Members Davo17 Posted December 21, 2009 Members Share Posted December 21, 2009 I wondered into guitar center yesterday looking for a compact amp for my apartment, and got into a small amp shootout. I pulled an Epi Valve junior, Vox AC4, Fender Champian and a "lunchbox" amp that escapes me at the moment. I wanted to try Gretches mini-amp but they didnt have one in stock. So I got to crank them all side by side in the "vintage" room and it was a blast. The clear winner was the Bugera Vintage 5-until I cranked it I had never heard of this amp. Most of the amps had a tight, harsh nasal tone-and were quite boxy sounding. The Bugera did not have this trait-it sounded like a 10 or 12 inch speaker-not a car radio. The cab is large, about Fender Blues junior size but it contains an 8 inch speaker-perhaps this cab is more efficient with the bottom end. It was much larger than the other amps. The rubber "feet" on the cab are quite large, and I think this will keep my downstairs neighbors happy. The drive tones were excellent-plenty of crunch availible for both single coils and hb's. Very dimensional as well, and the cranked el84 (im new to this tube) sounded wonderful with a great compression at higher settings. Leads sustained well. I have not yet tried it with a booster or pedals, hopefully they get on well. The cleans are pretty good, especially on the 5 watt mode-the reverb is digital but sounds pretty good, it was an unexpected bonus that none of the others had. The tone control is useful, it does NOT go from icepick to muddy. The amps EQ allows plenty of bottom and mids. Its a great classic tone. The attenuator is downright useful. At .1 watt, the amp can be cranked but is still pretty loud-I couldnt use it at 2am. The 1 watt setting doubles the apparent volume of the amp. 5 watts is pretty darn loud-too loud to crank but it will be great for practice, as the amp is easy to carry around. The 5 watt setting almost funtions like a "hi-fi" switch adding more bass, treble, and headroom. There is a headphone out on the rear that mutes the speaker, which will be great for recording. I may hook it up to see how the amp sounds with a vintage 30. All in all a GREAT amp for the 129 it was selling for. I got the last one in the store. The cosmetics are cool. Vintage looking and with a cool blue jewel. The coolest of the compact amps, IMO. Im still clearly in the honeymoon phase, but in the meantime I plan to swap out different tubes and to crank this sucker. Anybody have experience with this amp? Heres some info. http://www.bugera-amps.com/EN/products/V5.aspx http://www.guitarcenter.com/Bugera-V5-Tube-Guitar-Combo-Amp-502586-i1470778.gc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Davo17 Posted December 22, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 Bizump. Nobody else has tried it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RaceU4her Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 best amps on the market Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Davo17 Posted December 22, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 best amps on the market Sarchasm? Id contend they are the best $129 tube amp on the market. Know any good EL84's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xStonr Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 After a speaker change to a Weber Sig 8, a tube change, and with an eq I find the tone usable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Davo17 Posted December 22, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 After a speaker change to a Weber Sig 8, a tube change, and with an eq I find the tone usable. Thats the first speaker thats been recommended, I will look into it. Know any good tubes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members isvoid Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 gaaaaaaaaaaaaa that guy sure likes the sound of his own voice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Aibric Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 gaaaaaaaaaaaaa that guy sure likes the sound of his own voice ...and he's going to be at NAMM! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members silverfacechamp Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 gaaaaaaaaaaaaa that guy sure likes the sound of his own voice That guy is such a pretentious douche bag. Every video he does is that same ice-pick $50 tele sound that is about as appealing as atonal opera. That whole 'lemme start by throwing up one of these bad boys' makes me want punch babies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 I really didn't like it when I tried it out. In fact, I had them get a second one because I thought the first one had issues. But I guess its no worse than the Valve Jr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Davo17 Posted December 22, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 I really didn't like it when I tried it out. In fact, I had them get a second one because I thought the first one had issues. But I guess its no worse than the Valve Jr. I thought it ran circles around the valve jr, both the combo and stack. What issues did the first one have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_gunslinger Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 Seems like the 5 watt amps are gonna be the new craze these days. Every one is producing a 'boutique' 5w. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 I thought it ran circles around the valve jr, both the combo and stack. What issues did the first one have?none, as it turned out. They both sounded the same. And for the record I can't stand the Valve Jr. I have one..... somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 Seems like the 5 watt amps are gonna be the new craze these days. Every one is producing a 'boutique' 5w.well, there are a couple budget ones that I really like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members brikus Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 That guy is such a pretentious douche bag. Every video he does is that same ice-pick $50 tele sound that is about as appealing as atonal opera. That whole 'lemme start by throwing up one of these bad boys' makes me want punch babies. I like his vidz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Caulk Rocket Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 If the Jet City Pico Valve has an attenuator, I think it should be the clear winner. I already have a cab and have no use for am 8" speaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zacman0126 Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 LOL seven minutes 12 seconds in. Sounds like {censored} breaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jhall Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 You should be able to get a decent tone out of just about any reasonably well designed and built amp. The V-5, if it is anything like its middle brother the V-22 (which I have) should be capable of excellent tones within its design target. If you don't get a tone you like. It's probably a matter of personal taste. I will add that some amps are hard to dial a bad tone in on (seems the case with my V-22) But many amps have just as much {censored} tone ability as good tone ability. Having not had the opportunity to try a V-5 (I want one bad) I'd have to say based on the wild swings in the reviews on their tone is a bit more work to dial into a "good" tone" ?There are very few amps that have nothing but bad tones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EdgeOfDarkness Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 Seems like the 5 watt amps are gonna be the new craze these days. Every one is producing a 'boutique' 5w. Boutique= mass produced china amps, but all the kids can now say they own boutique amps. great marketing plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BusterBuster Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 ...and he's going to be at NAMM! Yes, selling Burgera Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xStonr Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 mass produced boutique = oxymoron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jhall Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 mass produced boutique = oxymoron Though I agree with on technical terms, There is NO reason that a mass produced amp can't be very well designed and executed. In fact the economy of scale gives mass production a huge advantage in cost to quality.The down trend in quality is due to market forces period. Most musicians are either very cheap or don't have the money to spend on well designed stuff.Any and I mean ANY of the higher dollar stuff is a niche market and always will be. I've seem tons and tons of people walk into my buddies music store after hopping out of a Benz or Lexus and want to replace only the one broken string on their dusty old POS guitar.MOST PEOPLE DON"T WANT TO SPEND MUSC ON GUITAR EQUIPMENT.This drives the industry trends.Bugera has done a great deal to remedy the price Vs. Tone thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 67mike Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 I bought a V5 and the Epiphone valve jr 1x12 cab. It sounds very nice on the 5watt setting....damn loud for 5 watts. The 1 watt setting takes a bit away from the sound, but still very good. the 0.1watt setting really kicks the sound in the balls.....brings it to the smokey amp level. But overall.HUGE WIN for this little amp, unless you are strictly looking for the brootlz, this amp will do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members axuality Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 I'm glad you like it. I wish that makers would quit using speakers smaller than 12" though. The few bucks that saves doesn't seem worth it. At least the Valve Jr. got that right. I like Behringer. They make this, right? They have a bad rep, but so what? It may not be deserved. I can imagine this amp is very nice. And the 22 watt also. I'd probably buy one myself, if my wife wouldn't have me committed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MatchFive Posted December 22, 2009 Members Share Posted December 22, 2009 mass produced boutique = oxymoron Hey! I found another boutique amp on AMS... http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-CRA-V33H-LIST It's too expensive though, they gotta bring the price down.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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