MGR/Nathan « Marshall MG15DFX »
Published on 11/12/03 at 15:00I purchased this amp new at Fletcher's in Big Flats, NY. I paid $220 with tax. I wanted a Marshall (solid state or not), and it sounded way better than the tiny Ibanez amp I was using at the time.
The tube emulation feature on this unit is fairly good, good enough that most non-anal-retentive guitar freaks couldn't tell the difference unless they were looking for it. Well, close. You can get some good rock tones going out of this baby, and still get a bit of sparkle clean. Also, for a 15 watter, it's pretty darn loud. The digital effects alone equal the cost of the amp. Also, it never hurts to be noticed lugging around a Marshall.
My only real gripe with this unit is in the digital effects' controls. One knob selected both the effect (reverb, delay, chorus, flange) and the rate, which made dialing in a specific sound (especially delay time) difficult to do quickly, and without bending over and studying it. The depth was selected with a different knob. Also, the clean channel has no gain knob, which is just a nice option to have, in my opinion.
I didn't find anything wrong at all with quality. The knobs didn't feel cheap when I turned them, which is something I'm very concerned with, for some reason. The amp got banged around a little bit, but no scratches or gashes. You start to forget that it was made in China.
For any non-band situations, this is a great-sounding little rocker at a fairly decent price, considering that it's one of the most respected names in rock. I'm pretty sure I'll hang on to this one for recording (I've moved on to a Peavey Transformer 212), because it can blast out great tones that are normally reserved for tubed members of the amp family. Keep in mind, it isn't a tube amp, but the majority of people (and even a lot of guitar players) couldn't hear the difference. I love it, tedious effects and all. Viva la Marshallution!
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
The tube emulation feature on this unit is fairly good, good enough that most non-anal-retentive guitar freaks couldn't tell the difference unless they were looking for it. Well, close. You can get some good rock tones going out of this baby, and still get a bit of sparkle clean. Also, for a 15 watter, it's pretty darn loud. The digital effects alone equal the cost of the amp. Also, it never hurts to be noticed lugging around a Marshall.
My only real gripe with this unit is in the digital effects' controls. One knob selected both the effect (reverb, delay, chorus, flange) and the rate, which made dialing in a specific sound (especially delay time) difficult to do quickly, and without bending over and studying it. The depth was selected with a different knob. Also, the clean channel has no gain knob, which is just a nice option to have, in my opinion.
I didn't find anything wrong at all with quality. The knobs didn't feel cheap when I turned them, which is something I'm very concerned with, for some reason. The amp got banged around a little bit, but no scratches or gashes. You start to forget that it was made in China.
For any non-band situations, this is a great-sounding little rocker at a fairly decent price, considering that it's one of the most respected names in rock. I'm pretty sure I'll hang on to this one for recording (I've moved on to a Peavey Transformer 212), because it can blast out great tones that are normally reserved for tubed members of the amp family. Keep in mind, it isn't a tube amp, but the majority of people (and even a lot of guitar players) couldn't hear the difference. I love it, tedious effects and all. Viva la Marshallution!
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com