Bugera T50 Infinium 50-watt 2-channel Class-A Tube Head Reviews

I've been rocking the T50 infinium for a couple years. I bought it used, and it's all stock as far as I know. (No sign of modification) it has a ton of get up and go played through a 4x12. It's good down to 4 ohms also, so you can safely go full on full stack mode, and melt faces. I initially used it as a clean channel pedal queen. This was because a bunch of tube amplifier elitest, sissies reviewed it, and said "it's clean channel is great!" (Imagine that in my mocking voice) "but the dirty channel sounds absolutely horrible." So I took that at face value. Then one day, I forgot my distortion pedal at home, and decided to use the dreaded built-in distortion. At some point, at practice that day, I realized that I was in love. Never had my tones cut through like that. So the deal is, crank that volume knob to 12:00 at least, gain maxed, no phat switch, set eq settings to your ears content. Oh and just a little of the "tone cut" nob. The problem the other reviewers were having was that they were afraid of the power and didn't crank her up. And the hotter the amp gets, the better the distortion gets. I will attest that, the dirty channel is better for rock, (maybe not metal) than any distortion pedal I have used. At this sale price, I'm seriously thinking about getting another one for a spare. Seriously buy 2 You'll love it.

It's hard to beat this amp in its price range and even a little higher. Put some JJ tubes in and it will sound like the JCM 900 it's patterned after.

I've had the chance to use this head on a few gigs and daily practice sessions. It makes all of my guitars sound their best. I haven't owned a tube amp for 15 years and I don't remember them sounding this good. Lots shimmer and sparkle on the highs. Big rich sustain. Very nice.

I've only had this for a few days and I'm very satisfied so far! I've been playing professionally for 50 years and have had loads of amps. Just the Fenders included Super, Twin, Deluxe, Princeton, Blues Jr, and most recently the solid state Champion 40. That last one is just for practice. Of course, the Twin is the gold standard, but it also redefines the phrase, "I have your back."

I really wanted a small tube amp and I considered getting another Deluxe, but there isn't enough headroom for a clean jazz sound, so I started a search. This Bugera T50 sounded good and light enough for me. I have a Raezors Edge 10" speaker cab, which is the best IMO. So I took the leap and bought this Bugera without playing it first. WOW! Right out of the box with everything set flat, it really shined! Messing with the settings has yielded lots of great sounds with my archtops and solid bodies. Really sparkling highs with lots of harmonics, pleasant mids, and tight basses. Fat and warm.

One reason I bought it was the auto-biasing feature. I hated taking my other tube amps in for replacement tubes to be biased. I have a box of tubes and now I can mix and match them. About the power rating: This amp isn't as loud as a Fender 50-watt tube amp, but it's plenty loud for me to play outdoor gigs with 200 people. Bigger than that and I can mic my amp. Heck, Eric Clapton uses a Princeton for even his big concerts!

The gain/lead channel is perfect for blues and groove jazz. Some people complained it was too clean, but it's perfect for jazz, country and blues. What about reliability? Too soon to tell. The build quality seems very good and the thing looks cool. I'll post another review if I have issues. Thank you Sweetwater!

Hope you got one of these. If not you're **** out of luck. They're all gone except for the used ones. Best clean amp there is. Get it smoking hot and on the clean channel with the right pedals and it will rip your face off. Don't change the tubes. 6l6s and other brands of el34s will lose the bite the bugera's have. Yes I know that's blasphemy, but I tried them and you lose the rawness of the bugera tubes. And yes, I know they are chinese, but so are 2/3 of the tubes out there. These do feel like they were made for this amp. Has the feel of the old hiwatts with a clean you can push until you bleed out.

This amp produces a sound that EVH was looking for on the destroyer guitar songs on VHI(I love his tone on those, but even he acknowledged he wanted more.) Have the other wordly mid attack but also the lows that EVH couldn't get. Before I have always had to trade EMG mid attack for deep bass; never both together. But on this amp, mids are really concentrated and attack is fast, but the low end is killer. But not death metal low. That is mostly unrecognizable lows to me. Sounds often like a bunch of guitar gibberish. How fast can I beat the guitar. Great guitarists but the songs get similar so fast. From this amp, the sound is like Running with the Devil and Metal Gods together. Clear, tight and hard middle, and bone-rattling bass sounds all together. It really is two guitars in one; EMG in the middle, and on the bottom PAF on steroids. And mix the two for the highs. Perfection.

I bought 3 of them(and a bunch of bugera el34 tubes; they're gone as well), because I have been searching for this sound for 45 years. That search is now over. Using an ESP God of Death and SH-5 Seymour Duncan(Most underrated pickup there is). It's so good, I record it on my phone just so I can hear it when I'm out. Ha.Ha. It never ceases to give me a **** eating grin. It's is ungodly magic and pristine distortion.

As Ferris Bueller said about the Ferrari, I highly recommend you pick one up if you get the chance.

I was a little leary, but with the Sweetwater guarantee and three years coverage from the manufacturer I said why not. It arrived well packaged in perfect shape. I immediately inspected and tested everything to find zero defects. I tested the tubes in my 1950's tester-all tested strong. I ran pairs of my extra power tubes through it and no biasing needed! I liked the 6L6GC best, and left them in. I have tried many amps over the years, the effects loop in the T50 is wonderful, and the Reverb is top notch. The clean channel is nice and clean, and the OD channel is awesome too. Put an OCD, TS, or Rat to push it and it is over the top Rock. I have tried it with 1 X 12, 2 X 12, and 4 X 12 cabs and it sounds great. I went from being a doubter to a huge fan, it is now one of my favorite amps. I also used the line out to PA which I usually do not care for-but the Bugera sounds great and you can run it to the board in stand by for a silent stage. So all in all a huge sounding amp with cool features and after six months no problems at all. A great value as well. Keep Rockin!

I have had this amp for awhile now,I just switched the tubes to 6l6's because that's what I'm used to playing through and it's just what I wanted. Very nice amp.

