Right of Passage
I know I said I'd have a Bugera V22 review online last week, but I didn't get round to it. However that's because I needed to replace a power valve I accidentally broke (because I'm a clumsy idiot).
Anyway I have now replaced the power valves in the amp - EL84s in this case - and rebiased the amp. This is something of a right of passage for me as I've never done this before. But with my multimeter in hand it actually took moments and was no harder than changing a lightbulb.
The amp now has Electro Harmonix 12AX7 tubes in V1 and V2. There's a Groove Tubes 5751 in the phase inverter and a pair of matching Electro Harmonix EL84 tubes in the power section.
I've yet to play the amp at any volume (my baby son is asleep ten feet away from the amp) but one thing I've noticed already is the hum the amp always had in triode mode (half power) has now gone. The hum was always said to be a feature of the Bugera V22 in the half power mode - but it seems with the right tubes it'll go away.
Anyway, more testing ahead over the next few days then I promise I will actually finish my review.
| Print article | This entry was posted by Harry on 12/05/10 at 14:16 . Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. |
26/05/10 @ 17:36
I have two of the V22s, but getting two has been a real challenge. First off, let me say I absolutely love the tone generated by these amps. I had a VOX AC30 I sold with the purpose of getting two amps to use at guitar shows to demo our guitars. That being said, these amps sound amazing (even ignoring the $350 US price). My problem has been quality control. The first one, which I have had for a month was DOA, however, it was a bad tube replaced by the dealer - no issues since. The second one had something loose that caused it to rattle when hitting a low E on the clean channel. I returned it to Guitar Center and got another. Much to my dismay, I unpacked it and when turning it on found the same vibration on the low E, only worse. I am returning it today for my third attempt at a second V22. It seems the quality control is lacking...at least in my case. But they do sound great.
26/05/10 @ 18:07
Thanks for the comment. I bet the rattle is something as simple as a loose cabinet screw. Well worth just tightening all the screws on the box. Or it could be a tube that's become slightly loose in transit.