Bruno Underground 30

Not a lot of knobs but the mating of a blonde/brown Fender front-end with a Vox back-end is fantastic feature in and of itself. If this were the reverb/trem model, I'd give it a 9.

Great vintage Fender feel and tone. It pretty much sounds like my '62 Fender Bassman but in a compact, lightweight package. It's amazing that those two little bog-standard Celestion 10's can pump out such a big sound with this amp.

If this were the reverb/trem model, I'd give it a 10, since it'd then be giving me something my Fenders don't and would really be the perfect gig amp at that point. As it is not, though, I find it hard to recommend in the value department since you can find a blonde Fender for around the same price.

good features- regular stuff

very good sound- but does it sound better than a hand wired vintage amp for a fraction of the price? No it doesn't!!

same as much cheaper amps... any hand wired amp should and will be very reliable...

Talking with these people is very frustrating. I quickly realized that I am on my own. Very undependable and moody- much better care and concern from the bigger companies... if you have alot of money this might be worth trying, but the other amps in this category are better in every way...

I regret buying this amp. It is expensive and the re-sale value is not so great... have been playing professionally for a long time... it is just a hand wired amp and there are plenty of great amps out there to choose from for much less money... just my opinion, decide yourself...

I AM CORRECTING THIS SECTION IN MY BELOW REVIEW. THERE IS NO MIDDLE CONTROL!!!! STILL AWESOME WITH TREM AND VERB!!!

I found the secret beast for this amp. I have tons of amps, and usually every well made amp is good.... the trick is finding the guitar that works with your fingers and that amp in a magical way... I FOUND IT FOR THIS AMP!! My 1959 Chet Atkins Gretsch is GOD with this amp!! It is the stones toneand more! It loves single coils as well. More tele and strat friendly them Les Paul. I Love It! All I need is my UG30 and my 59 Gretsch. A marriage made in heaven!

This was a amendment to my earlier post. read both. Thanks

I got the 10th Aniversary special edition with extra features. It has the reverb as well as tremelo. It has mix, tone and dwell for the reverb and speed and intensity in the tremelo. Very cool. Bass, Mid, Presence, and Volume as well. Single channel. I give it a 10 for have the trem and verb. Trem has a footswitch.

This amp is a ten! I own 79 electric guitars ranging from 1950s Les Pauls to home made one offs by unknown guys. This amp sounds great with almost anything. I think it perfers single coil pick ups. It isn't throwing the Humbuckers out of bed in any way. The Vox like output is probabally responsible for that. Is it the greatest amp ever... maybe. There are so many in its league though. I would not call it better then any of my Dumble amps(I have 6), or my Victoria Bassman amp. Even though it sounds better then a Diezel, it is so different and the Diezel with the 4 channels that all sound good, it is a different animal. I love it. I could not live without it. It is like that for me with all the amps I have named though. This one does perticularly have possibally the best tone(other then the Dumbles). I am the only guy more impressed with the dirty rock sound then the clean on this amp. They are both 10s, I just find that interesting. The clean is only rivaled by Dumbles and Matchless. The heavy sound, only rivaled by Dumble. Not shabby company, after all Dumble is the greatest builder of amps ever. Period. He did it 30 years ago, he has an edge with that.

I have not had it long enough.

Same as above.

For the money, without doubt, the best amp ever made. I went over this in the sound section a bit. GET IT. You probabally won't need another amp ever again. I wouldn't, but recording guitars is what I do for a living. I need them all. This is one of the first I will look to when in need of a great sounding amp. This is the top of the top. It has few on par with it, and few I would like more, if any.

Switchable speaker out ohms would be nice if i were to use another cabinet. i think mine is an older model - others i've seen have a switch. Wouldn't want any other features - preserve the perfect tone of the amp.

Use strat or strat type (PRS EG). I've heard it with a les paul and a klon and heard the most frighteningly powerful sound in my life (so i ordered a klon too). Clean sound - the absolute most beautiful thing i've ever heard from any guitar amp ever. So ridiculously responsive to pick attack, a rich beautiful tone springs out of the amp. Distortion is amazing and unreal when combined with certain pedals. Presence control is awesome. The best amp ever, period.