Just got this a week ago and I'm loving the amp. Back in the day I played an Ampeg V4, a Marshall 50 watt and a Peavey Classic 30. I tried various modeling amps to try and relive those sounds with no success. From the first note out of the T50 I knew I had found the sound I was looking for. Playing a Les Paul Traditional, an American Standaed Strat and a Road Worn Telecaster. The clean channel is great and unlike solid state amps it has a roundness and body that solid state can't achieve. Crank it up and you get that sweet start of break up. The gain channel takes me right back to standing in front of my cranked V4 with that great midrange 70's crunch I love. I got the 1x12 speaker cab and it is great too. I have a Celestion Greenback laying around and thought maybe I would swap it out with the Turbosound, but after playing it, I'm leaving it stock. Looking forward to trying out different power tubes for even more sounds. I know Bugera gets a bad rap for past QC problems but this thing is built like a tank and time will tell, but I'm looking forward to a long relationship with this amp. I looked all over for a used one, but no one seems to be selling and I can understand why...sweet amp at a sweet price. If you're on the fence on this one go ahead and pull the trigger, you won't regret it.

I got this amp head in may of last year and I love the clean channel and how good it sounds the dirty channel was ok until yesterday then I swapped out the stock el34 tubes with tung-sol 6l6 tubes and wow what a difference it made this thing sounds great on the dirty channel now for the price you can't go wrong with it

I love the look and sound of this amp! I am using with a 1x12 Bugera cabinet with the stock TS speaker in a stereo rig with a Bugera V22 1x12 combo on the other channel. Adding this amp with the beautiful clean tones it produces is providing exactly the tonal balance I wanted out of my rig. I am running both amps on the clean channels, but I have the V22 clean preamp cranked up pretty high with the T50 gain relatively low - using the bright channel on the V22 with a little hi-cut on the T50. Together, I get a complex and warm, yet surprisingly detailed clean tone. Driven with a JHS AT for rock, I'm struck by the richness of the tone. A tube screamer sounds amazing pushing the rig, as well.

Currently, I'm using this rig in small clubs with all components stacked such that I take up as little space as possible. This is optimal for full creative control of feedback, and I'm having a blast with that. However, the stacked configuration creates significant on/off axis coloration of the tone from the perspective of the audience. I am really looking forward to festival season when I'll be able to spread these out well behind me and create a wider sound... I'm especially looking forward to hearing how it reacts when using stereo effects on a big stage.

The bottom line is that I can't imagine getting a better amp for the price. I'm 100% satisfied.

I'm a steel player. Using this on the clean channel mainly. I've been playing for 40 years. I've had many amps, Webb, Fender, Peavey, class D, etc.... some pedal steel specific, some not. I've only had this out for 4-5 full night gigs, so I cannot address reliability. It sounds beautiful, driving an Emminence 15 inch Neo steel guitar speaker, 4ohm. I initially used it with the supplied EL34 power tubes. I swapped them out for 6L6's and gained more air, clarity and headroom top to bottom. Left the original small tubes in. My signal goes through a Keeley compressor, Hilton volume pedal and TC electronics reverb. This amp has a nice reverb built in, but it's not really deep enough for steel. I've had two other steel players come in just to hear it, and they both really loved it. It's very musical and sweet sounding. For $.... It's just ridiculous how nice it is. Build quality seems generally fine. Looks great on stage too. I run it in the AB mode, more body.

A couple of small issues for Bugera to deal with. If you are going to do much tube swapping, the screws holding the chrome cage on the amp body are really tiny, all ten of em. The threads are very very fine, and striping them could be easily done, I had to be careful. I gently bent the cage inward to not put out pressure on them in order to get them back in. This would be an easy fix and make it so much more user friendly, larger screws, more durable threads. Secondly, the on off,standyby switches are vulnerable sticking out far on front right corner and seem kind of funky. Mine punched two holes through the inner packing box into the outer shipping box layer in transit. Mini toggles would be less vulnerable and much more solid.

These aside, the amp is a diamond in the rough. I would think jazz guitars would love this thing. I thought for this price it would be an interesting experiment. For it to sound this good, at this price...is really quite amazing. If it is reliable, it will be one of the best steel sounds I've had. And I've had many. I've not addressed the lead channel and the overdriven qualities, I'm not qualified. But for what I am using it for, it's excellent. The ability to swap power tubes without biasing is really nice. And.....$! From Sweetwater. Great service.

This Amp has Great Tone, I changed the tubes in it to JJ and the sound really came alive! The overdrive channel sucks as far as I am concerned but I use the Clean Channel And Run Pedals! It Takes Pedal Really well! The Clean channel is very Good And this amp has a real good Tube sound! The Amp Comes With EL34s and sound good out of the box but changing to different tubes really help the sound! I am going to put some 6L6s tubes in it to warm it up more ! It Is All Preference But This Amp Performs! I Bought This Amp As A Backup To My Ceriatone JTM 45 but play I have no problem leaving the JTM 45 at home! If You Like Tube Amps You Should Check Out Bugera Amps! There Built Well And Worth Every Penny! Don't Go By Reviews , Try It For Yourself, You Will Be Surpriced! I am a pro player of 35 years full time! Country, Rock, Pop!

Ist tube amp for me in 15 years ...I have had Carvin, Marshall and this one holds its owm for a great price Sweetwater Rocks

Chief

Up front, I'm not a professional but a hobbyist. I started out with modeling amps who's names I won't mention that just provided many different tones that just wasn't up my alley. I was looking for something with a nice clean channel with that warm tube sound. The modelers didn't do it for me. They were also limiting on interfacing to my computer. If it was a USB, I had no real control of the levels. This T50 was the answer: Nice clean tone and a DI that is absolutely superb. I record straight from the Amp , through a Scarlett to Reaper or video. No need to mic up. I have had professional teachers give much praise to the quality of tone from my measly Epiphone when using this amps' DI output. The ability to switch between a 2x12 or 4x12 emulation is great too. I also love the class A/AB switch, very versatile . The fact that the clean and lead channels have separate tone controls was the final reason I pulled the proverbial trigger. You just can't beat it for the price. Sweetwater again was fantastic. I could have bought this amp a little cheaper elsewhere but consider the customer support and 2 yr Sweet warranty without having to contend with Bugera themselves should it fail.

