Marshall Guitar Combo Amplifiers

I was looking for an amp with some good overdrive, excellent tone and a decent power output. I found it in Music Maker here in Dublin, in the good ol' Republic of Ireland. I paid 800 Euros for it, a bit pricey, but I was happy to part with it. First off, its a Marshall, so it will definitely be a favourite for most guitarists out there. I didn't buy it for the Acoustic Sim as many people who buy it do. I bought it for the OD Channels. The OD1 is fantastic for the sound that made Marshall famous, good old Crunch, just about any crunch sound is achievable from it. The next step up is the OD2, where the gain is far more sensitive and a lot bassier than its predecessor. Good for extra ear drum pounding action for all death metal fanatics out there. All in all, excellent output. The Clean Channels are not to be snubbed though, the Acoustic Sim is good for not needing to switch guitars in mid play, but the volume on it is equal to half that on other channels, and the Clean Channel itself does incredible clean to a nice Bluesy break up. Not much, the Acoustic Sim is weaker than the other Channels in terms of volume, thats about all I dislike. Other than that fault, it's a great Amp. Rock hard construction. The combo's closed back gives a fantastic Bass response for the Clean and OD's. But a complete retard could ruin this by opening it up for a look, sealing it back up, and doing a real shit job of it. Always leave an amp untouched but by an experienced technician. Quality, simply, quality This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I purchased this amp for $395 at Guitar Center. (Whenever you go to a dealer, always haggle! You will defintely get a lower price!) I purchased it to practice with my band and to play shows (which is not going to happen any time soon). The unit is small, not so heavy, and very versatile! The tone is incredible, especially with distortion pedals. You can hear every note clearly with the OD2 on. And it can get loud! Although it can generate an onslaught of feedback; it's nothing that a good noise limiter can't handle (like the Boss NS-2 Noise Limiter). And when you hook it up to a 4x12 cab, prepare to melt! The tone becomes even sweeter! The amp actually gets louder! It's perfect for nu-metal, metal, hardcore, punk, blues, jazz, etc. You can get just about any sound out of this great little amp. Now, there are a lot of great things about this amp, but there are also quite a few bad things... For one, if you put the volume knobs too high, you can already start to hear the sound quality deteriorate (which can be fixed with a 4x12 cab, and a noise limiter). Secondly, the reverb channel cannot be switched via the foot switcher, which is kind of a pain. Also, you can only hook it up to one cab... The MGHDFX head has outputs for 2 cabs. Last but not least... It can be very unreliable. Read on... Like you may have already read, the amp will give out on you eventually. For me, it was about 4 months in when the fan started to make a "buzzing" sound. It faded out after a while, but it got worse as the next 2 months progressed. Eventually, the fan would completely stop (it wouldn't spin any more), and the sound on the amp would constantly die out. I haven't had a chance to take it back to the store yet, but I'm sure that the next fan I get will die out, too. I wouldn't recommend using this amp for shows (unless it's new, or has been recently fixed). Bottom line: This amp is great. It sounds amazing for the price you would pay, and hooking it up to a 4x12 cab is pure extacy. It might eventually break a few months after you purchased it... But that's okay. Just get it fixed. It'll be worth it. If you want to use it for shows, I'd recommend getting the half-stack (MG100HDFX head and MG Series 4x12 Cab). I'm giving it a 4 because of the problems this amp is givin' me. Oh, and it sounds a LOT better than the Line 6 Spider II :) This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I got this thing off ebay used for $250. Thats a steal for a 100 watt amp, let alone a marshall with a tube in it. I played one of the newer 100 watt valvestates, that go for around 700 bucks or so, and the only difference between the vs100 and the avt100 is that the avt has some extra amp effects. Seeing as I already had a decent multi effects pedal, and like a good clean sound, I knew it would be perfect for me. I definately like its features, the power dimension switch actually does do something, i don't know what the guy who wrote the previous review is talking about. He probably doesn't know how to use it properly. Its great for when you need