Did you contact music group support [email protected]?
Bart Bolton is a member here, maybe contact him.
BVV3000 INFINIUM Trial | Page 6 | TalkBass.com
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BVV3000 INFINIUM Trial
- Thread starter Saranac
- Start date
Did you contact music group support [email protected]?
Bart Bolton is a member here, maybe contact him.
BVV3000 INFINIUM Trial | Page 6 | TalkBass.com
Dear Smurf_Byte,
Please, definitely get in touch with CARE directly to see what they can do for you. They're there to help! Their full contact info is:
[email protected], 1-702-800-8290 (US) and +44 1562 732290 (UK). As I'm typing this, I see that you just PM'd Bart, which is great. I'll go ahead and post this just in case you or anyone else can use all the contact info.
Please, definitely get in touch with CARE directly to see what they can do for you. They're there to help! Their full contact info is:
[email protected], 1-702-800-8290 (US) and +44 1562 732290 (UK). As I'm typing this, I see that you just PM'd Bart, which is great. I'll go ahead and post this just in case you or anyone else can use all the contact info.
I received a prompt reply from Bart Bolton yesterday (thanks, Bart). He did refer me to the CARE group for technical assistance on this matter. At this point I just hope I can find an authorized repair facility within driving distance. The technical stuff is way over my head as this is my first tube amp experience.
Looks like I've got a 2 hour ride to the closest authorized repair center (Bronx, NY). The family has a graduation party in New Jersey in a couple of weeks, so I have warned the wife we will be making a pit stop. Details to follow when the time comes...
Sorry for the late update, but I never made the trip down to the Bronx. As we got closer to the graduation party my wife started second guessing the idea of heading to the amp shop. She put up quite the fight. With too many unknowns I started to agree. Could it be fixed? How much would it cost? Would it be reliable after the repair? Those questions plus 6+ hours of car travel when I don't have a lot of free time to do so. She made a pretty good case. So I asked "Can I just get another amp?". She said that was a better idea and I scooped up a pretty sweet deal on CL (Rumble 500 combo). So I'll most likely put the Bugera up in the classifieds for parts or repair. If anyone local is interested in a project send me a PM.
Too bad I'm living overseas...kinda like the idea of getting a cheap 2nd one to run as a slave.
One driving the 810, the other one the double-18...yummy...
Pure overkill...I love overkills...
Your rig has to be way too loud optically already, without even running...making the organizer go "Oh my gawd!" when he sees you unloading the truck...
One driving the 810, the other one the double-18...yummy...
Pure overkill...I love overkills...
Your rig has to be way too loud optically already, without even running...making the organizer go "Oh my gawd!" when he sees you unloading the truck...
I bought a new one of these a couple of weeks back for $570. Build quality and finish is amazing at this price. Perched it on top of my Bergantino HT112ER and EX cabs, connected and nervously switched on. Waited a couple of minutes and flicked the standby off. All I can say at this point is that this is a fantastic sounding amp with incredible depth which may be down to the valve power amp? I was concerned that it might be DOA but it is built like a tank. It's interesting to watch the infinium circuit LEDs flash intermittently as they continually monitor and adjust the valve bias.
To support future use I purchased some new 6550B valves. In order to test the new valves I swapped them into the head and came across a minor problem. One of the original valves had a broken central key post on the base which was left in the valve socket when the valve was removed. I had some fun and games getting the broken off key post out of the socket and although the valve was working I was reluctant to use it in the future.
I know I should probably let Woodbrass.com deal with obtaining a replacement valve but I contacted Uli Behringer (via Talkbass) and asked if he could suggest a more direct route?
Uli replied almost immediately suggesting I contact the Music-Group Care centre in the UK (Kidderminster) who should be able to help. Once I had provided them with Uli's communication and my Woodbrass invoice they kindly registered my BVV3000i for the 3 year warranty and sent me a replacement 6550B within a couple of days.
I consider that excellent customer support from the top down from an organisation that seems to get a fair amount of stick on here and a whole lot better than some of the 'premium' brands I have dealt with over the years.
To support future use I purchased some new 6550B valves. In order to test the new valves I swapped them into the head and came across a minor problem. One of the original valves had a broken central key post on the base which was left in the valve socket when the valve was removed. I had some fun and games getting the broken off key post out of the socket and although the valve was working I was reluctant to use it in the future.
I know I should probably let Woodbrass.com deal with obtaining a replacement valve but I contacted Uli Behringer (via Talkbass) and asked if he could suggest a more direct route?
Uli replied almost immediately suggesting I contact the Music-Group Care centre in the UK (Kidderminster) who should be able to help. Once I had provided them with Uli's communication and my Woodbrass invoice they kindly registered my BVV3000i for the 3 year warranty and sent me a replacement 6550B within a couple of days.
I consider that excellent customer support from the top down from an organisation that seems to get a fair amount of stick on here and a whole lot better than some of the 'premium' brands I have dealt with over the years.