This is my first tube amp. It sounds great. The Crunch Channel sounds so good i don't use a OD pedel.
The footswitch that comes with it is great. Both Clean and Crunch are sweet. I use the T50 with no effects and it does the job. It does get very Very HOT. But i hear that's normal for tube amps. I'm using It with a 2x12 8ohm cabinet and it rocks

Well I purchased a T50 Bugera amp from Sweetwater about 1 month ago, I have been a Acpustic/ Marshall guy since 1974! I am genuinely impressed with both my Bugera's, I also have a 6262. The T50 has very good and clear tone and nice function's that work Well! I would buy another.

Sincerely,

Anthony Ferrara Sr.

Just received mine and connected to my cabinet and put a good 2 hrs of play time in I real enjoy the tones coming out of it from clean to crunch A +++++

You Can't Go wrong With this head!!!!!!!!!!!! Tried over 50 heads.
Love it. Just Make sure You get the right cab for what you do.
IT WILL BLOW YOU AWAY FOR THE $$$$$$$$$ BUCKS

This was a good buy! Just put 6l6 tubes and the sound is getting even better. I had to wait for mine for a month on back order, but i got a call at soon as it was in and it was delivered right before the weekend. The customer service within this company is outstanding. They made me feel like it was home!!

This is a pure tube amp, and can get pretty close to my F-nder B-ssman in tone. I am running it through 2 c-lestions. I love the reverb, I don't use the dirty channel too much. thats not my style. I would rather put a blues buster on the front for distortion. My twin is still the best but really loud.

FIRST OFF THANKS TO THE SWEETWATER TEAM FOR IT BEING A FAST EASY EXPERIENCE! it came quick and well packed and is amazing!!!
OK i have owned/own three bugera amps this one is the best so far! it sounded great right from the start and works great too its lighter then om other amps and it loud and buttery like a Marshall but nice clean sound like a vox... speaking of which i have a nighttrain this is has good and then some! the reverb is stellar and roomy, and the distorted channel is simple perfect...so next a set of ruby tubes and then its show time!!!

This little gal is amazing. The clean channel took me back to the day when clean meant something. The gain channel isn't quite there but very close. This amp takes pedals better than any I have owned and I have a few. The best $300 I have ever spent ... except for one night in Vegas ... but that is another story. This is a great amp ... how they do this for the money compared to the "Boutique" stuff shall remain a mystery. Buy the amp ...

The Bugera T50 is my fifth Bugera amp and I love them all. I have a 6260, 6262, 333XL, BC-30 and now the T50. I even had to have the 6260 serviced under warranty and had no issues whatsoever with the timeliness or outcome.

I purchased this T50 mainly as a more portable head which I can directly plug into a PA system so the DI port was an important feature for me. IMO, you simply can't beat an all tube amp for sound (I play primarily Les Pauls with Seymour Duncan pickups) and the clean and lead channels on this amp do exactly as you expect. The clean is really clean but has a gain allowing you to dirty things up a bit and the lead has all the gain to play anything from 70's & 80's rock to full metal and everything in between. The only knock I'd give is the modern Chinese tubes - they don't sound bad but I prefer vintage tubes.

The great thing about Bugera amps (and why I own so many) is that the value is unreal. Why spend $900-$4,000 for a similar chassis, power supply and wiring with a different label on it when what really matters is the tubes you put in a tube amp? I prefer spending the $400 or so it takes to buy a Bugera and go find the best RCA, Sylvania, GE, RFT, etc tubes I can find to put in it and have a sound that just can't be matched by modern tubes manufactured today IMO. The other cool thing with Bugera is they make it so easy to re-bias the amp - so switching out tubes is no problem at all. This T50 adjusts it's own bias so it literally is as easy as unplugging the existing tube and plugging in the new one. Again IMO, the tubes in your amp, the speakers in your cabinet and the pickups in your guitar have a lot more to do with your sound than the name on your amp.

I highly recommend this T50 and other Bugera amps. I know this sounds like a Bugera commercial but many of us don't want to spend thousands of dollars for a good tube amp and this and the other Bugera amps I've mentioned prove you don't have to. If you haven't owned an all tube amp before, the T50 is a great one to start with.

I got this amp for the features tells you when you have a bad tube,has a line out for recording,you can switch from a to a/b setting, you can swap tubes with out having to mess with the bias on it. I have played it though my 1x10 with rajun Cajun speaker, my 2x10 panama boca, and my randall 2x12 cabinet and it's sounds great with all three.the clean chanel sounds great and the dirty channel sounds good too. you can always add pedals, if you need more gain but finding a good clean tube with no hiss is the trick. so far I am very happy with this amp, only time will tell and I have three year warranty,so we will see

This really is a great amp! I have been looking for a gigging amp that won't break my back but has the power I need. I play punk mostly, but also do noise stuff and post rock guitar work. This amp really has it all... Very versatile. It is definitely loud enough for any situation you'd need. Gain sounds great and natural, cleans are very chimey and reverb sounds fantastic from added texture to surf territory.
I have owned Marshall jcms, peavey 5150 and 6505, fender Deville, Mesa dual rec, orange terror and cr120h, but my go to amps are my new bugera t50, and my trusty v22 head. They never let me down and sound incredible for the price.

Buy this amp, no matter what you play you will not be disappointed!

Replaced the stock tubes with ruby tubes and wow what a difference. the amp is so quiet and the tube distortion is great.

