In 1993, when Bogner was fast becoming the hippest name on the high-gain-amp scene, star guitarists were clamoring for that hot new tone. One who missed out recently brought “his” amplifier home.

Whether it was Fender’s tweed creations, early Marshalls, or the first generation of Mesa/Boogies, most revolutionary new amp designs have found stars lining up for a taste of the latest sound on the block. Things were no different in the late ’80s, when Reinhold Bogner packed up his soldering iron and left his native Germany for the rock-infested waters of Los Angeles.

Bogner established his reputation modifying and hot-rodding amps on the L.A. scene. In 1989, he developed a three-channel, rack-mounted tube preamp at the request of Joey Brasler, a session guitarist, solo artist, and sideman who toured with Bob Welch, Boz Scaggs, Steve Lukather, the Beach Boys, and others. Dubbed the Triple Giant, 25 were built in ’89-’90. Segueing through other projects, Bogner and his new partners, Greg Bayles and Jorg Dorschner, brought the Fish preamp to market and sold about 250 units before moving into full-on amp production in ’93 with the 100-watt Ecstasy 100B head. And for a time, it seemed every guitar slinger in town was angling to get one.

Considered by some to be the finest high-gain channel-switching head ever made, the Ecstasy 100B generates 100 watts from four EL34 output tubes (in the “B” version, for British, versus four 6L6s in the “A” for American version), with six 12AX7 preamp tubes for cascading gain stages, EQ, and phase inverter. Its three channels use 14 front-panel knobs to deliver the player’s desired clean, crunch, and saturated lead tones, alongside myriad voicing switches. The rear carries two further features that affect the amp’s feel as much as its sound – a Sound Style switch for New/Old, and a Variac On/Off to drop voltage, enabling the fabled “brown sound.”

Home base for Bogner Amplifier sales was the L.A. branch of the Chicago-based Make’n Music, which had opened that year. Brasler needed a day job when he wasn’t on the road, so he jumped in to help.

“We tested every 100B as they came through and paid close attention to nuances in tone, touch, frequency variations, pot performance – sensitivity and linearity – and overall tonal variations from amp to amp,” Brasler recalls. “In addition, pedals were placed pre-input, rack effects in the loop, and cabinets of varying impedances were connected. Plus, we listened for microphonic tubes, scratchy pots, and intermittent noises. It was a rigorous routine.

“While they were very consistent, after testing a number of units, I discovered one that was an exception with a truly magical ‘something more’ going on. I had to have that amp, so I set it aside and began making payments.”

A few days later, Brasler returned from a lunch break to hear a player in the testing room, “…doing a pretty decent Eric Johnson impersonation.” He asked a colleague who it was, only to be told it was indeed Johnson. Brasler introduced himself to the acclaimed guitarist, who said he was looking for a new amp to take on tour with B.B. King that summer. He then fetched “his” Bogner 100B for Johnson to try.

“He started ripping and didn’t stop for an hour, after which he called me in and said ‘I’ll take it’ – as if there were a chance he wouldn’t. It became E.J.’s dirty sound on that tour. I was grateful I’d put the amp aside so as to introduce the Bogner sound to Eric. With a tear in my eye, I began my search for a new Ecstasy.”

A couple months later, after testing another 25 or so and concluding that lightning wouldn’t strike twice, it did.

“Another angel emerged,” says Brasler. “I didn’t think it was possible for an Ecstasy to stand that far out from the litter, but there it was. I hid it away and began making payments – again. I swore to myself that I would keep it a secret. Then, Walter Becker walked in.”

While most musicians loved and respected Becker’s work and the music of Steely Dan, Brasler virtually worshiped the guy. He hadn’t met Becker previously, but he tells us Becker was friendly, saying he was on the hunt for new gear prior to a reunited Steely Dan getting back out on the road.

“Walter came right up to me and said, ‘So, what’s new?’ Without a moment’s hesitation, I pulled out my beloved Ecstasy and said, ‘This.’ I put Walter and my baby in a room together, knowing what was about to happen.

“He noodled for two hours, came out and said ‘I’ll take it!’ Feebly, I said ‘Okay, I’ll get you one.’ And he said, ‘No, that one.’ So, I sold him that amazing Ecstasy, serial number / ∆ +, and a Bogner 4×12″ slant cab with Celestion Vintage 30s. He played that head on Steely Dan’s first tour after two decades off the road.”

One quirk of early Bogner production was the use of symbols instead of traditional serial numbers – a numerical system was introduced in 2005. Though Becker bought other Ecstasy heads as backups, serial / ∆ + remained his number one until his death 24 years later.

As sad as he was at his hero’s passing, Becker’s death offered Brasler a chance to reacquire that ’93 100B when it came up in an auction of Becker’s gear in October, 2019 – yet even then he came alarmingly close to losing it.

“At least one person was bidding against me, maybe more, which is how it quickly rose. After I bid $3,000, bidding stopped; the auctioneer was stalling, something I hadn’t seen him do all morning. He’d been closing bids very quickly because he had a 595-page book of items to sell. No matter, after some time he closed bidding, and I won.”

The next day, Brasler called his good friend/former Make’n Music colleague Jamie Kime, Grammy-winning guitarist from Zappa Plays Zappa and former Dr. John sideman to tell of his good fortune. Kime also had a story about the amp. He related that his Baked Potato Club bandmate Danny Carey, also the drummer for Tool, had asked his advice on items to bid on in the Becker auction, and was hotly pursuing the Bogner. Kime was on the phone with Carey throughout the auction and advised him to bid up to $5,000, telling him, “This was Walter’s first Ecstasy and his number one amp.”

But shortly after Ecstasy Serial number / ∆ + came up, the tour bus ferrying Carey home after a Tool tour hit a cell-service dead zone and he lost connection.

“The auctioneer had stalled because he was waiting for Danny to come back online,” Brasler relates. “But it was taking too long, and he had to drop the hammer in my favor.”

After an $840 buyer’s premium and $364.80 in California sales tax, Brasler paid $4,204.80.

While planning the photo shoot with acclaimed photographer Gene Kirkland, Brasler invited Reinhold Bogner to see the amp.

“At the shoot, Reinhold noticed a modification on the circuit board. He didn’t remember exactly when it was installed, but said it updated the clean channel to 101B spec, which adds a third gain stage, making it possible to run the clean channel a little hotter. So, the hot got hotter, and / ∆ + was finally home.

This article originally appeared in VG’s March 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.