Bugera V5 Infinium

This amp is either incredibly frustrating or incredibly rewarding, depending on your desires and your setup. This really isn't for everyone, and some guitars just don't seem to agree with it (I should note that this isn't a problem unique to this amp, as I had similar experiences with an Epiphone Valve Jr.)

If you have a humbucker equipped, dark sounding guitar, this is probably not the amp for you. I usually play a modded LP with a JB in the bridge and a humbucker sized SD P90 in the neck. The amp took to the neck pickup *relatively* well, but the bridge was all mud unless I dialed up the gain, turned down the volume, and cranked the tone full bright. After a few disappointing months, I swapped the bridge pickup for a P90, and it's like night and day. With single coils it SPARKLES, especially with the gain up to about 4 and the reverb around 7. A tele would be divine.

The build is solid and the features are actually pretty nice for a simple little tube amp. It would probably sound even better through a more substantial cab, but for my needs it's fine (now).

I bought this amp for home practice and recording, and was really impressed by what I got. The overall build quality and looks of the amp is very nice. The possibility to turn the effect down to 1W and 0,1W is a great feature living in an apartment.

The sound of this amp is what really blew me away. The clean sound is as close as I ever experienced to "Fender clean" and it sounds amazing. Turn it up to push the tubes a bit and it starts to break up very nice. I do not have any experience with the drive/distorted sound of this amp since I use effects for my dirty sounds but with external drive effects the speaker sounds great. The built in reverb is a lot better than I expected for the price of this amp and I does the job just fine.

The only thing that I might miss in this amp is an effects loop, but as far as I have experienced plugging effects between the guitar and amp works fine. This amp might not be loud enough to play with a band, so personally I would have bought something more powerful for that purpose.

All in all I am very satisfied with the Bugera V5 Infinium for both practice and recording. I love the warm tube sound of it and i do believe this amp is the best value for money. If you are looking for a good tube amp for practice or recording I will strongly recommend this amp.

I?m not usually one to comment online. That being said I just bought this amp . After many years playing on a variety of amps ,my first a Peavey Rage 108 going up to a Marshall JCM 900 stack. Now days its more hobby . I have a Fender Frontman 25 R which rocks for what it is. But misses that unique valve sound. So I researched. And for home use there?s several options after many youtube videos I decided that the best bang for buck was the Bugera (the marshall / Fender equivalent were twice, thrice the price???)
SO.......... The Bugera V5 is a BEAST .It has that solid tube sound that also works with pedals . I use a limiter to boost when soloing etc. Its louder than the Fender I have and that sweet tube sound never fails.
Pros - Its small but powerful
Has a beautiful simple tube sound.
Perfect to rock out at home.
Can use for small concerts ( loud speaker output)
Cons- The headphone output isn?t the best quality.
All that being said.....
5 stars all round for the perfect in house amp!!!!!
And the price is a steal , I?d pay more honestly.

I have read lots and lots of reviews about this amp and listened to lots of sound demos on Youtube. I decided to buy one! NO REGRETS!!!!! This little amp is just FAB - superb sound - total value for money - plug my 1983 Strat in and it sounds superb add my Fender Bass Man pedal and it just gets better! If you are looking for a small tube amp with the same clarity as a Fender get this one! - not suitable for metal or grunge type playing - I have owned many many amps over the years! Selmer, Vox, Fender, Gibson etc to name a few - take this amp straight out of the box - plug in and play - the build quality is first class - attention to detail excellent - mains hum virtually zero. As I mentioned earlier if you are looking to buy a high quality crystal clear small tube amp look no further - buy this one - Thoman service excellent - tracked all the way - email alerts - 5 days from Germany to Southern Spain - world class service - thank you Thoman

I love this amp! The sound is pleasant and warm. It does not have a lot of overdrive, but still enough for blues/rock guitar style. Takes pedals really well. I was able to crank it up nicely and get more overdrive with a boost pedal. Also, souds great with BOSS SD-1.

I use it at home as a practice amp. You may have it on 1 watt setting and get a nice breakup without waking up your neighbours. I found that 1 watt is the best for me (I live in appartment).
The 0.1 watt is there if you want it really quiet, but it makes the sound a little more muddy. At 5 watt setting you may use it in a small basement gig situation without any problems.