I am extremely experienced with both gigging and recording. I have done and played it all. Wow, just wow; both in the sound and looks department. The Infinium technology and the warranty make this a no brainer. I have always played tubes, but hey, if you play a solid state head and especially if you got with it. Do yourself a favor and throw it in the trash immediately! Pick up this beautiful head and be blown away with the time and design. Sweetwater's service is absolutely the best, hands down, no questions asked, in every way. They said two day free shipping and it seemed more like 1 1/2 day shipping. Ed Needler is great too, especially calling to check in with me.
Between the service and the amp -
10 ******* stars. Buy it nimrod. I know what I'm talking about. My Gibsons sound great out of this and I'm using it to gig and record.
Looks great on a 4x12 - only Orange has a design just as good and cool-looking in my opinion, but for way more cash. Thanks for reading!

The first thing noticed was how quiet it is. Quiet signal/noise wise. Plenty of roar to clean. 4 preamp tubes has a lot of variety at hand. Looks well made and the transformer for power is huge. When fedex delivered it he said this is heavy. The other output transformer is big also for a 50 watt amp. The video Bugera made says you can put in even a mix tubes. Or go to 6L6 or a few others due to the auto tube biasing. 3 year warranty is great also. There is no multi power setting but because of the way the volume control is phase driven it behaves excellent with full tone low or loud. Have a few others bogner, marshall, carvin, blackstar and this is really a deal for the low cost.
Effects loop even though would of liked a level for that over say the high cut control it works great so far with effects that have tried with it. No added noise at all. A lot of great sound for very little cash.

Awesome amplifier !The lead channel can get real dirty and handle anything from classic rock to overdriven blues and heavy metal no problem. And I mean heavy metal no problem. the clean channel is nice and crisp and will drive pretty well at higher volumes. The construction is hefty and well put together. I bought this head and the 212 TS cabinet together. both products arrived undamaged in any way (well packaged) and the customer service from my Sweetwater rep (Ken Davis) was exceptional. A real professional company to deal with.

The first thang to be said is that the Bugera T50 Infinium is an absolutely amazing value for the money, especially if you can grab it w hile it's on (closeout?) sale!
I bought this amp becasue I play some gigs for which my Mark 5:25 doesn't quite have the volume on clean settings, and for which there is no opportunity to plug into the PA. The T50 is considerably louder than the Mesa, but there is crunch breakup on the clean channel at high gain. I was hoping for a totally clean channel but there is still enough clean volume to do the job. The overdrive channel has an awesome sound that works great for my style - I generally play with a Santana-like sound, but I am not a metal player and don't know how it would be for that style. I can say that it has a huge bass response, which I actually don't need. There is a valuable "tone cut" knob that functions as a presence knob in reverse - turning it clockwise cuts the extreme highs. There is only one control, though, instead of one for each channel.
That brings me to my only other minor disappointment: The bottom is huge and the highs are clean and clear, but the midrange control is centered on a higher frequency than I would like. It's more like a lower bright control, I'm guessing around 2.5kH. (I'm probably an outlier in thinking midrange should be maybe 630H to 1.25kH.)
All-in-all, however, the features on this amp are incredible for its price range: 1) ability to switch between class A and class AB; 2) 2 parallel speaker outputs switchable between 4, 8, and 16 ohms; 3) great sounding line out; 4) great sounding reverb; 5) great overall sound. It also has Bugera's Infinium technology, which is supposed to monitor the tubes and extend their life. It will be a while before I can judge that feature...
I only gave it 4.5 stars only because of characteristics that are not ideal for my style. I think most players would give it a solid 5. The unit is such a good bargain I think you should buy it on general principles just to grab the deal while you can! (Nobody has too many amps, right...?)

First I want to thank you Mr. Dave Brow for the excellent communication. The shipping was fast arrived before expected, well packaged and the sound of this amp ROCKS !!!.

Bought this amp on a whim. Got it for a great price so I figured I got nothing to lose.
Starters it looks cool and appears well made but time will tell. The cage look is awesome
Hooked my existing pedal board into and away it went. The clean channel is exactly that. Sounds great but it"s strictly for clean only. If you try to over drive it sounds terrible. But that"s no problem. Use the foot switch and switch to the overdrive channel and you can get any crunch you want out of it based on your pedals. I don"t really care for the stock overdrive that"s built in. Sounds fizzy and I don"t care for that. I use overdrive pedals and they work great. Also like the phat switch for more bottom end. My feeling about the stock tubes is they honestly sound really good and there"s no real need to change them out. I put 6L6 in it and sounds ok but lost some volume from the stock tubes. Should last forever according to the Bugera description. We"ll see. All around good buy for any type of genre.

I love this amp. It's my first all tube head. I've had a hybrid for a while and I love that too, but this is a very different level.

I paired it with a Marshall 4x12 120w cabinet and I finally have the half-stack I've always wanted.

Lot's of great tones, but like someone else commented. I find the lead channel a bit muddy, with a 70's vibe. It's not bad, and I can get some killer tone out of it on the clean channel with my distortion pedal, but I think I will do some tube upgrades to see if I can get that lead sound a bit less muddy.

I have had my T50 for a few months and i have played it casually.
I have to say - it´s dead silent and the clean channel is really clean and varm without being over the top in any way.
The gain channel have a wide gamut but get a bit fuzzy in higher settings, but i like that sound and it contributed to me choosing this as the best amp around price/performance-wise.
Dual eq sections, right amount of preamp-tubes, auto-bias, class A or A/B switch (!), big transformators and wide range of loads possible, effect loop and DI.
I really like it.

No problems at all - and i have bought me a set of new 5881 power-tubes and a variety of new and nos preamp tubes to try out.
Great fun.

And what about the "sturdy" in the titel? - well, the whole table flipped and it went in a concrete floor from 1m height! - a little bruised and crooked on the caged fascia, but no problems at all - not even a hickup.

Great piece. The .5 star i reserved for the future 333XL as i think it is even more versatile with the extras onboard.

