Bruno Underground 30 Head

This is an update to my previous two submissions, really just an update on reliability issues, see below.

Still one of the best. However surprised that it isn't nearly as loud as my Matchless HC30, if fact it wasn't loud enough to use in the last rock band I was in (granted we had Bam-Bam for a drummer!)

All amps need service. I rotate about 4-5 amps (Germinos, Matchless, Vox, Fender & Bruno) they annually see several hundred hours each year. I originally had a problem with the amp (see previous posting) which Tony resolved and it's performed flawlessly since that until a few months ago when the rectifier tube started to go black (no power) I'd giggle the tube and it would come back to life. Tried replacing the tube and I've contacted Pete Cage for some troubleshooting tips but at this point it's boxed up and heading to Pete. I've opted to let Pete work on it because my perception is that he's a better troubleshooter than Tony and I don't have a warranty to protect me (I bought it used). Anyway I'm hoping it won't be an expensive fix. Will update when it's fixed.

Pete Cage is honest, easily reached by phone or e-mail and has a reputation for building his own great amps and repairing amps. He previously serviced my Matchless HC30 and I was very pleased with him. Tony's approach by contrast seems to be, his main concern is building / selling new amps. When something needs servicing he replaces parts until the problem is resolved (based on my previous experience with him over the transformer).

This is a follow up on my previous review. After playing through the amp more and more I've come to realize how interactive the tone controls are. Not only do they change the EQ, but they change the overall feel in a subtle manner. On the bright channel, if you raise the presence and set the treble slightly below it, the attack of the notes becomes more compressed and punchy. If you raise the treble but lower the presence, the feel becomes more "Blackface Fendery" and scooped on the mids. This thing never ceases to amaze me!

I'm not exactly sure of the exact year, but I do know it's an older model because the reverb controls are on the back. This amp is extreemly versatile for any style you wish to play. My band plays "rootsy" rock somewhere between The Beatles, The Stones, Tom Petty, and R.E.M. , and the UG30 is perfect for it. Although there's no channel switching, it's ok because I control everything from the guitar. The reverb is the best spring reverb I've ever heard by the way. Better than any Vintage Fender I've played through. I might add that I used Roland and Line 6 gear before this ( which are considered to have alot of features), and I've come to the conclusion that less IS INDEED more. Equiped with NOS Telefunken and Ei tubes.

I'm playing a custom Warmoth Strat with Joe Barden pickups and a Parker Fly Deluxe with DiMarzios, and the amp sounds incredible with anything that's put through it. Hell, you could fart through it, and it would sound good. The tones are simply incredible. I hear players on major albums now and laugh because I sound better than them. If you took a well maintained Blackface Super Reverb, a JMI Vox AC30 Top Boost, a Block Logo JTM-45, put them all together, tightened up the bass, and added even-order harmonics galore you might have something close to one of Tony's amps. I'm telling you, this guy is a genius! Try to imagine clean tones that sound like a combination of Joshua Tree-era Edge, Eric Johnson, Chet Atkins, and SRV on Riviera Paradise all rolled into one and then some. Then, crank it up to 12:00. Now you've got early Page, Pride and Joy, or 70's era Stones with more harmonics and "shimmer" depending on your guitar and pickups. Now turn the volume to 3:00 and you have the sweetest, richest, most sensitive lead sound around. Very Brian May, but more transparent. If there was a class A Dumble, this would be it. Believe me. I listen to and compare these tones DAILY. I've played though just about every amp you can imagine, and this is The One.

Built like a tank. I have had any problems whatsoever. I don't think I'd need a backup to gig with. Also, the tone is consistant every time I plug in which can't be said for alot of tube amps. Especially vintage ones.

Gene and Ken at Ultrasound are AWESOME! These guys treat you like you were Jimi Hendrix who just walked through the door. Ken even calls sometimes to see how I'm enloying the amp and if I need anything!

I've been a musician for as long as I can remember, and a guitarist for 8 years. Before buying the Bruno I tried various Marshalls, Mesas, Super Reverb, Deluxe Reverb, Pro Reverb, Tweed Bassman, Vox AC30 (vintage and 2 reissues) AC15 (Vitage and reissue), several Top Hats, Matchless DC30 and Chieftian, Two Rock Emerald, a Budda Superdrive 30, Blockhead, Cornford, Soldano SLO, Bogner XTC, Vintage Ampegs, Rivieras, Dr. Z, THD, Alessandro, yada yada ya... most of them are great amps, but the UG30 did it for me. The only other amp I'll consider buying is either different Bruno or a Komet (another amazing amp) . I'm a happy camper!

