Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head

I lot of people gush about this amplifier, so I'm going to focus on some things I learned. For starters, the amplifier is not "all tube." The amplifier uses transistors for the rectifier. That doesn't bother me, but it bothers some. Neither is the audio signal-chain all tube. Per Bugera, the signal from the guitar first hits a transistor op-amp, and then another transistor op-amp, and THEN hits the pre-amp tube. So the pre-amp section is transistor-transistor-tube. Now while most think of a "hybrid" amp as a tube pre-amp & a solid state amplifier, in actuality a hybrid amp mixes tubes with solid state for key functions in the audio signal chain. In the case of this amp, those transistors are in front of the signal instead of behind. I'd argue that makes it worse if you're looking for an actual all-tube amp, because you've got that coloration of the solid-state before you've even hit the tubes. If you put an overdrive in front of this, you'll overdrive those transistors and get the ugly clipping solid-state components are known for. If you don't use an overdrive, those transistors are effectively doing that for you. All tube amps don't do such a thing because it no only alters the tone, but also changes the way the amplifier behaves fundamentally. For some it's a philosophical or religious issue, but not for me. I just like honesty in advertising. Also, the amp isn't "hand-built." It's hand assembled. The components are on a printed circuit board that is machine wave-soldered, & then that board is connected to wires and put in the case by hand. Still, for the money it's pretty good. Just know that you're "all tube amp" isn't, and the tubes you do have add up to 1 12AX7 pre-amp tube and 1 amplifier tube for a total of two tubes. The tone modulation, US to UK is accomplished via utilization of different capacitors. There are two digital processing engines, one for the reverb, one for the speaker cabinet emulation.

The is by far the best sounding "home" amp I have ever used. I run this at the 1 watt setting. Swapped the preamp tube with a Mesa Boogie MB12AX7 and swapped the output tube with a gold plated Electro-Harmonix equivalent. This improved the articulation of all notes in all ranges. It was just fine before the tube swap but this just pushes it over the top a little bit more.

I may Have to retire my Fender super 60,this head through one 12 or 2-12 it really screams and it has a clean side that has just enough distortion to make it really fit my style. It comes with pretty nice pedal for the reverb and the heavy gain side for a nice touch. But it's really 3 amps in one with the switch where you can .1-1-5 watts take your pick. and the headphone jack,it really has a lot of features for and amp at this price point,the only thing is I don't know how it will hold up time will tell?

This is the best value amp head I have every played. I have a few lunchbox style hybrid heads around the same price range and this one stacks up favorably. It is very flexible in terms of possible tones and has a lot of built in features that other budget amps do not. - two foot switchable channels with independent controls is great - built in reverb; the effect can get pretty loud so you'll probably keep the effect volume below 5 most of the time - Infinium tube life and auto biasing technology help to demystify tube amp maintenance - The power attenuation is a nice feature, although it seems that you get a little less distortion on the lower power settings. I keep mine set at 5 W as I play mostly metal. At 5 W it is plenty loud, my distortion master volume is usually around 3 when practicing and recording. - While it is not a monster of high gain like some more famous amp heads it has enough to get the job done, even for really high gain metal stuff. You might have to crank the gain to 10, but you'll get there. - The Morph EQ is brilliant. The USA sound has the punchy midrange, while sweeping to the UK side provides a more scooped sound with more low end growl. This is the knob I end up sweeping the most while trying to dial in different sounds, and the range is impressive. There are only a couple of downsides to report. At a maximum power of 5 W it is plenty loud enough for bedroom and home studio recording. I don't think it is a great choice for a rehearsal space or small gig with no PA system. This isn't a common use case for a lot of today's guitarists, so no big deal. - The modeled speaker output sounds much worse than playing through an actual speaker, but that holds true for almost every simulated speaker output on an amp head I've heard. You're better off using the FX send into your audio interface and using an IR loader anyways.

Great look and good sound. The only thing is guitar center does not have the 12bh7 power tube. The look is outstanding.

Versatile low wattage amp with attenuator, effects loop. Gets kind of fizzy when dimed with full treble, gets better with the treble set around 12:00. 5 watts is plenty loud for home practice. 1 watt setting is nice. 0.1 watt setting loses some tone, but is good enough for learning/writing songs. Loads of overdrive.