Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

Personally I think this is the best bang for you buck amp you could buy. It has a lot of really cool features you don't get on other more expensive amps. For example, switching from 5watts to 1 to .1watts is neat because you can put it at .1 watts and hear real tube breakup distortion at bedroom levels. Even at 5 watts you can crank it, get natural distortion and not bring the house down. If distortion is your thing, the drive channel is great! The morph feature between British and US rock gives you tonal options you don't get with most amps. You can plug into a 8ohm or 16 ohm cab, it has an effects loop, a foot switch, and the reverb was way better than I anticipated. The clean channel sounds very good. the only thing this amp doesn't have is a lot of headroom, but it's 5watts what do you expect. And for home use you really don't need that much headroom. And then there's the price. MF sent me a 20% off coupon that I used to buy this amp so I paid 199 no tax and free shipping! And, it was on back order and I still received it a week before they were supposed to ship. I had a Vox ac5 that I paid 325 for and this thing is such a better amp I can't even begin to tell you. I have a fender blues deluxe that I love, but it really only does cleans well, with a lot of headroom. you could say it's a 1 trick pony for 800 new, but it's a nice trick. Also had a Bugera v22 I couldn't wait to get rid of for 350 new. Bottom line, this amp is the best purchase in terms of value I think I have ever made. It has more features and options than all the amps I mentioned and believe me it really does sound great. But this amp and you won't be disappointed.

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

I am an experienced guitarist/home recordist that was looking for a low watt amp to do some bedroom playing and recording. There were a couple pre-requisites for my purchase...one being price. I needed best value for money and to spend less than half a grand. Also wanted an amp of 5 watts or less.

After seeing some of the NAMM footage of this amp last year I put it in the back of my mind but tended to do as many others would and think it would be less than adequate since it bears relation to Behringer. Boy was I surprised.

I took a shot with this amp after being dissatisfied with the Orange Micro Terror and Hughes & Kettner Tubmeister 5 and purchased the G5 Infinium.

This little amp does anything I could possibly want out of a small amplifier and the attenuator is very well executed.

Shared EQ, Reverb, & "Morph" controls for lead and clean channel, gain and volume for lead, and tone and volume for clean. The tone knob is much like a tone knob on a les paul. The clean channel will break up a bit (in the good kind of way) with higher output pickups and the good ole volume knob.

Reverb is digital. It is ok for a short tail sounds, but for anything other than a tad of thicknes I would much prefer a pedal here. Just not crazy about the digital reverb on this unit.

About the "Morph" control...this isn't anything new in the amp world, but it does work decently well here. Rolling to the left or to USA will yeild more modern American 5150-ish type sounds while rolling to the right will get more Marshall-ish. Don't be fooled -- this isn't a 5150, a Triple Rec, or a JCM800...its just styled in their vein.

The footswitch with this amp is the only other thing I am not crazy about. It seems to be well built, but just doesn't have the feel that I like in a footswitch. It controls channel selection and reverb. Just feels a little...behringer. The connector is a 1/4" insert so who knows, maybe another basic 2 button switch will do the job if this one fails.

The back of the amp has an effects loop that I haven't tried yet, a power attenuator for 5watts, 1 watt, or .1 watt (awesome!). It does the job extremely well and I look being able to crank this thing in my bedroom for tone. There is a direct out with speaker cabinet emulation on the back as well. The idea here is to use for recording or monitoring with headphones. It would work for recording I suppose, but with the ability to mic a speaker I double I will use this feature.

This amp will stay in my bedroom studio and is played through an open back 2x12 cabinet. I have a les paul with some amazing fastback beard comber pickups (shoutout!), a les paul hollowbody, a tele custom with P90's, a tele thinline with stock humbuckers, and a PRS SE Custom 24 with stock humbuckers. Every guitar loves this amp in my bedroom -- although the P90's can get a little gnarly buzzy. I am continually pleased with the sound that comes out of the overdrive channel with my Les Paul. It gets down right mean with great low end heavy guitar.

Would I travel or gig this amp? Not likely..that isn't its purpose. Has this amp surprised me in nearly every way? Yes. For the money this thing is amazing. There is a great balance of technology and tube tone here. It looks pretty good, definitely sounds good, and has made a great addition to my home.

If you are looking at this review and arent sold...you're missing out.

