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My Bugera head and cabinet is not a good choice


mbengs1

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I realize now that the cabinet I got for the bugera 6262 doesn't get the maximum volume from the head. I think the volume maxes out at about 2. I can't use the amp for anything but soft jamming. do u think I should upgrade to the bugera 4x12?

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Let's figure out what you want/need. The 6262 is 120 Watts. You need a cab that will handle that much power. You haven't said what cab you have so I don't know what its power handling is. Regardless, you shouldn't need to crank a 120 Watt amp no matter what speaker(s) you have. A 15 Watter can get pretty loud. If you're saying the amp/cab loses clarity at higher volumes, there are a number of factors in play: Amp, cab, pickups, technique, etc.

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I have a couple of what I call consumer electronics amps.

 

 

It takes a long time, but I have collected many amps that they are now modeling.

 

I have had a few amp issues in the past 40 years, but you buy a Fender Twin Reverb and it will last you 3 lifetimes if you take care of it.

 

 

 

 

 

Too much junk gear out there these days.

 

I have returned 1 guitar in my lifetime and that was 25 years ago.

 

I'm not sure how may guitars I have, let's just say I'm no Eric Clapton.

 

 

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Without knowing what cab you have now there's no way of knowing whether your problem is with that cab or the head.

 

Many tube amps will max out in clean volume with the volume turned up 50%. Above that it may get a little louder but its more clipped and compressed. Much of this depends on the tubes used, the transformer type and circuit design, and the guitar pickups used. My Marshall head used to top out in clean sound at about 70%, Fender, 50%, Ampeg 75%. I've had other single ended that can begin to saturate at 30~40% turned up on the volume.

 

A speaker may top out in volume depending on its SPL rating. You can buy low SPL speakers with high wattage ratings. I have some 10% Pyle speakers which will handle 200W or power, but even fully cranked the volume levels are very low. They are extremely inefficient in converting electrical energy to mechanical energy.

 

If your issue is a problem with the speakers SPL then a cab with the same speakers but only more of them, probably isn't a solution. All you do when you increase the number of speakers is the signal gets divided more times.

 

If one speaker was seeing 120W the using 4 speakers, each sees 55W. The sound may appear to sound bigger because its coming from a larger baffle, but the total wattage doesn't change, so the amp isn't really getting any louder. If the speakers have a lower SPL, the amp may in fact even get quieter.

 

In any case, your volume going from zero to max within the first few numbers on the volume likely isn't going to be fixed by simply swapping cabs. If the head comes quickly to saturation on one cab, it will likely do the same on all cabs.

 

What don't you take the head down to a music shop and try it out on other cabs? You have major issues determining what your problems are and continually come to the wrong conclusions. You really need some first hand experience when it comes to trying out different speakers and they only way you're going to get that is to try it out.

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I wasn't really thinking of anything when I picked the cabinet. I opted for 2x12 since I thought I can get enough decibels for recording and gigging. It's a bugera 212 vintage cabinet. It was the cheapest I can find. my mentality when I got the amp is, as long as it sounds good to you it's not a bad choice. But it really is the cheapest loud amp I know of. I think it is good for distortion pedals running in the clean channel. but I guess I will upgrade to a nicer amp since I do consider myself a serious guitarist.

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I wasn't really thinking of anything when I picked the cabinet. I opted for 2x12 since I thought I can get enough decibels for recording and gigging. It's a bugera 212 vintage cabinet. It was the cheapest I can find. my mentality when I got the amp is' date=' as long as it sounds good to you it's not a bad choice. But it really is the cheapest loud amp I know of. I think it is good for distortion pedals running in the clean channel. but I guess I will upgrade to a nicer amp since I do consider myself a serious guitarist. [/quote']

 

good lord, Bengs...120w amp and a 2x12 cab are plenty for gigging [i gig with 15w or 20w amps]...but sure, get a 4x12, and order yourself a hearing aid, because you will need it. Amps like that are dinosaurs. Their heyday was the 70s/early 80s, long before you were born, and the musical world has changed since then.

