Bugera V5 Infinium 1x8" 5-watt Tube Combo Amp Reviews

Best amp under $
Don't Waste your time on katana etc

An affordable small tube amp. I have tried so many pawn shop/used GC rigs. Finally decided to buy something new.
This thing is great! Sooo silent I wondered if it was working when I turned it on for first time. I put an EQ between it and my gits(SG & AF-75 Thinbody)and it rocks. The headphone output sounds amazing too.

You might find better tone elsewhere, but not at this price. Also, you can get many different tones and sounds out of this amp without needing any pedals.

I gave a 5 star review of this amp a year ago now I can say after using a year(in my house*)it doesn't hiss and the tubes are still fine I like this amp a lot I didn't try swapping the rinky dink 8" speaker for an expensive 8" rinky dink speaker I got a custom built 1x12 with a 4 ohm texas heat i plug into instead and it kills,plenty of top end now and gorgeous sound just plug the 8" back if I want a little combo, when the tubes fail I swap them without ham fisting them in and whining about the damage and qaulity build.Extremely good amp at this price point and night and day thru a nice 12"

I needed a tube amp that wouldn't drive the entire neighborhood nuts everytime I felt like playing. It came down to this and another amp that was slightly more expensive. I chose this one because it was cheaper and because it's lowest setting was .1 where the other was .25.

I'm very impressed with the bang for the buck with this amp. My only worry was some said it gets a little muddy...and they're not wrong. But I think a couple upgrades would fix that issue if it really is necessary. Without pedals you can take this thing up to 10 on the .1 setting and get that sweet breakup. But, if you're using some overdrives then it's going to be a little too loud if you live in an apartment or close proximity to someone else.

The reverb is okay if you're into reverb. I have no need to crank reverb so I can't comment on that but just a little bit sounds great. I run an orange clean overdrive & a blues driver into a tube screamer and it gave me some sweet tones. I play mostly clean and/or blues-rock stuff. With this amp you can dial those in. And when I feel like upgrading the tubes and/or speaker I think this thing will be dreamy.

It's a great sounding amp; basically a smaller version of my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I like that it uses real tubes, and doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles. It sounds like a real tube amp, and not one of those modeling solid state amps. It thoroughly fits my needs.

This is a great amp for the money, buy this wonderful amp it good. I like it stock like it is .

This amp is very nice sounding and practical to use in an apartment complex. Attenuated at the lowest level you can play using common sense, without complaints from neighbors and still enjoy the tube sound. Don't get me wrong you will still need the headphones after 10 pm but I've got no complaints since buying it. It is the best entry tube amp at this price!

I have been playing for over 30 years and i must say i have tried just about everything. From Marshall to boogies Fender, crates, Randall's and peavey's and the list goes on. I must say I am truly impressed with this one.I got it on sale and let me tell you if you're looking for a practice amp this may be the one for you. It takes pedals very well and sound great. Now if you are looking for a high gain amp this will not peel paint on its own but put a metal stomp box in front of it are a good distortion and you're off and running. This amp is what I would call dark and that suits me just fine but if you're looking for something bright you're going to need a EQ stop box as well. It's tone is very smooth and clean. Turn the gain up and you can do some 80s hits. I mean a all tube amp come on guys what do you got to lose. Also a shout out to Todd kitchen my sales rep. It's always a pleasure dealing with him and just talking about things. He is always on top of whatever I need and I thank him for just being him.

Killer small tube amp. It sounds great. It's portable. And the power attenuator makes this amp really versatile.

Wanted a tube amp that I could use with my teles, strats and an Epiphone Casino. I was looking for a good clean tone, but capable of getting sweet breakup.

I read various reviews. They stated that the amp was a little dark. Suggestions included swapping out the tubes and a speaker change and that would make this a killer amp. For the price, not a lot to lose.

When I got it, powered it up and tried it out. Yeah it was a little dark. Had to turn the tone to the max to get it better. A little noisy also. Hissing, but not unbearable.

Ordered some tubes when I ordered the amp. A Mullard CV4004(12AX7) and a Tung-Sol EL-84. Did the tube swap. A little of a pain because the tubes are being a metal enclosure. Wow what a difference. Quiet as you could ask for. No more hissing. The tone is now at the midpoint.

For $250 total, I have an amp that could compete with a Fender Champ from the 50's. With a separate gain and volume control. this really lets you get the sound you want.

Just a warning, the reverb is a little over the top. I suggest not setting it over 2. May swap out the speaker in the future, but totally satisfied for now. Being able to change the power .1, 1 or 5 watts makes it versatile. Play it low to not disturb others, crank it when you want.

Some complaints about this amp being dark but I have eq's on all my pedal boards that correct for any amp be it dark or bright. This amp has an attractive vintage look, is light and sounds good, everything you want in a bedroom amp. Dimed it's loud but not drummer loud. I pair mine with a 100w Katana and they sound great together.

I ordered this for a quick light Class A rehearsal Amp , (grab & go). For gigs I run Dr Z amps. I am very happy with the purchase so far. Seems solidly built and sound is good for the size. I would buy again. And Sweetwater staff are always Great! Thank you…

I grew up with tube amps,Fender's,Marshall's,Musicman and i always had a great sound and took it for granted obviously well they got sold or stolen thru the yrs and couldnt justify buying them(havent been playn out)so got a katana mkii50 for me and my grandson 2yrs ago its a great amplifier but inside i couldnt bond with it at all and only played it short periods,then i said f it and got this on sale and cant stop playing it the guitar sounds real again holy sh#% i forgot how great the tubes sound yup more volume then i'll ever need pedal board yup no prob sounds sweet so glad i got it here at Sweetwater it was triple boxed and looks great too if the tubes fail i'll swap em otherwise she's a runner if your a player who wants a small tube amp cheap here yago

Works perfect with stock speaker. I tried the upgrade some prefer . It canceled the mid range tone that gives this amp a warm vintage tube sound . I sent the speaker back and now play it it stock out of the box

This amp is simple to operate and sounds great.
This was the first tube amp I purchased back 10 years ago. I felt I outgrew it and purchased a different amp.
I then realized that selling it was a mistake, so just recently I rectified that error and purchased another.
A weak point on the amp is the 8 inch speaker, but fortunately it has a speaker out connector so I plug it into my 12" cab and it sounds even better.

Do yourself a favor and buy this thing and have no regrets.

I am really enjoying practicing with this little guy, a nice little tube amp with a great warm sound despite the minimal features. I love that it has reverb at least, and the power attenuation is a great feature for late night practice, though I find I use it at the full 5 W most of the time. The amp breaks up relatively easily, so if you like absolute pristine cleans this may not be the right one. I use a boost pedal/eq in front of it to give me a little more clean headroom when desired (or you could try different tubes). OD/distortion/fuzz sound good though going into it with a little amp breakup. You could use this in a small practice situation, but not much more than that unless it was mic'd or something. I have a few small SS and tube practice amps, and this one is becoming my go to most of the time for playing alone. If you need something in this price range for a small band practice or light gig duty with more clean headroom and more features, I recommend the solid state Orange Crush 35RT, but otherwise this is fun little amp. If you want to stick with Bugera/tubes but more features/power and can be used for some gigs, the V22 is a serious great sounding amp as well, but for more money and quite a bit bigger/heavier.

I agree that this amp is a little dark and muddy. Just get yourself an inexpensive equalizer pedal and you can easily adjust out the muddiness. After you do that, then holy guacamole what a great sounding amp!! I simply could not believe it!

This guitar amplifier was a 4 Star as manufactured.

