All user reviews of 4/5 for the Ibanez Tone Blaster 25R

I got this amp for $150 at a local hole-in-the-wall music store. The one I had before purchasing this one was only like 5 watts, so I needed an upgrade.

I like the over drive (distortion) and reverb that came with it. The distortion is kind of the grunge type which was pretty good for me because I play a lot of Nirvana and stuff. The palm muting isn't spectacular though with it on. The reverb makes each sound reflect and echo superbly. You can best notice the reverb when you are playing clean.

My Danelectro Distortion Pedal gives the amp a heavier sound, with the palm muting being very bassy and hard. It's better to play metal stuff with a metal distortion pedal with this amp because the on-board overdrive isn't spectacular for really heavy stuff. But, if you can't afford a distortion pedal then you can probably work with it, and it should work fine for you.

When volume is turned up a little over half way with overdrive, the whole case buzzes from the vibrations. It gets kind of annoying, and would seem emberassing if it were to do that at a live gig. I may just need to tighten it up somwhere, I don't know.

It hasn't fallen apart on me yet. The whole unit is fairly heavy, (maybe 20 lbs probably lighter) but it's not that bad.

All in all, it's a pretty solid unit for practicing with. Maybe even loud enough to go over drums and stuff if practicing with a band, although I haven't had a chance to try it out like that yet.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com