Bugera 6262 reliability and sound check 🔊

[@mxaxe5591]

Bugera's are insanely good amps. I have a 333xl that has just been an incredible amp all around. I love it🤘

[@TobiasJust]

Hey there, the 333xl is nice indeed! I always felt it sounds a bit smoother than the 6262, a bit tamed in the higher frequencies. And the in-built noise gate is definitely nice to have, too! Cheers Tobi

[@mxaxe5591]

Yes, for sure it is. It has face melting amounts of gain if you want it, but it is smoother in the top than say the 6505 + , which I also have. I dont own a 6262(yet, lol), so I cant compare it to that, but knowing how close it is to the 6505's I can definately agree with you. 🤘🤘🤘🤘

[@charvelguy]

The 6262 flat out rips. picked one up with a Randall rs412 cab for 400 US. Incredible value. The presence control is very responsive. I prefer it over a Peavey 6505 or 6505+

[@bernieboi8943]

lol dude i got the exact same setup. its rly good for the money, cant beat it. Got an infinium version though.. doesnt even need pedals tbh. the gain stage is so fking great. I also had a Randall Diavlo RD100 next to it... the randall wasnt as great. sounded tiny . the bugera fills up the whole room so much better.

[@jorbv8]

Got mine about 9 months ago off market place for $250. it fizzed out last week so I took it to my amp tech, he replaced 4 of 6 preamp tubes with russian ones and man it screams, the amp service and repair cost me $355... He had a 5150 6L6 head ready to go and he said the Bugera sounds just like it... Super impressed with this amp even though I don't have the foot switch, theyre so fukn hard to get in Australia.... Cool video mate, Rock On 🤘 Oh, I'm going to borrow my mates 6505 head, ABY them for comparison

[@countzero5150]

That seems a but steep for just changing preamp tubes, did they do any other work? I actually prefer the sound of the 6260 to the 6505/5150. I have mostly Marshall's now, jvm210, jcm2000, jcm800 but I still have two first gen 6260s (modded and unmodded), they hold their own.

[@jorbv8]

Yes, the tech did a full service & clean, tubes are really expensive here in Perth so the amp is a keeper now, lol. I'm a Marshall guy also, JTM45, sold the Kerry King JCM 800 and the classic VS100 heads and bought a Ceriatone hot rodded Marshall, a 100w Leviathan and man it is the bees knees. Keep Rockin' bro🤘

[@meagainokay7673]

Dude, that's pretty cheap considering the price of tubes here in Oz. Good choice mate. I've had my Bugera 333xl infinium for about 6-7 years now and haven't had to do anything to it. Now you had it serviced it should last you a long time. Keep rockin' bro!

[@countzero5150]

@meagainokay7673 the 333 is a great amp. I remember when they first came out, I had a XXX at the time (which I still have) and I remember listening to the 333 and being bummed, had me thinking, "Aww man, this knock off of my amp sounds better than the real amp." Honestly I feel that way about a lot of the bugera stuff. It's the reason I've never felt inclined to replace the 6260s. I think they sound better than any of the 5150s and 6505s I've had.

[@jorbv8]

@@countzero5150 before I bought the amp I checked out Ola's review of a 6262 vs a 6505 and a 5150... I'm happy with my choice, the 6262 is a beast of an amp for the money 🤘. Rock On mate

[@TheRosswise]

I bought a 1990 in 2010. It came out of the box biased extremely hot, like 3x what it should have been. So I had reliability issues at first, and if I hadn't fixed it I have no doubt that amp would have quickly had some catastrophic issues. Fortunately I fixed it, as I have a bias probe. It hasn't given me a problem since then in 12 years.

[@countzero5150]

I have a 6260 that was much the same. Came with the bias set to well over 90% dissipation, it's a miracle they didn't catch on fire. If rumor is true, some did and it's no wonder. I suspect a lot of reliability issues in the first gens are because of that, because internally there's nothing that is any better or worse than other chinese built amps. I tell everyone that buys a used one now to buy an octal bias probe and just throw bugera's biasing instructions in the garbage.

[@JosephCee]

Bugera is truly an underrated brand. They make quality heads and they're super affordable. Ive had the G20 Infinium for 3 years and I LOVE it. I actually bought a EVH III 50 watt and returned it after one day because I didnt like it as much as my G20..yes seriously, now I only trust Bugera. I think the 6262 is going to be my next head, especially since Sweetwater just lowered the price on it.

