The tone had a surprisingly monstrous body
—much bigger and rounder than what I’d expect
from a 1x12 open-back cabinet.
Buy If...
your need for clean headroom and
dynamics trounces your desire for
effects loops and multiple channels.
to a vintage blackface Fender Twin Reverb,
taming the Les Paul’s aggression but leaving
a toothy bite and piano-like bass response.
Even when I played the Paul with a heavy
picking hand and the Barcelona’s Gain con-
trol maxed, the tone remained clean and clear
across the board. It wasn’t until I cranked
the Master Volume to around 2 or 3 o’clock
that it started to growl—but at that point the
amp seemed almost absurdly loud for such a
small combo. Bogner recommends relying on
pedals to achieve significant overdrive when
using the Barcelona, and I’d concur after
enduring such blisteringly high volume in
order to get the amp to overdrive naturally.
Skip If...
you need amp overdrive at
a manageable volume level.
Click here to read our reviews of the Brixton and Panama
from Bogner’s
International line at
premierguitar.com/jul2011
The Verdict
For players with a taste for clean, impeccably detailed tones, the Bogner Barcelona is
hard to beat. Its ease of use and Texas-sized
sounds makes it a winner for any player who
needs a combo for gigging and studio use.
It isn’t a very forgiving amp if you’re sloppy,
and coaxing the sweetest tones is very much
a matter of touch, but those traits also set it
apart from many similarly powered combos.
As with the rest of Bogner’s International
line, simplicity and portability are the
Barcelona’s key qualities—qualities that
stand in sharp contrast to the features that
come to mind when many players think of
Bogner Amplification. However, if simplicity is your game, the Barcelona could be
your path to positively glorious tones.
Bogner
Amplification
Street $1579
bogneramplification.com
or use a mobile device to download
audio clips of the amp at
CLICKHere…
premierguitar.com/jul2011
