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Bugera Nuke at 50,000 miles. How do you like me now?

Olde Axeman

Olde Axeman

May 26, 2010
515
305
Middle Tennessee
#1
This is more a curiousity post than anything. I jumped on the bandwagon last year when Amazon was selling Bugera Nukes for $208. Given the demurring that some TB'ers have cast toward Behringer/Bugera products in general, I was wondering how those that actually bought one of these amp heads like it now that they've had some time to wring it out. It occurs to me that it is possible that I have the only one that is still working.

For the record, my Nuke gets about 25 hours of playing time per week. Thus far I have had no failures or aberrations to speak of (knock on wood). Maybe the wiring in my house is very good, I dunno, but it has never kicked out a breaker.

The biggest "con" (for me) is the weight, almost 50 lbs. There's also only one input jack. No active input and passive input side-by-side. Not a biggie for me. Finally, as so many have opined, this amp does not produce 1,800 watts. I don't know how much wattage it does put out but I'm guessing that it is much closer to 1,000 watts. I run two 8-ohm Peavey 1 x 15's, each of which has a 500 watt power rating, and have had no speaker problems, even at loud volume levels (knock on wood again).

On the "pro" side, the tonal options are quite good. Lots and lots of knobs and switches. You can EQ for two different basses by using the base amp for one tone and switch to the graphic equlizer for a completely different tone. Great if you are using something like a Jazz bass and a T-bird interchangeably. Right now my favorite tone is to use heavy gauge stainless rounds and engage the "Low" switch on the amp. This allows a very nice combination of lows with distinct highs, a poor man's Entwistle tone of sorts.


I also like the mute button and the fact that it uses Speakon jacks, but mostly I like that I can get a very decent tone from this amp and that it hasn't laid down on me yet.

So... I'm curious to know what others that bought this amp now think of it.
 
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#2
Olde Axeman said:
This is more a curiousity post than anything. I jumped on the bandwagon last year when Amazon was selling Bugera Nukes for $208. Given the demurring that some TB'ers have cast toward Behringer/Bugera products in general, I was wondering how those that actually bought one of these amp heads like it now that they've had some time to wring it out. It occurs to me that it is possible that I have the only one that is still working.

For the record, my Nuke gets about 25 hours of playing time per week. Thus far I have had no failures or aberrations to speak of (knock on wood).
Click to expand...





I'm close friends to a music store owner that carries the usual amps, Fender, Yamaha, Roland, Bugera, ect., ect., ect.
He's sold a ton of Bug guitar amps and some of their bass amps.
He's had to do warranty service with all of them "except" the Bugera's he's sold.
Not a one has yet to come back for any warranty repairs.......
 
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#3
I'm wary of "gig free" bass amps. OP your post sounded like you don't gig your amp? Correct me if I misunderstood.
Gigging isn't going to be louder that's not my point- it's all the bouncing around from load ins and load outs.
The Bugera is a fancy Behringer- the Behringer sounds fine they just don't hold up in the gigging world.
 
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#5
I'm wary of "gig free" bass amps. OP your post sounded like you don't gig your amp? Correct me if I misunderstood.
Click to expand...

Not quite "gig-free" but infrequently gigged. I use it primarily as an in-situ rehearsal amp but it's what gets the nod for outdoor venues.

My first amp was a Behringer BX1200 and it got gigged at small venues a lot. I finally got rid of it because it had neither enough watts nor enough speaker to use live effectively. I wasn't aghast at the Behringer but it certainly wasn't a great amp.

Soundwise, the Bugera is a significant step up from Behringer but I bought it primarily because at $208 it seemed to be a great deal for a high-wattage amp. Personally, I believe that if one has a reliable Behringer/Bugera then hang onto it. An unreliable one should be sold or traded. I was just kinda curious as to how more experienced bassists than myself were getting along with the Nuke now that they've had some time with them.

Sounds like perhaps neither of you has actually used one? Correct me if I err on that point.
 
#7
Dear Olde Axeman,

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying your Bugera Nuke! I think it's great when people initiate appreciation threads - it really helps people see both sides of the coin, so to speak. If you do ever need any assistance with your amp, or any other MUSIC Group gear (Behringer, Midas, Klark Teknik, Bugera, Turbosound), you're just an email or a call away from help. You can reach our CARE team at [email protected] or call them at 702-800-8290 (in the US). Here's to many more miles!

Best regards,
Sean Fairchild
Specialist, Channel Marketing Prosumer Division
MUSIC Group
BUGERA
 
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#8
Sean Fairchild - MG said:
Dear Olde Axeman,

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying your Bugera Nuke! I think it's great when people initiate appreciation threads - it really helps people see both sides of the coin, so to speak. If you do ever need any assistance with your amp, or any other MUSIC Group gear (Behringer, Midas, Klark Teknik, Bugera, Turbosound), you're just an email or a call away from help. You can reach our CARE team at [email protected] or call them at 702-800-8290 (in the US). Here's to many more miles!

