Just Picked up the Bugera V22

[humbuckerstrat]

My thoughts too:thu:

[GuitarPlayerFL]

Time to bump this. A message board friend just received his V22 today.

 

 

It lasted 3 minutes.

 

I'm sorry he went through this. After all the problems with the channel switching I keep reading about, this has convinced me NO BUGERA ever.

 

V22 Fail

[BoneNut]

Time to bump this. A message board friend just received his V22 today. It lasted 3 minutes. I'm sorry he went through this. After all the problems with the channel switching I keep reading about, this has convinced me NO BUGERA ever. V22 Fail

 

Is that troll? Oh yes... definitely Eua de Troll, with maybe a bit of Amps thrown in to the stench.

[guitarman3001]

wow...that's amazing. I've never heard of any other amps other than bugeras being DOA. As a matter of fact, amp repair shops never even existed until Bugera came into existence.

[Into Nation]

I have no Bugera bias either way but I think the dude was just passing on info.

 

From what I read, these things are kickass so long as they work.

[GuitarPlayerFL]

I have no Bugera bias either way but I think the dude was just passing on info.

 

Yes, that's correct. I've read too many posts about Bugera problems (in particular the channel switching bug which happens FAR too frequently) where the quality control is far less than other amp models.

 

Others need to get a life before making false accusations.

[hooch1]

After 2 V22's that both had the switching problem, I decided to go with a Classic 30.

 

There are reports of a fix for the V22 but it requires you taking your amp apart down to the circuit board. I have no issue for people wanting to fix them, especially out of warranty, but I I don't feel like I should have to do this on a brand new amp.

 

Also should be noted, that GC does not offer an extended warranty on the V22's. That should tell you something.

[fabstrat]

REAL voxs and their better built replicas (matchless, /13, xits, etc) are actually incredibly lively, bright amps.

 

 

Yeah the Vox Reverb is a total disaster, horrible. The Bugera doesn't sound bad, but the Vox sounds much clearer. After he plays the Vox and goes back to the Bugera, the Bugera sounds like it has a blanket on it by comparison. The Vox clean was much better. As far as gain, the Bugera clearly has way more saturation available, the Vox had more cut. Thought they were both a bit fizzy. Dark amps are tough to work with on stage - I have always liked brighter amps like blackface style Fenders because they set well in the mix, don't step on too much space, and you don't need a lot of volume to hear them. When I was running a Mesa, which was really dark, it was always a struggle. Seems like a good deal for $350. Then again, while you can say $250 is nearly double the price, I would argue $250 really isn't that much money if you think you are getting something better.

 

[twotimingpete]

my v22 arrived with a bad power tube but after I replaced it it's been fine since. been a few months now I think. enjoying the sounds from this amp. great with my pedals too.

 

I haven't had the channel switching problem, but even if I did, as long as it's stuck in the clean channel rather than the dirty channel I probabyl wouldn't notice because I prefer me dirt pedals over the dirt channel and thus rarely use it.

[monto]

will chen did u also try the V55 before buying the v22

 

i bought a v55 a week or two ago, online after reading reviews and checking youtube. so the v55 arrives, i plug it in and try it out, and decide i totally hate it. i sent it back to the online store for a full refund

 

im wondering if the v22 is quite a bit different sounding from the v55

[Orange Jackson]

Time to bump this. A message board friend just received his V22 today. It lasted 3 minutes. I'm sorry he went through this. After all the problems with the channel switching I keep reading about, this has convinced me NO BUGERA ever. V22 Fail

 

 

It never ceases to amaze me. A tube, or a fuse, fails and people carp their paints. Putting a new tube in is much like changing a light bulb, just swap out the bad tube with a solid JJ tube and you're good. A new tube is like $12, a set is $24.

 

 

It is very hard for and actual amp to fail. I've never read a report of one of these amps failing actually, simply cheap tubes failing. Of course that does not stop people from claiming that "the amp failed."

 

We shouldn't adopt their ignorance in that matter though.

[CoqBelliqueux]

So, hasn't exploded yet?

[faberbz]

 

It never ceases to amaze me. A tube, or a fuse, fails and people carp their paints. Putting a new tube in is much like changing a light bulb, just swap out the bad tube with a solid JJ tube and you're good. A new tube is like $12, a set is $24. It is very hard for and actual amp to fail. I've never read a report of one of these amps failing actually, simply cheap tubes failing. Of course that does not stop people from claiming that "the amp failed." We shouldn't adopt their ignorance in that matter though.

 

 

+1

 

I guess what I would want to know is why the tube failed. Was it just a bad tube? Could be. Was it shaken too much in shipping. Likely so. Or is it something in the circuit? I don't know enough about electronics.

 

But I know a little more about economics. If these Bugera amps are so schitty with such a high percentage of failure, as one would believe from reading here, then stores would just stop carrying them, stop replacing their stock, etc. They just wouldn't want to deal with the problem, and they wouldn't want to lose money on having more sales/CS staff diverted to a perennial problem, no matter how well supported by the US distributor.

[hecticone]

It never ceases to amaze me. A tube, or a fuse, fails and people carp their paints. Putting a new tube in is much like changing a light bulb, just swap out the bad tube with a solid JJ tube and you're good. A new tube is like $12, a set is $24. It is very hard for and actual amp to fail. I've never read a report of one of these amps failing actually, simply cheap tubes failing. Of course that does not stop people from claiming that "the amp failed." We shouldn't adopt their ignorance in that matter though.

