I have the Bugera v22 and Love it. No problems with switches, switching or anything. The only thing I did was change the stock tubes for groove tubes. had it for 3 yrs now and I like it better than my Fender DRI.
Just came across this video and it's interesting as the Bugera I've tested have felt lacking. So many variables at play including our own respective listening environments and what we all hear tonally.
I was going to pick up a used Jet City this weekend at my local guitar store, but this video sold me on the Bugera and now I'm on the hunt for that one instead. Good stuff, thanks man.
Damn, over 47 thousand views! You do make good points though about the dynamics of the amp. I liked that you started with clean and emphasized how the clean take defines the amp. Bugera seems to make rather impressive sounding amps.
Punch the boost button on the Bugera when you compare high gain and see if they don't get closer. It will boost the mids and give a more Marshallesque sound.
Thanks for the great review I just may pick up that Bugera based on your review. SD hotrails pickup in the bridge? I put one in a stock 2008 USA strat and happy with it but need a better wiring scheme. Trying to quiet down the rest of the guitar and thinking I need a series / parallel switch. Any suggestions? Thanks
I appreciate you taking the time to set this up as best you could, especially as I was recently considering a V22. (Went Blues Junior for better build quality and real reverb.) We can't see the settings on the Jet City at all. Be nice to see a shot of them for true comparisons sake.
I'd like to have heard you run the midrange boost on the V22 against the Jet, it would have punched up the mids on that strat. Good review though, I tried a lot of EL84 combos, owned several, and I've now had a V22 for 2.5 years and I'll never look back.
Really good demo,i have v22 and i changed speaker,put in Celestion Rocket 50,much improvement have to tell.Both amps are great,in price range.Keep on with good stuff and rock on !!!
I have the bugera 22hd head with the bugera turbosound close cab 12” speaker and it sounds a lot bigger, more bass and tighter. The bugera turbosound speaker on a close cab makes a big difference on the sound.
I purchased an eminence governor speaker for my soldano (it slots right in), to get a bit more headroom. It is a higher efficiency speaker. The old one was nice, but wanted more clean headroom. let me tell you. Absolutely worth doing. As well as havibg more headroom, this combo now SNARLS, but is alo very fluid. Also almost sounds like a 2x12 in terms of spacial sound. it is odd. Def check out these amps, and have a look at he replacement speakers eminence do (there are a few, but suggest getting on of the higher DB rated ones, I think that the governor is maybe 104/105 db)
Only thing I wish you would have done was use an external cabinet/speaker combination so we could hear the amp differences and not the combo difference. But man. Great quality comparison!
Had the Jet City and was really happy with it until I got the V22! The EQ and Presence knobs are way more effective on the V22 + a real Clean Channel and a reverb. Sold the Jet City Couple days later.....
Hey, I really like this review. I have a couple quick questions. If you turn down the treble and turn up the bass and mids on the Bugera, can it pull off a Marshall-esque sound? Likewise, would scooping the mids and turning up the treble on the Jet City make it more Fendery? Lastly, can the Jet City pull off a scooped mids tone? I'm not talking about metal, I'm talking about clean scooped tones like Hendrix Little Wing or all cleans in Pink Floyd?
Bugera much cleaner and less muddy than the Jet City, Bugera more "cuppy" or "middy" and can hear individual harmonics and details on the Bugera. Both are nice but Bugera sounds much better in this instance.
Nice demo thanks, I've been thinking of buying a Bugera I think that has made up my mind it looks cool too even so sound is subjective for some people the Jet City would be preferable. Using a Marshall Haze at the moment it has a great almost Fender like sound on the clean channel and for me sounds better than my (double the price) TSL. the only problem is they are just too loud when you get up to the sweet spot hoping cutting down to the V22 will help.
My JC combo is older and has the toggle switches. Sounds great with my telecaster for overdriven blues tones with gain at 4, bass at noon, middle 11:00, treble 11:00, presence off. Dig in and it is driven, pick lightly and it sparkles gritty
The Bugera cleaned it's clock on the "Cleans" and I thought sounded clearer but less gain on the dirty sounds. I'm assuming you had them set up with Eq and gain settings so that all things were equal on the gain channel comparisons. I'd like to see how the Jet City would do with some EQ changing to get it to sound like the Bugera, and I'd like to see how much "more" if at all the Jet City has in gain compared to the Bugera. .. I'm looking at both of these amps and saw a review on the Bugera, then saw this Video. I thank you so much. Do either have an effects loop? Do either have the ability to cut down the power tubes so that you can get high gain at lower volumes I'm wondering? I need something to record with and gig with that can keep up with a loud drummer if need be in small to medium size clubs. Plan on gigging a little this Fall and Winter. Thanks man.. Tim
Zillogism That's the point, no? Any decent guitarist can make almost any amp sound good. If you have different settings on the amps then you're comparing apples to oranges.