to pay quiet, but still want the same amp effects of being turned up. And by turned up, I mean your guitar's volume knob. It basically allows you to turn down your guitar, but crank up the amp, and not have the police pounding on your door threatening you with a fat ticket, all because you just want to perfect your tone. This thing sounds s pretty good, my roomate has a Crate Blue Voodoo Half Stack (120 All Tube Head, 4x12 Cabinet), and I like the tone I get out of my amp more. I find it to be warmer. And oh man, this thing can get loud. Even though its only got 1 12 inch speaker, it can hold its own against my roomates half stack. Which leads me to the other features of this. It's a real combo amp. The speaker plugs in just like a head plugs into a 4 by cab. You can also use it as a head, and get a speaker cabinet later on, as it has the umph to power one, and two speaker outputs on the back. Its great if you want something powerfull, and gigable, with a good sound, but may want to upgrade later on. The first overdrive channel is a good blend between a sweet warm clean tone and a crunchy tube overdrive. It has problems if you try to use it out of context (not for screaming distortion sounds). The Overdrive 2 Channel can get you that scream, and if you are in the mood for pissing off your neighbors with screaming harmonic distortion that seems like its on the verge of shaking the resonance frequency of your apartment building, it works great. Everything about it is good, except that its noisy. It hums like a 2 dollar whore with a bad crack addiction. I replaced stock marshall tube, and put in a Mesa Boogie SPAX7, and it improved the sound significantly. It also has a spring reverb, so this thing is suseptable to interference and bad power wiring in your house. I may be a tad bit spoiled, because i've been using my strat (with vintage noiseless pickups) on a fender acoustic amp, which has no noise at all. Its a very "natural" amp, so with the tube and the spring reverb, it seems almost impossible to completely get rid of a hum. Take care of the tube inside it (don't stick the amp in the trunk of your car and go hit speed bumps at 50 MPH), and keep the power to the amp as clean as possible, and you'll be ok. You can't be super picky about noise, or this thing will drive you nuts. I'm currently researching about installing a ground loop in the amp, and that may be what it needs. Its a Marshall. Its beefy, and marshalls are just about the finest made amps on the market. I'd suggest swapping out the tube and putting a mesa boogie SPAX7 in it. Great amp for the price, its got plenty of feautres without a bunch of cheezy low quality bells and whistles. Its got that good marshall quality, its loud enough to gig with, and its very versatile. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Solid-state amp with 50W Celestion speaker, I bought it in the '80s. It is powerful enough, even for rehearsals with a band. Onstage, I think miking through the PA is indispensable. 2 channels: The first ones is clean, nice, but not comprehensive enough (volume, bass and treble), as for the second channel, it's a "Boost" with more possibilities (Gain, volume, treble, middle, bass). Plus a Master section to adjust the overall volume and the reverb for the two channels. An all-plastic pedal to toggle between the clean and the distorted sound (overdrive, at least), and it also allows you to activate the reverb. Spring reverb. UTILIZATION Yes, it's easy to use, except for the loads of jacks on the rear, because they are not labeled (yes, the first one on the right is to plug the footswitch) => The user's manual can be downloaded here: http://www.drtube.com/schematics/marshall/jcm800-sc-manual.pdf, and it makes everything easier! However, the sound is very good, the clean channel has a good dynamic response and the second channel has a nice overdrive. You can tell the brand's touch, even if it's a solid-state amp. The pots have a tendency to crackle a bit, like on all old amps. I got no manual although I bought it new! SOUNDS I'm using it again now because some time ago I opted for a software Guitar Rig-type solution, which offers a wider array of sound possibilities, but finally, nothing can replace a real amp. Very '70/'80s pop/rock and even hard rock (which is normal given its age!). The sound is not modern at all, but rather "vintage." It's perfect for a Fender Strat or a Gibson Les Paul. OVERALL OPINION Excellent entry-level amp back then. I found it secondhand online for a very decent price. But do be careful with the crackling pots, although I think it's something pretty common to all Marshalls!

