Marshall MG15CFR

I was actually looking for the Roland Cube 20XL, living in S. Korea sometimes choices are limited , so the salesman directed me towards this amp (Marshall MG15CFR). Since it was a Marshall I said why not, but I was always of the philosophy that I gotta break the bank to get a good Marshall product, and given that I'm reintroducing myself to the guitar that would have been far beyond my needs. I basically use this amp for practice, practice and more practice.

The clean sound with humbucking pickups tends to distort (not in the desirable way) once you pass 6 on the volume knob, I am using an Ibanez GRG170DX model guitar with this and sometimes if I use the neck humbucker p/u on it, it gets a little distorted, but the OD channel with the gain up to 7 or 8 and volume at 10 it produces a great crunchy sound great for hard rock or metal with the bridge p/u on my Ibanez. The reverb I have to say leaves a lot to be desired, anything after "4", it doesn't seem to be doing its job.

Pros: Great crunch, gain doesn't have to be at 10, 7 or 8 = the sweet spot.

Cons: Clean sound distortd at higher volumes, and reverb not so great.

Now I was able to get the Roland Cube 20XL amp, I hardly use this, even though I think the crunch sound is better on the Marshall than the Roland, so now I'm using the Roland almost exclusively because I want to practice using the clean sound...

This thing is quite amazing for the price. This is a 15 watt practice amp by Marshall that sounds fantastic. It has two channels and each channel shares the same EQ such as bass middle and treble. What is also great about this amp is the ability to plug an MP3 player of CD player and play along to your favorite backing tracks or MP3 songs.

It is rally a simple front panel with just the few eq's and the gain and volume. It has a small button to go from the clean channel to the dirty channel.


Marshall MG15CFR 15-watt Guitar Combo Amplifier Features:

* Classic Marshall tone in a compact and convenient combo
* 1 x 8" speaker
* Built-in reverb
* Carbon Tolex covering looks cool and protects your combo from abuse
* 3-band EQ control for great tone shaping
* Line in for MP3 and other music players, for easy practicing
* Headphone/line out with speaker emulation for silent practice or direct recording
* Weight: 16 lbs.

UTILIZATION

Details
Type Solid State
Number of Channels 2
Power 15W
Speakers
No Effects
Reverb
EQ Bass, Mid, Treble Tone Controls
No Amp Modeling
No Amp Modeling
No Preamp Tubes
No Power Tubes
Inputs 1 x Instrument, 1 x 1/8" Stereo
Outputs 1 x 1/4" Headphone
Footswitch I/O No
No Effects Loop
Height 15"
Width 14.9"
Depth 8.1"
Weight 16.3"

SOUNDS


I love the way this sounds with a Gibson Les Paul. Marshall and Gibson even though were created by different people on different continents somehow were eternally designed to match each other. They just absolutely make the best sonic sound that music can probably make.

The clean channel isn't too bad abut the thing sounds best to me in the dirty channel. Even when the gain is turned up all the way it still managers to retain the note clarity and string separation needed to be audibly desirable. The is a very promising attribute when jamming along with this amp.

OVERALL OPINION


At new these amps come in at around $119 which in my opinion is an absolute steal of a price for what you get. You get a two channel amp that sounds superb for being a solid state amp and the price is just to hard to pass up.

I would recommended this to anyone looking to buy an entry level Marshall amp and doesn't want to break the bank to do it either. Also, for someone who would like to play and jam silently at home or in the office and wants to have a decent tone as well.