Waiting for the brown truck to deliver my bugera v5. It is out for delivery. This should be fun.

_________________
I have some Fender gear.
(Telecaster, Jaguar, Villager 12 String. Mustang l, Bronco, SCX2, Rumble 350, HRDIII, Rumble 2x8 Neo Cab)
http://www.reverbnation.com/modwiz

Got it. I like it. Built like a tank. I like my reverb light and that is where it sounds good on this amp. The deeper reverb sounds crappy. It is a place I will never go to anyway. Having fun figuring its voices out. New tubes after a little playing. I am going to try one of the 8" speaker from my bass cab. If it sounds good I can pick one up from seismic audio for 35 dollars. Free shipping. If it sounds like crap, Weber or WGS.

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I have some Fender gear.
(Telecaster, Jaguar, Villager 12 String. Mustang l, Bronco, SCX2, Rumble 350, HRDIII, Rumble 2x8 Neo Cab)
http://www.reverbnation.com/modwiz

Played it for a few hours tonight, on the .1 watt setting. What has been the most fun is how much the guitar has to say about the tonal characteristics. I never remember being able to get so many subtle variations, getting just what I want, with just pup and/or volume and tone control. My tone controls have never seemed to give so much spectrum as I am experiencing with this amp. I have the tone of the amp wide open and then do everything from the guitar. So far played it with my Les Paul studio and my MP Jaguar with the P-90 pups. It really evokes some basic primal blues. Every note in a chord becomes a part of a riff.

I am loving this thing.

_________________
I have some Fender gear.
(Telecaster, Jaguar, Villager 12 String. Mustang l, Bronco, SCX2, Rumble 350, HRDIII, Rumble 2x8 Neo Cab)
http://www.reverbnation.com/modwiz

Congratulations !!

Looks like your Karma is better than mine ! You got MY amp !

I ordered mine 2 says before you, confirmed 'shipped' 1 day before your order, w/ expected arrival today. Just got a msg. from Amazon that the shipment was 'returned' as undeliverable !! In 20 years have NEVER had an item from Amazon 'returned as undeliverable' - same address all along.

But, UPS states that they were sent a shipping label on the 13th, but the item was never received by them !

Of course Amazon is now saying that they are backordered (if available) and that they are refunding my $129.99. Oh... and they mention there are other vendors selling it for a higher price... thanks for that !

This is not acceptable and I'm now trying to turn the cogs of the Giant Amazon Machine in my favor... I'm telling them that if the item was returned, just turn it around and ship it to me... yea, good luck with that !

Anyway, Hope springs eternal...

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele

I decided to go with guitar center. They had it in stock for 149.99. My otherworldly powers lol, told me Amazon was going to disappoint. The GC price was acceptable for an amp that will be hard to find at this price, IMO. The class A amps are hot, and I can hear why. The reverb and outstanding construction of the Bugera cab made this a good purchase. Check out GC, they should have them in stock. Another 20 dollars isn't so painful.

_________________
I have some Fender gear.
(Telecaster, Jaguar, Villager 12 String. Mustang l, Bronco, SCX2, Rumble 350, HRDIII, Rumble 2x8 Neo Cab)
http://www.reverbnation.com/modwiz

Quite tempted by one of those V5's as a home amp, to be honest - my old Champ went out as a loaner a couple of years ago, and last I heard had been 'stolen'.

Heard someone at the weekend playing live through one of their larger V55 combos, and despite all my twitches when I think of them being associated with Behringer, I have to say that amp sounded absolutely superb, and were it not for the Bugera logo prominently displayed, I'd have assumed it was some rather nifty boutique thing.

Some of their earlier amps apparently were slightly prone to catching fire, but they've sorted that now, I hear.

I read of some earlier "bugs" too. Sometimes being late to the game has some advantages. Getting the amp for 150 now that QC is sorted out somewhat seemed like a good move. If one is being whispered to. I was one of those. There is so good ju-ju with this amp. The type A organic sound with a little reverb was just right for me. I might go with a weber alnico signature 8". That is another great deal. I am probably going to pull the trigger on the 10" for my SCX2. Another great deal for a boutique speaker.

_________________
I have some Fender gear.
(Telecaster, Jaguar, Villager 12 String. Mustang l, Bronco, SCX2, Rumble 350, HRDIII, Rumble 2x8 Neo Cab)
http://www.reverbnation.com/modwiz

Well, my Karma may have improved... after speaking w/ Amazon Cust. Svc. (through a string of Terminal Holds)... and after they 1st said the item was in transit, than was lost by the shipper (UPS Status was only that a shipping label had been sent to them - they never received the Amp), then was out-of-stock (impossible as my order was confirmed and a subsequent email telling me that the item had shipped - along with a Tracking#) and finally that their shipping dept. screwed-up.

They said that a 3rd party vendor was selling it, but at $70 more + $24 S/H.