[@TobiasJust]

That's true! I mean they still have to use cheap parts but they do sound incredible for the price

[@R.Stridstrom]

I got the T50. What a great amp. Shure, the 2nd channels distortion may be an "aquired taste", but the amp is so tweakable, and the clean is killer. Great for pedals too. I am arguing with myself if it would be wiser to get anorher, or get a 333XL.

[@nicksherman88]

Can you please do a side by side comparison with the 6262 vs the peavey invective? Thanks

[@malstone7272]

Thanks for taking the time to make this video. It's rare to find an in depth, long term review of this amp. I have the same 6262 dated 2005. I bought it second hand and its worked fine, though I don't play it for long to prevent any issues. Could you give any more information on the 'clip' you stated may need replaced? I'd like to locate it and have it tested. Many thanks Tobias.

[@TobiasJust]

Hey there, much appreciated! AFAIK there is a red power cable on the backside of the amp, it seems it's plastic clip/connector was melting... Some people complain about these clips which are not soldered, but it also makes it easy to change them if needed. There should be videos on KZbin on how to fix this. Thanks again for your comment!

[@malstone7272]

Excellent Tobias, I'll definitely have to investigate and assess this for the long life of this amp. Thank you for getting back to me and good luck with your channel! Subscribed 4Lyf

[@thestrum71]

Had a 6262 once on a show in Berlin, was used by 3 bands, and stayed on, like in 'on', for 6 hours, no problem. Same thing with the Trirec that same night. They delivered. Friend of mine, Shawn from Total Chaos used a Bugera for 2 months on a Europian tour, never had a problem with it. Now I do prefer higher end amps alltogether, preferably Mesa's, the Bugeras get the job done. Still using that 6262 anf Trirec at home, many years later, still no problem.

[@RKDriver]

Love my 6260 Infinium. I've tried out all kinds of tubes to experiment and the Infinium circuitry works perfectly for that. I currently have 2 stock Bugera 6L6 and 2 JJ 6L6 power tubes and get it very nice tone with that combo. These 120w amps are LOUD AF, but you can play them at a bedroom level and still get great tube tones.

[@TobiasJust]

Yes they do sound great in bedroom level, sometimes being a little harsh in the higher frequencies... On bedroom levels I use a passive eq to gently roll off the top. That's some sort of secret weapon

[@vanespedals1023]

Did you had any problems with mixing different brands or tubes?

[@stoveberries]

I don’t have mine anymore but when I did have it I did a mod to add a resonance control and it transformed the amp. Really helped fill the sound out. The only reason I sold it was the fact it was not unusable at home and the master volume on my trirec was much more home friendly.

[@TobiasJust]

Resonance mod sounds great on the Bugera - how much did you pay for this mod? For live situation you can get around with less bass as it will mess with tha bass guitar anyway, but at home I always felt it lacks some balls. Guess my warranty is over after 11 years, so a resonance mod might come in handy. :)

[@stoveberries]

Hey buddy, I was hunting for mods on the amp as I like to tinker, I found a guide on ss.org that showed you how to do the mod, it’s very simple to do as it requires a new pot some wire and a soldering iron , all you are doing is replacing one of the resistors on the front panel board with the pot and cable, then you can mount the pot where required. It took me about 30 minutes and it really helped get that thonk lol. www.sevenstring.org/threads/bugera-6262-333xl-resonance-mod-how-to-docs.293683/ , if the link doesn’t work Pm the op and he will send you a new one. Keep riffing bro

[@guitarsolocholo4816]

Hi Tobias. I have a Bugera 6262 head that I connect to Boss GT1000 using Four cable method. The run the head out to Suhr loadbox and to DAW. How can I get some good Van Halen or 80’s hair metal tones with this set up?

[@sylvainsylvain3600]

I have been owning a 6262 2x12 combo for 5 years. The first thing I did was to swap the HPs for WGS Retro 30s. Huge improvement in sound, with tons of dynamic and low ends. The second thing I had done was the uprating of about 15 capacitors regarding the poor quality of the original ones. The amp earned slightly more precision and reliability I guess. I didn’t avoid the failure. It happened unfortunately on stage, when the infimum system went down…maybe in the order of the universe it was time for lager

[@TobiasJust]

Thanks for the comment! So this was happening with the newer Infinium line on stage? Guess there are nicer things than an amp blowing up at a gig...

[@sylvainsylvain3600]

@@TobiasJust I can't say if it was the new infinium line, I just can tell I bought the amp 4 years ago, brand new.