Hybrid amp with tube preamp (only 1 tube) and solid-state power stage. 40W with spring reverb UTILIZATION Very simple, 2 channels, each with EQ, footswitch included. Ultra simple, no need for a manual. SOUNDS Very good sound for this amp. Both the clean and lead channels are all right. The contour knob broadens the sound palette. OVERALL OPINION I've had it for 15 years, and only recently had to change a transistor, but that's all. They don't make amps like this with a similar price tag anymore.

This is one of the last great combos that Marshall had built. These were a great sounding amps that has a very dynamic feel and organic tone that was very usable in many different applications. These amps were the a little bit of the JCM2000 DSL but had the extra channel. People didn't like the TSL as much and felt that the tone wasn't and blossoming as the DSL. I would have to agree but it does sound better than the JVM series amps that Marshall is doing now. UTILIZATION Features 3 Independent channels, each featuring Volume and Gain controls Independent EQ on the Clean channel. Shared EQ on the Crunch/Lead channels 60-watt Svetlana EL34 power section Individual Reverb levels for Clean and Overdrive channels, also on/off footswitchable Effects loop with level selection and front panel Mix control, also on/off footswitchable Marshall's famed speaker emulation circuitry for direct recording, for connection to an external power amp or for connection to a P.A. system Deep switch adding low-end resonance Tone Shift facility on the Crunch/Lead channel for instant tonal re-shaping 5-way footswitch for channel, Reverb and Effects Loop switching SOUNDS This is not a modeling amp so you won;t have choice of a bunch of different amp tones or models. Also this is not an amp that will do any effects. So You cannot get delays, chorus, phaser, or flangers built into the amp. This amp does has some reverb so that is the only type of effect that comes built within the amp itself. This amp has a decent clean tone and tales pedals very well. You get a good chimy tone not like a Fender but more like a better sounding plexi tone. Unlike a lot of clean channels in amps that may have a high gain channels as well the clean won't take distortion pedals very but this one does with pride. You also get a good crunch channel that sounds great and very usable for a general music or covers tone. The third channel or lead channel shares the same EQ with the crunch channel. So whatever you have set there will transfer over to the lead. This is designed for soling and lead tones. OVERALL OPINION These amps have been discontinued for a while now. They have been replaced by the JVM series amps which is my opinion are not nearly as good as the TSL or DSL series amps. This is an amp that you can pick up on the used market for right around $500. Not a bad price for a good working combo v=all valve tube amp.

This is Marshall attempt at the introductory amps for the beginner or low budget guitar players. You get 100 watts of power and a front end digital processor. Along with the reverb in the the amp it has several other effects such as Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Delay. For the quiet player it has a headphone input so if you desire to play at home quietly or in your office this is a great feature. You get four channel for quick jumping and storage. This is easy for those with limited space and money and don;t want to shell out a ton of money for amps, cabinet, and effects galore. UTILIZATION Features 100 watt output 4 storable channels Digital effects including Delay, Chorus, Phaser or Flanger Digital reverb Power amp damping MP3/Line input Emulated Line/Headphone output External Effects Loop MG footcontroller compatibility SOUNDS This amp is not a tone monster and will not and should not be on any stage where I play. This is a basic practice amp and light jamming at home amp. You get four programmable channels with what ever effects and distortion/clean/crunch tone you like. So if you want four different tones that you can quickly jump to and from then this is a good amp for that. You don't need to go out and buy a bunch of equipment and effects because all of the are right here built inside. That is fund if you just need to practice at home or in the office. This amp sound best with a Gibson Les Paul or Sg. I love the Marshall's and Gibson s just connect tonally. OVERALL OPINION At the new price of about $499 it isn't that bad of a buy. If you are looking for a good amp that you don't have to worry about and just need for practicing or silent playing and you need that Marshall tone then this is a good amp for those purposes. This isn't going to go on stage anywhere or be good for recording, but if you need simplicity in a practice amp then this is a great amp for that. It has a good enough tone for getting your chops down or feeling out the neck of the guitar. I would recommend this to any Marshall fan looking for a solid practice amp.

These amps weer produced to commemorate Jim Marshall and they were labeled the 25th anniversary of Marshall. These were great amps at the time and more of a modern touch than the other models that Marshall was producing at the time. These amps had the unique silver tolex covering and the mirror faceplate. The were a huge departure from the tradition look of black and gold to which Marshall was recognized. These were the amps that John from Red Hot Chili Peppers played through as well as Slash from Guns N Roses and Velvet Revolver played. They seemed to have a boutque wuality to them as well as a more usable and hot rodded tone. I believe they were built to the JCM800 circuits with some extra tweaks and juice to make them the jubilees. UTILIZATION These amps were two channel one for teh clean and one for the the distortion channel. Like most Marshall amps these were easy to dial in and get a great tone. For all Marshall a general rule of thumb is to turn the bass all the way up and the treble and middle around 1-2 o clock. Then the presence as desired. Max out the preamp gain and tun the volume to the tolerable level. There you have it, the most basic Marshall tone for Eqing most amps. SOUNDS There is a magical tone that comes to life when you hook up a Gibson Les Paul through a Marshall amp. These amp followed that trend. If you played this amp with a solid Gibson Les Paul or an SG you could get some solid rock tone and have it sustain all day long it seemed. This was the favorite setup for guy like Slash who used a Les Paul. A nice Fender Stratocatser will work wonders as well. This was used on the last album by Red Hot Chili Peppers as John F was using his Strats with this amp only in a head version. He was able to get great rhythmic tone and lead lines that were just amazing. OVERALL OPINION These amps have long been out of production. The used market is the only way to go at this point. I have no idea what the going rate for this amp is now. They can be had pretty inexpensively. The 100 watt versions will fetch more money of course. I would recommend this to anyone trying out the guitar or someone who needs c good combo for practing or light gigging. These amps will serve their owners with solid tone and reliability.

