PSA: Methinks Amazon's algorithm has gone squiffy (Bugera content)

themeinside

Just a heads up for anyone in the market for one of these- says there are 2 in stock, though i'm sure that when someone buys one it'll jump up to a more normal price again. I'm tempted myself, but i've not played one in person, and I know that Bugera have had some pretty massive reliability issues in the past...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bugera-333-212-INFINIUM-BUGERA-Amplifier/dp/B007KZQMNC

ICBM

themeinside said:

Just a heads up for anyone in the market for one of these- says there are 2 in stock, though i'm sure that when someone buys one it'll jump up to a more normal price again. I'm tempted myself, but i've not played one in person, and I know that Bugera have had some pretty massive reliability issues in the past...

I wouldn't say that. The reliability issue - the only one of any significant reporting I know of - was minor and although it stopped the amp working, was very easy to fix with no new parts required... simply to cut off a burned-out jumper connector and solder the wires directly to the board. There may be other faults but that's the only one that was common, as far as I know.

That price does seem insanely low even for a blow-out on something which didn't prove popular, but who knows!

themeinside

@ICBM It would still be beyond my skills to fix xD

ICBM

themeinside said:

@ICBM It would still be beyond my skills to fix xD

Not saying it is - just that Bugera aren't exactly known for 'massive reliability issues'. (As far as I know.) There was a lot of reporting of this particular problem initially, but in fact it was sorted out fairly quickly and I haven't seen any other problems with them either. In fact I would say their build quality is significantly higher than quite a few much more 'premium' brands.

Now a Marshall DSL/TSL100 which has a tendency for the main board to catch fire, that's a massive reliability issue! And it still affects only a small proportion of amps really - but I've still seen more of them than all the Bugera faults put together.

simonk

Didn't this happen same time last year and again more recently? It'll let you add it to your basket but not checkout.

RedRabbit

simonk said:

Didn't this happen same time last year and again more recently? It'll let you add it to your basket but not checkout.

I tried buying one last year and ended up contacting Amazon trying to get it sorted.  They said the price was right and that the glitch was in the delivery options.  They message me a few days later to tell me it had been sorted but, surprisingly enough, the price was back to normal as well.

timhulio

Yep, this would have been handy to test pedals in the office. However it won't let me complete checkout either!

hywelg

It's not available to buy. I tried, says it won't deliver to my address. I opened a case with Amazon and they say they will sort it and email me. But it's not going to happen of course. It's far too cheap. 

Voxman

themeinside said:

 I know that Bugera have had some pretty massive reliability issues in the past...

I don't know how this type of misinformation gets around, and there's been stories on various forums, but the Bugera reliability and customer service is actually very good, and better than most of the main 'name' amps.  According to several stores/amp techs I know, these are actually surprisingly well made at their price point with decent quality components and speakers, and neat/tidy finishing inside.  There were minor issues with certain tubes on some of the earlier versions, eg the first run of the V22, but these were changed for a different brand fairly soon after.  

Neil

This same amp was up at this price previously but nobody on here managed to buy one.

TimmyO

Surely this is slam-dunk false advertising? 

ICBM

Voxman said:

I don't know how this type of misinformation gets around, and there's been stories on various forums, but the Bugera reliability and customer service is actually very good, and better than most of the main 'name' amps.  According to several stores/amp techs I know, these are actually surprisingly well made at their price point with decent quality components and speakers, and neat/tidy finishing inside.  There were minor issues with certain tubes on some of the earlier versions, eg the first run of the V22, but these were changed for a different brand fairly soon after.  

Exactly - the only *fault* I know of was the filament supply connector on the earlier (and only the 100W, I think) models. I saw a few of those, but none recently or any others.

It's absolutely true that Bugera/Behringer make gear at lower prices, and often somewhat dubiously short-cut the design process by nicking other people's designs which might be part of how they do them so cheaply, but they've been good at catching problems and correcting them. Which is also unlike some other more highly regarded brands.

Dave_Mc

We do seem to get a lot of threads on Ultimate Guitar by people with faulty ones. But that may well just be a function of how many are bought.

Didn't the early ones have a clip that went on fire or something like that? But I think they did fix that.

I've never tried them so I have no idea what they're like. If that Infinium thing works though, especially at that price point, that's pretty awesome...

ICBM

Dave_Mc said:

Didn't the early ones have a clip that went on fire or something like that? But I think they did fix that.

Yes, that's the filament connector fault. It was too low a current rating so it would overheat, arc and burn itself out.

I don't actually know how they've fixed it since I've never seen one of the upgraded version for repair - I assume they've used a heavier-duty connector.

Jetfire

So if you ignore the fact they could kill you, do they sound ok?

ICBM

Jetfire said:

So if you ignore the fact they could kill you, do they sound ok?

They can't kill you. Or not unless someone dropped one on your head from a great height .

Unlike some US-made boutique products I've seen which are sold here without proper EU certification...

Yes, Bugeras sound OK. Maybe not as good as some top brands, but pretty good.

Jetfire

I dunno, house fires *can* kill you..

ICBM

Jetfire said:

I dunno, house fires *can* kill you..

That amp fault won't cause a fire. For it to have passed EU certification, failure modes like that must have been checked for. The connector does not "catch fire" - when it's described as "burning out" it means that there is heat and arcing damage. There may even be smoke, but it won't set fire to anything.

In fact the failures of Marshall JCM2000 PCBs are far more serious and more likely to cause an actual fire, and even then I would say it's close to impossible, since it's contained within a steel chassis.

For what it's worth the Fender Twinolux I repaired last year had the most serious internal arcing and heat damage I've ever seen, and it still didn't catch fire in the sense of flames or being able to set fire to anything else.

So it's probably worth not exaggerating about this kind of thing.

I *have* seen speakers actually catch fire when burned out with too much power though.

Dave_Mc

^ Tell that to Whirlpool

ICBM said:

Dave_Mc said:

Didn't the early ones have a clip that went on fire or something like that? But I think they did fix that.

Yes, that's the filament connector fault. It was too low a current rating so it would overheat, arc and burn itself out.

I don't actually know how they've fixed it since I've never seen one of the upgraded version for repair - I assume they've used a heavier-duty connector.

Yeah I'm not sure either, but even in places which are sceptical of Bugeras I think they admit that's been fixed  

ICBM

Dave_Mc said:

^ Tell that to Whirlpool

That's true, although the power capability and fuse ratings in a washing machine or a tumble drier are much greater, so the fusing won't be anywhere near as effective at shutting it down before something goes up in flames.

There are plenty of house fires caused by all sorts of crappy domestic appliances, but to date I've never heard of one caused by a guitar amp. Not even AC30s .

Dave_Mc

Haha yeah