Bruno Underground 30

This one's an older model from around 1995, I believe. The cosmetics are a little
different from the newer models.

I bought this amp mostly for it's clean sound and low gain tones. It's a mix of EL 84 power section with a Fender deluxe style pre-amp. It's
class A in the sense that Matchless and Vox AC 30's are class A. It's very much in the same lineage of these amps but has some real interesting differences.

I could use all kinds of adjectives to describe the sound of this amp but that and 50 cents will buy you a cup of coffee. The best way I can describe it is to compare it to other amps I've owned.

Comparing it with a Matchless SC 30: The Matchless and the UG 30 have kind ofsimilar rhythym tones. THe Matchless sounds more jangly and, to my ear has a tiny bit more chime, than the Bruno. SC 30 is better for Byrds type rhythym sounds with lots of jangle. Bruno is better for jazz and they are both equally good for blues. The Matchless cuts through a mix a wee bit better but the Bruno won't
ice pick you in the ear like the SC 30. Rhythm winner-SC 30 by a bit.

Lead sounds: I much prefer the Bruno for clean and slightly overdriven leads. It's fatter and has a smoother softer high end. I've always wanted an amp I could play clean leads on and not miss the overdrive and the Bruno comes through for me. Playing clean on the Matchless was tough going. It was a little too bright and thin for my tastes. Lead sound- Bruno a clear winner for me.

Bruno vs Carmen Ghia: Even though the Ghia only costs about a third of the Bruno I'm comparing because they sound similar in that they both have what I consider to be a "glassy" sound. The Ghia, hower has a slight brittleness to it that many many amps have. The Bruno manages to get that glassy sound but with warmth. Sounds like a contradiction in terms doesn't it?

Bruno vs. Route 66: The similarities here are that both amps are able to get a soft high end and a firm bottom. Tough to do. I found the 66 a tad too soft sounding all over for me though. It had really good cleans but no appreciable amount of jangle. Again, the 66 iis a great amp and is in a different price ballpark.I'm not comparing price/performance-just tone.

Bruno vs. Tone King Comet: Very close in the clean sound department and both amps have some of the best around. The comet is a little thinner sounding by comparison. The highs of the Bruno are noticeably fatter. The Tone King is more of a Fender flavor, of course whereas the Bruno is more of a mix of Vox and Fender.

Summary: This amp seems to take all my favorite attributes from other amps and combine them without displaying any of the downsides that the other amps have. It's got the glassiness of the Ghia without the harshness, the soft top-end of the 66 with more chime, the rhythm sounds (almost) of the Matchless but fatter. (I'll probably find something given time though...always do).

I've used the amp live on two occassions, one outdoor and one indoor and it has lived up to my (high) expectations. It has plenty of volume and just starts to break up/get groovy around band volumes. This amp is not a high gain amp. It does the clean and low/medium gain thing better than any amp I've ever tried. The amazing thing about it, to me, is how Tony Bruno managed to make it glassy without being brittle sounding, kind of soft but still cuts through a mix, jangly enough for superb rhythm work but stout enough for clean leads. I can play on the high strings without getting too trebly and when I work down to the lower strings they sound nice and firm. Wow.

I'm a bit of a reverb freak. I love reverb on my clean amps and tend to not like even the best clean amps dry. Mine is the non-verb model and I auditioned it dry and didn't miss the verb. Amazing. I put a little RV-3 in front of it now and it sounds even better.

I A/B between a clean amp and a Hot Cat for gigs. The last gig I played I used my Ho

See above

Seems built like a tank.

I've talked to Ken at Ultrasound and he says getting service from Tony is no problem.

See Above

I wanted to report back in after using this amp for a while. I bought it used. See my original review for features.