Wow! This amp sounds incredibly cool. Not to mention the little features of the DI and Tube monitoring system are unique. The cleans on this amp are absolutely astonishing. I have never heard such a natural, clear and twangy clean channel. I've played all tube amps at gigging, practices, and recording sessions. (Around 5 years of doing this). However, this amp is not for you if you are into the heavy metal scene. The lead channel just doesn't have the unf one would need. Pedals do help, but it is no 6505, 5150, Rectifier or Boogie, but it can get fairly close. With pedals up front and a really long session of messing with tones can get you a very crisp sound with the right set up. However if you're someone who likes looking for your amp head for distortion instead of pedals (Much like I am) Then you might wanna look at the Bugera 333XL or the Bugera 6262. Those ones will give you more of what you are looking for. Reguardless, I am more than happy with this beautiful little amp and would highly recommend buying it!

After using "Solid State" and Modeling for years, I decided to return to "Tube" Amps. Because these are NOT like the Tube Amps of yore. They are built BETTER ! And the "Output" options are much better. The only reason I didn't give this Amp a "Blown Away" Rating, is because of the "Overdrive" channel. Not impressed. Its thin until you drive it more, and then its Muddy. That's just for My purposes. It doesn't work for me. The Clean side of the Amp is what I'm interested in anyway. I run the "Pedal" effects of a multi-processor in the clean channel, and it Rocks. Well Built, Rugged, and the Tubes are well Seated to stand up to the ridgers of the road. For the cost, its hard to beat ! If your looking for a Tube driven Amp with Multi-purposes, That is built to stand up, this is the one ! And a tube Amp with 50 Watts is PLENTY loud for most applications.

First off, im no pro, Im a bedroom jammer. Played with a band 15 years ago or so and started playing again the last few years. I prefer playing blues, classic rock type stuff but listen to about everything. Country to metal. Playing the Bugera T50 with an Epi Les Paul pro, into a 1x12 open back cab with a g12t75.

Ive had quite a few amps over the past few years just trying different gear. Ive had a couple Marshalls, DSL40 (2 of them, loved clean/classic gain, ultra not so much, and terrible reverb) and a DSL100 (same), a couple Blackstars, ht5 metal (went back right away) and a htStudio 20 (slightly wet blanket, could have been the speaker), and a Jet City 20 (harsh), a Peavey 6505 combo (no clean channel at all) and a 6505mh (awesome, but barely a clean channel) for tube amps. A Marshall Mg100 (not bad for SS), Orange CR60 (dark, a little flubby low end but a decent crunch), a Peavey Vypyr VIP (toy), a Rocktron Velocity and Digitech 2112 rack system in stereo (to many menus but loved stereo with cabs spaced) and a Line 6 flextone 3 for solid state amps. No amp seems to do everything i want it to do on its own and im sure never will. So theres my comparison criteria.

The Bugera T50.

Clean channel. I was looking for a head that had a great clean channel. As long as an amp has good cleans i can make do with pedals if need be. It certainly has a great clean channel. Very clean and crisp. I havent had any of the Fender vintage amps to compare cleans, but i would guess even a vintage Fender guy would be happy with the clean channel, especially for the price. A few reviews Ive seen online talked about the tone knob, i find it useful on the clean channel to tame some highs when used appropriately. Crank the gain and it gives a mild drive on this channel.

Drive channel. Also great. The drive channel leaves right where the clean ended gain wise. It does have a slight fuzz to it, its kind of gritty, and i like that. A lot. It gets a little muddy at full gain, but excellent gain channel for classic rock. Metal is going to need a pedal for me but Im not very good at metal anyway and i have that pedal. Comparing to other tube amps Ive had, it beats out all of them except maybe the 6505mh, but has a better low end. The 6505mh need an eq pedal to boost the low end.

Reverb is excellent, not over the top at full but still more than plenty.

When you consider the price, which is spectacular for what you get, independent channel eq's, great reverb, an effects loop, 4-16 ohm capability and an emulated out, its a steal. It sounds "real". No wet blankets, not harsh, good eq's, good reverb. I may get another one to run a stereo rig. Stereo is just so huge and full sounding with stereo chorus and delay. Forget the fact that the T50 is self biasing, no more trips to a tech or hooking up a meter, it accepts different power tubes, and it looks awesome.

Cant say for reliability, but with Sweetwater's superb customer service, 2 year warranty, and the price, Im not worried about it. It seems well built and is definitely sturdy, cant say Ive opened it up and I have no need to. Thanks Nick Church for the amp, and the service. May get another T50 or maybe try a G5 soon to do a stereo rig, but for now, Im completely satisfied with the T50. Get one and get it from Sweetwater.

So I used a fender hot rod deluxe 3 for quite a while with a vintage 30 speaker, got this and run it through a half stack I built with the refurbished speakers I got at Sweetwater and must admit the tone and sound is just as good if not better than the fender. I don't picture the price lasting very long at all.Great amp and for the price I doubt you will find better. Sweatwater is a good company and this is a great amp.

This is really a cool head and probably the best value out there bar none for looks and performance. It has great clarity almost a "Fender like sparkle" Very well laid out controls on front panel, on/off and standby switch where they make sense.. Great illumination on the channels. The drive channel sounds really good and the amp comes with the pedal for the channel switching. Really attractive chrome cage, the amp is light weight, compact and delivers enough punch unless you are a metal "groove monster" and are looking for the "beyond". I will buy another one, just as a spare, buy the cover that goes for the head, shame to get dust on something this pretty. The only negative on the entire amp is the "tone cut" control. I don't know what they were thinking or what use this control is to anybody but it just dials you in to a muted muddy sound like taking a wet towel and throwing it over your speaker cabinet. Bugera, please replace it with a chorus, or something useful! That's the only negative in the whole enchilada.
otherwise it would have gotten a WOW! for price, performance and looks.

very happy with this amp so far. very versatile and plenty of omphhh!

