Just bought the Bugera BVP5500!

Hey everyone,

I have just signed up here to give you my impression of this product.

I know there has been many unanswered questions here about who has tried or owned the Bugera BVP5500. I found this site and others looking for the same answers you were before shelling out money for a fancy.....*GULP!!*....Behringer! I have read so many bad things from people who never even tried it out and are just simply bashing it because of the Behringer heritage, (trust me, I'm no Behringer fan either) but not much of that is present with this amp, well mostly.

This one you may already know is pretty much a Chinese made clone of an Ampeg SVT3 pro (my roommate just so happens to own that). I do have to say one thing, this really is the "poor mans SVT"! So far!

Unfortunately UPS dropped mine off just an hour before a had a gig last night so I didn't have any time to mess with it so I just still staged with my crappy Behringer 180 watt amp and that was a hard thing to do. Nice timing, isn't it?? NOT!

I play through a Peavy 2x15 cab and a Traben Phoenix bass (and an ESP F-104) i do have to say this thing is ROCK SOLID!! Though I have only clocked about a half hour on it so far i am way impressed!! (yes i know, i was playing a Behringer before...oh and still kinda play one now). Of course it doesn't advertise the continuous watts which is rather lame but it peaks out at 550. i do have to say this thing is as equally loud as the SVT in our house and yes my roommate is always gonna give me **** just simply because he owns the real thing. this amp just sounds truly AMAZING and seems to be built solid but with a couple complaints i will get to.

It scared the hell out of me because it went out on me but it just tripped the breaker on the power strip i was plugged into but plugging it straight in to the wall fixed that! there is a lot of tone possibilities to this and its just way LOUD! On the top is a vent showing the 4 glowing 12AX7 tubes (with the Bugera logo) and it is a solid state with a tube preamp but the valve drive knob puts out plenty of that nice warmth and i think i will leave mine to the max.

I really do dig this thing so far but my only worry is if this thing goes out during a gig or something. i will have to bring my back up to shows till i am comfortable with the reliability.I just have no idea how well this thing will hold up yet but if there are no problems, IT"S A WINNER! For 400 bucks the tone and power are way worth it! I did however leave the power on for a few hours to get the new tubes and everything used to working before i rocked out on it and i don't know if that is necessary, but to me that seems like a proper thing to do.

I bought mine through American Musical Supply on the simple payment plan at $133 a month for 3 months and for a new tube (pre) amp, it is painless.....well, almost! oh and there was a free extra year of warranty from AMS if that is still going on. if it ends up that this thing sucks before a month a can return it too.

For a amp at this price some things just got to give of course. The pots are plastic (so as the Ampeg but they seem more durable) and the knobs do have a bit of a wiggle when you test them but the rack handles should help protect them. For some reason the valve drive knob turns way easier than the others and i don't know if that is meant to be but i doubt it, but as far as everything else it feels solid and weighs heavy as hell and its similar to the SVT3. There were NO instructions whatsoever which i thought was way lame when you dish out hundreds of dollars for anything but it was very easy to figure out and you can print them online.

Well, i hope that answers any questions and good luck if you try one out too. I really don't think you will be disappointed.

Thanks, Bryan.

Oh and i will also check back and let you know how well it is holding up if anyone would like to know.

Bryan.

dmusic148 said:

You do know it's not a 'tube' amp, right? Tube preamp, solid state power amp. Looks nice.

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indeed it is a hybrid, i think i wrote that somewhere in my post!

B-string said:

Yes I'd like to know and I can't be alone in the need for info?

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sounds good! i have a gig on the 20th (November) and a couple practices between then so i will tell you all how good it will be on the stage!

fdeck said:

That's valid, however the SVT3 Pro is also hybrid. Behringer claims 2 tubes, and Ampeg says 5.

One always has to question what it means to say that one amp is a "clone" of another, when they are probably completely different amps behind the front panel. With that said, one could sound just as good as the other -- a matter for the ears to judge.

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yes true. the front does look very similar, but not sure about everything inside so a "clone" may have not been proper to state. but so far this thing is still going strong!

silky smoove said:

Poor man's SVT-3PRO would be far more accurate. When you simply say 'SVT' you're invariably referencing the SVT-CL, SVT-VR or a vintage all-tube SVT, not one of the modern 'PRO' hybrid amps.

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true, i did mean the SVT3 pro!

jimbilly said:

I wonder how long it will be before they make a chinese built ptp SVT type head, -just wondering. And also, I'll bet they come up with decent sounding lightweight 'neo' loaded bass cabs soon too.
I'm sure it sounds good, I've had good luck with Behringer PA stuff. But, I would be really careful changing tubes, I imagine that the tube sockets are mounted to the pc board and wiggling the tubes around to get them out would endanger the pc board.

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i hope not because i may replace the tubes sometime but most likely you are right. gotta be care ful yanking em out.

sorry guys it took so long, but i dont go on forums very much at all and i forgot i even signed up here and gave a review but here i am!

I have gigged with this thing twice since i had it and it caught fire on stage and the fire dept was rushed to the scene........Kidding!

really it has been an outstanding amp and very reliable so far and my only complaints are, well i did buy a 6 component rack case and a korg rack tuner and an alesis power conditioner and it makes this thing so bloody heavy to lug around! all that adds to the weight but most of it still comes from the amp itself. the other thing is that the eq, bright, and other buttons reset themselves each time the amp is turned off so you have to remember to press which ones you want active when you play. i went through my first gig with no eq since i forgot to hit the button and was wondering why it seemed kinda dead (but it still had LOTS of power). my second gig however it really rocked! my guitarist plays through a full stack and our other guitarist plays a half stack and it trotted along effortlessly with them! still despite the few annoyances, it is still well worth the money and has been very reliable so far! again sorry for the delay and i hope you all have been well and doing some great jammin!

Bryan.

tonight i gig with the Bugera again! hope it rocks the house!!

just gigged for the fourth time with it last night, some bassists from the other bands were very intrigued in what i was playing through and really liked the sound. i have mine dialed with a nice thick "clanky" sound sort of like Steve Harris from Iron Maiden and people had a lot of good comments on it. it didnt hold up to someones trace elliot rig last night and of course it wont but this thing was just still f#@king LOUD! Im playing through some bottom of the line 8 ohm peavey 15s (the amp does 300 watts through 8 ohms) and it scares me im gonna blow em so i am going to buy a nice 4x10 4 ohm setup soon i hope. i do have to say i am still way happy with it so far and no problems yet!! sorry again for the delay but i just have been way busy!

bryan.

P.S. it looks really nice with my setup with my alesis power conditioner and korg tuner, i will include a pic of it soon.