Bugera V22


Jerry Dylan
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Joined: 03/05/09
Posts: 107
Jerry Dylan
Registered User
Joined: 03/05/09
Posts: 107
02/13/2011 1:29 am
hi everyone

I bought the bugera V22 amp about 2 weeks ago. It costs 349 dollars (United States) and it has 3x 12ax7 tubes and 2x el84 tubes.It is an all tube amp. It's is 22 watts and loud! Loud enough for gigging.

This amp has 2 channels (clean and drive.) The clean channel has a gain and a master volume. Unless you crank the master volume you won't get distortion! The gain dosen't do much unless the master volume is loud. It basically controls headroom. With the gain full up and the volume around five it starts to break up. Here it is a great blues setting. After that it gets more and more distorted like you'd expect from a tube amp. If you turn down the gain you get more headroom. If the amp just did this I would love it. You could get anywhere from Albert King to Led Zeppelin and great clean tones. If you want more gain that is when the drive channel comes in.

The drive channel has a volume, master volume and gain. the master volume is shared by both channels. The gain sounds unbelivable, under half. You can get Stevie Ray Vaughan to ZZ Top to AC/DC like this. After half it sounds better for hard rock and early heavy metal. If you want to play thrash or death metal get a good drive pedal.

This amp also has a Triode/ Pentode switch which makes the amp darker and softer or louder and brighter. It has a mid boost switch which is good for blues, but not much else and an EQ consisting of middle, treble, and bass. Finally, there is a digital reverb. This is the only part of it that I didn't like. It is almost too washy of a reverb. Above 4 it starts to get unusable. At three though it does its job and adds color to your tone. There are two inputs, bright and Normal. If your guitar has humbuckers use bright. It sounds much better.

This is the best valve amp out there for the price in my opinion. It has a rich warm tone and is at an unbelivalble price. I've played amps twice the price that don't sound as good as this. The V in its name stands for vintage and it lives up to that. It sounds like an amp out of the sixties.The best part is that while it has a vintage vibe it still sounds like its own amp. It is a mix between a Fender Deluxe and Vox AC30. It is reliable and I hear no tube rattle when cranked. I give this amp a 9 out of 10 because of the reverb. I would suggest this to anyone who wants a tube practice amp, someone who wants an amp for small/ medium gigs or a great sounding amp for recording.

Thank you
# 1
Neal Walter
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Joined: 02/11/09
Posts: 2,280
Neal Walter
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Posts: 2,280
02/15/2011 7:40 pm
Sounds like a fun amp!
[FONT=Book Antiqua][FONT=Arial][FONT=Tahoma]Neal
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# 2
drf46
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Joined: 11/22/01
Posts: 527
drf46
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Joined: 11/22/01
Posts: 527
02/16/2011 1:53 pm
Thanks for the great review Jerry. Sure can't beat the price.
Doug
# 3
JonChorba
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Joined: 11/27/10
Posts: 231
JonChorba
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Joined: 11/27/10
Posts: 231
03/04/2011 10:47 am
Sounds real cool. I'd love to try one out.
Looking for Guitar Lesson in the Dallas/Fort Worth area? Check out my Guitar Lessons In Arlington website!
# 4
JoaquinCastillo
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Joined: 03/27/11
Posts: 40
JoaquinCastillo
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Joined: 03/27/11
Posts: 40
05/04/2011 3:04 pm
IĀ“ve read a lot of good things about the brand. Is nice to read a review of someone that actually owns one.
# 5
shimelho
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Joined: 12/14/07
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shimelho
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12/07/2013 1:13 pm
I purchased this amp used in November 2012. The manufacture date was July 2010 and the original tubes were still in place so I immediately replaced all of the tubes just to make sure I was getting optimal performance from the amp. I have been extremely pleased with the amp. I don't gig and only use it at home and it works great and sounds amazing. I was considering the Fender Blues Jr. III but could not justify the additional cost after playing both amps side by side at Guitar Center.

If you are looking for a tube amp, you should definitely consider the Bugera line.
# 6


Joined: 03/29/24
Posts: 0


Joined: 03/29/24
Posts: 0
12/08/2013 12:46 am
nice amp i heard some good things about bugera amps,and if im not mistakin they are the only tube amp that has a real headphone jack,im not sure which bugera it was that had that..my blackstar ht5r has an emulated headpone jack,and it sounds unbelivable......ENJOY IT .
# 7
fcd803
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Joined: 09/27/16
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fcd803
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Posts: 0
09/27/2016 5:10 pm
I purchased the V22 despite the negative reviews by the Marshall/Fender snobs. I've been playing privately and professionally for 50+ years and have burned my way through many different brands and types of amps in my time. I never was impressed with or liked Marshall's its a very limited amp unless a large array of effects are added or you play strictly rock. Fender of course is the King of amps, but have become ridiculously priced. That being said I love this amp for the price and style music I play these days which is blues. The amp has great tone and plenty of punch for club gigs. Tone wise its great and has lots of tonal versatility. The only effects and pedals I use are the Behringer Hellbabe wah, Spark mini booster, and Boss BD-2 which I run directly into the amp. I also run a True Tone H2O through the effects loop. As for some of the complaints I've read about the reverb I personally have none. Overall if your a Metal hard banger etc this probably isn't the amp for you, but if your a blues or jazz player the price alone makes this a must check out amplifier I think you'll be impressed especially if you play some of the other not guite as versatile higher priced tube amps available these days.
# 8
NeverEnoughFuzz
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Joined: 12/26/17
Posts: 21
NeverEnoughFuzz
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Joined: 12/26/17
Posts: 21
05/03/2018 8:20 pm

I am looking at getting a new amp and was set on a Marshall, I really want that 60/70 rock tone. Is this amp an option for that?


Cheers

Fender Strat Jimi Hendrix Series MIM

Epiphone 59 Les Paul

Pus a few others

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Bugera V22 combo

Far too many pedals...

# 9
Jack9211
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Joined: 01/18/18
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Jack9211
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05/16/2018 1:13 pm

I just bought the V-55 a couple weeks ago....I like it very much. Same features, just a little bigger. $449.00 US dollars, delivered


# 10

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