Marshall MG30DFX

I spent a good couple of months searching for my first amplifier, and came around to narrowing my field down to a Roland Cube 30, Line 6 Spider 30 or the Marshall MG 30DFX. It ended up costing around $420 Australian Dollars from Turramurra Music in Sydney, around $50 more than the other two amplifiers.

(The parentals had a small thing about me getting a bigger amp)

The MG 30 DFX has brilliant tone on the clean channel. Playing an ESP Ltd EC-300 with EMG-HZ passives through the amp, I can gain a wide range of tones from a bluesy sound to a near perfect acoustic tone.

The four effects: reverb, chorus, flange and delay, work well considering the MG 30DFX is nothing more than a small practice amp. But, if you're serious buy some decent pedals - they'll sound a whole lot better.

For a thirty-watter the MG 30DFX delivers fair volume, but unfortunately it still won't get you over a drumkit.

I occassionally get a rattling noise if I've been playing for too long.

The overdrive can sometimes, also, be too "gainy". That is, the distortion compromises the various notes you want to hear. Great if you want to practice heavier Nu-Metal tunes (eg Slipknot, Mudvayne, etc), but I tend to turn the gain right down to "3" for Metallica, Velvet Revolver and the such.

The amp doesn't come with a footswitch either, even though it has the plug. Means leaning over to press teh channel button every time, which can get irritating.

The body of the amplifier is built to take a fair beating, as are the controls and plugs. However, if you to really kick around your amp I'd go a roland cube, just because they're so much heavier duty.


Good practice amp for someone playing harder rock to all-out metal. Nice, bodied, clean sound too; which is good for a blues or jazz sound, or even for rock.

A great practice amp for electric beginners, but not for those with more experience.

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

Got it for $250 at Guitar center
needed a practice amp,

I LIke playing with the built in fx(reverb'delay'chorus'flange). Its distortion is over the top. The sound of htis amp is better than any other marshall in the MG series.

This amp should come with an included footswitch since it has a footswitch input on the front panel

Very well made, will last about 5- 10 years before going back to a shop for repairs

This amp kicks ass and blows any other amp in this price range out of the water.

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

Just like everything else I own, I bought this from Mucisian's Friend vis the internet. I coughed up $250 for this amp to go along with my newly aquired Epiphone Elite Les Paul Standard.

First of all the amp looks great. It also doesn't hurt that the Marshall name is so prominenty displayed in white letters on the black background but that's not why I bought it. I must have read hundreds of reviews on small amps and practice amps before I found a consensus on one that sounds good, has great capability and doesn't cost a fortune. So I bought it and I love it. It's small, powerful and loaded with effects like reverb, chorus, delay and flange. I love to plug my CD player into it and jam along. It's awsome!

After six months of use I haven't found anything wrong with mine yet. I use it almost every day and it always delivers.

Although I haven't done anything like take this amp on tour or run over it with a truck, it does feel very sturdy. I do accidently bang it arround once in a while but it doesn't have a mark on it and looks and feels like quality stuff. I get no noise, feedback, pops, hiss or anything but what I want from the sound. All the knobs and switches work well and feel smooth all the way through their range. I tell it the same thing my wife tells me, "You're a great piece of work"!

Wonderful little amp for practicing or intimate performances. The price belies what you can expect from this little honey. It may be the best $250 investment I ever made.

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

i bought this amp because the amp i orignally got with my guitar was tiny and had very crappy sound. also, i was looking for something that i could use for a long time with a few differnt options. i payed about $350 for it.

this amp is great quality and has great sound. it allows you to get a bright clean tone and also good distortion. the built in effects are cool because it allows you to stretch beyond the bondries of a normal amp and use effects to improve your sound.oh and its LOUD.

there isnt really anything that i dislike about this amp.. but there is a port for a footswitch, i thought it would come with the amp but it was sold sepereately but it wasnt to expensive so i cant complain.

built strong, i lug it around with me and so far no damage has been done so that is always a plus haha

overall this is a great amp for the beginner and the advanced. it has great sound and is reliable. and of course it sure doesnt lack ability to be loud.

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