However, with two simple upgrades it is now 5 STARS.

First, replace the stock speaker to a JENSEN GREEN 8 INCH (C8R4).
BIG SOUND DIFFERENCE. CRISPER HIGHS and TIGHTER LOWS

Second, replace the stock tube 12AX7 Preamp Tube to a GROOVE TUBE.
replace the stock tube EL84 Amplifier Tube to a GROOVE TUBE.

You now have a KILLER AMP.

Five stars just isn't enough to do it justice. Everything about this amp is practically perfect if you're looking for practice amp with great tube sound at reasonable volumes. Buy one. Buy it now.

Fantastic practice amp, can't beat it for the price. Breakup is pretty awesome and your neighbors won't complain for you doing it! Not that it doesn't get pretty loud, but at the 1 watt setting is breaks up at a pretty reasonable volume.
Bonus: It looks great, much better than expected and fits with my modern home.

This Brugera amp is an excellent amp for the home. First tube amp and could not be happier. The tones and sound this little 5 watt brings are awesome. Sweetwater had this on sale and I had to finally jump. Thanks Sweetwater!

Needed a small practice amp, did some research, and came up with the Bugera. It provides a great range of options for the price, and great sound (even not disturbing the family) ... although the low cost does not permit much (if any) discount, it is a welcomed addition to the gear.

What more can I say ? This is awesome.. I'm going to but another..

Plenty of power.Simple controls.Great with pedals i've bought.

I'm not going to compare this wonderful amp with any other. However for its size it performance is very impressive. Consider the fact that you are getting a tube amp with an attenuator, play at full power or dial it back to hear great sound. Now, consider the price and show me where else you can get these features and good sound at this incredible low price. Yes, it is a great bargain for a mini amp with great sound. And then the great service from Sweetwater. I placed the order on a Friday and they facilitated their usual rush shipment. By next Wednesday it was in my hands.

Like all the other reviews- this amp is a little gem. I use it mainly for sound evaluation in my shop where I need clear, pure sound to fully "hear" the finished products/guitars. The size is perfect and it can certainly be used for gigging at a small venue. I also did a tube swap and am using J&Js. I heard a slight difference but then I splurged and went all out with the Eminence Patriot 20w speaker swap...and then the wolf in sheep's clothing really came out. More tonal control, lots of headroom and controllable crunch. It's now the perfect shop/practice and gig amp for sure. Nice build quality, looks great, overall solid and well put together. I feel it's priced very good for what you get. I went over on the speaker mod, it was truly a great amp already- so if you are fixed on price/budget, this thing will be great out of the box. Highly recommend.

Played tube amps a few times but never owned one, bought this online thinking "5 amps, if it sounds bad I can send it back". It sounds very good...Long story follows. Played blues with a band but now doing solo or two people acoustic/folk kind of stuff . I've had (still have) peavey 212 stereo chorus (72 lbs.), fender mustang 3 100 watt 1-12 (easy to carry loud and very good), but never had a tube amp. Then I bought this on a deal of the day online. It has a really great sound and I think it's gotten better over the last year! .1 amp setting with an Ibanez GA35 nylon string is kind of amazing. The 1 amp setting is loud and the 5 amp through my G & L ASAT (side review these are pretty cool too) adding only a wee bit of delay pedal is chicken picken fricken paradise (good name for a song). Enough noise to keep up with light percussion and has a great sound; bring it to a BBQ and be a star and it's easy to carry. Quiet enough at .1 setting with cool tone for practice without making the people you live with turn up the volume on everything they're listening to. Had it a year and played it over 200 hours in a variety of volumes and situations and it's still holding up just fine. (outdoor heat and loud, indoor cool and quiet). When I bought it I bought spare tubes and a I have an old Celestion speaker that I thought I might use if the sound wasn't so good, they are still in the box. The sound is very good.

This little firecracker box is fabulous, the attenuation switch is great--I forget sometimes in the studio that it's on 1 watt and that I've got four more to work with... it's a loud and headroomy thing! It sounds a bit like my AC15 but has a tone of its own that is varied and rich for such a tiny box.

I love it! Finally, a practice amp that doesn't make me have to use my imagination!

Unbelievable. It's so beautiful, so nicely constructed, and sounds so very good, I have a Vox AC15C1 and a Blues Junior III and this one is their sweet little sometimes naughty baby sister, talk-backity and sassy.

This is probably the best value in any tube amp made by man. Everything about it is solid, super high quality. If I didn't already have the AC15, I'd be getting the Bugera 22. This company makes a really fabulous product.

When a thing is brand new yet looks, smells and sounds like an heirloom, you know you did good. Bang on, Bugera.

I have been looking for this sound all my life. The tone is warm, and you can tell it is definitely a tube amp. The ability to push the speaker is at low wattage is the best feature of all as I live in apartment.

I bought this around November 2020, and for what it's priced at it has been a very fun little amp. Sounds good, a little on the darker side but after a while of decent volume use the speaker opened up a little. Sounds great with the pedal board, or on its own. The digital reverb is honestly pretty nice, all around a solid low wattage tube amp for jamming around the house, and for solo practice. That being said, since it's tube it DOES get loud for 5 watts. But be mindful for a full rock band it won't have the headroom at all if unmiced (which y'all probably know already). Good for a starter tube amp out a little practice combo! Good price too, thanks too Sweetwater and Anthony G for the always awesome service!

This thing has beautiful tone at 5 watt, 1 watt, and .1 watt settings! It does everything a tube amp should do, but at apartment volume. The reverb is good, but the amp comes alive with a quality reverb pedal in front of it. The amp can be quite loud for 5 amps. It sounds much louder than a solid state 5 amp. This little amp does not sound anything beginner bedroom amp. I was leery of the low price and the 8" speaker, but after playing it for a week I am very pleased with my purchase.

I bought this as a bedroom practice amp. I am completely happy with my purchase. I was afraid I might be disappointed with the tone quality but every day I am surprised by how great my 339 sounds through the amp set on .01 watts. The price was a real bargain but it doesn't reflect how good this amp really is. I also like the limited number of knobs which stops me from getting lost in adjusting them. I just set it and go.

This amp sounds great and gets plenty loud for any home player. The power attenuation feature is nice and what closed the deal for me. Even in the lowest setting it's still more than enough volume for practice. I got this because my Blues Deville 4x10 and Vox AC15 were too loud and this does exactly what I wanted it to do.

Perfect apartment amp. To be able to play with a saturated tube sound at a volume that my neighbors can't even hear is a major quality of life upgrade. So happy! Thanks Joe James!

I purchased such a nice amp, used, some weeks ago.
The first time playing it with the band, my mates complained, it was too loud.
Fine sounds, a lot of settings possible with only 5 knobs (one of this is the power attenuator at the back).
Quite lightweight, easy to transport. My back is real happy. And so am I.

"I'm Shocked " This Amp kicks *** for its size. Well constructed and looks great. Gain tone volume reverb and attenuation for under 250 dollars. Will up grade the tubes and speaker and add a eq pedal later but for now leave it alone. Very impressed with Bugera products. Thanks Sweetwater and Jordan Clohessy for all the help. Keep up the Great Work!

I was actually looking at another amp and my sales rep suggested this one.
I'm glad he did very high quality sounds great! Well worth the money.

I love playing this at home on the 1 watt setting with an equalizer pedal to round out the tone. Great sound and crunch if you crank it 100% without blowing out the windows.