Tony Bruno has now serviced this amp by replacing the tubes and tuning the preamp section. It sounds incredible. The guitarist who will appreciate this amp will be anyone who really has a high level of technique and wants all the little personal characteristics to come through. This amp is the most tone sensitive amp I've ever owned. You can turn the tone control on your guitar two notches and you'll hear the tone change. Overall all this amp produces a shimering harmonically complex tone at low to med volumes, at higher volumes it produces a ultra fat mid/bottom and a clear top end. I recently gigged with this amp and another guitarist came up to me and said the amp really sounded smooth.

I bought this amp used. It was made in 1998. When i recievied it I noticed it was making a weird noise. I sent it back to Tony. It cost me $225 - including shipping and new tubes. He went through the preamp section and checked/replaced anything suspect. I got it back several weeks later and it wasn't fixed. I do believe that Tony plugged it in and tested it before returning it but this problem was sporatic and during testing apparently it performed fine. I shipped it back to Tony again - costing me another $17 shipping. This time he replaced the output transformer and didn't charge me anything for the repair. It took a couple of weeks to get this done but now it seems to be working great.

Tony is hard to reach sometimes but you can tell he really cares about his amps. He didn't hesitate to take responsibility for fixing the amp and wanted to make sure I was happy with it, which I am.

When you buy an amp like this, any boutique amp, it's kind of like buying an old Porshe. Getting repairs can challenge your patience and create frustration but when it's running right, there isn't another ride like it. If you have questions, feel free to e-mail me.

The U-30 reminds me very much of a great old Vox 30 especially in channel where you can only influence the tone by turning the cut/presence knob - the tone controls only affect channel 2. Channel 2 has a similar Vox flavor but with the tone controls you can roll the bass off more or crank the treble & bass and get the "Byrds" style chime with a Rick or Gretsh. The distortion on Channel 1 fullup is fat, ultra mid rangie with no shrill top end. Channel 2 full up can get kind of "plastic-ie" sounding if you dial in too much tone circuit. Although the amps volume was very close to the Matchless H-30 in side by side test, the Bruno doesn't seem as loud in a live loud music setting because it has a softer overall sound. This amp is very sensitive to tubes, guitars & effects - meaning that you have a lot of control over your individual sound by changing one of these factors - production line amps by comparison are generally so muddy that there is little difference. Once you have owned a great amp like this you will never be satisfied with a production line amp. This amp wasn't built to do the heavy distortion (get a Rectifier) but it is like fine wine - the more you savor it the more you like it.

This amp sounds best to me with an open back 2x12 cab. A closed back is too bassy. Celestion blue bells sound great and I also like their Heritage H-12 speakers with this amp. This amp like the Matchless is great if you play on the edge of breakup. I recently auditioned a Fender Super Reverb reissue and quickly remembered why I ended up hating Fenders - right on the edge of distortion they have a tendency to generate a funky secondary buzzy distortion - which to me is very un-musical.

No comments at this time.

Tony can be hard to reach but I guess that's the trade off, he can't be answering the phone all day and building amps at the same time. You can definitely tell he is doing what he loves by the care & concern he shows for how his amps sound.

I bought this one because it was used and I didn't have to shell out over $2000 but given the preference I would like to have the reverb model or an effects loop so I could run my stand alone reverb through it - as playing the reverb through the front end doesn't work that well, especially when using a overdrive pedal.

This amp was purchased new June 2000 from Eric at Guitar Czar in Salt Lake City Utah. It is a two channel amp with reverb but does not have channel switching. Channel one is clean, channel two has lots of gain.
It is an amp made for blues and classic rock. This amp has all of the one feature I wanted, great tone.

One of the best features of this amp is the Bruno website. All of the sounds can be downloaded and you have a chance to hear the amp before making the purchase. The amp sounds the same as the tones I downloaded. I play blues and calssic rock and it is perfect. On stage it cuts right through the mix. You can achieve slight variations in tone by backing off the volume knob without getting muddy and losing tone.

I have played this amp for over a year and have not had any problems. The Bruno cabinet is rattle free and the amp is extremely reliable.

As I mentioned I purchased the amp from Eric at Guitar Czar and have called him several times to talk about the amp. It is always helpful to buy an amp from a gigging musician and he was extremely helpful in assisting me in choosing an amp and answering any questions I had. If I ever have a problem I am confident he would help me resolve them.

I have been playing for over 30 years. Go to the webite, listen to the sounds and if you like what you hear buy the amp. I would not hesitate to buy another Bruno.