I know this is kinda knit picky, but being open back amps, the Bugera would have a slight advantage being in the corner, I have done this myself, and being in the corner does make a difference. I thought the bugera sounded really good, like you said having one of these back in the late 60's early 70's would have been great. I had the twin 12 tube Silvertone, that failed, so under warranty I got the solid state version as a replacement, and could nothing about it.
The Bugera lets you change wattage (something you can't do on the Jet City) and I think the the Bugera sounds soooo much better!!!! The Jet City is more of a metal amp the Bugera cleans sound way better than the Jet City. IMO Buger is the Better of the two HANDS DOWN
I do like the mid bite of the jet city but here is the thing about that. Get that up to volume in a live band mix (not using house PA) and it gets kinda “awkward” it reminds me of the old school peavey tones that for whatever reason would just stick out like sore thumb when in a loud mix. I am not sure if it’s a headroom issue or just a funky midrange thing but I would definitely recommend the bugera of the two. It may not sound like it’s putting out the dirt of the jet city but it is way smoother and balance you can put that up in the mix and it will still keep its shit together and yes you bet a 20watt tube can play a live show in a decent sized venue. Certainly not an arena or stadium but in a ball room or a mid sized hall 20 watts of tube amp can do it particularly if you have an ext cab.
I like single channel amps better using the volume control on my guitar to get my clean tone and the Jet City does that very well. A lot of expensive Suhr amps are also single channel for this reason.
angusgrandison: Actually, the bridge pickup is a Seymour Duncan Hotrails humbucker (Sounds like a classic 59), also, with that strat, in addition to the texas special, I also have a Seymour Duncan mini-humbucker available in the neck position, but don't use it much However, all the high-gain stuff you heard was the Duncan hot-rails.
great demo thank man was on craiglist looking for a small low watt combo to move around, i got a 212 mesa cab with head, pain in the ass for just quik practices. bugera cleans way better gain good to, the jet city's low end gain sound better to me though. but the 2 channels on bugera makes me want it. dude on craigslist said jet cit's mine for 220, cant beat that.. thanks for the video great demo great playing
i see bright and thin is what is prefered here , a tele would make it more ice picky if you have some new jensen speakers , but ice picky is best in a transistor like the roland 160 chorus
My Jet City has never sounded as muffled and lifeless as the one in this video. Nevertheless I thought the Bugera sounded much better in this video. I was able to pick up the Bugera used for under 200 bucks and sold it to my dad after 2 weeks because it lacked bottom end and when I cranked the gain it sounded shrill. It definitely worked much better with single coils than the Jet City, so I think thats why this video made the Bugera sound so much better. I know this is an old video but if you stumble upon it and are considering which amp to buy, if your main guitar has single coil pickups, buy the Bugera. If humbucker buy the Jet City. My only complaint with my Jet City is the reverb is non existent. You have to try and hear it when its on 9. I've heard swapping out tubes and upgrading the cable fixes it. I just bought a reverb pedal.
Sounds like the jet city has a eminence texas heat or a scooped speaker of similar nature,which gives it a vox AC30 type of tone..the bugera sounds just like a fender special design speaker(jenson) which is very bright in nature...its really apples vs oranges..but a good review...
Oh yeah I'm looking real hard at that Bugera V 22 ... I think that's the one ... or the 50 ??? Not a day goes by where I don't kick myself for getting rid of all my old tube amps ... damn ... great demo ,,, just the facts ma'am .., D
Are you using a microphone for both? 'cause i don't see any microphone for the Jet City. Also their volume levels are drastically different, and It sounds like the Bugera is the only one with a mic.
The Jet City has more bottom end and fuller sounding. If you want brighter the Bugera is your amp if you want a beefier tone, Jet City is better. I play alone a lot so I prefer the Jet City.