Haven't tested the reliability factor yet. just got it.

Tony's a great guy.

Been playing 10 years. Also own a Kendrick Gusher head which sounds awesome - compared to 95% of other amps -- and then paled in comparison to the Bruno.

This is a one channel 36 watt class A amplifier. It features bass, treble, presence, 3 knob tube reverb, and I had Tony add a bypassable midrange control. I had the midrange made bypassable so I could get the true U30 tone when the midrange is out of the circuit. It has a 16-8-4ohm selector in the back and a standby and ground switch in the front. That's it for features. No bells or whistles. Just tone. You'll notice I gave a 10 in the features category. This is because of the range of sounds you can get from the amp. If you need more versatility, get a Line 6. But then you'll sound like you play through a line 6. All experienced players will agree that amps dedicated to one thing, namely tone, always sound better.

I play an old tele, old strat and, mostly, a 1960 Gibson ES330. Each instrument sounds like it was ment for this amp. So individual. The thing that struck me first is that I couldn't dial in a bad sound. I even turned the bass to zero and the treble all the way up and it still sounded cool. The presence knob acts more like the cut (top boost) control on an ac30. At lower volumes, around 9:00, it sounds full, lush and harmonic. At higer volumes, around 12:00, It really rocks. Still crisp and clear but with tons of attitude. Balls galore and really touch sensitive. The reverb is wonderful. It stays even all the way up. It doesn't clang or clatter even with lots of drive. The reviews of this amp are pretty true to form. Fendery front end and chimey ac30 output. I put in some NOS's and the amp went from great to unbelievable. The bass was much tighter, the top was even sparklier and overall more harmonic. I use a red snapper for clean boost and that's it. You really don't need any overdrive pedals for this amp. I had my friend whose an amp tech check it out and, if it's possible, I think he likes even more than I do. I showed him some of the reviews and he pretty much agreed with them across the board. The Bruno is definitely the end of the line.

I've had the amp for a while now and haven't any problems with it. I can't imagine that I will though. The amp is built like nothing I've seen and I've owned some great amps like Matchless, Hiwatt, Tophat etc... Everything is oversized, super rugged and fits together like like a puzzle. Superb workmanship.

I spoke to Gene evey step of the way. From about 8 weeks before I ordered the amp to this day. I had alot of reservations spending nearly 3G's on an amp I hadn't heard so naturally I had a ton of questions. I either emailed or spoke to Gene on the phone nearly every day. He was incredibly helpful, supportive and insightful.

I've been playing about 16 years, I have a degree in classical guitar performance from Roosevelt University in Chicago, and I've been writing songs and playing electric guitar for the last ten years. I've owned a Mesa Boogie Mark III, Vox ac30 reissue, Fender Vibroking, 70's Hiwatt Custom 50, Matchless dc30, 60's Vox ac50 (I run the Bruno through the ac50 cab), Tophat King royal, Dr. Z route 66 and the Bruno is hands down the obvious winner. I've heard many people comment that they're just to pricey but they're cheaper than Matchless and an old ac30. They cost about as much as a comparable model Tophat and sound much better than all of them.

Bought the amp in 2000. Amp sounds great clean...but excels at overdrive especially with alnico speakers. No frills.

One of the best sounding guitar amps I have ever heard. Very piercing highs however....at certain levels it sounds thin even in the normal channel especially with single coils. Best with P-90's. c

Made a lot of noise...like there was a bad filter cap somewhere...unplug from one channel on standby, and the amp crackles and hisses. Made random noises...I think just underfiltered. Came with bent tabs on the transformers...two of the preamp sockets were one kind the other was different. None of the tube sockets seemed properly tensioned...especially the power tubes. Little details, like the tolex seemed overlooked and hurried. For an amp this expensive, I expected the best.

