Why so much hate on Bugera?

[Chud]

My only issue with the PS1. Even on “bypass” setting. It still cuts a good amount of power. I don’t like that. But the only used jettenuator on reverb is about $200 after shipping.

That's the same as the Jet City actually. I can't say that I ever really noticed it in operation to the point where it bothered me.

 

[Midgetje94]

That's the same as the Jet City actually. I can't say that I ever really noticed it in operation to the point where it bothered me.

Hell it may even be the same unit just rebranded

 

[zencat]

I recently got a Bugera V22 head. I’ll admit, this is the first time I’ve messed with a Bugera at all. I’ve heard the dislike, the horror stories, I was skeptical to actually buy it at first. But ultimately it fit the bill I was looking for. And the price was a nice break as most heads I was looking at were $700-1000. Even new it was under $500.

I’ve only had it for a few days but have to admit I’m really liking it. Wonder where all the hate comes from? So far my only complaint is that tacky fake leather.

I don't get the hate either. There were complaints regarding stability in the early development of some of their amps, but they've pretty much clean that up. I've had the V22 and now own a V55 because I needed just a little more headroom. Swapped out the stock speaker (not that it was a bad speaker) for an Eminence Cannabis Rex. Recently changed the power tubes because they were dying, and it sounds great! Also love the fact that you don't have to bias when changing power tubes. Enjoy the amp and don't listen to Bugera haters. People will always critique.

 

[Vermoulian]

As prior posts in this thread have documented, Bugera suffers from a certain amount of disdain just because their amps are so cheap, and it entered the market with strikes against it in many eyes because of the Behringer association, Behringer for many years being synonymous with "cheap knockoff junk", although more recently they have put out some better products (e.g., X32).

Getting a good-sounding amp shouldn't be too difficult, especially for a vintage-voiced amp, because there are a number of tried-and-true classic amp circuits to adapt, and a PCB version can be easily cranked out of any electronics factory. At the Bugera price point, it is inevitable that corners will be cut, probably in care of construction and quality of components. So of course when it works it's great. I would be surprised if the "hate on Bugera" is based on what they sound like. The question is reliability and durability. Information on those topics is pretty much anecdotal. One wonders whether Bugeras actually fail any more often than any other mass-produced-in-Asia amp, but I suspect that when they do they get less benefit of the doubt than other brands because people are ready to assume that any problem is due to Behringer cheapness and assume that any failure reflects the brand being junk on the whole, rather than that there was just a weird problem with that particular amp (which applies to even the best amp brands).

 

[Midgetje94]

I don't get the hate either. There were complaints regarding stability in the early development of some of their amps, but they've pretty much clean that up. I've had the V22 and now own a V55 because I needed just a little more headroom. Swapped out the stock speaker (not that it was a bad speaker) for an Eminence Cannabis Rex. Recently changed the power tubes because they were dying, and it sounds great! Also love the fact that you don't have to bias when changing power tubes. Enjoy the amp and don't listen to Bugera haters. People will always critique.

Yea I have the head. Cab is 2 elite 80s if I’m not mistaken, stock to the egnator cab. Plan to put V30s in down the line

 

[Chud]

Hell it may even be the same unit just rebranded

May have come out of the same factory, yep. At the very least it's a direct rip on the Jet City unit. So is the Harley Benton.

 

[Midgetje94]

May have come out of the same factory, yep. At the very least it's a direct rip on the Jet City unit. So is the Harley Benton.

I found a smaller company out of Chicago. They make a attenuator that’s just a bit more than a new PS1. Think I may give that a shot.

 

[1957stratman]

I've got an older Bugera BC 30 amplifier

It's built like tank with huge transformers and has 2 x12" speakers

The stock speakers are not both the same - they are two different types, but the pair sound very good together

It has to be the loudest 30 watt amp I've ever heard - no kidding - like Twin Reverb loud

It sounds OK clean, but when you really crank it up with the channels jumpered - it really roars

It's a pretty interesting amp and has some nice refinements like being able to run it at half-power, in either pentode or triode mode, and it'll handle a few different rectifier tubes if you want to dial-in a certain amount of sag

You can also jumper the channels to get even more gain, if you want

These amps got a bad name when they first came out because so many of them had bad tubes (generally the pre-amp tubes) when they arrived at the customer's door - there were a lot of returns, because "the amp didn't work"

It wasn't too hard back then to come across a really good deal on one "that didn't work", then test and replace the bad tubes - and end up with a real good tube amp at a low price

These guys are pretty hefty though - probably around 65 or 70 lbs.

I've considered re-doing it as a separate head and speaker cabinet to make it more manageable to lug around, but I'll probably end up leaving it as is and passing it on to someone looking for a good deal

.

I picked up a well gigged BC30 last month...after reading positive & negative reviews about that amp. First note: It is a heavy SOB. When I brought it home, it sat unused for a few days. Decided to plug it in and liked what I heard. Liked it even more when I put some new tubes in it. Jumpering the channels brings out the beast from within too.
I also own Marshall, Vox & Fender amps and understand each maker can have a lemon once in awhile. All in all, I'm pleased with this BC 30.

 

[Terrygh1949]

I recently got a Bugera V22 head. I’ll admit, this is the first time I’ve messed with a Bugera at all. I’ve heard the dislike, the horror stories, I was skeptical to actually buy it at first. But ultimately it fit the bill I was looking for. And the price was a nice break as most heads I was looking at were $700-1000. Even new it was under $500.