[@dayglo98]

Great vid ! I just brought mine back from the studio because I wanted to sell it, and I fired it up today and was thinking daaaaam ! A shame that it's too loud even at 1 for my apartment. I will try it again tomorrow with my attenuator and I might keep it after all :D

[@nomadronin7361]

Did you try pulling two of the power tubes and running it at 60 watts? You can pull either the two inner or two outer tubes for half power.

[@pizzaROX]

What attenuator do you use? I've seen alot of the rated for 100watt but the 6262 is 120 watt. Is that safe? Also is pulling tubes out safe to do also ? Doesnt it affect the amp?

[@nomadronin7361]

I don’t use an attenuator. I use a cheap volume box run through the effects loop which creates a master volume for the amp. Pulling tubes won’t affect the amp. The only downside is you have two open power tube receptacles that, if you have kids or animals in your house, could be dangerous if touched. Just make sure the back of your amp is covered. Other than that the amp the amp Itself will be fine.

[@pizzaROX]

@@nomadronin7361 thanks man. My attentuator question was for the other guy actually. But thanks for the info on pulling the tubes. I just heard that wasnt good for the amp. Also I think I read somewhere that having a volume knob in the fx loop is lowering the volume of the preamp section no?

[@nomadronin7361]

When you pull the two tubes you have to half your cab impedance as well. If your using a 16 ohm cab set your amp to 8 ohms, an 8 ohm cab set impedance to 4, etc. This may be why people have issues when the pull tubes, they don’t change the impedance. The volume box run through the effects loop creates a master volume for the amp. I used to use an attenuator but it colored my tone. The cheap $20 volume box doesn’t. I’ve never had an issue with the volume box either and I’ve used them for years. Actually, if your not comfortable pulling tubes, you may want to just try the volume box first. It may reduce your volume enough that you can just use the amp that way.

[@michaelmiller7789]

I had the 6260 and Trirec, loved the amps. Only reason I got rid of them is because I don’t need 120 watts of power. My PRS MT15 is a beast, I’ve read the G20 is a good mini head though. I’m sure thats a quality amp too.

[@TobiasJust]

Hi Michael, thanks for your comment! I was thinking about getting a Trirec in the past, but I never had a chance to check whether it sounds somewhat close to a real Rectifier. Can you tell me whether it sounds Rectifier-ish? I also almost got the PRS when GAS was striking, but I fell for the Invective. Guess I'm just a Peavey fanboy... But 120 watt is too much and barely twice as loud as a 15 watt amp. I bet the PRS can blow your eardrums just as easily...

[@Noscrap909]

Excellent review. Your scientific approach is very much appreciated.

[@TobiasJust]

Thank you! I was hoping that this video helps others to decide whether the Bugera is 6505-ish enough. This discussion is as old as the Bugera itself... 😁

[@pizzaROX]

I've had this head for a couple of days . It's amazing. The gain is immense. My only complaint is that its SO LOUD and theres no master volume. Definitely not suitable for an apartment hah. But definitely studio worthy.

[@bernieboi8943]

What cab u running? Got a 6262 as well and a rd100. The 6262 sounds way better for brutal tones

[@pizzaROX]

@@bernieboi8943 I have a bugera 2x12 oh most def. Extremely brutal

[@bernieboi8943]

@@pizzaROX try and upgrade the cab. I had a bugera 4x12 thought it sounded great. Nope. Got a randall cab with the rd100 and it's instant high definition. Imagine what a proper cab would do.

[@bernieboi8943]

I mean the randall cab with bugera 6262 head. Amazing

[@bigchiefsmackaho387]

I run a compressor in my fx loop on my 6260 to get a good breakup and crunch at lower volumes, its not perfect but for just playing at home its great.

[@briancooke5532]

Interesting accent, where are you from? Just curious and thank you for the comparison video!

[@The_Beautiful_People]

I have a full stack Marshall JVM 210H that I love totally....but I find myself using the Bugera 6262 with my B-52 4-12 cab more. It simply kicks ass💥

[@TobiasJust]

Great to see someone liking the JVM! Guess you're simply prefering the more american sound, just like me. :)

[@vmathias2023]

I have been looking at reviews on Bugera for some time. Love the sound but was concerned with reliability due to past issues. This video answered two questions for me. How do they sound? Holy sh!t this vid nailed it down, and are they reliable? Think I will be purchasing a Bugera head. Thanks for this awesome vid!

[@TheRosswise]

I wouldn't worry about reliability unless you get one of the really early non-Infinium models.

