Bugera Amplifiers

[JTyson]

Midas, Turbosound and Klark Technik are (or at least were) all top notch, KT probably makes the best rack EQ's I've ever heard
Kinda a shame to see them used in the same sentence as bugera and behringer
I had no idea they had bought them out......
One must wonder if the same QC guys check those

 

[Arby911]

Dear Slaveunit,

All MUSIC Group brands such as Midas, Klark Teknik, Turbosound, Behringer, and Bugera are manufactured in our MUSIC Group plant. The plant is run by UK and US manufacturing managers, R&D engineers, Quality Engineers, Compliance managers etc.

Hope this helps.

Joe Sanborn
Manager, Channel Marketing
MUSIC Group
BUGERA

Joe, since the VP couldn't, or wouldn't answer the following, perhaps you can help us out? Note that I am strictly addressing Bugera here, and don't care about the balance of your brands for the purposes of this discussion.

Some other interesting facts (I hope anyway
- Company failure rates are far below 1%
- BUGERA amplifiers come with a 3-YEAR warranty, the longest warranty in the industry.
- We have a NEW! CARE CENTER in the US, and they have an ample supply of parts and expert technical information.

Dan Gallagher
VP Instrument Amplification Division
The MUSIC Group
dan.gallagher@music-group.com

Given that MUSIC Group is ISO 9001:2008 certified, surely you can with confidence tell us what the actual product failure rate is, since warranty, customer satisfaction and control of nonconforming product are all required aspects of the certification?

As a certified lead auditor as well as an unrepentant gearhead, I'm very curious about this...

 

[BrokenRomeo]

I'm disturbed by any company that would clone a JCM900 dual reverb...

Ooh wah ka ka ka.

Does no one like JCM900 4100 Dual Reverb? I will just keep mine hidden in the closet then LOL!

Hey, I am not getting involved in the pissing contest, but I purchased two 1990 Infiniums (JCM900 clone) around Christmas time as they were on sale for a killer price. I have played the hell out of them for the last 6 months...they sound fantastic and have been rock solid. I did register online for the 3 year warranty...but I have been very happy with the amps so far, and I have had a lot of amps...from budget to high dollar. I think they have upped their game in the QC and support department. Just saying...

The 1990 is supposed to be "all tube" as opposed to using op-amps in the preamp for distortion like the 900DR. But they sound almost exactly alike to me. I wouldn't mind comparing the circuits, just out of curiosity though.

Not sure about the circuit, but to me the amp sounds great...and so far it's held up well and seems solid. Only thing I have done is add some Fender amp corners for protection when moving it for gigs.

 

[glassjaw7]

I am going to necro-bump the fuck out of this thread in four years.

 

[rlord1974]

It will certainly be relevant in 4 years, when Bugera owns Mesa/Boogie and the amps are labeled "Mesa/Bugera"....

 

[dallasb]

^^^ lol

 

[charveldan]

It will certainly be relevant in 4 years, when Bugera owns Mesa/Boogie and the amps are labeled "Mesa/Bugera"....

Now thats free Comedy ...

 

[glassjaw7]

It will certainly be relevant in 4 years, when Bugera owns Mesa/Boogie and the amps are labeled "Mesa/Bugera"....

Scary thought, but hilarious!

 

[jerrydyer]

Oh look, another pointless bOOgera thread going nowhere ... carry on.

THAT IS A COOL PIC

 

[Pierre_m]

Hello,
I'm new in this forum and I have a Bugera 333xl infinium since January 2014.
I agree this is a awesome amplifier with a great sound.
But I would have your opinion on the quality and reliability of Bugera and also the customer service.
Here is some correspondence I had with care@music-group after my 333xl bought at Thomann had a failure (tube 3 led lighted after 4 month of use).
I need to explain that Thomann replaced the first 333xl I received and which was defective after 1 week.

I contacted the Music-Group for this issue and here is their answer:
>After discuss with technical team, It appears that the
>possible root cause of your problem is a defective tube.
>Taking into account terms and condition of Behringer
>warranty, tubes are under guarantee for 3 month.
>Your bill is dated from January (4 month) so the tubes
>are not under warranty.
>We always recommend that the replacement of tubes
>is carried out by a technician of guitar qualified.
>In the case where the problem always exists, you will
>have to contact us before sending to our centre of service for repair.