These MG DFX series amps one feature that separate them from the others...FDD. I will talk about it later on. This is the 15 watt model and same tone as the other watt amps. They are able to tap a good market with this amp with the price point they start at and the availability of them in the guitar stores. Output (RMS): 15W Channels: 2 Footswitchable Channels: none CD Input: yes Emulated Line Out: yes Emulated Headphone: yes Spring Reverb: none Digital Effects: yes FDD: yes Speaker: 1 x 8 in. Dimensions: 380 x 375 x 205 mm Weight: 7.2 kg UTILIZATION Features Twin channels - Clean and Overdrive Contour Control for dramatic mid sweep and "scooping" Emulated Line Out jack and Headphone jack CD input which allows you to play along to your favorite discs Built-in Digital Effects - Reverb, Chorus, Flange, and Delay 8 in. custom-voiced speaker FDD (Frequency Dependent Damping) SOUNDS If you must pick up one of the solid state MG amps from Marshall make sure you get the FDD switch on there. The over drive channel is excellent for modern rock and will sound good with any guitar used with humbucker pickup. It really tightens the distortion up a lot and fills the tone out more. The tone becomes thicker and fatter much like a real tube amp from Marshall. This is an all in one amp for a beginner guitar player. Any one who has spent any time with a tube amp will not go for this other than to have as a practice unit for silence or office use. The crunch channel will get you a great classic rock tone. Trying using a Gibson Les Paul or SG and dial down the gain for some good Led Zeppelin tone or Ac/Dc crunch. The tone from this amp isn't that bad for being a solid state amp. OVERALL OPINION If you are looking for a good amp that you don't have to worry about and just need for practicing or silent playing and you need that Marshall tone then this is a good amp for those purposes. This isn't going to go on stage anywhere or be good for recording, but if you need simplicity in a practice amp then this is a great amp for that. It has a good enough tone for getting your chops down or feeling out the neck of the guitar. I would recommend this to any Marshall fan looking for a solid practice amp. this amp has been discontinued and the used market will be the only way to go to get this amp.I have seen them used on the classifieds for just over or around $100, which isn't that bad of a buy.

This is the 50 watt combo version of the 102 amp. You get the same great features and tone. However, the tone will be a bit more spongy due to the cut of half the wattage. You will get a bit less headroom in the overall tone. This amp is an interesting take on the new wave of amplifiers. They take the digital side of modeling and combine that with the power tube section of your already familiar Marshall tone. It was a big surprise at how close to the amp models that this amp comes close too. Marshall JDM501 Digital/Tube Guitar Combo Amp Features: Power: 50-watts 1x12" 16 digital preamps Power Amp: 2 x EL34 Four modulation FX Delay FX Reverb Noise Gate Series/Parallel FX Loop Footcontroller included MIDI In and Thru Emulated Line Out Headphone Out MP3/CD Line In UTILIZATION Details Type Hybrid Number of Channels 4 Power 50W Speakers 1 x 12" Effects Reverb EQ Bass, Middle, Treble Amp Modeling Yes Number of Models 16 Preamp Tubes 1 x ECC83 Power Tubes 2 x EL34 Inputs 1 x Instrument, 1 x Line (1/4") Outputs 1 x Headphone (1/4"), 1 x XLR (Emulated Line), 3 x Speaker Footswitch I/O Effects Loop Height 20.87" Width 27" Depth 10" Weight 49.8 lbs. SOUNDS So basically it is a digital preamp and a tube driven power section. The preamps cover just about ever Marshall amp that they have done and it does a surprisingly good job. I have never been a fan of amp modeling as most of my experience has been with Line 6 and those things sound terrible. So when I first heard this amp, my ears immediately perked up. The amp covers a lot of Marshall ground and the price is nice as well. If you can't find a decent tone out of 16 amp models then this isn't the amp for you. So you should be able to quickly get the sound you are looking for in about 2 minutes or less. OVERALL OPINION At new these amp come in at around $1150, which isn't a bad price for the features and tone that you get. There are plenty of hot-rodded Marshall tones available in this amp and it doesn't take too long to find them either. I would recommend this amp to anyone who loves the Marshall tone and can't decide which series they would like to have. The tone come as close as you can get for a modeler and sounds fairly organic.