A must buy at this price and a big thanks to my SE Logan Miller! I played through it for a couple of weeks while the Hot Rod project parts came in and I found that it sounds good stock and more gnarly with the single coils (Strat and Tele). So I followed the advice from some of the comments here and upgraded the V5 with Genalex Gold Lion ECC83/12AX7 and EL84 tubes...and added an Eminence Patriot 20W speaker. It's unbelievable now with almost 12" lows and the tone control can go back to a bit past 12 o'clock. It wants to Rock. This is for real boutique sounds for just over $100 for the upgrade. It's a very unique sound smooth and fat and could easily do small gigs on 5W. I also have a Fender IV FSR Blues Jr. that has a tweaked preamp with an Eminence Cannabis Rex speaker, and I have a stock Marshall Origin 50. Both are all tube. I'm playing the V5 now all time for practice in the house and everything is at 12 with tone at about 2 while using guitar volume to control breakup. Some upgrade notes: the transport around the socket prevents you from seeing the pins align into the socket so be gentle pushing them in and the neg speaker connector will have to be replaced since the Turbosound neg is smaller than the pos connector. My advice is to use the extra $ you save on the price to Hot Rod this amp. Go from good to WOW. You won't be disappointed.

This is a cool little tube amp. I've been playing drums for forty-two years, but I'm very much just a hobbyist and collector when it comes to guitar. That said, I wanted a small tube amp that would take my pedals well. I think this amp fits that bill. I like the three-way power attenuator on the back. It gives me the sound quality I want at a low enough volume that I don't terrify the grandbabies when they're over. When I don't have to worry about that, the 5-watt setting can certainly disrupt conversations on the other side of the house.

This little amp has incredible clean tones. Great price and great service from Sweetwater! Mahalo

I was a little skeptical about this dude, but at the moment I turned it on with the 5W, gain at 3, tone at 7 (even if some people say it's muddy which I disagree), full volume and reverb at 3, I couldn't believe the sound of this thing, even if it's my first tube amp I've played in some other like Vox and Orange, and let me tell you, this one is at that standard of sound and sweet warm of those tube amps, also its gain at high levels gives you a great and authentic classic rock crunch. Greatly build, fancy look, perfect for blues, classic rock and jazz. Take pedals really well, excelent for recording at home, practicing and even small venues gigs. You won't regret buying it. Thanks to Kurt Martin for his great work.

Great things in small packages !

Ever wonder what the secret is to choosing a practice amp that doesn't sound like a practice amp? This amp is your answer. My only gripe, and it's not even enough to reduce my rating to 4 stars, is that there is a single tone knob rather than an EQ.

Compared to a Marshall Origin 50 1×12 combo amp attenuated to only 5w, this amp still kicks it's butt at full 5w.

Great versatile class A tube amp! Matt helped me get a great deal, and was helpful with my questions.

I would buy from these guys again, and would recommend them to my friends and family.

Always wanted a tube amp that would not make me go broke . This is it . It's beautiful looking and it's sound is a throwback to the 1950s . It works great with pedals and a clean tone . It could be used for Jazz , blues and rock by itself .

For anybody that wants a small lamp with a big sound this is it... It's great as a recording amp... and it is great and small venues... I plug my pedalboard into it throw up Shure microphone in front of the speaker through the soundboard and voila! For the quality and the money you can't go wrong

Perfect mate for my custom tele. From sweet mellow jazz tones to angry broken up growling rock. Versatile and great sounding little pkg with punch. Love it!

I have to admit I had my doubts when I bought it. Being so small. But I like a thick, fat clean tone and simple controls and features. And that's very hard to find. The Fender Champ 40 is my favorite. BUT...I think I have found my new, go-to amp. The clean tone on this is just what I've been looking for. Fat and thick without being muddy. And Reverb and Attenuator features are really nice. I know the first few minutes I plug in an amp if it's a keeper. And this one is a KEEPER. I think with the Bugera V5 and the Champ 40, I have all the amp I need. I'm like a kid on Christmas morning.

I’ve read reviews that this amp is muddy and dark. It is neither of those things. It is a beautifully sounding amp. The tone is so warm and perfect.

I can’t give this a fair rating as a stock amp. I had it for about a week before I put gold dragon tubes and a eminence speaker in it. But after I did! It’s like buying a boutique amp! Great for home use and jamming with friends. I’m by no means a pro so I can’t really say for gigs, but from what I can tell, it would be great for small venues. Don’t be afraid of tubes! Sounds amazing compared to a couple modeling amp I have had!

great for my apartment and records quietly, never heard 5 watts this nice.

This little 5W tube amp rocks! The tonal clarity is awesome and it takes pedals very well. For a bedroom warrior, this amp gets the job done. It also has a ton of volume when the 5W setting is turned on. Get one! You will not be disappointed!


BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

This is way more than a "practice amp". I love the easy-to-dial-in controls and power attenuator. I have always been a fan of simple things that work and this thing WORKS! I ran a Dispatch Master & a Keeley Compressor Plus through it and it handles pedals like a champ. I"m very excited to see how this little tank records!!! Paul Rowan is very helpful and a true professional at all times. Sweetwater is the best in the business hands down!!!

This little amp is absolutely terrific. I would have gone for a little Vox at twice the price but this had reverb and a wattage attenuator. Thanks Vox for leaving those out! I would have spent money I didn't need to for an amp that couldn't possibly be much better. Great tone, smoky, and it looks cool. Will be using it for recording, and mic'ed up for small solo shows. Couldn't be happier.

I read a lot of reviews on this amp before purchasing and it seemed they were all 5 or 1 star. People seem to love it or hate it. I was able to listen on you tube to get an idea. I really like this amp. The negative reviews that I read referred to the amp sounding to dark. While I did need to turn the tone up higher than usual, I did not find this to be the case. While I really like this amp, I made a couple of tweeks and now love it. I switched out the factory tubes for a Tung Sol 12AX7 and a Genalex Gold Lion EL84. This amp now sings and makes me want to play it all the time. The change I noticed was in the high end, it just seemed to open up and sparkle. I can get amazing cleans and that vintage blues sound that I was craving. I have also read some complaints about the speaker. I think it sounds good, although I do realize that is a subjective matter. Just for fun I ran the amp through the Celestion speaker in my Epiphone Galaxy 25. I was blow away. The sound was way better than the Epiphone every sounded. I am also very impressed with how quiet the Bugera is. All and all, I am extremely happy with my purchase. For just a few dollars extra, I have a boutique sounding amp at a small fraction of the price.

After doing some research on Bugera amps, I decided to finally try one... Well, it didn't take long for me to fall in love with this little amp!

Dollar for dollar, I don't believe that you'll find a better tube guitar amp out there. This amp can go from clean to a nice blues overdrive with a flick of the attenuator switch, and a few knob adjustments.

I did not experience the "dark" tone that some have mentioned, and in fact, I was able to get solid high tones without any trouble at all.

Only time will tell if the amp will stand the test of time, but for… $... you'd be hard fetched to even find a used amp that sounds this good.

thank you Zach ...you wont be disappointed in this amp and I had it in like 2 days

My first tube amp, and I am very satisfied...! The tones are awesome, and for 5 wattage amp, it is satisfyingly loud. Fast delivery and great service by Alex and Norb made Sweetwater my new go to musical gear spot.

I don't have a lot of experience playing guitar, but I give this amp a perfect score if you want that tube sound inside any room situation you might have. Gets low enough and hi enough for any room in your typical home apartment, etc...The tone is dark and classic rock like. I think that the clean was good enough for the price. Head phone jack makes this amp practice friendly. Just wish the dust cover was included. I'm really happy with the purchase though.