I have read about 40 reviews from different dealer sights. I would say 38 of them were excellent. I have owned Mesa, Marshall, Fender, Crate, HiWatt and others. After about 40 years on stages I know what a good electric guitar should sound like through a good amp. This amp sounds great. It's not a $2,000.00 Mesa but it puts most amps between $800-$1200 to shame. Just because of price. The tonal pallet this amp has far exceeds ANY equally priced amp and is equal or better than many amps between $800-$1200. It's light, it's very cool to look at, it has a 17 inch foot print and still drives a 4x12 V30 loaded cab like a major league hitter to left field. I admit. I put 4 Groove Tube 12ax7a/b/c's in the preamp but left the Bugera el34's in the power section...playplayplay.....Then I put in a pair of GT6L6's and it still sounded great. With no techy needed GREAT! Then, w/o tech, I put back in the Bugera el34s. Still great sound. Great company to buy from. Tim and Sweetwater are the best....now I say Bugera is one of the best too. If you don't want to drop $1.5K try this amp or (I'd bet) one of the 100+ watters from Bugera. Thanks.

Love the look and sound of this amp on the clean channel the drive channel is
More of a fuzz than distortion. I use the distortion on my pedal board and the drive channel with the gain at 30/40%for a nice blues break up so I can cover a wide range of music. I would have given this amp five stars if the distortion had a little bit more ***** to it. Overall I'm very happy.

This is a very sharp looking and sounding amp. Nowhere near as heavy as the other Bugera heads due to the metal vs wood enclosure. Heavy duty construction and nice leather handle. Clean channel does a great job. Crunch channel has a very unique sound. Nothing like my Bugera 333XL which has more gain. This amp has more of a vintage breakup sound. The Phat switch adds more low end giving a fuller sound. Reverb is good and adds a nice color to the tone. Heavy duty Footswitch controls channel switch and reverb. Only thing missing is a boost. For $349 it is a great bargain. Arrived double boxed and securely packed. Bugera gives a lot of bang for the buck and is of good quality. There's a lot of "haters" out there. I personally have never had any issues with my Bugeras. 3 year warranty so I know I have nothing to worry about down the road. Highly recommend.

So, the clean is beautiful, the crunch is nice, the super high gain was...... disappointing..... at least for the first 20 hours of use. I bought two of them, to run a stereo rig. The 2 amps ran about $. 2 Marshall's or Peavey 6505s would have been WAY more than I wanted to spend. After hearing the fizzy high gain sound, I was gonna go ahead and get the Peavey amps. But... was forced to put about 40 hours on them. Oddly enough, in the meantime the fizz has gone away. I can't explain it. It's the same for both heads. Is it possible there is a "break in " period for the components? Anyhow, I'll he keeping them now. They are a knock off of the Vox Night Train 50 btw. There's some bad info out there in "google land" on these. Mine run through 2 HiWatt 4 12 boxes, loaded with Celestion GT75s from the late 80s, early 90s . The cabs are amazing, so these heads really are getting every opportunity to be amazing. And I do like them. Maybe after a bit more fiddling, I'll fall in love with them. Fingers crossed... but still an amazing value. Hope this helps!

I only use the clean channel with pedals and it works very well in that regard. The reverb is good and I just keep it on about 10:00 for some ambience. This amp loves pedals on the clean Channel. The "cut" control takes away some of the high-end brittleness I leave it at about 9:00. No this isn't a high-end amp so you're not going to get the thundering low end and note definition that you get with a $ amplifier, however a good EQ pedal will take care of those problems. I own two of these one has the original EL34s and the other one has 6L6s which I installed. Like another reviewer said you lose some of the volume and low end of the EL34s but it's a different sound so I experiment with both amps for fun. I use it on top of a 212 cabinet with an Eminence governor and a Texas Heat. I suppose you could use this head with a 412 but if you did that I would stick with the 25 watt Greenback configuration because this is not the loudest 50 W you're going to hear out of an amp head.

I bought this amp because of all the great reviews, and the price was amazing. When I got it and started playing through it I was not very impressed at all, sorry. The clean channel just won't put out enough volume unless you turn the gain up to 4 or 5 where it starts to break up. In a clean setting it had a hard time producing the volume levels of my 15 watt Fender tube amp. I wanted a more powerful clean pedal platform and it simply did not have that.
Once you start adding some gain and a little dirt it starts to produce a lot more volume. In a clean setting it barely reached 90DB. I would have rated this amp a 3, but gave it 4 stars because of the price.It is a true tube amp for $400 which is a great value, but if you want a clean platform with decent volume I would spend the extra money for something like the Mig-50. I returned my Bugera T50 and got the new Electro-Harmonix Mig-50 and it is awesome ! It completely blows the Bugera out of the water for tons of volume as a clean platform. The Mig-50 easily hit 90~93 DB in channel 2 with the volume knob on 3 with plenty of headroom left.

The bugera T50 came well packaged
No problem with set up
Powerful amp awesome tone
Using it thru my Marshall 1936 2x12 cab sounds great
Loving this awesome amp so far
Thank y"all at Sweetwater (Paul Rowan you rock!!!) as always Sweetwater is my only go to for my music gear!!!!!

Tony Ferrer

After reading several reviews and my own personal experience with this amp, I decided to chime in and review. Use it primarily for practice. I play blues and metal for the most part. Clean channel is awesome on this amp. Nice ringing articulate mid tones with nice fat low end too. Recently spent some time with my 1976 Strat on this amp and will not use anything else in the studio from here on out. Yep, that good. My other arsenal is 1979 Marshall JMP, 1992 Marshall 6100, and brand new DSL. Actually like the Bugera clean tone over any of them. Ok, enough on that. Totally agree on the mixed reviews for crunch / distortion. I just cant dial this amp in for good metal tone. Spend more time twisting knobs than playing. Finally plugged back into the Marshalls for those tones and know why I love those amps so much. I may try to re tube this as some of you have said, see what that does. But overall, this is a great little amp. Quiet, appears to be well made and sounds amazing on clean channel driving 4x12 Celestion Vintage 30 angled cab. For the price, buy it. Wont be disapointed unless you only play metal. In that case move on my fellow musicians! :)

Right out of the box ...sounds very good - cleans are decent distortion chanel is very weak- spongy sounding
the good:

Individual tone controls
Reverb
fx loop
simple
sturdy- built like a tank

so after 2 hours of dialing it ...I decided to change all the pre amp tubes w JJ's and swapped the power tubes w JJ's 6L6 GC's to try to warm up the sound maybe smooth out the cleans.....wasted time. I hear no difference.

