zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.
Sound:
This is a great all-around amp. Having owned Mesa's (Double and Triple Rec's, and a Roadster) Peavey's (Valvekings, Classic 50's, Classic 30's, 6505+'s, and a Triple XXX) this amp stands in a class all of it's own. When I first opened the package, and looked this amp over,I was pleasantly surprised to the attention to detail, and the top notch construction. I was aware of the cheaper parts used on the face of the amp--the knobs are plastic, as is the logo, and it requires a gentler touch. However, as with any investment, if you take care of it, it'll take care of you. I immediately pulled out the chasis and checked the bias on the tubes--it was actually correct after suriving a hellacious ride with a less than aware UPS driver. (He had the box sitting upright, and was pretty much kicking it up my steps. I gave him a stern talking to...)
**You can check the bias point for all of the Bugera line of amps at their website.
So far, having only owned the amp for a week, I'm pretty impressed for the price and the amount of tonal options this amp provides. The three channels will keep you busy, if you're a tone geek like myself. The clean channel is superb--it really is. It brings up a certain Fender-esque cleaness--kinda reminiscent of the older sounds that a deluxe reverb can conjure. However, it may just be the combination of the head and cab that I'm using. ( A Port City 4x12--loaded w/ Vintage 30's. If you have never heard of Port City Amplification, I highly suggest you look into them--just google search them, and research their line of products.)
The crunch channel is great. It has a nice variance of tones, just by tweaking the main eq's, bass, mids, treble, I was able to dial in that sought after old Marshall 50 watt sound, to a more modern gain, akin to some of the modern 'metal' amps of today. The 6L6 tubes break up a little later than your typical EL34, so finding the sweet spot on this channel's volume, in conjunction with the master volume, took some time. From what I've read on the web, this amp is supposed to emulate the Peavey JSX/Triple XXX/3120 line of amps...Having played/owned these amps, I can honestly say I can see the similarities, but this is entirely it's own amp--it actually improves on the design and sound palette of the amps it's modeled after.
Moving onto the Lead channel, I found out just how much gain this amp has--it's crazy. I tend to use just enough gain to have enough saturation to make pinch harmonics come out easier, and to make lead runs more fluid--but if you gag out the gain, you'll be impressed by how wild the sound is. However, i wouldn't insist on this...I'll elaborate more in just a moment.
The Lead channel is pretty much an extension of the crunch channel, offering a more refined gain, with less grit. It works well for heavy metal, and if you scoop the mids, you get that sound that everybody is so crazy about nowadays. (Personally, I think the whole active pickup and scooped mid sound is cliched, and that if you use actives, you pretty much have no mind for tone. Just an opinion.) On this channel, you can make good use of the mids--i like mine just under 11 o'clock, and it helps bring out the balls of the 6L6's. Also, it took some time to find the sweet spot with the channel and master volume, and to make the master volume work well with the other two channels and their respective volumes. I use a myriad of guitars, mostly with DiMarzio humbuckers/pickups. On my strats, the sound was percussive, tight, and full bodied. On my ESP's and home-made guitars, loaded with humbuckers, the sounds were bold, deep and rich. Using the damping feature on the back of the chassis played a big part. It acts like a resonance control, altering the sound coming from your speakers. I keep mine set on low, and adjust my tone accordingly--it makes your speakers growl without adding too much "woof-i-ness."
Feature:
The amp came with a foot switch--it seems sturdy, and does what it's supposed to do. There is also a reverb on the amp, but when you switch channels, the rever is dis-engaged. Kind of sucks. However, the reverb is convincingly real, but i would loved to have a real spring reverb installed on the amp.
The construction and components of this amp are at best mediocre. By no means am I slurring this amp, but it is what it is. Most likely, in order to cut production costs and bring value to the consumer, some corners had to be cut. The plastic knobs, and cheap logo were the fodder for this.
When i looked the chassis over, all the soldering points as well as internal wiring looked superb. Everything looked well assembled, and in place--no loose nuts, bolts, wires, or bad solder joints.
My biggest complaint about this amp are the tubes. As i said earlier, I tested the bias, and it was on point, however, two of the preamp tubes are microphonic, and whenever I begin to dime the gain, I hear that familiar squelch of a microphonic tube. I expected this--afterall, as part of the cost saving endeavor, they probably use less than favorable tubes---and stamp them with their name. (Groove Tubes does the same thing--don't be fooled--buy your tubes from Eurotubes.com--they are very knowledgeable, and good to work with.)
Ease of Use:
As for ease of use, this product is what you make it. With any amp, it takes time to find "YOUR" sound. Don't be afraid to spend some time turning the knobs...gently. ;)
Quality:
This product is very well made for the price. I was very impressed by the craftsmanship for a mass-produced amp made in China.
Value:
This is an ideal amp for a beginner looking into the joys of a tube amp, or for a seasoned veteran looking to try something different, without breaking the bank.