[@JRs-guitars]

Remember the Peavey 3120? Yep..had one. It put all others to shame! But I really want to try out the Infinium technology.

[@TobiasJust]

Why did you sell it? Heated the 3120 was a Peavey XXX with El34 tubes and new design. Sounds like a killer amp in my opinion

[@mikehartke1535]

Excellent job. Well done. 🤘🤘🤘🤘

[@TobiasJust]

Thank you!

[@w8ting2feel29]

good job nice video dude

[@TobiasJust]

Thank you, mate!

[@MaestroJericho]

I picked up a 333XL for $120 used locally and prefer it to my old JSX, I have a Mesa TC50 and PRS Archon and the Bugera hold up fine tonally. Jens Kruse isn't super far away so I kinda wanna see getting it touched up so it's basically better made lol.

[@lordapophis93]

I gotta get my hands on one of these again... I had the older 6260 but it crapped out and I never bothered to fix it and its gone now lol

[@jamesfindice2871]

Just got a 6262 from 2008. And had some trouble dialing it in but thanks to your video i got very nice tones out of it. Only problem is i can't really dial the volume higher than max 1 ( not 1 o'clock ) . Am thinkin bout getting a basic attenuator like harley benton/bugera/jettenuator. How high do you usually keep the volume on the 6262 or post gain on 6505?

[@tgchan]

If anyone wonders in 2022. You cannot buy FSB104A anywhere... so once it goes dead so is your channels switching... unless you want to do it with your hands/ Does your footswitch still works flawlessly? Do you use it often?

[@johnvalderrama9339]

my 6262 infinium is 2 yrs old and it fukn rips with the stock bugera tubes and the matching bugera 4 x 12 turbosound cab.....im fxn to retube it should be even better now \m/ ROCK ON \m/

[@TobiasJust]

Hey there, infinium is a good choice! I just love self-biasing amps. Makes maintenance almost non-existant. I also swapped all the tubes on my Bugera 6262 once, but I have to give in I didn't like the ones in the preamp section. It made the heights even harsher and more brittle. Not a huge difference, though. Give it a try! By the way, the signal flow on the bugeras is a little weird. Let me explain it to you in case you need it, might safe some headache I ran into in the past: If you take a look at your amp from the front (where you can adjust volume, equalizer), the small preamp tube on the very right is called V1. V2 is the second from far right, V3 the third and so on. The function of these tubes is: V1 Clean channel V2 Input tube (the first one your guitar signal passes through) V3 Additional gain stage V4 Additional gain stage V5 FX loop buffer V6 Phase inverter When you play in the clean channel, your guitar signal flows like this: Guitar signal --> V2 --> V1 --> V5 --> V6. (V3 and V4 are skipped, since you don't want your clean sound to be distorted) In lead: Guitar signal --> V2 --> V3 --> V4 --> V5 --> V6 (Here the sound goes through all the gain stages for maximum gain) Most people recommend you to change V1 first, because this will have the most noticable effect on your tone. This is true on amps where V1 is the first tube the guitar signal flows through. But as you can see, that's not the case on the Bugera 6262. So you should definitely start swapping V2 first and see if you like the results.If you like it, go on. But if you don't like the results, you don't have to waste money for 5 additional preamp tubes. Not to mention that tubes V5 and V6 usually don't enhance the sound since they're not really tone related. You can only mess up the sound by placing wrong tubes in these positions. It took me ages to figure this out because Bugera has no tube charts in their user manuals, so you have to contact their support for the information above. Hope this helps further shaping your guitar tone! Cheers and thanks again for your comment Tobi

[@johnvalderrama9339]

@@TobiasJust Thank you sir keep rocking \m/

[@ukmanthailand]

Sounds great

[@bigchiefsmackaho387]

Yeah, i bought a used 6260 a while back and it had a bad input and one of the switch relays has gone bad since then. I feel like i should try to get those fixed and just down trade it for something else thats NOT bugera lol. They sound great, but those issues are a bummer.

[@TheManglerPolishDeathMetal]

ill buy it

[@JohnDoe-dp7sk]

Since i bought the 6262 It was sound pretty decent and until the volume goes down where you can't hardly hear It It's always been a nuisance

[@user-hy8lc1vs5q]

Hi, do you have an example of the Yerasov bullozer sound?

[@maskeddemon8445]

I thought the Two Notes Captor has a limit of 100 Watt , but you have Two 120 Watt Heads and it seems to work. Can you tell me your experience with it. I own a Laney Ironheart 120 and would buy the new Captor X if there are no Problems with 120 Watt Amp Heads .

