V22HD Infinium 22-watt Tube Head Review

Incredible and affordable pedal platform amp

I have owned a V55 in the past, so I already knew when ordering this what to expect. This amp is an absolutely fantastic clean pedal platform. The clean channel is fantastic on it's own, and it takes low to high gain pedals perfectly. The EQ and Presence controls have a good useable range and allow you to tailor the amp to your pedals and your cab (or your IRs for recording).… read more The gain channel, much like the V55, I do not like much at all, but I didn't buy it for that. The built in dirt just pales in comparison to my actual dirt pedals, some of which at the moment are a Friedman BE-OD and a Wampler Pantheon. This thing pairs up brilliantly with a Two Notes Captor for direct recording. Use whatever speaker cab IRs you want with it, and go crazy. For playing through real cabinets, it's decked out with a 4/8/16 ohm switch so you can use the the V22 with ANY cabinet configuration you've got. It really is a steal. Knobs feel great, and easy to see at a distance, which is important to me. Built well. The only complaint I could come up with is I don't like the gain channel, but again, who cares? It takes pedals brilliantly. Stock tubes sound fine to me. Total bargain. If the Bugera nameplate bothers you, snap it off and glue a custom plate on there and make it look super boutique.

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Amazing

I've been noodling around with this thing for a week now, and I was real skeptical up until tonight. A lot of people say the gain channel doesn't sound any good; and if you don't dial this thing in right, it doesn't. Rule number one, the master volume is always cranked no matter what. A lot of people, myself included, expect to crank the pre amps for the tube tone, and use the master… read more to control the volume. You need to do the opposite. Master cranked, match the clean and gain channel volumes. Now, the trick for the gain channel is that you've got to have the gain volume at about 3.5 or 4 to juuuust start breaking up the preamp. At this point, even in triode mode, you're getting loud. Set the gain how you like it. I've found that as you increase the gain channel volume, you can decrease the gain and still maintain that beautiful tube tone. This amp is absolutely giggable, and has two fantastic sounding channels when you know how to dial yourself in. All this is my experience with a '72 thinline telecaster, so with a hotter guitar, you could get preamp crunch even earlier than 3.5. So much tonal variety, so much volume, and so many features at this price point (adjustable cab load, pentode/triode, two foot-switchable channels, onboard reverb, fx loop). You can't beat it.

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Best 22 Watt head on the Market

This is the best low wattage head I have used. It is what ever you need it to be. The gain stage is good and the clean is great! The reverb is good also. I rarely use effects. I am using the Jimi Hendrix Cry Baby thru it and switching channels is seamless and even with my Stratocaster very low hum very low. It will go any where you want with the tone. I am using 2 Bugera 1x12… read more cabinets and I am very pleased. This amplifiers fits right into my Studio Tone pallet of Vintage Tube amps. Don't let the 22 watts fool you. It Kicks. Also, the El84 power tubes are doing their full job by getting the Guitars to sound like they should. You will not be dissapointed with this amplifier.

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Great Amp

I've had a Bugera G20 for a while and have been very happy with it, so I thought I would give this one a try for a more vintage type amp. Boy, was I impressed with its tone right out of the box and it is loud AF when I want it to be, but with the triode/pentode switch and can go to half power and use it in my living room and still get great tube amp. tone. It also takes pedals really… read more well in the front (three different overdrives + chorus) and in the loop (2 delays and reverb) both in the clean and dirty channels. My only complaint would be that the boost is not footswitchable, but it does include a foot switch which isn't always the case (I'm looking at you Orange). As far as service goes, Sweetwater was awesome as usual. Delivered by Fed Ex for free within 24 hours after placing the order. Thanks, Doug Gushing!

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A Big Surprise

This head is pleasing to the eye as soon as it's out of the box and as soon as you plug it in I was amazed at the sound. I was shocked at the sound it produces from classic 70's to current rock. The cleans were excellent and had plenty of dirt in the gain channel. The stock tubes weren't to my liking but that was a simple fix. Aside from that, I would put this head toe to toe… read more with some of the best costing 2-3 times more. I wouldn't hesitate gigging oit with this amp.

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