Bugera G5 INFINIUM 5-Watt Class-A Tube Amplifier Head with INFINIUM Tube Life Multiplier, MORPH EQ, Reverb and Power Attenuator

I wanted a cheaper tube amp for practicing and I researched all I could find under $500. I played the ones I could find in the local guitar store including the Blackstar HT-5R, Egnator Tweaker, Marshall DSL15C, VOX NT15H-G2 and the Bugera V22 (mellower version of G5). I couldn't actually find the G5 to play but based on the Youtube demos and the V22 sound I decided to go for it.I'm not disappointed. This is truly an excellent amp for the money. I bought the Bugera 112TS speaker with it.The drive channel has a nice progressive gain from light crunch to a good hard rock rhythm overdrive. The distortion has the gain structure I like -- not too fuzzy or dirty, but a more meaty and refined sound. The drive channel won't do death metal or anything really over-the-top distorted but is driven enough with humbuckers to play stuff like AC/DC, Rush, Zeppelin, etc. The tone is somewhat Marshal-ish. The tone controls are progressive and useful and the morph control adds some more variation.The clean channel has a nice sound to it. It won't win any "sparkle" awards like a high end Fender but it is acceptable.The reverb is mediocre, but what do you expect for $250. I put my Arena reverb pedal and a Vox Delay Lab in the effects loop and they work great.The output wattage control is awesome for practicing at night and reducing output volume.Note that this amp has a very similar configuration to the Blackstar HT-5 and some people accuse Bugera of copy-catting. Indeed the tubes and controls are the same as the Blackstar but the sound is different. The Blackstar has a more grungy and abrasive distortion and is better for metal in my opinion. I actually prefer the sound of the Bugera for the music I play but the Blackstar seems like a nice amp too.Also the Marshall SDL15 sounds pretty nice but has a 10" speaker in the combo and didn't sound as punchy and dynamic. It seems like the amount of distortion/OD produced by both amps are similar -- they aren't heavy metal machines but play classic rock well. I did prefer the clean channel on the Marshall though -- it had a really great sparkle and dynamics to it. The Marshall was more pricey so I went with the Bugera.

I returned it, not because it's a bad amp it just doesn't have the tone I'm looking for straight from the overdrive channel. I don't think any amp does. I've tried 4 or 5 tube and non tube including the 6505 they all sound the same, I don't know how to describe it but it's not the metal tone I want. I use a Spark 2 into the clean channel of the amps I own and so far that's the only way I can get a good metal tone. Oh well

We had a Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue, but we also live in an apartment building. Our neighbors weren't fans of that 40w Class A output. They don't appreciate good tube tone I suppose! We also have an Orange Micro Terror that works for headphone playing, but isn't loud enough with clean tone, and (again) gets too loud when you crank the gain... it's kind of a one-trick pony for crunchy classic rock... so we bought the Bugera G5!The G5 solves the loudness issue (thanks to its built in power attenuator with 5w, 1w, and 0.1w settings), without sacrificing (much) tone as compared to the Fender amp 3-4 times its price. Compared to anything else reasonably similar in cost, STOP THINKING ABOUT IT. Buy it. It has clean clean tone that will get proper classic rock tube crunch using an Dunlop/Echoplex EP101. It has reverb. It has an effects loop. It has 2 channels. It has EQ for the high gain channel, and a fun control to go between the US/UK presence 'feel'. It also comes with a sturdy stomp box foot switch for channel switching and reverb on/off (would have liked a 1/4" jack on the stomp box to use a shorter cable/replace worn cable without soldering, but again - that it comes with a foot switch at all is great at this price point).Things that remain to be seen: Tube life - the 'Infinium Technology' seems like it's just an auto-bias and some marketing bollocks, but it's a nice feature down the road for tube replacement without a tech doing it. Tube fixtures - the tube socket is attached to the circuit board... I'd be gentle when pulling old tubes or inserting new ones. Power socket isn't snug with the included AC plug, and flexes with a plug in the socket. Not an issue if you're an at home player like me, but it's not as solid a fixture on the back of the amp as other electronics I own. For now, no issues with any of these things, but things to consider. It's a hand-wired tube amp for about 200ish and it sounds and looks the part.Pair it with a responsive speaker cab and you can keep up with a drum kit at moderate volumes. It sounds wonderful through an Orange PPC112 1x12! Great for jazz and classic rock right out of the box, for serious metal add a fuzz pedal.

Awesome tube amp. Love the reverb and gain. The flexibility of changing from 5w to 1w to .1w works great for home use.