Now for 300 all tube head w decent power output (i run a 2x12 Mesa rectifier vertical cabinet) it would not cut through a heavy metal drummer....

overall impression - a good value for a first time tube amp buyer if you ever have owned a Marshall -Fender- Mesa- Music Man ...you may be disappointed.

I had a Bugera T5 for a little over a year, and just loved it. I still use it. I decided to get the T50 since I had such a great experience with the T5. I hear a lot people that won't touch these amps because they are some of the least expensive amps around. The clean channel is quite good on its own, I have run some pedals and overdrive with good results. The lead channel is overdrive immediately, I ended up never putting the gain over 3, anything more just screams...I think you get more than your moneys worth. One note, I did swap out all the tubes, with ElectroHarmonix EL34s and JJ 12ax7s, sounds a little better, I may experiment more with differrent tubes. The stock tubes were certainly usable and I will keep in my supplies.

Had this and it wasn't bad,switched the tubes to 6l6 and it stopped working after a couple jams..bugera gives you a 2 year warranty so they gave me full credit for t50 and used that to get a v55 which is amazing.

Bought this after reviewing several lower to medium priced Tube Heads so I could get my '73 Traynor 4x12 Cabinet up and running ... needed to run @ 4 ohm this was one that would go below 8 ... Looked good in the pictures ... looks better in person... IMPORTANT STUFF ... Packaged well... Sounded good out of the box .. one slight issue.. there's a noticeable POP when switching from Lead to Clean channel when using the footswitch ... doesn't do it if you use the panel mounted selector on the front ... I stay on the Clean channel anyhow and use my Blues Driver Pedal for any edge I need... so not a show stopper for me ...other than that all's good... responsive .. especially after warming up ... I wanted a little tighter "Low End" ... and wanted to smooth or warm the "Mids" ... so I swapped out the 12AX7 Pre-Amp Tubes for some Tung-Sol 5751's and now it sounds great ...... Bottom line.. Lokks good... sounds good ... reasonable price ... what more could you ask for..

This amp has super cleans and as loud as you need them. Gain channel took some know turning but when I 2as done I found every tone I needed. The price is great and it looks as good as it sounds. Changing tubes is a no Brainerd with the infinitum system. The guys at Sweetwater are on the ball and always very helpful. Thanks again Sweetwater!

Purchased the T50 as a backup for an Egnater Renegade. While it doesn't come close to matching the versatility of the Renegade, it wasn't meant to and I didn't expect it to. This is a much simpler British-style tube amp with a couple of nice extra features (reverb and an effects loop), and for the price, I expect it is very hard to beat.

The clean channel sounds great. The onboard reverb is very good. Running a TC Nova System though the effects loop sounds great. The amp can get pretty bright depending on the cabinet/guitar/environment, so having the Tone Cut option is, to me, useful. Having a one knob solution to cut some high end is easier than messing with the EQ on each channel, though so far I see no reason to ever need to turn it past about a third up. The footswitch may look plastic and cheesy, but except for the switches themselves, it's metal, solid, and works great. So long as you don't go dropping elbows from the top rope on it, it should last as long as the amp does.

The gain channel is good for most rock music, but I expect the metal guys are unlikely to be impressed by it. It's more a 70s-type high-gain fuzz than a tight, modern metal distortion. That said, if you happen to have a good ol' Tube Screamer (I use an 808 clone), throw it in front of the gain channel with its drive down and level up. This tightens the distortion right up and gives you some mid boost while the amp provides the necessary sustain, landing you square in metalsville. If you run the Tube Screamer in front of the clean channel with its gain up, the pedal's drive up and the level around half way, pushing single coils, you can get very close to SRV tone out of it. In other words, the T50 and a Tube Screamer get along very nicely and make the amp versatile enough for any style of music.

Overall, I can recommend the Infinium T50 for players of pretty much any style, though out of the box, it is not an ideal amp for metal. There are solutions to make it workable for metal, but I expect metal-only guys will be better served with another amp. It is however particularly well-suited for 70s-era rock tones. Personally, I am satisfied with the purchase.

Very nice amp for the price !Has good output and very light weight.Would buy again!!Thanks

Nice Amp. Just depends on your needs. Will not blow you away on the
Clean channel but you can get the volume you need on the lead side.

I ordered mine before the price drop. My first impressions were good, but I felt the amp was just a little one dimensional and just a little on the quiet side. First I played it a few days with my Epiphone ES-339 P90 Pro. It had me thinking I needed new pickups. When I played my Strat with active pickups through it, it lit up.

The clean channel would get a little hairy at about 12 on the gain for that channel.

Back to the Epi, I put a compressor and booster in front of the amp, it lit up and the Epi grew a pair. So far so good.

Then for my birthday I received a gift card and bought a pair of JJ 6L6 power amp tubes. Installed those and installed a JJ ecc 83s in the 12AX7b position. I placed the 12ax7b into the first 12AX7c position . Now it sounds rich and smooth on clean. On the lead channel it became "buttery." The Epi's P90 pickups sounded much better now, without the compressor or boost. The tube swap has improved headroom on the clean channel.

I run the head through a 2x12 ported cabinet. I think this head would sound excellent through an Eminence Texas heat or Legend 1218 in a 1x12 setup.

At 300 dollars, this is a fantastic deal. The stock tubes are OK. But, for a small investment in tubes the amp transforms into a sweet and versatile hunk of iron.

BTW, I also received a TC Electronics MojoMojo overdrive for my birthday. Played that in front of the amp today. Awesome, just awesome - on both channels.