I don't think either one of them are miced. Rather, maybe the mic he's speaking into is picking up the Bugera's sound. He also said at the beginning of the video that he tried to match their volumes using the cameras decibel controls. Just giving clarity to ya!
if you want clean sound by a transistor amp , its cheaper , roland cube , is a good choise if you want clean , the more clean you want the better is a transistor
Try turning the Jet City's Presence, and Treble up. No two amps have the same tone controls. If you set them both to say 12:00, it's not a fair fight. That being said, I own a JCA2212C, JCA22H, and a Custom 22. The Custom has gobs of clean headroom, and flip up the bright switch, and it bleeds Fender tone. I have owned a bunch of amps in my 45 years of playing. Fender Pro Reverb, Dual Showman (hate myself for letting it go), a Fender Stereo Chorus, a Marshall JCM 900 w/1960a cabinet, and many more. I'm down to a Hot Rod D'Ville 2X12, Super Champ XD, 70s Champ, Peavey Classic 30, Peavey Prowler, Marshall Valve State combo, Acoustic 450 (check that out) and the Jet City amps. No guitard (stole that from a RU-vidr) will ever be able to get the perfect tone, and to prove my point, just RU-vid rig rundowns for different tours. In my opinion, Jet City gives me the best bang for the buck, hands down. Through my Jet City years, I've had questions, and called a number Musician's Friend gave me, and Doug White answered. He is the CEO of Jet City , and he made time to talk to me, while rubbing elbows with Mike Saldano! Try contacting any other CEO, and see how far you get. I mean no disrespect, and I appreciate your time and effort in comparing the amps for us. Thanks!
stock tubes and speakers in both amps? store i teach at deals jetcity so i scooped the 50 watt combo cuz it was available but i was only tolerant of it's cleans. people say it gets a lot better with a retube and a speaker swap
So the Jet City is louder, has more bottom end (bass). The Bugera is cleaner/crisper and has more treble. Both are about 90% attributable to the larger cabinet of the Jet City. I noticed the same (but even more pronounded) when playing my Jet City JCA2112 side by side with a Laney Cub 12. The Jet City cabinet being about 25% larger than the Bugera and about 50% larger than the Laney Cub could have a lot to do with the sound. Also, you can swap in an AT7 into the preamp of the Jet City and get that Fender-ish clean tone, but you lose a bit of overdrive. It will still handle classic rock, but you will need either a pedal or swap back to the AX7 if you want to start getting into metal territory.
V22 sounds much more boutique sounding forsure.... has an amazing clean channel with light blues breakup when cranked and reacts to the guitar tone.. It seems very bright and brilliants... Jet city has its own sounds and seems more like a JCM800 sounding circuit... two definately differant amps with differant purpose.
There is difference in the two amps by way of the mids of both amps. the bugera sounds fuller and less direct. The jet city in my hearing, has a specific tone area without being fat.
I would totally get the bugera but i have heard people say it has a problem with the reverb channel switching on and off due to a heat problem. Is it worth getting it and fixing it even though I honestly am not completely comfortable with that sort of thing?
Don't worry. I have played mine into the ground and they seem to be ok. I play my V55 and V22 on almost full volume on the clean channel and use tons of reverb and no issues after 3 years.
Ive had my V22 for a year now and have had no issues with heat or my reverb. This is simply the best budget tube amp on the market. It has a phenomenal clean channel so it takes pedals well, but the dirt channel isnt terrible. Reminds me of a vox top boost OD..This amp has opened my eyes up to their other amps. I hope they are all as good as the V22.
The problem WAS fixed by Bugera after it became apparent. The early amps with the issues had a blue jewel lamp for the power indicator. It seems they switched to an orange jewel at or around the time of the fix. Buying a small heat sink on line or @ RadioShack for about five bucks and adhering it to the reverb unit (check google for the step by step instructions) seems to be the correct and cheap way to fix the problem yourself if you find a screaming deal on an older V22. I'm guessing the small fan would work in a pinch too. hope this helped.
My V5 has this issue but I have the model before the infinium tech. There is an overheating issue with one of the electrical components that I confirmed with a commercial - grade IR camera. I installed a $2 heat sink with some thermal paste and it solved the problem. Amp tone is killer otherwise. I prefer a reverb pedal.
