Is Bugera closing down? Are they reliable?

B

BloodRose

Professional Scapegoat
I just been wondered as it seems like coverage of thier products has gone down in online retailers as Ive seen some amps on close out.

To Bugera owners, have they proven reliable? Bud of mine wants one they have at my local GC. They sound pretty darn good and he is a kid and doesnt have full dollar to pay for the "real" thing.

thanks
 
Re: Is Bugera closing down? Are they reliable?

Tell him to do it and play the hell out of it for 29 straight days.

If something goes wrong, he's still within the 30 day return policy.


My friend had one. No problems in 6 months.
 
Re: Is Bugera closing down? Are they reliable?

I seriously doubt they're going out of buisiness. As far as I know they're currently the largest selling tube amp brand in Europe & the big US retailers have just got new stock in. (they were backordered for a while before that...)

They had a specific design problem with one of their models (faulty connecter/clip leading to the transformer that overheated/smoked) coupled with cases of innacurate biasing from the factory/by owners (hence the auto-bias "Infinium series") & I think that went viral & was played up by the competition/folk with the big bucks boutique stuff. As far as I know the transformer clip issue was sorted out a long time ago & post 2011 or so the cases you come across are mostly hype. ("I had one..Wow, it sounded great for 2 days..just before it died" = pretty standard "comment" after every Bugera Demo/review)

Anyway, I just bought a 333XL Infinium which came in a week ago. It's built like a tank & sounds AMAZING right out of the box (which just travelled about 9,000 miles...).
 
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Is Bugera closing down? Are they reliable?

I have a 6260 and its great. It's not the infinium. It needed to be biased badly. It was set super cold at around 17ma. I got it up around 37ma (slightly warmer than normal) and I really like it a lot. It's a great metal amp as is. When I biased, put gold pin pre amp tubes, and started using the low gain input I discovered a different side if the amp for alt rock. I'm pretty fidgety about my tone so I never stop tweaking but I do like my rig. You will hear a lot of guys talk down the bugera cabs but I like mine. It has decent low end but doesn't get too woofy too quick and is bright so it cuts through. I like my tone relatively bright.
 
Re: Is Bugera closing down? Are they reliable?

I have no knowledge of Bugera closing, but seriously doubt it. The Bugera V22, in it's debut, had well documented quality problems and Bugera was not quick in their response to correct it. I had two (first one was sent back due to the random channel switching fault) and I sold the second after attempting to 'like' it unsuccessfully for the biggest part of a year. All-in-all, the worst tube amp I've ever owned IMO. I can't speak for other models, but the V22 experience turned me on the Bugera brand.
 
Re: Is Bugera closing down? Are they reliable?

I had one of the earlier 333XLs and it was a trooper right up until the day I traded it off.
 
Re: Is Bugera closing down? Are they reliable?

I've had a V22 for about 5 years. It had a microphonic tube when I got it. Replaced it and have had no problems at all with it since. It's been very reliable.

Beautiful tone, gorgeous looks, very functional, effects loop, two channels, good sounding reverb, great features...what more could you ask for?
 
Re: Is Bugera closing down? Are they reliable?

maybe they have just been backordered and thats why I have'nt seen a bunch. That and the fact they had the one was listed as close out made me wonder... Ive always heard great things about them tho.. Just hadnt heard much about the long term.. Thanks for the input!
 
Re: Is Bugera closing down? Are they reliable?

I almost got a V55, but changed my mind. Too clean clean channel and too dirty dirty channel for my taste. Besides, I've had some bad experience with Behringer products, so I'm not really trusting Bugera.
The amp did sound good tho, but not for the tone I was after. I'm gonna save some more cash for a Vox AC30 instead.
 