A bluesy little amp that I bought to see if I could take good care of tubes in prep for a larger amp. In the first day I've already started to mic it to record, as it's a full sounding practice amp with a great range of tones. Don't get me wrong, it's 5W with an 8" speaker, it's not for metal, it's not for playing over an energetic drummer, but it's the practice amp that I should have had when I was starting out and it's the amp that's changing my mind about tube tone. The Bugera V5 is likely the best thing you could get at this price point, hands down.

This is a great amp for exactly what I reviewed it for: A practice amp and cleans. I bought this to have tube amp tone with minimal volume, and it delivers. For around the house it is absolutely perfect, and i enjoy the cleans more than most fender amps. This is not an amp to stack pedals on, or play anything high gain, but for everything else it is perfect. Totally worth the money

I received this amp as a gift a couple of months ago and have loved it so much I just ordered the V22 from Sweetwater.

My first unit (via Amazon) was D.O.A. with a bad power tube, so it's possible the quality control might be a bit lacking. At least I can confirm that the tube-life indicator works. Second amp works flawlessly to this day.

At first I was skeptical of the 8" speaker but it has held up quite well. Great sound and volume for a speaker this size. Obviously you'll lose some low-end but my fears of it sounding "tinny" have been proven false.

So let's get down to the tone. Cleans sparkle and shimmer, partially thanks to the surprisingly great on-board reverb, and the gain knob gives a smooth curve from light-breakup to snarling grit. The tone knob, however, is useless. Anything below 8 on it is way too muddy to be useable for most.

When set to 5 Watts this thing is shockingly loud, enough to be heard throughout my house with all the doors closed. At .1 Watts I can get a nice crunch at late-night bedroom volumes. If I want the clean headroom I can switch it to the 1 Watt setting.

If the V22 is anything like this it'll be a steal at its price. My other all-tube amps include a Fender Twin and a Vox AC15 but I've found myself turning to the Bugera more and more. Exceptional value and features, should cost double so buy one before they get wise.

this is my first tube amp and my first new amp in years and i have to say this is one sweet little amp.fantastic sound from an 8 inch speaker.i play on the 5 watt setting so i can get the full sound of this amp.i have a 4x12 randall cabinet sitting around doing nothing and i'm contemplating getting an amp head from bugera-i just need to figure out which on.the v5 arrived quickly and well packed and appears to be well made.thanks sweetwater!

This is a beautiful sounding amp!! It may be small ,but it packs a wallop in sound and tone. It has a very nice clean sound that is great for jazz and acoustical sounding songs. And when you give it some gain it warms up with great tube break up to give you a very nice blues sound.When you crank up the volume and gain together you get a great classic rock tone. The built in attenuation is great for not only giving you a quieter playing pallet ,but it gives the amp a different character in tone also. It gets warmer and has a smoother tube breakup to my ears at 1 watt. I like the turbo sound speaker a very nice sounding 8" driver. I however, plugged it into a 1x12 cabinet that I built with my father and it sounds even better with more sound stage and better bass. The reverb sounds great and the tone works very well and is responsive when dialing it in. I got a demo for about 20 bucks cheaper and it still looks brand new and the speaker is broken in already for me win win lol. I did change the tubes to my liking only because one of the used tubes was micro phonic. If you like blues,jazz,and classic rock you will love this amp for recording and practicing. I believe you could play a small gig with this amp if mic'd and set on 5 watts. And don't worry that it doesn't have an effects loop you don't need one it takes pedals very well in the front. Get this amp!! I have been playing guitar for 20 years and have seven different amps and this amp is up there with some of my best sounding practice recording amps.

This little amp puts out amazing tone quality! Makes my dad's old Silvertone sound incredible! You can't do better for the price.

Love the Bugera 5W amp. I expected acceptable if I played it through a 12" speaker. The 8" Turbosound speaker is very good and I find no need for an external speaker. My Mosrite Ventures Mark V sounds great through this little amp.

I can't speak for the tone of the higher wattage versions as I don't know but this low wattage 5 watt amp has a mean crunch that is very warm and can get very bright. It'll handle any guitar and make it sound good and bluesy with plenty of ringing sustain. It's very sensitive to the touch. If your just starting out, don't get this unless you want to play only blues, get a nice solid state practice amp like the peavey VIP 2, but if you have amps and effects this a nice addition to anyone's collection. I'm going to use it in the bedroom, record and will even gig with it with a mic setup. It's not loud at all but loud enough for a drummer. If you cranked all the knobs all the way I'm sure it'll leave your ears ringing. Sounds like a tube screamer in a box to be honest. Very impressed with the build quality and the overall features and options for a tube amp this size and price. Which really it's the cheapest tube amp on the market right now. So if you want to try tubes this is it, I got it because I have extra tubes from my jet city jca20h that I sold, couldn't get rid of the back up tubes so here I am again with another tube amp. Which I suggest only using for recording if your serious about the precious tube tone that I have never really understood lol. Even playing blues.

Anyways it's a great amp, can't complain about, and it fits the tubes I had lying around. All in all I wouldn't buy it if it was my only amp, and I definitely wouldn't buy it on the basis of just tube tone, as I don't care for that. I got it because I had extra tubes. But I am very please with it.

Short version:

This thing sounds good, feels good, looks good and it won't break your back (literally or metaphorically). Would use it live only if I was doing a solo show, or playing in a quieter band, but for recording and home practice it does all you will need.

The details:

The amp is very responsive: dynamic, musical and alive. It invites playing. I use it to record rockin tones, and just fooling around/writing. I don't think it's dull like some people say - I find it toneful and deep-sounding for the size. I didn't see a reason to switch out the stock tube either.

I happen to love the lack of any dramatic EQ control (not that it's useless or anything, but there's no way to, say, scoop this thing outside of an EQ pedal). But I love that, because it forces you to use your wits a bit - to think about picking, pics, the guitar's tone controls, mic placement, the room you're in - ie it promotes good playing and true creativity and fun, while removing even the option to mess with stuff that's really not important, and which doesn't have any true impact at the end of the day.

The reverb is very usable at a reasonable setting (of like 2) for sweetening during general playing, and can be cranked for special effect if you like (there is no spring artifact, reverb is digital as I understand it). That said, it's not some super-magical reverb. It can get a bit muddy at higher settings so it does better with less bass fed into it (consider lowering the guitar's volume knob, using the bright pickup, playing with a harder pick, playing closer to the bridge)

Build quality seems solid, though I've owned it for a short while only and given the price, who knows.

Noise levels are pretty low, no different that any amp I've used really.

The best feature is the starve switch. At 0.1 watts it really brings the rocking tones I've been after, while at the 1W and 5W settings you get more headroom for cleaner tones or less pronounced breakup. The volume acts as a saturator here, and so you can produce a great range of tones between the switch, the amp volume knob and your guitar's knobs (use those, they're there for a reason).

Contrary to what some people say, it's great with pedals, but I say that with the caveat that it won't produce the visceral punch you might want to feel in the room; rather, it will produce superbly usable sounds for recording, which given the right conditions, can, yes, even sound as if you were playing through some ungodly stack in the rolling hills of valhalla when played back - just as long as you know what to do with a microphone ;) BTW, yet another thing this amp might cause people to learn about.

In summation, and in case you can't already tell, I love this amp, and would recommend it to anyone. Whether you are a seasoned pro/failed rock genius, or have no idea what you're doing yet, this amp should prove an invaluable tool, and really kinda make you better at your game, be that recording or just playing. At the price, I think it's a no brainer.