Manufacturer Support:
I'll give Bugera/Behringer the benefit of the doubt. I've only had to email them a few times about some general questions about the product, and I was lucky enough to have very prompt responses.
The Wow Factor:
This is a rather attractive amp, aside from it's plastic components. The blue lights above the power and standby controls are pretty, and remind me of the blue LED's that lit up in my Genz Benz El Diablo. (WORST AMP EVER.)
The layout is very neat, and simplistic--and it looks good, and I daresay classy.
Overall:
I hope this amp lasts for a long time. I'm not abusive towards any of my gear, so I expect a good life span from this amp. I do plan to retube it very soon. Perhaps I'll post another review once i retube it. The amp seems solid, and aside from the horror stories about this brand, this is a good amp. I would buy another Bugera--In fact, I'm eagerly awaiting the patent for their Tri-Rec, which is supposed to be their take on the Mesa line of amps.
1 of 1 people
(100%) found this review helpful. Did you?
zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.
Sound:
Sounds BETTER than the XXX I sold to get it. The Clean is Cleaner than the XXX. The Crunch channel of the amp sounds like they blended Marshall and Peavey distortion together. It is very very usable. The Lead channel is heavy and heavenly. It sounds clearer than the ultra channel on a xxx. I did replace the preamp tubes with mesa boogie preamp tubes though. Keep that in mind please.
Feature:
All the same features as a XXX plus it has reverb. Awesome.The only thing I didnt like about this amp is that the power chord is about 3 feet long.
Ease of Use:
Um ok next question.
Quality:
For the price you cannot beat it!!!
Value:
Awesome value.
Manufacturer Support:
Havent had to deal with them... yet.
The Wow Factor:
Knobs are plastic. All though the knobs are plastic they have some kind of bendy effect to them so they dont break off like many XXX knobs I have seen break off. The Plastic silver things on the front of the amp near the logo came off the amp as soon as I got it out of the box. ( I took them off they didnt fall off) It looks very nice without them. The inside of the amp from what I saw looked very clean. No mess, no loose wires, no problems.
Overall:
You cannot get a better amp for the price.
2 of 2 people
(100%) found this review helpful. Did you?
Sound:
This amp creates great sound extremes, from brutal distortion to sparkling cleans. I play in a indie cover band and am starting a brutal deathcore band and it does both very well. At first went you plug it in the distortion may even sound to grimey and sludgey but mess with the knobs a little bit and your sound will become great. The reverb is not the most extraordinary reverb in the world but it is nothing to spit at, it gets the job done.
Feature:
It comes with a foot switch that is great, only wish that the foot switch had a reverb button on it.
Ease of Use:
This thing is nice and easy. So basic, three channels:clean, crunch, and lead/distortion. The volume is sensitive as well as all of the other knobs. The only thing that isn't very sensitive is the gain knob on the crunch channel, the distortion is similar at all levels of that knob.
Quality:
I haven't had this head very long but it is fine. Might want to be careful of the chrome on the face of the amp, it feels like it may fall off easily. Just don't be abusive and it will hold up on you.
Value:
You will not find an 120 watt all valve amp out there for this price. You may see the peavey valveking at similar price but it doesn't compare to this amp. After playing on both this amp is louder, cleaner, and a lot heavier than the valveking.
Manufacturer Support:
I sent to the company for advice on which amp to get. The company was very easy to deal with. I received an e-mail back the next day and it even had sound clips attached I didn't ask for. That's service right there.
The Wow Factor:
This amp looks sweet, the valves glow orange and a bluish purple color. The power and standby light shine a very bright and brilliant blue. I walked into the drummer's house of my band and everyone's jaw dropped and they all thought I had to have paid at least a thousand for this thing, it looked so good.
Overall:
I plan on staying with this thing until it breaks on me. I love the tone and sounds it makes. I can play any style of music on it and it all sounds brilliant. There is no problem for this thing playing live in any kind of band. I was backup guitar in my indie band and had to turn down to three because I was overpowering the lead guitarist who had a Fender Hot Rod. I can't wait to start ripping out some brutal music and unleash this things real potential. BUY THIS AMP NOW!!!!!!!!!!
14 of 15 people
(93.33%) found this review helpful. Did you?
zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.
Sound:
I realy like the sound this head has. And for the price it was a steal (blem for $430) and I still can't find anything but a little sticky residue on one nob! The Eq is pretty good and the reverb is pretty nice too. It realy does sound better than a XXX or a 3120, and I like Peavey for price and sound quality. Beware The gain on ch 3, I realy don't see much diffrence from about 11 o'clok to maxed other than squelling.
Feature:
three channel all tube head low, mid, and high eq for each channel plus gain on ch 2 and 3. Reverb is asignable to each ch independently, and will store untill you turn the power off, then you must re-assign it. The speaker dampining is a uniqe feature that works kind of like a 3 position eq sweep. FX loop is nice and it will act like a solo boost if you don't use fx. The one big negitive is no presence control.
Ease of Use:
This is a very user friendly amp. I have found many sound using the eq section. It also acepts fx very well.
