NAD: Bugera BVV3000

[coughingskunk]

Played a show last weekend up at The Mishawaka, opening for a bunch of killer bands, and was able to use their backline. I'm pretty sure it was Chris DeAngelis of Kung Fu that requested an SVT-CL and matching 8x10 cab I had played an SVT before and was impressed, but playing the SVT last weekend sold me. Soo.....

I've heard about the BVV3000 for a while and have been interested for the price point. I already have an svt7pro and shuttlemax 9.2 along with other various pre/power amp combos and wasn't looking to spend $900+ on a used or new SVT that I really don't need. Finding almost no bad reviews on the BVV3000, I decided to pull the trigger and see if it could live up to the SVT sound. Ordered it from zzounds on Monday and got it today, Thursday, with their free shipping. Thank god for the free shipping as the shipping weight was 80+ pounds!!

Since there are a bunch of naysayers on the Bugera stuff (and I'm skeptical, too), I decided to start this thread to share my experiences with BVV3000.

It was packaged incredibly well. Came with a power cord, instruction manual and Behringer catalog (not surprised, but why not a Bugera catalog). Some unboxing pics for ya..

I might do a short review and sound clips in a few days. I already owe @InsanityAmps a review of his awesome tube distortion pedal, so this review is just getting added to the list of things to do.

 

[Chef]

sub'd

 

[peterbright]

A review would be useful

 

[Downunderwonder]

Tubes all seated?

 

[coughingskunk]

A review would be useful

I might do a short review and sound clips in a few days.

Agreed, a review would be helpful..

On first impression, there is every bit of punch and warmth that I have experienced from the two SVTs that I have played. This is through an Avatar neo 410 with the bass at 1030 o clock and everything else flat into the -15db input with a 55-02. As much as Ive tried to get that sound from the 7pro, it just doesn't quite do it like the bugera can. As of right now I am pretty convinced that it was a good idea to get this amp. Anyone want an svt7pro? Ha

@peterbright, hopefully this will tide you over until I can play this head at practice and get a better feel for the potential (possible failure) of this amp.

--edit-- correcting auto correct

 

[peterbright]

yes it will...they look interesting for sure

 

[coughingskunk]

Tubes all seated?

Yup. Everything was as expected, if not better, when unpackaging. Worked and sounded great from the start.

I've had a berhinger headphone amp for a minute that hissed like hell and returned it no more than an hour after purchase. Trust me, I'm a skeptic and have scrunitused this amp with the best of my abilities and am slightly in awe that everything is in order.

 

[GLEN18INCHSPICA]

I like the looks of it from the front shot, the marketing photos I've seen of it don't do it justice. I had a Bugera 1960 head for awhile & had no complaints, even my vintage Marshall gear snob guitarist friend was impressed, he was saddened that I sold it but the Marshall tone wasn't my thing for bass after all. I like the look of the top handles similiar to the Peavey VB2. I look forward to hearing your feedback after you get a chance to play it some more.

 

[coughingskunk]

I like the looks of it from the front shot, the marketing photos I've seen of it don't do it justice.

I thought it looked kinda hokey in the marketing shots. I had some initial thoughts of painting the faceplate black and getting some water side decals made for it, but it looks much better in person. The silver faceplate doesn't look so...fake?

It is seriously big though. I underestimated the general size in comparison to the other heads I have..

 

[Right_Butterscotch64]

Very interesting...

 

[bobcruz]

Looks appealing cosmetically but I think I would lose that huge BUGERA logo. Looking forward to sound clips and gig reports.

 

[okcrum]

I trust that it has a fan? The output tubes are packed in pretty tightly.

 

[Rokindja]

it does. two of them. here's some gut pics

Link Removed

 

[coreyfyfe]

Those surface mount boards look like a service nightmare. I sure hope it holds up.

 

[The_Janitor]

Yeah, I've been eyeballing this thing, too. I could get one at cost and would be covered if something went wrong. It's nice to see those giant transformers in there.

 

[RoadRanger]

Those surface mount boards look like a service nightmare. I sure hope it holds up.

I think only the small autobias board is surface mount - the other(s) is/are thru-hole.

 

[coreyfyfe]

I think only the small autobias board is surface mount - the other(s) is/are thru-hole.

Does look to be the case. I guess if something shorts in the autobias board you can swap the whole thing but I still like to see things that are easily repairable by any tech in an amp I owned.

 

[RoadRanger]

Does look to be the case. I guess if something shorts in the autobias board you can swap the whole thing but I still like to see things that are easily repairable by any tech in an amp I owned.

You're just not gong to see a computerized autobias board that isn't surface mount - many of the components are ONLY available as surface mount :-( . OTOH the whole board is probably like $50 so cheaper to replace than fix anyways...

 

[coughingskunk]

Welp... no good news from me.

After playing through the amp and initially being extremely pleased with it, I brought it to practice and while my guitarist was fiddling around with the knobs while I played we found out that the unit I had was extremely noisy (humming) when the voicing selector was on anything but 5. Oddly enough, when the mid selector was at 0 or 10 the hum increased 10 fold. I called Bugera the next day and wound up talking to a tech who told me that my unit was most certainly broken based on the description I gave Not gonna lie, Bugera tech support was easily the best I've ever dealt with. He offered warranty service and was generally cool.

Got a hold of zzounds for an exchange and had no issues there, with the new unit arriving yesterday. Unboxed the new head, plugged it in and it immediately showed the same symptoms... I tried different cabs, different cables, different basses and nothing changed the hum. It was even present with no instrument attached and was directly linked to the master volume.

Based on the response from the Bugera tech, I would like to think that I received two bunk heads but I just can't really believe that. Both are now being shipped back to zzounds for a refund. Bummer cause aside from that hum it really does sounds great.

Who knows, maybe it was the batch of heads that are bad (both had the same date stamp). I really wanted to keep this head but I'm sorry I cannot live with spending my money on a product that I don't think is up to snuff.

 

[GLEN18INCHSPICA]

That stinks, I install alarm systems for a living & I've experienced bad batches of electronic components from time to time, it can really ruin my day when out on a service call or install. Too bad they cant test a head out for this same symptom before shipping, would save alot of headaches. Good luck.