PS: these observations come from using it with a pricey and really good and prricularly 'hot' Tele clone (sounds like a money tele, without some of the harsh ring maybe - this thing is not a vox) An Epiphone Les Paul Studio (just money, just lush for days) and a crap strat I need to sell (hate those things, though it does the best with the high reverb condition/ I ise the strat for slinky overdubs or whatever, then remove the track from the mix because ai hate strats. But I digress lol)

OK, Hope this helps you.

Thanks to Sweetwater who are great with checking whether you meant to instruct FedEx to not require a signature, and shipping an amp to NYC in two days!

I've had my v5 for quite some time. I found it in my friends music and pawn shop.It was brand new. I had never heard of this brand before. I was blown away at the quality and sound it produced. I am a tube amp and reverb nut. I have larger tube amps I used to use. Now I play at church, and with friends, and the v5 is perfect for this. It also has enough punch to play some gigs. I'm highly impressed with the sounds it produces. I would recommend this amp for anyone. A lot of amp for the money.

I bought this amp for y son and he loves it. He's already experimenting with different tubes in it. It's very easy to work on. It's surprisingly loud for 5 watts. Recommended.

Very good amp overall. I ordered it about 6 months ago from Sweetwater over the phone. Mr. Lively placed the order. He was helpful and congenial . good customer service. Great deal for $200.
Haven't had any problems with this amp so far. Solidly built. great clean tones and breakup. I usually play my Carvin sh445 guitar through this Bugera. The Carvin is a semi hollow electric. I think this amp conveys the great tonal characteristics of the Carvin well and adds it's own tube tonality in a compatible way.
Some have commented that this amp is dark. I agree, but it's dark in a good way. If i am in the mood for a brighter sound, I put the tone to 9 or 10 and it delivers.
My brother heard me playing this amp the other day and commented on how nice it sounds.
Great amp for blues riffing. i don't know how it sounds driving a cab. Love the reverb on 2. Attenuator is a good feature. amp looks nice too. Thanks Sweetwater and Bugera for this very good product at a very good price.

This amp is amazing. It has great tube sound. Super cleans, will break up and give a nice crunch tone. It is not for metal lovers but everyone else will be very satisfied. I have a small black star combo, a vintage 65 Super Reverb, a early 70's Kustom, a Fender Blues Deluxe and this amp. The little Bugera will hold its own with sound quality. For the expenditure it can't be beat.

I was looking for an affordable, used, all tube practice amp similar to a Polytone but I soon learned there is currently a wide choice of small tube amps designed by major manufacturers and farmed out for manufacture in the Far East at very affordable prices. So, I decided to buy new instead of used.

This little Bugera amp has all the features I was looking for and a few I never knew I needed but am very pleased they included. Most of the reviews I read were from rockers looking for overdrive and distortion but I bought this amp for clean jazz tones and it provides then in abundance. People complained it was too dark but dark is exactly what I'm looking for. My Loar LH-400 with DeArmond pickup sound amazing through this amp. The controls are simple and it's easy to dial in the sound you're looking for. The power attenuator is very useful. It preserves that sound at low volume. I play brass too and it's the amp equivalent of a practice mute.

While searching reviews, I read some comments from tube purists who dislike auto bias and tube life technology, or anything else that they feel compromises their ability to completely control power, but I also read that these are features found on some very high end amps, and I liked the idea of regulated power for clean sound and switching tubes without taking it to the shop or risking do it yourself while working on a live amp.

The reverb is completely separate and the new TurboSound speaker sounds very good. I'm loving this little gem of an amp. It's solid, very well made and feature packed. You can't find another amp that gives you more for the money. Behringer/Bugera got this one right after a few early stumbles.

I never pre-order anything in my life but this time I did and I lucked out by getting one of the apparently few amps that arrived in stock just two days later. Sweetwater was the ONLY source who had any of these amps in stock at all. The first amp arrived very quickly but with a minor cosmetic flaw. I called immediately and returned the amp the same day. Sweetwater shipped me a new amp just as quickly, no problem whatsoever. Sweetwater was excellent from start to finish.

Bottom line is, if you're looking for a small, very reasonably priced, great sounding, feature packed all tube amp from a store you can trust for excellent price and service - stop looking. This is it.

Knew it was going to be a dark amp. A Nos Tungsram 12ax7 on ebay will take care of that. Best ax7 you can get. Vintage Nos gold lion hoping the infinum will make it last. Tone tubby low watt alnico 25w hemp speaker on ebay. Had them break in the speaker. Real fun amp now. will never sell it. Need some gain to get good volume. cranked it up and it roars.

Great amp! I ordered and got free shipping from Sweetwarer and it was literally at my door in less than 24 hours from the time I called and ordered. It has plenty of volume and has a good bluesy breakup and a great tone. It has a very similar voicing to its 22 watt brother. The reverb is excellent. When you run it at .1 watts and crank it, the tone is darker, then 1 watts its a bit brighter, but cranking it a 5 watts is where this amp really shines. I leave it on 5 watts. It takes my Zoom G5 digital effects processor with a tube boost really really well! Eventually might would like to make a small pedal board (Wah, Delay, Overdrive, Univibe) to go with this amp, but for now the Zoom works great with this for portable effects. This amp takes the effects very well. It loves boosts.This will be my go to amp to bring to jam with friends. It feels super solid and seems to be just a 5-watt version of the V22, seems like it is built the exact same way. This an awesome amp! I highly recommend it. It even keeps up with an acoustic drum set pretty well, even playing clean. I haven't changed the tubes, but the new Tube Life Multiplier looks awesome! It has an light on the back that tells you when the power tube needs changed. Great job Bugera! Thanks Sweetwater!

I've had this amp for about a year now. Crank it, roll on and off with your guitar volume. Awesome breakup. I do however set the attenuator on 1 watt very often, as I live in a small apartment and this amp does get quite loud and harmonic ( love the headphone out). Boss bd2 and ds1 sound awesome with it. Speaker out gives great headroom with a bigger cab. I did however go for the hemp come eminence speaker for $60 bucks though ( very warm, lush, and bigger sounding speaker). I personally thought my turbo sound ( crap speaker) was blown with a distortion pedal, too much breakup.I like this amp so much I bought the G5 head also. Another amazing small amp. Any way, hope this helps. I would deffinatly by this or the G5 again.

If you set it to five watts, you can run loud and creamy clean and use your pedals. Or set it to lower 1 watt setting and get the amp anywhere from awesome blues fenderlike to almost marshally. The speaker matches perfect for all it does. I think it would sound great driving a bigger cab at 5 watts but I don't know myself. The tubes sound great. This thing is only $200 bucks. Just set the tone nob almost the way up.
I use a Fender Strat G-5 modelling through a TC Nova System. All my presets just sound great no tweaking. Just plugged in all gain and volume settings sound great all the way to ten. Reverb is useful up to about three before it washes out but it sounds great up to 3. I leave at 1 and it still give me a fat but still short note.
Thanks to Bugera for such an amazing little amp that is good enough to do it all. Thanks to Mark Bruhn my Sweetwater Executive for 17 years. And thanks to tubes and expired patents cause this thing is right out of the 50's from somewhere.

Got a Demo for $. After spending $$ on several used tube amps and new/used SS amps I have found Tiny Tube Jesus. Using a EQ between git and amp. Nothing more.
It kills at even 0.1 watt. I'm going to try a long plate 12AX7 and maybe another speaker. For the $$$ it is the best.