Why you feel you need this much arsenal to play, I don't know, but I will also say I've NEVER played a Bugera amp that sounded better than its competition. I heartily suggest you take a serious look at where you can play in a band situation and use that much power...and the answer is you can't. Loud is not good, loud is just loud. You say you are a serious guitarist? Become a serious musician. Find a smaller amp and make friends with tone, not volume.

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Ok, I will write this trying to be as nice as possible. (No promises though.)

 

Are you gigging? Touring? Playing live outside of a garage? If the answer is no, then why on earth do you need a 120 watt amp? Is it an ego thing? "I play though a 120 watt amp, so I must be good." Volume doesn't equate greatness.

 

In the 80's I used a 500 watt bass head, thru 2 4x15 speaker system. Bass needs a certain volume. Once house sound boards became a lot better, I went to a 60 watt Roland bass amp. My back and ears loved me for the change.

 

Doing the guitar thing, I haven't used anything over 60 watts in 3 decades. My main amp was a 35 watt Oliver tuber. A decent soundboard can make up for any amp low wattage.

 

"

but I guess I will upgrade to a nicer amp since I do consider myself a serious guitarist.

 

"

 

A "serious guitarist" pays attention to the equipment he or she uses. They spend the time learning about gear, and about their own gear. Including repairs and setups. Maybe one day you will be a pro, and hire people to do that, but until that happens, take the time to LEARN YOUR TOOLS.

 

 

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The Vintage cab is good for 160W and is loaded with 12" world-class Turbosound speakers (whatever they are supposed to be)

The cab is a bit short for wattage but so long as you don't max the amp out it shouldn't be an issue.

 

My buddy uses a 2X12 Bugera Combo and its a decent Blues amp similar to a Fender in sound. I've played through it myself and standing right next to it on stage I wasn't overly impressed but you hear it from an audience perspective and its more then loud enough. The stock speakers sounded decent too.

 

As for how loud your amp is its really a matter of room acoustics. In a really dead room where there isn't any reflections an amp becomes more line of sight. A 2X12 on the floor isn't hitting you in the ears. In a highly reflective room even a 10 watt amp can sound very loud, at least till you play with a drummer and then he buries your ass by his cymbals.

 

A guitarist must be able to match a drummers Snare and cymbals for loudness. I could care less what wattage the amp is. It can be lower wattage with very efficient speakers or higher wattage with less efficient speakers. , If you cant match the snare you wont have to carry more PA gear to mic the amp. If its open backed you wont need a monitor feed on stage.

 

Some of this might depend on the drummer. If he's a jazz drummer who uses light sticks then you might get by with a 15W amp. Might be tough to get clean tones but driven shouldn't be a problem. Most professional rock drummers I've played with use medium sticks and can hit the drums hard enough where I wouldn't even try to use anything less then 30W and even with that I'd need to put the amp on a stand and tilt it up. I've played with several drummers that hit drums hard enough to bury a 50W tube amp.

 

I typically get my driven tones from pedals and so long as I can turn the amp down it really doesn't matter if I use a 100W SS or 50W Tube amp, I can simply turn it down and use pedals for drive.

 

A higher wattage amp turned down has a much "bigger" sound then a lower wattage amp adjusted for the same volume. The analogy I like to use is when you drive a muscle car and a Volkswagen. . Both will drive 40 miles per hour, but the sound and feel of the two are obviously going to be very different. You step down on the Volkswagen you may get to 60mph eventually. May take you awhile. The muscle jumps and you're there instantly.

 

You know something big is under the hood when you drive that 8 cylinder even if you simply drive it like a luxury touring vehicle. If you pull the muffler off the VW it may be loud but it's still going to sound like a tiny car.

 

This is the way higher wattage amps can respond when used at lower volumes. Just because you have wattage to spare, doesn't mean you have to crank the amp to max, In fact, I cant remember many times in my 50 years of playing where I cranked an amp to its maximum amount. Beyond a certain point the amp becomes less controllable and chaotic sounding. Most amps will sound their best between 30~75%. If you find yourself operating above or below those limits you probably don't have the right amp.

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