Bugera V22 Amp - Great Tone at a Great Price!
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Hey fellow guitar tone addicts! This
week I get to review the Bugera V22 all tube amp. This inexpensive lil amp has been really
impressing me, maybe you’ll be impressed, too!
I’ll also feature a speaker shootout between the V22’s stock speaker and
the WGS Blackhawk. Truth is, the V22 sounds so great that I’m
not sure the Blackhawk will make that big an improvement. Only one way to tell ... let the demo
begin! This vid starts out with a
thorough tone demo of the V22, then the speaker shootout.
Once again, the short answer is: YES! The Blackhawk did provide a bigger, more complex tone along with a fair increase in volume, as seen on the SPL meter. As always, there was no trickery involved; just a passive switch between the speakers and identical mics in identical positions at identical levels. Next week, I will be featuring another very popular low-buck tube amp: the Jet City/Soldano 20. We’ll also see how the Jet City likes the WGS Retro 30. See ya then!
Now, my fav blog of the week is the Vintage Amps Forum; I love this blog! Check it out! http://vintageamps.com/
email Vaughn About Vaughn Skow
Note: I just checked comments and feel I need to add this: If you leave comments that simply state that my playing stinks, or use foul language ... We'll delete them. I always make it clear that my demos are speaker tone demos ... NOT guitar playing show-off demos ... plus, well, we WGS folks ain't nothing if we ain't NICE :-)
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Great demo I have been agonizing over which amp to get and have tried EVERYTHING. Thge only amp I considered over this was a traynor (canadian maker) for build quality and patriotic reasons, twice the price but half the features built like a tank though. At this price point, there is nothing better than the bugera v22, I tried to find it, it doesn't exist. If there was something in the store other than a beat up demo model, it would be in my basement now. Thanks for turning me on to this amp. My search is over.
I got mine as the daily deal from Hello Music ... and it actually shipped from Canada! You can also get one from Musician's Friend.
I had my local Long and Mcquade special order one in today. (Saves me the oversize/ overweight shipping charges) and it will be here in a couple weeks. I like ordering things this way because then if there is a problem, I can physically bring it to the guy I bought it from and say "fix it". In the meantime I am playing through the headphone out on an amp modelling multi-effects board. The V22 sounds like angels singing in comparison, will be all the sweeter when it arrives.
Howdy Mr Sparrow! Probably a good call on getting the V22 through a local dealer. I think I mentioned that mine arrived with a noisy v1. When I replaced it, I played around with a lot of options, and I ended up preferring a NOS 5751 ... that tube is almost always my fav in the first gain stage of any fender-ish amp.
The amps ARE made in China ... but they DO sound very good! And besides, yours will NOT be entirely Chinese ... it will sport a fully American WGS speaker!
Mine arrived thursday, Only 2 days after I ordered it, nice surprise! played it stock for about half an hour and then the surgery began. Removed the stock speaker and was struck by how similar it is to the WGS custom. Dust cap is the same size and the cones are very much alike. You can however feel the difference in construction quality. the rattly cage around the tubes is much easier to take out without the speaker in, so that was next. then threw in the new WGS custom Liberator and must say it sounds great. As I thought, the amp has retained it's character but sounds a little richer, more articulate and complex. Kind of like having waffles with Mrs. Butterworth's, tastes fine if that is what's on the table, but put some genuine maple syrup on there and you got some good eatin'!
Vaughn, what do you think about the clean tone of the Bugera v22 in comparison to the Hot Rod Deluxe?
Hi Vaughn!First I want to say Thank You for your videos. They are informative, entertaining, and just plain cool. I'm an IT guy but not really super with amp electronics. How easy is it to replace the stock Bugera V22 speaker and tubes? I know you said to remove the pain in the butt screws and tube cover and I will when my ordered amp arrives. I believe I need to order the WGS 12" 8 Ohm blackhawk speaker for my Bugera V22. Is it as simple as unscrewing the stock speaker and just screwing in the WGS Blackhawk? Any soldering required? The V22 is only 22 watts- so is it OK to add the WGS Blackhawk - which is rated at 50 watts? Sorry if my questions seem dumb- but I'd rather ask a "stupid" sounding question than make a costly mistake. Thanks!!BTW- your guitar playing is excellent in my book!Thanks! -Jody Noller
Hey Jody!
With the Bugera there is no soldering, the speaker cable terminates with spade connectors :-) Just make sure the new speaker has 8 mounting holes (I think all WGS models do, now).
Tubes: just gently wiggle the old ones out and then properly align the new ones and wiggle them into place ... if they ain't going fairly easily, double check the alignment of the pins. Honestly though, the only real reason I replaced V1 in my amp is because the one it came with was a little microphonic at high gain levels. I doubt yours will have this issue ... so don't replace tubes if ya don't need to ... the amp sounds great as is!
Oh, and for the cleans comparison of the earlier post ... yes, I prefer the V22 to a Hot-Rod deluxe. The V22 sounds more open and organic ... the HRDX sounds cold and stiff in comparison. Believe it or not, the V22 actually has JUST ABOUT as much clean headroom as a HRDX, too (on about half the rated watts).