[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Martin Maniac

I received my Bugera V22 today...It sounded great clean from the get go, then I hit the overdrive button...sounded great again this time gritty...The amp is bigger than I thought it would be, a little heavier than I thought, but it sure sounded good...

Some suggestions/thoughts:

• Play around with different combinations of OD gain/volume, master volume, and pentode/triode - you'll find a bunch of useful tones in there, even before you bring in the EQ...
• It's definitely larger than what you'd expect for a 1x12" combo, but they're unabashedly borrowing a page from the '60s Ampeg/Mesa Boogie combo playbook here: bigger cab = bigger tone, and you seem to be as happy with the results as I am...
• I own the first-gen "blue-light" version of the V22 (which requires a bias job when you change tubes), and the tech who showed me how to do it without killing myself (DO NOT try this without expert guidance - period) was so impressed with the construction quality - he couldn't believe that this was a $300 (in 2010) amp - that he was going to pick one up for himself. These babies are built like tanks: big transformers for their rated power, machine-screw/anchor fastening of all removable parts (I've seen boutique amps at four times the price - not to mention the big mass-market names - that don't do this), stable circuitry (same tech told me it's some of the best he's seen - this from a guy whose home system is built around McIntosh components), and it carries throughout the line - I also own a current-production V5 Infinium, and it weighs half again as much as comparable amps from other makers. Good stuff, and the more you use it - in a variety of settings - the more you'll appreciate it...

Originally Posted by Martin Maniac

...I can't wait to try it out at the senior center...

I'll assume you're going for clean tone/headroom here - my go-to settings are:

• Pentode
• Master between 8-10 (depending on the guitar's pickups)
• Normal input
• Clean channel volume becomes your Master - IME you won't need to crank it above 3, depending on the size of the room - and use the guitar's controls to regulate your overall volume
• EQ/reverb depending on guitar/room (mine's set up as an all-purpose plug-&-play with the upgrade tubes/Swamp Thang - EQ at 12:00, 'verb as needed - YMMV)