Not very good. For an amp this expensive, I never got anymore correspondence from Gene. Never a follow up call or email or anything sent to me saying they are happy to have me as customer and how did I like the amp and could they help in anyway. To the contrary; it felt like I should be honored to have one of Tony's amps. Not only that, the only way to have it serviced is to send it back to New York and pay shipping both ways. Dont ever buy a used one. You will get the cold shoulder if you have a "second hand Bruno". Seems to me a company claiming the best guitar amp made should honor and want to service and stand by their equipment no matter who the owner. Seems to me this behaviour is curious seeing as how they do not want anyone else to service or see their shcematics.

O.K I would give the ug30 a ten on features, but it just doesn't have any . . . besides UNBELIEVABLE tone. For the best information, go to Tony's web site. Most amps have many half-assed features, the ug30 has a few great ones, SEE BELOW. Note: don't ask Tony's tech about putting in a master volume, it's against their deepest held beliefs. This amp is not for everyone. It is for Class A purists only.

The tone is PERFECT, I purchased my Bruno after playing one in a local shop(guitar czar, slc) and vowed to find a used one. They be pricey. I found it sounded best with single-coils (Les Paul Junior) and without ANY pedals. IF YOU USE ALOT OF EFFECTS, DO NOT BUY THIS AMP. It is a purist's amp. I sold mine last week because I was not worthy of it. I am a sloppy effect addict and the Bruno rejected ANYTHING that affected the gain structure. Half of the affects I tried using killed the tone of the amp. I used to not believe that, but with some class A amps, it's very true. Every nuance of your playing will come through with a Bruno, and it will come through very very loud. Mine was an older model which was not as loud (could have been the tubes?) as a friend's Matchless DC30, but I've heard current model and for healthy amounts of beautiful tone, nothing beats the ug30. Even a muted chord sounds better through a ug30.

Built like a tank. I had mine for a little more than a year, played it almost daily, gigged monthly. There's very little that could go wrong with this amp.

The amp was great, it just wasn't for me. I guess I'm a class A/B kind of guy. If you're class A all the way, then try an Underground 30 before you go and buy anything else. Someday, when I own my own home and I can play loud and switch around from amp to amp, I'll buy another Bruno. Other amps I would consider in the meantime: a Holland magma channel switching 50 watter(Hollands deal with effects better) or a Bogner Shiva. I currently play a Marshall 30th anniversary (1)12 combo. It's big on features/versatility(quiet apartment jamming to gigging) but could never make some of the tones the Bruno delivers. Note: Brunos and apartment life do not mix, expect the cops if you turn it up a quarter.

I have heard alot of positive words about Brunos for sme time now. I purchased mine from The Guitar Hangar in Danbury CT. (very cool web site). When I plugged in a G&L Jorgenson, Brian Moore DC-1 and a 80's Les Paul. I heard tones from those guitars I have never heard before. I knew it had to come home with me!!
It has 2 channels the first one being pure and bypasses the tone circuit except for the prescence control. The second input (bright) has bass, treble,volume, prescence and the 3 knob reverb fro that channel is located on the rear of the chassis. Standby and power switch. No CD changer, no GPS system. Pure functional controls. It is 38? watts. The tubes were Edicron EL-84's Westinghouse and Fisher 12ax-7's with a Chinese rectifier. The combo featured a Fane "Blue" alnico 12" rated at 8 ohms. The perfect versatile combo.There are 2 speaker outputs and a switch for 4/8/16 ohm options.