After insisting that Amazon take responsibility for their cock-up, they finally agreed to send me one from the 3rd party vendor with overnight freight at my original $129.99 purchase price.

I'm not one to count my chickens, so we've yet to see if my persistence will pay off...
stay tuned...

cheers!

_________________


'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele

Great news. I have found if you engage Amazon, and you have an honest point, they do work with you. There is no question that they care about what the customers thinks about dealing with them. I made my move when they kept telling me to wait for an email. Amazon will keep you waiting for long periods, sometimes.

So, I did a little test with Bugsy. I plugged it into my 8 ohm 4x8 cab. OMG! It was LOUD! and just a tone beast. This amp really reminds you why you have controls on your guitars. There is also a very dynamic interplay between gain, tone and volume knobs. There is an alchemy to be learned here. Also, the Bug is geared for a 4 ohm load. My 8 ohms made it work a bit and she really broke a sweat. Ooh, I liked her all sweaty. Come to papa.

I then hooked my 15" 8 ohm cab up. Very interesting change of tones. More jazzy and full. The most awesome sound was when I hooked the 4x8 and the 15" in parallel, dropping the ohm load back down to 4. It had more overhead, but it just made for more room to get almost any tone I wanted. Push the gain and she got gritty. Push the treble up and it not only bites more it pushes the gain up. Like I said earlier, the three knobs are very interconnected.

I was having fun, and then the other housmates, the ones I am a guest of, came home. Time to be a considerate guest. Testing the big sound was over. They are going out again tomorrow.

My cabs:

_________________
I have some Fender gear.
(Telecaster, Jaguar, Villager 12 String. Mustang l, Bronco, SCX2, Rumble 350, HRDIII, Rumble 2x8 Neo Cab)
http://www.reverbnation.com/modwiz

Cool !!

Now you REALLY have me Jones'n...

cheers!

_________________


'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele

Guess I could have gone for NAD thread, but since it wasn't a Fender it seemed in poor taste. This'll do. Played it real quiet for over an hour tonight. No crunch, just passing those strings through the voodoo of a type A tube rig with the moisture of some reverb. Downright magical.

_________________
I have some Fender gear.
(Telecaster, Jaguar, Villager 12 String. Mustang l, Bronco, SCX2, Rumble 350, HRDIII, Rumble 2x8 Neo Cab)
http://www.reverbnation.com/modwiz

have fun with the new amps guys , i haven't tried the bug but i do have an epiphone valve junior head which has been modded with master volume and tone controls , it also has hi and lo gain switches , and what a wee beaste it is put through a marshall 1060a cab it's loud , for 5 watts and the tone is to die for , be it a strat or lp it just sounds so unique , i even took it to a rehesal one day , got some funny looks to start with , plugged it into a cab with an sg and got nothing but positive comments so enjoy , i know the fun that can be had with the wee buggers , cheers
Alan

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Since I am alone, it is going to be me and my Bug having fun tonight. Glad I got it for myself. Merry Christmas to me.

Merry Christmas to all.

_________________
I have some Fender gear.
(Telecaster, Jaguar, Villager 12 String. Mustang l, Bronco, SCX2, Rumble 350, HRDIII, Rumble 2x8 Neo Cab)
http://www.reverbnation.com/modwiz

OK... Amazon, true to their word, did send me the Bugera V5 at their previous listed price of $129.99 by FREE overnight delivery (they're now selling it at $179.99).

I've been playing the crap out of it for the past 5 days.

First impressions were, sadly, underwhelming. I felt that the tone was muted and somewhat 'vague'.

Realize that I know NOTHING... that my only universe of experience is an Orange Crush 20L 1X8 20W SS and a '96 Fender Princeton Chorus SS 2X10.

The Bug tone sounded 'warmer', deeper, or whatever adjective you want to use.

Then today, I really started playing around with the infinite variables available between the guitars' controls (Tele, Strat) and the Tone/Gain/Volume on the V5 itself, along with a couple pedals - OCD, Hendrix Fuzz Wah, Fulltone Deja Vibe.

Incredible variability ! I completely reverse my initial impression !!

The Clean is so clean even my wife noted the difference between it and the Princeton.

The more I travel down this journey, the more I realize that there isn't necessarily a 'better'... only 'different' and I think that's what this amp adds to my kit.

The Orange Crush is simply, and purely, a 'Practice Amp' in any context. But the Bugera V5 and my Fender Princeton both do several (albeit different) things well and compliment each other. The V5 reverb is pretty good, but no match for the true Spring Reverb of the Princeton.

Hard to imagine a better Amp out there (esp. All-Tube) for under $200... maybe even $300.

I'm very happy I took the plunge, and would encourage others to buy this Amp.

Thank you all for all your reviews which collectively caused me to take the plunge !!

cheers!

_________________


'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele

...

_________________


'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele