Bugera V5 Infinium (Good Affordable Valve/Tube Combo?) 

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If this amp said TONE KING on it, people would be like…”This amp is KILLER!”

I installed 50 year old tubes and a 50 year old speaker- now it sounds like a 50 year old amp. I have played a noisy bar with it and it performed admirably.

Really well done review. Explains the amp, demos various tones and power settings, gives opinion, compares to other amps. Everything a review should be. Plus phenomenal playing! Thank you, Elmo.

Here in 2022 to say I just got this amplifier for home use and it is absolutely perfect for what I needed. More than enough volume, a great warm sound, versatility, and attenuation. I have a 212 cab but I won’t need it. This thing is awesome! And I have a MkI and a MkII Katana 50 and this one sounds better than both (though I love the Katanas too).

Thanks! I have one of these and I love it. The 0.1W setting is awesome.

You sir saved me LOTS of time! I’m planning on selling my current Marshall solid state amp, thought this or the monoprice 5 watt, and you said 1 watt can still be loud, so this helps a lot, especially when my parents are sleeping and I still want to jam

Thanks for the review, it helped me make the decision to get one for myself and I’m super happy with it. My beginner setup rig sounds a lot better than my ability to use it, giving me some motivation to practice more. The icing on the cake is that it all cost me less than $500 and while I’m sure I’ll buy more gear, I don’t believe I’d *need* anything more at any point aside from effects pedals to explore new sounds.

I had one of these years ago as a first tube amp. I didn’t like it. It sounded very dark and I couldn’t get that bright sparkly tone. I’ve owned a Deville and Blues Jr since, BUT I’ve come full circle. I’ve messed around with it with more knowledge and it sounds awesome! It is LOUD! I’ve dialed it to be very close to my Bjr and I’m very happy with it. I’ve ran my pedals and such and it sounds great. The attenuator is perfect for smaller room and quiet time settings.

Thanks I bought one based on this review and I’m very happy. I know you would say if something is not good so I appreciate you!

I play a Bugera V5. Got one used. The reverb didn`t work, so I orderd a reverb module. I waited for it for months, due to the brexis. As it came, the reverb didn`t work too. So I got angry and didn`t any replacement. Now the bugera V5 got a small reverb/ delay pedal. I play it mainly in our rehearshal room. A HB Jaguar copy with P90, and it`s real loud. The amp really reacts quickly to my playing. When I turn the main volume of the guitar to the maximum it can be really very loud. Great! Nothing to critizise at all.

Sounds really good with the Strat.

I sure hope sooner or later you get your hands on the Bugera Trirec Infinium. You will have a LOT of fun with that one. I have owned several of the Bugera amps from the Infinium series and liked all of them.

Video is good (as usual). I loved the T-shirt!!!

I sold my katana and bought one of these little gems changed the speaker to a jenson and put a decent matched pair of valves. Sounds great.

Thank you for playing the amp & not a bunch of effects. Your luthier friend has a really nice Les Paul.

This must be the best timed review ever. I literally had this amp in my shopping cart and was hovering over the buy button when your video popped up ;) Luckily you said exactly what I wanted to hear :)

Great review Elmo. Subbed because of this video but have been watching a lot of your videos as i search for a more suitable home amp to replace my katana. Also found your music on spotify and love your stuff! Best reviewer on RU-vid. Thanks "That Guy"

Great review. Thanks!

I have one and it's a good bedroom valve amp . It's a great pedal platform amp . I use it in stereo with my Marshall Class 5 with a Behringer OD pedal . For the price it can't be beaten .

Great review! Ordered on last week.

Could easily be my next amp...cheap and great sound...thanks for useful review 👍

Great playing and great review dude!

I have one. LOVE IT. Telecaster is the best guitar for this, imo.

I just ordered one to play in my apartment, the 0.1 watt option is important, and since I already have other modeling amps the versatility is covered. Your opinion and proof has been decisive in my decision. Thanks for your videos and take care of yourself.

I watched this before good demo thanks

I actually just bought the V5 this past Saturday lol, I've got PRS Custom 22 and late 90's American Standard Strat with 57/62 pickups in it. 😎

Thanks for showing how to use the tone knob when the treble is too much.....too many guitar players seem to not realize you can do this!

