Bugera has the best costumer experience I ever faced. If you read up on this thread you'll see that one week after buying the amp and playing it cranked everyday one Bugera EL34 power tube got dead. I noticed a lack of power and when looking at the rear panel the Infinium valve monitoring LED for the tube number 3 was lit - everything worked as designed and I simply replaced the tube with a JJ EL34 spare I had and problem solved - no bias adjustments required, no dramas, just plug and play! It's normal for power tubes to get faulty all of a sudden - I had other amps (Marshall included) with faulty tubes on the arrival. What's not normal is the manufacturer costumer support really caring for you, even if you're just the average Joe, and treating you like a rock star. That's what Bugera did for me, in particular Shane Sipe (Bugera Product and Costumer Support) that posts here regularly - he sent me from the USA to Portugal not only one new EL34 Power Tube but a whole matched quartet personally tested by himself, plus a special prototype 12AX7D preamp tube for the phase inverter which is selected for balance and proposed use as phase inverters for a more Classic Rock tone: The package arrived to me 2 days latter after Bugera / Shane sending it (shipped by international priority) and of course he even sent Beaker to give me some help changing the tubes in case I need it! This is premium costumer service, I have several Marshalls's, Gibsons, had Fenders, Vox, have contacted them and never had any other company caring about my questions and issues like this (some of them never even bothered to reply); Bugera is not only making great amps but also investing in creating very happy costumers! As for the amp itself, my list of amps got bigger after I bought the Bugera; still the Bugera 1960 Infinium is the amp that gets more played, the cranked tone is unreal!
My mutherfucker! Doesn't get any better than that! I continue to beat the Fuck out of my 1990. High volume. All is good.
Hey Marker + Solarburn, I'm thinking of getting a 1960I. I've read the horror stories and read that they were almost always associated with the old 1960's. How well has the 1960I held up for the both of you? Are they still up and running? Also, how heavy are these heads?
The Infinium models are good to go. As far as heft? Yep. Solid. I don't find they pain me moving them though. You can look at stats. Don't know what they weigh off the top of my head.
I love the fact that the majority of people totally disregard Bugera amps. Pushes the used prices pretty low. I have the 333XL and have thought about the 1990 and the 6262. Thinking the 6262 would be similar to the 333XL but the 1990 might be worth a shot. If my Bugera died tomorrow, I'd get another in a heartbeat,
I had the 6260 head and didn't like it. Too much gain and no bite or punch. I guess I'm a British style of amp only.
Bugeras are a great value! Long gone are the quality plagued Bugera amps of the past. Their quality has improved considerably. Congrats!
After reading this post I bought a 1960 Infinium used from Musicians Friend, and it played fine the 1st time I played it. Came back several hour later to play again and noticed the front standby light flashing when turned on. (Solid when just the power is on) I checked the back and one of the tube lights is on. I know that means a bad tube from reading here, but what does the flashing standby light mean? I really don't want to return this as I love it, but I'm concerned there might be something more wrong than just a power tube.
Flashing front light warns you that you have a bad tube. Wished they just put the leds in the front. Yes I've had it happen an Bugera confirmed. That's your cue a tube won't bias. Replace it. I had to replace fuses here and there on a couple tube blows. Was easy. I've had my 1960I and 1990I for years and thoroughly beat the shit out of them at high volume. Love em. Both continue to rip.
Bad tube on a used amp that was shipped recently too isn't necessarily something to blame on the amp And if its self-biasing and tube life monitor system alerts you of that... it suggests that everything is probably actually functioning as it should. Just an old tube that didn't fare well in shipping and handling.
And I have Put quite a few power tubes in mine. Same pin out or legs that fit. Mixed too. You want to shave some power/volume? Use 6V6's. Still pretty loud.lol
Thanks for the replies. I wasn't too concerned about a tube, but the flashing standby light freaked me out a bit as I didn't see anything in the manual about it. I ended up just pulling 2 and 3 to cut power and have 6l6's on order. Been a Marshall guy my whole life and still have 2 of them. I have to say I'm really I'm really impressed with this amp. It sounds a lot like the 73 superlead I use to have. I got rid of it after replacing a transformer (TS power soak killed it), as it had lost some of it's mojo. Something I regret to this day. This is as close as I'll come to getting one again.