I just bought a JCA2112RC for 160 bucks used in very good overall condition. By far the best amp I've owned, it's my first tube amp and it awesome, it sounds so natural and not fuzzy and cheap like many people are saying on the internet. I get awesome sounds at very low volume and it works great with pedals too bad I don't have my Zoom G2NU anymore. I'll get something like a Vox Stomplab or something. I use a Les Paul with this thing and I couldn't be happier, I officially am a Tube guy from now on, I never understood all this dispute going on about Tube and SS amps, now I understand.
Thanks for showing the difference in these two amps... I would say though, please work on your vibrato. It kind of sounds like a weasel after it's had it's tail stepped on.
I think the reverb on the Bugera doesn't deserve a "whoa!!!" at all. But for the overall comparison it's a great video. By the way, is it true that the Bugera amplifier is built in Germany?? That could explain a lot, or nothing at all. Germans really make quality stuff.
I mean if you didn't own an amp the Jet City is ok but the Bugera spanks it a bit just because its getting more bite. Though if you rolled the highs on the Bugera would it start to sound like the Jet City? Perhaps thats not so if the inherit tonality of each amp might be totally different hmmm.
How can I tame the brightness of my new V22 infinium? I have to put bass at full, mid 3/4 and treble at 1/4, can't use presence. I'm changing my tele bridge to an Alnico 3 broadcaster also. The gain sounds fizzy to on the top end which I hate. Looking for that bottom end growl? Help! :(.
Thanks for the reply Eduardo!! I actually changed the lightweight hunk-of-junk "Turbosound" (shame on turbosound for putting their name on it) speaker for an Eminence Swamp thang and replaced the crappy stock bugera el84's with Electroharmonix (also got some russian NOS tubes that sound even better). It actually sounds great now, heaps beefier and louder overall and the drive channel is nicer than my marshal JH pedal. Much happier!!. Also the mid boost button made the previous problem heaps worse, it also effects both channels at once :).
wow sorry to hear you went through all that but I hope you are much happier with your new sound. I have two v22 and I run them in stereo. I love my sound. I agree about the tubes I will get around to change them but I thought the speakers sounded good specially after a break in period.
Bugera has that twang and honk that gives it character.. the Jet City sounds contained like the notes aren't fully blooming.. jmo. I've heard other demos where the JC20 sounds better, at least distorted.
I own the bugera v22, it seems like i spend my life trying to tame its harshness. when you get a handle on the controls and it's turned up i think it beats the jet city. just something about it. you can even hear it on this demo, jet city sounds flat and bugera sounds more round or 3d. The bugera's brightness is part of the secret to its complex sound as much as i hate to admit it...
I totally agree. The tones the V22 produces are very nice, but it is too bright and lacks that nice thick bottom end that a Fender Bassbreaker would have. Have you found a solution to this (ex: using FX pedal, new tubes, new speaker, etc)? Thanks.
@ArizonaMMJ ... They are very different amps!! Pro jr is a real one trick pony ... And it is terribly limited by its way too small cabinet. I had a pro jr, and I spent years trying different speakers and circuit mods before finally just selling it. The v22 ain't going anywhere.
I never know what to make of these amps. Opinions seem to go from one extreme to the other. You'll see a whole bunch of people say what a great amp it is and that they've never had any issues with them, then someone else saying that they work in a music store claiming that every one they sell comes back to them with issues and that they're total garbage.
Its better in my opinion to have a real bright amp, there are many ways to kill the tone, you could probably make that Bugera Sound like a Jet City presence wise..
Wow! the Bugera just hosed the Jet city from a great height! The JC just sounds like a big bucket of mud! The upper mids are non existent and even a cheap amp like the Bugera just sounds way more open! I couldn't record that Jet City, it wouldn't cut through a mix
I repair build & mod amps and if you looked inside the two you wouldn't give the Bugera a second look. Jet City build quality is WAY better. Better tha a lot of U.S. made amps. Tone I think is just a matter of preference.
th Jet City but in this demo I must admit the jangle of the Bugera blows the jet city away. That said my Jet City seems a bit more chimey then this one, maybe its the way my eq is set. But Yeah the bugera sounds way better here. I think my next amjp will be an Orange maybe an OR15 or Dark Terror I also have A H&K tubemeister18..I'm still tone Chasing, don't think I want to stop either lol
Bugera blows the Jet City away, it has a much richer clean sound always a good indicator of how an amp will sound when you dirty it up.Start with a great clean sound and build on that and you can't go wrong.