Kiitos paljon! 🔥

I had to sell my blues junior and fender champion 50XL because they were simply too loud to use at home. This amp should do well to replace them, currently I have only a micro cube. The 0.1 watt option will definitely come in handy, lol.

I got the original when it was fairly new in 2010, before the Behringer conglomerate absorbed turbosound or started using them in guitar and bass amps, and before infinium (which is mostly useless in single valve amps). I am sure the turbosound speaker is better than the red basket bugera speaker that they originally came with. My gripe, which they haven't changed, was to have 4/8/16 ohm rather than just 4ohm that was "safe" to use at 8ohm with reduced power. They did get a bit muddy when the gain was cranked past 8 but a tube screamer (I was mostly using an mxr classic overdrive with it) fixed that as they tend to do. It was a $149us amp back then. I really enjoyed this amp and even jammed at band level once plugging it into one side of a stereo boogie 412 which was the only 4 ohm available at the time, and it kept up but didn't have the low end balls of a 30w+ amp. After a couple years or sitting in storage, it was non functional, which I traced to one lead to the speaker coil having broken off. I did some surgery and was able to solder it back to the coil. Luckily the amp was not damaged trying to run with no load. I did end up selling it when I needed money and decided my vox vt40+ did a close enough approximation and also did the low watt thing. I will always appreciate the V5

I have one, It's so nicer with an 12ay7 instead a 12ax7. The amp lost de drive, but the sound becomes more compressed, amazing with an overdrive pedal.

I have one of the older models and love it. It was a little dark sounding and always had the tone knob at 10. Replaced the speaker with an Eminence Patriot and replaced the tubes and it now sounds fantastic and not as dark.

Very Nice bossa nova!!! Cheers from Brazil!!!!!

I played one of these at a Guitar Center some years ago, but forgot what the amp was later when I got money to buy one. I have since went all out and got a Carr Super Bee but these are not half bad.

You can double your fun (and tone quality) by doing a simple mod, the "bright cap" addition of capacitor to both volume pots + swapping out the speaker for a Jensen. Very nice bargain tube amplet that plays very well with pedals and sounds dandy on its own

Nice demo man, some people review an amp without playing it hard so its true character never has a chance to show.

I´m just seeing this video now. I have a V5 . I did tweak it a bit , new valves and I have a 1x 12 celestial Vintage cab that really shows this amps potential. but all in all these amps are great. They sound good. In my opinion they rival the ir Fender counterparts. (I´ve tried the Blues junior , Hot rod deluxe. ) And honestly I like this amp better. True its sounds way better with a 1 x12 or 2x 12 but the base is there. A gem for peanuts...

Put for „4 hours“ more clean headroom, a 12dw7 from jj in it, go for a wgs g8c, a harley benton american truetone to tweak the tone and you are in vintage and blues heaven.

Very good!

Very funny and well done. What is your favorite 5 watt amp of the ones you have tried ?? Thank you !

There are two versions of the amp, infinium and the older. Infinium version has a cheaper looking board with lots of smd components on the board, so do not expect a long life for it, older one is more solid and tweakable. Good sounding amp though, simple and will take your pedals good. Turbosound speaker is a woofer installed as a guitar speaker, so people upgrading it to a Celestion or another will get a nice surprise. Bugera tubes are nice, in between dark JJs and Crystal clear Russian tubes, do not upgrade them.

Love that shirt

I don’t know how it sounds to you in the room, but this thing records unbelievably well. You could easily lay down a track with that and I’d believe it was done with a much, much larger amp. Great playing, and sick guitar too!

Hahahah man the fridge impedance match is an important thing to be aware of

Great review. Not bad amp. Though...said it before...even though you're partial to the YJMs. You sound Damn good on the Paul's man. ;)

Owned this for a while and loved it. Headphone out is a nice touch but sounds very bad. Sold it for a very cheap Kustom 212 30watt which sounded way better but is way bigger.

I have this little amp and it is perfect for me. Great tube sound for practice.

You could try it with Ibanez RG with active pickups.

