ooof, damn that sucks. I really liked the Shiva I had. They're definitely not great for home amps but sit super well in a band mix.