I am so happy with this amp. At this price it is a real bargain.

Very well built, solid feel to it. The speaker sounds huge even though its only 8". Lots of clean headroom on this amp which sounds awesome. The Gain can sound a bit muffled but I use only the clean sound and then rub OD into it for rumble.

Did I say this amp looks very fancy indeed. Even my wife loves it and she is not into music.

The Tone knob is uselfull. Would be great to have an FX Loop because I have difficulties to make my Mooer Reecho delay sound good.

The power attenuator is working fine but I can achieve bedroom level on the 5Watt easily if playing clean /which I always do anyway). The attenuator is useful for those cranking up the Gain knob.

Single coil/P90 pups seems to sound much better than humbuckers on this amp to my ears.

The sound of this amp is very warm and creamy I simply enjoy playing with it. Yet to record with Bugera V5 and once I do I will update this review.

If you are on a budget like me and want a home/recording tube amp this one is a no brainer.

EDIT; I have swapped the Turbosound Blue speaker with the Jensen C8R after reading many being happy wwith this mod. I tried it and I diidnt like that sound at all. Too hard sounding (too rigid) so I've put back in the stock speaker which sounds MUCH better. Sure this amp's tone knob would benefit from more treble but that can be remedied with an EQ pedal. Fantastic amp!

I have had a Marshall MV50 for years and, these days, it never gets used. It is just way too loud for home use. I also have a rack with a Marshall JMP 1 valve preamp. This gets over the "too loud" issue but, by the time you add external speakers, power amp and the inevitable rack effects it is bulky and inconvenient to move.

The Bugera (or "Bug", as it has been christened) is completely different. It is deceptively small and light and will happily sit on a table or desk.

I was after an amp I could just grab, plug into, and play where ever I am in the house or elsewhere. This fits the bill superbly. The controls are ridiculously simple but hit the tone I am looking for. Other set ups have rows of knobs and switches but seldom seem to nail the sound I want, and I just give up looking.

This is billed as a vintage amp and the description fits it well. Great Blues tones with a Strat, but if you are in to shredding look elsewhere.

It has wonderful warm, creamy tones that seem to cascade honey over your ear parts. The reverb adds depth without being intrusive, and the tone rolls off the highs very nicely. The gain drive is perhaps a little less than I might have hoped , but I have only used it at the 0.1 Watt setting with volume around 2 or 3, so probably unfair to be definitive.

Naked, with just a Strat, it achieves great "Wind Cries Mary" and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" type driven sounds, which are probably grittier than they may seem due to my lack of volume. It, none the less, has ample valve compression and dynamics - the whole reason we buy a valve amp. It does "cleans" without getting too thin and jangley. And you would swear it had bigger than its 8" speaker.

It is probably best naked and, as a result, seems to flatter a level of playing which can cope without hiding behind a barrage of effects. Indeed, it doesn't seem to like effects. I tried it with a Mooer Blues Crab which seemed to do little but make it sound a bit crabby. Even just using a looper can give a muddy, undefined "Wall of Sound" feel.

So, if you are hankering after the old time "man (or woman) an amp and a guitar" - plug in and play where ever, jump on a freight train with a bottle of JD and a scabby dog for company, or pull up a rocking chair on the porch and let the music cascade over you... this is the best value for money you can get.

If anything the amps only fault is it is too cheap. If it were stupidly expensive it would be revered as a connoisseurs boutique amp. It will flatter skill, technique and feel but would not do a novice any favours at all.

I got this as an alternative to my Boss Katana, in part because I've had a few valve amps over the years and have always liked how they respond to a little dirt. It's a very, very well-made amp, and there are no complaints at all in the construction or the fit/finish. Tonaly, it's very dark (as others have noted), but nothing a boost or EQ pedal can't sort. The reverb is great on lower levels, but washes out the sound too much at higher levels. The attenuator is a brilliant addition, and I find that it's really useful for driving the amp/valves harder at the 0.5W setting.
Overall, a great purchase and I certainly would consider Bugera in the future.