 

Its literaly a Bugera grave yard out back. Last count was 17 on the pile and growing. But he is a licensed repair center for Behringer and Bugera. i personally have played every model and some do sound pretty nice but none of them have the feel of a good amp And for the guy who thinks his stock Bugera 412 cab sounds good.

[cBc]

lulz at rating audio comparision of two amps via Youtube's crappy compressed SQ.

ftw!

[twotimingpete]

hard to believe what I'm reading here. I crank my v22 every day and the tones are just amazing -- particularly the clean tones used through a nice dirt box. my dirt boxes (which, BTW, are both AWESOME, HIGHLY recommended, and both work very well in conjunction as well) are a visual sound open road and a zvex distorton. the range of tones I can get blasting through the v22 is astonishing, and the articulate, shimmering, full bodied sound coming otu of my speaker is nothing short of kick {censored}.

 

this amp sounds amazing. I'd put the tones up against ANYTHING out there, particularly when referring to the clean channel used with a good dirt box.

 

what's more is the range of tones -- the mid boost switch alone completely changes the character of the sound, and the EQ controls are extremely responsive as well.

 

so yes, it cfame with a bad power tube, but I put new JJs in, (just for the record, I wbent through the tube store and told them I had a v22, someone told me how to check and set the bias, and the tubes they sent me were already showing in the right bias range without touching anything) and it kicks {censored} now.

 

 

 

 

I may be getting off track a bit here, but one cool thing about the distortron is if you push it really hard and have big lows going through it, it starts to wander into fuzzy territory, which sounds great. the open road can cover a ton of ground on its own, but also functions very well as a boost pedal, so it can very easily push that distortron over the edge. these pedals sound amazing on their own or together. it's really a jackpot deal. good old ketchup and mustard.

[67mike]

It never ceases to amaze me. A tube, or a fuse, fails and people carp their paints. Putting a new tube in is much like changing a light bulb, just swap out the bad tube with a solid JJ tube and you're good. A new tube is like $12, a set is $24. It is very hard for and actual amp to fail. I've never read a report of one of these amps failing actually, simply cheap tubes failing. Of course that does not stop people from claiming that "the amp failed." We shouldn't adopt their ignorance in that matter though.

 

Ya........IMAGINE: that a tube "might" come loose when the amp is dropped 4 feet by UPS?????? Who would think of such a thing>>>Bugera is obviously at fault:cop:

 

F'ing TARDS!

[Doctor49]

Time to bump this. A message board friend just received his V22 today. It lasted 3 minutes. I'm sorry he went through this. After all the problems with the channel switching I keep reading about, this has convinced me NO BUGERA ever. V22 Fail

 

I read the whole thread and your friend was pretty objective about it and Bugera. He loved the tone and whole vibe of the amp.

But he didn't seem to try to find out what was wrong.

Fizz pop and no power light sounds like a fuse issue not tubes.

 

If I liked it that much I would have at least tried to see if was something basic, stupid or fixable before sending it back, but thats just me.

I rebuilt a new footswitch from my Blackstar since that failed in a month and no one at Blackstar could be bothered to reply. Yeah I was pissed but not pissed enough to fiddle with warranty and so on.

[guitarman3001]

hard to believe what I'm reading here. I crank my v22 every day and the tones are just amazing -- particularly the clean tones used through a nice dirt box. my dirt boxes (which, BTW, are both AWESOME, HIGHLY recommended, and both work very well in conjunction as well) are a visual sound open road and a zvex distorton. the range of tones I can get blasting through the v22 is astonishing, and the articulate, shimmering, full bodied sound coming otu of my speaker is nothing short of kick {censored}. this amp sounds amazing. I'd put the tones up against ANYTHING out there, particularly when referring to the clean channel used with a good dirt box. what's more is the range of tones -- the mid boost switch alone completely changes the character of the sound, and the EQ controls are extremely responsive as well. so yes, it cfame with a bad power tube, but I put new JJs in, (just for the record, I wbent through the tube store and told them I had a v22, someone told me how to check and set the bias, and the tubes they sent me were already showing in the right bias range without touching anything) and it kicks {censored} now. I may be getting off track a bit here, but one cool thing about the distortron is if you push it really hard and have big lows going through it, it starts to wander into fuzzy territory, which sounds great. the open road can cover a ton of ground on its own, but also functions very well as a boost pedal, so it can very easily push that distortron over the edge. these pedals sound amazing on their own or together. it's really a jackpot deal. good old ketchup and mustard.

 

I've been gigging mine nonstop since I got it. The first one I got had the channel switching bug but the second one has been fine so far. Last weekend I even used it for an outdoor gig. We don't mic our guitar amps and I was worried that it wouldn't be loud enough but I set it on pentode, hooked it up to an additional 4x10 cab, and it kicked some major ass. I couldn't even run it full volume. I had the master volume on 5 and it was plenty loud for the venue.

 

And yes, I did have to replace a preamp tube because one of them went microphonic but that's no big deal. I usually replace stock preamp tubes anyway.

 

I wonder how long my honeymoon phase is going to last. So far it's my favorite amp and I have no desire to play through any of my other amps. I'm sure the honeymoon won't last forever but it really is the best and warmest sounding of all my amps.