This shootout was between a Bugera 5 watt and Vox AC4TV:
Okay, here goes....
I know there are a fair number of pro players on this board with megawatt heads and 4x12 cabs out the wazoo. So you may or may not be interested in this review. Cool, but for anyone wanting to get a real bedroom amp here is my experience.
Bugera:
$150. 5 watt, vol/tone/gain/reverb. 1x8 combo, Bugera speaker. EL84/12AX7 tubes. Attenuator allows for 5, 1 or 0.1 watt out. Headphone out.
Vox:
$250. 4 watt, vol/tone. 1x10 combo, Celestion speaker. EL84/12AX7 tubes. Attenuator allows for 4, 1 or 0.25 watt out. 16 ohm external speaker out.
Both combo amps were demod with a Hamer USA Special FM with 2 buckers, bridge WCR Fillmore and neck Bare Knuckle Mule.
For me:
The Bugera had a headphone out which was nice (but Im not a can man). Decent, but to me a compressed sound (and not in a good way). Tinny and shallow sound, if that makes sense. The clean wasnt bad, just not good. The reverb was digital and it sounded like it. Not good. The gain was pretty much the same. A little was good, but beyond say 3 not so good. Changing pickups was kinda blah.
The Vox was very responsive and organic sounding. Tube saturation was incredible, exactly like what I was hearing in my head. Where this amp really shined was at the lower power settings. Living in a duplex, I cant always crank the volume, but on the 1 watt and especially the 1/4 watt settings the Vox killed the Bugera in tone. And the pickup selector switch just made such a difference with the Vox. The different characteristics of the pups was crystal clear with Vox.
$250 for a 4 watt amp sounds nuts. See the smile on my face? Its still there. All I can say is try it before you buy it. The Vox was worth every penny to me.
Okay, here goes....
I know there are a fair number of pro players on this board with megawatt heads and 4x12 cabs out the wazoo. So you may or may not be interested in this review. Cool, but for anyone wanting to get a real bedroom amp here is my experience.
Bugera:
$150. 5 watt, vol/tone/gain/reverb. 1x8 combo, Bugera speaker. EL84/12AX7 tubes. Attenuator allows for 5, 1 or 0.1 watt out. Headphone out.
Vox:
$250. 4 watt, vol/tone. 1x10 combo, Celestion speaker. EL84/12AX7 tubes. Attenuator allows for 4, 1 or 0.25 watt out. 16 ohm external speaker out.
Both combo amps were demod with a Hamer USA Special FM with 2 buckers, bridge WCR Fillmore and neck Bare Knuckle Mule.
For me:
The Bugera had a headphone out which was nice (but Im not a can man). Decent, but to me a compressed sound (and not in a good way). Tinny and shallow sound, if that makes sense. The clean wasnt bad, just not good. The reverb was digital and it sounded like it. Not good. The gain was pretty much the same. A little was good, but beyond say 3 not so good. Changing pickups was kinda blah.
The Vox was very responsive and organic sounding. Tube saturation was incredible, exactly like what I was hearing in my head. Where this amp really shined was at the lower power settings. Living in a duplex, I cant always crank the volume, but on the 1 watt and especially the 1/4 watt settings the Vox killed the Bugera in tone. And the pickup selector switch just made such a difference with the Vox. The different characteristics of the pups was crystal clear with Vox.
$250 for a 4 watt amp sounds nuts. See the smile on my face? Its still there. All I can say is try it before you buy it. The Vox was worth every penny to me.