Never played a Bugera...so I can't answer that, and I don't pay strict attention to web clips. Yeah...you can kinda' hear some of the amp's tone, but it's nothing like hearing the amp in your room, with you playing your guitar, because then you have a first-person impression of that amp against all the other amps you have or have played and not some regurgitated clip on a website.
To put it in better perspective...right now I've got a Dr Z Rt66, Carr Hammerhead, Savage Macht 12x, Top Hat Club Royale, Rivera Chubster 40, THD Flexi 50 and a Tungsten Cortez/Wheat amp. I love all those amps...each has personality and overall, not a one has anything really bad tone-wise that I can mention. The Swart SST just moved into 1st place against that line-up.
Now maybe it's just "first-impression giddiness", and after I've played it for a couple of weeks it'll wear off an the SST won't seem so much sweeter than the others....it's happened with other amps, they settle in and you start to hear their deficiencies, or the other way, all of a sudden you start really diggin' an amp that you initially didn't like. I hated the Dr. Z Rt66 when I first got it…but I played it for about 3 weeks, and then it hit me when I switched to another amp just how good the 66 really was…big and bold.
And to put it into even finer focus...I'm going to have to lose one amp, mainly 'cuz I need to control myself a bit
and not let this amp buying get out of hand
and also 'cuz I'm tight on studio space. The Swart SST will most likely kick out my THD Flexi 50 w/THD 212 cab, which I never thought I would hear myself saying, but of all my amps, I'm playing the Flexi the least... *shrug* ...though it's a GREAT amp with unbelievable flexibility.
I've just become very fond of 6V6 tube amps...there is something about the organic growl of 6V6 based amps that just kills me. Besides the Swart, my Savage Macht 12x is a 6V6 that just sounds fantastic, but not quite like the Swart...and the Tungsten Cortez/Wheat is also a 6v6 in the classic 5E3 style, but with a bit more headroom and a smoother crunch vibe than the original 5E3 circuit. Compared to them, the Swart has an even richer organic vibe, and like I mentioned earlier, the low end coming out of the Swart just sings...really smooth and rich, not all just a lot of thud and chunk.
I've had an eye on the Swart line for about 2 years now and I've read a lot of personal reviews on various sites...I've yet to really hear anyone NOT say they were blown away by the SST. I'll give a better review after this weekend, as I'm already planning to record some lead tracks with it for a song I tracked a few weeks back, where I already did the lead tracks…but upon hearing the Swart SST, I decided I would re-track the leads since the Swart nails the tone I was originally after...and heck, I didn't even spend 5 minutes dialing it in last night.
The only thing so far that's not grabbin’ me, is the reverb...it's kinda' "spanky", but I need to mess with it some more and see where it has a sweet spot, or maybe go for a different tank...not a big deal.
Oh...the tube tremolo is very nice, none of that crazy warble at higher speeds, and on slower speeds with mild depth, it doesn't suck out the volume like some tremolos can do.