I cannot compare this amp to any other I have heard. But you know when your guitar and amp finds the mutual sweet spot? The Bruno has it at all settings. It sucks the vibe right out of the guitar, without flaw. Its almost too perfect. I use a Kendrick Townhouse with overwound Fralin buckers. A LP Special with p-90's, A DC Standard with Duncan Custom & 59's and G&L Single coil Tele style. My tone has never sounded better with any amp. I brought my Alessandro English to a/b against the Bruno, although they are voiced differently, to me the English is THE benchmark of what a well engineered amp should sound like. I have played the amp in the studio at 3/4 throttle and a notch above barely on at 2:00am when my kids are sleeping. It sounds amazing at all levels. I use a Menatine Blue Collar if I want crunch . The Reverb is the best I have ever heard, wet as the rain forest or dry as bone. I had the pleasure of meeting Tony this week at his shop, he converted the 1x12 combo with the Fane Alnico into a head with his 2x12 cabinet and mounted the 2 Bluedogs I had in storage. We hung out for a few hours and talked, he also did a mod on the "flat" channel that put a little more fire into it. Great guy!!! Great product!!! I brought the new "half stack" to the studio that night. I have never heard sound like that in my 20+ years of playing. One of my concerns however, is when I contacted Gene at Ultrasound Studios ( his sales rep.) about some warrantee issues and other questions, he told me the merits of replacing the tubes with NOS Mullards and Amperex's. I was taken back, you mean to tell me that you spend 2500.00+ for an amp and you are telling me that it would sound 50% better with a new set of tubes?? So go figya?? Telefunkens, Mullards add another $400-600? I feel that this is bad business. When I was at Bruno's shop, I raised that question with him. He said that the Edicron and the Westinghouse tubes were the best readily available on the open market? I did bite the bullet and bought a matched quad of Mullards from Mike at KCA tubes and some 12ax7 from another Bruno owner who I met thru H/C Dan Duntze duntze@swbell.net. A very knowledgable guy who sells tubes. Did they make a difference, absof'nlutly!!!!!
I came to the conclusion that with this amp loud volumes I do not need stomp boxes anymore except for the previously mentioned Blue Collar (if you want true Plexi crunch). Buy an attenuator, I tried the Komet/Trainwreck (Bill Chapin@ Chapin guitars). How about sounding like Lesley West from the live Mountain albums while you can still hear the 6:00 news on TV. Thats an Attenuator, looks like a Jr. High electrical shop project, but this puppy is the real deal. I thought the THD was the way to go, the Hot Plate is great but this smokes it. I can honestly say that they took the classic Blackface sound and improved it 100% , when the tubes start cooking it's voicing is spectacular, no it's not Vox or Hi-watt or anything else, its pure Bruno, a new standard as far as I am concerned. The amp does get very hot. I feel for the price their should be a fan as a standard device. Yeah, it is capable of all the "cliche" tones aka: Carlton/Sweet&punchy, Johnson/Violin, Santana/Bite&sustain not SRV, but no one ever has or can replicate his tine anyway, maybe close but there was only 1 Stevie and his tone was his only. As I sai earlier, this amp reinvented a new standard.

I can't forsee any problems although It does need a fan to cool the tubes. The build quality of the components are top shelf as are the woods, tolex and fittings of the cabs.

I happen to live a few miles from Tony's shop. So when I went there in the rain with my 3 year old and he unloaded my car and watched my son when I went to get the car, you tell me. He's a regular guy that builds a great product. He was the only one in the shop and gave me his undivided attention. There is lifetime warrantee, it will be written into my will :):):)

I played regularly in bands the late 60's and 70's and started back 3 years ago. I am very accomplished with the basic R&B's. My taste goes from early Slade (remember them) to Savoy Brown to Lee Rittenour, to Walter Becker, very electic indeed. I own alot of gear and like to barter/trade items. I have a Buddah Superdrive 30, A Speedster Deluxe(amazing as well), Dr.Z Carmen Ghia and Rt.66 (unquestionably the best amps for the money in the free world!, The Allessandro English a close tie to the Bruno but a totally different amp.Fender Superchamp (an 80's gem), a first run ProJunior and a Peavey Classic 30 (probably the most underated amp made, if it had any other name but Peavey they would sell for alot more).
The stock Fane Alnico sounded great, but once I had had the Celestion Blues put into Tony's 2x12 it was like going from a Porsche Carrera 4 on the Long Island Expressway to a Turbo Carrera on the Autobahn. Don't get me wrong the 1x12 set up with the Fane is great, alot of crunchy mids, very British, but the 2 12" blues are without equal, flip a coin, Carmen Electra, Pamela Anderson you choose, Broadway or Vegas, I think you get the picture.
As mentioned, I have alot of gear, and as of this review I am selling off most of it. The Bruno covers all the bases, very, very well.