I live in an apartment, so this works great for me for practicing. Honestly I usually use headphones with this, but every now and then I'll use the .1W output level and it's fine. I have used this amp jamming with a few friends at the 5W level, but it gets overpowered by the drums, although not really what I bought it for. I bought this as an open box item, with no issues, and I'm happy with it. I don't feel the need to upgrade anything as I'll just use a larger amp when playing with other people.

Can't beat the price and for a small tube amp this is good. You can easily upgrade the tubes and speaker if you desire but this is fine the way it is. The power attenuator is just another bonus on this.

I had to downsize due to age and lack of gigs...loved my old Ampeg but couldn't haul it around any more. This little beauty fills the bill. The out of box sound (fat and round, smooth and creamy) didn't have enough attitude for my style so I replaced the preamp tube with a hotter Electro Harmonix 12AX7 and swapped the TurboSound speaker for the much-touted (and rightly so) 8" Eminence Patriot, and now I have a compact studio quality tube amp that can go either way---smooth and creamy, or pretty raw (my preference) when pushed hard. Either way, this is an impressive amp.

The onboard attenuator? Icing on the cake.

I had to downsize due to age and lack of gigs...loved my old Ampeg but couldn't haul it around any more. This little beauty fills the bill. The out of box sound (fat and round, smooth and creamy) didn't have enough attitude for my style so I replaced the preamp tube with a hotter Electro Harmonix 12AX7 and swapped the TurboSound speaker for the much-touted (and rightly so) 8" Eminence Patriot, and now I have a compact studio quality tube amp that can go either way---smooth and creamy, or pretty raw (my preference) when pushed hard. Either way, this is an impressive amp.

The onboard attenuator? Icing on the cake.

This is my first tube amp I've owned, though I've had the pleasure of playing thru a few others throughout the year. Coming from an OG Fender Mustang I modelling amp, the thing that really stands out here are tremendous clean tones. In an apartment-living, the variable power select from 5 watt to 1 watt to .1 watts is a great feature. 5W is loud enough to annoy the neighbors :) 1 and .1 keep it reasonable.

This thing rocks!

I picked this up when I got my first intermediate guitar (Fender Player HSS). I wanted a tube amp but I don't have a ton of money or time to invest in playing right now, so the price was a real plus. Along with that, I (and my family) really like the attenuator switch that lets me keep the same gain settings and reduce the output to 1W or .1W (remember you are still putting the same stress on the tubes).

It sounds great out of the box - you will see a lot of reviews talking about upgradng the tubes. Do that if you can - tubes are really hard to come by right now because of the war in Ukraine, the best ones are made in Russia. I also like the built in reverb - it's digital so doesn't match the tone of a good pedal, but for a beginner in their bedroom? Perfect.

It probably doesn't match with my Fender really well, since the Fender's strength is it's single coil clear tones on the neck and middle pickups and the tone on this amp starts to break up at fairly low gain and volume. But the aforementioned tube upgrade helps with that, and I have an HSS, so I can always drop it into position 5 and use the humbucker bridge pickup only and it shines a little more. That's a really long way of saying this amp would be better with a Gibson/Epiphone SG or any guitar with dual humbuckers.

Overall a nice little amp for the price! Simple, good sound and looks good too.

The forums are correct that the 12AX7 tube needs to be replaced to get anything out of the tone knob. The amp is really dark with the provided tube. Once I put a new tube in (5 minute job) the amp came alive. The power attenuator is really good too. Can play with good tone at low or even very low volume. Quality appears great so far and the amp looks good too.

I own several decent and loud tunes amps. Unfortunately my neighbors don't enjoy them as much as I do! This put me on the search for a bedroom banger that would inspire me to keep practicing at home. In my search I found several... that I liked. I settled on the Bugera due to the low cost and features Of a headphone jack and attenuator. It had consistent reviews so I figured I'd give it a go despite a few negative comments.

After about 10 minutes of playing it out of the box I was a bit uninspired by it, but figured it would still be ok for practice. Plus it's a tube amp for $... I definitely heard the cons that were in some previous reviews such as... non versatile tone knob, fizzy gain, and closed off sound from the speaker. THEN I did a quick tube swap with some unused pre and power Sovteks I had. It was like a completely different amp!! I plugged in my nice studio headphones seeing as the headphone jack was the selling feature. It sounded even better and allowed me to hear what the amp itself can do. With the headphones in I also found the tone knob useful. Without them you have to dime it to get a usable tone and even then it's not that bright which is what I prefer. I still don't love the gain knob and feel it's a bit to fizzy, but the cleans are killer and with the attenuated on 1 and the volume cranked it starts to naturally break up. I I then let my pedals do the rest. This leads me to believe that a quick speaker swap will do wonders for this amp...

I have had this for about a week now and I have been able to practice about 200% more using the headphones or the attenuator at 1 watt. Great tone without ticking off the neighbors. Once the speaker swap is done I have a feeling it will be even better. In conclusion... This little guy has its limitations but if you're willing to invest... in simple part swaps this ones a keeper!

My wife and I took up guitar last year and we got everything we needed, we don’t know a lot about playing or are experts but sometimes it’s obvious to tell a difference. She has a Marshall solid state amp, and I had an Acoustic brand solid state. Her Marshall 15R is nice, the Acoustic Lead 20 was almost impossible to get a smooth clean sound, or anything that wasn’t muffled Without blowing the windows out. I have been pining for a tube amp for awhile and decided to take the plunge with the Bugera V5, mainly because what I had heard of it being good, and also it is a little deeper sounding. I have a Stratocaster with Deluxe Drive pickups, and a Les Paul Jr with a Tonerider Vintage P-90. What other people have said on here is absolutely true in my case, single coil pickups are a dream through this amp. I can see where Humbuckers would be muddy and too deep and need the tone turned way up. But for my purposes having it deeper is perfect. Plus customer service at Sweetwater with Shawn was excellent. Will definitely return if we need more stuff. Thanks.

I was looking for a small tube amp that I could play in small rooms for semi acoustic gigs. I've owned Blues Jr's before and they're great but I didn't want to spend that much $. After a bit of research I decided on this V5. I spoke with a few people who already owned them and they all raved about them so I decided to get one for myself. When it arrived I plugged it right in and I was very pleased with the amp. It's definitely loud enough for a small room gig and it breaks up nicely when the gain is turned up. My only issue with this amp is that there is not a line out option. I can always mic it if I have to but that's just one more thing to set up at a gig. Otherwise this is a great little amp. Don't let the label fool you.

The Bugera V5 Infinium is an outstanding low-priced Class A amp, perfect for home practice and with the power attenuator kicked in, you won't be waking up the family (or the neighbors) if you get inspired late at night.

I have no complaints about the sound. I have a variety of guitars and they all sound pretty good through this amp. I'm not a huge fan of the reverb, but then I wasn't expecting a lot. It's adequate, though, and I'm OK with that.

The amp takes pedals well, too.

I was in the market for a good practice /grab and go type amp and didn't want to spend the money on a Princeton or something along those lines. I didn't really want a solid state amp, so after reading the reviews, I decided to take a chance on this one and I'm satisfied.

This is an awesome little amp..
Blues / Rock it"s good to go...
Into vintage or not Gotta love ""this amp..
My only issue is that it don"t have a line out to the PA...
Rock on though a mike will work perfect..
Pedal power..go for it ...it loves pedals ..
Thx Guys I had to get it out ... Peace

After many years playing acoustic guitar, I decided to give "electric" a try. My son, a consummate player recommended Sweetwater and the Bugera Tube Amp. The amp came as scheduled and it has been a blast exploring. It has met my hopes and expectations and I have been playing it everyday since delivery. This order has been my first experience with the Sweetwater company and, wow, their customer service is without equal. A couple hours after I had ordered the amp, Chris, a Sweetwater company rep, called to welcome me to the company and to introduce himself as my personal rep to the company! Additionally, because my son had done business with Sweetwater, company rep Chris made a point to also call my son to thank him for recommending Sweetwater. It doesn't get better than that for service. I love this tube amp and look forward to playing full speed ahead!

