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Bugera amps.... and tube amps in general.


Huw

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Behringers launch into the tube amp market. They look respectable at least... style a lot like the high-end engls, with a super low price tag.

Anybody tried one? i'll admit i was quite drawn in at first, but i'm getting more sceptical. The way this amp (and heaps of others) are advertised/marketed its like they are all built solely for metal - 'clean/crunch/lead'. NO amps ever seem to do something like a 'clean/overdrive/crunch' which would be of tonnes more benefit to me and i'm sure a lot of other folk too.

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' date=' post: 462284"']The way this amp (and heaps of others) are advertised/marketed its like they are all built solely for metal - 'clean/crunch/lead'. NO amps ever seem to do something like a 'clean/overdrive/crunch' which would be of tonnes more benefit to me and i'm sure a lot of other folk too.

Erm, I can think of loads of valve amps that have a clean, overdriven and lead channels. ?(

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Erm, I can think of loads of valve amps that have a clean, overdriven and lead channels. ?(

i know but i said clean drive crunch. like basically not a 'solo' channel is what i'm saying. like clean/drive/more drive. the modern three chanel tube amps ie. engl, mesa etc. seem to do it. maybe i'm just not looking down the right avenues or not understanding.

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They're basically copying the Peavey XXX, 5150(or 6505 as it's now known) and the JSX head.

Supposed to be fine if you must, but it's not the kind of amp you'd rely on for gigging. There's better amps out there in the 2nd hand market, for the same price.

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Behringer are just the distributor I think....but yeah...behringer and copying....

pedals.jpg

At least its cheap :D

Distributor my arse. Do you think the British virgin Islands (pop. 22,000) has the necessary infrastructure to support an amp making company or do you think it's a convenient tax haven for a subsidiary of Behringer?

The problem with Behringer (although they do rely on other peoples proven technology) is:

1) they use cheap components. The tolerances of the components used (i.e. how close they are to the design specification) will be very high. no two amps will be the same and it's a lottery whether you get a "good" one or not.

2) they use cheap components, it'll break easy even if you're lucky enough to get a "good" one.

Those pedals you show, unless you're a dab hand with a soldering iron and know what's what as far as replacement components go then it's a false economy. Most quality pedals will last at least three times longer than any behringer piece of shit, for less than three times the price and they retain their resale value.

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Those pedals you show, unless you're a dab hand with a soldering iron and know what's what as far as replacement components go then it's a false economy. Most quality pedals will last at least three times longer than any behringer piece of shit, for less than three times the price and they retain their resale value.

Theres a place called Owen Electronics that'll clone pedals. They sell a behringer distortion 'big muff' that essentiall is an electro harmonix big muff.

What about Behringer studio equipment... the big equalisers and stuff... they any good?

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' date=' post: 462294"']Theres a place called Owen Electronics that'll clone pedals. They sell a behringer distortion 'big muff' that essentiall is an electro harmonix big muff.

What about Behringer studio equipment... the big equalisers and stuff... they any good?

I think I explained it in my previous post but I'll do it again.

You buy Behringer, you take a gamble They use other peoples circuits (as far as they can without infringing patents after Drawmer threatend to sue them) but use cheap (i.e. unreliable, poorly quality-controlled) components in shoddily built boxes with interfaces (buttons, knobs, switches) that any 3 year old could break in a week.

I've lost count of the amount of on/off switches that have popped out in my hand (there's still one Behringer unit in Drummonds that has to be switched on by poking your finger, or in my case any available object, like my multi-tool which is all metal, into the innards; millimetres from a capacitor. I love it, gives the job a sense of danger*)

*irony alert

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  • 8 months later...
Is it reliable Paul?

Because of the low price of these amps, build quality and reliability may be an issue.

This is my second Bugera head, the first one blew a power amp valve after 6 days of getting it, obviously I ensured I bought it from a reputable dealer which had a returns policy plus a standard manufacturers warranty of a year. The company has been going bout a year so I think they have ironed out the initial teething problems they had at the start.

I think my kettle lead was sitting cocket when i turned on mine causing it to blow.

many instances I've read of their amps blowing is when users haven't followed instructions or mistreating the amp, such as allowing it to get drunk

I know people are going to have their opinions on these amps and quality, This amp seemed the best option to what i was needing with the money available and I am very pleased with it.

Many may say that i could have bought a second hand amp 10 times better than a Chinese made amp for similar money, but i couldn't be arsed looking, and the fact you have a years warranty gives me peace of mind.

I've bought second hand amps in the past, only for them to fail to which the repair bill doesn't justify the cost of the amp

I've read up heaps on these amps and some problems encountered are, plastic clips are used to hold the power cables onto the transformer which can pop off easily causing the amp to fail by blowing a tube. Also some cases of the valves not biased right ( running too hot/too cool )

many people have bought theses amps say, check the bias is set correct, check the clips on the power cables or solder them on properly, also tighten up the ground connector. doing this however will void your warranty

valve amps are nae complicated so if something goes wrong, it's usually easy to fix, new tubes, fuse etc.

what I plan to do is use the amp as it came not open it up, so I'm covered by my warranty, after a year or when it fucks up then I'll make such modifications like soldering the cables

it handles very low tunings well also, doesn't turn to mush like digital amps

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Because of the low price of these amps, build quality and reliability may be an issue.