[@TobiasJust]

Hey there, thanks for your comment! Yes, the Captor is limited to 100 watts, but you can connect amps with more power as long as you don't crank them to the max volume. Here is something you can do to make sure to not blow the captor up, even with higher wattages: The captor has some cooling fans that automatically activate once your amp is cranked to a specific level. These fans don't need the external power supply, because they are powered by the current of your guitar amp through the speaker cable. However, this means the fans just spin if you actually play something through your amp. If you stop playing your guitar, the fans will stop spinning as well, even though your amp is cranked. If you want to make sure you're not cooking your captor, connect a 120 watt amp, play some strings with one hand and turn up the volume of the amp with the other hand. Once you notice the cooling fans switching on, you know youre getting closer to the limit. With my 100 watt Marshall the fans start spinning at around 60% of the volume, so there is still a little headroom. The more you keep cranking your amp, the faster and louder the fans get. So once your 120 watt amp makes the fans spin, you know you have a little headroom left. But don't overdo it and make sure to check whether the captor gets hot by touching the case. As long as you stick to the approach above, your captor can't blow up because you're staying below the 100 watt limits. Cheers Tobi

[@maskeddemon8445]

@@TobiasJust Thanks for the quick answer

[@opiewilcox7728]

Can you play it at a somewhat lower volume if needed

[@InTheSh8]

Hi, ja, er klingt sehr gut. Aber im Endeffekt (du magst es mir verzeihen) klingen die meisten Hi-Gain Amps so, mit nem OD davor. Man muss fast bei allen den TS davor schalten. Mein JetCity 22h klingt auch saugeil, wenn ich nen OD vorschalte. Geiles Ding, trotzdem. Ich hatte nen echten vor 20 Jahren.

[@InTheSh8]

@@TobiasJust Eindeutiges Nein! Nicht für diese Musikrichtung. Ich hab mich öfters dabei ertappt, wo ich ein AMT K-2 mit vorgeschaltetem OD am Return des JCA22h besser fand, als mit OD vorm eigentlichen Preamp dieses Amps im Overdrive Channel. Der hat schon ordentlich Headroom, aber der Preamp ist sehr bassig/fuzzy in nature. Im Musikerboard wird ja immer gesagt, so ne Art "dark Marshall" sound. Ja, er hat etwas diesen Plexi-Hauch aber auf keinen Fall so "sandig" wie ein JCM800. Sorry, dass ich diese Metaphern benutze. Ich mag auf jeden Fall den Poweramp. Der ist sehr linear und die Preamps klingen sehr geil dran, mit gutem Headroom und diesem "unteren Wumms". Preamp ist (wie schon erwähnt) eher "glasig" und 80er Rock. Da hilft auch nicht, die China Röhren auszutauschen. Viele labern, dass der mit JJs im Poweramp viel besser klingt, aber ich sehe nicht, wo der Poweramp Schwächen haben soll, hab ja direkt da rein gespielt. Im großen und ganzen ist ja auch der 5150 ziemlich fuzzy. Das ist mir zum ersten Mal aufgefallen, als ich den gegen den Savage von Engl gespielt habe (leider nur virtuell, Amplex von Nalex).

[@InTheSh8]

@@TobiasJust Wahrscheinlich sind Engl Savage und PRS MT15 die tightesten Amps, die sich jemand mit normalem Budget leisten kann. Also, schon ohne OD davor, (im Vollröhren-Bereich, sonst sicherlich schon Joyo Zombie mit "Trickserei über Dioden usw".)

[@InTheSh8]

Das ist der JCA22h mit Behringer TO800 davor (leider nur mit Handy aufgenommen!): kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpK3lo2Cr710oMk - er kann schon tight.

[@InTheSh8]

@@TobiasJust Ja, denke ich versteh, was du meinst. Dieses "Nachgrummeln". Bei manchen Passagen klingts auch sehr schön, aber nervt, wenn man "abgehakter" spielen will. Ich denke, du solltest den Amp einfach mal in Ruhe testen (wenn das geht).

[@InTheSh8]

@@TobiasJust Da kann ich dir nur zustimmen. Der Amp rockt sicherlich. Ist das denn so, dass man da einfach die Gitarre reinsteckt? Oder braucht man da auch wieder nen TS davor?

[@trueworld3857]

I would think You would get that sound going through any old amp with a metal pedal in front.

[@TobiasJust]

Do a video and link it to your comment. Would be great. 👌🤘