Gave it a 4.5 due to it was a little noisier than expected. You know tube amps have a little rattle to them. But seems to subside after a minute of playing. But still has great tone and volume for a little amp. Had to get a distortion pedal to have more on that area. But that was to be expected. Still a great buy. Again Jason Kovac is the man.

I bought this to play around with and practice at home. Also I have been interested in the whole Bugera movement for some time. I intend on buy one of the bigger models but wanted to see if this smaller, less expensive one was all I've heard about them. I have been wanting to get back to an all tube amp for a while and their Infinium system that claims to maximize and help regulate the tubes sounded like a good thing to bring me back to using them. I must say that both the clean and gain settings deliver that sweet and rich tube sound I remember and have been missing. I wish that it had a little more gain behind it but it only claims to be part their "vintage" series (with more gain to be had on some of the other series) so I really can't complain. And though I would like something that would break up a bit more, it seems to break up as much or more than a Fender sort of equivalent. I also wish that there was a way to go from clean mode to gain mode with a foot switch but the only way to do so is by changing the settings with your hand or either playing a song in one mode or another. Yes you could do so with a stomp box of some kind but that seems to nullify what most people would want to use this for, which is the sort of distortion that you get specifically from a high gain tube. But then it never claimed to be a 2 channel amp and I probably should have looked closer and noticed this myself. Another great feature is that you can change the power settings on the back. If you should live in some place that requires that you watch your volume you can turn it down to one of the lower settings. But this allows to to still get great overdrive when you crank it up and crank the gain up at low volume. All in all, I like the sound of it and am glad I got it to record with and play at home. Hats off to my rep Drew for being very helpful with my whole order and making sure that everything got shipped to me pronto.

Great practice amp and breaks ups nice on 5 watts. Can't beat the price for 200$ for an all tube amp.

It's exactly what I wanted, it's Loud but because of where I live I can't use it after 8pm

I'm enjoying having a tube amp small enough to use at home without blowing out all the windows. So far I'm taking the advice of others and just turn the tone knob all the way up (max treble)
This works fine and I don't need any other fixes. I'm mostly play my Les Paul through it and love the sounds I'm getting!

After researching a lot of small amps in this class, I ordered a Bugera Infinium V5 and found it to be a surprisingly robust amp with a bluesy tube sound. Don't believe all the hype about so-called 'upgrades' with other tubes and speakers. Those mods will change the sound and tone, but not necessarily to everyone's satisfaction, either. I experimented with these recommendations, and found the amp sounded better to me just the way it was equipped from Factory. In short order, this amp did renew my interest in tube amps, even though mostly on the 5W setting. The 1W setting was OK, and the .1 setting was really more for super-quiet usage and might best be described as 'anemic'. The amp also features a headphone jack, which is handy. Headphones don't accurately capture the tone, though. If it's your only amp, that option may be useful at times. Anyway, I eventually traded The Bug - along with a guitar - for a gently used Supro Delta King 10 Tube amp....a much better, albeit pricier warm tube beast. The DK10 is also 5 Watts, but sounds way bigger with more clarity. In all fairness, it also has a larger 10" specially designed speaker. For anyone just wanting a decent, small tube amp, though I would still recommend the Bugera at its current price point. If you want to make it sound better, simply buy an inexpensive Boost and/or EQ pedal like The Spark from TCHelicon or even the EQ700 from Behringer ($25). Pedals allow capability to tone shape this amp for different guitars. If you want a small Solid State alternative, to me, it's damned hard to beat the Fender Champion 20 or 40 in this price realm.

I have been a guitar hobbyist for a longtime but have never owned a tube amp until finally decided to dip my toes into the tube amp ocean and order the Bugera V5. My Service engineer Jordan Clohessy was helped me decide between the two popular low watt tube amps. He said the Bugera would be good if I wanted a "Fender" type of sound as opposed to the Blackstar HT1R Mark II which he said would have more of a "British" sound. He said both would play well with my guitars which have single and humbuckers.

The amp looks really good in person and is very compact in size. It came in a nice double box which arrived intact. After a few days of breaking the speakers in I can honestly say that this amp sounds, well, like an amp. You plug your guitar in, flip the power switch to on, wait for the tubes to warm up and then you get some very bright clean and crisp clean sounds that are absolutely consistent with the 8 inch speaker that is onboard. It took me a while to figure out that you have to twiddle with both the gain and the master volume to get the desired clean and overdriven sound. I don't know why some internet reviewers say that the amp sounds muddy. The reverb is OK. The tone control seems changes the amount of brightness. The power enumerators work really well if you need to keep the volumes down (which I do).

How does it compare to my other amps?

Older Blackstar ID:Core 10: Not a fair comparison but when the amps are both set to "clean" the Bugera sounds fuller than the ID Core 10. This is probably due to the small speakers. It is definitively louder.

Boss Katana-50 MkII: Another unfair comparison but when both are set to "clean" the Katana has a much fuller, warm and better low end sound that the Bugera. This is certainly due to the 12 inch speaker on the Katana.

The last test i did was the "family" test. I plugged all my guitars into the Bugera (5 different electric guitars) and they could not tell the difference between each guitar. They all sounded the same to them which makes perfect sense because at the end of the day the amp is taking the electrical signal from the pickups and converting it into sound energy through the amplifier circuitry and the speakers. This is why I am saying that it sounds like an amp. I generally agree with them. Differences are hard to hear and very subtle. You really have to twiddle with pick up selection and tone controls in the guitars to make them sound different.


I overall like the amp and will use it when i am in the mood to hear nice and clean and bright tones. Have I been converted to tube amps? Not sure but wish a had budget to try one with larger speakers and more controls onboard like the bigger V22 1 x 12.

Thanks for reading

A great little amp with some power if needed. Perfect for playing quietly at home. Needed to exchange the speaker due to it being to muddy. Quick fix! Great amp.

This amp is about ok in stock form. It is like most people have said, dark and muddy. If turned up at the higher levels it sounds better but in general its just gonna be a pretty dark amp. Like many things there are things you can do to make it much better and improve the overall performance. Aside from having to spend some money on a brand new item, lets go with what I've done to mine. Of the 2 things the first were the tubes as expected. I went with the JJ's like I have on my other amps. This alone is the best bang for the buck mod makes a huge improvement. It also replaces garbage tubes that were noisy as well. The other mod I did which was more money than the tubes was the eminence speaker. Another huge difference. The combo of these 2 was an awesome combo to wake this little tube amp up! I gave it a 4 based on sound after mods. if it was stock id give it a 2. I'm happy with it now though for an overall cost

Not a bad sounding amp for 5 watts. Great bedroom player,

Earlier this month, I bought this amp as a "demo deal." I thought, Why not give this a try? It arrived in all of its original packaging and was packed extremely well by Sweetwater.

