Bugera amps?

MISSINGNO. · Post by **MISSINGNO.** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 9:20 pm

Yes or no?

I've never had a chance to play one, since the only shop around me is a 'mom and pop,' but one of the worst kinds ever.

I just found out they came out with a DC30 copy and I'm pretty excited about it, since EL84 30 watt amps are my thing.

Will · Post by **Will** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 9:33 pm

Everybody on the forums knows a guy who knows a guy who had one go belly-up. I wouldn't put to much stock in it - it's all because they're made in Asia. It smacks of racism. They want an amp made in 'merica, or Britain - it's just code for "made by white people." An amp is resistors, caps, transistors, transformers, and tubes. It's not magic, just math, electricity, and common sense.

I think they sound good, look great, and are an excellent value. There are some cheap bits - the cabinet wood could be better, speakers too - but you get a good piece of equipment for the money. For my money, they're better made than the modern Vox amps.

MISSINGNO. · Post by **MISSINGNO.** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 9:38 pm

Yeah, that's basically what I thought about the matter. If it works, it works. I'm not one to bitch if it's a good product. If an amp sounded good and was made in Iraq or some other 'evil' country, I'd still play it.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 9:54 pm

I still want to hear something about their SVT copy. It looks like it's the fucking tits.

http://www.bugera-amps.com/EN/products/BVV3000.aspx

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 9:56 pm

Will wrote:Everybody on the forums knows a guy who knows a guy who had one go belly-up.

I think Mickie08 had serious troubles with his and the replacement he got. Its in a thread somewhere but I think Mike and Ends had good experiences with theirs.

Will · Post by **Will** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 10:26 pm

There's a total double-standard as well. If a Bugera fails, it's shitty Asian workmanship. If an American amp fails, it's just because it needs maintenance.

My Ampeg Jet is made in St. Louis - took hours to get it working properly and I do TONS of maintenance if I'm playing it a lot. Tube amps need maintenance - end of story.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 10:40 pm

Will wrote:There's a total double-standard as well. If a Bugera fails, it's shitty Asian workmanship. If an American amp fails, it's just because it needs maintenance.

My Ampeg Jet is made in St. Louis - took hours to get it working properly and I do TONS of maintenance if I'm playing it a lot. Tube amps need maintenance - end of story.

You have a fair point about that for sure in that judgements about where they are built come into it and mainly from the US it has to be said. In my general experience, and this is a generalisation, I lived in America and dated a girl there for a couple of years and the whole 'Buy US' ethic was quite explicit in the peeps I met and appeared to be an ingrained economic propaganda.

This being said of the 3 shortscalers who bought Bugera 1 had problems with two new amps. So that is 4 amps bought, 2 of which had issues. That's 50%. not really a significant scientific result given the small test number but still...

It wouldn't put me off buying one however

ellengtrgrl · Post by **ellengtrgrl** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 10:49 pm

I think Bugeras are a horse a piece. For a while, they seemed to have some quality & reliability issues (so much so, that a guy on the Gretschpages forum who owns a music store in Oklahoma, posted that he quit selling Bugeras at his shop, due to having at least half of them returned due to power transformer failures), but they seem to be making some effort ot fix thier problems. I know that some of the guys on the Sevenstring.org, 7-string guitar forum really like the 33 (which is basically a copy of the Peavey XXX/3120 amp), and the 6260 (which is basically a copy of the Peavey 5150/6505 amp). From personal experience, I'm sort of indifferent about Bugeras. On Thursday night, I used a Bugera 22, to try out a Squier Stagemaster 7, 7-string guitar (that I ended up buying as a cheap replacement for my old Schecter Omen Extreme 7) at Guitar Center (it was the only channel switching tube amp, that wasn't being used). It was OK sounding in a classic rock context, but choked out on me bigtime, when I started doing djenty stuff, that required using the 7th string (which I had tuned to A for Dropped A tuning). But, it was a nice amp for less high gain stuff.

Will · Post by **Will** » Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:33 pm

Black Cat Bone wrote:This being said of the 3 shortscalers who bought Bugera 1 had problems with two new amps. So that is 4 amps bought, 2 of which had issues. That's 50%. not really a significant scientific result given the small test number but still...

I wonder if mickie could chime in here as to what the nature of the problems were - that would be helpful.

If it's something simple - like tubes or a mechanical problem with the jacks - I don't think that's a major issue. Power transformers or something would be a different story. From reading the HC reviews from people who've had technical problems, all of them are what I'd suspect to be a problem with a switching jack or tubes. I think people are just quicker to write off a $350 malfunctioning amp vs. a $1000 one.

I grabbed Ends' V5 in the classifieds the other day, so I guess I'll soon be able to test the reliability myself. Of course, I know the only thing I would never be able to fix is the digital reverb.

Rayjaysonic · Post by **Rayjaysonic** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 12:18 am

I got the V55HD head. Had a problem with the footswitch on the first but its replacemeant has been trouble free. Love the amp.

cobascis · Post by **cobascis** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 2:55 am

I bought a V55. Periodic constant 'whooshing sound' enough to make me return it. 2nd V55, it'sall good for a while, then the reverb no long works with certain combinations of the foot switch.

They sound fantastic, I just need an amp I can not have to worry about at gigs, though I'm sure you can get a 'good one'.

...So I bought a '71 Bassman

MISSINGNO. · Post by **MISSINGNO.** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 3:45 am

As it is, I'm not in the market for super high gain stuff anyways. I play teles and quiet other things with too many effects on. So a nice, thick, super creamy but not too boom-y or bass-y.

But yeah, I agree. People are just looking for excuses. I don't know what the fuss is about. If I had an amp that had a jack problem I'd probably just get it fixed--not even send it back.

Shrug.

James · Post by **James** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 3:48 am

It's a new amp under warranty. You don't expect to be doing maintainence on a new amp.

MISSINGNO. · Post by **MISSINGNO.** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 3:51 am

Is it horrible for me to essentially expect that from modern day products?

Frequently I find myself setting up 'new' guitars under warranty. Not necessarily broken ones, but I wouldn't really consider a broken jack maintenance.

cobascis · Post by **cobascis** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 3:53 am

James wrote:It's a new amp under warranty. You don't expect to be doing maintainence on a new amp.

This is what got me. I'm not paying to repair a brand new amp after 2 weeks of ownership.

endsjustifymeans · Post by **endsjustifymeans** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 5:16 am

My V5 has been a dream. I've only just sold it because I came into a brand new Blackheart Handsome Devil combo for $170 from the Victor Litz closeout. I played it daily and never had a single issue. That little sucker has sold me on their equipment, I've got an eye on their 1990 now.

mickie08 · Post by **mickie08** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 6:25 am

I never had a problem with mine. I sold it mainly because I was getting the Jet City if I remember correctly.

Skip · Post by **Skip** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 4:46 pm

saw them both at a shop the other day--- i want them to be good-- but i just don't know how you can build them really good for so little money
the jet city looked a little slick for my tastes

foofoo982 · Post by **foofoo982** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 7:54 pm

The guitar shop by me stopped selling them because 99% of them didn't work when they arrived. I would say try before you buy.

MISSINGNO. · Post by **MISSINGNO.** » Sun Feb 21, 2010 8:10 pm

foofoo982 wrote:The guitar shop by me stopped selling them because 99% of them didn't work when they arrived. I would say try before you buy.

99% of them, huh? Sounds like a bit of an exaggeration, no?