Bugera V5 infinium or Boss Katana 50 mk2?

[raysachs]

Having owned both (neither for all that long a time), I voted Katana. But it's really a matter of what you like. The Bugera is a one trick pony, and for some of us, a one trick pony is exactly what we want. The Katana is a much more versatile amp, with lot's of settings and lots of sound possibilities. For a lot of folks, that exactly what they want / need. Only you can really know and you might not know YET.

My evolution was sort of liking the Bugera, but it was a little dark for me, and I like dark and I play single coils so if it was too dark for ME, it's pretty dark. I tried the Katana, tasted all of it's many flavors, but then settled on one I really liked and never changed from that basic setting. Then I sold the Katana and bought a Blues Cube Hot (Marshall voicing - three different versions were made and are around if you look for them). The Blues Cube I got sounded very much like the setting I'd found and stuck with on the Katana, only better. So I'm a one trick pony kind of guy, but I had to try some stuff to find out what that trick was. The Katana was a perfect amp to try stuff, to go through the process of finding "my sound" for lack of a better term for it. Ultimately I didn't need all of those tricks and just wanted (and got) an amp that sounded like my favorite settings on the Katana, but with an emphasis on really nailing THAT tone and losing all of the other options and confusion. It took the Katana to find what my trick was. Other people stay with the Katana because they like to play in a bunch of different settings/sounds.

So, I'd recommend the Katana to help you figure out what you like. You'll probably move on from it at some point, or maybe not. But until you know what you like, it's good to be able to experiment with different sounds. And the Katana is a real Chinese menu type of amp. Try one from column A, one from column B, one from column C. It will teach you a lot about yourself and what you like. With the Bugera, you'll either like it or not, but not have much idea about what else you might like more...

-Ray

[FrankHudson]

This is now sort of a moot point (the OP has decided and started their amp journey). But RaySachs brings up a point I want to endorse and expand on: what electric guitar amp works for your style of playing, your guitar, and your tastes is variable. Speaking generally, we often have these discussions as if there's a Good, Better, Best hierarchy of sound -- which there may be for any one of us, without it being generally repeatable to the next player.

I for example play fewer full chords and only rarely delve into the conventional lower string dampened power chords. I play a lot of single string stuff on electric, and I'll use the lower strings for that more than most players will. I like a brighter more cutting sound generally, but I'll use a nasal "cocked wah" sound sometimes. I use all different kinds of pickups (more single coil than humbuckers, but still a variety) and I don't generally change amp settings when I change guitars. My body doesn't care for heavy amps anymore and while I have no needs to fill large spaces without micing the amp, I will play with a drummer in smaller spaces without good monitors or enough channels to mic my amp.

I didn't vote because I've never used either of the amps in the original poll.

The above bill of particulars will lead me to amp choices that the next person might not necessarily prefer. My touch and approach has been shaped to fit the amps I used -- and vice versa. When someone is starting out I think there are two more-or-less equally valid approaches: get an amp and learn to use it adding effects (stomp boxes) only as necessary down the line (the OG, Steve DeRosa approach) or the get a modeling amp (or software) to comparison shop at your leisure a variety of electric guitar amp flavors (something like what RaySachs recounts). The former may help one learn the mechanics of electric guitar operation better, the latter may be better for those who are after "my favorite" guitarist recorded sounds but are entering their own electric guitar journey without knowing the difference between a cranked tweed Fender Deluxe combo or a cleanish to crunchy Vox or a black-panel Fender with or without a Tube Screamer pedal.

[BuddyO]

I can't speak to the Katana with my Comins semi-hollow for direct comparison, but a bandmate of mine runs his PRS solid-body through it and it sounds good, but didn't strike me as outstanding. As others have mentioned, it has lots of modeling capability, so I'm sure it could be a matter of tweaking things to your own personal taste.

What I can offer, however, is a comparison between the Fender Sonic Blues Jr with a TAD tube-set against a newly-bought Bugera Vintage V5 Infinium with my Comins.

I prefer the warmer, lush, clean tones I get from the Bugera. I bought it for my home office for the occasional noodling between meetings. The Blues Jr. is a bit more harsh and biting, but then again, being marketed as a Blues box, I suspect that may have been the goal. I like the sound of the Bugera so much, I now bring it downstairs for practice and the Blues Jr. doesn't see as much action. If you dial down the wattage and crank the gain, you do get some good breakup, but I preferred the overdriven tone I get with my tube-screamer, the little Bugera gets really gritty with it and sounds fantastic.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by BuddyO

...I prefer the warmer, lush, clean tones I get from the Bugera. I bought it for my home office for the occasional noodling between meetings. The Blues Jr. is a bit more harsh and biting, but then again, being marketed as a Blues box, I suspect that may have been the goal. I like the sound of the Bugera so much, I now bring it downstairs for practice and the Blues Jr. doesn't see as much action. If you dial down the wattage and crank the gain, you do get some good breakup, but I preferred the overdriven tone I get with my tube-screamer, the little Bugera gets really gritty with it and sounds fantastic...

Depending on the guitar you're using - IME the V5's postwar-style single-ended Class-A circuit (designed with single-coil pickups in mind) can sound a bit dark with humbuckers - you can take it a lot farther than mere breakup: I used to do the Moody Blues' "Story in Your Eyes" at coffeehouse volume with my last band, running either my 3-PU Gretsch 5622 or goldtop P-90 LP through the V5, and had no trouble whatsoever getting that gradual-onset feedback on the intro (particularly with the LP's hotter pickups )...