Thread: at home amp
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Old 06-15-2019, 06:58 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eyesore View Post
Well, I did buy the Bugera V5. It's cool. but not as clean as I like...
Some suggestions based on extensive personal experience:
  • As I stated previously this is by no means a plug-&-play amp; the gain/tone/volume controls are highly interactive, and you'll need to play with them for a while to find the sweet spot for your guitar(s)
  • Make sure the switch on the back panel is on the 5W setting; seems obvious, but I had to help out a guy at the semi-local GC when he wondered why he wasn't getting any clean tone/volume (some wannabe thrasher had put it in the 0.1W position and dimed the controls) - cycle it through the settings with the amp off, make sure it's solidly in the 5W position, turn it back on, and see if you have better results
  • As with all other Bugera products - and nearly all other Pac-Rim mass-market tube amps (not to mention a few US/UK big-name boxes) - the inherent inconsistency of the cheap OEM tubes is the weak link (and IME a major reason for the low price of these amps in general); if you have access to another V5 I'd recommend doing an A/B comparison - I've played a fsw with really good factory tubes, and one that was a total killer - but absent that option you'll probably be upgrading the tubes sooner than later, and the $15 or so for an aftermarket EL84 power tube is money well spent
  • Allow some time for the speaker to break in (50-75 hours at moderate volume) - the Turbosound speakers fitted to the current Infinium V-Series combos/cabs are actually quite good for OEM, far better than the Celestion wannabes that came in the "blue-light" first-run versions - and you'll likely notice more output as things loosen up a bit
  • That said, there's always the option of a speaker upgrade; I'm also a mostly clean-tone player who likes to ride the ragged edge once in a while and control dynamics/tone color through touch alone and, as I've done with nearly every amp I own I replaced the factory speaker (once again I emphasize that this was strictly personal preference), in this case with a hemp-cone Eminence 820H - sort of a baby Cannabis Rex that works better with my specific instruments/style/technique
Once again it's largely a matter of familiarity, and although I've tweaked mine - as I do with all my amps - I'd have no problem whatsoever doing a coffeehouse gig with an out-of-the-box V5...

Use it well, often, and LOUD...
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