My first impressions of this amp were generally positive. When I unboxed it, I couldn't help but smile, because it looks so cool. Then I turned it on, plugged in my Epiphone Les Paul, set it to 5 watts, and slowly turned up the volume and gain as I noodled. When I got to 12 o'clock, I had to stop. It was freaking loud! Then I tinkered a little more, turned the volume up and put the gain low, and I achieved some decent clean tones, for my taste. At 1 watt, it's still plenty loud, but I wasn't impressed with the sound at first. With the volume and gain cranked up, I definitely agree with other reviewers that the amp gets muddy. But after a little tinkering, I found some good sounds. Then I assumed 0.1 watt would be a joke at best, pointless at worst, but it's actually the most fun and my favorite setting so far. Using the bridge pickup in my Les Paul, with the gain at 7, tone at 10, volume at 8 and reverb at 2 suits my taste--I think it offers a really sharp crunch. Switch to the neck pickup at those settings and you'll get a warm fuzz. It sounds really cool.

But here's my gripe: The design of this amp is frustrating because the tubes are not easily accessible. They're surrounded by a cage that you have to unscrew, and it's in a really tight space. If you have big hands like me, you might have a few choice words for this amp if you ever have to switch out the tubes. Thankfully, you don't have to do that often. And although Sweetwater said the demo was in "perfect working condition," the amp hisses a little and sounds kind of jangly, so maybe I'll have to replace the preamp tube or something. But that's not a big deal. Since the demo amp was pretty inexpensive, I was thinking about upgrading the tubes anyway.

If you became interested in this amp because you read articles or saw YouTube videos that claimed this was one of the best budget tube amps, then you may also be interested in the Monoprice 5-watt tube amp, and are debating which to buy. Although the Bugera is warmer and fuller, I think the Monoprice amp might edge this one out just because of what you're getting for the money. You can't go wrong with this amp and it's worth checking out, but if you can't decide between the two, just buy both. Each offers something a little different and are great for the money.

The Bugera V5 Infinium ia a really good-sounding tube amp and a fantastic value in this price range. Solidly-built with a fine -sounding speaker, it delivers good low-end and well-defined mids.
It's weak spot is the treble at lower volumes - it's a bit weak there and, depending on your pickups, can sound a bit muddy. I placed two treble-bleed capacitors across the gain and volume pots and the low-volume sound improved tremendously. I might point out that there are mods online that would probably make this amp a real killer, but the current version uses Surface-Mount components. Unless you are completely confident in your ability to deal with these devices (or don't care about throwing $... away!) this in not a good mod-ing amp. Just an FYI...
All in all, I'm very happy with this amp and believe it will serve me well for many years to come!

Only reason it's not 5 stars, is the inherent voicing. So,there's 3 options:
1) get an eq pedal
2) change speaker
3) mod circuitry

I ended up just using a Boss GE-7,set with a V-shape,and it works great for how i wanted to run it: a clean amp for pedals/pedalboard. I set attenuator to 5w,Gain bout 6,Tone 8,Master 1-2,Rev 6..done..can't beat price n doesn't break warranty. Back to practicin..!

I own the Fender Champ 20 as well as this Bugera. The Fender was cheaper, and works well as a practice amp, but the Bugera has the tube sound so I find myself wanting to use it more often.

If you're looking for a practice tube amp this really is a great value. The simple controls do everything I need them to.

First of all, I received this amp the day after I ordered it. Fantastic order processing.
I wanted a practice amp that gave me a fat blues sound like my Deluxe Reverb, but without the ear-splitting and neighbor-offending volume. My Super Champ X2 with an overdrive pedal gave me a fat tone at lower, but not low enough levels. I hoped this amp would give me the same tone at even lower volume levels. It did. The reverb is good and the drive is good. However, as several reviewers noted, this is a dark sounding amp, even with the tone control at maximum treble. On its own, not bright enough for me. Using the tone control on my Behringer tube overdrive pedal did bring the brightness up to acceptable levels, however. There is a bit of noise on some notes which I think may be due to a cheap tube. Not enough to make me send the amp back or get another tube, though. All in all, an excellent blues practice amp that gives you excellent tone at low volume levels, when used with a pedal that has a tone control.

I own the big version of this, the v22 and was looking for a small practice amp to use at home since the v22 was way too loud for apartment use. I tried the fender mustang and a few other small ss amps but all of them seemed to be lacking in tone. After reading all of the positive reviews on this amp I figured I'd give it a chance. So far it has exceeded my expectations. I did swap the tube for a nos tung sol 12at7 which brightened it up quite a bit but haven't done any other mods or changes. At first I found the speaker seemed dark and muddy but I noticed that if I let the tubes warm up for a few the amp got much better and brighter. This amp takes pedals very well and has a great warm vintage tube tone. For the price of the amp and 15$ in tubes, this amp is perfect for what I need it for. The customer service was great and the amp made it to me in less then 24 hours after I ordered it.

Bought as a jam amp to keep at my buddies house. Very solid build. Works perfectly and surprisingly loud. I'm a pedal platform guy and to my ears the V5 doesn't sound near as "lively" as my Ht5r or Nextone, but it may just be the 8" - I'm used to 12s. I'm already plotting a speaker/tube swap (looking forward to it actually!). There wasn't a wow factor for me but I still thinks it's a great purchase.

It's a good amp for practice or for a quieter amp for home and a decent backup if my main amp needs repair which is what I bought it for. It has a decent tone. It's not a great amp but it's not a bad amp. The build quality is good and it looks nice.
Will I buy another ? No, but I don't regret the purchase.
I'm not thrilled with it but I'm not disappointed either.

I reviewed this earlier after not much playing time. When I tried other guitars through it and compared it with some of my other amps, I have changed my mind and am returning the amp. It just does not have sufficient treble and brightness. Its midrange mellow blues sounds are excellent, but you cannot turn up the treble to get a bright sound, even with a tone control on a pedal. It has a wonderfully warm big sound, but the lack of treble limits this amp. Especially with blues, you want to change your tone to vary your presentation or your practicing. You cannot do this with this amp.

The amp is nice but the reverb is weak or non-existent. I sent my first on back to Sweetwater and to their credit they sent me a new one instead of repairing it (which is all I expected). Sadly the new one sounds pretty much the same. I guess if I want reverb I should just put a pedal in-line.

Amazing sounding tube amp for 200$, if all you play is cleans and blues. The picture instantly shows you a lack of options. You have a Gain, which is not by any means a distortion. You have a Tone, which unless your playing something like bass, you want to keep from 7-10. Volume, which can make the amp pretty loud, but i never needed to crank it past 2. Reverb, which is nice, but not anything special. You also have a switch on the back to swap between 0.1 / 1 / and 5 watts. The amp looks nice, but can limit your options very quickly. For the v22 infinium being much more versatile, although double the price, would be much better to save up for than this.

Not impressed.

Amp sounded great for about a week… until the power tube went out with less than I'd say 5 hours of use in total. Poor build quality, pain to try and get to tubes based on how it is positioned behind amp, and I ended up snapping the pins off a tube just trying to put a new one in. Would not recommend.

The first one I bought was used. plugged it in, these amps have the worse "airry HISSING" I've ever encountered. Usually a bad tube. or a loose tube. It's the devil to your ears.
I bought new tubes, tightened every down, STILL hissing, rattling and nasty feedback. I took it outside and beat it to death with my Mizuno softball bat. That was ~2015.


in 2018 my brother bought me the same one. Worked great for the first month, I mean perfect!! Then? Same issues. Sent it back.

October I read all the new stuff, read all the reviews, a diff speaker, and I thought ok, let's see if these got better.
Received it....it's AMAZING.....UNTIL a week ago. Loud airry HISSING, crackling, anything description for POS will work.

I WANT TO LIKE THESE. BBult in attenuator, reverb, volume and gain. That's impressive for a 5 watt amp. But these suck. They are nothing but junk.