Quality:
Too new to tell yet but I do have another head just in case.But it seems well constructed.
Value:
For the price, I dare you to find a all tube head that sounds as good as this.
Manufacturer Support:
I have no experiance
The Wow Factor:
Looks like a JSX wannabe, and sounds better than the XXX it was cloned after.
Overall:
I am extreamly satisfied with my 333, would have gotten the 333xl if it had been avalable.I bought mine when my SV HD craped out and was waiting for it to be repaired. My friend loaned me a Marshall DSL 100 to use, but I could not stand the distortion on it( I'm not much of a Marshall fan) so I bought this for temp use, but I've been using this more than the SV HD even though it is fixed now.
Sound:
Clean is great. At first crunch and lead seem way over the top but they are very responsive to guitar volume and pick attack. When you roll down the guitar volume it really does clean up perfectly and you can get all flavors and or levels of distortion. If you just throw loud pickups at it and pick hard the gain seems like too much. Also it has VERY STRONG TREBLE. You might have trouble with single coils being way too bright
Feature:
For me I say the best as you can get 3 different sounds easily and I need built in reverb. I chose this over the 333xl because I don't like too many switches and options as then a guy is just tweaking constantly. For this reason I'm glad it does NOT HAVE presence and resonance as I HATE putting treble and presence on one teeter-totter and likewise with the bass and resonance.
Ease of Use:
Like I said I get just the sounds I like easily. On all three channels I have treble on 4, mid on 3, bass on 7. The crunch and lead gains are at 5. Like I said you get SUPER responce from your guitars volume knob. Many people of course always keep their guitar volume at full. With many distortion circuits you may as well do that. But with this amp it truly cleans up brightly and not with any of that NASAL HONK BALONY.
Quality:
This is where I am a little worried as my other Big Bugera head, the non-master volume 1960 went bad TWICE. The first time I got the free repair under warranty. The second time I gutted the thing and put little shelves up the back of it use it for a pedal stand and I put my drink on top. The 1960 was EXACTLY like my old Non-master volume MARSHALL. People say is it a Marshall no... The hell it wasn't I have been playing since 1969 and The BUGERA 1960 is the same. But like I said it pooped out twice so I junked it. I think the 333 will be better as it has the master volumes.
Value:
If this baby, the 333 holds up, I'd say it's the best amp I've ever had as I love the sound and you can get eeverything from mild breakup (WITH YOUR VOLUME CONTROL!!!) To total over the top gain that does not get muddy and or farty.
Manufacturer Support:
Well they repaired the 1960 right away but then it went bad again after one month and they tried to give me crap like I didn't know about ohms and what not. BS. I KNOW about OHMS 16 8 4 ohms etc. I've had about 15 tube heads and that Bugera 1960 was the only one ever to just pop. TWICE!
The Wow Factor:
enough is enough this is a good amp
Overall:
enough allready is this a college term paper or what
zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.
Sound:
The sound is good. For the money it is acceptable and I am pretty happy with it, when the thing works.
Feature:
The features are again, good for the money. I wish I would have stuck with the 2-channel model as I never use the really over driven channel, but could see that others would love that sound.
Ease of Use:
When it works, it is easy for me to use, although I use to sell equipment and have been playing for 35 years.
Quality:
There are some quality issues here. The connector for the tube filament melted and the amp would not play. If you are considering Bugera, consider looking at http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/BeerChurch/blog/
This is a common problem with these amps. Since I got mine from Zzounds, shipping to a warranty service center was MORE expensive than having the local tech fix it. Of course my warranty is probably void now. Meanwhile, while he had it apart, he showed me how the screws that held the amp chassis in had been bent when they were installed. Not sure what will break on this thing next. Not road worthy unless you have a back up.
Value:
Cheap is great till it stops working, then it becomes pretty expensive. If you want a cool looking head, go for it. If you want reliability and quality construction...
Manufacturer Support:
Mediocre at best. Had to jump through a number of hoops and tell my story three times before I got an authorization to ship it (50 lbs) across the country for service. If you have service in your city, it is probably not so bad. Check the Behringer site for service centers before you buy.
The Wow Factor:
I would like to get rid of it and get something that is a little better built.
Overall:
I have bought several Berhinger products but will not buy another after this experience.
Thank you. Your vote has been counted. Could you briefly tell us why the review was or was not helpful?
Questions? Our gear experts can help!
800-zZounds(800-996-8637)
Mention Reference
Number
L2T4VJ7 When You Call.
Toll Free En Español: 800-460-7976 m-f 1AM to
1AM EST
Follow zZounds on:
Customize Search Results for Your Location
A temporary customer reference number is assigned to each customer only while they are shopping on zZounds.com. If you call our customer service department for assistance, this number makes it easier for us to answer any questions you have about products, services or purchases.
A temporary customer reference number is assigned to each customer only while they are shopping on zZounds.com. If you call our customer service department for assistance, this number makes it easier for us to answer any questions you have about products, services or purchases.
enlarge