This is a puzzling option to have in a guitar cabinet. You usually don't see or hear a 15 inch speaker coming out a of a guitar amp like you would a bass amp. yet the clean tone of this amp is much better in my opinion to most Marshall amps. Sounds more in the ball park of a nice Fender clean tone. Back in the day when Marshall made amps that sounded good and took the time needed to build high quality amps not just fast quantity amps they build this little combo. This amp is a big surprise to me because I generally don't like the combos that Marshall has come out with. The sounds very sterile and boxy to my eras. However this amp sounds just as good if not better than many boutique amps out there today. It boggles the mind why they decide to stop making amps like this and think that the MG series is much more worth the time and effect. Well the real reason is they make more money off the trash amps that fit to more people's budgets rather than sticking with quality amps and keeping their integrity. UTILIZATION JTM 60 615 Valve Combos Features Twin Channel Reverb Speakers 1 x 15 inch Reverb/Normal and Boost Channel EQ for Normal and Boost Channel Common Separate Emulated D.I. Output D.I. Pre or Post Option Parallel Effects Loop Series Effects Loop Effects Mix Control Speaker Outputs Foot Pedal Pre-amp Valves (Tubes) 4 x ECC83 (12AX7A) Power Amp Valves 1 x ECC83, 2 x EL34 SOUNDS I love the way this amp sounds with a nice Gibson Les Paul or Gibson SG guitars. It fits the rock tone and compliments my playing very well. This amp sounds amazing with a solid classic rock tone that can get anything from the 60's and 70's rock tones. The tone is warm and rich full of great harmonics. I like the tone especially playing songs from AC/DC or Led Zeppelin. This amp nails those tones without any problem what so ever. OVERALL OPINION Marshall has seriously got down he tubes in recent years...no pun intended. Their amps has a bland cold tone that sound harsh and flat whether its in your bedroom playing or even on stage. I have played most Marshall amps that are currently in production and only a few amps sound anything like the old ones. These are not new amps so you'd have to find them on the used market. I have no idea what the going rate for one of these amps are used, but I highly recommend picking one up.

Back in the day when Marshall made amps that sounded good and took the time needed to build high quality amps not just fast quantity amps they build this little combo. This amp is a big surprise to me because I generally don't like the combos that Marshall has come out with. The sounds very sterile and boxy to my eras. However this amp sounds just as good if not better than many boutique amps out there today. The 612 features a one 12 inch speaker in a combo format rated at 60 watts. Same great features as the other models but will be a little looser in the low end than the 10 inch speaker version. It boggles the mind why they decide to stop making amps like this and think that the MG series is much more worth the time and effect. Well the real reason is they make more money off the trash amps that fit to more people's budgets rather than sticking with quality amps and keeping their integrity. UTILIZATION JTM 60 612 Valve Combos Features Twin Channel Reverb Speakers 1 x 12 Reverb/Normal and Boost Channel EQ for Normal and Boost Channel Common Separate Emulated D.I. Output D.I. Pre or Post Option Parallel Effects Loop Series Effects Loop Effects Mix Control Speaker Outputs Foot Pedal Pre-amp Valves (Tubes) 4 x ECC83 (12AX7A) Power Amp Valves 1 x ECC83, 2 x EL34 SOUNDS I love the way this amp sounds with a nice Gibson Les Paul or Gibson SG guitars. It fits the rock tone and compliments my playing very well. This amp sounds amazing with a solid classic rock tone that can get anything from the 60's and 70's rock tones. The tone is warm and rich full of great harmonics. I like the tone especially playing songs from AC?DC or Led Zeppelin. This amp nails those tones without any problem what so ever. OVERALL OPINION Marshall has seriously got down he tubes in recent years...no pun intended. Their amps has a bland cold tone that sound harsh and flat whether its in your bedroom playing or even on stage. I have played most Marshall amps that are currently in production and only a few amps sound anything like the old ones. These are not new amps so you'd have to find them on the used market. I have no idea what the going rate for one of these amps are used, but I highly recommend picking one up.