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King Loudness « Decent for an aspiring rocker »
Published on 08/31/11 at 07:24The Marshall MG100HFX is the updated head version of the MG100 head that has been around for a fair few years. It's meant to be a good amp for beginners who want to have a real Marshall stack, but can't afford the hefty price tags of a JCM800 or Silver Jubilee. It's a 100 watt solid state head that features four programmable channels (think Hughes and Kettner Switchblade) and has a few built in effects as well. It basically takes the idea of the clean/crunch/OD1/OD2 system that has been used on Marshall amps like the JVM and brings it to the MG series and combines it with programmable channels to give more options to the user. Here's a full list of specs:
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
Reverb & FX
The MG100HFX amplifier provides three simultaneous effects, Reverb, Delay and one of three Modulation effects (Chorus, Phaser, or Flanger).
Tap Tempo
Use tap tempo to set your delay times as easily as tapping your foot. Tap Tempo switch is used for the Delay effect only.
MP3/Line In
Jam along to your favorite bands or personal recordings by connecting to your MP3 or CD player to this convenient 1/8 inch input jack.
Headphones & Line Out
The Headphone/Line out provides speaker emulation, so you can hear your guitar like its being blasted through powerful speakers or record direct to a source without using a microphone.
Damping
Make it sound like your using 2 completely different amplifiers. When Damping is Off the power amp response resembles the feel of a classic power amp with emphasized middle and limited bass and treble. Switching Damping On will boost the speaker resonances both in the bass and high frequency ranges.
FX Loop
The FX Return socket on the rear panel is used to connect the your favorite external effects pedals or processor. The FX loop is series and set at instrument level so both guitar FX or professional units can be connected.
UTILIZATION
Getting a good sound out of this amp is not difficult if you don't expect to sound like the pro level Marshall or Mesa tube amps that we all know and love. The programmable channel layout is a welcome change from the dual channel layout of the old MG amps, which was clumsy and hard to balance. The ability to store presets and not have to worry about balancing things like gain levels or EQ settings is something that is good for younger players who just want to jam. The onboard amp models and effects obviously don't sound stellar but who am I kidding if I said I expected this to sound like the tube amps I love. It's definitely an improvement functionality wise on the previous model though. Do the sounds stack up... read on.
SOUNDS
The Marshall MG100HFX is an amp that is designed to do many different sounds in general for the player who wants to go from clean to mean and everything in between. The clean tones are decent. They lack a lot of the sparkle and punch that I look for in a clean tone but for solid state cleans they're fairly good, especially with effects like chorus and reverb applied to them. The crunch tones are a weak point. I find that crunch tones like that rely on subtle tube breakup to sound good... these just sound forced and pretty fake to me. The OD1 and OD2 modes are good for what they are. They're a bit compressed and scooped sounding for my tastes but they have a nice low end punch to them too that is enjoyable for an amp of this price range. It's a decent amp for anyone who wants to play rock or metal on a budget for sure.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think the Marshall MG100HFX is a decent enough amp, and it's certainly an improvement over the awful MG series of old. There are some better options in the price range such as the Peavey Vypyr amps, but if you want a "real" Marshall head for $350 new, you can't really go wrong here. The matching cab will bring it up to more, but it's still a decent deal for the aspiring rocker.
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
Reverb & FX
The MG100HFX amplifier provides three simultaneous effects, Reverb, Delay and one of three Modulation effects (Chorus, Phaser, or Flanger).
Tap Tempo
Use tap tempo to set your delay times as easily as tapping your foot. Tap Tempo switch is used for the Delay effect only.
MP3/Line In
Jam along to your favorite bands or personal recordings by connecting to your MP3 or CD player to this convenient 1/8 inch input jack.
Headphones & Line Out
The Headphone/Line out provides speaker emulation, so you can hear your guitar like its being blasted through powerful speakers or record direct to a source without using a microphone.
Damping
Make it sound like your using 2 completely different amplifiers. When Damping is Off the power amp response resembles the feel of a classic power amp with emphasized middle and limited bass and treble. Switching Damping On will boost the speaker resonances both in the bass and high frequency ranges.
FX Loop
The FX Return socket on the rear panel is used to connect the your favorite external effects pedals or processor. The FX loop is series and set at instrument level so both guitar FX or professional units can be connected.
UTILIZATION
Getting a good sound out of this amp is not difficult if you don't expect to sound like the pro level Marshall or Mesa tube amps that we all know and love. The programmable channel layout is a welcome change from the dual channel layout of the old MG amps, which was clumsy and hard to balance. The ability to store presets and not have to worry about balancing things like gain levels or EQ settings is something that is good for younger players who just want to jam. The onboard amp models and effects obviously don't sound stellar but who am I kidding if I said I expected this to sound like the tube amps I love. It's definitely an improvement functionality wise on the previous model though. Do the sounds stack up... read on.
SOUNDS
The Marshall MG100HFX is an amp that is designed to do many different sounds in general for the player who wants to go from clean to mean and everything in between. The clean tones are decent. They lack a lot of the sparkle and punch that I look for in a clean tone but for solid state cleans they're fairly good, especially with effects like chorus and reverb applied to them. The crunch tones are a weak point. I find that crunch tones like that rely on subtle tube breakup to sound good... these just sound forced and pretty fake to me. The OD1 and OD2 modes are good for what they are. They're a bit compressed and scooped sounding for my tastes but they have a nice low end punch to them too that is enjoyable for an amp of this price range. It's a decent amp for anyone who wants to play rock or metal on a budget for sure.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think the Marshall MG100HFX is a decent enough amp, and it's certainly an improvement over the awful MG series of old. There are some better options in the price range such as the Peavey Vypyr amps, but if you want a "real" Marshall head for $350 new, you can't really go wrong here. The matching cab will bring it up to more, but it's still a decent deal for the aspiring rocker.