This is my second Bugera head, the first one blew a power amp valve after 6 days of getting it, obviously I ensured I bought it from a reputable dealer which had a returns policy plus a standard manufacturers warranty of a year. The company has been going bout a year so I think they have ironed out the initial teething problems they had at the start.

I think my kettle lead was sitting cocket when i turned on mine causing it to blow.

many instances I've read of their amps blowing is when users haven't followed instructions or mistreating the amp, such as allowing it to get drunk

I know people are going to have their opinions on these amps and quality, This amp seemed the best option to what i was needing with the money available and I am very pleased with it.

Many may say that i could have bought a second hand amp 10 times better than a Chinese made amp for similar money, but i couldn't be arsed looking, and the fact you have a years warranty gives me peace of mind.

I've bought second hand amps in the past, only for them to fail to which the repair bill doesn't justify the cost of the amp

I've read up heaps on these amps and some problems encountered are, plastic clips are used to hold the power cables onto the transformer which can pop off easily causing the amp to fail by blowing a tube. Also some cases of the valves not biased right ( running too hot/too cool )

many people have bought theses amps say, check the bias is set correct, check the clips on the power cables or solder them on properly, also tighten up the ground connector. doing this however will void your warranty

valve amps are nae complicated so if something goes wrong, it's usually easy to fix, new tubes, fuse etc.

what I plan to do is use the amp as it came not open it up, so I'm covered by my warranty, after a year or when it fucks up then I'll make such modifications like soldering the cables

it handles very low tunings well also, doesn't turn to mush like digital amps

Fuck buying something that poorly made; save yr pennies and buy a well made valve amp. I don't care how easy it is to solve the problems associated with this amp, surely that makes it worse that these amps are shipped in such a shoddy condition?

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sorry folks, i wouldn't touch a chinese made valve amp with a very long shitey stick. i fully accept soundians comments regarding components and go one further, if the labour is cheap the cheap component issue could be insignificant.

however in saying all of that i spent 1400 quid on a boogie that died within a month of owning it. within a week it was repaired under warrantee and been just fine since.

i'd second the save your money, try out as many good valve amps, in stores, mates etc as you can be bothered with and then buy quality.

it might seem pretty unreasonable to tar an entire nations amp production based on numerous poor examples; there must be some half decent amp companies emerging from china, but i have seen so many shoddy examples (3 seperate amps with 1. no output, 2. tone controls that do fuck all, 3. volume controls that only work when the presence is between 30 and 70%) it is difficult not to draw these conclusions.

anyways pays your money takes your chance.

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Thanks for the info Paul...an interesting insight...:up:

Well, having listened to clips comparing the Bugera and a 5150...there really is not much in it! Peavey even held the Bugera production back because they were considering suing them.

The other end of the spectrum.. I spoke to James (Hatevent) and he knows a guy who is an official Bugera artist and he has gone through 8 amps in a short space of time...

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Fuck buying something that poorly made; save yr pennies and buy a well made valve amp. I don't care how easy it is to solve the problems associated with this amp, surely that makes it worse that these amps are shipped in such a shoddy condition?

I would have to agree. It seems that these amps have, or have had loads of problems in the past with QA/QC.

I've checked the web and these 333 seem to be going for around 350/360 quid. You could pick up any number of decent valve amps for that price. Marshall DSL50 etc, or their combos. I have had several amp (still have) and had no problems with Marshalls. I have a 6101 combo, which one at least one occasion tried to plug in and play only to find no sound coming out.....BECAUSE I had forgot to plug the speaker cable in. Opps! I plug the speaker back in and it plays no problem. It's quite old, and been gigged to bits over the years. It's been bashed and rolled over in the boot of the car, yet it still seems to keep going. My DSL head was dropped by a rather drunk helper after a gig. Still work perfect. Would these Bergera amps stand up to that sort of stuff. I doubt it, especially if it breaks down shortly after been bought.

Geezo, I was selling a 70's Marshall JMP 50watt head on this site not long ago for 300 quid. that would have been a bargain for someone. Far better than a new shoddy product. It doesn't matter if it comes from China, or California, if it's shoddy, it's shoddy.

rant over.

:popcorn:

PS. I forgot to say that the DSL landed on a concrete ramp and slid about 10 feet down to the bottom. And the drunk guy fell on top of it.

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I'd be quite disappointed if you bought one. The hassle for saving a bit isn't worth it IMO. 5150s can be had cheap enough and you're not going to be worrying nearly as much :)

I've not had problems with my ENGLs - yes the SE is fucking expensive as hell - I wouldn't get the same sound or one nearly good enough by comparison for cheap, especially not with reliability included!

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P1090158.jpg

P1090149.jpg

om nom nom!

This is the quote that came with the pictures;

Got the new Bugera 333xl today and while i switched back and forth from clean to crunch there was a crazy volume spike on the crunch. Then a terrible smelling white smoke started seeping out of the chassis. i opened it up and there's also a brown fluid (and what looks like regular water as well) all over the bottom of the casing. It came off of a truck and some condensation probably formed in the amp which probably caused this. I'm not technical at all so I don't know what that part that's burnt and melted is... but how hard is it far a tech to fix that sort of thing? Should I just get a new one or have them pay to fix it??? It sounded pretty good before it blew btw.

Like that which has already been said; save your money and get something decent instead.

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