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

this amp has some very nice features....2 channels...reverb...effects loop...5 watt...1 watt or .1 watt options....very versatile....i bought this amp primarily to use at my bands rehearsal....in order to "save" the tubes on my main gigging amp...which is a Marshall DSL15H....this amp holds up well...you'd think that a 5 watt amp would struggle, and if there were a 2nd guitar player in my band it probably would....frankly, i don't see the need to rehearse at high volumes, and this little amp keeps up with the drummer, bass player and the lead singer...at rehearsal .i do find the need at times to use a boost pedal for leads on the clean channel, which works out just fine....i haven't gigged with this amp yet, but i will.....we mic everything through the PA anyway, and there's really no need to have super loud stage volume.

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

I've always liked Bugera and I feel they offer incredible value. Yes, I've had my issues with their earlier stuff but that can happen with any new line of product.

Ok, enough of that.

This head offers such an amazing degree of versatility and tone. It can be used as a direct setup for worship stages or places where you need to plug into a PA. It also has a good amount of volume through one of my custom 112 cabs.

The gain channel goes from "hairy breakup" at the lowest setting to 80's metal (or modern metal depending upon how you tweak the EQ). But that drive channel! Man what an awesome tone.

The cleans are very nice and take drive and OD pedals very well. Not a ton of volume on tap on the clean side but still relatively loud. However, throwing an OD in front of the clean channel that's being pushed a little will get you into perfect classic territory.

The effects loop is perfect. The reverb is actually quite good and the attenuator is fantastic. As well, the direct recording out is simply amazing. I recorded a couple of samples where it shows the amp's clean and heavy tones. Not seeing anywhere to include those but just search "Faraldi Bugera" on YT. (editors, hopefully you won't flag that). :)

Seriously guys, this is an awesome amp.

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

I just picked this up today and I'm already loving it. It's my first all-tube amp; I'm having a blast coaxing all sorts of sounds out of this guy. The cleans are clear and sparkly; the dirty channel can go from soft overdrive to high-gain. I really like the reverb, it sounds very organic and adds some nice flavor to the overall tone. I run mine through a 212V-BK and get tons of headroom. I really like the ability to swith the wattage and the db boost is nice too.

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

Went out physically shopping for a 'lunchbox' amp and test drove many but was not able to find one of these to try first. I took a chance and figured I would send it back if it was 'too cheap' feeling..

Then it came.. It was a bit bigger than I expected and lo and behold, unlike all the cheap plastic toy-like feel (like the H@k Tubemeister 5) of the other amps I tried, this one was an 'amp'. Kind of faux leather padded but built like a tank. So right away the build stood out as 'better' than just about any other small amp I tried out there.

This amp has an FX loop.. Something that is HARD to find on a lunchbox amp.. and oh soooo nice to have. I've got just a hint of delay at about 420 ms running through the loop and it adds that perfect touch sustaining ambiance. Normally I run delay AND verb through the FX loop, but I started fooling with the on-board digital reverb in this amp, and found it sounded as fine as anything I was running through it on top. Seems to be right about 10 o clock is it's best transparent setting.

The EQ section.. Yet another thing that is hard to find in a lunchbox amp. Many have NO eq knob, others have ONE.. This has a perfectly functioning Treble/mid/bass that each sweep in and out very usable frequencies. A very 'musical' eq section.

The morph control is mostly nonsense.. Consider it another tone control that kind of sweeps all tones nuanced from high to low (right to left). You will find you like one side or the other, and likely just leave it there. It is useful perhaps, but nothing to write home about.

The tube monitoring.. Never heard of such a thing (self bias is nothing new to me, but the tube wear indicator if it works, is a nice touch). If it works, I am all down for it. The pre amp tube is 12ax7 (don't let the ECC83 fool ya, it's 12ax7) BUT that 12BH7 there is only one modern manufacturer of.

The template says I am out of words.... Volume is Loud, attenuation works great. Line out AND monitor at the same time nice.

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

This little Bugera G5 is a GREAT AMP head. I love it! If it were stolen, or lost in a fire...I would replace it in a heartbeat. Cleans are clean and organic...it's amazing! The Gain Channel: It's ALL Enjoyable and REAL...NOT Fake and muddy! Pic attack crunches out nicely.....when you want it! Guitar volume control lets you crunch it up as you roll into it. The price point is unbeatable! Don't hesitate on this one. You will not be sorry if you love great tone in a responsive amp. AND, this is man cave friendly. You can play the way you want to get your TONE and not annoy the family.

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

I have several tube and solid state amps from 15W to 100W. I needed something to play for practice with very high quality sound. This is an Amazing little amp with headphones or speaker cab. I use a Blackstar 10" 10-30 speaker cab 16 ohm, with it and find it wonderful. NO Problems so far. I tested it thoroughly and it's perfect for anybody wanting a low powered amp. Much better tone than I expected.