Re: Is Bugera closing down? Are they reliable?

ive said it once and ill say it again, bugera v22 is the best giggable bang for your buck tube amp. i would put it against many comparable amps costing twice as much (ac15, blues jr). speaker is perfect match for the amp once broken in, stick a heat sink on that doohicky to fix channel switching/reverb switching issue (any dingbat with a screwdriver can do this), even replace the tubes if you want, it only improves the already excellent amp. the clean channel is awesome, dirty channel when turned up is great as well, marshallesque. just an awesome amp, ive played others since ive owned it and cant seem to find something that beats it. its been i think 2 years since i bought it "used" from musicians friend. 300 bucks well spent, they can be had for 200 on craigs list from people that dont know how to change tubes or cant figure out the channel switching problem.
 
Re: Is Bugera closing down? Are they reliable?

I've had the V5 for two years, it was my only amp until someone donated my Marshall Artist 30 to me. Now it stays in my living room next to my couch. It looks great and when plugged in and running clean I'm pretty happy with the way it sounds. It gets super muddy and and dark, but clean that can work. The first one I got I had to send back because of some strange crackle noise that I never diagnosed. After I finally got one back, they were back ordered, I've kept this one for a while. I'm pretty well convinced that this little 5W amp could handle a gig for me. Most often I'm playing through a blues JR and being told to turn it down to next to nothing, so I think this little guy could keep up on most of the little club gigs we play.
 
Re: Is Bugera closing down? Are they reliable?

I had several models a couple years ago. I liked them and had no reliability issues with them. I really liked the cabinet design (4X12) (speakers weren't that amazing). It was a slant cab with the speakers turned slightly to the left and right to cover more area. Liked that idea, do not know if anyone else does that.

-dave
 
Re: Is Bugera closing down? Are they reliable?

I love my 333XL. I modded it for a bit more gain on the red channel and I installed a Resonance control (the circuit is there just like its Peavey counter part but it has a fixed resistor value). I have had it for 2 years now and havent had any issues with it.
 
Re: Is Bugera closing down? Are they reliable?

Friend of mine has a modded 6260, sounds good, he swapped out alot of stuff on the amp though.....
 
Re: Is Bugera closing down? Are they reliable?

The ones at my local GC sound like crap, sooo thin zero tone. Then again, just about everything else in the store does, too, but this one exceeds. Might be a cheapo speaker set in plywood or whatever, but really can't see any longer reason to buy them anyway - everybody else having safely returned from their sabatical in SS land to release tubes for every price point, who needs Bugera? How do they contribute?
 
Re: Is Bugera closing down? Are they reliable?

I had a 1990 and while it wasn't the sound I was looking for I had no complaints.

For an inexpensive tube amp it is hard to beat Bugera. It had pretty decent tone and I never had a single problem with mine.
 
Re: Is Bugera closing down? Are they reliable?

Adieu said:
The ones at my local GC sound like crap, sooo thin zero tone.
Click to expand...

Like I said, I've had mine for 5 years and get marvelous tone out of it. Everyone I know gets great tone. All the reviewers I've seen on youtube rave about the tone of the V22. You are the only one who can't seem to make the amp sound good. I guess that says something.

Adieu said:
Then again, just about everything else in the store does, too, but this one exceeds. Might be a cheapo speaker set in plywood or whatever, but really can't see any longer reason to buy them anyway - everybody else having safely returned from their sabatical in SS land to release tubes for every price point, who needs Bugera?
Click to expand...

The same people who need a good quality guitar for a reasonable price (eg. Epiphone).

Adieu said:
How do they contribute?
Click to expand...

They allow MANY players the opportunity to get a good tube amp at a reasonable cost. If not for amp mfr's like Bugera there would be way more SS amps on the stage.
 
Re: Is Bugera closing down? Are they reliable?

I have a BC15, which by itself is nothing special but I run the pre amp stage of some of my other amps through it for home recording and it is quite spectacular then. I've had it for about two years and no problems.
 
Re: Is Bugera closing down? Are they reliable?

GuitarDoc said:
They allow MANY players the opportunity to get a good tube amp at a reasonable cost. If not for amp mfr's like Bugera there would be way more SS amps on the stage.
Click to expand...

For some people, SS might have the sound they may be looking for. There's a lot of people picking up the Bugera 6262 or 333XLs when a Marshall 8100 or Ampeg VH140 could suit them better.
 
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