This is a brand new amp; head only; no reverb. 36 Watts of wet spongy Class A power generated by a trio of 12AX7's and a quad of EL84's along with a GZ34 rectifier. Normal channel, bright channel. Normal volume. Bright volume. Treble, bass and presence knobs; no effects loop. Two speaker outs and a 4,8,16 ohm selector. Black Tolex covered pine, salt and pepper grill cloth, white piping. Very cool retro vibe, simple and elegant with the retro typeface "Bruno" nameplate on the front. No unnecessary knobs, buttons, bells or whistles. I play blues so I dont use many pedals or effects just a stand-alone Fender reverb with NOS tubes, amp, and guitar. The highest compliment I can pay this amp is,... that is all I need. From pristine smooth, clean to ripping, rich harmonic distortion this amp is the last amp I'll ever need or buy. It doesn't have a lot of obvious features; the features are the nuances in pick attack, fretting, everything can be heard...especially bare fingers on strings; incredible dynamics. More features than a bluesman could ever dream of or hope for. Not for people who hide behind a lot of effects or distortion.

I bought a Bruno 2x12 cabinet and loaded it with my Celestion blues...IMHO the best speakers for organic guitar sound on the planet. The black tolex covered cabinet is built of pine; bottom, top and sides, with a birch ply baffle and open back panels in the rear. I've not heard a more resonant cabinet. The amp came stock with German made Westinghouse 12AX7's and EI Yugo EL84's matched within 1 point, and a Chinese rectifier. Gene is the rep for Tony Bruno and he is one of the most knowledgable reps I've had the pleasure to meet. He suggested that I use a Mullard GZ34 instead of the Chinese and use a Mullard ECC83/12AX7 in the first stage of the bright channel or the "tone driver" position in the preamp stage. I took him up on his tube recommendations. Since everybody else in this world seems to pIay a Les Paul or a Strat I choose to play a PRS McCarty and an Am. Std. Telecaster with a 2 piece ash body, retro fitted with Tele Texas Special pickups. When I first plugged the amp in it was instant magic. I could tell immediately I had never heard or played an amp of such quality...shimmering clean to crunchy, sustain heaven. My jaw dropped. I loved it. However being the "quest for ultimate tone" junkie that I am I thought the Mullard 12AX7 a little too bright and tight for my taste. So I put in what for me has become the ultimate preamp tube, an Amperex Bugle Boy '67 in the Mullard's place. It made the clean sound much more musical and round with smooth lows and chimey highs... a little looser than the Mullard. The Mullard has a much more focused midrange and when pushed hard remains very articulate...more so than the Bugle Boy. But the more musical Bugle Boy is to me the Holy Grail of preamp tubes. But, I'm giving way to much credit to the tubes; it's how the amp is voiced that's so astounding. I was going to buy a Victoria but I'm tired of Fender knockoffs then I thought about getting a Dr. Z Rte. 66 which is a great amp, (unbelievable thick lead sound) in its own right, but doesn't have the clean articulate rythym sound I was looking for. I'm not an EL34 fan, so Marshall is out for me. I played a Vibro-King, Top Hat, Tone King, Bogner, Victoria and another Z amp and none of them are even close to what this amp sounds like. This amp makes them sound like toys! Fendery yet a little British; perfect for Humbuckers and single coils and look out with P90's! Can you say butter! The controls are very interactive and sensitive, turn the amp up and guitar volume down and luscious smooth tones eminate (especially with the highly recommended Bugle Boy), turn the guitar volume up and the vast range of tonal colorations has to be heard to be believed. It is everything all the guitar magazines said and more. I can't say how fun it is to play this amp....sounds so good it makes you laugh applies here!

