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Stormleader Stormleader

« Be afraid, be very afraid. Run as far as possible from this amp. »

Published on 03/22/11 at 09:14
Made in China

Solid State

30 Watts

Two Foot switchable channels

Reverb, Delay, Chorus, and Flanger effects built in

Clean channel has Volume, Bass, and Treble controls

Overdrive channel has Gain, Bass, Contour (Almost like a reverse Mid control) Treble, and Volume controls

CD in

Speaker emulated line outhead phone out

Frequency Dependent Dampening push-button switch

10 inch speaker

UTILIZATION

I want to start off by saying that I didn't actually buy this amp, it has a hand-me-down from my older brother. That being said, it was my first amp. Let me tell you, this amp is nasty in all respects. The foot-switch cable for the channel switching was always shorting, the tolex is uber thin, and the power cord frayed very badly where it met the amp chassis. Marshall really did cut just about every corner that they could with this amp, even the knobs feel cheap when you turn them. It both looks and feel incredibly cheap when compared to my Peavey Ultra.

SOUNDS

The sound picks up where the quality left off. The clean channel is dull and life-less, and the Overdrive sounds like a jar-o-bees. I ran this with a BC Rich Warbeast NJ Deluxe with EMG's that had the 18 Volt mod done to them for about 6 months until I got a better amp, and even with that guitar it still sounded horrible. I would even take a Line 6 Spider over this any day of the week, it's just that bad.

The contour knob is almost useless, it goes from way too middy and overbearing to very scooped very quickly. I'm not sure why Marshall didn't just put in a normal mid control here, it would have been much more useful.

As far as effects go, you have two knobs to control them. One knob selects which effect and the length/rate, and the other controls the volume. I can't honestly say that the effects sound any better than the rest of the amp.

OVERALL OPINION

Overall, I have to say that even if you are just looking for a practice amp to use in your bedroom there are still MUCH better amps out there. The Vox Valvetronix's are good for clean stuff and lower gain rock, and the Roland Cubes are decent for higher-gain rock and metal. I know I sound like I have nothing positive to say about this amp at all, but I do know something that you can use it for and it actually does well as: a doorstop. Though it is a little big, maybe that's why Marshall made the 15 watt version? ;)