So I understood that Bugera will not have any goodwill gesture so I replaced the four power tubes.
After several minutes to test the amplifier with new tubes: The led for 3rd tube lights again. So to be sure I change the order of tubes and then again the 3rd led lights.
Thus the tubes are not defective but most probably the infinium system.
So let me summarize since the beginning:
- February 2014, I bought an amplifier to play guitar on stage (Bugera 333XL is a 120W tube amplifier, it's not for playing in my room).
=> First amplifier returned to provider cause completely failed after 1 week.
- March 2014, I received a new Bugera 333XL infinium (thanks Thomann).
- During May 2014, Second amplifier is defective and I can't use it since.
My conclusion is that I can't use this amplifier to play on stage because I don't want to buy a back-up amplifier.
So, I still hope a goodwill gesture and ask to Music Group to take back their defective amplifier and to give me back my money because of this unreliability.

Here is their answer:
> Hello,
> Thank you for your e-mail. We had informed you that probable causes
> is a defective tube and that the guaranty of the lamps is only 90
> days.
> We are not able to refund nor an amplifier after the 30
> days following the purchase, nor tubes. We advise you
> to send back your amplifier to our technical centre for inspection /
> repair. We thank you.

So What's your opinion on Bugera reliability and Music-Group customer service?

 

[charveldan]

Oh look shameless Communist propaganda ...

 

[rlord1974]

You get what you pay for.

When a company is selling amps for $300, how can they possible properly staff a customer service centre and provide appropriate warranty service? There is not enough margin built into their pricing model to fund appropriate post-purchase service.

 

[Octopi]

Can you please be more specific and tell us which parts are “cheap” and why?

The pots. Friend of mine barely knocked his 333XL head (all road equipment gets knocked) and two pots just snapped right off. I told him not to worry as dropping in a couple of new pots is no big deal.

I open it up and all the pots are cheap, plastic shafted. No wonder it snapped so easily. Couldn't find a schematic online or the values for the pots. Could you tell me the values of the pots so I can drop some new quality ones in please? I have no complaints about the sound but those pots are horribly cheap.

The reverb just emitted a hiss when switched in too, after the knock.

The switches feel cheap as well. I know you have to keep costs down but would it hurt to list just the values of some of the components that are likely to get damaged on the road.

Would like the values for all the pots, front and back and thanks in advance to anyone who can supply said values.

 

[UDTBUDS]

U need to pray to the Bugera gods to get your amps soul back ...

 

[teletone01]

Dear Flux’D,

We see that you just joined the forum, specifically “mentioning” a competitor while criticizing our brand.

Allow us to correct some of your statements.

If you like to compare simple designs and PCB layouts, perhaps you should look at our V5 or V22 which are more in line with the simple PCB designs you are referring to.

When it comes to component quality, we use FR4 double-sided fiberglass PCB’s, full steel chassis, oversized transformers, 105 degree e-caps, etc. Rather than making derogatory statements about our overall quality, perhaps you would like to discuss individual components in detail so we make this a more meaningful discussion?

Failure reports stem from an early defective connector, something we fixed 5 years ago. Unfortunately, these things happen in any industry otherwise there wouldn’t be any car recalls or plane groundings over a battery problem. This problem is long gone, we stood up and helped our customers. Based on feedback from our dealers such as Thomann and Guitar Center, we have one of the lowest failure rates in the industry.

This has made it easy to offer a 3-Year Warranty Program on all products. But rather than taking our word for it, please reach out to these retailers and get first-hand information.


Best regards,
Joe Sanborn
Manager, Channel Marketing
MUSIC Group
BUGERA

I own a 1960 Infinium and I am VERY impressed by it. No failures, built just about as well as a recent Fender, and the components are no better or worse than any other commercial brand. BTW I am a certified Electronics technician and have been fixing and building /designing amps since the mid 70's. My only complaint is not having the schematic available. It would make mods/changes much more easier. I changed the V1 cathodes and mixer resistor caps to suit my taste and I am very happy with the sound.

As for copying other amps. The Marshall is a flat out copy of the Fender 5F6-A (1959) bassman. All Fender circuits were originally taken out of the Western Electric circuit guide. So saying Bugera stole their designs is really not a fair statement. Considering how new Bugera is they really have had very few problems early on. They seem to have no issues at all now.

 

[JTyson]

Dear Flux’D,

We see that you just joined the forum, specifically “mentioning” a competitor while criticizing our brand.

Allow us to correct some of your statements.

If you like to compare simple designs and PCB layouts, perhaps you should look at our V5 or V22 which are more in line with the simple PCB designs you are referring to.

When it comes to component quality, we use FR4 double-sided fiberglass PCB’s, full steel chassis, oversized transformers, 105 degree e-caps, etc. Rather than making derogatory statements about our overall quality, perhaps you would like to discuss individual components in detail so we make this a more meaningful discussion?

Failure reports stem from an early defective connector, something we fixed 5 years ago. Unfortunately, these things happen in any industry otherwise there wouldn’t be any car recalls or plane groundings over a battery problem. This problem is long gone, we stood up and helped our customers. Based on feedback from our dealers such as Thomann and Guitar Center, we have one of the lowest failure rates in the industry.