I’ve only had it for a few days but have to admit I’m really liking it. Wonder where all the hate comes from? So far my only complaint is that tacky fake leather.

I had a V22 combo and it was a good amp but, really not enough features and, it really didn't accept pedals too good. I though it looked really cool.

 

[Midgetje94]

I had a V22 combo and it was a good amp but, really not enough features and, it really didn't accept pedals too good. I though it looked really cool.

I have no issues with mine taking pedals? But then again I have a smaller board.

 

[telepraise]

I went through two cheap amps, a Fender Champion and an old BJR, before I finally bit the bullet and laid out $1100 for a DRRI. The tone was more than 3x better for what I was doing. If you want made in USA, it's understandable you'll have to shell out twice as much… but you're less likely to be buying again soon to upgrade.

 

[corliss1]

Apparently the negatives and horror stories were mostly the non-infinium lines

Came here to mention this. The Infinium line with the tube life monitoring was built into the circuit so much that you couldn't bypass it when that little circuit board started to have issues. And...you couldn't get a replacement board. I have a couple of these where the customer declined the repair due to my suggestion, which was grinding out the circuit board around the bias pins and creating a separate little bias network in there to bypass all the weird stuff. It just wasn't worth it for how cheaply those amps were built.

I don't have much experience with the newer ones, as I only see older dead things that people have already broken

 

[HaWE]

In 2016 I bought this 5 Watt Bugera Amp (Infinium T5) online for about 180 Euros.The first weeks it worked rather well.The sound was OK, not great but sufficient for my needs as a practice amp.
As intended I could get some natural overdrive from the amp by turning the amp to 1 Watt. There was a "Phat"-switch to increase the signal but this switch made the sound more muddy and dull.
Unfortunately soon the amp began to make some crackling noise.
And some times later the volume suddenly dropped or increased from time to time without warning.I send it back to the dealer ( a well known online dealer from Germany ) and they arranged a repair.(as far as I can remember some tube was changed etc.) But after having the amp back, very soon the same problems appeared again. So I send it back for the second time.The second repair was also not succesfull and then finally I got my money back.
Fortunately for me the problems appeared very soon after having bought the amp, so I could give it back because of warranty without any problems.
Maybe I was just unlucky with that amp , but I did not want to buy another Bugera.

 

[The Angle]

I had - have - the pre-Infinium V22 combo. I liked it well enough until something failed in the preamp and the volume dropped to a whisper. I've never bothered to have it diagnosed or fixed because I have other amps I like much better. I'd sell it as-is, but I keep thinking I might take the spearker out and repurpose it - it's quite a decent speaker IMO - and what I'd get for the nonworking amp probably is about the price of the speaker.

If I'm being honest, I bought the Bugera more because I liked its looks than because I needed what it can do. It's a handsome, good-sounding, inexpensive amp with reliability issues, in my one-off experience. I still like and use a little Behringer Firebird GX 108 solid state amp.

 

[Call Me Al]

Because they're a part of the Music Tribe company that also owns Behringer and TC Electronic. This causes some people to automatically hate them for some reason.

This is what I keep hearing. Specifically their politics/PR.

I almost bought the V5 (found a used Vox instead.) but the whole V series seems to get good reviews, and I know some bass players who like their bass combos

 

[Resident Bum]

I had a 1. generation (before the infinium) V22 combo for years. It developed a tube rattle after about 6 months. I changed all of them just because I could.

I found a rattling powertube in a bugera, turns out it was not microphonic but instead the base was loose against the glass. I managed to fix it by dripping a few drops of pure acetone between there. The acetone reflows the old glue, but this may not work for every tube because of different glues used.

 

[Resident Bum]

The reason for this is a segment of buyers define themselves by the brands they buy. Insecurities they have of personal worth get played by corporate marketing so hard these buyers willingly run up credit cards in their chase for meaning. These types use product price as a proxy for branding, low price means junk while only high prices mean top quality -- because companies only sell for costs, so their logic goes. Marketers know where the biggest profits lay and who to exploit.

.

You're telling me my Gibson Tone-Polish is no good? Well I never!

 

[Resident Bum]

The PS1 is a clone of the Jet City Jettenuator. I can't speak for the Bugera version, but the Jet City is a nice little box if you can find one used. You'll lose some highs/lows as you will with any passive load box, but the loss isn't as horrible as some make out, or maybe my hearing is just too shot to hear what's missing. Lol.

I forgot to mention this. The tone loss gets worse the more you turn it down. But the attenuator has no bypass function, so just by plugging it in, you have about 3dB attenuation IIRC. So it may work ok for knocking a little volume off for gigging. And the loss of some treble might also be easier on the ears.

 

[Brent Hutto]

I forgot to mention this. The tone loss gets worse the more you turn it down. But the attenuator has no bypass function, so just by plugging it in, you have about 3dB attenuation IIRC. So it may work ok for knocking a little volume off for gigging. And the loss of some treble might also be easier on the ears.

What would be the advantage of a loud amp with a tone sucker like that on it versus a good sounding amp that isn’t so loud?

 

[Resident Bum]

What would be the advantage of a loud amp with a tone sucker like that on it versus a good sounding amp that isn’t so loud?

A good sounding amp is always best, but maybe your good sounding amp happens to be too loud. Or your good sounding amp is good for live playing, but too loud for home use. Of course, one could use a 1-watt amp for home use instead of getting an attenuator.