Bugera 333xl Head Review
The Bugera line of amps have been out for a while now. I wrote a little overview of the 6262 here. I went to my local Sam Ash and luckily they had a 333xl head in stock. The head was connected to a Bugera 4×12 cabinet.
I’ll start out by saying that the clean channel is what impressed me most about this amp. I started out on the clean channel just to dial in some volume levels and I didn’t expect to spend any time on the clean channel. But to my surprise the clean channnel sounded really great. It was about as clean as a tube amp could get with lots of headroom. It is a very dynamic channel that was a lot of fun to play with.
My next stop was the crunch channel. At the lower settings you can get a classic rock crunch tone like AC/DC. As you increase the gain you move more into an 80’s metal gain. The built in reverb sounds really nice.
The tone controls are active and very responsive. You can really hear a difference just by moving the tone controls a little bit. The lead and crunch channels have an “XL” button. I think it’s Bugeras attempt at a loudness control to make the amp sound fuller at lower volumes. I can’t say I heard that much of a difference with it in or out. I will say that this amp sounds perfectly fine at bedroom volumes though unlike a lot of other tube amps.
Another cool feature of this amp is a noise gate. It works well and the model I tried was pretty quite even with the noise gate turned off.
I really enjoyed the crunch channel and I would probably spend most of my time on it.
My next stop was the lead channel and it has more gain on tap than even I knew what to do with. Let’s just say it is teh br00talz.
Overall I am really impressed by this amp. The clean channel is excellent and the crunch and lead channels deliver in spades. I don’t think I would gig with it if I was a working musician due to an unproven reliability track record. However it is a no brainer for the home musician.
I agree with the review posted here for the most part this amp seems to have a bad wrap all around,I had looked into this amp when I first saw it listed on Ebay on the same day this review was written my Carvin started to show signs of needing tubes but at the same time I looked around and the issues with my Carvin may be more than just tubes.
On January 16th 2009 my amp came I put all of its features through their paces and was not disappointed,one thing that had me wandering was the fact that the spokes person for these amps made the claim that you could not switch the reverb from channel to channel this is not true.
All you have to do is turn the amp on turn the reverb on and switch channels and turn the reverb on in each channel and there you have it,also no one seems to mention that there is a tube BIAS knob built into the amp which is a plus for the tech minded person who like to be able to change their own tube which is a plus feature to me.
As far as its track record well I know of at least one person who has admitted that what happened to his Bugera was likely of his own doing,as far as the issues I’ve read about I can’t speak for or against those people but one has to keep in mind that modern vacume tubes are given a life expectancy of around 1200 hours.
My understanding is that Bugera only warranties their tubes for six months or so I have read with that said no tube is going to last forever thats a fact of the nature of all tube guitar amps for the price I couldn’t go wrong.
ok, I have read enough bullshit…….so this amp seems to blow up?…or lights go out?….or makes funny sounds?….these guitar player reviews are wacky, just watch a couple youtube demos….(in their parents bedrooms!!)…..and…..sounds like they throw the amp in the washer, off a cliff, and expect “miracles”… and then – return to test it out in their parents bedrooms?…….when will a real solid pro guitar player, say like guthrie gowan demos this head and posts it on youtube, I will listen…otherwise shut up and get a life…….as for price. well get with it, why pay $3k for a messa head when you can get this for 1/3……duh?…..tubes last 6mths if yer a pro and play the damn thing every day, its like an oil change for the car dudes….so what?……if ya want an amp that “lasts” cause you paid 3grand, then by all means go buy it and tell your friends your cool…….remember when sony came out with the 1st transiter radios, datsuns, toyota?…..where are they now?….I have had mostly marshalls and messas and to me, they are being challenged by new technology and cheaper labour costs……and the end product is bang for the buck. point made……I bet if hendrix was to play a bugera 333xl he would sound like?…….duh…hendrix!
Well said Jik, Well said!!!! These heads rock. No Issues here.
This is the 23rd amp I have owned in 30 years of playing. I have always loved Marshalls (and still do), having owned a number of their tube amps. But I have to say, this amp sounds better than any amp I have ever played including Marshall, Mesa, Fender, Orange, Peavey, Roland, Traynor, Trace-Elliot, (and many more). The 4 button footswitch is perfect for playing anything and everything. Need a little extra volume or gain? Tap the Effects Loop / Boost switch. No need for a volume pedal. Need to play in the studio or bedroom? Flip on the XL switches (I never turn them off), and this amp has all the tone and harmonics and flavor of any amp at any volume. Try that with a Boogie or a Marshall and it ain’t happening. You have to crank them to auditory damaging levels to get astounding tone like this amp does anywhere from whisper quiet to full blown 120 pentode watts. Not only is this amp the steal of the century, it sounds better than all the rest. I have owned this amp for two years and about a year ago I left it on in standby mode overnight (apparently I am an idiot). When I tried to play through it, the lights were all on, but no sound came out. I checked the tubes and they were not lit up. I pulled the case off and found that the plastic power connector had melted and no power was getting to the output tubes. I took the plastic connector off, soldered the wires directly to the power buss and in less than an hour it was back up and running 100%. A boutique amp probably would not have used a plastic connector, but I can’t blame the amp for the abuse of leaving it on overnight. It was easy to fix and it sounds fantastic. So, if you are a kid that doesn’t understand where money comes from, or you believe a particular brand makes you cooler, or if you don’t know how to tweak tone controls or maintain an amp, then DO NOT BUY THIS AMP! But, if you are looking for an amp that can do it all (and I truly mean that), and want to sound better than everything else that is out there, and need the flexibility to play any style of music – buy this amp yesterday.