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

I agree with all the positives listed from other reviews I've read. The reason I wanted to review this amp is to explain its longevity. I've owned many of Bugera's amps and many of them had a fault within a few months: Tri-rec, 333, 333xl, 6260, 6262, 1990, and 1960-all of these large heads had some type of issue within a short amount of time.
I have owned my G5 since it was released for over 2 years now and have not had one single problem with it. I don't play out, but I play at home 2-5 times a week anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours at a time. This amp does not disappoint. It is my go to amp and would replace it first thing if lost or stolen.
Also I would recommend a EH-Electro Harmonix 12ax7 in this amp if you lean towards metal.

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

This is the best small amp I've ever owned! It sounds great on the clean and the dirty channels and with the attenuator you can go from fairly loud to bedroom quiet. Awesome for practice and recording!

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

I was in the market for a lunch box and finally settled on this, given the strength of samples I heard online. My aim was to fit a small practice amp to a 10" Celestion in a closed back monitor cabinet, under my computer table. To this I am running a FAB Delay thru the effects loop.I own a lot of guitars and never expected that this amp would respond as well to such a wide spectrum of instruments. To my astonishment a PRS Torero sounds as alive on the gain channel as a Telecaster sounds on the clean channel. The G5 in my opinion, might be better described as a boutique amp than a practice amp. In any case, this Bugera INFINIUM is a beautiful thing.

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

Play at home musician

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

Great sound

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

I was impressed with the build quality of the G5. The attenuator is very handy for home use. The reverb is SS, but wonderful. I wanted a Marshall tone at home use volume, and this delivers. It also gets to metal territory if that is your taste. I really am having a hard time coming up with negatives for the G5. Of course the effects would be the next phase, but the reverb is so good, I don't miss effects.

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

Amazing little guy got the price

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

After doing a quick look through the owners manual last week, I realize it's been over a year since I first bought it.I only have time on the weekends to play, so it took me a while to really become familiar with it. At first I was unimpressed, and it did take me a couple of months to finally realize what the problem was. At first I usually stayed in the 100 milli-watt setting, occasionally going to the one watt setting. The low power was something different to use. The treble goes through leaving no bass and very little mid-range to hear. After a while I finally realized that it sounded better at one watt, and eventually discovered that in the five watt setting, it covers it all for tone!
The clean channel is shiny, squeaky clean. I do plan on trying an acoustic on it later this spring, feeling the cleanness of the sound will work good for that. The driven channel can easily go from mild to wild, with the US/UK accent being adjustable, covering many venues.

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

This is a great amp head for home use! I almost did not buy it because I have the V5 combo that sounds terrible. I am glad I did because this G5 head is nothing like the combo. It has more suited tubes, EQ, and effects loop and a gain channel. The V5 sounds like a toy in comparison. I run it though the same Ibanez cab with the 12 inch Seventy 80 speaker and there is no comparison. I picked the Seventy 80 to brighten it up a little and can get great cleans and good distortion on the gain channel. I can get a good sound at .1 watt, but now use a volume pedal in the effects loop and run it at 5 watts and love it. I can play at low volume either clean or with gain and still get the sound I want. I also put a Blues driver in front of the clean and love all of the options of clean, crunch and high gain. A very good inexpensive low watt 'tube' amp head for home use.

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

a great amp for live performance with a solo, duo, & 3 pc, acoustic act. I switch off from acoustic to electric guitar and it works out great! Also small clubs inside is Highly recommended! Always good to mic it through your PA Systems to.

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

This amp is great. It has good reverb, great distortion/overdrive. No expensive finicky power tubes to replace. Plenty of power for home use, even garage band level. I sent mine back only because my first amp, a Mesaboogie 50/50 is even better and I had never played on another amp before. However, I have to use an overdrive pedal on the Mesaboogie unless I crank the volume (and then I have to go well OUTSIDE the room so I don't harm my hearing). Then the Mesa has superfantastic overdrive, but I can only use it when my family is gone and the dog is outside and the neighbor's windows are shut. The low volume is great too. I don't think you can replace the high or even low volume performance of big 6L6 type power tubes with any smaller tube, but the G5 would be the next best thing, and if I did not have the Mesa I would have definitely kept it. This would be an EXCELLENT amp for all but the most serious garage band musicians.

Comments about Bugera G5 5W Tube Guitar Amp Head:

Very nice clean amp channel not much of a distortion channel I run a friedman od be pedal into the clean channel and it broght it to life but a very good bedroom amp,head