Oh, and I like the reverb.

After two months of limited use one of the power tubes burnt out. It gave off a burning smell and then the front power light started blinking and the tube lite in back was glowing. Gonner try some ruby tubes to see if that helps. What would happen if I used it everyday. Shame on you bugera.

Nicely built, heavy amp. Clean channel is nice, lead channel is a little fuzzy. Reverb is alittle weak. Time will tell.

I'm a professional musician that's been playing for over 30 years. I have a LOT of gear. My purpose in buying this was so that I didn't have to bring anything expensive to a 'for fun' jam. And let me tell you, that you will not find a better head anywhere near this price point. Out of the box, it gets an excellent clean tone and the lead channel is pretty nice. I gave 3.5 stars because, it's listed as being 'modern' high gain in pentode mode. Well, modern high gain in my mind means it gets over the top. It falls a little short if you're into shred or heavier music. I push it over the top with an overdrive and it sounds phenomenal on either channel. You just need to dial it in. If you want over the top, go with a 333xl or 6262. Those get there and then some. The 'Chinese' stigma is WAY over played by brand name amp snobs. As a former brand snob, I can tell you nothing irritates them more than something inexpensive achieving their tone. I can tell stories about people I play with who bring boutique stuff to jams and get seriously annoyed that my tone is equal and in some cases better. This is my 2nd Bugera, and I've never had ANY issues. The stock EL34's are fine. However, I changed the 12ax7's to new Tungsol's and the difference was huge. Another reason I gave 3.5 stars instead of 4. The stock pre-amp tubes lack gain.

The sound of this amp is really good. I love the fact that it has full eg on both channels, and it has a great look. the reverb is not bad either. The class A/AB switch has little effect on the sound [ not a deal breaker]. I am very pleased with the amp, and the price can't be beat. It was at my door in just 2 days,wow!

I find it to be functional and usable but fairly ordinary. Nothing really sticks out either good or bad. Not real loud for a dual EL34 amp, but loud enough. Its certainly giggable and the speaker emulated line-out is pretty decent.

The clean channel is indeed great. So clear and no noise at all, it is excellent. But the overdrive channel is just buzzzzzzz and more buzzz. I tried all sorts of dials and pedals, it is just in the DNA of this amp. I swapped the bugera tubes with a set of JJ tubes, hoping it would sound decent. It helped a little but the buzz is still noticeably there. This amp is only good for clean, do not even bother getting a hot distorted sound. You can put a pedal in front of the clean to get something that could resemble a distorted amp, but that for me reduces the purity of the tone. If you are into rock and metal 1980 onwards, this amp is not for you.

Heard so many good reviews, listened to videos with headphones so I decided to try one. Man was I disappointed. I have a G20 and thought this would sound as good with more wattage, was I ever wrong. Let me say that I'm not a pedal guy except for delay and a crybaby, I want my gain to come from preamp tubes. My G20 sounds smooth but this t50 sounds like a box of bees! I also have a Blackstar ht club 50 that sounds a thousand times better than this. If you're using pedals into it then you may like it, but for plug and play guys like myself the gain channel, with 4 preamp tubes, may also disappoint you.

2nd tube amp I've ever owned but a couple of items worry me on this thing. Firstly: Loss of volume: the volume on this amp is certainly not a 50 watter coming through a ceramic 12" Weber Blue Dog. Seems subdued and not near as loud as it should be. Somehow it makes me think there may have been a ohm problem by plugging into the wrong ohm oulet at some point. Now, when the ohm jack in the back of the amp is propertly plugged in to the right ohm, it seems duller and certainly not as loud as when I first played it. Secondly: Dirt channel does not reflect anything I've ever heard before. No matter how I fiddle with it, the overdrive channel delivers a weak, thin almost buzzy overdrive sound. Not usable for anything I play (and I play over 300 songs).
On the plus side, it has a great clear channel and really compliments a single coil guitar. The clear channel responds well to tweaking and is the highlight of this amp in my opinion.

This amp sounds good, I switched my tubes to 6l6's, it didn't have full volume for awhile then stopped working all together, I would just keep the el34s in it.Thanks to bugeras warranty I exchanged it and have had no problems with my new amp although I did upgrade to the v55 since it already has 6l6's which I'm use to using.cant say how great a company bugera is and as always Sweetwater and there very helpful staff

Out of the box this amp is very good. Overall, a very versatile amp. But, there's room for improvement. Though the tubes it comes with (Chinese made) are OK, they really don't do this amp any justice. Replacing them (I use and swear by JJ's) will make this amp totally awesome! I've put in matched pairs of JJ E34L's, JJ 6L6's and JJ 6V6's along with JJ 12AX6's in the pre-amp and this thing handles them without any problems! These better tubes really make a difference in sound (both Clean and Drive). For a little more in cost, it puzzles me why manufacturers use low quality components. If this would have come with better tubes, I would have given it 5 *****'s.

Don't get me wrong I own and play a bugera 6262 which one of the most affordable high gain heads on the market! This one has a great looking chassis. but that's about it. the circuit needs to be re engineered because it should have that nice over tight distortion with 3 pre-amp tubes and two power tube for 50 watts and really doesn't...it just doesn't have that sound. constantly adjusting the eq to find that sweet spot but it's just not there...it's more like a cheaper small amp with 1 pre-amp tube instead of 3 which it has...basically it's a vox night clone. but I think the vox sounds much better...if your looking for a small amp evh 50w or the lbx totally blow this one away!!!

Worked for precisely 5 rehearsals and 2 shows. Then one day in rehearsal, it started giving deep low frequency pops. Volume dropped way down, then after 3 minutes of trying to trouble shoot everything... just no more sound. LED power light was blinking. Repeat the whole process... same results.

They lowered price down to 299. I thought I was getting a great deal but... too good to be true. Good thing Sweetwater is the S....T!! Matt Masek takes care of me, is all what I'll say.