Good review, I've been looking a tube practice amp and it seems like for that task this is the best choice for the money. I would like to see a review of the WANGS (MARK 3) MINI5 as it seems to have great tone but by the time you add even a 1X12 cabinet you're at almost triple the price of the Bugera V5 and the wangs doesn't have lower power outputs

The G5 head into a 1x12 cab is so much better again, the head has a lot more controls, including fx loop, with the same 5W, 1W and 0.1W attenuated outputs

Fantastic demonstration !. Speechless, in fact ! !. But as an “ Old Fogey “, Jazz Player, how about a nice “ Once Through “ version of Johnny Smiths, “ Moonlight in Vermont “ !. I know you can do it !. It would give us an “ all round idea of the sound capabilities. Best Wishes, Fenn x x .

Neat little amp.

Elmo, would really love to see you review the Marshall DSL40CR.

Great video, I own one of these amps but I truly dislike the tone it puts out. Could never find something suitable for the type of music I like to play. I plan on trading it in and figured I'd watch a video to see if maybe they sound different and maybe mine was off, but nah, the sound in my head is never gonna work with this amp. Definitely gonna trade it in towards something. Not trying to knock the amp, it's quality stuff. Just one of those things.

Funny guy, great player, good review. 👍🎸😎

Now I'd really like to heard your thoughts on the Bugera G20, 333XL or the 1990.

bugera v5 or HBtube5?

Thank you for an excellent review. I'm going to buy this amp. You can pick up a used one for under $200 😂

I used to have this one. I really liked it as a clean tube amp or pedal platform. I changed the speaker to Jensen which helped a lot but even after that I always played tone dimed. Tone remained on the dark side but very good.

Holy shit! How big are the frets on that Strat?

I've paid a new one 140€ in 2016. It's great little amp for home practice. Yesterday I bought a jensen c8r for 35€ so, I'll give it a shot to see the difference.

5:49 - The thought of Santana.

Which one is better in your opinion, the Blackstar HT-1R MKII or this V5 Infinitum?

How does this guy only have 12k subs?????

Cheers Elmo! IF you had to choose between this and the Harley Benton Tube 5, which one would be best with a strat for a clean pedal platform to record at home?

Its sound super. Have this saturated drive in British style Sounds better than origin 5c

very good tones out from this little amp. i agree better one good sound than a digital modeler and his versatility. i am a frugal guitarist and i tend to sound only with amp and cable, f it's a one channell i put down volume on my guitar for cleanish stuff. however i have to admit that i'm not by miles a good player as you. you have golden hands and i have punk hands 😅

Hi.. E, like the old school cream color, when I watch your videos now I gotta remind myself to where the face mask with a smile on it,thanks for the free guitar lesson,my daughter went to hospital to have a baby, let you know if a boy/ girl guitar

I consider, Bugera or Laney cub super 10 on home flat, jazz- blues practicing, what's your opinion?

Hi Elmo, I need an help from you: this one or the Harley Benton Tube5? Not considering the little price difference ... wich one sounds better and should I buy? Thanks

Modeling amps suck. I had 2 . Went back to tube amps marshall's. The tube marshall's 12AX7/EL34 sounds so good.

That riff at 7:56 though! Just picked up one of these bad boys...

Elmo, thoughts on this versus the Vox AC4TV, for sound and or price? I live in America, so I don’t know the difference in price between Euro and US Dollars

Also it look fabulous. The Marshall DSL1CR can also be attenuated to 0.1 W and has an FX loop. I don't need 5W as I play at home, so at 1W or 0.1W which is the best amp between the Bugera and Marshall?

Nice Shirt!!!!

Nice video, thanks. How do think it stacks up against the Harley Benton Tube5 Celestion?

Sounded excellent. The amp wasn't bad either.

Hey there Elmo, just saw this video, did you try this amp with the fender yjm overdrive? I was thinking to buy it as a good valve practice/apartment amp, I bought last year the Roland microcube (old version) and I have to be honest, I don't like it anymore, I'm looking for something better, currently as yjm setup I have my strat loaded with old hs3, a boss noise gate and a fender yjm od, I was wondering if it could be my tag or not. What do you think ?

I have problems going from Scalloped to Normal fretboards,how is it for you and have you tried the Blackmore strat which has a different scallop?