Seems to be built very well Heavy duty steel chassis. Huge chrome and steel screws; nothing wrong with overbuilt! Lifetime warranty. Makes you laugh when you think what certain "blackface" Fenders are going for. Makes this amp seem like the bargain of the century. Still at $2099.00 for the head alone I expect as much. Haven't had it long enough though to give it a ten.

Long Distance transactions and communication are always hard and with Tony and Gene as busy as they are made for some anxious moments for me when I didn't get an instant reply. but I'm impatient by nature. Talking personally with Tony and Gene is very easy and they have answered most my questions at least within a few days. These guys are very busy. But, I dont foresee any problems. However I haven't had the amp long enough to give a 10 here. I would love to be a rep for Tony's amps here in the midwest!!!

I've been playing about 20 years; 8 of them professionally. Dude I dont want to think of it getting stolen...and If I lost it....well there's always therapy. It is a very big investment for me. Well worth it though. My ultimate tone quest journey has come to an end. This is the best tube amp in the world, period.

This amp is covered in purple tolex, with a fender style wheat grill cloth, with 2-12" ceramic Fane Speakers. The cabnet design is reminiscent of a black face Super Reverb with the exception of 2-"12 speaker being mounted on a diagonal. There are two channels, normal and bright, which share an EQ scheme of: Bass, Treble, and Presence. You will not find any master volume, effects loop, or reverb features on this amp. I only wish this amp included a middle control so it would be easier to dial in Vox tones, but then again this amp sounds great as is. I mainly use this amp in a small club application and find that 30 watts of the Undergrounds power is more than adequate. The amp sounds great for rock, blues, country, and alternative.

This is the best sounding amp I have ever owned! And I have owned them all: Vox AC30, Hiwatt Custom 100, Marshall Plexi, Fender Blackface Deluxe, etc... I use only the bright channel with either a G & L ASAT (as same as telecaster) or a PRS custom. With the ASAT I can get Vox and Fender tones at a low to med volume and very marshall tones at med to loud with the PRS. Basically the review in Guitar Player Mag. Feb 1997 is right on: "What a great sounding amp." The amp sounds at best when using my reverb unit, Peavy ValveVerb, but I have to say this amp really kicks with it or without it. When I compare it dry to my AC30, does it sound exactly like it? No, but it does give you that fantastic Vox chime. It seems Tony decided to slightly scoop the mids, which takes away that box sound of the vox. This is not a bad thing, with the scooped mids you can get a better than fender clean sound. How? Class A just gives better singe note articulation and really accentuates ghost notes. When I use my reverb unit the Bruno is really at it's best. It makes gentle chords sound like empty bottles delicately shaking, it is quite an experience. Now how does the dirty sound compare to my 1972 Marshall 1987 half stack? The Bruno has an excellent overdrive crunch and a close but no cigar Marshall munch, albeit I am comparing a 2-12" combo to a head and 4-12" cab, this amp has an amazing lead tone you have to hear to belive. When cranked at 6, lead note are just beautifully covered in rich harmonics. The individual note ariculation: Amazing. The sustain: Amazing. Cholesteral Heaven! If I had to buy this amp again, I would without hesitation. The only thing different I would do would be to spend the extra bucks and get the built in reverb model.

I bought the amp used and when it arrived, via Ups, I plugged it in and it worked perfectly. A week later it had a low rumbling noise that would come and go intermittently. The problem went away when I replaced a preamp tube. I have used it on 12 gigs so far with no problems, the thing still sings. I hate to say anything negative about this amp, because it is such a great amp, but to be fair to the rating system here goes. There appears to be some air bubbles in the purple tolex in more than one area. Since I bought the amp used, I do not know what caused this. The amp is in excellent condition so I assume it must be a manufacturing defect. I have yet to repair the air pockets, but I have been told by my amp tech he could repair very easily.

I have not had to deal with them yet, so I have no opinion.

Overall this is a fantastic amp. If you buy one, buy the one with reverb, it is the icing on the cake.