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I've never reached out to Uli directly but I have contacted the company a few times via the Bugera website for questions that I have had. The responses that I have received have always been very courteous, prompt and thorough. I'm really impressed with the Bugera products that I own and my experiences with interacting with them, while not break/fix related I'm happy to say, has been great.
*** are you doing to the amp! 
I for myself have a BVV 3000 now for a year. As I use it only in one of three bands of mine, it gets rehearsed once a week, with two gigs a month. Last fall we went on tour, 21 days, 18 gigs. I use the amp with a Tecamp L 810", sounds killer!
There was no problem until now. I don't have a top case for the amp. So I wait until tubes cool down , then wrap it into an old army blanket. This is enough for me.
For the price it is a steal , I love the sound. Ok, there is always my LM II for backup. I still use the original tubes, but I am thinking of going to better ones, just because I am curious.
Hoping it will not kill the cat aka amp.
So this was my first dip into aall-tube-amps, and what can I say, I am addicted.
Keeping my fingers crossed for the great amp.
I for myself have a BVV 3000 now for a year. As I use it only in one of three bands of mine, it gets rehearsed once a week, with two gigs a month. Last fall we went on tour, 21 days, 18 gigs. I use the amp with a Tecamp L 810", sounds killer!
There was no problem until now. I don't have a top case for the amp. So I wait until tubes cool down , then wrap it into an old army blanket. This is enough for me.
For the price it is a steal , I love the sound. Ok, there is always my LM II for backup. I still use the original tubes, but I am thinking of going to better ones, just because I am curious.
Hoping it will not kill the cat aka amp.
So this was my first dip into aall-tube-amps, and what can I say, I am addicted.
Keeping my fingers crossed for the great amp.
I agree. It's odd that these reports don't contain one picture of a NAD. You'd think the owner would be proud and posting pics.
No pics no amp.
Bugera does a lot of tube testing. Vibration testing also. Even Uli has stated that they don't ship well.
Just think, tubes that fail Bugera testing are sent back to the tube factory to be resold elsewhere.
Just think, tubes that fail Bugera testing are sent back to the tube factory to be resold elsewhere.
Absolutely. This type of tube fracture occurs occasionally if the tube socket is a bit on the tight side. It is not a reflection of the quality of either amp or tube. It's just one of those things and I only posted the picture to prove that I am not a liar and do own a BVV3000.
When I was swapping the output valves to test them I got to really dislike the sprung retainers. I did a bit of research and learnt that these can scratch the valve glass sometimes leading to premature failure. Ampeg has now reintroduced Birtcher style tube clamps to its Heritage SVT CL head and they are available as a retro-fit kit part number 2040884 which fit the BVV3000 perfectly too. So I bought them and fitted them without a problem.
I have also provided dimensions to Phil at Hotcovers who has made a lovely padded vinyl cover for £39.50 delivered.
Total cost so far = £369.53 for amp, plus £105.95 for spare set of six 6550 valves, plus £64 for valve clamps, plus £39.50 for cover = £578.98.
I have also provided dimensions to Phil at Hotcovers who has made a lovely padded vinyl cover for £39.50 delivered.
Total cost so far = £369.53 for amp, plus £105.95 for spare set of six 6550 valves, plus £64 for valve clamps, plus £39.50 for cover = £578.98.
I bought smurfbyte's broken one from him and it should arrive tomorrow.
I will tear into and see if I can get it to function as is or I will tear the auto biasing stuff out and make it into a straight forward amp, unless there's a blown transformer or something like that.
I will update
I will tear into and see if I can get it to function as is or I will tear the auto biasing stuff out and make it into a straight forward amp, unless there's a blown transformer or something like that.
I will update
Shame to lose the auto bias capability as that is the unique selling point of this amp. If that is reliable then it makes owning this amp very economic to run.
if it's not too much trouble would you do a pictorial? Not too many specifics to avoid encouraging amateur foolhardy diy, but enough to get a sense of the work involved in setting aside the overreaching computerised stuff and installing plain old bias pots.
I totally agree, the cost of tubes alone could be as much as this amp costs.
But it's interesting.
It's a $600 amp.
You couldn't build an amp buying the parts yourself. Bugera has gathered the parts all together in a working head. If some tech types snap these up and hotrod them they could be a popular hotrod platform. It's got a good chassis.
Sometimes hotrodding doesn't improve the amp but it can give someone what they think they want. Some who just hate solid-state for the hate of it, might be willing to pay somebody to rip out the Infinium. Other things would change like the response of the amp, i.e. the +- 20% spec of the tubes would show up.
Many average techs are not going to have access to Bugera schematics or custom parts in the Infinium, and if it comes down to shipping to Bugera or having a local tech fix it, or post warranty fix, I bet this kind of surgery might become popular.
In the history of amps, there are some popular makers who got their whole start hotrodding and customizing other brand amps. The secondary market for a hottrodded amp could be more than the originals. Could be interesting to see a few tech types buying these second hand and hotrodding them.