Wait what... Elmo has jazz chops as well!?... I'm quitting guitar this is humiliating! 😂

Hay is there any chance you could demo the HIWATT 5 watt amp?

Nice review and nice playing. I am looking for a low wattage tube amp for recording. An amp that has a nice overdrive pushed sound rather then a distortion sound. If I could get both, even better, but my priority is a tube overdrive sound when you push the power tube(s) as opposed to all preamp gain... Gave you a Sub as nice video. Phil NYC Area

Good videos! Harley Benton TUBE5 vs this Bugera V5 Infinium?

I really respect your experience and knowledge, but I cannot believe that any sound I have heard in this video couldn't be produced by BOSS Katana 100 (I am not sure about KTN-50). Probably one should do just little tweaking, and BOSS costs same or less then this Bugera. Anyway, your amp choice is very interesting and always makes me to come back and watch again.

Hello! I'm interested in purchase a little valve amp this small, and I'm mainly in trouble between this and Marshall DSL1CR. What I like in the Marshall is that it has effects loop, but also has an overdrive channel which I don't think I would use a lot, because I always play with pedals and use the overdrive and distortion with them. My intention is to use it at home (an apartment's block haha) with power reduction, but I also want to have the possibility of using it in little concerts, I mean, in small bars or in the street in small events. With this in mind, I believe that Bugera is more powerful (5W vs 1), and the main effect that I use which I don't have in pedals is the reverb, and I like that Bugera's one. In principle, for me, the loop would not be necessary in this situations, so this disadvantage doesn't count here. Also, the Bugera is a little cheaper... The things I would play with it would be Blues, Rock, Punk and Hard Rock (Grunge). Maybe with the pedals some Metal, but I have a Mini Katana for doing this at home too haha How do you see it? Thanks a lot, and great video!

Hi Elmo! I'm beginning to watch your videos... and I'm just asking: Why don't you use at least one guitar with humbuckers? A cheap Harley-Benton would do the job, don't you think? Or one of the Epiphones, there is a Muse-Les Paul in white, looking great. Distortion or overdrive with Single-coils.....ewwww....for me not really good. I'd love to hear both types of pups. Just my 2 cents, I like SC's but I don't use heavy distortion with them. What do you think?

@ 16:45.. Damn, I'm probably going to have to order a course of "Troy Grady Cracking The Code/episode on Yngwie Malmsteen picking style so I can pick like you..! A far as the amp, it came on my ad feed and got curious, but I'm still going to go with the Blackstar ID Core V4 40W for $229.99 here in the US because it is more versatile. I may or may not sell the Blackstar Silverline Special 50W with the 12" Celestion V-type Speaker (Not sure yet, as that amp series is apparently hard to find now since they're out of production). The thing with me, I have lots of guitars m amps, but I still play like shit. I'm in the medical field, and don't have that quality time to play as much as I want, but i still have a love for music gear. ;-(

Would you choose this one over the Harley Benton tube 5?

Good review sir. I thought it sounded great really. Sounded like a thbe amp should. Really seemed to work well with your stryman overdrive as well. Man, I dig those LPs with P90s. They just have a punch to them I love, but I'm kinda an old school blues hard rock guy. Sludge rock as my friend says. That lp would be great for some Jackyl " Lumber Jack" song. 🤣😂🤟😎🤟💖😎🤟

What’s your opinion on the Line 6 500HD ?

Great review and playing as always ! I gotta tell you though, you just don't look right with a Les Paul.

Great honest review as always Elmo. I was just thinking of selling my Katana and getting one of these, I thought I was on crazy pills because every review of Katana said it's amazing but I also think the tone is pretty average.

Do you find that it's okay that it lacks a 3band eq?

Is it loud enough to outloud the drumms in garage jamming?

Hiya! So IT should be always on high , full volume, to het thr food Sound of IT?

16:40 the licc

This or Katana 50 for the first amp? I like it but they always sound a bit muddy. I expect the Katana is more versatile for a beginner but I can get this actually cheaper and it's valve..

I wonder if the original V5 or V5 infinitum is considered better?

Which 5 watter is better , this or the Harley Benton Tube 5?