Position 1 at the far left is the brightest most open, and essentially each setting as you move to the right of the switch is darker, or fuller. Some very basic indications are given in the chart below. Again, the gain and tone settings will make a big difference, so experiment as much as you can. We start with all the settings at 12 o’clock.

On the first series of Metropolis the Schizo switch was laid out differently. The sound changed more linear from position 1 to 5. Position 2 was 3. We think the new one is more versatile.

Suggestion: Turn the bass, treble and middle controls all the way down and the gain, presence and volume controls all the way up. Start on Schizo 5 position. This gives you a very grainy high gain sound (One of Reinhold Bogners favorites).

Gain and Volume: The Gain control sits between Schizo and the tone controls (in the sound chain). It doesn’t only change the gain it also interacts with your tone controls. Experiment what works best for you. The volume control decides how much of a signal you send to the power amp. In the first third of it’s total range it determines how loud your amp will be. In the last two thirds it acts more like a tone fatness control. The more you turn it up the fuller your sound gets. This is helpful if you have a big sounding guitar and like the tone/feel of a fuller fatter Schizo position but it would be too muddy or overloaded for the power amp. You could turn down the volume, from full to one third, to keep the tone from the pre amp but have the amp just as loud as before. Vise versa, if you have a thin sounding guitar and like a open Schizo position you can fatten the tone up with the volume control.

Reverb: The reverb circuit on the Metropolis sits in front of the pre-amp. It uses an EL 84 power tube to drive it and two 12AX7 pre amp tubes for the return. The Reverb control on the front panel lets you mix the reverb into the dry sound. You need to be plugged into the reverb input (upper jack) otherwise the whole reverb circuit is bypassed and your guitar signal goes directly into the pre amp. Optional “Tone and Drive” controls as well as a Footswitch input jack are available. “Tone and Drive” controls on the back of the amp chassis allow you to personalize the sound of your Reverb and “tune” it to the kind of room or musical attitude you like. Deep watery surf? Punk-a-ska-billy? Bright, tight jazz? Or just a bit of space to move around…Explore… Start with the controls at 12 o’clock. Drive does just that, drives the circuit harder as you turn the knob clockwise > sort of like a bigger room or longer reverb time. The Tone control makes it brighter or darker/sweeter> like changing the room from wood to concrete. The reverb foot- switch jack can use any standard passive on/off latching foot-switch. You definitely have a “ton” of reverb now!

On the first series of Metropolis the reverb circuit was between pre and power amp driven with two 12AX7’s and had only a reverb control.
There you have it! It’s all up to you now, be creative and push your musical imagination…For Questions call, fax or check out our webpage: www.bogneramplification.com