This has made it easy to offer a 3-Year Warranty Program on all products. But rather than taking our word for it, please reach out to these retailers and get first-hand information.


Best regards,
Joe Sanborn
Manager, Channel Marketing
MUSIC Group
BUGERA

I own a 1960 Infinium and I am VERY impressed by it. No failures, built just about as well as a recent Fender, and the components are no better or worse than any other commercial brand. BTW I am a certified Electronics technician and have been fixing and building /designing amps since the mid 70's. My only complaint is not having the schematic available. It would make mods/changes much more easier. I changed the V1 cathodes and mixer resistor caps to suit my taste and I am very happy with the sound.

As for copying other amps. The Marshall is a flat out copy of the Fender 5F6-A (1959) bassman. All Fender circuits were originally taken out of the Western Electric circuit guide. So saying Bugera stole their designs is really not a fair statement. Considering how new Bugera is they really have had very few problems early on. They seem to have no issues at all now.

I know 2 people in the last 4 months who purchased them brand new and both had issues. One of them right out of the box.
All of this "they really dont have any issues" stuff is a myth.
See it as you will, your gonna have an uphill battle convincing this forum there are all of the sudden no problems

 

[Bluplirst]

Awww charveldan....good times.

 

[slaveunit]

Dear Flux’D,

We see that you just joined the forum, specifically “mentioning” a competitor while criticizing our brand.

Allow us to correct some of your statements.

If you like to compare simple designs and PCB layouts, perhaps you should look at our V5 or V22 which are more in line with the simple PCB designs you are referring to.

When it comes to component quality, we use FR4 double-sided fiberglass PCB’s, full steel chassis, oversized transformers, 105 degree e-caps, etc. Rather than making derogatory statements about our overall quality, perhaps you would like to discuss individual components in detail so we make this a more meaningful discussion?

Failure reports stem from an early defective connector, something we fixed 5 years ago. Unfortunately, these things happen in any industry otherwise there wouldn’t be any car recalls or plane groundings over a battery problem. This problem is long gone, we stood up and helped our customers. Based on feedback from our dealers such as Thomann and Guitar Center, we have one of the lowest failure rates in the industry.

This has made it easy to offer a 3-Year Warranty Program on all products. But rather than taking our word for it, please reach out to these retailers and get first-hand information.


Best regards,
Joe Sanborn
Manager, Channel Marketing
MUSIC Group
BUGERA

I own a 1960 Infinium and I am VERY impressed by it. No failures, built just about as well as a recent Fender, and the components are no better or worse than any other commercial brand. BTW I am a certified Electronics technician and have been fixing and building /designing amps since the mid 70's. My only complaint is not having the schematic available. It would make mods/changes much more easier. I changed the V1 cathodes and mixer resistor caps to suit my taste and I am very happy with the sound.

As for copying other amps. The Marshall is a flat out copy of the Fender 5F6-A (1959) bassman. All Fender circuits were originally taken out of the Western Electric circuit guide. So saying Bugera stole their designs is really not a fair statement. Considering how new Bugera is they really have had very few problems early on. They seem to have no issues at all now.

I know 2 people in the last 4 months who purchased them brand new and both had issues. One of them right out of the box.
All of this "they really dont have any issues" stuff is a myth.
See it as you will, your gonna have an uphill battle convincing this forum there are all of the sudden no problems

Assuming they were from the MF.com sale, they weren't brand new amps. They were refurbs. Lots had junk tubes that would take outbthe fuse with it.

 

[Mailman1971]

I know 2 people in the last 4 months who purchased them brand new and both had issues. One of them right out of the box.
All of this "they really dont have any issues" stuff is a myth.
See it as you will, your gonna have an uphill battle convincing this forum there are all of the sudden no problems

Assuming they were from the MF.com sale, they weren't brand new amps. They were refurbs. Lots had junk tubes that would take outbthe fuse with it.[/quote]
I got one of the MF bugera blowout amps. One of the 5150 clones. Mine was brand new. Got it for $250 bucks.
Sounds pretty damn good for that price and have had no problems the little I played it.
But yes...mine still has that "new car" smell.
If someone had it.....they never played it.

 

[slaveunit]

I've bought 3 from the deal. They all smelt new and were new in the outside but ince you open them up there are signs of them being around for a while... Rust... Dust... Etc.

Also keep in mind that Bugera hasn't made non-infinium amps in years. Your production date is probably 1410 or 1412 meaning Nov or Dec of 2014.

Ive gotten all 3 of mine for $135-$150 so Im not complaining at all. But they are refurbs.