Best regards,
Sean Fairchild
Specialist, Channel Marketing Prosumer Division
MUSIC Group
BUGERA
Click to expand...
Sean,
Can Nukes endorse "The Nuke"?
Think of the irony.
It would have to be at 100% compensated level, but I'll take care of her I promise.
Nukes
 
#10
I don't own a "Nuke" but I use the BVP5500 for a few years now, great sound and it never failed. Must say I don't "gig" with it every week, but it surely runs a few hours each week.
That said, I also own a BBE Bmax-T with which I had more problems (and never used it on a gig)....
 
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#11
Arjank said:
I don't own a "Nuke" but I use the BVP5500 for a few years now, great sound and it never failed. Must say I don't "gig" with it every week, but it surely runs a few hours each week.
That said, I also own a BBE Bmax-T with which I had more problems (and never used it on a gig)....
Click to expand...


My G.K. MB2-500 head ran a little over a year before it went in for servicing.
My first Ampeg PF-500 head lasted all of 30 seconds into it's first power up and burnt out.
My second Ampeg PF-500 head lasted roughfully 5 hours when it to burnt out.
My couple of months old Hartke LH1000 head's fan has just started making noises.

Bugera's are starting to look pretty darn good to me!!!!!!!
 
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#13
Nice to hear that you're getting so much mileage out of your amp! I've always liked the idea of sticking with one amp and playing the hell out of it.
I will second the comment about it being a nearly 'gig-free' amp, but maybe the amp would've survived 50,000 miles of gigging just the same.

The only question I have is... What situation are you in that you're using this amp for 25 hours a week? Are you running a rehearsal studio? Are you teaching? I'd say that this amount of usage is enough to justify buying a (possibly more expensive?) amp with a proven track record. Why'd you take the 'gamble'?
 
#14
No, not running a studio or teaching. Just playing my azz off. I'm retired so I have plenty of time.

I play 9 hours with an old band mate from the early 70's one day each week. Him on guitar, me on bass, with an Alesis drum machine. I do small gigs with him on weekends as well that occupy another 4-6 hours. I also practice 3 hours per day another 4 days in the week, sometimes a bit more. You would think that I should be better than I am but the fact is that it takes more time to improve when you're in your 60's than if you are a bullet-proof kid. Also, never underestimate the toll that arthritis will eventually take on your motor skills.

I treat every purchase as a rental. That is, I use it long enough to see if it's a keeper or not and dispose of it on the cheap if I don't like it. I view the loss as if it were a rental unit. The Bugera has proved to be surprisingly good both tone-wise and relibility-wise. It will stay until I find something better that I like.

Eventually, I will find the "perfect" amp for me, but I'm not there yet. So far I have purchased and discarded offerings from Behringer, Hartke, Fender, Roland, Line 6, and a solid state Chinese Ampeg. That doesn't include the dozens of amps I've played in music stores. I bit on the Bugera because it was a fairly high-powered amp for just $208 delivered. Figured I couldn't lose much on it. So far, it's had the best tone of anything else I've tried. My initial query was just to find out if I was the anomaly, or if there were other users who actually used and liked the beast as well as I do.
 
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#16
I've got a Behringer BX3000T bass head. I've had it 7-8 years now, and have had no problems. This is with moderate practice/gigging. When the little red lite flashes, I turn it down a little. I'm of the opinion that those who have had problems put all the knobs on 10 and tried to rock the stadium with a 210 or 112....Or tried to use the Ultrabass somewhere above 2.
 
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#17
I have the nukes little brother as a back up , I used it as a primary for countless shows and never had a problem , then decided to go class D to save some weight (which was AWESOME, no more back strains setting up lol). I still plug the Bugera BVP5500 in at rehearsals sometimes and still works great, I also own one of their classic 55 guitar tube amps and it puts out great as well , no complaints with the bugera amps
 
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#18
Olde Axeman said:
No, not running a studio or teaching. Just playing my azz off. I'm retired so I have plenty of time.

I play 9 hours with an old band mate from the early 70's one day each week. Him on guitar, me on bass, with an Alesis drum machine. I do small gigs with him on weekends as well that occupy another 4-6 hours. I also practice 3 hours per day another 4 days in the week, sometimes a bit more. You would think that I should be better than I am but the fact is that it takes more time to improve when you're in your 60's than if you are a bullet-proof kid. Also, never underestimate the toll that arthritis will eventually take on your motor skills.
Click to expand...
Great! Very inspiring!

By the way, I have two Behringer studio monitors which have been going strong for almost 10 years. They don't get 'gigged' of course, but I have been running them for hours every single day.
 
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#19
There is also a $208 one here that works fine, has been gigged(use it for larger venue's where FOH provided). I liked it so much another one was found at discount/blowout pricing. There is also a Behringer BX1200 kickback(Hartke clone sort of) that is used when I KNOW the sound crew and our setup puts me near subs. The PA subs give me lows and the BX1200 gives me mids & highs(EQ the lows out of it so I can push the speaker if needed).

The big Bugera power test done by a TB'er is here:
http://www.talkbass.com/threads/bug...s-revealed-lots-of-pics.950405/#post-13782835
in this thread:
http://www.talkbass.com/threads/bugera-btx3600-the-nuke-mysteries-revealed-lots-of-pics.950405/
 

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