Bugera V55HD Infinium

I bought this amp purely for the L6L valves to get a good American tone for metal, and it does exactly that! its the 1st all valve amp Ive ever bought so, there's a slight learning curve with how to handle this one. I had to learn how to safely turn it on and off, its not as easy as other solid state amps where you just turn it on or off with no worries about blowing valves or anything like that. At 1st I did come into some issues with the amp sounding loud pops/bangs thru my speaker but I figured out that it was my fault of not giving it enough time to warm up the tubes before switching it on fully. Thankfully I didnt blow any of the tubes, also learned to switch it off in a similar fashion to avoid any potential damage to the tubes. Its a bit of a learning curve but other than that its a beast! a LOUD beast of an amp. I only have to put it to 3 and its real loud at my house. for gigging, Id say bout 5 would be plenty! also, an other drawback was, on the foot switch that came with it, I think it would've been better designed if instead of a button for reverb, they put in a button for the mid-boost for lead playing. the distortion channel of the amp isnt the best but al you gotta do is put a distortion pedal of your choice on the clean channel and you're in for a good time! Overall for me its a learning experience to get a grip on working with a fully valve amp, learning the controls - bass, mids, treble, contour, etc. Im enjoying this amp immensely now that I got the hang of it. well worth the price-tag.

I was in the market for a tube amp and was about to pull the trigger on a Blackstar HT-50 when i noticed something that was present in all the videos of the Blackstar, namely, a cold sterility in the cleans.

I searched high and low, both on and offline, listened to all the usual suspects (Orange, Marshall, Mesa..etc) nothing grabbed me until i heard a youtube video of the Bugera v55. I was floored by the cleans, genuinely moved and inspired by them. you can't put a price tag on that!

Due to Bugeras' reputation, I was still hesitant but after alot more investigating, i can confidently say it seems that Bugeras teething problems are behind them.
I've had mine now for nearly two months and I've played two gigs with it and taken it to about twelve long-hour and intense band practices and it didn't even break a sweat. No excessive heat, no clicks hums or buzzing sounds, just sweet sweet tone!

And speaking of tone, I've been getting compliments on my tone from absolutely everyone! And I'm not surprised. The tone lies somewhere between a Vox AC-30 and a Fender Deluxe Reverb at a fraction of the cost! I play a MIM strat and I've achieved tones like Jeff Buckley and Stevie Ray Vaughn without even trying.

The only slight issue with it is that the dirty channel isn't much to look at. but once again the clean channel more than makes up for it by taking pedals like a champ. Modulation, crunch, gain, fuzz anything I can throw at it sounds like I want it to sound!

And with the Infinium Valve Multiplying Technology there's no need to worry about biasing, it self-biases! There's also the ability to mix and match tubes which is amazing! Tube amps can be fragile things, so having a feature that monitors the status of the tubes, keeps them running at an optimum level and lights up a display in the back to tell you if and when you have tube failure and exactly which tube has failed is worth it's weight in gold!

If you're looking for something with that warm, creamy, vintage tone that is at the same time modern and versatile, there is no reason not to buy this amp.

I played my precision bass through this amp and I liked it but it sounded extremely bass-y played finger style. Allthough the clean channel was crystal clear I had to spend a lot of time messing around with the EQ to get a more modern tone and in the end I wasn't 100% satisfied. This amp shined when I played with a pick but I didn't want an one-trick-pony tube amp. The EQ didn't seem to have much effect on the sound before I reached 7,5 and that was basically the main reason I send it back in the end. If it was a little bit more flexible in the tone shaping this would be an Ampeg killer, but sadly it is not.

As always great service from Thomann: Fast shipping, and no hustle retour!

The amp arrived, and within 5 minutes of testing, one tube was clearly dead. This claim was further cemented by one of the Infinium LED's being lit up. I turned it off and on again, letting the tubes warm up this time, and still, after 5 minutes of warming up, the 2nd tube was still dead. Therefore I can't speak to the amp's reliability, if it was broken either before or through transport.
For the 5 minutes it was working, it sounded good, if a little dead and somewhat lifeless. The onboard reverb is a decent room-hall sized sound - very natural, I would say. And the knobs and tolex all feel sturdy, but the electronics, clearly not so much.